Gareth and th Lost Island (16 page)

“Gods,” was all Gareth managed to say. He couldn’t
imagine the pain and terror Izzy had gone through when she was only
12.

“I had given up when suddenly I saw the most
beautiful thing ever - the beat up bow of a freighter smashing
through my wall. Ironically, it was a freighter my parents had been
considering decommissioning the week before. The airship reversed
its course and lowered its cargo ramp. The captain of the ship and
his cargomaster ran in, scooped up me and Elizabeth, and then got
us to safety,” Izzy stated.

She ran her hand affectionately along the wood
railing next to where she sat. “The captain of the Glorious Dawn
had run into bad weather and was several hours past due. While they
were still off of the coast, Captain Dunning could see the docks
ablaze. He had been friends with both my parents for many years, so
he burned all of their available Aetherium ore to get to our home.
Once he got there, he found the whole house on fire. He had given
up hope when he suddenly saw me open my window. Dunning had always
been a man of action and decided ramming the house would be the
quickest way to get me out of that inferno,” she said. “Dunning and
I used what was left of my parents’ money to pay for the best
medical attention we could get for Elizabeth,” she added.

Gareth felt guilty for ever having any negative
thoughts about the airship he was on. The fact that it was used to
save Izzy’s life would forever change how he perceived the old
girl. “What happened to Captain Dunning?” he inquired.

“He retired about four years ago and made Elizabeth
captain. He’s living on a tropical island with a native girl he
married. We stop by every now and then. Of course after our last
visit, we’ll give him warning that we’re coming. It will give him a
chance to put some clothes on,” she chuckled. “Okay Professor,
enough about my past. I would like to hear about what we are
actually doing on this voyage. It’s obviously more than just some
simple archeology expedition,” she said.

“This all started when there was a disagreement over
me getting tenure at the University Arcanum. To settle the matter
and to prove myself, the powers that be gave me what they thought
was an impossible quest. They told me to find the Lost Island of
Mascal. Tralnis, Henry, and I also thought it was an impossible
quest until Henry noticed something about a clay tablet that
supposedly had something to do with Mascal. The tablet had markings
on it a language that, that as far as I know, I’m the only one who
can read. A language I don’t remember learning,” he told her.

“Huh?” Izzy said, slightly confused.

“When the fisherman found me in my lifeboat, I knew
my name and how old I was but nothing else. I had no memories of
life before that. To make matters worse, I spoke a language no one
had ever heard before so I couldn’t even tell anyone my name.
Luckily, I picked up the Trade language incredibly fast and was
able to tell the orphanage workers my name after only a week,” he
stated.

Getting back on track, Gareth said, “A small part of
me wants to complete this quest so I can rub the pompous assholes’
noses in it before I tell them I won’t ever teach for them again
for as long as I live. The rest of me is hoping I can find out more
about where I came from… and what I am.”

Izzy frowned and asked, “What do you mean what you
are?”

Gareth took in a deep breath to center himself. He
liked Izzy and knew the only way things could possibly work out
between them was if she knew the secret he hid. “I always thought I
was some sort mutant, a person with a genetic abnormality. But now
I’m not so sure,” he said.

Looking him up and down, Izzy tried to see what he
was talking about. From what she could see, he looked like a
regular human to her. Her gaze paused a little below his belt and
she blushed when she caught herself hoping everything down there
worked normally. “Alright, out with it. Where you born with a
center mouth like an Ur, or seven toes on each foot? What I can see
looks like grade ‘A’ human stock to me,” she stated.

“Do you remember the statues in the altar room?” he
inquired, seemingly at random. Izzy nodded her head yes. “It’s more
than just a mysterious language that ties me to this puzzle now,”
he said as he used his hand to brush back sandy blonde hair from
his pointed ears.

Izzy stood up from her seat on the canon and stepped
closer to Gareth. “Other than the ears, anything else different
from us run of the mill humans?” she asked teasingly.

“Not that Tralnis and I could find. My insides might
be different, but without cutting me open, we’ll never know,” he
answered.

