Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians (2 page)

They swam away, leaving the sharks to their business. Sky moved alongside another young adult male who was singing happily to himself. His pale grey stocky bulk contrasted sharply with Sky’s dark, toned body. Sky tried to lift himself from the dark thoughts that were coming back to him
again now the excitement of the hunt was over, and brushed against the
other dolphin’s side companionably. ‘So, Muddy, you seem in good spirits.’

Muddy River Mouth’s eyes beamed back at him. ‘Oh, yes I am. I haven’t eaten so well for a long time. I am going to make the rest of the clan just hate me when I tell them about this.’

‘
You’re so full of fish you’ll likely sink out of sight before we get there!’

The larger dolphin snorted. ‘I can promise you that I could’ve eaten a lot more. I know we need to have them, but these quotas make no allowance for those of us who simply
need
more food.’

‘
Well, the Gathering starts soon. I’ll personally request that you be allowed to talk to the Elders on behalf of special cases like yourself.’

‘
I wouldn’t dare speak to them! Do you really think that they’d even listen to me anyway?’

Sky looked gravely at Muddy. ‘Oh yes. They’d realise the seriousness of your situation as soon as they saw your poor, emaciated, little body before them.’ Sky forced his eyes to smile a little. It was not Muddy’s fault that Born was dead.

Muddy looked about to give Sky a nip on the tail when they both realised that Deneb and the others had halted just ahead of them. Sky stopped himself beside Deneb, keen to see what was happening; Muddy hung back cautiously. Sky immediately saw why they had paused. A single dolphin was approaching them hesitantly. He moved a little stiffly, awkwardly, like he still nursed some old wound. Although he had pale undersides and dark grey back like most of them, there was something unusual about the skin on his back; like an old mottled scarring just faintly visible.

He stopped, announcing himself formally.

‘
It is I, Rain Ending!’

Deneb replied on behalf of the hunting party, ‘It is I, Deneb Rising of the Dune Coast Clan! My companions are also of that clan.’

The stranger dipped his head in acknowledgement.

‘
Greetings to you all. I hope your hunt went well.’

‘
It did, thank you. But you did not name your clan.’

‘
No…I have none. Have not had for many years now.’

Deneb glanced at Sky, a question in his eye. The others would be wondering too. Sky thought it best to put the question that was in all of their minds. He moved forward a little.

‘
It is I, Touches The Sky!’

‘
Greetings…Touches The Sky.’ The stranger looked long and hard at Sky, staring almost rudely.

‘
Are you here because you wish to join our clan, Rain Ending?’

‘
No, that is not my intention. And I’m not an exile in case that might be a concern.’ He still stared at Sky, making him uncomfortable. Then his gaze fell on Sky’s right pectoral fin. The very tip of it was missing, the result of an injury he had suffered when he was very young. Nothing unusual: most dolphins had scars, so Sky thought it odd when the stranger commented on it.

‘
Touches The Sky, that injury to your fin — is it old?’

‘
Yes, from when I was small, I don’t even know how it happened really. Why do you ask?’

‘
I just wondered…if it was something that bothers you…but obviously not. You must have a good Healer in your clan. And that is why I’ve approached you— I have an old injury — a very old injury — it’s always caused me some trouble but recently it’s become worse. If you have a Healer in the Dune Coast Clan I’d like to seek their advice. Just advice, that’s all; then I’ll be on my way.’

Sky and Deneb exchanged glances. There was nothing threatening about such a request. Deneb answered. ‘We have two Healers at present and they are both skilled. We’ll have to seek permission from the Council of course, but your request sounds very reasonable. Follow us back to our clan and we’ll see if we can help you.’

Deneb asked two of the party to accompany Rain Ending in case he might have trouble keeping up with the group. He was a little slower and soon he and his escorts were trailing at the back of the company. When he was well out of earshot Deneb spoke softly to Sky: ‘Do you know him, Sky?’

Sky had no memory of the stranger and shook his head.

