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To Dream of Darkness

A story by DoggyStyle57

Chapter 14, Written December 2011

===

Chapter 14 - Exploring the city - seeking employment

For the next several months, Darla and Ashley, as they now called themselves, planned to explore the city, and observe and learn the ways of this new world.

They arose early and walked to the city, waiting in the pre-dawn light as the guards at the city gates checked those who wished to pass beyond the first ring of city walls. As they passed through the city gates in their usual vixen forms, they encountered a human mage wearing a strange set of lenses over his eyes. He was looking at each traveler carefully as they passed him. He beckoned to Darla and Ashley, saying, "You two vixens. You are together? Come here, please."

"Yes, my lord mage? Is there a problem?" Darla asked demurely, as they approached him.

"I hope not," the mage replied earnestly. He pointed to Ashley, and asked, "Is this one with you, and in your service? You know her true nature?"

"She is, and I do. I should, as I summoned her to serve me. Is that a problem? We have broken no laws that I am aware of, good sir, and we trouble no one," Darla replied. "I have merely come to town with my servant to do some shopping, and to see the sights of the city."

"See that you do not permit her to cause trouble, and that ye cause none yourself," he said. "You seem young to have such a powerful servant, but as long as neither of you causes trouble here, you may pass freely. Good day to ye, young sorceress."

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Darla said, when they were past the gates and walking down the cobblestone streets. "Those strange lenses let him know what you are?"

"They probably have mirrors in them, as well as enchantments to detect glamours and illusions," Ashley stated. "A mirror in one lenses path and none in the other would have shown him my true form, overlaid on my appearance. Likely they try to make sure no dangerous creatures enter the city. But we should remember that these people have ways to know what I am."

"What an amazing place this is," Darla said quietly to Ashley, as they got further down the street. She looked up at one of the lamp posts, which was still lit. "What sort of magic allows these post-lamps to burn all night long, and never run out of lamp oil? I could see them glowing all night from our room in the inn."

"That is not magic, Mistress. I have seen that method of lighting in a few other realms where I have served. It is called 'gas light'. They have a clever system of pipes beneath the street, which connect to a central plant where great machines use coal to make a flammable gas. The more wealthy homes and the most prosperous businesses here may also manage to have this coal gas piped into their buildings, for a source of light and heat that can burn without the need to constantly replace candles or lamp oil."

"How very clever of them!" Darla said. "Why do they not have this 'gas light' in our inn?"

"Probably because it is too far from the city, Mistress. It costs too much to run the pipes out so far, and they leak too much. The machines that provide the source of the gas are quite complex, and too expensive and hard to maintain for them to place them anywhere but in a city of some size. In time, they will learn to control it better, but it is still new here," Asha said. "As well ask why they do not use magic to provide light everywhere. The spells exist, but the number of mages that can cast the spells is limited, and a single mage can only cast just so many spells in a given time. Spells wear off when their magic is used up. No mage would want to spend all of their time as a mere lamp lighter, going house to house renewing that one simple spell."

"I imagine not," Darla said. Before she could say more, a strange rumbling noise could be heard, growing strong enough to be felt as a vibration in the ground, and then the air reverberated with a screeching whistle, and she could see a plume of smoke moving rapidly beyond a row of buildings. "What manner of creature makes such a strange noise, and belches such smoke?" she asked. "I heard its mournful wailing in the distance from the inn a few times, but I could not see what it was.

"I think I know, Mistress. Let us go and see," said the fire elemental with a grin.

They walked down the street and turned the corner, and came to a platform where many people were moving around a great construct of black iron, with iron wheels, and complex gears and pistons connecting them. The smoke was coming from a chimney atop it, and steam vented from several places on its sides and undercarriage.

"I see it is as I thought," Ashley said smugly. "That large black thing, Mistress, is a 'locomotive', or a 'steam engine'. It is a steam-powered machine that hauls a train of carriages down iron tracks, from one place to another. Some burn coal, and others burn wood, and still others use an elemental to heat their boiler. The steam moves complicated parts in the machine and drives the wheels, with no need for horses. They are very powerful, and can haul a great deal of weight, but they require a great expense to construct the engines and lay the tracks, and much work to maintain. This land appears to have many inventions that did not exist where you came from."

"Do you know of many such strange innovations?" Darla asked, as she gazed at the huge machine in wonder. "Why have you not mentioned them before this?"

"Some, yes," Ashley replied. "Mostly I am aware of those devices that use fire or flame in some way, as they draw my attention. I have served in twenty seven different realms, Mistress. Many are as your realm was, using horses, swords and crossbows. Some are like this one, with gas lights, steam machines, and they also have explosive powders and weapons like a crossbow without the bow, that use those explosive powders to propel a lead ball or bullet a great distance, and with lethal force. I saw a guard by the city gate that was carrying a simple gunpowder weapon. I can explain to you any device which we see, and that I have encountered before. I will recall them as soon as I see them. But I cannot say if I have seen wonders more advanced than these. There is something about travel between the realms that prevents me from remembering that which is not yet known in the realm I am in. I am sorry, Mistress. It is a limitation I cannot overcome."

"There is much to learn, then," Darla said. "I like not this talk of weapons even more powerful than crossbows. I must learn a defense against these new threats."

===

For the next several months, they would go into the city proper while posing as a variety of easily-forgotten individuals - a flower seller, a traveling herb seller, or a maid out shopping for her Mistress. They would also pose as various feral animals, dogs, cats and ferrets being plentiful in their four-legged forms here, as they observed the vibrant city life. Darla found and purchased many books on the new 'technologies' of this realm, as well as new books on magic that she had never seen before. She had to buy two more chests to store her books in, so she could keep them on her necklace. They gained a small amount of money while selling flowers that Ashley would gather for her Mistress in the countryside, but they were spending far more than they earned.

