Defender of the Future
Book one of
The Tidesinger Trilogy

Chapter Ten

The shaft from whence they had come was completely blocked up--the stone had collapsed in upon itself. Where there had been a giant eruption of white water, now there was just a large, shallow depression. Puffs of steam leaked occasionally from great cracks in the stone.

Ecco nosed around on the surface of the depression, but drew back with a squeal as a jet of steam seared his nose. Shaking his head to clear the pain, he turned and looked at the stubby shape of Chang, hovering beside him. "The Asterite--" he began.

She shook her head, looking at him with big, sad eyes. "I don't think so," the angler-fish said unhappily. "Nothing could have lived through that. I've seen eruptions before."

"What are they?" he asked curiously. "I mean, all hell broke loose down there..."

Chang stared down at the blocked shaft before she spoke. "I know this might sound strange to you, Ecco, but in the deep-down the ground is alive. Sometimes it cracks open and bleeds--its blood glows. It's usually cold down there, but when the rocks are bleeding the water heats up and turns into that white stuff. It's death to go near when that happens."

"And the Asterite..."

"I think he was right in the center of it," the angler-fish said softly. "Well, at least the monsters are gone now..."

"There'll be more of them," Ecco said grimly. "Come on. There's nothing for us here. Let's look for a way out."

"I thought you wanted to come here?" Chang stared at him. "Isn't this the place where you were going to find help?"

"It might have been, a long time ago!" Ecco growled, making the angler-fish back off nervously. "Look! Look at it!" He whirled, indicating the broken-down city. It seemed sad and forlorn in the bright sunlight. "There's nothing here, Chang--no lone-swimmers, no nothing! Nobody's lived in Atlantis for thousands of years!" He realized he was frightening her, and made an effort to lower his voice and speak more calmly. "We'll just leave," he said slowly, forcing himself under control. "You need to get back home, and I need to go look for the lone-swimmers. If they still exist, they must have a home somewhere. Some bay..." Ecco rose and blew, bad-temperedly. "I'll go and ask the whales or something, if I can get past the Foe."

Chang just looked at him, seeming to want to say something. After a moment she settled for saying simply, "Getting out... that's the first thing."

"What?" Ecco asked.

The angler-fish just kept looking at him--no, looking at something behind him. Ecco turned and saw the great stone doors to the city. They were of a deep blue-green stone that had once been beautifully polished but was now covered with barnacles and weed. He swam over and looked at the faint carvings that still remained--dolphins, whales, all kinds of sea life, rendered in relief. The doors reached up out of the water for almost fifty feet--there would be no jumping over them. Ecco nosed around, but there was not even a crack through which he could escape; the doors were still as flush in their frame as they had been the day they were carved. They were basically locked in.

"Well, this is just the end," he snapped. "What do we do now? Wait until the Foe find another way in?"

"Calm down, Ecco," Chang said gently. "I thought I'd never find a way out of the Undercaves, but you turned up just when I was ready to give up. Something will come along--you'll see."

"Hah," Ecco said bitterly, and turned to swim away.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to think," he growled. "Don't follow me. If I want you, I'll find you."

He knew he was being cruel--he knew that Chang's big, unhappy eyes would be fixed reproachfully on him as he turned tail and swam away from her--but he didn't care. When he had so unexpectedly found the Asterite, he had thought for one glorious moment that everything was about to work out. Then, instead of working out, everything had fallen apart, and now Ecco felt more helpless than ever. All of his leads had dried up--Greshruk had been less than helpful, the Asterite had set him on a trail long dead, and Atlantis was not only a ruin but a prison.

Ecco simply had no idea what to do. Even if he could have found a way out right now, he had not the slightest idea how to find the lone-swimmers. Running across a single lone-swimmer in the vast expanse of the ocean would be well nigh a miracle.

He dived, hardly knowing where he was going, and swam into the sunken city itself. Fish flashed past his snout in a silvery shower, lifting his spirits a little. Ecco sighed, glancing around just out of habit. Nowhere did he see any signs that a dolphin had ever visited this place. They were everywhere on the stone--carved onto the walls, depicted on mosaics on the ground that were barely visible under sand and weeds. But, the only things moving in real life were the fish. There were thousands of them, flowing out of his way in great waves as if they too were part of the water.

Ecco swam faster, along one of the wide avenues that led to the central building. This place seemed more intact than the rest--it still had a roof, and windows. It was a large circular place that had once been quite something, with towers and minarets and great reliefs. He noticed that the images on the walls were similar to those he had seen in the Undercaves, although there were no pictures of Tidesinger here--just other dolphins.