‘
Well he seemed very interested in you. Let’s keep an eye on him just in case. Any lone zeta is suspicious but the way he acted while he was speaking to you was strange. Very strange.’

‘
Do you think he might be connected with what happened to Born?’

‘
I doubt it. If it
was
other zetii that drove her on to that beach as you believe it would have to be more than one. And they’d have needed to swim much faster than he can. But that whole idea seems incredible to me! Zetii deliberately killing a fellow zeta? What about the Way?’

Sky screwed up his eyes then opened them again wearily. ‘I know, it seems fantastic, but there are stories, these Guardians — they are supposed to be turning all the old rules upside down — corrupting the Way. Maybe it’s something to do with them.’

‘
But, why? Born was such a lovely zeta, would never hurt anyone.’

‘
Look, Deneb, I
saw
her body! I saw the marks on her and I am sure they were made by zetii. Someone chased her, hurt her, and scared her so badly that they drove her up onto that beach. And then they left her there to die.’

Deneb looked at his friend compassionately. ‘And you saw her end, my friend. It must have been hard, especially for you.’

‘
But why couldn’t I have arrived just a little earlier — when I might have saved her?’

‘
Don’t think that way. You had no reason to know anything was going to happen.’

Sky inclined his head in agreement. ‘I suppose so. But now we know something
has
happened. Something that shouldn’t be possible according to everything we’ve learned. Deneb, what’s happening?’

Deneb looked at him sympathetically. ‘Soon it will be the Gathering. There have been so many stories recently of food shortages and bizarre rumours about what the Guardians are up to. Maybe the Gathering will come up with some interpretations of the Way that can help.’

‘
Maybe. Maybe the Way isn’t enough any more.’ Sky felt slightly shocked at hearing himself say it.

Deneb looked at him gravely. ‘Let’s hope you are wrong there, for the zetii and for Ocean’s sake.’

Chapter 2

“
When the sons and daughters of T’ret returned to Ocean’s waters they had the gifts of warm blood in their veins, milk for their children and vision without sight. They thereby had the strength to thrive in the Great Waters, but their greatest gift was the Way.”

- The Creation Legend

The returning hunting party neared the headland of a wide, sweeping bay. The seabed rose to meet them as they approached the shore; the steep fall of the bottom mellowing into a gentle, sandy slope as they neared the land. Wave-filtered sunlight dappled the endless sand ripples that paralleled the shore; miniature reflections of the swells that had formed them. Lone hermit crabs toiled across the miniature dune fields, ducking sharply back into their borrowed shells and tumbling into the tiny valleys as the dolphins’ shadows approached.

Sky and Deneb were at the head of the group, swimming side by side. They had spoken no more of Born’s death or of the stranger who still trailed at the back with his escorts. Sky glanced at Deneb as they travelled. Typically, he looked quiet, concentrated. Deneb took his responsibilities seriously and seldom spoke spontaneously. Sky supposed that mainly came from the fact that his mother Silent Waters, was the clan leader, but he sometimes wished Deneb would relax a little more and have more fun. But then, he reflected, if Deneb said something, he had thought about it and he meant it. He was a strong individual and a good friend to have. Once again, Sky counted himself lucky to have been taken into their family.

Deneb tilted his head, listening. ‘I think I hear familiar voices, Sky. Shall we announce ourselves?’

They made their signature calls:

‘
It is I, Deneb Rising!’

‘
It is I, Touches The Sky!’

Faintly came back:

‘
And it is I, Fades Into Dusk!’

Sky’s spirits lifted as the owner of the call came into view: a young adult female, slim, but a powerful swimmer, with an intelligent face. Her graceful body was smooth and her skin shone. Just behind Fades Into Dusk, another female appeared; her companion from the perimeter patrol.

‘
It is I, Wakes Softly!’

