Nina made it out of the village and headed down to a field that had a bluff, leading to a beach. It had a shallow shoreline, but a very deep cove. Herby disentangled himself after they made sure they weren't followed. He chattered and barked in a dog-like manner. The other dragons swarmed around the pair, nattering to each other.
"Okay, we're going to need as much wood as possible. Three large trees should do it. But be careful when felling them!" Nina said. She pulled out her blueprints and they walked over it before Herby stood on her shoulders and looked down at the sheet of paper. He hissed at the others and they got off it quickly. He studied it for a moment, then gave several short, sharp chirps, different Terrors perking up each time he made any noise. She assumed it was when he was ordering each one to do a task that they paid attention to their names.
The dragons split off and broke into groups, all flying off into the forest. By sundown, they had most of the materials they needed to build the hull of the ship. All that was missing was the metal plating Nina wanted to line the bottom with. The sun was almost a flat line on the horizon. They all stretched and yawned, and the Terrors flew off to the bunker while she headed back to town. She was exhausted. Even though her pets had done the heavy lifting, she still felt tired.
She passed the entrance to town, her bag heavy on her shoulder, and she made it to her house as if on automatic. She opened the door and was met with the booming silence that was left in the wake of her parents' deaths. She pushed it to the side and set her belongings down, heading upstairs after closing the door. She crawled into bed and soon drifted off.