Irritated, Ecco swam right round the main building. He found a hole at the back where some of the stones had crumbed, but he didn't try to force his way inside--he had had enough of enclosed spaces. The dolphin rose to breathe quickly, and then swam down again, taking one of the other roads this time. It was very quiet in Atlantis. He swam faster and faster, as if to outrun unquiet ghosts.

Rounding a corner swiftly, Ecco crashed smack into something coming the other way, and sent it spinning. He let out a squeak of shock; at the same time he heard a grunt from the other. He struggled to right himself in the water; the impact had knocked him half-silly. With a little effort, Ecco managed to change his position so that he was the correct way up, and then he shook his head dizzily and focused on the thing he had hit.

Round, stocky, torpedo-shaped body... slate-gray on top, chalk-white below... It flipped over, shook itself and then started as it saw him too.

Ecco shrieked.

The great white lunged forward, but he was already moving--he turned tail and flew back into the city, dashing along the main street like a bolt of silver lightning. The shark came right behind him, roaring in fury. Unable for the moment even to think, Ecco took turns at random--he could hear the rush of water from the flailing tail as the killer raced after him. Too fast! Left--right--left again--right...

He dived, throwing up his tail, and shot into one of the buildings through a small window. There was a crash of masonry as the shark followed, bringing down the rotted windowframe as its bigger body entered. Ecco paid it no heed, racing onwards through an open doorway and into a long hall ended with two big wooden doors. He had no time to breathe, though he wanted to by now. The shark was only a few lengths behind him--he could hear it coming. The end of the hall was approaching fast. Ecco charged and punched a hole through the rotten and warped wood of the doorway with his snout, finding himself in a long corridor. He dashed down it, searching for an exit, and then realized with a lurch that there was no other way out--it ended in a simple wall of stone. Ecco threw himself against it again and again, but it refused to give.

There was a loud crash from the other end of the corridor, and he turned to see the great white bring down the wooden doors with it. It came towards him at a slightly slower speed now, taking its time. Ecco pressed up against the back wall and watched it come.

It wasn't actually a very big shark. Certainly it was nothing like the size of Greshruk--he hadn't actually been able to see how large it was before, given that he had had his tail to it most of the time. The fish was probably a couple of feet longer than himself, though it must have weighed twice as much--the snout was more slender than Greshruk's had been, and the teeth in the open mouth he saw were long and pointed, not like Greshruk's knife-edged triangles. Those were fish-eating teeth, suggesting along with the more streamlined shape that this was only a young great white which hadn't yet graduated to eating mammals.

Ecco's eyes narrowed. The shark came towards him with some uncertainty, re-evaluating him at the same time as he evaluated it. He could see the gills working nervously; he was a larger opponent than the shark had expected. There was a good chance he could actually dissuade it from attacking him, if he didn't show any fear.

"If you come any closer," he said, trying to sound as fierce as possible, "you'll be sorry."

The shark blinked, looking at him out of surprised dark eyes. For a moment its mouth opened and closed, as if it were trying to think of something to say, but then it seemed to come to a decision. It slowed and just stared at him.

"You're not supposed to talk," it said at last.

Ecco growled. "What, I'm supposed to sit here like a guppy and just let you eat me?"

The shark blinked. "Pretty much," it said hesitantly.

This one was a male, Ecco saw. He judged that the shark was possibly a little younger than he and certainly inexperienced with such large prey, and he drew heart from the fact. "I'm warning you, fish, I won't go down without a fight."

"You attacked me first!" the shark said in an injured tone.

"It was an accident." He let out bubbles, wishing there was air in the corridor--he didn't really want to have to go out past the shark. "Look, we don't have to fight each other. I'll let you alone if you let me alone, how's that?" The shark looked doubtful, and Ecco realized something more impressive was needed. Castor had said that all sharks held one thing in reverence... "I'm not afraid of you," he insisted, his voice gathering strength. "I've faced down Greshruk the Slayer and lived to tell the tale."

That got a reaction. The shark's jaw dropped. "You know the Slayer?"

"She's a close personal friend of mine," Ecco bluffed. It wasn't quite an invention--at least Greshruk had paused to talk to him before she tried to eat him. That was probably the closest any dolphin had ever come to becoming friends with her. "I bet she wouldn't be pleased if you ate me!" That was partly true too--Greshruk had sworn to eat him herself.

There was a pause. The young great white was just staring at him, unable it seemed to make anything of the puzzle facing it.

Ecco whistled in irritation. "You just going to sit there all day?" he asked, sounding as tough-guy as he could. "Get out of the way!"

"Sure..." Casting a long, puzzled look back at him, the shark turned on its own length and swam back out of the corridor. Ecco followed, staying well back and keeping his eyes on the steadily sweeping tail for any sign of turning. They exited into the great hallway through which they had dashed, through the wreckage of the shattered wooden doors.