As the others returned her greeting warmly, Sky noticed how the pretty, petite Wakes seemed to glow in Deneb’s presence. She was a relative newcomer to the clan and had been painfully shy at first when she had joined them at the Academy, but now she was gaining in confidence and Sky had begun to notice her interest in Deneb. He wondered if Deneb was aware of it. She looked first at Deneb, then Sky as she softly said, “Everyone is talking about what happened to Born Into Summer. Poor Sky, you were the one who found her, weren’t you?’

‘
What happened?’ Dusk asked. ‘Do we have any idea how she ended up on land?’

Deneb answered. ‘Sky thinks other zetii may have attacked her, chased her ashore, perhaps.’

Sky tossed his head in negation. ‘Not perhaps. They must have. I can’t see another explanation for it.’

Wakes recoiled visibly. ‘We never kill except to eat, not even the tiniest thing, – so zetii killing another zeta — no, it can’t be!’

‘
Maybe it’s possible,’ Dusk said. ‘If it was another species — one with a grudge against us Ka-Tse, maybe the Xenthos, say.’

Deneb gave a small shake of his head, and looked doubtful, but said nothing.

They lapsed into silence for a while, then Dusk tried to lift the mood.

‘
Tell us about the hunt,’ she said. ‘You were lucky— going hunting while we’re stuck here just swimming up and down.’

Sky gave a small smile with his eyes, aware of what she was trying to do, and grateful. ‘I’m sorry you two couldn’t have been with us today, Dusk — in fact you missed fine hunting; the best this year.’

‘
I hope you’ve left us something,’ she replied, ‘We’ve been on patrol since midday and I’m famished. Some of the clan are talking about going back to look for your fish ball this evening but I can’t join them; I’ve got to be somewhere else.’

Sky was about to ask her where; Dusk had been going off alone a lot recently and he missed her company in the group, but Wakes Softly spoke first.

‘
Was it a big shoal then?’

‘
Oh yes, and we left plenty of fish’, Deneb replied, ‘although the Cleaners were quick enough to move in after us. There should still be some left tomorrow, given that Muddy can’t join the second hunt.’

The females smiled and glanced across at the larger dolphin to see if he had heard, but he was describing the hunt and his part in it in graphic detail to some of the others.

As they looked that way, Rain Ending passed behind Muddy with his two escorts, on their way to seek out an elder from the Council.

Dusk watched with interest, inquisitive as usual. ‘Is that a new member for the clan?’

‘
No,’ Deneb replied, ‘he says he just wants to see the Healers. Has some kind of injury.’

‘
And then he’s off again? What’s he like?’

Sky answered. ‘He claims he doesn’t want to join the clan. Said he hasn’t got one of his own though. And he’s…a bit strange…but maybe that comes from being alone for a long time.’

‘
Is he an exile?’

‘
Says he isn’t, but you can’t be sure, I suppose. Maybe we’ll find out more later.’

Deneb leapt from the water to gauge the height of the sun, and reappeared in a moment amongst an explosion of silver bubbles. ‘Look you two, we’ve pretty much had our allowances for today — but why don’t we swim along the eastern drop-off and see if we can find you something to eat as well?’

They readily agreed, so Sky, Muddy, Deneb, and the two females set off across the shelving sea bed towards the headland. Small coral heads started to appear, becoming larger as they neared the rocky promontory at the eastern end of the bay. Delicate, branching, stony corals gave shelter to myriad small fish; bright orange, metallic blue, velvet black, flashing silver. All darted in concert into the protective crevices of their homes as the dolphins passed, only to cautiously re-emerge once they had moved on.

As they reached the headland the bottom fell away steeply, becoming almost a vertical face. They followed this wall, staying near the surface; looking for the fast swimming silver fish that dwell in that zone.

Sky placed himself just behind Fades Into Dusk who was at the front of the group, swimming close enough to feel the pressure waves from her tail. He admired her elegant, natural grace as she powered along. He made up his mind to try to get her to spend some time with him later, perhaps to play a game of
memoranii
or just to play tag with some of the other young ones. He needed to do something to get his mind back to where it was just a few days ago, when Ocean had seemed such a gentle place.