The rest of the day was filled up with meetings. Secretary Spealer transferred the ships over to DeLeah Shipping when Lewis signed a paper that promised they would bring the grain from Dontil. Councilor Koker put him in touch with Captain Churro, from Dontil, who had lost one Wind Rider. Churro had kept most of his crew together at Koker’s behest, and stayed in close contact with Captain Waymer of the Deepwater Cutter. The two ships were a mess from the ransacking that occurred when they were seized by Port Mist authorities. Both captains agreed to Lewis’s proposal that they refit the ships to haul grain from Dontil under the DeLeah flag. Then they would proceed to Ascore to confer with the DeLeahs. Lewis arranged for both the refits at a cost of five thousand kolas, which included a substantial incentive to get it done soon. Team Romeo settled in on Wind Rider and Gomez took Lewis to meet Eol, the magic shop guy.
The shop was in a back alley in a part of town that was mostly ruins. Eol met them at the door and shook Lewis’s hand.
“So, my curiosity overfloweth,” Eol said in a strange accent that sounded vaguely familiar to Lewis. “Your two lovely sergeants were unable to sate it. Does the name Amerus DeLeah mean anything to you?”
Lewis tried to think if he’d ever heard it before, and then shook his head. “No, but I discussed it with Lenon DeLeah when they told me about you. His reply was that he was very interested in meeting you face to face. We should be sending a couple of ships to Ascore in ten or twelve days if you’re interested in traveling there to meet Mr. DeLeah.”
“Are you able to contact this Lenon?” Eol asked. “And if so could I beg a boon? I would really like to speak with him. Stars above, this is exciting. Are you able to see the stars where you’re from, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, and I miss them a lot,” Lewis told him. “I could arrange that call if you wish.”
“Thank you, I would like that immensely,” Eol said, turning and taking a cape from a peg by the door and donning it with a flourish. “Shall we then?”
“Hold on, I want to show Lieutenant Lewis something,” Gomez said, addressing Eol. “Would that be OK with you Mister Eol?”
“Certainly my lady,” Eol replied with a bow. “What may I fetch for you?”
“The pink stuff in the little bottle,” Gomez said.
“Coming right up,” Eol replied, striding into the back room through a bead curtain. He returned in a moment with a small, round flask with a long neck and a cork. Lewis guessed that it had about four ounces of pink liquid in it. Eol handed it to Lewis and stepped back. Lewis unstoppered it and passed it under his nose. The aroma was sweet, with a hint of herb he could not identify.
“What is it?” He asked, as he corked the flask and handed it back to Eol.
“An elixir,” Eol said, with an amused look. “It is good for what ails you, as long as what ails you is physical damage. You know, like from a fight or a fall. It won’t help if you’re poisoned or have a disease.”
“I was thinking we could buy a few,” Gomez said. “I don’t believe it would hurt anything.”
“You can’t assume that,” Lewis tried to look stern. “You don’t know what’s in there and we don’t have the equipment to analyze it,” he turned to Eol. “No offense, but how do I know it’s safe? And how much does it cost?”
Gomez looked embarrassed, but Eol’s smile didn’t waver
“You have no way to know about its safety other than to take my word on it, and if that seems ill-advised I’m not hurt,” Eol replied with a tilt of the head. “However if it does what I say it does, it’s worth a lot more than my asking price. Five gold coins from Ladzoo.”
Stolen story; please report.
“That’s like two hundred fifty kolas per ounce,” Lewis stammered. “How does it work?”
“You give the whole flask to the injured person,” Eol said. “It stops the damage from progressing and if it isn’t too critical it will heal some, or all of the damage.”
“Let’s make that call. While I think about it,” Lewis said. “Maybe Captain DeLeah will have something to say about it.”
“Perhaps,” Eol was already headed for the door, where he turned the open sign around to read closed. They walked to the Wind Rider and made their way to the passenger cabin. Most of the team was gathered there already, with the exception of Derrick. Rollins told Lewis that Derrick had gone to visit an old friend, and should be back within the hour. At Lewis’ direction Telini called the DeLeahs and Dayen answered the radio.
“HQ here, go ahead”, she said. “This is Dayen.”
“Romeo here,” Telini replied. “I have a man here who wants to talk to you. His name is Mr. Eol”
“Please hold on” Dayen said quietly, and then the radio muted on her end. They held for three minutes. Then Dayen came back on, but she was speaking a language they didn’t understand. Eol answered in kind. The conversation that ensued lasted half an hour, and included Eol, Lenon, and the twins. Then Michael spoke up and Eol switched to a language that was smooth and full of beautiful sounds and phrases. Micheal spoke the same language, as did one of the twins, Lewis assumed that it was Dayel.
“Romeo,” Lenon said suddenly. “Are you still there?”
“Were here,” Telini replied.
“Romeo, give this man whatever assistance he requires, HQ out,” Lenon’s voice sounded excited.
“Copy, Romeo out,” Lewis signed off for them, then turned to Eol. “What are we doing, Sir?”
“Would you be able to meet me at my shop two hours after dark?” Eol asked.
“We can,” Lewis told him. Without another word Eol walked out.
“What’s going on boss?” Blair asked, bursting with curiosity. “And why were they all using code?”
“That didn’t sound like code to me,” Telini said. “It sounded like two distinct languages.”
“Did you recognize them?” Lewis inquired.
“Not really,” Telini answered. “But the first sounded a little like old German, the second one reminded me of a fantasy language invented by an author named John Ruelle. Some people in college were really into writing and speaking it, but I thought it was silly.”
That evening they went to the Grand Isle Hotel for dinner before going to see Eol. Eol’s shop looked like part of the ruins on the outside with dark and broken windows. His sign lay shattered in the rubble pile, while the door hung on one hinge to the side of a black opening. Lewis drew his knife and eased up the steps while his team spread out to cover the flanks. When he reached the door he discovered a black blanket covered the opening. As he pushed it aside to look in he was greeted by bright light from the room within. He surged passed the curtain and his people came in behind him and through the windows. There were several Hagen men packing boxes, when they saw the team come in they grabbed anything at hand to defend themselves. Five more Hagen came in from the backroom, Lewis now counted ten of them all armed with everything from a fire poker to a sword.
A voice boomed out in yet another language that Lewis could not identify and all the Hagen laid down their implements and backed away. Lewis sheathed his knife, motioning for the others to do likewise. Eol emerged from a side panel and explained that he was going to Ascore. He needed help moving all of his possessions out of town.
They spent the rest of the night carrying boxes and bags to the hills east of the city, using very discreet paths through the ruins. When everything had been moved to a small cave, a hundred or more Hagen showed up with lizard drawn carts. Eol directed them as to what was to be loaded and what stayed behind. Then he wrapped a shimmering clock around Gomez’s shoulders and told her to walk around the hill. She faded away as she left and was back in their midst before anybody noticed. Eol also gave six of the small vials with the pink liquid to Lewis. Then he thanked them and turned and walked off into the dark following the carts.
Back on the Windrider they all went to sleep. When Lewis woke it was late morning. Captain Churro told him that they would be ready to leave in two days. The team ran on the beach until Rollins fell back to catch his breath. Gomez sprinted up to Lewis’ position at the front and pointed out to him that Rollins was falling behind. He told Roquette to keep the team moving and he went to check on Rollins.
“Hey Mack, are you OK?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Rollins told him. Rollins was leaning forward, hands on knees, trying to catch his breath.