Chapter 36 - Divination

After the ‘welcome party’, Arnest was hauled back onto the Lark Company ship. Their clothes were still drenched in an ocean musk as they promptly continued their journey to the Killean Isles. Led by Cato, Arnest followed the timid boy towards his quarters. As Arnest passed soldiers along the deck, none of them paid any attention to him. The soldiers of the bantering company had suddenly become solemn crowd. Almost as if they were all part of a funeral procession, with slow but diligent strokes of the oars. Their faces looked like the churning water below them, uneased creases flowing out.

Arnest stopped in his tracks, behind Cato. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?” Cato replied with another question, while turning around.

The student officer pointed to the rest of the company behind his back. “Everyone's become so serious all of a sudden.”

“Oh right, this is your first subjugation mission, so you wouldn't know.”

“Know what?”

“Whenever you are far east of Ralom…” Cato paused, with a grim look on his face. “You have to be ready for anything.”

“You mean monsters? Aren't there monsters west of Ralom as well?”

Yes, there are monsters everywhere. But that's not the only thing you should be worried about.”

“What else would you have to worry about?”

Cato started to tense up. “There’s worse things than monsters out here. You can at least see a monster coming at you.”

They resumed their steady pace into the ship as Cato quickly shut his mouth, yet his voice continued, “You should worry about what's you can't see.”

The two of them soon arrived at the back of the interior ship where a common wooden door was. Cato knocked once and waited for a response. It was all silent but for the ship creaking as it rocked back and forth. A while passed and when no answer came, Cato finally opened the door.

“The captain should be here,” Cato’s voice sounded out in what seemed like a vacant room.

The room was quite large in comparison to the corridor and it was well furnished. A velvet lounge chair lined one end and on the other was a desk with an executively carved chair behind and two smaller, modest chairs in front. Arnest unceremoniously plopped himself down onto the sofa while Cato said, “I’ll be right back.” and left the room.

Alone in the room, Arnest sprawled out on the velvet sofa. He let his head hang upside down, off the edge, which directed his gaze towards the desk. Arnest hadn’t noticed initially because the chairs were blocking it but now the Lark Company crest was clearly visible, etched into the entire front of the desk.

Arnest got up and crouched down to look at the engravement. It was soon obvious that the pins that the soldiers wore were nothing in comparison to the detail that was expertly carved into the wood. The ‘whale’s’ body curved into the shape of a crescent moon, jumping out of the oak waves of the edifice, and its mouth was wide open. Jagged teeth filled the opening and a terrible scar was scored across the eye. Small little figures, carrying spears and swords, topped the beast.

The door flew open without warning and Arnest swiftly twisted his head around. Captain Nemo casually stood at the door.

“I see you’re admiring the Mamalark.” Captain Nemo said, adjusting his scabbard.

“So the name ‘Lark’, is just short for Mamalark?”

Captain Nemo neared Arnest and kneeled down on one knee, next to Arnest. “That’s right. All companies specialize in killing at least one type of beast and that becomes their name and crest.”

The two of them stared at the carving together for a while, before Arnest asked “Are there many Mamalarks around the Killean Isles?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well since the Lark company is good at killing Mamalarks, I don’t see any other reason why I would be grouped up with your company.”

“You’re pretty smart for a boy. As expected of a student officer from Guardia.” Captain Nemo said as he softly patted Arnest on the head.

Arnest backed away from the captain and said in a serious tone, “Captain Nemo, please do not treat me like a child.”

The captain started to laugh, “Haha, are you not a child?”

“Your company was given to me to lead, so I’m your superior right now. You threw me into the water and now you treat me like a child. Is this the respect a Raloman shows to his superior officer?”

Captain Nemo stopped laughing and instantly became grimly solemn. In a seconds flash, he charged Arnest and flipped him onto his back, pressing his muscular girthy arm against his neck.

“Listen here boy. You may be my superior, but that’s only a title.” he said, increasing the pressure.

Almost unable to breath, Arnest managed to let out a gasping, “Get off me of me…”

“I’ve been a captain of the Larks for twenty years and have fought with hundreds of Mamalarks. The only monster you’ve probably seen was a trained monkey during the Raloman exams.”

Captain Nemo leaned into Arnest, his fishy breath seeping into Arnest’s nostrils with unfiltered purity. “Do you think you know better than me, superior student officer Arnest?”

A single wooden knock and Cato opened the door.

“C-captain? What are you doing?” Cato nervously asked.

Releasing Arnest, Captain Nemo got up and brushed himself off. “I was just having a friendly wrestling match with the student officer.”

“Isn’t that right, student officer?” he added, staring at Arnest.

Arnest didn’t respond and shot back an icy glare. The student officer and captain had a staring match, neither blinking or saying a word. Cato, the third wheel, didn’t know what to do but then remembered what he originally meant to do when he came here.

Hurriedly Cato said, “Captain, we’ve arrived at Edr of the Killean Isles.”

Captain Nemo was the first to break the contest of endurance, turning towards Cato with a smile. “Gather the men and tell them to get ready to disembark.”

“At home at last,” Captain Nemo’s voice rang inside Arnest’s mind.

It took half an hour for the sails to be tied up and ship to be anchored to the dock, but the Lark company disembarked soon after enmasse. The people of Edr Island formed a small gathering along the docks. Children were bouncing around and young woman cheered at the men, all trying to garner some attention. Captain Nemo was the last to leave the ship, right after Arnest whom he seemed to be keeping a close watch over. Cato also kept close to Arnest and Captain Nemo, but mainly to try and disparage any more fighting started by his captain.

