Alert: Aspect 2 "Numi" has increased skill in appraising. New skill level: 2

Alice turned to see Numi clutching the medallion in both claws and staring at it as if it held all the answers in the world.

"Wow,” Numi said, “this is really high-value."

Instantly, Iggy flowed over to her side. "What is it? Does it shoot fireballs?"

"No, the opposite. Well… Kind of," Numi considered. "And I suppose it's not that valuable. It's like… narrowly valuable?" She blinked her bulging eyes and shook her head.

"Numi, what exactly is your skill telling you?” Alice asked, patiently amused.

Again, the little green dragon shook her head. "It's not something that you could sell," she said carefully, "and I am still sort of new at this. I only have up to level 2.”

“That medallion gave you two levels?” Prim asked in shock.

“Yeah, it was a hard nut to crack, and I don’t think I got all the information I can out of it, but… let's call it… a medium value magical object.” Numi nodded to herself. “Yeah, that feels right.”

"Well, what does it do?" Alice pressed.

The green dragon perked up. Apparently, this was the right question. "It protects against dark magic—but only from a particular person."

A moment of silence ensued as everyone looked at one another.

Prim was the one to ask the next question. "Who does it protect from?"

"I don't know." Numi extended her narrow wings in a semblance of a shrug. "I can't tell. It might have to do with my appraisal level? But I feel like that's a really, really deep secret. So my appraisal levels would have to be high to find out.”

She handed it back to Alice, who looked at it doubtfully.

"I think I'll keep this for now, and then when you level up your appraisal, you can take another look at it," Alice said, slipping it into her pocket.

"No," Prim interjected, "wear it."

The other dragons nodded in agreement.

"You want me to wear this?" She looked at the medallion again. The chain was long, thin, and very fine, although it wasn't a particularly pretty shade of gold—more brassy than pretty. She could slip it under her shirt.

"Yes," Prim said emphatically. "We can protect ourselves, but if you are gone, all is lost."

"But I'm not a fighter," Alice protested.

She extended her hand to Iggy, who shook his head. "I have my Ultimate Armor. That protects me. Besides, I have the feeling that whatever this medallion protects against, it isn't muskrats."

"Mabel stole it from one of the Workers," Numi reminded him.

Perhaps the man feared his employer and had commissioned the magical object to protect himself… just in case.

That was something Alice understood well, having been a General Laborer all her life. Nobles, and people in power, always abused that power. Always.

Perhaps her dragons had a point.

What would become of them if something dire were to happen to Alice?

The chain was long, likely meant for a man. She clasped it, then slipped it over her head, allowing the medallion to fall under her shirt, sitting right in the middle of her chest, over her heart.

Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt a shiver, which she suspected might be magic.

"Alice, you have an aspect token. Maybe you can give me an assistant," Numi needled, slithering up to her.

"No, if anybody is getting an assistant, it will be me. I will certainly need more help managing all of you," Prim declared.

Numi turned to her. "You don't need another assistant to help boss people around."

Alice rose, gesturing to calm her dragons' squabbling. They subsided, and with Prim on her shoulder providing an illusion, Numi scuttling under the grass in search of objects that had been dropped, and Iggy flying overhead, they made their way out of the park and back through the city.

The sun was setting beyond the horizon, glittering in the glimpses she caught of the sea. It would be dark very soon, and she had to figure out what to do next.

Perhaps it was because she had spoken her fears of dark classers aloud, but Alice felt lighter of heart than usual. She wasn’t even overly worried about being out when the Workers were around. After all, her visible tag was that of an Apprentice Merchant. That gave her some additional security. She wasn't easy prey anymore.

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Most importantly, she had her dragons.

On the other hand, she supposed she would be a target if anybody was looking for ransom money.

And, just as she had that thought, a figure stepped out of an alleyway in front of her.

Though he was a full-grown man, he was no taller than Alice herself. He had a twitchy way about him, to the extent that Alice wondered if his clothing was infested with lice. She had dealt with an infestation like that once in the General Laborer barracks, until the nobleman had finally called for purging magic a few months later, once it finally hit the main house. They were bothersome, but not to that extent.

The man stared at her, jumpy and twitchy, and Alice got the impression he was trying to decide to run away or fight.

He must have picked a third option.

“Give me all your money, girl," he demanded.

Alice should have been frightened, but staring at him and seeing the Known Criminal tag over his head emblazoned in red—a punishment handed down to those caught thieving before—she just felt pity for him.

“You don't want to do this,” she said. “I’m going to give you this chance to change your mind."

Her kindness was met with derision. The man sneered, "Oh, you will, will you? Give me all of your money, you little chit, or I'll slit you from ear to pretty ear." Then he pulled out a wicked-looking knife, suitable for skinning game.

Alice felt a bolt of something—it was like fear, only she wasn't afraid. Was it excitement? A thrill? Almost as if the man had given her permission. She didn't have time to dwell on it. Instead, at the appearance of the knife, she signaled.

