Suddenly without the unspoken command of their mistress, the Foe upon the Earth slipped into disorganization. They scattered and fled, this way and that, lacking any driving force and any understanding of the place in which they were.
A pride of lions, singed and fierce, fell upon the madly scattering Foe and ripped them with teeth and claws to leave the ground soaked in dark blood.
Two wolves fell upon a huge Foe soldier, dragged it to the ground and tore its throat out, then waited and watched as the dying creature kicked out its life in the churned-up snow. Their cousins ran down the other four Foe and slew them one by one, tracking them for almost an hour through the pine trees.
The stallion reared as the Foe cowered before him. With one swift thunderbolt of a blow, the wild equine stove in the creature's head with his hoof. Then the whole herd was moving, racing across the grassland like an earthquake. The relentless pounding of feet trampled the Foe to death.
Within the water of the Moonsong Lagoon, Greshruk the Slayer slowly became of two things--that it was dawn, and that there were not that many Foe left any more. She cruised like a pale lightning-bolt through the bloodied water, searching for another target. All around her, the sharks were slipping away as the sun began to swell on the horizon. The Slayer felt something approach through the water, and turned with jaws agape, but it was no Foe that met her flat black eyes but the big, unwieldy log-shape of a sperm whale.
"They're gone," he said. "They're all dead or dying."
"So it seems," the Slayer agreed in a soft, hissing voice. "I suppose my work here is done, then. You can leave it with us sharks now; we will pick off the survivors at our leisure."
"Hr'm. I suppose you will." Castor rose and blew, and the Slayer rose with him to swim silently at his side. Castor directed one eye to the pale shape that cruised beside him, scarcely much smaller than himself. "I suppose you've seen the sky, Slayer?"
Greshruk gave him a long look and then pointed her snout up, the water sliding away around her. The Slayer blinked in the air, water cascading from her white body. She looked for a long moment, then slipped slowly back into her element again. She swam on beside the whale, saying nothing.
"Do you suppose--?" Castor began.
"I never suppose." Greshruk did not slow, swimming steadily north out of the lagoon and into the open sea. "Tell me, whale, have you ever heard the truism: 'What is, is what must be'?"
"I think I have, once or twice," Castor said with humor in his eyes.
"Then you understand where I am going, and why."
"Indeed." The whale directed another amused look towards his unwilling companion. "If you have no objections, Slayer, I'll swim with you."
"I have none," Greshruk answered, though it was more of an unwilling grunt than anything else. She continued swimming, and Castor stayed by her, merely rising to breathe every now and again. Both of them were carrying many wounds, but the water had washed them free of blood, and neither of the two giants were seriously injured.
"They made the ultimate sacrifice, you know," the sperm whale observed after another long pause.
Greshruk's flat black eye rolled in his direction for a moment, then returned to face forward again. "I know."
"Do you not care?" Castor asked mildly.
The Slayer was silent for a very long time, and it seemed that she would not answer. But, finally, she did do so, and there was a strange hint of pride in her low, hissing voice. "That was my son, mammal. Yes, we sharks care little for the family ties which you and your kind hold so dear. But still, there is a bond between myself and my own. I invested part of myself in my whelp. I wonder, perhaps, if he could have done anything other than what he did." The corners of Greshruk's mouth pulled back in a deadly smile. "We are of an ancient line, and those who do not know us might say that we are nothing more than mindless killers.
"But I tell you truth, my mammalian friend... when there is darkness in the sky, even a shark can learn to burn bright."
There were no more words between them. Together, side by side, air-breather and water-breather swam on into the dawn. The sun blossomed in the east with a burst of golden flame. And above them in the northern sky, thousands upon thousands of shooting stars glimmered brightly as they made their way down towards the earth.
"Ecco... are you awake, Ecco?"
He opened his eyes. All around him the water shone with a bright glow, as if it were filled with light. Ecco blinked slowly.