"I need a proper way to earn money, Ashley," Darla said at last, as she looked at the greatly diminished contents of her chest that had contained the coins and jewels she had brought from their former realm. The last of the gold, silver and copper coins had been melted down and sold, and she had but a handful of local gold and silver coins left, plus two handfuls of gems that she could still sell. "Perhaps I can apprentice myself to a mage, and be paid to work for them as I learn. Let us see if M'Lady Portia would make such a bargain with us.

===

It took them two weeks to find M'Lady Portia. The canine mage changed her lodging frequently, and on an unpredictable basis. After checking at the docks in the city, they finally located her in a dockside inn. They shared a glass of wine, and then they went to the mage's room to talk.

"It took us some effort to find you again. Why do you change your lodging so frequently, M'Lady?" Darla asked. "Is not the inn we met at to your liking?"

"I like that place quite well, but perhaps that is why I stay there only rarely," Portia replied, as she sat comfortably facing the two young vixens. "A bounty hunter makes enemies. A mage that summons an elemental, only to have it destroyed by me, may not take kindly to the loss. I have killed two vampires since we met. Vampires rarely come out of nowhere - they usually have clans that act like extended families, and those clans seek to get revenge on anyone who kills a vampire in their clan. If I remain in one place for too long, they will find me, and attack me there. It is an endless cycle of revenge, no matter how many of them I slay."

That declaration gave Darla pause. It sounded all too familiar to her own past, and her never-ending battle with the church and the villagers. "I see. I can understand that. But if it is so dangerous, why do you do it? Why not seek a more peaceful life elsewhere?"

"Because I am good at it, and there is a need for my services. Because good people would suffer if I walk away, and turn my back on my calling. And because I have no one who would mourn my loss, if I fall in this never-ending battle. I have tried going to other worlds, and starting over. It always ends up the same, for me. I find a fight I can't avoid, or the fight finds me, and the cycle starts all over again. It is my fate, I guess. But I don't think you came here to talk about my work. How have you been faring here? You look well, and it's been more than three months. Staying out of trouble? Still living at the inn where we met?"

"We are well, yes. And still at the same inn. I have learned a lot about this world, in the last three months. But I need a reliable income. The funds I brought with me will not last forever. My magic is strong. Perhaps you could use an apprentice to stand beside you? Two - or three, counting Ashley's aid - can fight better than one alone, can they not?" Darla asked, hopefully. "I could learn from you, and if I help you to earn more, perhaps that could pay for my books, and my upkeep."

"I am sorry, but no," Portia said, standing and walking to the door. "I will not cause another to walk my path, and an apprentice would be a liability for me. I would constantly need to make sure you were safe, and that distraction could cost both of us our lives, or our very souls, in a battle with the creatures I hunt. Find another mentor. One who won't cost you your life."

"You won't have to protect me! I fear no creature that you may face, and I can hold my own in any fight. I have had deadly enemies before, and here I stand, alive and unscathed, and those enemies are dead!" Darla said angrily.

"My answer is final," Portia said, pointedly opening the door for them to leave her room. "There are things that you should fear, if you want to survive. Be on your way. I will not reconsider."

===

Darla approached more than two dozen other city mages, seeking apprenticeship. Some turned her down swiftly, while others tested her skills, and were impressed with her abilities, but in the end, they too declined to accept her.

Only one admitted that he was refusing her because of a darkness he could sense within her - an anger or some other dark emotion that tainted her mind and efforts.

No one, it seemed, wanted to hire her. And to work on her own as a mage or even as an herbalist in or near this city, she would need to rent a shop, and pay the city for a permit, and she couldn't afford to do that. Darla returned to the inn, dejected and dismayed.

In the common room, the wolf wench, Meridith came to Darla and asked, "What will ye have, M'Lady?"

"Cider. No, make that a strong wine. Thank you, Merry," Darla said.

The barmaid brought the drink, and took the few coppers for it, but lingered, asking, "Troubles, M'Lady? Y'know, sometimes, folks pay us girls just ta listen, and not ta warm their beds at night. We gets ta bein' pretty good listeners, we do. 'Tis a slow night. I'll listen for free, if ya like. You've been generous enough to me afore this."

Darla looked at the wolf wench inquisitively, and asked, "Don't wolves only go into heat once a year, in winter? But you, ah... take coin to warm people's beds all year round, do you?"

Meridith smiled, and said without a trace of shame, "M'Lady, I'm a whore, plain and simple. Yeah, in Winter I could seek a wolf mate and bear pups. But I like sex, year round, and I want no mate to give me pups. When I'm in heat, I seek my pleasure from girls. Master Duncan, he has an agreement with the barmaids here. He pays us ta' wait tables and clean up, but not ta sleep with anyone. If we choose to seek 'night work', 'tis by our own free choice, and then what we earn we keep. I make a pretty pile of coins by whorin', I do, and I like the work. So does Molly and three other girls here. There's even a couple of ladies that comes in just at night, when they feel like it, to earn a spare coin or two while their husbands are out at sea on the merchant ships. Master Duncan looks out for us, so no one hurts us. 'Tis not a bad thing, really. If ye like, I'll even warm your bed. You might like it, M'Lady."

"You're... the second girl to offer that to me. I... never have... with a girl. Maybe. I need to think about what you've said, and what you're offering," Darla replied.