Chapter Seven

Madness

The narwhal seemed pleased that Sage followed without hesitation. It frightened Sage to wonder what happened here, for it seemed that few ever saw this place and lived. There were bones among the ice, of smaller minkie whales and smaller dolphins. Even bones of orca resided within this place.
Sage felt a real dose of fear as the passage between the ice narrowed, and the surface frost thickened, wondering if these creatures intended to drown him. But, it seemed that there were air holes clouted into the ice at intervals. And it was an order of dignity and grace, as the narwhal all rose for air, one after the other in a uniformed fashion. Sage was curious as to why these creatures followed such strict rules…
"Come, come…" the horned narwhal beckoned as Sage paused in his breathing to observe his surroundings and holding up the procession, his eyes still flashing in madness, whilst the three females from before continued their chant, reminding Sage of calves endlessly humming a lullaby. "Follow demon dolphin… Fall behind and drown… Stay, and live…"
Sage blinked, as he snapped back to reality. Then he frowned, "Please don't call me 'demon dolphin'. I have a name, and it is Sage…"
"Demon, you are. Dolphin, you are… hence you be demon dolphin," the narwhal spoke wisdom in his insanity, the eyes still flashing in a dangerous fashion. "You be Sage, but be called demon dolphin until addressed as Sage by oracle… I be addressed as Utuk."
Confused greatly, Sage began to wonder if he was dying of starvation and these narwhal were the ghosts of his final hallucinations. All this madness between them… Utuk, a narwhal that sung no sense, and females that sung of lullabies and a hidden world. Am I truly dying? Sage asked himself, as his eyes danced upon the reflections of the ice either side of him. The pain of his wounds, the ache of his eye and the starving of stomach all were forgotten.
With a turn, the fine canyon of ice erupted into a large inland inlet, ice enclosing in towards the centre of the colony. A hidden colony of harmony, peace and kinship. There was sea floor below, far below, but it was there, crawling out into the deep, underneath the shelter of ice. Sage observed the many cracks and openings in the ice, providing entrances and exits, for the large population that resided within the secret inlet, hidden from the eyes of the world.
Fish swam free, of all shapes and sizes in the cold, as narwhal of varied sizes congregated in small groups of family and friends. Feeding, playing, duelling and many other narwhal habits they spent their time on. Some had tusks; others did not, causing Sage to question the ways of the narwhal life once more, as to why some were blessed with these weapons, while the others were stripped of the honour of owning a majestic lance of their own.
At once, as Sage became visible to these people, the lethargic lifestyle of the narwhal ended abruptly, all seeming to focus upon the intruder orca. Hundreds of speckled brown faces with dark eyes twisted to view the intruder and the aura of harmony was shattered by a sudden attack of hatred and bitter coldness. Whispers of song were overheard, the same song of secret and mystic origin of the narwhal.
"Yes, yes demon dolphin," Utuk mused, his mad eyes flashing in their eternal insane glee. "You come, come… Fall back, kin kill. Stay close, survive… maybe."
Sage twisted his eyes around, viewing the loathing narwhal glaring at him. They all looked like Utuk, with insanity and revulsion in their eyes. Several began to follow the parade, barking ancient words that were no doubt full of hate and anger. Now, his heart full of dread and fear, Sage refused to so much as glance his eye back to view his hateful fans.
As they approached the entrance to a cavern in the ice, upon the far side of the inlet, Utuk wheeled about, slashing Sage slightly with his deadly bony growth, barely missing putting out the orca's eye. "Now demon dolphin. You enter. Alone. Oracle speak. Oracle let know outcome. We act then." He waited for several moments, before striking Sage's lower jaw several times with light swipes that drew more blood and reopened healed wounds, whilst chanting, "Move on. Move on."
Though his heart was now darkened and fearful, Sage had no choice. The cave was pitch black, under tremendously thick frost, with possibly no chance of breathing. More pikes began to attack portions of his body, and he forced himself into action, becoming one with the shadows. Sonaring his way, Sage followed the tunnel, afraid of what he would encounter upon the other side…
The narwhal oracle.
As the cave ended, into a much larger chamber, colours danced about, as the waters were given a much cleaner, pure feeling. There was a strange formation of ice below, but Sage's need for air drove him to the open above. Rising to the surface, Sage refilled his lungs, before diving once more to investigate the structure of ice he'd seen.
As Sage drew near, he became aware that this wasn't ice at all. It was bone; similar to the skeletons he'd seen, except the skeleton of a great blue whale it seemed, but it was impossible. The sheer size of the skeleton was nearly twice the size of a regular blue. Parts of the vast skeleton, such as the lower half the tail and the right pectoral were encased in ice around, slowly digesting the skeleton into its tomb. Swimming around, Sage sonared about, seeking answers about the origins of the skeleton and searching for the mysterious oracle he was supposed to meet here.
A shiver was sent down Sage's spine as he explored the skull. He felt as if the skeleton was watching him, and… Turning his body, Sage found himself facing down a large narwhal, a deep hatred in his eyes as his weapon pointed straight at the younger orca. This narwhal was an adult, muscles rippling through every part of the body, as the posture gave a language all of its own. He did not like intruders at all. Unlike the others, with madness flooding their eyes, Sage sensed great intelligence and almost complete sanity within this lone narwhal leader.
"What are you doing here demon dolphin?" the oracle demanded gruffly, eyes firm and harsh.
Sage was intimidated by this muscled narwhal head, and was worried and more than prepared to lie, but answered truthfully as true to his nature, "I was brought here by one of your number. They claimed I was to meet you, before you… decided my fate?"
The narwhal watched with contempt, and utmost hate, staring at Sage rather like Uton did in his many fits of rage. But this was much more; a true, deep hatred of all the things that Sage was, not simply as to who he was. "Really? And why should I care? Why should I care about anyone different than we? We narwhal were banished by all other singers, hence we hide underneath the ice like this…"
"Wha… What?" Sage questioned, something stirring in his memory. He remembered vaguely, a song about the narwhal, but nothing came to recall. The feeling was something bad. Feeling the watching again, Sage turned to the skeleton, blinking in curiosity.
The elder narwhal sneered. Above, the light of day was beginning to fade into crimson, replaced with the paleness of the moon. "Well, it seems the young one has not learnt of our plight." Another long sneer of anger. "Very well, I shall sing the lament of the narwhal to you, and then my demon dolphin friend, we shall discuss your fate…"

