Defender of the Future
book one of
The Tidesinger Trilogy

Chapter Fourteen

Ecco swallowed as the dusky dolphins closed in on them. His gaze went from face to face, seeing nothing but hostility there. The lone-swimmers seemed about ready to charge--he had seen fighters in his own pod hit sharks hard enough to knock them right out of the water. Corse and Klik had together once battered a half-grown tiger shark to death. He felt Karkol trembling again, and pressed himself up against the shark to remind him that they were on business. "No," he said softly, barely more than a whisper. Karkol heard and stilled himself with a visible effort.

The dolphins stopped less than a length away, their hot, savage eyes staring at Ecco and Karkol with terrible intent. "You, shark-friend," the largest one growled in Ecco's direction. There was a weight of scorn and even disgust in his tone. "By what right do you come sniffing and squeaking around here? And how dare you bring one of these beasts with you?"

Ecco felt his jaw tense at the way the dolphins referred to Karkol. Careful, don't lose it, they'll be happy to kill us both right now... "Sir," he said carefully, "I am called Ecco, and the shark is Karkol. We came to ask for your help."

Ecco's name failed to work its magic this time round: the dolphins didn't even blink at his name or at the request. One or two of them even closed in a little further, curling their tail flukes as if they were prepared to charge. Karkol let out a soft growl--nothing more than an aural hint--but the over-eager dolphins backed off a little.

"Help." The contempt in the dusky dolphin's voice was frightening to hear. "You come uninvited into our waters--you bring a kraak'i'hui mud-spawn murderer into our midst--and you have the temerity to ask us for help? Why in Tidesinger's name should we help you? You are shark-friend!"

"What's wrong with that?" Karkol muttered. Ecco whacked him in the gills to shut him up.

"I'm sorry if we're trespassing," he said to the dusky dolphins, keeping his voice as calm and polite as he could--though by now he wanted to attack them almost as much as Karkol did. "We saw no sign that these waters were protected by you. And as for my being what you say, shark-friend... well, I am. Karkol and I have been traveling together for protection." Ecco wanted to breathe, but he didn't dare leave the circle. An angry note crept into his voice as he went on, "I suppose you've heard about the little trouble outside these shores?"

The dusky dolphins looked from one to the other. Whistles and squeaks passed quietly between them--Ecco listened, but the words were in a language he didn't know. "What are they talking about?" Karkol hissed. Ecco just shook his head.

Finally the one who seemed to be the leader turned back to them. His eyes, strangely pale, slid over them with a burning intensity, examining every inch of them. There was puzzlement in the dusky dolphin's eyes now, as well as anger, and Ecco suppressed a smile. He seemed to be having that effect on a lot of people lately.

"You, shark-friend," the dusky dolphin said after a moment more. Ecco realized that they were all now determinedly ignoring Karkol. "Tell us by what right you come here? Who sent you? How did you find this place?"

Ecco glanced around at the dolphins, then slowly rose to breathe, Karkol at his side as ever. The other dolphins stayed with him, one or two breathing themselves as they reached the surface. That done, Ecco sighed, looked into the pale eyes of the leader, and began on his long tale.

It seemed to take longer this time to tell than it had done before. When Ecco grew tired, Karkol took over; the dolphins shifted nervously and cast him suspicious looks as he went through the story of their escape from Atlantis and the killer whales' sacrifice. The leader's gaze switched from Ecco to Karkol, taking in the distressed expression in the shark's warm black eyes, but the other dolphins didn't seem to want to look at him. Ecco nudged Karkol gently, warning the shark to stay calm and show no aggression.

Finally, the lead dolphin let out a soft whistle--a delphine way of clearing-the-throat to prepare himself for speaking further. "So you come here to seek help against the Foe. I see." And he was silent then, just looking at the others who looked back at him with varied expressions. Words in that strange other language floated across the water as the dusky dolphins began another muted discussion. Ecco and Karkol waited silently to hear whatever decision they came up with. I've come so far, Ecco thought sadly. Please, Delphinius, don't let a bunch of snobby singers stop me now...

"There is a precedent," the leader said suddenly, turning back to him. "In the time of our ancestors, Tidesinger himself came to these waters with a shark as his companion. The need was dire, and because he was who he was, we let him through. In his memory we will do the same for you, star-brow--but not for the other."

"He goes, or neither of us," Ecco said determinedly.

Karkol turned towards him with a worried look in his black eyes. "Ecco, I'm not sure whether that's a good idea. They sure don't look like they want me around... I can wait here for you."

"No, Karkol. We're in this together, remember?" Ecco didn't take his eyes off the lead dolphin, though his voice was directed to the shark. "After what we've been through together? No way I'm letting these guys brush you off. Besides, it's not safe out here alone--what about Foe?" He raised his voice then, refusing to let the leader's pale gaze intimidate him. "You hear me? Karkol has to come!"

"You are in no position to make demands--" the lead dolphin began, but then broke off. Ecco stifled a squeal of surprise as a white body passed right by him, seemingly materialized out of nowhere. The new dolphin cruised past, ignoring his surprise. Karkol whirled and examined the cliff face behind them with a suspicious frown on his face.

