Alex parked the ship at the docks around Portsmouth. The city was built like any port city had to be, with a water dock and a slipship dock that ran in a circle above the city in the air. Alex chose the lowest port he could, even though most of the slots were empty. He was planning to jump out from the ship the second he could, to avoid having his name associated with it by the dock master.


    After he moored the ship with rope lines, he did precisely that, jumping down to the ring below and then doing it again until he was close enough to the ground to jump to a rooftop. No one gave him any notice. The docks were not very busy, and it would take the people who worked the docks hours to notice an abandoned ship so early in the morning.


    Alex had to hand it to Sloan. The shopkeeper had bought a ship that was perfect for smuggling goods short distances. It wouldn''t do anything out on the actual nightsea, but on an island, it was perfect. It was a waste of money for any situation other than Sloan''s. Trains were an easier way to transport items in bulk, and even carts were a practical solution for moving stuff short distances. No, the slipship was closer to a sports car. It was built for a specific purpose and was super expensive.


    Alex wouldn''t ride on that out in the nightsea. Instead, he would find a ship and pay for passage out of Tombstone. His options would be limited in a town like Dry Gulch. The destinations would be places that the island did regular business with.


    "Someday, maybe I''ll get my own ship.” Alex laughed to himself as he walked down the street, tapping his staff every few seconds. "But that''ll mean I need a crew, too. Then that comes with expenses of its own."


    As he walked down the street, he noticed a few wanted posters all along the walls. He stopped when he saw a few faces he recognized and couldn''t help but smile. Grim drawings of Goldfist and Silvertooth stared down at him, along with their bounties beneath.


    "Ten thousand dolers and five thousand dolers." Alex whistled. "Not breaking the bank, but decent money."


    His bounty was one million dolers, but it wasn''t an indicator of anything beyond how much you were worth to someone who wanted your head. He was worth a lot because of August, simple as that.


    "If only I could have cashed it in.” He shook his head and jingled the few coins in his pocket.


    He had dropped most of it down to Sam, a compensation for the trouble he had caused. Not that he thought he had done a bad thing by helping in Dry Gulch. He just knew that he only did so to help himself. Any other good done was just collateral damage. Collateral help? He wasn''t sure what to call it.


    He made his way back toward the center of town in a circuitous route. He was being cautious, but that was because he didn''t want anyone in town to associate the abandoned ship with him. The best thing he could do was find a supply frigate that was hiring workers. That way, he could ride for free and get paid. Below that, he could buy a ticket on a passenger ship, but that cost money he didn''t want to spend. He reminded himself that he shouldn''t regret throwing the money to Sam. She needed it more than he did at the moment.


    "Just keep repeating it," he whispered as he ducked through a crowd of people in jeans and shirts.


    They barely paid him any notice. So long as they didn''t have a bunch of posters of him plastered on their walls- and they shouldn''t, considering he was in the Fringes- he would be fine. The only people out looking for him were the Military Police.


    "Move out!" A group of people in red and black uniforms caught his attention down the street.


    "Oh no.” A weight dropped in Alex''s stomach, and he ducked between the two nearest buildings. "You just had to tempt luck."


    He peered out from where he hid and saw the group. A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair led the way for a troop of ten soldiers in similar uniforms. She held a long silvered spear in her hands, and each of her men held a rifle resting on their shoulders as they marched. The uniforms were those of the Military Police, the enforcement arm of the Twelve Kingdoms, and above them, the Scions.


    "They shouldn''t be on a Fringe island like this," Alex whispered to himself as he watched them march down the street. "That is unless they knew about a prize worth risking the backlash over, idiot."


    They were here because he was, of course. Alex gritted his teeth as he watched them. He could start running, but he also wanted to know more. No, running was the smart thing to do, but Alex was too curious to do the smart thing. He settled himself to the edge of the nearest building and did his best to listen.


    "Halt!" The soldiers mostly stopped in unison at her words. "Wait for the Captain!"


    Alex leaned out a little. A captain. That meant they were serious. This wasn''t just some roaming band of soldiers. Knowing he was on an island had pulled a captain off his desk and out into the field. Alex was honored in a way.


    "Lieutenant." A deep voice cracked through the air as swinging doors on a nearby building opened. "Calm down."


