A silent, protective circle of singers surrounded the small calf, Niemas, as he kept close to his mother. None of the banter had gone on between Scaroth and Bro-aht...none of the suggestions of peace came from Glacier...none of the inklings of wisdom and hope came from Biransa.

They were singers all of the same side, all of the same determination, all of the same faith and power and dependency. As much as Scaroth hated to admit being a team with prey, as much as Bro-aht hated to admit being a team with a demon dolphin...the job was all the same.

They were led by Okura as they passed through an endless chain of dark veins...until they could see where they converged on the land, and in one particular point in the sea. It was then they could hear the familiar death snarls and clacking jaws that belonged to the Seer-Beasts.

Occasionally, Okura would glance behind at the others...mostly with some concern for the small one. "I am finding it hard to believe that a newborn has a part to play."

Biransa kept her gaze forward as she answered. "It was an unfortunate accident, or so I gather...but there is not to worry. If a Seer said he was born immortal, I am forced to simply trust him. I cannot abandon my calf."

A simple nod was given from the immortal. "You can trust the Seers."

The group seemed to round the inlet, though perhaps to Ecco they were still all in the bay. He spat the water that went into his mouth, for it was foul and tasted of many different things gathered from the land: dirt, blood, plants, soil...and more blood...and it clouded more and more the distance the group swam.

They tensed as they saw the first line of the army that they encountered...eyes upon malicious eyes belonging to the hideous Seer-Beasts, green and red half-shark-half-dolphin monsters. They snapped at them, jaws wide open in anticipation for meat, eyes locked on the Orcas that they were programmed to hunt...eyes wary of the tusk that the narwhal could impale them with...

Okura's jaws snapped with a resounding clack as he calmly made his way through the Seer-Beasts lurking in the dark. As if out of fear, they backed away, making a trail that led straight into their stronghold. Still their gaze followed them, willing to charge at the food that swam freely in front of them, yet still they were held back by the power that the immortal Orca still commanded in the realm, prisoner or no.

Ecco cringed as he kept going over in his head about the alien presence that used the Seers' powers to govern these beasts. They couldn't have been Vortex...or Foe...neither creature had the power to dive into Paradise, the realm of the dead itself.

The screeching and gnashing kept on behind them as they beheld with amazed eyes a gigantic structure jutting out from the land and sea. It looked almost like a giant purple glyph...the thing was made of crystal that held reflections within them. Ecco saw his reflection and watched the stars upon his brow glow and penetrate into a small prism of colors. The others paid no heed to their appearances.

"The parasitic veins snake from this device," Okura said with a low voice as he examined it. "There is no way to break it."

Bro-aht seemed to scratch at the crystal surface thoughtfully with his tusk...the others looked around, searching for something to break or a door of some sort. Niemas shivered, spasming as if he had gotten a chill. Nuzzling against his mother hadn't helped much with it.

But as the light on Ecco's brow moved through the mirror, the truth dawned on him from what he sighted within. "No, it's another illusion. The veins don't stop here. In fact, I can see through the darkness inside..." his voice started to trail.

Glacier peered from behind him. "What is it, Ecco?"

Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the crystal answered the beluga's question. The light shifted, the cloudy darkness wavered, and they saw that it wasn't a building...it was a prison.

Scaroth and Biransa recognized Ronon, Seidrac, and all of the other pods that had been under their command. Bro-aht recognized his narwhal brothers and sisters. Glacier saw his kind.

And beyond their pods...there were whales. Dozens of them, each of their giant bodies pressed inside the crystal. Humpback, Blue, many other rorquals...

Dead. They were all dead. Frozen in time by this crystal. None moved, none breathed, none looked up when they heard the shocked cries of their immortal relatives outside or their summons and demands to awaken. They didn't stir. The bodies of the Orcas were covered in scars that perpetually dripped with entrails.

Ecco and the others backfinned, recoiling from the horror, but Okura stayed still and simply stared. "The alien beast...so he killed them after all, to fuel himself."

"So that's where the whales were, all this time...not one of them were found in the arctic waters..." Scaroth mused with hatred in his rough voice.

Okura nodded. "It's the real truth. It was them the Seer-Beasts got to first. Whales knew Paradise the best of all, and were hunted, as many as could come to the waters. After that, there were none to warn the Orcas of the advancing army..."

Suddenly, Ecco screamed as his head throbbed with lightning-quick pain. One by one, the other immortals screamed too...each one spouting chains of curses from their own pods. Only Okura had endured it, though he heard the voice just as well.

The singers know the truth...it mocked. So fight for the truth. At long last, fueled by the anger and power of the Seers, fueled by the life of this Paradise, killing spirits and entrapping the last Orcas on the planet...I live. I shall suit this planet for my Vortedrode masters, once I open the gate to the realm of the living.

The land seemed to rock on its hinges. Tides were caused by the earthquakes that it endured. And the darkness finally showed itself.

It had a small ball, as round and gelatinous as a Metasphere, for a brain. Its limbs were a hideous mix: fins lining beneath arms with grasping claws. The jaws mirrored that of the Seer-Beasts, its own creations. Its roar was deafening to all that heard it. The bodies in its crystal prison were suddenly gone, but mere husks of bodies in the wake of its undying need for the life energies of all.

And the creature was huge. It towered over the sea, just half the size of a blue whale. With each motion of its breath, the veins criss-crossing over the land pumped harder. It drank the energies from the ocean.

Blood-red eyes fixed upon the immortals before it. The gates are soon to open. Come at me...it hissed.

"Much obliged!" Scaroth snarled as he shook with raw anger, the memories of his own pod fresh in his mind. "I will avenge my son, AND my pod!" The Orca charged at it, jaws wide open, ready to strike.

One of the limbs reached out to Scaroth as he latched onto the flesh, digging his teeth into it, spilling the foul-tasting liquid from its skin. It howled in pain and tore Scaroth from the arm. The waters became crimson in the process as the claws impaled Scaroth.

"No!" Biransa cried at the scene. "Scaroth!"

Bro-aht charged next. He impaled another limb. But again, he was tossed aside, injured as much as Scaroth was, his tusk broken painfully in two.

Okura and Ecco faced the others that were left. "Use your immortality, your powers of song, all that you've gotten from the Asterite! Together! NOW!"

Ecco charged forward, Okura by his side. Biransa, Glacier, and soon, Scaroth and Bro-aht...

The creature howled as the songs pierced its skin and malice. A fin was severed. A limb was torn in two.

But still it fought against the fierce immortals, taking them out with their claws, ravaging their skin...until finally it was weakened...

The singers were clinging to the edge of victory when it happened. Its jaws opened, and instantly the color started to drain from its body. A swirling vortex appeared around its mouth, and to the horror of everyone else, it had sucked the closest immortal within...

Glacier was devoured. And with his disappearance, a new limb started reappearing.

"He's using us to regenerate!" Okura shouted. "Get away, all of you!"

But it was too late...Scaroth, Biransa...each of them were slowly getting sucked into the vortex that the creature was pouring its energy into creating, just to devour them all...

Ecco started fighting back, but was soon drawn to the vortex too. He pumped his flukes with all of his might, when suddenly, he gazed out at the remaining immortal.

Niemas was no longer a calf. To Ecco's amazement, he had suddenly grown into a full-bodied Orca. His eyes were as red as the monster's as the dark energy started flowing into him...

Just another illusion...Ecco decided wearily before he blanked out...