Iggy dropped down from above, fire already leaping off his claws. He landed on the man's back.

The man screamed and turned around, swinging wildly with the wicked-looking knife. To Alice's horror, she saw the knife nick off Iggy's hide.

Alice stepped forward, fist clenched, ready to confront the man herself.

"Alice, no," Prim said, on her shoulder. "Let him handle this."

“At least you’re good for something!I just leveled up my Fire Claws!" Iggy snarled, still holding onto the man's neck and shoulders, biting at the hand that reached back to try and rip him away.

All thoughts of Alice forgotten, the man broke and ran. Iggy lifted off and flew back toward Alice.

She lifted her hands, and her brave defender flew into her arms. His scales were shockingly hot to the touch, but she cuddled him close.

"We need to go," she said.

The streets were empty as always, but she saw a light illuminate a window not too far away. People would be out to find out what that noise had been about soon, and if that man had friends...

She quickly turned and walked in the other direction, taking the first street she found, then the next, and the next. It brought her downhill, close to the harbor and the smell of fish, but she didn't care.

Her features shifted as Prim changed her appearance several times, each different as they passed by someone else. Though Iggy was in her arms, from the outside, it looked like Alice was hauling a carry sack.

Finally, near the water's edge, Alice paused and looked down at her dragon. "Are you hurt? Where did the knife cut you? Is it bad?"

"No, I have Ultimate Armor. Look, I leveled it up, too,” Iggy replied.

He was incredibly pleased with himself, twisting his long body to show off his red and gold scales, which were completely free of marks.

"And the man was rich," Numi piped up, near Alice's ankles.

She looked down, realizing she hadn't given a thought of the green dragon at all. She’d been so quiet, and Prim had cloaked her in the illusion of an orange cat with a rat in its mouth.

In actuality, Numi had a leather pouch clutched in her claws.

Alice stared. "Are you certain you don't have a pickpocketing skill?"

"No, I have a ‘finding coins’ skill," Numi said, missing the sarcasm completely. "Plus, he just dropped it." The dragon deftly opened the leather pouch and peered inside, her claws as adept as a silk embroiderer's fingers. "Wow, he must have robbed a lot of people." She began sorting through it, picking out jewelry. "Worthless, worthless, costume jewelry, worthless... Ooh, a ruby." She pulled out a rather heavy-looking ring and held it up to Alice. “My appraising skill says this one is real, too. There are some coins in here as well... all copper."

"You can have the copper coins, if you want," Alice said tiredly, taking the ring. It was too large and gaudy for her own fingers, and she wasn't sure if she could wear it even if she wanted to, without being able to make a fist.

She would have to sell it but had no idea where. Perhaps she could drop it off anonymously at the police station?

The wind picked up, and she looked out, realizing how close she was to the sea. It wasn't a clear view, as the harbor was currently stuffed with boats, all returned from their daily fishing. The waves seemed a little high to her, and the ships were bobbing up and down.

She wondered if she had enough money, could she board one of the ships and leave for other shores? It was a tempting thought, but surely, she couldn't hide her dragons aboard a ship.

Beyond, the clouds were building, taking on an orange and red glow in the setting sun. In fact, they were building quite fast into thunderheads.

"There's a storm coming," Alice said.

“The skies are angry," Prim said, following her gaze. "Though… This storm smells odd."

"Odd how?" Alice asked.

The dragon shook her head. "I don't know. It doesn't feel natural."

"Maybe a mage storm," Alice suggested. “Sometimes Weather mages create storms to help with Farmer’s crops outside the city.”

She continued walking, though all of them kept an eye on the building clouds. They seemed to grow higher and higher, impossibly high, as if they wanted to loom over the city.

The wind kicked up, warm one second, bitterly freezing cold the next.

The feeling in the air became oppressive, and all Alice wanted was to return to the hotel room or find a shelter.

There were a couple of likely-looking inns, but when she knocked, the doors remained firmly shut.

Then, the world lit up around her as lightning started to flash in the building thunderheads.

She quickly ducked under the eve of a closed general store, then leaned out to peak up to the sky.

Lightning bounced from one cloud to the next, joined by more bolts, until the whole sky was filled with lightning.

This wasn’t normal.

"What's going on?" Numi asked.

Alice picked her up, holding her dragon close. "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling."

"The lightning is forming shapes of animals. Look," Iggy said, flying close.

"That is not normal lightning," Prim agreed.

She was right.

Though it put images in the back of Alice’s eyes if she looked too long, she saw the lightning was taking on formless shapes of monsters with teeth and raking claws.

And she was not the only one who saw it.

Alarms went out across the city. Bells started to ring, and a long, whining alarm sounded through the air like a long wail.

One that stirred vague memories from her childhood.

"What is that?" Numi asked, looking around.

"It's the call," Alice said, "a call for all the city's fighters and defenders to come together.” She swallowed hard through a dry throat. “We are about to be under attack.”