by Charley Case
Finn sucked in a breath. “It’s fine. I’ll start tracking her once we get home. Don’t want to warn them too early that we know where they are, just in case they find the spell when I activate it.” He calmed his center with a few deep breaths, then turned to Mila and smiled. “I would love to show you The Godfather. Maybe when this is all over, we can watch it.”
“We can make it a marathon. Watch all of them in a row.”
Finn blinked. “There’s more than one?”
“Yeah. Three, I think.” She laughed at his surprise.
“Then we will definitely have a marathon.” He smiled, his spirits lifted.
He looked at Mila, who was concentrating on the road, and caught Penny looking at him from his lap with a stupid grin on her face. She looked from him to Mila and back, the grin still in place, if not a little bigger. All Finn could do was shrug.
She was right, as usual.
Chapter Twenty-One
The descent into the market was quick and just as intoxicating as the first time. Finn was so used to being surrounded by magic that now that he was in a place where there was so little, the market was a little overwhelming.
Mila was right beside him, more comfortable than the first time, but also more aware of what she was seeing. She had a confidence she’d lacked the last time they were here, her shoulders back and her head up. She would nod to those who made eye contact and give a little smile to make them aware that she was in the know. It was amazing to Finn how the awoken Peabrains seemed to really take a shine to her, waving and smiling. One of the Peabrain food vendors handed her and Finn a paper plate with fair-style elephant ears covered in powdered sugar, saying welcome and waving off any payment. It seemed the Peabrain community was tight-knit here on the Earth.
Finn split his fried dough with Penny as they made their way through the market, looking for Garret and Hermin. They found the two Huldu sitting at a bar that was open to the passing crowd, sipping large steins of what looked like dark beer.
“Hello, fellas,” Finn greeted the two, giving each of them a friendly slap on the back.
Hermin, who was in mid-drink, chuffed some beer down his overalls, coughing and sputtering.
“Oh, shit. Sorry about that, Hermin. Maybe this will make you feel better.” He placed the Helm of Awe on the counter between them.
Both gnomes’ eyes went wide, and Garret picked up the helm, inspecting it. “Holy shit! You actually found the damn thing! I was just having a little wager with Hermin that you two wouldn’t show up, or if you did, you would be empty-handed.” He smiled at Mila. “Hello there.”
“Hello.” Mila waved and sat down beside Hermin at the counter. “Think that thing is worth a free round? I think Finn, Penny, and I could use a drink after the last couple of days we’ve had.”
“Absolutely.” Hermin waved to the bartender, a sleek-looking elf man in black leather pants and a deep V-neck. “Tony, another round, and three more for our friends here.”
The elf nodded and began filling more steins.
“I was sure you three would find the helm," Hermin told them. “But I must admit, now that it’s here, I can’t believe it. I knew it would take a dwarf to find it. These old artifacts have a way of staying hidden.”
“Actually,” Finn nodded to Tony in thanks for his beer, “it was mostly Mila’s and Penny’s work. I was just the muscle when we needed it.”
Mila grinned and took an embarrassed sip of beer. Penny, on the other hand, puffed out her chest and shot a victory flame into the sky, making everyone but Finn flinch back.
“Well, however you accomplished it, we are grateful.” Garret finished his first stein, eyeing the dragon warily. “A deal is a deal. We can get you the parts you need. We didn’t bring them here because they are a bit of a bother to transport, and to be honest, their value would make us a target. Not all of us are trained fighters.”
“Speak for yourself, Garret.” Hermin slapped his companion on the back. “I’ve learned a nice handful of spells in my centuries. I daresay we could handle ourselves if it came down to it.”
“Actually, there’s a problem,” Finn confessed, cutting off their bravado. “The ship is no longer under my care. I had to trade it for the helm.”
Garret and Hermin blinked confusedly at him. Hermin was the first to ask the obvious question.
“Why would you trade the ship for a helm that you would then trade for parts to fix the ship you just traded?”
Finn chuckled at the predicament. “Well, it’s a little complicated. The helm was stolen by the Dark Star’s minions, and they wanted the ship. They threatened to destroy the helm with her dark magic in downtown Denver if I didn’t cooperate, so it was either give up the ship and save the city or keep the ship and… Well, you get the idea.”
“Oh, my,” Hermin mumbled, slightly slack-jawed. “She has the ability to use dark magic? After you mentioned the Dark Star last time we met, we did a little digging. It seems they have started a movement to carve out a nation for Magicals. We thought it was just talk, like it usually is, but if she is able to use dark magic, that changes things. We need to talk to our people. Would you be willing to help us with this problem?”
Finn nodded. “I was planning on asking you to help me, but either way works, I suppose. Since we don’t need the parts for the ship anymore, I was hoping to trade a favor or two with you and your people.”
“Absolutely,” Garret chimed in right away. “This helm is worth more than a few favors, though.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Finn warned. “I’m not sure what those favors might be just yet. You might be cursing my name in a few days.”
Hermin and Garret chuckled.
“I doubt that,” Hermin assured him for the both of them. “We had a few sections of the engines that badly needed parts replaced, but we couldn’t get to them due to a lava flow blocking the way. With this, we can get down there and keep the old girl running for another thousand years.”
