Chapter Eight

Manipulation

Upon the change of the moon, with the sun departing with the orange skies darted with rain clouds, Sage found himself at the edge of the icy labyrinths of the far north, on the verge of the warmer waters of the south. The wide open engulfed him, freedom in all directions, and the sense of bottomlessness below him, as a sudden dose of fear gripped Sage, who after becoming accustomed to the tautness of the frigid tomb he'd only escaped from was presented with wide open.
Turning to see the sea of ice that lay behind him one last time, Sage knew it was time to reflect upon his journey so far. And eventful it was to him, and his growing song of knowledge.
He was hungry once more from the travelling with minimal prey, but his ravenous stomach was lightened slightly, with his first successful kill of a seal pup after the many failed attempts, which had wandered slightly from it's mother's side, three days before, providing Sage with a warm feeling within him, as the meal sat nicely within his belly during that day.
Most of the wounds upon his face had healed; leaving his face only slightly disfigured in the reminder of the pain he'd faced in punching through the ice holes, with the shards of ice lashing back at the thought of being attacked. Even the bruised eye had healed enough for Sage to open without much pain. Although he suffered the odd new wound of opening the door to the surface, he was getting accustomed to pain and finding the weaker slides to break through, having being directed the easiest path by the narwhal.
The narwhal, true to the words of Nartec, had allowed him to rest and feed over the light of the night, and within the dawning of the day, several narwhal approached him, demanding his departure. "You leave, leave now…" one of the narwhal, Utuk once more, ordered, his insane eyes glinting with the hint of the madness and challenging. "Go, go time demon dolphin Sage… You not return, no, no, no."
Dipping his head in agreement and dignity, Sage replied, "I am ready to leave. The song of the narwhal is now part of me, and my questions begin to answer. But I must see and hear songs of others to understand more."
"Not find answers here," Utuk answered, expressing his smarts within lunacy. "Answers found outside. You go, go… find answers, then go, go home. Come back, not."
During his travels through the ice alone again, Sage pondered the plight of the narwhal. A species of singer, driven by exile to the frozen wastelands, where they spent their lives dreaming of getting even with the singers of the world, thoughts that eventually drove them mad in age. Other than the youngest calves, and Nartec, Sage had found all the narwhal crazy. The eldest wandered, singing to imaginary demons that plagued them, whilst the prime chanted their desires and dreams to avenge the crimes to their ancestors that penalized their lives, feelings that ultimately drove them to madness.
It hadn't been long that he'd left the ice, reflected upon the narwhal and strengths he'd gained and had only just began to search for something to hunt, before Sage encountered a new kind of singer. Beluga whales, whom had spotted Sage emerge from the ice and swiftly charged at him, wishing the traveller listen and hear their guttural songs of grunting, showering him with gifts of fish and blasts of song in demonstrations, in the hopes he would stay to listen.
"Traveller! Stay awhile! Listen to my magnificent songs!"
"Take this cod, and let me marvel you with my singing while you digest!"
"My hymns are the most beautiful in the seas! Please listen to them and comment!"
Everywhere he turned, another beluga appeared, its white skin glinting in the brightness of the evening sunlight, grunting to listen and take the gift and listen and comment and listen. Most surprised of the hospitality of the beluga, so close to hostility of the narwhal, Sage fell afraid, as the white angels attempted to gain Sage's audience, each offering more and more for the orca to hear their personal songs. A gathering of many, many plump white creatures ensnared Sage, closing in on him.
He was ready to flee in the wake of the sudden overwhelming tide of charity, before a beluga voice bellowed over, "Enough! You frighten the young one with your songs. Calm your egos and allow the young one to speak," the largest of the beluga approached, a sense of leadership auraing from this individual. It was a female Sage sensed, and its song was loud and bold. "I am Okarena; master of the beluga song, singer of the hymns of Delphinius, leader of the pod, seer of the frozen north, prophet of…"
As the beluga Okarena continued to express her titles held to her name, the memory of a song Gol had sung to him once about the beluga surfaced. "Beware the beluga. Not for treachery, deceit, hate or danger, but the egotistical nature of their singing skills, leads their heads to bloat larger than habitual." As Sage glanced about, the chatter of Okarena muted out by his thoughts, he noticed the bloated growth on the top of their heads, understanding the song.
