Lorlux came back with Sleipnir whose face and head had been smoothed out where he’d been smashed up, as well as Kola Junior with a bandaged wing.

  “Good as new,” Captain Lorlux assured us. “Even better really. He more resembles his namesake now.”

  Kola Junior grunted and hopped about. I could see some metal through the bandages on his wing. Lorlux meant he had a prosthetic wing I think.

  “Nice haircut,” I told Sleipnir.

  He rubbed his metal scales self-consciously. I let them go on and resumed my vigil on deck, watching the various airships in the harbor which was pretty entertaining. It began to get late enough that I figured Brufo would have started dinner. But there was no Brufo.

  I waited, hungry, my stomach rumbling. What could he be up to? I went down to complain to Val, found her reading in her room and when I told her Brufo wasn’t back worry immediately crossed her face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “He should’ve been back a while ago. Here I was hoping he ran late. Aether! We already took too many risks!”

  She slammed shut the book Skills for Advanced Levels and pushed past me. “I need to talk to the captain.”

  I followed her as she searched the ship. The navigation room was empty. Val went back downstairs and found Lorlux in the dining room where Brufo Junior had served him more cut up bananas and mangoes. As I turned the corner the captain’s tongue snapped out like a frog’s and grabbed a wedge of mango and brought it back to his mouth.

  “Valietta, what is--”

  She marched and slammed her hands on the table. “Brufo’s missing!”

  “Now, now,” Lorlux said. “Surely a fellow can be a little late?”

  “He’s more than a little late and you know it!”

  Lorlux was silent as he considered. He looked at the sky drenching blood red to midnight through the heartwood windows in the dining room.

  “He’s late,” Lorlux allowed. “What would you have me do Val?”

  “Daniel or Sleipnir or you should go to the markets and see what they can turn up about him. It can’t be me. I’ll lay low here.”

  Why not you? I wondered but kept quiet. “I don’t mind doing it.”

  “If something did happen, should we then be content to lose Daniel as well as Brufo? Perhaps we ought to wait for him to return a little longer.”

  Val shook her head and turned to me. “If you go to the markets and ask about him DO NOT tell people what ship you’re from, or what crew you’re with, type of thing. Got it? If he’s been taken,

  “Taken?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Taken. Do you remember what I told you about my sister? She’s after Brufo too. He isn’t just the ship’s chef. He was once a knight of Melpompne. A very good one.”

  “And you?”

  Val glanced back at Lorlux, who shrugged. She looked away.

  “I’m wanted in Melpompne too.”

  “What makes you think they took him? Are we even in Melpompne?”

  “We’re not. Aeven is neutral. But she’s the only one I look over my shoulder for. Them, I mean.”

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  Her sister, probably. The one that had almost killed me in the Trial. If it were not for the angel Maea she/her shadow may have. I shuddered, remembering the hopelessness I had felt, what Val must have felt, but would not admit. I admired that a lot about her.

  Lorlux croaked. “You’ve convinced me. Daniel, maybe it’s best to ask about now while it’s fresh. In case something did happen. Do so discretely, unlinked to the ship. If someone took him they are likely monitoring for something like this. If he’s been…kidnapped, we’ll need to be clandestine.”

  I walked into the city and looked around for the markets. I’ll be the first to admit my legs got a little tired. Maybe I had been relying a little too much on [Wind Rider]. Past the hills where Reed’s strawberry fields grew wild now and the Church of Fate on the other side. I looked for pigeons, but they were all gray. May we meet again, the angel had said. Did she know we would?

  I walked through a doorway in a transparent done, inside brick buildings and tented merchants with blankets and bins displaying wares.

  It was pretty easy to find, there were buildings and merchants in tents with blankets spread out and bins filled with their wares here. I began to ask around for the bearded man in a black chef uniform, and a few vendors of spices and fruit-looking orbs (I didn’t ask) mentioned seeing him walking around.

  When I found a proper, but small, grocer, called Storm’s Bounty, I figured I was close. It was a dimly-lit low-ceiling place. I grabbed a purple cabbage and shuffled up to the counter. I then realized I had no money, and that it was not a purple cabbage but some kind of large shellfish like a clam. I set it aside and approached.

  “Hello. I’m looking for a guy who might have come here earlier today--wearing a black chef’s uniform.”

  The proprietor, a little gray-haired lady with a slash of blue through her hair, nodded at that. “Yea--are you here to pick up the stuff? It’s not ready yet. He said tomorrow!”

  “No, no,” I said hastily, as her hair started to crackle with electricity. “I’m actually looking for him. So he was here recently then?”

  “Yeah like four hours ago. He got eggs, tuna, rice, sugar, salt--all to go. And then he laid down a good amount of money for airfaring supplies. He said he’d be by tomorrow for it though.” She frowned. “He’s not in some sort of trouble is he?”

  “I aethering sure hope not! Thanks for telling me this, this is really helpful. Is there anything else that you can think of that happened?”

  She considered. “Well he bought the stuff, worked out the extra pickup for tomorrow, then after he left the fellow behind him was just gone as well. I didn’t think much of it, except here you are asking about him.”

  “What do you remember about that guy? Was he following him?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t observe them closely, so couldn’t tell. I was just tending the shop, you know? I don’t usually need to pay too much attention unless someone causes a ruckus.”

  “Yeah I get it. By the way, are you related to Nana Fizzle?”

  I couldn’t help but ask it. I strongly suspected it due to the electricity stuff, but I had no way to prove it.

  “You know Nana Fizzle? That’s a wonder! You look like you haven’t seen a real storm yet, but she’s got a frightful place! I’m Thundra Cloud, by the way. I come from a different family of svarks than the Fizzles, but we all know each other. Many of the items sold here are sourced by the Cloud family…”

  She went on, but I didn’t care. I was just glad to establish some rapport with Thundra.

  “So this guy,” I said, bringing the conversation back around. “Anything about him?”

  “Like I said, he didn’t exactly stick around for me to ask. What can I say? I think he took one of those abalones you were fiddling with, for one thing. At the time I wondered if he just swiped something. I clocked him for sure. But, it was hard to tell, heh. It’s been a busy day. It was a guy, nondescript. Dark clothes.”

  It was something at least. “Thanks.” I leaned in. “By the way, you should be careful around here tonight. If you don’t mind me saying. Make sure to lock up.”

  “All right Mr. Safety, if you’re thinking of breaking in here you’ll find that we svarks have a mighty spark we can unleash upon you when we’re angry!”

  I apologized, said my goodbyes and exited. Thundra insisted I take the purple abalone thing. I did, begrudgingly, and because she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  I went next to what I believed was like a police station and asked if they had any missing people. I told them about Brufo’s appearance. The Black Chef thing narrowed it down quite a bit. They confirmed that he had a bounty on him in the amount of 5555 gold pieces. It seemed like a lot.

  They asked me if I’d seen him. I denied it, of course.

  “So,” the receptionist asked in a low tone, “you are here to accept this bounty for this random man who you’ve never seen, then?”

  “Um…could you just explain where I am really quick?”

  “This is the [Seeker’s Guild]. We give out quests, if you’re into that. If you want something potentially more achievable than this chef…thing…I can give you a few options.”