“Wait,” Mila held up a hand, her brows furrowed. “You’re going to use that helmet to walk through lava? It’s that powerful?”
“Oh, it’s much more powerful than that. You could walk through a black hole with this thing on.” Hermin held the rather plain bucket helmet up and rapped a knuckle on it, making it ring like a badly made bell.
“The Helm of Awe makes the wearer invincible,” Finn explained, “but only for an hour, and only once per day.”
“Then why don’t we use it to fight this Dark Star person?” Mila asked.
Finn blew out a breath before answering. “Well, we could, but the problem is she knows its time constraints, so she could just wait us out. It sounds really powerful, and it is, but many wearers of the helm have fallen in battle when their time ran out. The helm is not a good crutch to rely on. It makes its wearers sloppy when the swords and spells start flying. Besides, the Huldu have a legitimate need for it, and it’ll be safe in their keeping.”
Garret wore a smile of pride at Finn’s words about them being able to keep the helm safe. “Will you need help locating your ship? We have to stop them before they can get it off the ground. We can’t have Peabrains running around like chickens with their heads cut off at the sight of an alien spaceship floating up into the sky.” He glanced at Mila and reddened. “No offense.”
Mila shrugged. “No offense taken. You’re right, the world would lose its collective mind if the Anthem took off too close to the city.”
“I think I have the location covered.” Finn pulled a flat piece of stone from his jacket pocket, along with a small piece of purple chalk. He quickly sketched a crude compass with the chalk. “I attached a tracking spell to the hull of the ship a few days ago. This should lead us right to it.”
Everyone leaned in, watching him work. Garret and Hermin in particular were glued to his every move.
“I never thought I would get a chance to see dwarven magic,” Hermin muttered, not wanting to interrupt Finn’s work but unable to not
comment. “I had heard they didn’t use bubbles like the rest of us, but I just didn’t believe it.”
“It’s because dwarven magic is purely physical,” Finn explained as he started drawing runes around the edge of the compass’s circle. “We can’t teleport or send messages or any of that fancy stuff. Our magic is about attaching power to things or channeling things through ourselves with power. It’s why my people are the best artificers, and also why it’s so difficult for other races to figure out how to use those artifacts.” He held out the flat stone and admired his work. “There. Now I just need to power it up, and it will connect to the ship.”
He pulled the stone close to his lips and began to speak words of power into it. He had practiced enough that he knew no one could hear the words, no matter how hard they tried. After a few seconds, the chalk and stone both began to glow deep purple and the air filled with the fresh scent of pine.
Finn held the stone out so everyone could see it. The dial was now moving as if it were a real needle and not just a chalk drawing.
Mila and the others let out a little gasp when the dial spun in a circle, then sparked green and let off a small plume of smoke.
“Chi seetri?” Penny asked, raising an eye ridge.
“Yes, I did the runes in the correct order,” Finn growled, shaking the stone as if it were a malfunctioning piece of tech. “You saw what I had. It was right. The compass just didn’t have anything to connect to.”
“They must have found your marker on the ship,” Hermin suggested.
“It was a dwarven mark, though,” Garret said with a shake of his head. “They would need someone who could find dwarven markings, and Finn is the only dwarf on this ship.”
“Jeff.” Mila sighed, looking at Finn, who nodded. “He said he could find and activate dwarven artifacts in his note. They must be using him.”
“Qree chi shitri. Chits?” Penny patted Mila on the shoulder from her place on the counter.
“She’s right.” Finn grinned. “That means Jeff is with the ship. If we can find it, that puts us one step closer to saving him as well. Boys, it looks like we’ll need some help finding the ship after all. Think you can?”
Garret puffed up at the challenge. “Hell, yes, we can! We will have its location in no time.”
Hermin swirled his finger, spitting out a stream of golden light that formed a bubble on the counter. It popped, leaving behind a small stack of business cards with Hermin’s name on them.
“Here, take these. They will be the best way to reach us, and I can use the cards to find you and send messages back. Just write on the card and toss it into the air. They’ll find me wherever I am. We’ll be in touch soon.”
They all said their goodbyes, and the two gnomes hurried off into the crowd.
Finn pulled the box of Charleston Chews from his jacket and offered one to Mila as they watched them go.
“No, thanks. I could use a real meal, though. I haven’t eaten in a while.” Mila’s stomach growled just then as if to prove the point.
“Come on.” Finn stood, popping a few of the chews into his mouth. “Let’s head back to your place. I’ll make us something.”
“You can cook, too?” Mila fanned her face with an open hand. “Be still, my heart.”
Finn rolled his eyes and parted the crowd with his large body as he stepped onto the walkway between booths. “Wait until you taste my food.”
“Is it good?” Mila asked Penny, who was draped over Finn’s shoulder and looking at her.
Penny nodded vigorously, then took a bite of a chew she had nabbed on her way up from the counter.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At Mila’s apartment, Finn had found the ingredients for several meals he could make, but he decided on a simple pasta dish that would only take twenty minutes or so to prepare. A few cans of tomatoes and mushrooms, along with a chopped onion and generous amounts of spices, made a hearty sauce he put over pasta cooked in water “as salty as the sea.” A sprinkling of cheese, and they had themselves a delicious dish.