And he had to admit to him-self, the songs were most awful, unlike the songs of the orca, or even the songs of the narwhal. The tones sounded as if they were grunted, groaned and forced out of the body as a blowing of stale air, than flowing through as an envoy of the soul.
Cutting in, Sage interrupted, "I am called Sage, and I travel the seas in search of songs and was…"
"I can carol the songs of many pods and species," Okarena beamed, her face smiling and song groaning in the appalling tone of their voice. Sage blinked, unsure of how to counter this sudden outburst from the over-eager beluga. "This, is the song of the dolphin… 'To play beneath the waves, to forever…'"
Giving a shudder at the horrific tune of the beluga's song, Sage cut in once more, his voice beginning to plead slightly, "I intend to hear the pods sing their own songs, if you would…"
"Take this fish, eat and listen to the pod carol in our beautiful tones!" a male beluga called out, holding a large cod in his mouth.
"My song will amaze you. Please listen visitor!"
"We will forever sketch our songs into your heart," Okarena announced to Sage triumphantly. "Listen and we will deliver songs of the utmost beauty."
Fast getting confused and amazed at the self-centred nature of these singers, Sage cried out with paramount desperation. "No! No more! Please listen to me for a moment! I want to hear the song of the beluga… Please sing me the song of the beluga."
Okarena twisted her face in bewilderment, barking in her grunting tune. "Why would you wish to hear that? The song of the beluga is the most horrendous song we have to sing… Allow us to sing carols of much greater beauty, and we will amaze you…"
Groaning himself, Sage realized these beluga allowed their fat heads to cloud their judgement and rule over their lives, granting visitors what they wanted to give and not what the traveller requested. They cared too much about their own talents, believing they were the most superior singers in the seas. So large were their egos, were they… usable? A thought crept into Sage's head, a clever ruse to use their egos against them for what he wanted. It was an Uton trick, to appeal to what the creature cared most about, and use that his own advantage.
Perhaps he could use it here?
Although he felt wrong, lowering himself to Uton's level, these beluga would not listen to reason. He would have to try it, even though his mind conflicted about the thoughts.
"That's too bad," Sage sighed, blowing at the surface, his voice a mockery, while his eyes reflected the deceit and dishonour he felt in lying to another singer. "I really wished to hear the song sung by the magnificent voices of the true beluga…"
The eyes of the beluga all seemed to light up, passions of singing burning, as Sage appealed to their voracious egos, all-erupting into their cacophony of advertising their own tune to the song, and the audience of Sage to themselves.
"Listen to me! My voice you will never forget!"
"I shall carol the extraordinary song for you, and catch you enough fish to make you fat!"
"I am the pod master, song master and knower of all in these waters," Okarena bellowed out in her raucous voice. "It is my right and privilege to sing, and allow my voice to ring over the waves."
Sage blinked in sheer idiocy at this matter. How was it possible any one creature could be this full of themselves? Even Uton seemed tame in his ego trips than these creatures. He blew again, ready to force himself to listen to a horrendously violent tune.
But, rather than some viciously harsh song, the tune was sweet. A gentle humming, similar to that of Elli's song, but with a twist of exotic accent to it, that captured Sage's attention.

"We givers; kind and selfless,
Give the gifts to those that seek them.
Sing the songs of majestic chorus,
Songs the best of entire seas.
Guard the betrayers of singer kind,
Heal their pain and suffering.
Charged to watch over narwhal,
Ease their anguish with gift of giving.
Sing the songs proud,
Best of the singers found.
Beluga, beluga, beluga,
Simple name of beauty, power and song."

Blowing in the slightest hilarity, Sage copied the song to memory, noting the very egotistical nature of the song of the beluga. It was no wonder if the song of the beluga kind was like this, that their heads were fatter than their round bodies.