Her thoughts went back to when she was looking him
over. “Good,” she said. Raising her hand, she traced the edge of
his pointed ear with her finger. “For what it’s worth, I think your
ears are rather attractive, Professor,” she whispered. She shifted
her hand to weave her fingers through the hair at the base of his
neck. Using that hand, she gently pulled his face towards hers.
Their lips were just about to meet when Tralnis cleared his throat.
Izzy and Gareth each took an embarrassed step back from each
other.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but I thought you might
want to know that the Captain and I have come to an agreement. I
had to turn over half of our share of the figurines to get her to
see things our way,” he said.

Izzy’s brows creased in momentary confusion. “That
doesn’t sound like Lizard Breath. She would normally have fought
you well into the morning,” she pointed out.

A wry grin slid across Tralnis’ face. “There’s the
distinct possibility that I might have played dirty. I reminded her
that if Gareth and I go, Henry leaves with us. I don’t think she
was willing to give up his cooking quite yet,” Tralnis replied.

Izzy shuddered at the thought of going back to
Egite’s cooking. Tralnis didn’t mention that he also thought the
Captain gave in because she knew just as well as he did that Pilot
and Sheldon would side with Izzy if it came to a vote. “We’ll be
stopping at St. Mareen to sell the loot and pick up supplies. Or at
least you lot will. I plan on kissing the ground as soon we land
and getting piss drunk after so much time over the water,” he
informed them.

Tralnis and Gareth held each other up as they laughed
themselves silly at the top of the Glorious Dawn’s cargo ramp.
Tralnis wiped a tear from his eye, and gave Izzy a pleading look.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that please. I haven’t had that good
of laugh in a long time,” he requested.

Izzy tried to hide her smirk, but failed miserably.
“Elizabeth is sending me into town to sell the figurines,” she
replied, knowingly leaving out the bit Tralnis had found so
funny.

Tralnis nodded his head expectantly. “Go on lass,
tell us again
why
she can’t come into town with us,” he
prodded.

“
Captain Morgana
is on probation with the St.
Mareen authorities for drunk and disorderly conduct after she
performed an impromptu burlesque show in the middle of the town
square. The local magistrate was impressed with the unique moves
she was able to perform with her mechanical arm while dancing
around a light pole, but found her guilty anyway. He gave her a
suspended sentence, but warned her that if she was arrested again,
she would have to serve the entire time of her suspended sentence,
or pay a fine greater than value of the Glorious Dawn and
everything within her,” Izzy repeated.

Gareth and Tralnis chuckled again at the thought of
the uptight captain doing a drunken strip show. “Stop it you two,
it isn’t that funny,” she said, and then changed her mind. “Okay,
well maybe it is, but it wasn’t all her fault. The local alcoholic
beverages are all brewed with Cadanious flowers to give them extra
flavor,” she stated, trying to stick up for her sister.

Tralnis sobered up instantly, while Gareth just gave
Izzy a blank look. Tralnis glanced over at Gareth, and saw the
young man was lost. “Cadanious flowers are the main component in
most major aphrodisiacs. My great-great-great-grandfather was the
first to use the flowers in a mixture to treat erectile
dysfunction. The great success of his potion is how we got our last
name,” Doctor Granitestaff explained. “The locals must have
developed a tolerance for it, since Hadronus isn’t overrun with the
people of St. Mareen,” he mused before handing Gareth a smaller bag
with only three of the figurines in it. “If you don’t mind, Gareth,
I would appreciate it if you sold our share to whomever Izzy lines
up to sell theirs. I plan on heading to the nearest pub, and
conduct several experiments to determine the effectiveness of the
local intoxicating beverages,” he told them.

Gareth tucked the small sack between his University
jacket and his white shirt. “It would be my pleasure, just remember
what happened to the Captain,” Gareth warned. Tralnis gave them a
jaunty wave as he strolled down the cargo ramp in search of his
strange ideal mixture of science and entertainment. Gareth offered
Izzy his arm to escort her down the ramp and into the city proper.
“My lady,” he said with a small bow in her direction.

Izzy slipped her arm under his. “Why thank you,
Professor. Hopefully this outing will be less exciting than our
first date,” she teased. Her cheeks grew warm with happiness when
he didn’t object to the notion of the two of them out together on a
date.

