Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians (24 page)

Silent Waters nodded to Green Wave Falling, who, as Voice of Truth, was acting as the inquisitor for the Council. He raised himself off the seabed on his tail to his full height. ‘The Council would learn why Last To Speak states that he “revealed the accused’s secret”.’

‘
When the strange zeta, Rain Ending, first came to our clan, I was present when he told some of us of his suspicions about Touches The Sky. I was the first one to reveal to Sky that the clan knew of his foul past, so as a result his anger focused on me and he looked for revenge.’

‘
And you believe that he tried to exact that revenge on you through your daughter?’

‘
There can be no question of it! There was a large class of students under his control, but only my little Bellatrix Unseen nearly died! It was just luck that she survived!’

‘
Very well, Last To Speak may move aside for the present. The Council will question the accused. Touches The Sky, do you admit that you were in sole control of the class on that day?’

‘
I can confirm that fact to the Council. I had intended…’

‘
Enough! You will answer our questions with a simple yes or no unless we clearly ask for a more detailed explanation. Do you understand?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
The Academy gives clear guidance as to the maximum depth that students should be exposed to. Do you claim to have maintained those limits? Bear in mind that we can call upon other witnesses to confirm your story.’

‘
I think I may have gone deeper than the guidelines.’

‘
You think! You
think
? These children were placed in your care! They addressed you as Jeii! Do you not
know
?

‘
I...I did go deeper than the guidelines. I had intended to keep to them but I…’

‘
Enough! The Council notes that the accused admits to exceeding the depth limits for his class. Was the student, Bellatrix Unseen, beyond those limits when she became unconscious?’

‘
Yes, she was, but not for long; I didn’t notice only because I had lost concentration for a moment and…’

‘
The Council further notes that the accused admits that he was not monitoring his students while they were beyond their accepted limits. Did you, as her supervisor, notice that she had become unconscious?’

‘
Well, no, one of the other students told me, but I would have soon I am sure.’

‘
And what did you do then?’

‘
As soon as they told me I started lifting Bellatrix to the surface — to try and save her.’

Green Wave Falling nodded soberly. ‘The Council notes that the accused admits that he
only
attempted to save the student in his care when the other students had made it clear that they had seen her plight.’

‘
No, it wasn’t like that — I would have reacted immediately anyway!’

‘
Be quiet! You were not asked a question! If it pleases the Council, the Voice of Truth has concluded the inquisition.’

Sky waited with a numb feeling in his stomach as the Council members exchanged a muffled conversation. To one side of them Last To Speak stared at Sky, his eyes malevolent. At last, Silent Waters spoke. ‘The Council is deeply disturbed by this matter. It is clear that students’ lives were recklessly endangered by the accused on the day discussed. What is less clear is whether this was due to simple foolishness on his part or if it was a malicious act as the accuser claims. Given the upheavals of recent days, we will postpone our judgement for three days. This will give time to conclude the final details of the Gathering and allow us to meditate fully on the facts of this matter.

Sky was dismissed and he left to search for his friends. He found Deneb and Muddy where he had left them. They listened to his story sympathetically. At the end Deneb spoke first. ‘I was afraid of something like this. Last To Speak is out to get you for some reason. I just hope the Council sees that it was an accident.’

They talked into the evening but finally decided to get some rest and meet again at dawn when Rain Ending should return.

Dawn came and went the next day with no sign of him. Sky grew more and more agitated. ‘Has he changed his mind? Left without telling me?’

‘
No,’ Muddy reassured him. ‘He was so grateful for you saving him that day. Something must have happened.’

‘
Then let’s go and look for him. I can’t stand this waiting anymore. He said they were east of here — let’s just follow the coast that way and maybe we’ll find him coming this way.’

They set off, spread out abreast just in sonar range of one another so that they could search the widest area. Sky was in the centre and could hear the other two’s ranging echolocation intermittently as they followed the shoreline. As the sun approached noon there was an urgent call from Muddy to shorewards. ‘Sky, I’ve found him! Come quickly!’ Sky passed the message onto Deneb who was further out to sea then quickly swam to Muddy. He found him hovering beside the inert form of Rain Ending, whose body was gently rolling back and forth in the swell on the shallow sand. Sky looked at him in horror, he was covered in bites and bruises, one eye was swollen shut, his jaw looked broken or dislocated. Deneb joined them a moment later, saying quietly, ‘Is he...dead?’

Muddy shook his head. ‘No, but he’s really badly hurt, with several broken ribs. I just helped him take a breath. Help me again.’

They lifted the injured dolphin to the surface where he did seem to take a small gasping breath. Sky looked into his uninjured eye and saw a flash of recognition there. His voice came very faintly, it was obviously painful for him to talk. ‘Sky, I met my friend, but we had just...had just started to talk when we were ambushed...must have followed him.’

‘
Who followed him?’

‘
Them. Guardians. Attacked me — us. Don’t know what happened to him.’ He stopped, with a wheeze of air and they held him at the surface to breath. He was obviously fading fast. Deneb gave Sky a meaningful glance. Sky spoke soothingly close to Rain’s face. ‘Don’t try and speak now. We need to get the Healers to help you.’

Rain shook his head imperceptibly. He spoke slowly, in obvious pain.

‘
No news about…where your father…now. But…told me the name of…new leader…one who hurt your father so badly.’

Sky, shook his head slightly. ‘Rain, you don’t need to…’

Rain looked at him as though from a great distance and spoke very faintly, pronouncing the words with great effort. As his life slipped away, he whispered: ‘Storm...Before...Darkness.’