    A towering, scaled lizard man stepped out of the doors, dressed in the same red and black uniform as the others. The only real difference between them was that he wore no boots, so his black pants ended at his natural clawed feet, and there was a hole in the back of his pants for a long red tail. Alex raised his eyebrow. Now, this, he wasn''t sure about. Was it a curse that made the man look like a bipedal lizard, or was he from a world where that was normal? Alex never really knew which one to guess. Goldfist was a good example. Was he a human whose curse made him a giant, or was he just a giant?


    "Stop speculating," Alex told himself, focusing on the lizard man.


    "Captain," the lieutenant said, saluting. "We''re ready to move out."


    "Good. I''ve secured passage on a train that goes out toward Dry Gulch. The operators have assured me that they can stop on the way. We just need to wait an hour before it leaves.” The captain ducked beneath the awning that ran along the front of the building and stood up to his full height as he walked to his soldiers.


    "We''ll find him, Captain Drake." The lieutenant saluted.


    "Then let''s move out, Lieutenant Brunhild.” Captain Drake blew out a puff of smoke as he walked away, his claws clasped behind him and his tail swaying back and forth as he walked.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Alex ducked back behind the building as they approached and walked past. He breathed a sigh of relief after they passed him by. He didn''t need to take on a captain and his squad so close after his fights with Silvertooth and Goldfist. He wasn''t even sure he could take them on a good day when he was fully rested. He waited in the shadows of the buildings for a few minutes until he was sure the group was long gone.


    Well, they would find two bounties when they went to Dry Gulch, he smiled. If Silvertooth were with them, they would recover him, but that was a small loss. He hoped they would pay out the bounties, at least when they took the outlaws. Dry Gulch needed that money. After five years of suffering under Goldfist, those people deserved any windfall they could get.


    Who was he kidding? These were the Military Police. Dry Gulch would be lucky if they didn''t find any puppies to kick while they were in town.


    He made his way over to the nearest saloon. Inside, he found precisely what he was looking for. Sailors always found the closest bar to port when they came to port, and there were a few that needed to hire extra hands to replace those they had lost while sailing.


    Alex had the pick of a few places to go. He didn''t want to go out into the Twelve Kingdoms, as that was like jumping back into the fire after you got out of it. That left Fringe worlds, and he found one going toward a place called Glory Plateau.


    Alex rechecked his list of destinations as he sat at his table. Glory Plateau was the actual name of the place. It sounded like a cliche, but the frigate was transporting supplies, and it wasn''t one of the Twelve Kingdoms. Alex stood up and made his way over to the man he had heard about it from and negotiated his terms for working on the ship.


    After about an hour and a few drinks, he was signed on and walking with the man up to the ship. The man''s name was Hubert, and he was a short, fat man, red in the face, and loud as he could be. Alex liked Hubert. He was a straightforward man who expressed exactly what he thought at the moment, even if it would get him in trouble.


    "Captain''s good," Hubert said as he led Alex up the central steps of the docks. "Never had a storm under the captain. Never had a man fall overboard. There''s never been a man that didn''t want to serve under her."


    "Sounds like a good ship," Alex said as he followed the man.


    "You said you''ve sailed before?" Hubert asked.


    "On a few ships," Alex said, looking up at the spiral case above them as he took one step after another. "I''ve done pretty much everything except being an officer on one. I never stayed with a ship long enough for that."


    "You might just do that here. I''m telling you, son, the captain''s a sight worth every bit of work we do. The pay''s good, but the sights are better."


    "You''re a real philosopher.” Alex smiled.


    "What''s that?"


    "A lover of beauty."


    "Hah, that I am, son."


    They continued their banter as they walked up the stairs until they reached the highest part of the docks. A few ships were docked on each level, Portsmouth being a relatively deserted port on the Fringes. However, on the top level was where the big ships were, and there were three in port.


    Frigates were slipships built for transport. They were long and bulky, with the largest lodestones that could be made attached along the hull on both sides at regular intervals. A frigate could carry and supply an entire city with what was stored inside for a year. For that size, it also needed a large amount of solar sails. The frigates at the port each had around ten sets of masts each. Alex couldn''t help but grin as he looked up at them. They lived up to stories he had heard about the age of sail on Earth, back before he was taken to the nightsea.


    "Big things, ain''t they?" Hubert asked next to him.


    "Yeah," Alex said. "How''s it handle?"


    "Like trying to herd a whale.” Hubert laughed. "But we make do with what we can. Just don''t be expecting it to take any tight turns."