"Afarellan says that the shark is to be allowed in," the newcomer said quietly to the leader. "He has been expecting these two for several days."

The leader started, and looked at Ecco with an astonished expression for a moment before he covered up his momentary lapse. "Very well," was all he said, and he nearly spit the words as it was. "You may bring the gray one with you. But I warn you, star-brow... you are fully responsible for its conduct. If anything happens, I shall kill you myself."

"Can I just point out," Karkol said loudly, "that I am not an 'it', and I have never eaten a dolphin in my life!" There was an angry tone in his voice.

"Don't get mad," Ecco hissed under his breath. "That's what he wants you to do. Control, Karkol, control..."

"This bites," the shark muttered bitterly, but he fell silent anyway. They both turned as the white dolphins swam past them, heading towards the rock face. Ecco nearly inhaled water as the leader passed straight through.

"Wha..!?"

The new dolphin, the one who had saved them, appeared in front of him without sound. There was an amused look in the eyes, which were deep black as Karkol's own. She was female, and very beautiful with her sooty black extremities and soft white body. "Don't be deceived," she said kindly. "Not everything in the sea is what it seems. Follow me!"

Ecco glanced at Karkol, who seemed as nonplussed as he. The other dolphins had all disappeared by now, vanishing one by one through the solid wall of rock. Slowly he began to swim forward, Karkol at his side, following the female towards the cliff. The water washed around them, disturbed by the proximity of the shore. As they approached the wall, Ecco slowed despite himself. It looked perfectly solid to him--he could pick out the tiniest details with his sonar. He sneaked another glance at the confused shark, and then stared forward in shock as the white dolphin swam calmly through the stone. "How do they do that?" he asked helplessly.

"Guess we've just got to try it," Karkol said reluctantly, and swam forward. He slowed to a crawl a length or so from the wall, and then slowly reached out and gingerly touched it with his nose. Instantly he let out a yell of surprise and backed off again. "It is! It's solid!"

"Solid? But they just went right through!" Ecco swam up and touched the wall. It felt solid enough to him too... "What's the secret?" he yelled, frustrated beyond words.

A gust of water came suddenly, unexpectedly, and flung Ecco forward tail-over-tip. He didn't have time to think or even prepare himself for the crash... which never came. He tumbled forward two or three dolphin-lengths before managing to recover himself and re-orient himself the correct way up. Conscious that the light level was different, he opened his eyes and looked around properly.

The rock wall was behind him. He was in the warm shallow waters of a lagoon... but what a lagoon! The sides were sheer stone, reaching up for many hundreds of feet, and above was a sky... Well, Ecco was a hundred per cent sure that it had been midmorning when he had reached the stone wall, but above him there was a night sky that was dazzling in its brilliance. The five stars of Delphinius were brightest of all... that and the moon. There was a gigantic moon in the sky, the largest he had ever seen. Its silver light filled the lagoon like water. Ecco turned slowly on the spot, staring around him in utter amazement. There were plants here, and fish, none of which he had ever seen before. And there was the female dolphin, just a few lengths away. As if revealed by the moonlight, tiny points of light glittered all over her white sides. She smiled at him but said nothing.

Karkol... Where was Karkol? Ecco turned back to face the wall. It looked solid from this side, too. "Karkol?" he yelled. "Karkol, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"Ecco?" The reply was muffled. "Where are you? I can hear you, but I can't see you!"

"I think I've got it!" he called back. "The wall--it's an illusion! You have to stop believing in it!"

"What? How?"

"I don't know!"

Outside, Karkol blinked and stared at the barrier. It looked as solid as before. "An illusion?" he repeated. "But... it looks so real..." If he charged it, he'd bang his nose. He had already felt how real it was.

The shark got another good idea. He backed off, and then closed his eyes. Water before me... plain ol' water... Slowly he began to swim forward. The wall was somewhere in front... maybe not yet... couple more lengths... just water. He kept swimming, and encountered no wall. It had to be there... any moment he'd bump into it. Where was it?

"Karkol, you did it!"

Startled by the sound of Ecco's voice right beside his ear, he opened his eyes and then stared around in shock as he saw the bay. The barrier was behind him--he had passed right through it. "The wall..?"

"It's just an illusion," Ecco said. "If you believe in it, it's real. Look!"

The rock face was still visible now, but there was a shimmer to it like a heat-haze. For the first time Karkol could see the faint seams where the illusionary wall joined the real one. "Well, I'll..." he said softly. "Talk about a good trick. Nobody'd ever find this place. What's with the sky?" Suddenly he took a closer look at Ecco, narrowing his eyes. "You know those marks on your head are glowing?" he asked.

"Huh? They are?" Ecco couldn't see the stars, of course, but now that Karkol had drawn his attention to it, he was aware of a faint diffuse glow somewhere between his eyes.

The white dolphin was a few feet away. She inclined her forequarters towards them, spreading her fins in a gesture of respect. "Explanations will have to wait for now. Afarellan wishes to speak to you, young one--and the shark too. Please, follow me."

