Chapter 8
Yet another time we have an Orca aiding us, Trellia thought.
Many days had passed since Ecco, Tara, Trellia and Kitnee finally made their way towards the Asterite's bay. They kept an ever-vigilant watch for danger day and night. As they traveled, the oceans were growing more open, and they could see Singers of every kind swimming along the currents. Small Singers leapt and played with effortless ease in the surf near shores, and some even rode the bow waves of the whales as they swam peacefully to some unknown destination.
Trellia stayed beneath the sea with her ancestor and friends. The melodic songs of whales had not been heard for thousands of years in her time; yet she was the only Sky Singer who had now witnessed them. For three days and three nights Kitnee had led them through different seas in an effort to find the Asterite, but in short his way was just as long as Ecco's was once before.
Tara was most impatient, but determined to help Ecco in any way possible. Trellia most wanted to hurry, for she hadn't forgotten about the danger her time faces. She worried for her family, about Teo and the Sky Killers, and about Tiderider most of all. Ecco, the strange Atlantis amulet still in his possession, helped lead the hopeful ones ever closer to their goal. And Kitnee was just proud to be swimming with his friends again. On their way they saw many strange and wonderful ocean lifeforms: A Hungry One as big as a whale, yet gentler than most of them...many colored shellfish and corals...ocean canyons so deep nothing could perhaps live there...and many more to prove the imagination wrong.
At one point they saw a small group of the Great Blue Singers, largest of all. Seeing them reminded Ecco, Tara and Kitnee of the Big Blue. Yet only Ecco witnessed the great whale's death in the north...after he told him of the Asterite. Trellia marveled at the strength and majesty of the whales, and wondered why she never saw even one in her lifetime before. The sun was it's highest in the sky when the four singers stopped to eat. It was only another day until they arrived at the Asterite. Trellia was extremely grateful, for she has been having many disturbing dreams that she demanded needed explanation.
The singers stopped at a tropical bay for a food break. Ecco, Trellia and Tara could easily eat the fish and small squid swimming in the bay. Kitnee growled. "Hunger strikes me again," he muttered.
Trellia, who was still somewhat nervous of Kitnee, decided to hover above the surface for a minute.
"I'm so hungry...I could've eaten a Small Singer,"
said Kitnee.
Ecco and Tara stared. "Kitnee, I thought you were a Resie," they pointed out.
Kitnee shrugged his fins. "I have habits from both my mother and father. It's a rather long and strange story, but my father is a Transie and my mother...was...a Resie."
Tara and Ecco exchanged surprised glances. Resident Orcas hardly ever bullied the other Singers, let alone ate them, but Transients were just about ruthless. The two hardly ever came in contact. Kitnee, like his other friends, was unique.
"Well, anyway, I wouldn't probably be that hungry, ever. But what I wouldn't do for some..." Kitnee stopped in mid-sentence. A big grin came to his black and white face. "...SEALS!" he screamed with excitement. He immediately raced towards where he heard seals dropping from the nearby rocks to the bay. Ecco and Tara laughed, and resumed chasing the fish. Trellia, after some lurking, joined them.
It was night when Trellia fell asleep earlier than usual. She could hear idle drifting at the surface that was her friends; they decided to go into half-sleep like always as to avoid any trouble. Because she was inclined to the safety of the air, she could close both her eyes when she slept.
That night, after hearing other cetaceans singing to the stars, she dreamed of her home, and being back with her family. She dreamed that Teo's pod could sing, and they too were happy. However, night by night, Trellia's nightmare was being revived. Long has she now tried not to remember what had happened to Tiderider, yet she was not safe in her sleep.
During the day, she noticed the amulet her ancestor wore glowed faintly whenever they passed a Glyph. Ever since Kitnee gave Ecco the amulet, Trellia dreamed that her time was in ruins, that Teo and her own families were battling an unseen force, that the Glyph Caller would be released, that someone was to die. This made her extremely worried. Was it Tiderider?
"Trellia, you still alive up there?"
Trellia awoke to Tara's voice, and joined her friends down below.
Kitnee smiled. "I trust you had a good sleep. We should go now, we have only one day until we reach the Asterite, we must make time."
No rush here, Trellia thought. Knowing, though, that there certainly was.
Oh no, it begins again. Where am I? HELP!
Trellia. Give up now, it is hopeless. Your mind will fall...
