The beasts appeared, two at a time from the shadows, as many as fifteen or twenty. Just as soon as Ronon had announced it, they appeared, teeth grinding, hungry for Orca flesh.
"Chistak!" Cariu cursed out loud. "Where is everyone else? I am no longer in any condition to fight..."
"Don't worry, Diricha..." Scaroth growled as he circled the matriarch, eyeing the smirking beasts, "I will protect you."
The other pod members that had survived the coming of the demons immediately rushed, only to see Biransa, Cariu, Ronon, Scaroth, and Ecco surrounded. "We can't hope to fight them..." some muttered, whilst others argued, "We must try!"
Ecco! Suddenly the Asterite's booming voice sang loud and clear in his head, The song!
Immediately, Ecco once again released a blast of song that echoed from every glacier and iceburg. The beasts screeched...some turned around to ravage a few of the other Orcas, red once again starting to cloud the waters and stain the beach.
He started to hear the songs of their helpers, the narwhal and beluga...but still beast and singer alike were testing their strengths and straining their jaws. When the narwhal charged in, still the beasts fought back, still going after only the Orca. Soon, every creature looked the same in the cloud of blood. Ecco was blinded.
Ecco, get ready! Gather as many singers as you can, I am going to create a void that will bring you to the warmer seas...hurry!
Ecco nodded without hesitation. "Cariu, Cariu!" he called out.
"I heard him, Ecco," Cariu appeared from a cloud of red water fog, "All of us did." She released a blast of song to the others. "All Orca that can and will, follow Ecco!"
Scaroth was one of the Orcas that converged on a creature. "I will not leave our home! You go, Diricha, you must live!"
"So must you, Scaroth! Go!" Biransa charged in, ramming the brute in the back, toward Ecco and the void which had opened in the middle of the sea, a swirling vortex resembling a black hole.
Instantly, Ecco's vision darkened, and his stomach lurched as he was thrown through the void. His familiar songs mixed with foreign ones. Delphine curses and surprised cries emitted from his companions...who or whatever followed him as the waters on his skin turned warmer.
His eyes opened slowly, showing him a familiar scene: shelves of rock and coral lining the bottom of the ocean, fish swimming in vast schools and evading the dolphin that had appeared in their midst. The water was no longer cold, no longer supported large, crushing packs of ice and death.
As Ecco lingered at the surface, the Asterite's voice entered his consciousness again. Find me, Ecco. There is much to discover.
Sighing, the dolphin looked around, and was able to count all that had followed him...only two Orca were found, along with one narwhal and one beluga.
The narwhal was the same leader that they had met earler. His tusk seemed quite intimidating, even when compared to the Orca.
"Gnrr...where are we? Why is the water so warm?" he asked somewhat gruffly.
Ecco took a breath as he answered. "We're far from the north waters...more towards my home. The Asterite brought us here."
"What!" Scaroth raged. "I shouldn't be here...where are those beasts? Where is Cariu? I should be protecting the matriarch and the pods...Diricha Cariu is left back in the north seas where I should be..."
"Settle yourself, Scaroth." Biransa lightly slapped his snout with her fluke. "Diricha has all the help of our pods and those of the narwhal and beluga. There are plenty there to make sure she lives."
The brute growled back at her. "And what of you, Biransa? Why did you push me through the void, you knew that I wanted to stay!"
The pregnant female seemed to stammer. "You are the last of your pod, Scaroth, and the matriarch's most powerful guardian. You have enough honor in your name to live, as I do."
"She will die!" he snapped.
"Then she will die with honor, protecting her pods!" she shot back.
"Enough, friends!" the beluga came between them, a dangerous maneuver. "We are here now, so we have a mission. We must find this Asterite of which everyone keeps speaking."
"I don't know, Glacier, I'd have liked to see them kill each other..."
"Quiet, Bro-aht." The beluga sighed and turned to Ecco. "What shall we do first?"
The dolphin suddenly stammered. "How about not moving?"
Following his gaze, the other singers faced one of the green Orca-killers. As the thing snarled, Scaroth and Bro-aht moved in front of the others, ready to charge it.
The didn't need to do anything, however. The thing spasmed and started to gasp, as if it was out of breath.
"That's right, they're weak in warm water..." Ecco whispered. That was all that the narwhal needed. Tusk drawn, he charged forward, piercing the creature in the heart as easily as a spear would penetrate skin.
Scaroth growled. "I still think we need to be where the fight still goes on..."
Ecco shook his head, the stars on his brow glowing once again with determination. "No. We find the Asterite. Then we rejoin the fight. It's better if we rejoin with knowledge of what we charge against."