"Wait!" Ecco said quickly, hurrying to catch up with her. "What is this place? And who are you? And--who is Afarellan, and how did he know we were coming?"

The white dolphin glanced at him, a smile in her flashing dark eyes. "So many questions... This is Lunar Bay, the home of the children of Tidesinger--it is protected by an old power of ours. My name is Naylle, and Afarellan is the leader here. He has the gift of farsense. For days now he has been speaking of you, Ecco--and then of you, Karkol."

Other dolphins were headed their way, scything swift through the still water of the bay. Naylle let out a whistle that sounded slightly worried. "Please stay calm, both of you, and do not give them any cause to attack. We are proud people, poor at taking orders... I will tell them to leave us alone, but it will be best if you also present a harmless appearance."

Ecco glanced at Karkol, who looked worried himself. It was all very well telling a great white shark to look harmless.

The other dolphins drew up all around them. Whistled conversation shivered through the water, Naylle's gentle tones contrasted with the sharp, angry sounds of the others. Karkol flinched away as one of the white ones swept right past him--it took all his self-control not to snap at the dolphin. Ecco stayed right beside the shark, trying to give him comfort from his own presence. He was comforted himself to see that Naylle seemed to be winning her argument; the others fell back a little, but still followed them in a pack eight or ten strong, their hot eyes on the tail of the shark.

"Don't look back," Naylle said softly. "Just follow me." She dived, heading down towards the bottom of the lagoon. Ecco and Karkol followed as quickly as they could, not wanting to think about the angry dolphins they were leaving behind. Out of the blue below them coalesced a building of sorts... almost like the ones that had been in Atlantis. But this one was in good repair, its spires and domes complete and glistening in the cool white moonlight. Ecco glanced at Karkol with a question in his eyes.

Naylle swept forward, stopping the two guards who rose to attack with a few swift words. Ecco and Karkol hurried to catch up as the white dolphin entered through a hole in the side of the building. A few moments later they were swimming through a wide corridor, decorated with pictures of a very familiar white dolphin.

"This is Tidesinger, isn't it?" Ecco asked excitedly, catching up with Naylle.

She favored him with a surprised look. "Yes, it is. The reliefs depict Tidesinger's journey. I'm surprised you recognized them. Do you know the legend of Tidesinger?"

"I've heard some of it," he admitted. "From all sorts of people. What I don't know is how he defeated the Foe."

"Afarellan will help you with that," Naylle said softly.

Karkol was staring around in wonder--he had never seen the pictures before. Suddenly he stopped dead in the corridor, his eyes on one of the pictures. "That's my mother!" he exclaimed, loudly enough to stop Ecco in his tracks too. The dolphin came jetting back to take a look. Sure enough, there was the white-and-black form of Tidesinger, swimming alongside a rather smaller Slayer. It was undoubtedly Greshruk--the pale body, free of slate-gray pigment, was unmistakable.

Naylle nodded slightly. "Once before, as you have already heard, a dolphin and a shark came to us together to ask for our help against the Foe. The dolphin was Lord Tidesinger, and the shark was Greshruk daughter of Carcharodon." She favored Karkol with a long look. "So, you are the scion of Greshruk? This is interesting... very interesting indeed."

Ecco blinked, unable to think of anything to say. Greshruk? From what he had seen of the Slayer, he couldn't imagine her swimming alongside a dolphin under any circumstances... at least, not without eating it shortly after. Karkol seemed as astonished as he was--the shark kept opening and closing his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't think what it was.

Naylle turned and swam off down the corridor. Ecco and Karkol followed after a moment's hesitation, staying a couple of lengths behind the white dolphin as she headed through an open doorway and into a larger room. "Are you getting this?" Karkol muttered.

"The Slayer? I can't believe it." Ecco fizzed laughter. "Can you imagine, Karkol? Greshruk talking to dolphins?"

"She sure never said anything about it to me..."

They swam out of the corridor together, and entered the large room. Preoccupied as they had been, it took a few moments for them to notice their surroundings properly. But when Ecco opened his eyes and took a proper look, he was astounded all over again.

The circular chamber was decorated with the reliefs of Tidesinger once again, and on the back wall was a life-size picture of the songster himself. Precious jewels glittered on his sides, and Ecco was reminded again of the five stars he himself bore. Strange machinery filled the place, not least a great cylinder with a crystal in it that was much like the one that had been in Atlantis. The moon featured highly in the decorations here... always the full moon, the silvery one.

There was another white dolphin waiting here for them--a very old one, ravaged now by time. But there was a spark in his pale eyes that was oddly powerful and contrasted with his wasted frame. There was wisdom in that gaze, and an ancient kind of strength. For a moment Ecco thought that it truly was the mysterious Tidesinger...

"Welcome to Lunar Bay, my young friends," the old one said. His voice was still strong--one of the most powerful Ecco had ever heard. He got the feeling that that voice was only just being held in check. "I am Afarellan, the leader of the lone-swimmers... and I know who you are, Ecco son of Rhiellan and Karkol son of Greshruk. I have been waiting for you for a very long time."