Born of the Gods

Chapter Fourteen- The Voyage

During the trip at sea I learned one thing: I hated sailing far more than I hated flying. At least when flying I had control. When you sail in a "magnificent" boat that is so small that larger waves crash over the top and you get all wet, you learn to hate sailing. As usual, the sea was icy cold. The water didn't even have the dignity to completely soak me all at once. No, it had to slowly attack me with endless sprays of icy mist. Sophia seemed to love it. Every time the mist splashed on her she smiled as if it felt good. She decided that my level of hate for sailing was funny, but she tried her hardest to keep me dry. Her attempts, while kind, were in vain.

Captain Alazon was as annoyingly proud as usual, walking around the ship, barking orders to the sailor boys, and generally holding his head higher than I would have thought possible. 

"Ya need ta get ya sea legs, boy. Ya look as if ya want ta puke," he said and walked away before calling over his should, "And make sure ya do it o'er the side of the boat; I don't want yer guts sloshin' around in mah ship."

I sighed and felt my stomach rumble. It ached and I began to wonder if this trip would ever end. Sophia giggled as I walked downstairs, clutching my belly. I looked around for Tarik, who decided to keep to the rooms.

I walked into our small area and Tarik looked up.

"You feel as bad as I do?" he asked me.

"Probably," I said and flopped down on my bed. Sophia decided to take the captain's advice and we had been forced to sleep together again. She said I snored loudly.

"I almost began to wonder if it had anything to do with our parents. You know, since I'm son of the god of the Ecryptian underworld and you're seeming the son of one of the sky gods, maybe we just naturally hate the sea, while Sophia naturally loves it. If your dad is Zeus it might even be a sibling rivalry," Tarik said and laughed at the idea.

"Maybe," I said and grinned, "How much longer do you think it'll be?"

He frowned and said, "I don't know, but I hope not too long. I really want to get back to my homeland. It's a great place."

"I just want to get off of this boat."

"You and me both, brother. I think you will enjoy Ecryptia. It's a lot different from Graceland's boring mountains and never ending forests," he said and began to day dream, "No, Ecryptia is full of vast deserts spotted with wonderful oases. They're like lakes, but they have this great jungle-like vegetation about a hundred feet around them. It was almost like a small beach paradise."

"It sounds wonderful. What about the tombs and pyramids though? My parents would tell me great stories about daring adventurers diving into them and finding great treasures and fortune. I would like to do that some day," I told him.

"Oh, they are frightening. I once decided to try to do with a few of my friends. It was long before I knew I was a demigod, probably no older than ten. We heard a rumor of a half buried and destroyed temple not too far from out town. Where we lived was a great place, with the Vile River running through it. It was a surprisingly small town for having access to such an important waterway. Anyway, we walked outside of the city, it was called Zeitun. The city was surrounded by miles of endless desert so we walked to the nearest oasis and rested. The temple, supposedly, was very close. We searched all around, agreeing that we'd return to the oasis in an hour or if any of us found something. When I got back one of my friends was missing. We waited a little while and soon he came running back. He stopped, panting by my side.

'I found it,' the boy said as he coughed from exhaustion. We quickly began asking him question but he shook his head. 'I will lead you there. You must see it for yourselves!'