Nocturna League (Episode 2: The Mist Hour) Read Free

and
gentlemen. We’re searching for the ruler of this port. Would anyone
be willing to help?” The Captain asks with perfect
posture.
    A mix of laughter and sighs are heard
among the patrons, and one particularly brawny sailor speaks up.
“You a captain?”
    “ The Captain,
actually.”
    The man gets up from his seat and
approaches the three. He stops just an inch from The Captain’s
face. “You didn’t hear about the travel embargo? You’re probably
one of those hired Kalamest hands.”
    The Captain hums in thought.
“Kalamest? I cannot say I’m familiar.”
    “ Why else would you come to
this gods forsaken sea rock?” The man says, cracking his knuckles
as others join him in the stand.
    “ One of my hands has been
kidnapped on the deck of our ship. This is the only island for a
hundred in a hundred kilometers- the kidnapper must have taken her
here.”
    The men exchange a few glances, and
the front one looks back to The Captain. “This kidnapper. Did it
seem like he could, fly? Teleport, even?”
    “ Why yes, he seemed to
appear and disappear in the surrounding mist at will.”
    Some of the patrons get back to their
seats, and the front man gives a knowing look of sympathy. “Ahh, a
victim of the Kalamests, then.”
    The bar slouches into a gloomy aura,
the musicians taking their time, and the patrons intently listening
in.
    “ What do you mean? Who, or
what are the Kalamests?”
    The man shakes his head. “Tell you
what, you buy and I’ll fill you in on the story.”
    The Captain nods. “Sounds fair,” he
says as he goes to the man’s table, all seats but his empty, and
sit down. Colette follows along, but Boris is rarely a simple
person to take along.
    “ ARE WE OF THE
SITTING?”
    “ The sitting is of us,” The
Captain says calmly. Boris slams his giant body into a chair,
shattering instantly and sending long splinters into the openings
of his shell.
    The Captain nods again and waves over
the waitress. “Excellent, Boris and our friend here will have
something that won’t kill them, but would still be considered
alcoholic. Our female on the other hand will take something fruity
and far less intoxicating; such is the manner of women, of course,”
he says, nodding over to Colette, who is immediately offended that
the waitress doesn’t seem to care.
    “ As if I couldn’t handle
it,” she says under her breath.
    The Captain looks to her. “Oh, could
it be you’re willing to take control of the situation rather than
have me dictate things for you?”
    She shakes her head lightly with a
look of confusion. “And just what would that look like,
Captain?”
    “ Tell me, I haven’t ordered
my drink yet. Are you willing to trade drinks with me? Are you so
confident that you hold your own fate?” The Captain asks, pressing
his glasses to the bridge of his nose.
    Colette slams her fist on the table.
“Of course! I can deal with anything!”
    “ Ahh, color me impressed,
Miss Ketiere. Very well, I’ll have a pint of vinegar,” The Captain
says. Colette’s jaw drops as the waitress slowly puts down the
order, cringing at the thought of the unheard of order.
    Colette stares into nothingness.
“W-what? Don’t you drink like… liquor?”
    “ Only when I don’t have a
job to do. Vinegar keeps my nerves high. I hope you enjoy,” he says
as the waitress turns away. Colette has nothing to say, and instead
looks on blankly as the sailor begins his story.
    “ Alright you three. For
generations there have been two families that hold the land rights
to about ninety percent of our port: the Ganasteres and the
Kalamests. They’ve been more or less at war against each other the
whole time- usually in the shadows, but this is a whole new level.
Ya’ see, the Kalamests have an heirloom, a powerful witch relic:
The Gauntlet of Mist.” As the man speaks, The Captain lowers his
head in thought. It all sounds so familiar. “At midnight every
night it can be used for one hour, shrouding the user in mist