The Children of Zion

Chapter Thirty Two

D.R. Hurley

Thirty Two

Here it was, the moment she had craved. Today was the day that Nikita took her life back and left the old one firmly behind.

She looked down to the large bag of coins cradled safely inside her clawed hand. The accumulation of the last week's work at those wretched plantations had paid off handsomely.

Unfortunate though it was she'd had to spend her original money on food and lodgings while traveling along the lonely road from Nyatti. With this money, she could buy passage aboard one of the cargo haulers heading towards the Eastern Continent, and a fresh start.

The long hours spent trudging through the waterlogged fields, nestled amongst the foothills of the belt were not spent in vain. Her joints still ached from spending the nights bent over harvesting Nevinroot, and her paws were painfully sore. Yet all that torment was worth it.

She headed up the mountain path leading towards the dock, eager to get moving.

The settlement of Klayco, where she presently resided, housed one of the largest airship docks outside of the capital, and was suitably located on the eastern most side of the Namoleon belt. A location which long exploited direct links to the outer continents, that some races struggled to maintain.

Nikita hated her bleak surroundings. To her, it seemed like she rested upon the very edge of the world. She paused to look back upon the collection of scattered buildings, dotted around the undulating rocky landscape. There was little vegetation here, except the occasional mountain shrubs and dryweed bushes. A stark contrast indeed from the dense landscape of her woodland home. Former home, she had to remind herself. The doe was loathed to admit how much she missed that place already, and cast it from her mind.

She returned to the path once more, and followed it up to the natural plateau where the dock was sighted. Beyond which, the open cliff-face plunged hundreds of paces into the roaring seas, which crashed relentlessly upon the sharp rocks.

A strong breeze greeted her when she finally arrived at the dock. The gusting winds brought down from the western currents rustled her cloak and fur no end, but her attention was fixed elsewhere.

Nikita's heart leaped with joy to see the giant shadow of an Emperor class airship dominating the immediate surroundings. One amongst many vessels stationed here, though by far the largest.

The colossal ship was making ready to depart as great gouts of steaming air could be seen escaping out of pressure valves around its huge, upward firing rotors.

Workers hauled cargo into the hold via a number of service ramps situated around the hull, and crews could be seen scurrying around the open deck. Checking securing ropes and completing other menial tasks. It was a ship most commonly used for industrial haulage, due to its tremendous loading capacity and extended flight time, but did cater for a fairly large number of passengers. Though the cabins were far from comfortable.

The young doe let out a squeal of excitement upon seeing the great airship and jumped merrily up and down. The dream of a new life, which she had envisaged for so long, was finally unfolding. She quickly ran over, ignoring the disapproving looks of dock workers, and headed for the boarding terminal.

Dozens of crates and containers lay everywhere she looked, workers towed wooden carts fully laden with barrels and boxes ready for loading on the various airships dotted arcos the port.

The bag of items, tied firmly to her halberd, swung gently in the breeze as she went over, its meagre contents were all that she had to her name. Clothes and a small supply of stolen Nevinroot would keep her going for a few more days. The metal shaft weighed heavily on her shoulder, but she was too enthralled to care.