The shark waited, a respectful distance away--still staring at him. It was frowning slightly, as if trying to winkle something out of its memory. Ecco attempted to skirt around the other side of the hall, keeping as much distance between himself and the confused fish as possible, but suddenly it moved and blocked his exit. He felt his heart crank up two gears. "How do you know the Slayer?" the shark asked suspiciously.

Ecco hesitated, and saw the powerful jaws open slightly as if the shark were readying itself to charge him. He made one of the hardest decisions in his life--he decided to tell the truth to his enemy. "I met her at the Cape of Good Hope," he said with a slightly defiant air. "Go ahead and ask her if you want. Why?"

"She's my mother," the shark said cautiously.

Oh, Delphinius...

"She wouldn't go around talking to dolphins..." The shark stared at him. "The Slayer eats dolphins when she sees them. Heck, she'd eat me if she could get close enough." An idea was wiggling slowly through the fog. "You're lying."

Ecco gulped, seeing the shark's gills starting to work harder. He had seen that in Greshruk, just before she charged him. "Okay, okay," he whistled quickly, "I haven't been a hundred per cent honest. But I swear, I have spoken to Greshruk, just a few days ago! You can ask her yourself if you don't believe me!" There was a pause. "Are you still going to try and eat me?" he asked hesitantly.

The shark slowly shook its head. "Nah..."

He exhaled bubbles.

"It takes all the fun out of it when your prey starts talking back. I'd feel bad about it now." Slowly the big fish moved aside, opening the way out. Very very carefully, Ecco began to swim forward, keeping his eyes rigidly on the shark. It moved again, and he backfinned hurriedly. "But you still hit me," the shark said crossly. "Right in the gills."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." He looked unhappily into the black eyes. "It was an accident, and that's the plain truth. I was as surprised as you, remember?" Ecco's need for air was becoming critical. "Look," he said at last, "I'm going out. I'm going to trust that you won't try and bite me or anything. I have to find a way out of this lagoon before it's too late."

"Hah, good luck," the shark said bitterly. "I've been looking for days. I got washed in over the gate when the big storm came, and I've been stuck here ever since." It moved aside as he swept past, then followed him out of the hallway and through the small room into the open water. Ecco rose to breathe, very nervous about the big gray shape following him. The shark waited, a couple of lengths away, and then asked curiously, "How did you get in here?"

Ecco sighed, thinking about all the events that had happened. He looked over at the shark, seeing it for the first time as a possible ally rather than an enemy, and he was surprised. The eyes of Greshruk had been empty like the Crushing Dark, full only of hunger and ancient, deadly cunning. This youngster had a different look--his round black eyes were expressive and slightly wistful. There was a hopeful look in them right now, as he waited on his answer. Somehow, Ecco found himself unable to avoid liking the youngster.

He sighed again, introduced himself properly, and started on the long and convoluted narrative of the past few days. He started with Orcus's arrival, went right through everything that had happened regarding the coming of the Foe, and then told the shark everything about his encounter with Greshruk--truthfully. He left nothing out, not even the Slayer's oath to kill him. He had to breathe halfway through, but he finished the tale with a condensed explanation of what the Asterite had told him. "So I thought--I really thought, that I'd find help here. But--well, you can see for yourself what this place is like. I guess we're all done for. Nobody else knows what to do about the Foe."

"So basically you've got to get out," the shark said, and looked miserable. "I wish I could say something to help. I've been looking for a way out ever since I got here, but--no joy."

"What's your name?" Ecco asked after a moment more. "I told you mine..."

"Karkol." Suddenly the big fish grinned rakishly. "Talk about weird, huh? I mean, us, talking?"

"Yeah, we're like arch-enemies or something..." Ecco looked towards the young great white where he cruised comfortably on his right. "There's a bigger enemy right now, Karkol. I don't think even the Slayer could resist the Foe. I mean, I've seen them." He whistled softly to himself. "You're sure there's no way out of Atlantis?"

"Only the doors," Karkol told him confidently. "I spent a lot of time nosing around them, and there's this mechanism or something that I think is supposed to open them--but it's all overgrown. I don't know if it even works any more."

Ecco was impressed. He'd heard that the great white was one of the most intelligent of fish, but that was real high-grade thinking. "Karkol, I want you to show me this mechanism. And we should pick up Chang on the way..." He sideyed the big shark. "Um... you won't eat her, will you?"

"The little angler?" Karkol grinned again. "Nah. She probably wouldn't be anything more than a mouthful, anyway."

"I know you sharks and your mouthfuls," Ecco muttered darkly. The great white gave him a teasing look and swept ahead of him, moving gracefully through the sparkling water on his outstretched pectoral fins.