The two friends walked arm in arm through the airship
port, and out into the main city of St. Mareen. Being close to a
desert, the air was much drier than anything Gareth had experienced
before. This drier air allowed for a much different style of
building construction than he was used to. Where the citizens of
the IRD tended to use either brick or wood in their homes, the city
of St. Mareen was almost entirely made out clay mixed with straw. A
light varnish on the outsides of the buildings protected them from
the infrequent rains.

Gareth turned his focus from the buildings around him
to his companion once more. “So, do you have a plan for selling the
figurines?” he inquired.

Izzy gave a half-hearted nod. “Yes, well… at least a
vague one,” she admitted. “St. Mareen has a large shopping plaza
near the center of town. I figured we would wander around there
looking for shops that sold similar items, and ask the shop owners
if they were interested in buying what we had,” she told him.

Gareth came to the conclusion that while Izzy bought
their cargo, there was a reason Elizabeth was the one who usually
sold it. Izzy’s plan wasn’t really a good one, and he could see
several flaws in it right away. Probably the biggest one he could
think of was the fact that artifacts from before the Second Great
Apocalypse were so rare, they wouldn’t be in a shop where just
anybody could get at them. He was about to point this out, when a
small form dressed in a dirty gray cloak bumped into Izzy, and
knocked her down before running off down an alley across from them.
Izzy got a brief glance of a wiry black beard under the cloak
before the person was out of sight.

Izzy stood up with the help of Gareth’s outstretched
hand. As soon as she was upright, she felt at her waist for the bag
with the figurines and found it missing. “Gareth, that little thief
just made off with the bag!” she snarled. “Come on,” she ordered,
as she ran down the alley in hopes of catching up with the
thief.

The alley opened up into a large marketplace filled
with representatives of half a dozen species either buying or
selling their exotic wares. Gareth saw a disturbance to his right
as a pair of Roehus flared their head quills in warning. “That
way!” he shouted and gave chase. When they were close to the
Roehus, he called out in their native language and asked which way
the “small rude person wearing dirty robes” went. They both pointed
in the same direction, and Gareth set off at a fast jog.

Gareth reached an intersection in the warren of
venders’ stalls, and couldn’t decide which way to go. He closed his
eyes and focused on his hearing, eavesdropping on numerous
conversations being held around him in several different languages.
Izzy managed to catch up to him just as Gareth picked up on a
snippet of conversation between a pair of Dryads. They were
wondering what the strange smelling Dwarf was running from. Gareth
took off in their direction. Izzy had almost caught her breath when
Gareth ran off again. She rolled her eyes, and followed him as best
as she could.

A group of Cyclops working near the side of a row of
buildings gave Gareth an idea. He shouted out instructions in the
language of the Cyclops, and hoped they understood what he was
asking. One of the 12 foot tall giants shrugged his shoulders to
his friends, and bent down with his hands clasped together. Smiling
like a fool, Gareth ran straight at the bent over Cyclops. When he
reached him, he planted one foot in the huge cupped hands, and
threw all of his weight forward. As Gareth did that, the Cyclops
straightened and jerked upwards with his hands, sending Gareth
flying onto the roof above them.

Gareth rolled twice and then stood up, looking at the
alleyways below him. He saw his quarry not too far away, and spared
a second to look back at Izzy who had wisely decided not to follow
his actions. When their eyes met, Gareth gestured towards the alley
he had seen the thief in. After Izzy nodded in understanding,
Gareth took off running again, this time along the rooftops of the
closely packed buildings.

Izzy tried to keep one eye on Gareth above her and
one eye on the obstacles in her path. She stopped to give Gareth
her full attention when he suddenly vanished. One moment he was
running full tilt, and the next he was simply gone. Izzy was both
relieved and amused when she saw Gareth stand up again. He had a
pretty blue sundress wrapped around his chest and a pink brassier
hanging off of his head. He quickly divested himself of the drying
laundry, looked around, and started running back the way they had
come. Izzy’s growl of frustration died in her throat when she saw
the small gray figure dart out from a smaller side alley, and go in
the direction Gareth had.