    "Does it have a name?" Alex asked.


    "The Night Queen."


    Alex nodded, and they walked onto the ship together. Hubert showed him his work after a visit to the quartermaster to sign him on. Alex nodded along as Hubert explained how to tie ropes, climb up the mast, and unfurl the sails. He knew all of it, but he didn''t mind. It gave him something to do as they waited to set sail.


    Ding. Ding. Ding.


    After some time at port, a bell rang across the boat, repeated again and again by each group that manned each mast. Alex climbed up the mast as soon as he heard it, unfurling his set of sails while others did the same above him. The ship shuddered as it lurched forward, up and away from the port. Soon, it floated up and away from Portsmouth, leaving it behind as the noonday sun blazed overhead.


    "We''re underway!" Hubert yelled the obvious up to Alex, but Alex could barely hear him as the wind whistled past his ears.


    He stood on the mast and waved down to Hubert before looking at the horizon. He was waiting for the best part of sailing, the passage out from the bubble that surrounded every island and led to the nightsea. Below him, Portsmouth faded away, and he got a good look at Tombstone from the sky above. The entire island looked like a skull formed out of the water. It even had two large lakes that served as eyes on its northern half. Alex found himself laughing as he looked down at it.


    The cold air was the first tip that they were close. A white mist came out from Alex''s mouth as he looked out over the sky. It wasn''t immediate, but the blue of the sky faded, growing more and more translucent until it was as black as night.


    Pop.


    Alex rubbed his ears as they popped through the atmosphere and out into the dark. Lanterns were lit along the deck below, and Alex squinted out into the night. In front of him was a sea of darkness with a spattering of bright white lights in the distance. Each was a tiny oasis of light in the creeping darkness of the nightsea. Alex held his breath as he looked out over them, noticing the faint trails of light between each of the stars, some stronger and some fainter. Behind him, the white light of Tombstone illuminated the sky, but he didn''t dare look back at it. He didn''t want to go blind.


    He was underway again, out in the nightsea. He slid down the mast and landed on the deck next to Hubert. Hubert looked up at him with a smile of his own across his face. It didn''t matter how often sailors sailed from an island to the nightsea. It never got old.


    "Time to get to work." Alex cracked his knuckles.


    <hr>


    Sam picked up the shovel and tied it to Winny''s back as she stood in the center of the cleared orchard. It had taken a few days of work, and that was with the help of some of the townsfolk she had paid with Alex''s dolers. All that was left was an empty field with her parent''s graves around a pond.


    She stepped back over to her parent''s graves and put down the new gravestone next to them. She didn''t have a body, but she hoped Josh would have a place to rest next to them. She made sure the small stone went upright as deep as she could make it. When she came back, she wanted it to be still standing.


    Behind the graves, she had planted one of her apple seeds. She had gathered as many as she could from the orchard, but this was just the start. She had her own dream now and would have to go a long way to fulfill it.


    She returned to Winny and took the donkey by the reins. Instead of the cart, she had a saddle now. The chickens were all sold off, and the barn and land were sold to some people in town. Sam didn''t have any regrets. She had figured out what she wanted to do.


    "It''ll take a while, Winny," she said as she walked the donkey out toward the road. "But we''ll make it."


    She hadn''t known what she would do when Alex first left. It had taken days for things to settle down, and that was before the uniformed people saying they were the Military Police came to town. They had taken Goldfist and Silvertooth away, promising that they would take care of the outlaws. Sam had to laugh at that. They hadn''t bothered until Goldfist was already beaten, but she hadn''t said anything at the time.


    Once they were gone, she was left with a barn and some money. She settled on what she wanted to do after that. She would go off on her own, starting with the nearest town and going to all of Tombstone after that. She would explore the world and see what she could. She would experience all the things she could find and never look back. At each place she stopped, she would plant an apple tree. That would be her mark on the world.


    She smiled as she stuck one foot into Winny''s stirrups and flung her leg over the saddle. Winny grunted at the weight, but she was already weighed down with supplies for the road as well. Sam patted her neck and whispered softly to her. They were in for a long road together, and she couldn''t have Winny getting anxious now.


    "Let''s go," she said, pulling the reins and lightly tapping her foot against Winny''s side.


    With a grunt and a huff from Winny, she rode off into the east, right into the rising sun.