by Charley Case
“Yeah,” Garret took up the narrative. “They rebelled and cocked up the whole works. They’ve changed their appearance enough that they look more or less like Peabrains. They’ve infiltrated everything up on the surface, always looking for a way to get back home. We told ‘em this was our home now. The war has settled down, now that the Elemental shook things up, but mark my words, it won’t be long before we see them cockin’ things up again.”
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out,” Finn reassured them.
“See that you do. If they get wind there’s a ship on Earth, they’ll stop at nothing to steal it,” Hermin said, smacking a fist into his palm. “The tall bastards.”
“So, what artifact are you looking for in particular?” Finn asked, getting them back on track. “And why do you need me to find it? Can’t you locate it?”
“You know how hard it is for anyone but a dwarf to find dwarven artifacts.” Garret frowned at him as if Finn were particularly dense. “You people run a different kind of energy than the rest of us. We could find it, but it would be more trouble than it’s worth, and it would probably be too late by then anyway.”
Hermin waved the argument away. “We’re looking for the Helm of Awe.”
Finn’s brows rose. “One of Fafnir’s creations? That’s the one that makes you invulnerable to everything for an hour, right? You guys aren’t messing around. Okay, I can locate it for you. What do you say we meet back here in three days?”
“You think you can find it in three days?” Hermin sounded doubtful.
“I can find anything in three days,” Finn smirked. “Procuring it might be a problem, but leave that to me. Hopefully, it’s just buried and forgotten somewhere, and I can dig it up, no fuss. Either way, I’ll have something for you by then.”
They all shook hands, and the Huldu were about to leave when Finn remembered the whole reason he and Mila were here together. “Hey, guys. Could you tell me one more thing?”
The Huldu turned back, and Hermin nodded. “If we know.”
“Have either of you heard of a group going by the name ‘the Dark Star?’” Finn pulled the picture of Jeff and Mila out of his pocket. “They took a friend of ours, and we’re hoping to get some info on his whereabouts.”
The two gnomes took the photo and looked at it, but Finn noticed the elf woman in her stall next to them stiffen at the name.
“I’ve heard the name mentioned a few times, but we don’t spend much time above ground. But this guy,” Hermin pointed to the picture, “we’ve talked to on a number of occasions. Jeff would find us the occasional dwarven-made artifact when we were in a tight spot. He wasn’t very good at it, but better than most. And he had the ability to use most of them, which is rare if a dwarf doesn’t pass on the right words. When did he go missing?”
“About a week ago,” Mila said.
“Well, I’ll do what digging I can, but like I said, we spend most of our time underground.” He handed back the photo. “We’ll see you in three days.”
Finn nodded and turned to talk to the elf, but she was gone.
“What’s wrong?” Mila asked when she saw him lean into the booth and look around.
“That elf seemed to know who this Dark Star is, or she’d at least had heard the name. She reacted when I said it to the Huldu.” Finn frowned, then pulled out the box of chews and popped one in his mouth. He handed a second one to Penny without even looking, and she cooed her appreciation.
“Maybe we can catch her in three days.” Mila stifled a yawn. “I don’t know about you, but I am beat. I need to sleep, or I’m going to pass out. I don’t suppose you have a place to stay?”
“I can find a hotel or something.” Finn smiled and waved her concern away.
She huffed and took him by the arm, heading for the exit. “Not without any money, you can’t. Come on, you two can stay on my couch.”
They headed out of the market and back up to the surface streets. The night had progressed without them, and it was well into the three o’clock hour by the time they passed the Refinery, its lights out and doors locked up. Even the cops were gone.
They walked in silence for a bit, weaving their way block by block back to the alley where she had parked her Hellcat. As they waited for the light to change on Market Street and a few cars to pass, Penny asked a question.
“Chee shiri que. Qui ches?” She was riding Finn’s shoulder closest to Mila and had directed the question to her.
“I’m sorry, Penny. I don’t understand,” Mila apologized.
Finn chuckled softly. “It’s quite all right. Faerie Dragon is a pretty difficult language to understand. It took me years to be fluent, and I was raised learning draconic languages. She said, ‘you have research computers here on Earth. Do you have one at your home?’. She wants to do some background research for the Helm of Awe. That’s usually how we start a search.”
They crossed the street and turned right while Mila tried to understand the request.
“Like the internet?”
Finn and Penny shrugged at the same time. “I suppose. Is this internet some kind of database?”
“Yeah, it’s… well, it’s everything. If it’s been written or talked about, there’s probably something somewhere on there about it. But you’ll have to dig for the really rare stuff. You can use my laptop. I’ll set you up when we get inside.” She pointed to a set of glass doors on the last building on the block and pulled out her keys.
With a practiced hand, she turned the lock and opened the door for them in one smooth movement. They followed her into a small lobby with mailboxes on the wall and a small table with a vase of flowers in its center. A staircase wrapped around a small elevator, and there was a door marked 101, and one marked 102, cater-cornered from one another. Mila pressed the button for the elevator, and the doors opened immediately.
