Raven carefully moved around the building to the diner. If there was trouble, it would

be while she was trying to get something to eat. The next possible point would be

when she took off with the messenger. She doubted they wouldn’t see the launch.

Once she was in the air, everything depended on what they were holding and if they

could knock the dragon out of the air.

She had never flown before. She wondered what she should expect. She hoped it

would be smooth like a log ride. The last thing she wanted was to fall off halfway to

Baldwin and have to walk the rest of the way.

She hoped she could find Eisen immediately. She doubted Baldwin had much use for

an alchemist, but he might have to work on things to support himself and his ward.

Would he let her share a roof until she could get on her own feet.

She wondered if the Keswicks would give up after she cleared out of the train station

area. They might think she was going to Baldwin. Would they send people up to look

for her in the strange city?

She couldn’t worry about that. She had to stay away from the windows, keep an eye

out for her enemies, and hope for the best.

She paused when she saw the second watcher come out of the diner. She stepped into

a small alley and watched him cross back toward the station. He had two mugs of

drink in his hands. She waited for him to start talking to the other man about the mugs

before she slipped inside the diner. She sat down where she could watch the outside

without being seen. The duffle went on a chair next to hers.

A woman approached with a scratchpad and pencil. She smiled at Raven, round face

crinkling. The gray in her hair lent her something imposing, but the messenger didn’t

know what that was.

“How are you doing, hon?,” asked the lady.

“I’m doing okay,” said Raven. “I have to take a messenger flight into Baldwin. I was

wondering what you would recommend I ate before my messenger came in.”

“I wouldn’t have anything big,” said the lady. “Maybe just some eggs and some

biscuits.”

“Can I have that and some tea?,” asked Raven. “I don’t know when the messenger is

coming back.”

“It will be a few minutes,” said the lady. “The messengers will wait on you to finish.

It’s downtime for their dragons. When you’re ready, they’re ready. And if you aren’t

ready before something comes in, you can catch the next one when it lands.”

“Have you worked here long?,” asked Raven.

“Lazlo and I built the place when we saw there was going to be something here out

of Bern,” said the lady. She put the order on the counter so the cook could get started.

“And we get some traffic thanks to the train. I forsee a time when this will be a bigger

town serving both Bern and Baldwin.”

“Do you think the train will reach all the way to Baldwin?,” asked Raven.

“Not just the train,” said the lady. “There is a ton of cargo that comes through here

to load on the train. If the train expands the line, more cargo will be moved. Some of

that will come to us here as people work and build things.”

“They can just fly it across the land,” said Raven.

“Some people can fly things across the land,” said the lady. “Just like some people

can swim with the leviathans. But if trains can reach just as many places as aeronauts,

at a cheaper price, people will still use them. And that means people will build towns

to take advantage.”

Raven nodded. She didn’t know if she fully agreed, but if the line could expand closer

to Baldwin, she could see messengers and other business people using the train to

travel back and forth to carry out their deals.

She wondered if that would happen in her lifetime. She decided she could worry

about that when she was sure she had more life to live.

Raven watched the window as she waited. How long would it take for the train to

come back and those two guys decided she wasn’t on it? How long would they stand

out there looking for her? She needed that lift away from the station.

“What are you doing out here away from Bern?,” asked the lady. She wiped one of

the other clean tables down.

“The man I worked for sent a letter to his friend,” said Raven. “I’m supposed to

deliver it in Baldwin, if he is still in Baldwin. Anyway, that is my starting point. I

hope to run him down and hand over the letter before heading back to Bern, or getting

another job in Baldwin.”

“Do you know what this man looks like?,” asked the lady.

“Yes,” said Raven. “You can’t miss either one of them. One looks like an ex-soldier

with a beat-up face, and the other is a boy my age with a bunch of marks all over his

body.”

“They did come through here,” said the lady. “They said they were heading into

Baldwin to talk to a doctor.”

“The boy had some accident with alchemical stuff,” said Raven. “I don’t know much

about it.”

“They seemed nice,” said the lady. “They took a dragon into the city like you are.”

Raven nodded. She wondered how many doctors there were in Baldwin that could

look at alchemical accidents without raising a fuss. She didn’t think it would be that

many.

If she could catch up, the job would be done. Then she could think about what she

wanted to do in a new city.

