Gareth and th Lost Island Read Online Free Page A

the second floor.
Having the loo on the same floor turned out to be a blessing when
Gareth had been forced to run to the toilet as soon as his churning
stomach woke him up.
    Their townhome was nestled in a row of similar homes
just outside of the University Arcanum’s main gate. Here was where
the more affluent professors (or students with rich parents) lived.
Since Tralnis was not only a tenured professor, but a practicing
doctor as well, he was able to afford the home easily. The inside
of their home was painted slate gray to give off the impression one
was surrounded by rock walls. Large wooden beams were mounted on
the ceiling as accent pieces to mimic the beams found in the
Dwarven tunnels.
    At the foot of the stairs was a door that led to the
large kitchen that also did double duty as a place to share
informal meals. The proper dining room was across the hall, and was
rarely used, except for the occasional party Tralnis would throw.
The floor of the kitchen was the same polished iron wood that ran
throughout the home.
    This morning, Tralnis was seated at the small table
in the kitchen, reading the daily news, and munching on some toast.
Henry, their Chim butler, and Gareth’s closest friend, saw that
Tralnis’ mug was almost empty, and poured his employer more of the
extra strong tea favored by Dwarves. The fact that Henry did this
with one of his dexterous feet with opposable thumbs, while frying
bacon with his hands, didn’t even rate a raised eyebrow in their
household.
    Like most of his species, Henry was covered from head
to toe in long, fine hair. His impeccably clean fur was a dark,
burnt orange color. His arms were much longer than a human’s, with
his hands resting halfway between his knees and ankles when
standing up straight. Like most of the Great Apes, Henry nose was
flat with large flaring nostrils. He was dressed in the traditional
uniform of a Chim household servant. The uniform consisted of a
black cotton vest with numerous pockets, and a black cargo kilt
made of the same fabric.
    Gareth’s whimper of pain drew the attention of
Tralnis and Henry. “Gods, I feel horrible, and everything has a
weird yellow tint to it,” he moaned.
    Henry hooted, snarled, and blew his lips out in the
language of the Chims.
    “No, I took care of my morning absolutions before
coming down, so that isn’t why everything looks yellow to me,”
Gareth replied as he slid into his chair across from Tralnis.
    “My guess is that what you’re experiencing is just
one of the possible side effect of the sobriety elixir I gave you
last night. Your vision will most likely be back to normal in an
hour or so,” Tralnis said, looking over the top of his paper. “You
should feel lucky, one of the other possible side effects would
have turned your skin green for week. Oh… while I’m thinking about
it, thank you for being my test subject by the way,” he added
absently.
    “The elixir sobered me up instantly. Shouldn’t it
have kept me from getting a hangover as well?” Gareth inquired.
    Tralnis shook his head, causing his long beard to
brush against the newspaper. “No, that would be a totally separate
potion that I’m in the very early stages of developing. The
sobriety elixir only clears your head, it doesn’t alter any other
effect huge quantities of alcohol have on a person,” he explained.
“How many times have I told you not to try and match me drink for
drink? None of the other twelve sentient species can match a
Dwarf’s constitution,” Tralnis chided his adopted son for what
seemed like the hundredth time.
    Henry stood on one leg again, and pulled out a second
teapot from one of the lower cabinets with his raised foot. He then
pulled out a canister of tea, and poured some of the loose leaves
into the pot. Henry added some herbs to the loose tea before
switching the pot to his free hand to add water from the sink. With
his now free foot, he turned one of the knobs on the gas stove to
start a free burner near