Chapter 20 - Under the Oak Tree

The rescue vessel was quickly deployed and the soldiers rowed with great speed. Within a few breaths they were able to reach Arnest. He was lightly treading water, covered in the fish guts of the Mamalark he had just killed. A soldier stretched out his hand and pulled Arnest out of the water.

Arnest climbed onto the boat and looked up, first seeing the famed idiot of Fox Village, Rufus. The men on the ship fought over who should be sent out to pick up Arnest. No one would want to possibly have to touch any of the smelly remains but obviously at least some of them had to go. Rufus was quickly nominated by the men of Fox Village and before he could argue, he was thrown onto the boat and it was already wading through the mess that Arnest created.

As for Rufus's past assignment, which was to oversee Clyde and the other former pirates, it could now be considered completed. The relationship between the villagers of Fox Village and Clyde and his men had improved drastically, thanks to the rough daily training sessions. Although they didn't really mesh well with the elves, this was to be expected since the elves treated all humans with either indifference or disgust. Arnest now trusted Clyde enough to give him more freedom. So before Arnest left, Rufus had rejoined his party for his voyage to Ralom.

There were also three others. Two of them were men from Fox Village, younger men who were considered to still be boys. They also were pigeon holed into being sent as the rescue party unwillingly. Both of them had soured looks and they tightly pinched their noses to try and prevent the stench from entering their noses.

The only person who was willingly there sat at the front, wearing a set of full glimmering armor. It was Marcus. He had volunteered and was the first to join the rescue party once the boat was prepared. He handed a towel to Arnest, saying "Are you alright, young lord?"

"I'm fine, Marcus. Thanks for coming out here personally. You could've gotten some other men to come." Arnest took the towel and wiped the fish gristle off of him.

"It's my duty to make sure my lord is alright." Marcus had a strange gleam in his eyes when he said this.

The vessel then was turned around and it started to move back towards the ship. Although the men couldn't bear the rotten fish smell, they were still in high spirits. They had survived an attack from a sea monster. The soldiers cheered, pumping their fists into the sky and howling as Arnest returned to the ship.

After arriving at the ship, the men started to celebrate with abandon. They raided the stockpiles of food and wine and started to eat, drink and sleep. By midnight everyone was drunkenly snoozing and Arnest was back in his room, practicing mana control.

The fight with the Mamalark inspired Arnest to try and use magic to replicate a natural event like how the monster was able to create a tornado storm. He tried to make his [Shadow Step] create shadow clouds and it seemed to work well. The only issue was making the clouds rain.

A knocking on the door reverberated through the walls. "May I come in?"

Arnest stopped his spell and said, "Sure."

Marcus walked into the room, no longer wearing his armor but now a simple tunic and chaps. His long brown hair and pointed ears were fully visible now that his helm was removed.

"I wanted to thank you for saving us from the monster. If it wasn't for you, my brothers and I would have most likely died." Marcus started to kneel on his right knee, like a subject would for a king.

Arnest didn't say anything and paused, thinking about something. This wasn't the first time Marcus had acted strangely. At least strangely compared to the other elven soldiers. They treated him with the same disdain they had for the other humans but it was completely different from Marcus's attitude.

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"Marcus."

"Yes, young lord?"

"I've been wondering about this, but you treat me differently compared to the other elf soldiers. At first I thought it was because you took your job seriously but even though the others don't respect me, they do take their orders just as seriously as you do. Why is this?"

Marcus looked towards Arnest with the same strange glint it had earlier today when he had come to rescue him. "I once became indebted to a human. I thought that if I was able to serve you well I could repay that debt. But it seems that I've only made myself further indebted."

Arnest interest was piqued. How could an elf become indebted to a human? The humans and elves were fighting a millennium long war that only ended quite recently. From what he had heard from his grandfather, he knew that most humans were enslaved so what could a mere slave do to help an officer from the elven royal guard?

"Can you tell me more about this debt?"

Marcus stared into space, remembering the past. "It was before I was promoted to an officer and was protecting the prince. We were traveling towards the human city, Yale, that had just been captured. It was still human territory so we needed a few scouts to move ahead. The prince personally ordered me to scout ahead."

"At one point we entered a small mountain range. It seemed normal at first but a mysterious fog descended from the top of the mountain. I lost my sense of direction and fumbled around and eventually fell off a cliff. I thought I was dead when I fell but I only fell unconscious when I landed. When I woke up, I was laying in a bed and my wounds bandaged. It was George who saved me, the human who I owe a debt to. But now it's impossible to repay him."

"Why is it impossible?"

The glint in Marcus's eyes dimmed and his face became more solemn as he told the rest of the story. "I stayed at his home for a few days, trying to recover. I didn't know that my comrades were looking for me and when they finally found me, they also found George and his family. We all had been fighting humans for so long, so we are naturally hostile to all humans. They killed him and his family and found me inside the house. After I told them how George saved me they regretted what they had done and we buried them. Under a large oak tree in the side yard." Marcus's eyes started to water.

"I'm sorry that he died, Marcus." Arnest started to regret asking him about the debt.

"It's alright. That was the past. I now have a life debt to you, young lord." Marcus wiped his wet eyes.

"I promise to repay this debt to you." Marcus stared seriously at Arnest, saluting by pumping his fist into his chest.

"Don't worry about it too much. I would be happy if, at least, the elven and human soldiers could get along. Also you can call me by my name, no more of these young lords." Arnest patted Marcus reassuringly on his shoulders.

"That should be easier but hard to do. My comrades saw how you were able to take out that monster single-handedly and quite a number of them respect you a great deal more than before. It's still fairly difficult...but I'll try my best." Marcus started to head out the door, excusing himself with a bow.

"It felt good to sit down and talk to you one on one, Marcus." Arnest said while he was halfway out the door.

"Likewise, young lor.. I mean, Arnest." and he fully exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Arnest went back to his bed and laid on his back. “Well, I should get some rest. We should arrive by tomorrow.”

And night passed and day broke free from the shadows. Out in the distance, while the men slept and monsters lurked a cityscape came into view over the horizon. It’s walls weren’t as tall as the giant shell walls of Zanabo and they were erected on the land, not in the ocean. A harbor sat on opposite sides, the east and west. To the east there were numerous ships with giant red sails that shone brightly. The western harbor had fewer ships so the men steering decided to dock there.

It would only be a little while longer until Arnest’s adventure in the great of city of Ralom began.