Nocturna League (Episode 2: The Mist Hour) (11 page)

Grancis smiles awkwardly at the
thought of The Captain manifesting teeth from his body of sand and
crushing something as small and cute as a Fthhoganoth. “O-oh, I
see. Okay.” She takes up a fishing rod, a harpoon, and a bucket
containing some unknown squirming bait, and she exits to the
outside deck to get another. The twilight of the day looms over the
sky, and the deep blues and grays are preluding the great starless
black that waits just around the corner. Not many people are
around, as usual- the outer deck becomes an unpopular place once
the sun has left. She hooks a squiggling, cursing monstrosity,
looking more like an internal organ with teeth than anything, and
she casts her line out over the deck. A few seconds pass, and she
sees the water below the Nocturna change shade- something gigantic
is below them. She smiles sheepishly down at the water as a
thousand stare up at her.

Colette, toweling off after a workout,
passes by and spots Grancis. “Well hey,” she says, rubbing her face
into the towel as she dries her short, fairy-like blond
hair.

Grancis’ smile instantly becomes more
genuine. “Oh, Colette! Hello,” she says, looking back to the
shadowy monstrosity below in the water.

Colette takes one look over the deck
and winces. “W-wow.”

Grancis nods. “Mhmm. I’ve seen a few
of these while fishing for Boris. They start talking after a while.
Once I heard one speak a full sentence,” she says with a pure
interest.

Colette ranges back, tightening her
grip on the railing. “I see. So uh… Why are you out
here?”

“
Like I said. I’m fishing
for some ingredie-”

“
Help
,” a voice comes from below, the beast’s many eyes staring at
the two young ladies. “
Pull
up
.”

“
Ho-holy shit!” Colette
leans back, doing her best to stay as far away from the thing over
the deck as possible, while still holding onto the railing should a
tentacle come reaching out. The creature’s voice was not
human-sounding. It was blunt, with improper emphasis on certain
syllables- as if an animal was just mimicking what it heard from
its master.

“
Please
,” it says again, slowly reaching out an ink-black tentacle
towards the two. “
Pull
up
.”

Colette holds her breath in horror as
Grancis laxly takes up the harpoon and impales the dark tentacle,
just a meter from her feet. The beast squeals in pain and retreats
back to the depths, oil-like blood reflecting off the dreary deck
lights. Grancis tosses the harpoon aside and recasts her line.
Colette just stares in shock as her best friend hooks a catch and
pulls up a strange, furry insect… fish thing.

“
So, how was your training
today?” Grancis asks, tossing the little horror aside.

Colette takes one last look at the
water and nods. “It was good. Been having a little trouble sleeping
though- some weird dreams.”

Grancis raises a brow and lays a
motherly gaze on her friend. “Eh? Well you really shouldn’t drink
so much coffee.”

Colette averts her gaze with a scoff.
“Thanks, Gran, but I need it to get through the day,” she says as
she creeps away from the railing.

Grancis shrugs. “Okie dokie. Just
drink lots of water, alright?”

She nods, spins her towel up into a
more-manageable shape, and sets off toward the mess hall/bar. “Sure
thing. See ya.”

“
Bye,” Grancis says,
leaning onto the railing and watching squirming, toothed eels
travel through the water in a pack, just a centimeter below the
surface. A long, tolerant smile crosses her face. As unnerving as
all these underwater beasts might be, she does appreciate the
visits, even if they just care about her because they want to eat
her. Grancis takes a quick take over her shoulder and spots Colette
entering the mess hall. Grancis sighs, and decides to get back to
her line. Only seconds later, a man pushes his way out of want of
the living quarter doors- Grancis has seen him before, but never
like this. His face is now dark, sunken, and his eyes are wide with
horror. He takes lumbering, trembling steps as he goes onto the
main deck, as if walking up to a noose. The sailor stops at the
railing, right where Colette was standing just a minute
ago.

