Gallu The Colossus of Spiritual Waves

“many are called, but few are chosen.”

Caddeus spent all his tokens to hitch a ride on the native’s ship. The native was a fisherman of Nevana, the island in the sky. The native was tall and shirtless, covered in tattoos of constellations. He had pieces of black power-stones pierced in his arms and one chunk in his nose. The power-stones were energy sources, usually for machines, not accessories. He wondered if the implementations increase his strength. He was traveling to restricted land, but their desperation from the crashing island and his badge as Merrain’s Explorer- granted him access to their land and to tame The Gallu, the Colossus of the Spiritual Waves.

The boat was compact, with smooth, white wood. Both ends were aerodynamically sharp and were carved with wavy grooves. He expected the ride to be lengthy but was unprepared to fly through the cyan-green clouds, an ethereal ocean. He had heard of the legend, but going through oceanic clouds was a bizarre phenomenon. The shine was beautiful but, the blue cumulus tasted very salty.

He could see the land from afar off, and he zoomed in with his bronze goggles with rose-colored lens. Nevana drifted along the turbulent, glowing waters. Its mountain was peering into the other scattered, ethereal streams. In spite of the erratic waves and a terrible bout with motion sickness, they made it to their destination. They stopped at the main docks of the land.

The native fisherman led him through the city, located atop of a white, sandy beach. The buildings were carved like hollow palm trees various shapes and sizes. Some were homes, while others were places of civilian affairs. But they were all inside, looking out their windows, desperately searching and praying for help.

They approached at a small colosseum that contained an analog cannon of the giants peering from structure. Entering through the big gates and viewing the doorways shaped as warriors made Caddeus puff out his chest.

They led him to the base of the giant’s cannon.  It was a breathtaking sight! The artillery was made of blackened stone and contained golden hieroglyphics of Nevana’s ancient language etched around the grooves of the barrel. The fisherman was turning gears and levers, aiming the trajectory to the very top, as he loaded a bigger ship into its chamber. Caddeus’ heart dropped, realizing the mythical legend was real. If he could pull the sword from the head of the beast, his name would be in so many records and book at the Grand Library.

A hostile native busted in. He had a young face and his big and round stature intimidated Caddeus enough to make him feel unwelcome. He gripped his Aero pistol, a hollow brown gun with small wind propellers as a revolver cylinder.

The fisherman’s face became heated red, “How dare you stomp here, as a brave?” he said.

“So you let outsider, a yellow man of soft clothing handle the troubles of our home?” the hostile replied.

“He’s in Merrian’s Guild, one of the great adventures who have found relics of great mystery.”

“Eh. Just fairy tales.”, the hostile responded.

“Eh? The village elder think the name is bigger than yours. Eh? Our sister land could fall out of the heavens anytime now, and we do nothing, eh?” asked the native fisherman passionately.

The hostile native took a step back, eyed Caddeus suspiciously, and turned away. Caddeus roughly understood them,  but the hulking native walking away was a clear sign of relief. Sudden movements occurred before Caddeus realized that the hostile grabbed him by the collar, breathing in his face.

“You know nothing of our seas. Our people.  But if you knew even a little of Gallu…you would jump off our sister land right now, you bottom bum.” the native said.

Caddeus slugged him the cheek. “You don’t know me. I am here, and you can’t take that away from me.” Caddeus exclaimed with fury.

Caddeus’ chest puffed up twice as he walked to the ship. He tried to hold back his pain and tears, as he rubbed his swollen knuckles while sitting down at the back of the tilted boat. He placed his hand on the steering handle. Things became awkward seconds later when the native fisherman looked at Caddeus, who was clearly in the fisherman’s seat.

“I thought this was a trip for one,” Caddeus said.

As the native fisherman took the steering handle, he replied, “If I was right in the head, but I want to do more for our people than fish.”

Caddeus moved to the empty seat ahead. “Okay, well what was that man’s problem?”

The native fisherman tested the ship lever, “Jaku, don’t mind the boy.” he said, “He is just hurt..”

“The chosen…Do you think I’m the chosen?”, Caddeus asked.