They walked in, and she pressed the button for the fourth floor. The doors closed with a ding, and the car began a slow but steady climb.
“I don’t know why they installed such a slow elevator in this building. They rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up only ten years ago. For as much as I spent on this place, you would think they could have put out for a good elevator,” Mila complained, clutching her key a little tightly.
Finn could tell she was nervous about letting him and Penny into her place, and he couldn’t blame her. He decided to try to break the tension.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just worried that Danica will flip out when she sees you sleeping on the couch in the morning,” she confessed.
Finn laughed, remembering the awkward conversation he and Danica had had on the street. “I think she’ll be fine. She seems like a smart girl who would be hard-pressed to be truly shocked.”
Mila laughed. “I hope you’re right.”
The elevator opened, and Finn saw there were only two units on this level as well. On one side was 402, but Mila went to the other, marked 404, and inserted her key.
The place was pretty big and felt even more so with the lack of walls. Everything, from the ceiling to the floors, was made of rich, golden-colored wood, giving the open warehouse a warm, inviting feel. The kitchen with its large dark-granite-topped island flowed directly into a large, open living room with a deep L-shaped couch and a large TV on a stand. Finn could also see some sort of office area with built-in desk and bookshelves. The front wall was floor-to-ceiling windows with a wraparound balcony that looked out on the baseball stadium a few blocks over.
“Wow. This place is really nice,” Finn admired, running his fingers over the polished granite counter.
“Yeah, I know.” Mila gave a half-smile of pride, looking around her condo. “This and my car and the only things I spend money on. Even then, I need a roommate to help pay the mortgage, so I can save a little each month. This city is murder for housing. Come on, I’ll show you the computer and teach you how to get on the internet.”
She took them to the office nook and woke her la
ptop, then opened the browser. She explained the concept of websites quickly, and how to use Google, then went to get Finn some bedding.
“What do you think?” Finn asked Penny once Mila had walked through one of the several doors along one wall.
“Chi shir?”
Finn gave her a sour look. “About her, dummy. This place, all of it.”
Penny considered for a second, then gave a sharp nod and shot a smoke ring from her nostril.
“Yeah, I like her too,” Finn agreed. “She took the market way better than I thought she would. Just admit it, it’s fate.”
Penny rolled her eyes, and instead of answering, began slowly typing into the search bar.
“Here are some blankets and pillows,” Mila said, making Finn turn and head her way. “I didn't know if Penny needed her own or not, so I just brought two of each.”
“That’s perfect, thank you.” He took the folded blankets, and she dropped the pillows on the couch.
“Okay, well, that door there is for the bathroom. If you want a shower in the morning, you can use mine when I’m done. I usually get up by seven, but I have a feeling I’ll be sleeping in a little after our late night. I already emailed my boss and told him I’ll be off the next couple of days, so no worries there. If there’s nothing else, I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, and feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge. Not that there’s much in there.” She stifled a yawn and headed to her room. “Night.” She gave a wave then closed her door.
Finn laid out one of the blankets on the long part of the couch and made a nice little nest out of the other on the short end for Penny. He tossed both pillows to his side and began taking off his boots.
“You going to be on there for a while, or are you going to sleep first?” he asked Penny, who was getting the hang of the computer fairly quickly, and her tapping talons became faster with each passing second.
“Shee tirp,” she said without taking her eyes off the screen.
“Okay, well, wake me if anything happens.” He dropped his jacket on the chair beside the couch, followed by his harness and black shirt.
“Cirri?” She looked over her shoulder just so he could see the bewildered look on her face.
“I don’t know,” he said defensively, unbuckling his pants and stripping down to his boxer briefs. “Anything. I didn’t like the look that elf had when I mentioned the Dark Star. It’s got me a little jumpy.” He slipped under the blanket and fluffed the pillows. “Aw, man. Can you get the lights? I think it was that switch there.” He pointed to the one beside the door.
Penny huffed but took off. She swooped through the open space and slapped the switch, plunging the condo into relative darkness. The lights of the city sill shone in through the large windows, but it was a calming, warm light that reminded Finn of being out among the stars.
Suddenly, a bright sliver of light cut across the room, making Finn sit up and look toward the kitchen.
The refrigerator door was cracked open and a dragon butt was hanging out of it.
Finn rolled his eyes and flopped back down onto the pillow.
Some things were the same, whether he was in space or on Earth. Penny’s stomach was one of them.
Chapter Twelve
Mila stripped down to her gray t-shirt and panties before washing her face and brushing her teeth. She thought about getting in a quick shower after spending all day in the dirt, but she was too tired to even contemplate it, so she just washed her face quickly and climbed into bed.
She started to think about how insane things had gotten when she stopped for gas like she had a thousand times before, but before her mind could really get going, she was out, the sweet darkness taking her before she even knew it had happened.
Her dreams were odd, to say the least. First of all, she immediately knew they were dreams, which never happened to her. Usually, she would toss and turn until she woke up wondering why she was scared of a pair of underwear chasing her through her old high school, but at the time, it seemed like the most threatening thing in the world.