A shape faded out of the blue before him--a dolphin, white and dusky black. For a moment he thought that it was Mallidith, and drew back with words of Song coming to his mind, but the other did not have the pale eyes of the traitor. The lone-swimmer cruised towards him slowly, gleaming in the iridescent water, and then turned to swim beside him.
"Who are you?" Ecco asked.
There was a smiling look in the other's eye. "You know who I am."
"I guess I do," he said after a long moment. "What do you want with me?" That came out a little cross, but he couldn't help it. "I thought it would all end with the defeat of the Queen." Ecco dropped his head, remembering. "Karkol died for you," he said. "What else do I have to give up?"
"Nothing," the other dolphin answered almost lightly. "I require nothing. I ask nothing. When the time comes to act, Ecco, you have all the choices... and always have had."
"Some choices."
"I know you are sad and angry, my friend. But some things have to be. If it is any consolation, the actions of yourself and Karkol saved the lives of countless billions." The other dolphin looked at him for a long moment. "You saw what you saved."
"Yeah, I know..." Ecco would have sighed. "But still, I wish I could see it again... and my friends. I don't want to leave them."
"You won't," the other said simply. He started, and stared into the soft dark eyes of the lone-swimmer. "It is not your time, Ecco... not yet. Not for a long while. You were star-born, remember? You heard our song."
The shining water was slipping away from him. The lone-swimmer was fading into the darkness. For a moment Ecco thought he was back in the Sea of Stars, but there was no sun, no stars save the ones upon the lone-swimmer's back. "Wait!" he called. A sudden thought struck him. "Are you Tidesinger, or are you Delphinius? Who are you really?"
The answer came back from a long distance, like an echo. "Farewell, Ecco..."
He opened his eyes, and experienced the strangest disorientation he had ever felt in his life. He was lying on the ground, on his stomach. Somewhere far above, he could hear the gentle sound of waves breaking. Cool blue light streamed in through a crystalline window--daylight. Ecco pushed off the soft bed of seaweed, made two tailstrokes around the room, and looked into the eyes of Afarellan.
"Welcome back, Ecco," the old one said with a kindly smile.
"Wha..?" He stared around him, seeing the delicate murals of the hall in Lunar Bay. The other lone-swimmers were gathered there in formation--he recognized Naylle, looking at him with a beautiful expression in her eyes. There was a single gap in the semi-circle, where Mallidith would have been. "I'm in Lunar Bay?"
"That's right," Afarellan said simply. "We found you here, dead to the world. You've been two days awaking. How do you feel?"
Ecco blinked, realizing that that was a good question. With a little effort he bent his body around, wincing at a twinge in his back, and took a look at his tail where the Foe Queen had left her mark. There was no sign of the wound save for a deep silvery scar. "Did you heal this?" he asked, turning his gaze toward Afarellan.
The old lone-swimmer just shook his head. "Do not ask me to explain the will of Delphinius," he said. "It seems that it was his will for you to be saved."
Ecco dropped his head miserably, those words hitting an unhealed part of his heart. "So he saved me, for what? Poor Karkol gave his life to stop the Queen, and all I did was hit a couple of keys. How come I'm the one who gets to live? It should have been him..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I should have been the one who died, not him."
"What are you talking about?" A familiar shape appeared in the doorway--a round, barrel-shaped body, slate-gray on top and chalky white below. "I'm here, Ecco, you dummy!" Karkol grinned at his surprise and came forward, the dolphins parting to let him through.
"Karkol!" Ecco squealed, and was for a moment wholly without speech. He dashed to meet his friend--Karkol accelerated likewise, and they met in the middle of the lone-swimmer assembly in a clash of fins and flailing tails. Barely able to believe it, Ecco couldn't leave off touching his friend for a moment, jabbing his snout into the shark's side to prove to himself that Karkol was real. The shark was certainly corporeal, as big and gray as ever, though his hide was criss-crossed here and there with the faint pale marks of what seemed like old scars. The tip of one pectoral fin was blunted.