She felt the medallions would give her some kind of advantage on some of the jobs

she could take. She supposed they would want to know what she could do, and if she

knew what whatever job she sought entailed. That was another worry for the future.

She had to get to Baldwin before she could worry about her future.

She might have to travel back to Bern to look for work there.

“Here’s your food, hon,” said the lady. She presented a plate of still steaming eggs

and biscuits. She retrieved a mug of tea as the food cooled on the table. She smiled

at the look on Raven’s face. “Eat up.”

Raven dug in, still keeping one eye on the window. The food was the best thing she

had eaten in a while. She couldn’t believe a cook this good was out in the wilderness.

“This is great,” said Raven. “You could make a mint just on the food alone.”

“I’m glad you think so,” said the lady. She smiled again. “Take it slow. You’re going

to be flying in a bit, and your stomach might not like that.”

“I think it will be okay,” said Raven. “Thank you.”

Wind beat against the window. A shadow crossed over somewhere. That could be her

ride coming back. She finished the eggs and biscuits as fast as she could. She sipped

the tea as she waited for the messenger to walk in to tell her the ride was there.

A lanky individual in a double breasted coat and tinted goggles came into the diner.

He looked around, before nodding at Raven. He walked over with a thumping of

heavy boots. Wind had brushed his hair straight back from his face.

“Lazlo said you needed a lift into Baldwin,” said the dragon rider. He sat down

opposite of Raven.

“That’s right,” said Raven. “Are you Skipper?”

“I’m Jade,” said the rider. “Skipper is outside. Are you ready to go?”

“I am if you are,” said Raven. The two watchers had an eye on the diner. Could they

see her?

“All right,” said Jade. “Before we go, there are some things you have to know.”

Raven nodded.

“The trip will be fast,” said Jade. “Skipper can create a pressure wave at top speed.

I don’t let him do that with passengers, but accidents happen. You are to keep a grip

on the stirrups and saddle horn at all times. If you come loose and can’t fly on your

own, you will die. If you don’t have eye protection, I advise you to keep your eyes

closed until we land. If you are afraid of heights, I advise you to hire someone to

carry you on the ground. Do you understand?”

“I got it,” said Raven. “Is there a problem with carrying my bag?”

“I’ll check with Skipper,” said Jade. “He should be able to carry it, but that doesn’t

mean he will want to. So you might have to groundship the bag, or send it on the next

dragon from the office.”

“Alright,” said Raven. She stood. “I am as ready to go as I can be.”

“Skipper’s loading up at the office,” said Jade, standing also. “Once he has had his

fill, then we’ll be ready to go.”

Raven picked up her duffle and waved for him to proceed her. She followed him out

of the diner after leaving some money to cover her bill. They walked back to the

office. She made sure to keep the dragon rider between her and the train station.

Jade waved her to climb up into the back seat of a double saddle strapped to a large

green dragon. She pulled herself up with some ease. He handed up her bag and told

her to place it in front of her so her arms would hold it while they were in flight.

He vaulted in the forward seat, making sure he was sitting properly. He pulled

down his goggles to cover his eyes. He gave her a thumb’s up before he clapped

the dragon on the neck.

Raven made sure she had a grip as the dragon stood on its four legs. She felt the

muscles under her brace. Then the daemon took to the air with a flap of its wings.

The air beat against her face as the messenger soared into the sky. She felt sick the

one time she looked down and decided to keep an eye on the back of Jade’s head

instead.

The dragon soared north away from the station, and she knew that she had done it.

She had left Bern behind. Now she had to finish the rest of the job. She hoped Eisen

would be easy to track down in the strange city ahead.

A walled city rose out of the forest ahead. Spires of glass and metal reached for the

sky. Skipper aimed for a square piece of concrete set aside for fliers and headed in for

a landing. He walked off the speed of his flight and folded his wings. He sat on his

hindquarters for Raven and Jade to dismount.

“Here you go,” said Jade. “If you need to go south back to Bern, we have a small

office off the pad here where you can hire passage back to the station, or even into

Bern if you can afford the fee.”

“Thanks for the lift,” said Raven. She hefted her bag on her shoulder. “I have to go

about my business. Have a nice flight home.”

“Good luck,” said Jade. “I have to get some water for Skipper, then we’re back on

the job. Be careful out there.”

Raven waved at the both of them as she walked off the pad and looked for a way

down into the city.