This dream, though, wasn’t so much surreal as it was just plain confusing. All the people on Earth stood shoulder to shoulder in a line that disappeared into a shapeless, black void. They all seemed to be frozen except her. She walked along the line and saw people of every nationality, and when those were done, she began to see people of different races. Elves, trolls, ents, goblins; you name it, there was a representative in line. She walked and walked, the line of people never-ending and never the same person twice. She couldn’t understand what was happening, then she nearly jumped out of her skin when one person stepped forward.
It was a human woman with dark hair and a police badge on her hip. The woman looked around, smiled at her, and motioned for Mila to follow. The woman began to be surrounded by bubbles, and just when Mila thought the bubbles couldn’t get any thicker, the whole mess disappeared with a pop, taking the woman with them.
“What the hell?”
Mila was very confused and looked up and down the line for some sort of clarification. She saw another person far down the line step forward. Within seconds, they too were surrounded by bubbles and popped from existence. The same happened with another person.
She got the feeling that it was happening all down the line. Not a common occurrence, but not exactly rare, either.
A fluttering on her cheeks distracted her, and she swiped at the sensation, but there was nothing there. Then her other cheek was tickled.
The odd world around her began to fade as the dream receded. With each new flutter on her skin, she woke up more and more, until she was pulled from the dream altogether, and she sat up in bed, sucking in a breath.
She blinked and was trying to figure out what was happening when she caught a fluttering movement in the dark. Reaching over, she turned on the bedside lamp and saw that a large moth had flown in through her window.
Most people wouldn’t think it odd that a moth was in their room if they left the window open, but Mila was not most people. She and bugs had a special relationship. They didn’t come into her house, and she didn’t mess with them. It was a deal they had made when she was too young to understand how odd it was to make deals with bugs, but they had listened. From that day forward, she had done her best to not disturb them, and she had never seen anything, not even an ant, in any home she had ever lived in.
So seeing a moth in her room made the hairs on her neck stand on end. Not to mention having one wake her out of a dead sleep.
The large bug fluttered toward her door, beckoning her to follow.
Mila raised an eyebrow, then slowly reached under her bed and found the handle of the cricket bat she kept under there and pulled it out. Cricket was an awful sport, in Mila’s opinion, but its equipment made for an amazing weapon.
She hefted the bat onto her shoulder, edge side out, and slipped out of bed, her bare feet not making a sound on the wooden floor. She crept to the door and listened. She heard of light snoring and occasional spates of rapid taps. It took her a second to realize was Penny typing on her laptop.
Mila gave the moth a look like, “What the hell, dude?” but it just flapped its wings more urgently.
She sighed and quietly opened her door, slipping out into the living room. The clock on the wall said it was a quarter to five, and she nearly groaned when she realized she had only been asleep for an hour or so.
She saw the still form of Finn sprawled on the couch, one leg and his bare chest uncovered by the blanket as he snored lightly. Then she saw the nest he had built for Penny, which made her say, “Aw,” and pout her bottom lip.
The sound made Penny spin from the keyboard and look at her. “Shrii?” She opened her wings, and with two quick pumps, flew over and landed on the back of the couch in front of Mila. She took in the bat and quickly looked around the room for a threat. “Chi, chir?”
“I don’t know what’s up. A moth just woke me from a dead sleep and wanted me to check on something out he
re,” Mila said, not exactly understanding Penny, but getting the drift.
Penny cocked her head and raised a questioning eyebrow.
Mila shrugged. “It’s complicated. But the only thing I can think is that something was trying to hurt me. Maybe it mistook you two as intruders? That doesn’t make sense, though. I’ve had lots of people here, and this has never happened before.”
“Squeeee?” Penny gave her a knowing look.
Mila rolled her eyes. “Not, like, an inordinate amount, but a few. A girl has needs.”
Penny smiled and was about to say something when the front door burst open and four guys in black with masks on came pouring in.
Mila screamed and raised the bat, but before she could take a step toward the intruders, Finn was awake and leaping over the couch.
In three bounds, he was upon them.
The first guy had no clue what happened when Finn’s rock-hard fist slammed into his face and drove him to the floor in an unconscious heap. The second guy was lifted into the air as Finn slammed a knee into his groin, then punched him in the chest, making the guy wheeze as he slammed into a wooden pillar and cracked his head.
The other two were a little quicker on the uptake and spread out to attack from both sides. With a flick of their wrists, they deployed foldable batons like riot police carried.
Mila saw that Finn didn’t hesitate to charge the one closest to the door. The intruder behind him charged right after, his baton raised and aimed at the dwarf’s head.
Mila was on the guy before he had a chance to swing, and her cricket bat vibrated in her hands as it made contact with the back of the guy’s head, sending him to the ground, completely limp.
Finn had the third guy in a headlock, his arms clamping down with bulging muscles. Mila took a step back at the intensity on Finn’s face. Where he was normally all smiles, he had transformed into a beast. His teeth were bared, and foam had gathered at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were nearly gray instead of their normal brown. For the first time, Mila was actually frightened of the man.