"Ease off, Ecco," the shark said comfortably. "I'm all right, really. Dunno why or how, though... I just woke up here an hour ago, all present and correct."
"I thought you'd died," Ecco murmured, remembering that terrible moment when the Foe Queen had torn Karkol apart in front of him. "Karkol, I really thought you'd died."
"So did I," the shark said, a slight tone of puzzlement creeping into his voice. "But eh, all's well that ends well!" He grinned again, causing some of the lone-swimmers to draw back nervously.
"You big muscle-head," Ecco said affectionately. "I was scared I'd lost you for good." Karkol looked at him with sparks in his warm black eyes.
Their reunion was interrupted by Afarellan making a delicate noise, the delphine equivalent of clearing the throat in preparation. Ecco and Karkol both turned to face the leader of the lone-swimmers. He regarded them calmly with his gentle dark gaze. "There will be plenty of time later for you two to catch up. Right now, we have something else to do."
"What?" Ecco asked, feeling a sinking in his heart. "Isn't it over yet?"
"Not quite," Afarellan said with a smile. "Follow me, if you would."
Surprised, he glanced at Karkol, and then began to swim as the old one headed out of the hallway and along the corridor. Light streamed in through the windows; schools of fish flashed past outside. The lone-swimmers followed at a distance. Ecco sideyed Karkol, wondering why some of the white dolphins were grinning in that way. Only Naylle had a totally solemn face on. The shark just shook his head slightly, as puzzled as he himself.
They ascended through one of the spires, finally reaching a round stone door that would lead out into the lagoon itself. Afarellan halted here, and now the old one was grinning himself. "Well," he said. "Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Ecco asked.
Afarellan merely nodded to Naylle, who had been waiting on the other side of the door. The white female bowed her head in respect and then pushed down a switch set into the wall there. With a slow grating noise of stone on stone, the door slid back.
A huge, jubilant roar went up. Ecco and Karkol started, their eyes widening in shock. Naylle was smiling now, her eyes twinkling with suppressed laughter.
When they had last seen it, Lunar Bay had contained only dolphins, the white-bodied lone-swimmers. Now, though, it was filled with life--all kinds of life, even more than there had been at the Moonsong Stone. Slowly, as if in a dream, Ecco swam out into the waves with Karkol at his side. Sound washed over him like water--cheering. Cheering their names!
The crowds had formed a wide path, through which Ecco and Karkol slowly swam. Great clouds of fish flashed around them as they passed between the spires of Lunar Bay and into the crowd. Dolphins waited fin-to-fin with sharks, all enmity forgotten in the mutual joy of the momentous occasion. Ecco stared around in wonder, seeing almost every kind of sea-creature he could have imagined. Tiny seahorses danced in and out of the weeds. The black-and-white killers were leaping completely clear of the water in their joy--he laughed out loud, recognizing the familiar faces of Khorik and his mate and calves. Corse and the others of the Sapphire Bay pod were in the crowd, and Orcus--and beside him, a female common dolphin who, by the way she stayed close to him and pressed her head against his, was indeed his lost life-mate. White seagulls dived into the water all around them, streaming silver bubbles from their glittering plumage. Half-stunned by exhilaration, Ecco swam on--glancing at Karkol, he saw that the shark was just as overcome by the sight as he himself.
One by one, as they passed by, each dolphin, shark or fish bowed its head and splayed its fins, in a universally recognized display of respect. Then, out of the blue waters before them, appeared an immense bulk. Sunlight gleamed off deep blue skin, and for one moment the wild cheering of the crowds was drowned out by the subsonic rumble of the blue whale.
Gracefully, Sendarian the Songmaster bowed his head.
It was late evening by the time they could get away. Ecco and Karkol swam quietly side-by-side through waters that were once again still and peaceful; they had passed through the illusory stone and were now heading west towards the setting sun and, for Ecco, Sapphire Bay.
"Pretty amazing, huh?" the shark said finally.
Ecco favored him with a look, grinning. "You kidding? My ears are still ringing!"