“
The bells,” he says. His
voice strikes Grancis as the voice a man would have after realizing
how terrible this world truly is.

“
What’s the matter there,
sailor?” She asks with her go-to disarming smile; she’s found
people tend to enjoy seeing you if you act like you enjoy seeing
them.

His eyes are still focused down into
the depths, now a pure, consuming inky blackness- even a meter
below the deck lights cannot pierce through the water- anything
could be waiting down there. “The sunken bells, they call for me…”
His gaze is not lifted from the water- he watches with complete
intent, the one point of his complete focus.

“
O-oh… What bells?” She
asks.

“
The bells… the deep
cathedral. I must be taken… I
will
be taken. The drowned lungs sing out for
me.”

Grancis has a bad habit of smiling
more whenever she’s disturbed- she’s grinning ear to ear now.
“Taken? I don’t think that’s-”

“
The time has come. I
commit my soul to you, god of the Drowned.” The sailor starts
tilting over the railing, eyes still focused on the consuming dark
below.

Grancis tosses her rod aside and grabs
onto the man’s legs. “Captain!” she calls out. The man, years over
her and a lifter no less, shakes her off and shoves her onto the
deck with ease. “I will be taken.” He says, grasping the railing
again. Just as he lifts to send himself over, he feels the deft,
shifting grasp of bandaged hands wrapping around his
body.

“
Good evening, Mister
Turranine, Miss Vereyrty. What might be the matter? Certainly
there’s no form of degeneracy taking place, is there?” The Captain
says like a creeping shroud of authority. Neither of the humans
even heard him approach- it’s somehow both terrifying and
comforting, knowing your commander can hear you from just about
anywhere on the ship and can be upon you in the next
moment.

“
Captain, this guy tried to
jump ship!” Grancis starts brushing herself off, looking up with
determination.

“
Oh? Is this true, Mister
Turranine?” The Captain unhands Jess Turranine, and the man swings
around to meet The Captain face to face.

“
No, sir. Just a little
drunk is all. She was under the impression I was going to commit
suicide or some rubbish like that,” Jess says, appearing as normal
as he can.

The Captain looks over to Grancis, and
she shakes her head. “N-no! Captain! He was about to jump in! I
swear!”

“
You’re sure about
this?”

Grancis nods. “Absolutely, he said
some-”

“
Rubbish I say! Only a
drunken sailor’s… Oh my, here it comes again.” Jess interrupts
Grancis as he leans over the railing and empties his dinner into
the drink; Grancis is surprised- maybe he really is
drunk.

The Captain nods upon seeing Jess’
“outburst”. “Very well.” He turns to Grancis. “I applaud your
initiative, Miss Vereyrty, but it seems as though he truly is just
inebriated.”

Grancis nods, gaze straight to her
feet. “Yes, sir.”

Jess scoffs and turns to leave to the
mess hall, gently pushing Grancis aside with his shoulder. “You
best learn to stay outta other’s businesses, lass,” he
says.

Grancis nods again and, after a
moment, takes up her rod.

The Captain inspects her demeanor a
moment and then gives her a pat on the shoulder. “You did the right
thing, Miss Vereyrty. Be sure to let me or Doctor Estradia know if
you see him act amiss again.” The Captain points his finger aside
casually as he steps from the railing and to the mess hall. Grancis
smiles, says “thanks”, and realizes that she needs to sneak this
catch to Boris in time.

Dinner is enjoyed by all but two that
night. Grancis, paying close attention, notes that, unlike the
others with cooked dishes, The Captain bites into the small, fuzzy
live thing with his teeth of black sand- it popped and, like a
balloon, her apatite flushed out like the air. Also Boris tries for
the first time in years to take up the piano and play Arpeden No.
8, the Captain’s favorite piece- the piano broke.

Get all of Nocturna League #3: The Sunken Breath
by clicking here!

About the Author

Kell Inkston has been writing with
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