“Like I know… A man. No, an honest man heard the cry of Gallu.  We assumed he was chosen yeah, so we shot him up. He never came down. Only the great storm did, eh. The storm kept breaking away our waters, and now we are at the lowest of spiritual waves. Great danger, eh? He was honest man, yeah. We hoped he lied and the chosen is not dead, or the land will surely fall out the sky. Hopefully you, honest adventurer of great name, yeah, can be picked by Gallu.”

“I hope so too. What is your name, sir?” he asked.

“Eh. Why don’t you put your mind to when we greeted? “ the native fisherman countered.

After the response, Caddeus remembered the native fisherman had said his name before, but he forgot it.

He shook his head “It’s Molla. Be ready.”

The ship grew a glass shell cockpit over their heads. The Black Cannon rotated, and electrical energy encased the boat. With the snap of acceleration, the ship blasted at speeds that Caddeus couldn’t gauge. Everything outside the ship had no shape.

When they slow down to normal speed, the inertia came back as they went over the highest ethereal cloud. This caused the glass of the ship to burst. Both passengers floated in the edge of planet’s atmosphere. The view of space made Caddeus forget the spins in his stomach. When he landed on the erratic cyan waves, he regurgitated a little and quickly spat it out.

The black stones in Molla’s skin lit up, and he paddled with incredible might, making the ship leap from one crashing wave to the next. A shadow cast over their heads as Molla continued rowing. A vast upsurge was incoming. Caddeus grabbed his Aero Pistol, pulled the trigger to vacuum the air, readied himself for the kickback, and fired a striking gust, minimizing the tsunami. The reduced size of the waves allowed Molla to push the ship shipped over them.

Gallu, the Colossus of the Sky, was a humongous whale-like beast with shining green stars for eyes. Its bluish-green body contained dimly lit gelatin, with rows of huge monoliths of black power stones as its spinal cord. When Gallu wailed, the sound was disorienting. The noise disturbed the sea of the sky to its whim, erupting pillars of the cyan water at Caddeus and Molla. The geysers of light forced Molla to stop the ship within miles of Gallu.

Caddeus didn’t want to stop, so he jumped into one those furious geyser.  It sprang into the air over the beast. Through his goggles, he analyzed Gallu and area from the above. There it was, the blade of the Colossus, the sword handle was protruding from its whale-like sprout. He dove for the prize, but Gallu sank into the raging seas. As Caddeus was falling to his doom, realizing his stupidity, Jaku hurled his ship in the air and caught him.

The gigantic Gallu rose out of the sea and almost into space. This made Caddeus think of the island below. The splash could destroy the cloud, and the destructive force would trickle down. The image of the island and its people crashing into oblivion burned in his mind. Jaku tilted his boat upward, feeling the same fear. They launched off. As the momentum was slowing down, Caddeus vacuumed the air into his aero pistol. When the ship reached its pinnacle, he fired a massive gust of wind. He dislocated his arm, but the vessel propelled towards Gallu head, towards the sword.

Caddeus grabbed the legendary weapon, but it wouldn’t budge, Fate had rejected him. Still, he continued to pull with all his might because fate was going to let the nation die. Out of nowhere, Jaku pushed him away and pulled out the greatsword with ease, as if it belonged to him. Light rushed out from where the sword was released. The flash was blinding and warm. Suddenly he found himself floating on the glowing seas, Caddeus swam to the surface. Molla was there to help him aboard the ship.

Jaku came out the depths of the ethereal stream standing on Gallu, the Colossus of the Sky. He placed the wondrous sword on his shoulder. The blade was shaped like an enormous spearhead made of pure green hardened light, with a long handle of black stone.

“Molla, I fell hard to my cowardice. My hands are wet with blood… this folly is on me. As the new guardian, I will lift the island to its rightful place.” Jaku proclaimed.

Caddeus couldn’t contain himself. “May I see your sword?”, he asked

Jaku laughed, “No… much thanks, you hit me straight.”

Jaku went off into the shimmering, spiritual waves.

Molla shook his head, ”Question is answered, yeah. He is the son of that honest man, maybe no longer honest, that I spoke of.”

Caddeus fell on his back, weighted by all the questions. The honest man lied for his son and Caddeus wished he knew that before he almost fell to his death. At least he survived, the island was saved, and he had an excellent story to record for the Grand Library.