The Mantis Continuum - Book Four - 11. Chapter 11 - The Journey North, by Sea

Ogomo’s massive ship left the Uodila Archipelago with the tropical storm in hot pursuit, but his vessel was fast, and the voyage to the southern continent was uneventful. The nation was called Phanisia, and Ogomo docked at a port on the small coastal island of Philletri. Even though he only planned to resupply in Phanisia, he gave his crew a three-day shore leave. None of the crew bothered to venture from the island onto the mainland.

Phanisia was not like the Uodila Islands, with its open Shift community; the region was much more akin to Xin. Its people only spoke of Shifts as the others, and they only ever spoke of them rarely. The nation of Phanisia was small. Part of the lands were mountainous, and the rest were plains that stretched to the sea. The capital city of Tostrijia was far inland, on the foothills that led up to the vast mountain range.

For Kosephaji, Relliduna, and Pelipi, the time on Philletri Island passed quickly. They stayed at an inn that overlooked the ocean, and Kosephaji and Relliduna spent most of the time in their rented room with Pelipi. At the end of the brief stay, the crew restocked the necessary supplies, and soon the ship was ready to venture back out onto the open ocean.

“All right, you scoundrels,” Ogomo boomed, “shove off!”

The sails billowed and the ship quickly picked up speed.

“Don’t you just love the salty smell of the sea air?” Ogomo asked Nahli.

They were standing at the bow.

“It doesn’t smell much different than it did on Philletri,” she replied to her enormous little brother.

“No, no,” he said with a smile, “there’s something different about the air farther away from land.” He took a long sniff and let out a contented sigh.

The two of them fell quiet and listened to the sounds of sailing.

Eventually Nahli asked, “Is it time?”

Ogomo boomed a single word. “Yes.”

Nahli smiled and said, “North.”

“Yes,” Ogomo repeated.

“Home,” Nahli declared with relish.

The giant rumbled a chuckle and said again, “Yes.”

When Ogomo was a youth and still a normal-sized boy, he was very close with his much older sister. They lived together in Teshon City. Nahli was 22 before Ogomo turned 12, and she had gone through a Demifae enhancement. She worked at a shop called Abernathy’s Apothecary for only a fortnight, but the Demifae owner and his assistant were cruel, and because of them Nahli questioned her decision.

Unbeknownst to anyone at that time, Ogomo’s photonova gland had activated, and he began to grow. Nahli was one of the first people to see him, and she was shocked by the condition of her brother. Overnight he had grown several inches. He was already taller than she, but young Ogomo’s body did not grow evenly, and his proportions looked unnerving, even terrifying.

The oversized boy begged his older sister to help him, but Nahli’s Demifae training caused her to hesitate. She knew that she could achieve so much with his photonova gland, but Nahli’s compassion and the love she felt for Ogomo made her banish the thought, and she chose her brother over her history as a Demifae.

They left Teshon City together. Neither she nor Ogomo knew about the community of Biological Shifts living beneath the streets, and the two of them fled the city on foot and headed south. They made their way past the string of coastal fishing villages until they reached the wilderness at the southernmost end of the Great Southtrack. By that point, Ogomo had already been getting bigger for a week, but there were a full three weeks of his body’s growth before it stopped. At the end of it, he was well and truly a giant.

Into those forested mountains along the coast, the two ventured. Against all the odds, over three arduous months after Nahli and Ogomo left Teshon City, they arrived at a rise in the land that gave them their first view of the vast rolling plains of Xin.

They also came across a monster.

Out of the trees lumbered a naked humanoid creature. It had far too many arms and legs and other parts. The monster roared, and it charged.

Ogomo, the nearly 20-foot tall 12 year old, did not understand what he was seeing. From his elevated height, the creature appeared roughly the same size as his sister, but everything about the thing looked wrong.

The hideous human-like beast pounced, and Ogomo swatted it with his enormous hand. The giant boy’s strength was even greater than his size, and the creature was sent hurtling back down the hill and into the trees.