Karkol nodded with laughter in his eyes, then suddenly he paused and looked more serious. "So, Ecco," he said, "what are you gonna do now?"
"Now?" Ecco blinked. "I don't know, to be honest. I guess I'll go back to Sapphire Bay for a while."
"A while?" the shark asked mildly.
He dipped his fins in a delphine shrug. "Yeah. I don't know what else I'll do. After... everything that happened... I don't really feel like your average dolphin any more. I might become a lone-swimmer, you never know."
Karkol sideyed him. "Kinda dangerous..."
Ecco laughed. "Yeah, and I'm gonna be really scared of tiger sharks after the Foe Queen!"
"Good point." The shark grinned. "Well, look... if you ever need me for anything, or just wanna hang for a while...I'll be around, okay?"
"Thanks, Karkol," Ecco said, smiling. "I may take you up on that."
"I guess this is goodbye then," Karkol said awkwardly. He turned and swam away a few lengths, then paused and looked back. "Ecco..."
"Go on, get," Ecco answered gently. "I know you can't exactly stay around when I rejoin the pod. Don't worry, Karkol, we're gonna meet again." He glanced up at the evening sky, where the first faint stars were glimmering. "I know it," he finished off firmly. "Delphinius has more in store for us."
Karkol nodded, looking happier. "Whatever it is, we'll handle it," the shark said, then grinned again. "I'll see you around then, good buddy."
"Have fun!" Ecco called after him. The shark glanced back, grinned at him, and then swam off into the gathering dusk. In moments his big gray body had faded from sight.
It took several days to travel that long distance back home, crossing the entire ocean and then heading down the coast, following its twisting curves towards home.
But now at last, Sapphire Bay was on the horizon, and Ecco could hear the soft singing of dolphins in the distance. He sped up. It had been a long adventure, and in many ways kind of fun, but Ecco was going to be pretty glad to get back home again and return to some sort of normalcy.
"Wait, Ecco..."
He stopped dead in the water, a sudden shiver of fear running through him. He knew that voice! Swiftly Ecco cast about him, searching for some way to hide, but there was nothing--he was still in open waters, had not yet reached the continental shelf. He froze as the pale form of the Slayer appeared before him, materializing out of the water like a ghost. She paused several lengths away, her mouth open just enough to reveal the gleaming teeth.
"We have some unfinished business, Ecco," Greshruk said softly, her voice hissing through her jaws. "Do you remember?"
With a lurch, he recalled that first meeting, where she had sworn to kill him. Ecco glanced around swiftly, hoping to see something which he might be able to use to distract her, and wondered whether the Power of Song would work on a shark.
Greshruk swam forward slowly, taking her time. "I will soon return to my home waters, little mammal, but before I leave I would have words with you."
"Yeah?" Ecco asked, a little shakily. "What?"
She gazed at him through cool black eyes. "My people are not barbarians, Ecco--we realize what you did for this Earth. But, we are of a certain nature. Just because you did a great deed does not mean that you can be exempt from the Law."
"The Law?"
"Dolphins have many laws, killer whales have three. Sharks, little mammal, have only one." Greshruk's jaws parted slightly. "The fittest survive." She paused, looking at him. "You have saved my life, Ecco, along with that of every other creature on this planet. By leaving now with an empty stomach, I save yours in return. Thus, this once I spare you. But be warned--enter my waters again, and you had better look to your tail."
"I will, Greshruk," Ecco said, awash in a feeling of abject relief. "Thanks."
The Slayer didn't answer. She turned and glided off, serene in the knowledge of her ultimate supremacy under the waters, and was soon lost to sight.
Now, he thought to himself, it is really all over.
He started to swim again, towards the bay and the place where his family waited--towards the place where, once again, he would be reunited with Star. Ecco's eyes twinkled thoughtfully at the image of the female dolphin.
Above him in the velvety black sky, there was no moon but the thinnest silver splinter... a new moon.
A new moon, heralding a new approaching day.