Hymning the tune back, fixing the harsher tones that Okarena had blasted out, ruining parts of the song that should have been the most scenic in the song. Flawlessly, Sage repeated the song, and grinned back with his eyes to Okarena, exultant flooding the eyes, awaiting the feedback from Okarena.
"Not bad, not bad young one," the beluga leader commended, her eyes lit up. "With a little more practice, you will be able to carol just like the rest of we beluga. Of course, it is futile hoping to ever hope to match my song."
Finding the very situation this was as comical, Sage pondered several lines from the song. Lines of the narwhal… They sung that the narwhal were betrayers of singer kind. What did that mean? It made little sense, for the narwhal told Sage that they were punished for not being able to reach the song in time, while the beluga claimed they deceived the world. Risking it, Sage asked Okarena, "What is meant by the phrase that the narwhal are betrayers? What did they do that was wrong?"
The joyous mood of the beluga froze instantly. Okarena observed Sage strongly. "Such a question, for one so young… You thirst for knowledge, as we beluga can answer all with our vast knowledge between our pods. To your question, the narwhal abandoned the gathering against monsters that endangered the life of this world. They cowardly hid in their coves, while every creature in the world stood up against the foe. Hence, the narwhal were forever banished to the icy floes of the north. We beluga, kind of heart and mind, came to ease their suffering, giving up our own freedom to give to their lives the joys of giving. But they heed not our calls…" Okarena tilted her head, watching Sage with curiosity. "I shall sing another song for you, a song of the very great battle that the narwhal…"
"That's quite alright," Sage begged, fear flushing his eyes, afraid of the sudden idea of hearing more songs. "I really must be going, and resuming my journey once more…"
At once, the silent, waiting and eager beluga erupted into a disharmony of desperate screams and cries for Sage to remain and listen longer.
"Stay! We will feed you while you listen to our glorious songs!"
"Do not leave yet! There is so much more to sing of!"
Okarena seemed to lower herself lower than Sage, giving him the power of control over her, as she begged with Sage to remain. "You must remain to hear our greatest hymns! We can share all the vast knowledge we have and feed you enough fish to bloat you, and you can hear our marvellous songs over and over again. Remain to hear more, and you may learn to sing with the greatest of all singers!"
Although the thoughts of being fed were nice, Sage couldn't stand the idea of remaining long with the beluga, and allowing them to feed him, so he feed their egos. After all, Sage knew he could only eat so much before he would be ill, but the hunger of the beluga's egos would never be sated.
Forcing his way past, the beluga all lightly tugging on his pectorals and flukes, chanting and begging, Sage began to wonder how in the world these creatures had allowed their egos to consume them. When he was finally free, Sage turned to face the cluster of beluga once again. Now a fair distance away, not crowded into a tight huddle, Sage was able to count the six other beluga from the pod, along with Okarena. Only seven beluga, but upon their actions, they had been performing seemed to make the illusion seem as if there were seventy of them.
The disappointed creatures stared in hurt looks to Sage, which tore at his heart. Seeing the hurt in each beluga, in each of his or her eyes dug deep into his soul, piercing it with the fact he'd hurt someone. "Your songs," he ventured, boldly claiming and truthfully. "May not be the most beautiful that I have heard, but they are the most kindest and most boldest tunes that I have heard a singer sing. All of your songs are strong in kindness, and I thank you for singing to me."
At once, the faces of the beluga lit, a discord of pleased beluga grunts going up. Okarena called out, her eyes alive with fire and her song with high notes of joy. "Thank you for listening to us, my friend. I wish you all the luck in the world on your quest. I hope we will meet again someday, and I can share more our melodies with you once more, with my exceptional and glorious song."
With the tidings of the beluga afresh in his heart, Sage turned towards the open sea. One leg of his journey was over, and another beginning. Open waters contained sharks and larger whales, creating a balanced mixture of allies and adversaries.
Singing the song of his mother, Keeki and the songs he remembered of Elli, he ghosted into the big blue, prepared for whatever came to him with the songs of those he kept well within his heart.