Chapter 31

“
Love is a darting, silver thing

Shining, tempting, frightening

It teases, ensnares, repels

Easily caught; easily lost

Kept a lifetime

Or mourned for one”

Mountain Fires - (3,668 – 3,717 post Great Alluvium)

‘
I’ve got to try and find him!’

Deneb shook his head. ‘You’d be crazy. You’ve no idea where he is or even if he’s still alive. And you’ve got a punitive Council decision hanging over you in Senx’s name!’

Muddy nodded in agreement. ‘Forget it, Sky, at least for now. It’s too dangerous, far too dangerous.’

They were swimming back to the clan, having committed Rain’s body to the abyss with as much reverence as they could. It was not much of a ceremony but they did not know of any friends that Rain had who would have wanted to come. They had said what they could and let him go.

Deneb closed his eyes tightly as he swam for a while, then opened them, his expression pained. ‘These Guardians are prepared to kill other zetii! I wouldn’t have believed this before but now we’ve seen it ourselves. And not for the first time! You know where else!”

Muddy looked across at Deneb sympathetically. ‘You mean Wakes Softly, don’t you?’

‘
Well it makes sense doesn’t it? The injuries she suffered — that was an attack by other zetii — the Guardians must have killed her too.’

‘
But why?’

‘
I don’t know for sure, but something to do with what she told us — remember — she thought it was a Councillor that was spying on a Starwriter ceremony, and then meeting a stranger secretly — it must have been a Guardian.’

‘
Who in the Council would do that?’

‘
Well the obvious one,’ Muddy said, ‘is North Wind. Should we tell someone? Won’t it be dangerous for us if he suspects we know?’

Deneb looked hard at them, his face grim. ‘I don’t care if it’s dangerous. I want to stop this killing somehow. Let’s not tell anyone yet, we don’t have any real proof. We’ll just keep a close eye on North Wind and see if we can find out more. Sky, you are keeping quiet — can’t you see that the Guardians are causing these deaths?’

‘
Yes. You don’t have to convince me. There’s more that I know — I’m not allowed to say — but they are very dangerous.’

Muddy and Deneb exchanged glances but said nothing. Sky regretted saying anything and hoped that they would assume he meant something that came out of the Grand Council meetings.

Now they were approaching the clan and they could hear other voices as the seabed shelved up towards the beach. Muddy made an effort to change the subject, saying:

‘
Deneb, what about your special mission? How’s your Xenthos coming along?’

‘
Poorly,’ he grimaced, ‘I’ve been trying but there hasn’t been much time yet to practice.’

‘
When do you go?’

‘
Trevally Outpaced was originally coming back the day after tomorrow but then Green Wave came to see me last evening and said that the envoy later told him that they might actually be back a day earlier than that. So he’ll take me to meet him at this rendezvous point he knows tomorrow. He wants to cram in some extra diplomacy lessons on the way I think! Then he’s going to leave me there and the Xenthos will pick me up in the next day or two.’

‘
You looking forward to it?’ Muddy asked.

‘
Well, it’s certainly an honour to be chosen, but I find the responsibility a bit daunting. I’m supposed to be building confidence between them and the Ka-Tse. What if I make some mistake and offend them in some way?’

‘
You’ll be fine,’ Sky assured him, ‘you’re the perfect diplomat, you’ve inherited your mother’s skill.’

‘
In any case,’ Muddy added, ‘from what I hear of the Xenthos, you’ll probably be left behind in an exhausted heap in a day or two. They’re always moving and don’t like it near the shore. Don’t expect to see the seabed in the next sixty days. And the depths they dive to! By the time you come back…’

Muddy trailed off and Sky saw that he and Deneb were staring at something behind him.

‘
Who’s she?’ murmured Deneb, looking at the slim shape of the approaching female.

‘
That’s
Sky’s new friend,’ Muddy whispered, ‘and I don’t suppose we’ll be needed around here now.’

Sky was about to protest when Venus In Mist arrived beside them, looking them over with those disconcerting dark eyes. She spoke to Muddy and Deneb.

‘
I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you like this, but I’d like to speak to your friend for a short while. Alone. Do you mind?’ Her eyes gave them the sweetest of smiles as she tilted her head in a disarming way.

Deneb Rising replied.

‘
Not at all, please take your time. Sky, we will be hunting over by the reef at the north east headland if you want us later.’

As they swam behind Mist, Deneb looked at Sky and, out of her sight, opened his eyes wide in compliment to him. Then they were gone.

Mist turned her attention to Sky.

‘
You know my clan leaves tomorrow don’t you?’

‘
Yes, I did, I’d just forgotten...I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.’

‘
Well, I suppose that’s understandable. I know you must have loved Cloud Passing. Was it hard for you yesterday?’

‘
I…I’m not sure I can talk about it yet.’

‘
Look,’ she said, looking at him intently, ‘last night you helped me a lot. I’d kept in all my thoughts about that baby dying — I was blaming myself for it and holding it all in. You spent all that time listening to me and I started to realise that there probably wasn’t anything I could have done differently, and I started to deal with the pain. I haven’t had that kind of communication with anyone before. Maybe I can help you too.’

Sky watched her as she spoke. She had an intensity about her that was unique; when she talked to him it felt like there was no-one else in Ocean for her. He thought she was also probably the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Then he thought about Dusk and felt guilty. But why, when Dusk seemed so disinterested in him? He spoke at last.

‘
Look, Mist, I’m really glad that I could help you. And I think it would help me to talk about yesterday, in fact a lot of things, I just need a little time to get things straight in my own head. But when I’m ready, I
would
like to talk to you. You’re…special.’