Ogomo scooped up his tiny older sister and ran. They made it into the grasslands and hurried south along the coast until the sun set, and they saw no sign of the monster again.

For a further two long months, the pair trekked along the coastline south until the land eventually curved east, and Nahli and young Ogomo got their first glimpses of the pink sand beaches of southern Xin. They finally came to the fishing village of Mellini, but the locals did not like the look of the giant boy, so Nahli and Ogomo traveled still farther. The two headed north, following a mighty river and a rumor they heard of a major metropolis upstream.

Nahli and Ogomo made it to Ruville a full six months after they left Teshon City, and outside of town, they made a home for themselves that could accommodate Ogomo. The two lived in the Ruburge region for years, and in that time, Ogomo became fascinated with the ships that sailed the Ru River, and he connected with other Shifts who had a similar interest in seafaring vessels.

On Ogomo’s 27^th birthday, his ship was launched. It had taken him and his companions over four years to build it, and it was unlike anything that sailed the Ru River or the seas beyond in those days. He and Nahli traversed the southern ocean for two adventurous years. They explored uncharted regions and visited remote harbors. A few of the original crewmembers were replaced by other sailors, and over that time, Ogomo gathered himself a loyal bunch of shipmates. Eventually, he added the trio of teenage boys.

With Relliduna doing a bit better and Pelipi attached to the mast, chatting endlessly with the crewmembers, Kosephaji spent more time with Nahli. He helped prepare ingredients for her potions and medicines. It was easy work, and she was very pleasant company.

On one morning, a few days after leaving Philletri, Kosephaji was with Nahli in her workspace, and she asked, “Are you in love with him?”

Kosephaji’s voice cracked. “Am I what? Am I in love with who?” he asked, fully aware of exactly who she was talking about.

Nahli gave him a knowing smirk. “You can tell me. I won’t let your secret slip.”

Kosephaji checked over his shoulder, as if he was about to divulge a big secret, but he whispered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nahli playfully cocked her head to one side. “How long have you been in love with him?”

“Always,” Kosephaji breathed aloud before he could stop himself. He looked at the floor, as if it was the most interesting thing in the room.

Nahli let out a sweet little laugh. “It feels good to say it aloud, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t really want to talk about…”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Nahli interrupted with a chuckle. “It’s hard to admit to yourself your feelings, especially aloud and especially in front of someone who’s almost a stranger.”

Kosephaji was very embarrassed.

“Do you like him the way he is?” Nahli asked. “He talks to a lot of people. Are you sure you’re not gonna get jealous?”

Kosephaji looked up with a smile. “I love that about him. He can make friends anywhere, and I love occasionally being along for the ride.”

“Does he know?”

“No,” Kosephaji mumbled, “I don’t think I’ve ever made it clear. We’ve always been friends, and we’re affectionate with each other, but I mean,” and he whispered, “we’ve never kissed.”

Nahli smiled wide and recommended, “Maybe you should tell him how you feel.”

The old Oselian port of Teshon City was over 2000 nautical miles away from Philletri, and 10 days passed at sea before the boatswain in the crowsnest let out an enthusiastic, “Land ho!”

“Teshon City!” boomed Ogomo.

Kosephaji thought this was as good a time as any, and he surprised Relliduna by taking his hand and interlacing their fingers.

Relliduna looked into Kosephaji’s eyes.

“Duna, I just wanted to take a second with you to try and get the words out about the way that things have been making me…” Kosephaji paused and scrunched up his face. “I mean, there’s stuff that I think it would be good if it was, I guess, made less, I don’t know… ambiguous?” He took a frustrated breath. Come on, he thought to himself, do it! Kosephaji stared at Relliduna. “Duna, I…” he began, “I love…”

Ogomo’s ship crashed into something and everyone went flying.

Kosephaji and Relliduna were sent sprawling to the deck. Other crewmembers fell around them. Some were thrown overboard, and a few others became tangled in the rigging above. One man fell and landed on the deck, on his head, and he died instantly.

With the lights of Teshon City in sight, the ship had run aground, and it was sinking.