"The call was released, for all singers to unite,
The call of the Asterite, keeper of seer.
Dolphin, orca, whale and porpoise,
All heeded the call, to sing hymn, a chant,
A song that would fight and earn the right to live.
The song went up, t'was sung in triumphant.
But song of the narwhal were not present.
The narwhal were delayed their role,
The battle between them and their role of song.
Evil was not vanquished,
She escaped to fight another day.
Songs were praised for the saviour,
Songs of joy and life were sung by all,
While songs of condemning, to the narwhal.
Banished by all, exiled by all,
All singers punished the narwhal,
For what could not be helped.
Fleeing from persecution,
The narwhal sought sanctuary under the ice.
Here we sing, here we mourn…
Here we go mad for vengeance that will never pass.
We are the lost ones; the narwhal,
Forsaken children of Delphinius."

Sage listened in eagerness, swallowing the song in full. More knowledge, more tunes… Once the song was complete, Sage launched into a chant of it, mirroring the song with his majestic tone. The oracle watched in eagerness, his harsh eyes continuing to glare in hatred, which was reflected by the pale light of the moon behind the layer of clouds above. Whence he was finally finished, the oracle nodded slightly, his eyes unchanged. "Very good demon dolphin. You sing our lament flawlessly. What name do you hail by?"
His heart alive, the power of the song healing him, Sage smiled, forgetting the death and entrapment that encircled him closely and answered, "Sage. My name is Sage."
"I am Nartec, oracle and keeper of the narwhal secrets," the oracle Nartec grimly introduced himself, his song void of emotion and feeling. "And you Sage, are a seeker of information, songs are you not? I see an insatiable thirst for knowledge burning within you." The eyes of the narwhal were dark, as he swam up to Sage, glancing over the youngster. Under the light of the moon, the markings on the chin of Sage began to shimmer slightly, attracting the attention of Nartec. "You have interesting markings. Those are similar to the markings of the hero Ecco…"
Sage blew in interest, asking while tilting his head in wonder, "My chin markings? I see nothing special in them. Neither does my pod."
"And indeed they aren't," Nartec warned Sage, his voice deathly cold. "Many will try to tell you, that you are the heir, follower, next in line or something heroic. Do not believe them. The egos of many species has brought our kind to this poverty existence, and if you allow it to consume you that you are a hero, others will suffer our fate."
Blinking in agreement, Sage turned his attention to the skeleton again, feeling the same feeling once again, that he was being watched once more. Slowly swimming towards them to explore, the voice of Nartec roared, "Touch not the bones of the great one. This skeleton is the final resting place of the legendary Big Blue. Legends tell how even after death, his wise eyes cast upon those he sees as true seers for the singer kind." Sage turned to face Nartec once more, the cold eyes glaring at Sage.
No… Past Sage, towards the skeleton. Nartec hated the skeleton. The anger radiated from Nartec, as if Big blue him-self had sentenced the narwhal to their fate underneath the wastelands.
"Leave this place young one," Nartec ordered, breaking the silence, his voice hard, firm and dangerous. "This once, for you are a seeker of knowledge, you have immunity. You will be allowed to heal and feed over the darkness of the night, but by at break of light, you will be led out of our frozen catacombs. And I give you fair warning, come near the narwhal realm once again, and you will suffer the fate of others."
Although he was sure he knew the answer to his question, Sage asked, his thirst for knowledge still craving more questions to be fully answered, "And what is it you do to the others whom discover your icy caves?"
Nartec snorted in discontent. "No doubt you saw the skeletons in the way in? We let no singer, whom seeks to humiliate us further, and drive our people closer to the brink of insanity in our futile desires for revenge and retribution, live. Any whom come near the realm are brought to me, then killed." The face of Nartec continued to glower, a sense of hostility towards Sage growing with each passing moment. "Now go. Before I change my mind…"