Don't do this, whoever you are! Leave my time alone! Nooo!
Give up, give up, give up...
TIDERIDER, WHERE ARE YOU!?
Leave...
Trellia awoke with a start. It was exactly midnight, stars easily visible next to a half moon. Looking at the stars made her afraid again...that she was almost weak from worry. She looked down and saw Ecco and Tara sleeping almost soundly down below her. Kitnee was a few feet from them, belly full of seals.
"Wake up, singers! We got until dusk to reach the Asterite, so keep pace!" Kitnee reminded everyone.
"I know I can keep pace with you, O mighty one," joked Tara.
"I am fine, thanks," Trellia said.
Ecco was serious. "Alright, we have to move now. I had a most disturbing dream, and I'm told to hurry." Trellia caught a glance from Ecco to her. So, he sees it too, she thought.
So, the singers went along the currents of the open seas. They passed many other cetaceans coming into alliances for whatever they could tell was coming. Trellia was still much entranced by the beauty of the oceanic surface; rolling as if it were alive. And in a sense, it was. Kitnee led the others throughout the day, and at dusk finally came to a darker portion of the sea.
Ecco knew this place well. They were nearing Lunar Bay, the port for the last invasion of the Vortex. Even with them gone, there's a feel to the place and surrounding areas that makes any other singer want to leave after three seconds. "I can lead now, Kitnee. This place is called the Moray Abyss. The Asterite resides here at the moment; take a deep breath, then follow me down. And be careful." Trellia, Kitnee, and Tara fell into line behind Ecco as he led them through the semi-dark depths of the Moray Abyss.
"Ecco, how far down is the Asterite?" asked Tara after a minute.
"You need not fear your breath. The Asterite has air within him, and when you are in his presence you can breathe yet swim. It's not much further." Soon, all four of them were in a small canyon on the seabed. When Ecco first arrived, giant eels guarded the remains of a shattered Asterite. He still wondered if one would come charging out of the walls.
Ecco!
The singers stopped. There was a voice arising out of the canyon that invaded their imaginations. Ecco sang back, and his voice echoed across the barren canyon walls. Ecco, is that you? Come down, I've been expecting you, my friend!
The singers made their way down to the great entity, the Asterite. His appearance was somewhat different from the future, or that last time he met Ecco. The Asterite, still a mystery, is still one lifeform of the ocean among many. He'd fit in such an alien place. Ecco, Tara, Kitnee, Trellia, it is good to see you all. It is always good to see such pure hearts in times of peril.
"Peril? Do you know what's been happening lately?" Ecco questioned. Indeed I do. I have heard songs of the whales from Atlantis. They speak of a shadow descending upon our present, and the future worlds die...fallen under their own miscare.
Trellia began to shake. Kitnee and Tara stared on with interest, and Ecco kept questioning the Asterite. "What do the whales speak of?" Enslavement in a crimson cloud, rolling slowly by the night. Trapping all it sees, destroying lands, invading seas.
"STOP!" Trellia shouted. "That's exactly what's happening in my timeline! First the Glyphs shatter, then a bloodred sky, then...death. My dreams tell me this." Tara and Kitnee looked concerned. Ecco seemed satisfied that he, too, dreamt of it. Trellia, you are correct, I'm afraid. All of you open your minds. I will show you what my future self sees.
They did just that. What came to their minds was pure terror.
The beauty of the future world, ruined. Under cloud-filled sky, red as blood, the seas grow dark and terrifying. Inside the waves, clouds of dark ghosts descend like an armada. Lands are blown apart, the moon invisible. Every Sky Singer fleeing, and caught by the warriors made of nothing. The Asterite of the future captured and held against his power. Sharks and fish, singers of all kinds, taken in their sleep. And in the midst of it all, Teo and the Sky Killers lay in the middle, fighting, protecting, and losing.
All four singers shook out of their trance. "Oh no...no, no..." Trellia murmured. Ecco hung his head in silence and tried to hold back tears. Tara tried to stay tough, and Kitnee was overwhelmed at how the future Orcas fought valiantly against the threat. My singers, this is happening now. If this isn't taken care of, the future will contain less life than the Vortex future. Time itself will collapse onto itself.
"WHAT WILL WE DO THEN? TELL US!" demanded Trellia. Calm yourself, Trellia. A clue to your goal lies at Lunar Bay. That is where you must go next. I knew I should have stayed home, Trellia thought.