The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 1. Chapter 1 - Missing Ilya

Dozi was on the roof of her new home. She was staring out at the darkening horizon where the ocean stretched beyond the waters of Teshon Harbor. She was looking for Ilya. For the past six evenings, as the sun set over the mountains behind her, Dozi gazed out to sea.

A week had passed since she moved from her hidden basement home. The secret underground space where Dozi lived in the Spritehood had been perfect. It served her well and made it possible for her to take in quite a few other displaced women during her two years since moving to Teshon City, but Dozi was grateful to be in Shifton. She had accepted the offer Auntie Peg and Dottie Marbles made to her, and she moved with Tchama into the queens’ old place when they opened the outreach center for the city’s lost children. Dozi’s new home was cozier than the basement had ever been. She was feeling happy. She wished Ilya was with her.

Tchama had become more used to her life with only one arm and had left the Mystic’s care. She was living with Dozi again full-time, but she refused to sit on the roof to look for Ilya; Tchama missed her too much. It was easier for her to try not to think about Ilya. Tchama was certain she would come back someday, but she was still hurting over the loss of her friend. She hoped it would prove to be only temporary, but she distracted herself from her pain by organizing her and Dozi’s new house.

Eventually the sun disappeared behind the mountains west of Teshon City, surrounding Dozi in shadowy blackness. A bright moon began to cast its shimmer on the darkened sea, and Dozi let out a disappointed huff. She turned on the roof to look out over the city and the silhouetted mountain range. From her vantage point, she could see most of Shifton. The lights of taverns were beginning to flicker, and the neighborhood’s nightlife was starting to kick into gear.

“Dozi!” Tchama called up the stairs.

“I’m coming down!” Dozi hollered back. She entered the house from its rooftop terrace and descended to the main part of her new home.

Tchama said, “Dinner’s ready,” as Dozi entered the kitchen. Tchama opened the oven and the room smelled wonderful. She pulled out two of Dozi’s handmade meat pies.

The women ate their meals, and when Dozi was finished, she decided to return to the roof. She sat for two more hours, staring out at the black water with the rising moon’s reflection rippling on its surface. There was no reason for Dozi to think Ilya was going to come back from the eastern sea, she just preferred to look out at the waves rather than the dark city. Dozi wished Ilya would come home. A note was pinned just inside the door of Dozi’s underground basement, which is where she expected Ilya would go first when she returned.

Dozi closed her eyes and remembered her friend. She thought about their meeting, and the wicked arrow that had been in Ilya’s side. Dozi remembered the way Agrell had accepted a Shift stranger immediately and without question. Dozi missed Agrell too.

“What the fuck?” she grumbled to herself as tears welled in her eyes, but then she noticed a sound that was not the thumping of music coming from one of the nearby clubs; Dozi could hear someone bawling. She was certain of what she was hearing. It was coming from the entrance of Gate Town.

She descended into the house again and found Tchama reading a book by candlelight. “I heard someone crying,” Dozi stated.

Tchama looked up. “What do you mean?”

“From the roof,” Dozi explained, as she laced up her boots, “Someone is crying out in the street.” She pulled a heavy jacket over the bulky sweater she was already wearing.

“Always so parental,” Tchama said with a little laugh. She slipped on her shoes and followed Dozi out the front door.

“I heard it in the direction of the gates,” Dozi said, as they stepped onto the street. “No, wait…” she paused, “it’s not.” The two women realized the crying was coming from behind them.

Tchama whispered, “Is someone in the garden?”

There could be no doubt, the sound of wailing was coming from the backyard of their new house. They crept down a narrow alley that led behind their home to the private space that was enclosed by a concrete wall. Auntie Peg and Dotty Marbles had built a shed in the back for Ninyani to use as his own little boudoir to practice his hair and makeup. They painted its exterior pink. The crying was coming from inside.

Dozi leaned close to Tchama and breathed, “It sounds like a little girl.”

“Let me go first,” invulnerable Tchama replied, “in case there’s any danger.” She stepped up to the shed’s door and pulled it open.

“Ninyani?!” the two young women cried out in unison.

The spritely boy was covered in blood★