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An elderly woman, dressed in a grey robe and seashell ornaments, approached Arnest and the captain. “I see Neptus has protected you.”

“As you always say, Neptus is kind to his believers.” Captain Nemo said, quickly embracing her.

“I’m back home, mother,” he lovingly whispered.

“Welcome back, Primum.” she said, tightening her thin arms around him.

Arnest stood behind the reunited mother and son as a mute. He hadn’t said a single word since his fight with Captain Nemo, which was still a fresh encounter in his mind.

Captain Nemo eventually left the embrace and caught Arnest in the corner of his eye. “Mother, before I forget, let me introduce you.” he said, motioning towards Arnest. “This is student officer Arnest. He’s here to accompany the Larks on our next mission.”

“A pleasure to meet you, student officer of Ralom.” Captain Nemo’s mother nodded towards Arnest.

Again, Arnest gave no response and continued a look of apathy tinged with slight disdain that was directed towards the captain.

Captain Nemo ignored it and continued as though nothing was wrong, “And Arnest, as you can probably assume, this is my mother, Secuna Nemo. The chieftain of Edr.”

The boisterous Lark company served as a backdrop and contrast to the awkward silence between the four of them. Cato eventually came up with an excuse and interjected with “Captain, why don’t you allow me to show the student officer around Edr?”

“A great idea, Cato! You can go explore for awhile, at least until mealtime, alright?” Captain Nemo said loudly so that his voice would be heard over the Larks and native islanders.

Cato grabbed Arnest’s hand and brought him away with the swiftness of a fleeing fish in water. The two of them disappeared into the village that was comprised of mainly small huts and a single wooden longhouse.

“Primum, come with me.” Secuna said, walking in the same direction that Cato led Arnest, towards the village.

“Yes, mother.”

Secuna Nemo led her son past an array of small huts, into the forest backdrop and towards a small creek. On the edge of the creek laid another small hut, yet it was slightly larger than the common ones in the village. The two of them entered into the enclosure.

The hut was filled with numerous odd ends and trinkets. Bubbling clay jars were circling a fire and strange herbs were tied along string that hung along the high ceiling. Secuna sat down and Captain Nemo positioned himself across from her.

“It has been far too long since your last fortune.” she said, mixing one of the boiling pots with a long wooden spoon.

She pointed towards one of the pots in front of Captain Nemo. “Drip your blood in there.”

Captain Nemo obliged her, removing a small dagger from underneath his shirt and slightly slicing the palm of his hand. Holding his fist over the pot, his blood dripped into it and started to boil more ferociously. A few minutes passed by and then the blood stopped flowing, so he sat down next to the pot intently staring.

“How long will it take for it to be ready?”

Secuna kept stirring the mixture inside the pot. “The older you get, the less time it takes for Neptus to work the nectar.”

The flames reflection flickered in Captain Nemo’s eyes. “So how long?”

“A day or two. Maybe a week at the longest.”

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Cato hurriedly dragged Arnest through the village, past the forest and onto a deserted beach. When they arrived, he turned around and nervously looked all around. After confirming there was no one in sight, he sighed in relief and fell on his back into the sand. Arnest remained silent, still thinking back about what happened on the ship. The sun was neither at the zenith nor on the horizon, but somewhere in the middle.

Cato stared out at the monotonous approaching and receding waves before speaking out, “You know, the Captain means well.”

Arnest didn't respond, remaining silent.

“I don’t know why you both were fighting…” he said, picking up what looked like a plank of a crashed ship.

“But I know the Captain really cares about us.” Cato started to swing the piece of debris around.

“Most of the Lark company is made up of people from the Killean Isles. Captain Nemo and I are from this island, and a lot of us knew each other even before we joined Ralom.”

A brief silence consumed the space. Even the waves quieted and the wind died down, as if they were listening into this one sided conversation with baited anticipation.

“The last student officer that was assigned to the Lark company gave a bad order and a lot of us died.”

It was only now that Arnest turned around towards Cato. “What was the order?”

“He wanted us to chase a Mamalark. Captain Nemo was against it but the student officer was in charge so we followed his orders. In the end, we were led into a swarm of Mamalarks...”

Cato’s shoulders started to slouch and his head was downtrodden. “A lot of my friends died that day.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Arnest said.

“It’s been a long time since then, so don’t worry about it.” Cato said, plunging the plank into the sand upright. “But I’m sure the Captain still thinks about it.”

“When we returned to Ralom, he got really angry and told everyone what happened. Other companies and even a few Generals rallied together to persecute the student officer. Eventually the king agreed to holding a trial and he was exiled. The king even promised Captain Nemo that he wouldn’t have to deal with another student officer again.”

“Then why were the Larks assigned to me?”

“Well, I’m not too sure. Captain just said he was doing someone a favor.”

Cato picked up a rock, got up and skipped it across the water. “Anyways, I hope you won’t think too badly of the Captain.” He turned around towards Arnest, with a tiny smile. “If you can, please forgive him.”

Arnest looked at Cato and then looked back out to the horizon, where the sun was slowly falling out of view. “We should go back now, it’s almost dusk.”

Arnest started walking back in the direction from where they came from and Cato followed. Along the forest path, Arnest murmured, “I’ll try at least.”

“What? Did you say something?” Cato, who was unable to make out the words, asked.

Arnest shook his head. “Nevermind, let’s hurry back,” he said, increasing the pace. “I can barely see in front of me because it’s so dark.”