Ophidia

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE ( Set sail!)

    The day after Mupo arrived, they started off early in the morning on Benga's ship. "You were right

Benga." Wolani said." It is big enough for all of us."

    "I told you." He said with a smile on his face.

    "So how long will it take us to get there?" Mupo asked him.

    "Where?" Benga asked him. Mupo gave him this confused look.

    "The Taipan desert!"

    "Ohh uhhh I've only travelled there once, so I'm not really sure how long."

    "Okay...But can you atleast try giving an idea of how long."

    "Maybe five years."

    "Five years? That can't be possible."

    "That was my idea.....five years."

    "What?"

    "You told me to give you an idea and that's what I came up with."

    "No I meant....you know what it's fine. As long as you know where we're going right." He didn't say

anything. "Right?"

    "Don't worry....you're in safe hands....sailing is the thing that I'm second best at."

    "And what are you best at?"

    "Hunting of course. I don't want to sound too overconfident but I'm probably the best hunter in

Ophidia."

    "Really?" Mupo saw the joy in his face when he talked about hunting. It was as if his mood

changed entirely each time he talked about it.

    "Yes...in fact." He then walked away from Mupo and into some room on the ship. Mupo stood there

in confusion.

    "Did he forget that he was talking to me?" He thought. He stood there for some time and

started looking at the Mamba sea. All of a sudden, the sea beneath them became darker. It was as if

something was passing under the ship, something huge. The darkness then faded. "Did you guys see

that?" He asked them but when he looked around, Jackandi was sleeping. Wolani and Nima were having

a conversation and Jenka was cooking. None of them even noticed anything." Maybe it was just my

imagination." He thought.

    Benga,afterward, appeared from the room that he disappeared into, holding a club in left hand."

It took me forever to find this. I thought it would be easier to find but I think I shouldn't have put it

in a dark room."

    "Is that a club?" Mupo asked him.

    "Yes it is....but its not just any club." He responded. "Have you heard about the Bronze boar?"

Mupo's eyes widened with enthusiasm.

    "Yes I do but sadly I never managed to come into contact with one. They surprisingly vanished

from Ophidia."

    "Yes they no longer exist. But before they recently vanished I had an encounter with one."

    "Really? What happened."

    "I was out hunting in the Mamba ruins for the beast. I camped in the black forest for quite some

time, without it showing up. It took me a while but when the beast showed up I was ready for it. I

chased it on my Zebra for a while until I cornered it."

    "And then what happened?"

    "I-" he was interrupted by water splashing on him. Mupo looked just as confused as Benga.

    "What just happened?"

    "I think a shark must've splashed water on me."

    "A shark?"

    "Its probably the only thing big enough to expel such an amount of water." He said it so casually. As

if he encountered sharks all the time.

    "Shouldn't we be worried?" Mupo asked him with a concerned look on his face.

    "Not really....if it wanted to attack us it we would have been fish food by now." He said that to try

and make Mupo feel more comfortable but it only made his discomfort much much worse.

Even after the large splash from the water, the rest of the people still didn't notice what was

happening. "You haven't noticed what just happened?!" He yelled while facing the rest of the people.

    "I told you.....there's nothing to worry about." Benga assured him.

    "What are you going on about?" Jenka asked him.

    "It's....its fine." Mupo responded to her. He subsequently turned to Benga." You can finish telling me

about your encounter with the bronze boar."

    "Oh right." Benga continued telling him about his encounter.

Meanwhile Nima and Wolani were on the opposite side of the ship also talking. Nima was telling

Wolani about her brawl with the Slitherane. "Was she tough?" Wolani asked with excitement written all

over her face.

    "Really tough...I thought I was a goner." She answered her.

    "What kind of weapon was she using?"

    "It's hard to say, it looked kind of like a normal double edged sword, only bigger and with spikes on

each side of the blade."

    "How big was she?"

    "She was about twice my size."

    "Wow you must be really strong...were you scared ?"

    "Of course I was.....I was facing one of the most deadly beasts in Ophidia. I almost urinated

myself." They both laughed in unison.

    "Are they as smelly as the books say?"

    "The books don't describe the smell properly, they smell way worse than they are given credit for."

They both laughed again.

    "By the way how-" she was interrupted by a splash of water. She looked into the water to see what

was happening. The water was quiet and it was like nothing had splashed water on them.

    "What was that?"

    "I have no idea." They moved away from the water to avoid more splashes. Then they heard a loud

hissing sound from beneath them. This time everybody looked concerned, even Benga.

    "Please tell me I'm not the only person who heard that." Mupo said to the rest of them.

    "No." They all said at the same time. The water beneath them became darker and darker until so

much water had splashed on the ship that five out of six people became wet. When the splashed water

finished coming down, a large sea serpent emerged. It was twice the size of the ship, was a greyish

brown colour, had fangs the length of swords with only one green glowing eye. Every one's jaw was

wide open.

    "Are you sure we shouldn't be worried?" Mupo said.