Mila opened a bottle of red wine and poured two glasses, then a third one in a small tumbler for Penny.
They sat at the counter on stools and ate in silence. Finn hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the first bite, then it was nearly a race to see who would finish their bowl first. Each of them huffed and slurped down the hot meal, and decided to fill their bowls with seconds.
“Holy shit, Finn,” Mila exclaimed after eating half her second bowl. “Where did you learn to make Italian food like this? I had no idea food made with canned goods could be so good.”
“What’s Italian food?” he asked, wiping his mustache with a paper towel before going in for another bite.
“You know, food from Italy. It’s a place in Europe.”
He frowned and looked down at the bowl of pasta in front of him. “This is a traditional Pixie dish. I didn't know you guys had anything like it on the Earth. Now I feel bad that I didn’t make something you haven’t had before.”
Mila laughed. “Don’t feel bad! It’s really good. The best I can do is add an egg to instant ramen to make it fancy.”
“What’s ‘ramen?’” Finn asked, taking another bite.
Mila’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth and she stared wide-eyed at him. “You don’t know what ramen is? Oh, my God. It’s only the most delicious food ever created. Holy shit, I can’t believe I get to take you out for your first bowl of ramen. This is better than meeting someone who’s never seen Star Wars or Firefly.”
The blank look on Finn’s face made her gasp.
“Have you not seen Star Wars or Firefly?!”
He shook his head. “Never even heard of them. I only saw what I was able to record from deep space. I must have missed those.”
“Holy shit.” She smiled so wide, he thought she was going to pull a muscle. “We are going to have the best time when we get back. Two marathons and ramen for days. Oh, man, I can’t fucking wait!”
Finn and Penny exchanged looks, nervous smiles on their faces. Mila was really excited, which meant they were going to have to be excited, even if the shows sucked. So far, though, her taste had lined up with his, so he wasn’t too worried. Still, it was a lot of pressure.
Finn finished eating first and took his bowl to the sink, then started rummaging through the cupboards, looking for something to put the leftovers in. He found some clear plastic containers with lids that would be perfect. When he stood back up, Mila was coming around the island with her and Penny’s bowls. She turned on the water and began washing up.
He put the rest of the pasta in the container and poured the thick sauce on top. He had to shake the container to get the pasta to settle enough to get the lid on properly. He had to shimmy around Mila, who was on the third bowl, the clean ones in the drying rack. Opening the refrigerator, he found a spot for the container, then wrote a little note on a sticky piece of paper on the counter that said, Danica, please help yourself and stuck it to the lid.
Mila had grabbed the pots and was starting on them.
“You don’t have to do that,” Finn said, stepping up beside her. “I made the mess, I can clean it up.”
She hip-checked him, which made her stumble to the side more than him when their difference in body weight came into play. “Get out of here. Everyone knows that if you cook, someone else cleans. Go away. I can’t clean properly with you looming over me,” she joked, hitting him with a squirt from the spout and making him jump back.
“Okay. I never like the cleaning up part anyway,” he said, his hands up in surrender as he backed up to lean on the counter and watch her.
“Shi thri!” Penny protested, hopping from the table to the counter beside the sink.
“Hey, I heard that.” Finn gave her a narrow-eyed look. “I didn’t see you cleaning up after I made dinner on the Anthem, either.”
Penny had the good sense to look chagrined.
Mila laughed. “It’s fine. I don’t mind cleaning as long
as you keep on cooking. That was one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. It’ll be nice having someone around who can cook. Danica and I are helpless in the kitchen.”
Finn watched her work, scrubbing and humming some tune he had never heard. He caught what she said, although he was sure she hadn’t. She seemed to think he would be staying with her for at least the foreseeable future. The half-smile on Penny’s face told him she had caught it as well.
Would that be a bad thing? Not in his mind, and Penny seemed to like it here, but wherever he went, he seemed to bring trouble along with him, and the last thing he wanted was to get Mila or Danica hurt. Knowing Mila, she would probably just follow him anyway, even if he told her not to. She didn’t take well to being told what she could and couldn’t do, which was one of the things he liked about her.
The universe will provide.
It was a saying he tried to live by, and so far, it hadn’t let him down. Sure, there were thin times, and times when he wasn’t sure he and Penny were going to make it, but they always did. Maybe Mila was how the universe was providing for him now.
Finn frowned. It seemed a little one-sided to him. She wasn’t getting nearly the same thing out of their meeting that he was. Then again, what did he know? Maybe this was exactly what she needed.
He opened his mouth to broach the subject with her when the door burst open, and a sweating and out of breath Danica stumbled into the room. Finn had Fragar half out of its holster before he realized she wasn’t in danger.
She wore a pair of white leggings and a matching sports bra, along with running shoes. She gave them a big smile and pulled her earbuds out.
“Hey, guys,” she said between gulping breaths. “I thought you would still be gone.” She opened the fridge and took out a water bottle, downing half of it before coming up for air. “How did the swap meet go?”