by Caney, Mark
When the impact came, it was not as violent as he had expected. Not really anything. Like the joking push of one friend to another, or the press of a lover against her mate. Dusk used to push him like that sometimes, a long, long time ago. He must be so far removed from the world that he did not feel it. His oxygen levels were so low; he would have been finished soon anyway. He gave into it; stopped swimming.
Let’s end it then. Where is She?
Storm pushed passed him, towards the utter blackness of the abyss. The big dolphin’s still body sank past him, gently spiralling in the faintest of light. Storm seemed to want to go down there. Sky let him pass.
Farewell, Still Bay.
Chapter 52
“I know your skin
I know your eyes
I know your clever mind
Your dancing laugh
Your soft caress
Your leaps, your falls, all mine
I know your moods
All your desires
How you feel when we’re apart
I know each element of you
Except what’s in your heart”
- The poet Jupiter by Regulas (9,467-9,491 post Great Alluvion).
He swam fast at the surface, flying alternately through clean, cool air and supporting, liquid crystal. Each time he passed from one medium to the next he was chased, but never caught, by a thousand shining diamonds. The water deep, deep below him; a viscous, fluid blue, falling to the still, cold blackness where all zetii eventually go. Above him, the paler, yet still intense blue of the sky. His world; his people’s Ocean. Living in one hemisphere, dependant on the other. Yet he felt completely alone in this two-tone blue orb, which rocked gently about the pivot of the bright red light at its join. He swam towards that light as fast as he could, racing it to the horizon.
Soon the sand rose to meet him, patches of rock among it turning to grey in the failing light. And then he could see it: silhouetted against the fiery ball, the tiny islet. Black against the light, piercing into the sky like a Cleaner’s fin.
As Senx immersed himself into the distant waters in red fire he could see the net in his mind, painted there by sound. He could make her out, she was still there.
I came before Senx left you, just as you asked me.
Now he can see her, and she — yes, she is moving, he is sure.
I kept my promise my love.
‘It is I, Touches The Sky!’
Then he was beside her and realised that although she was moving, it was not through her own efforts. She was rocking gently in the swell, still woven into the net.
With a great effort he lifted her to the surface. Her eye flickered and her blowhole opened and took in little air, but he heard the rasp of bubbles as the little air passed into the water in her lungs and knew what it had to mean. She’d given up, passed out, and water had entered her airways. She was fading.
‘Dusk, I tried so hard, I got here as fast as I could.’
She looked at him for a long time then spoke with a great effort, her voice small and far away. ‘Sky, dearest Sky. What happened to your face? Did you...stop them?’
‘Yes. And Storm is dead.’
Her eyes closed for a moment, then opened again as she continued weakly. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. Then it wasn’t all for nothing. Deneb is safe. The clan will take you back. And the Guardians will fall apart without Storm.’
He held her up again and she tried to breathe but convulsed weakly. Some white foam appeared at her blowhole but no air moved in or out.
‘Dusk you’ve got to hold on!’
‘Can’t. So...very tired. Sky, promise me one…thing.’
‘Anything.’
‘Find...find the Western Red Mountains Clan. Venus...In...Mist. She wants you. It’s the last…’
But there was no more. Her eyes still looked into Sky’s with a faraway stare, but he thought she seemed content somehow.
He supported her all through that long night. The sky was perfectly clear and filled with the stars she loved so much. He named those he could and asked her for the names of those he could not. Sang her songs. Reminded her of stories of when they were children. Lifted her to the surface time after time so she might breathe in that cool, precious air, which was sweetened by the exotic fragrance of some night blossom.
But she never did.
Touches The Sky’s story will continue in the second part of Dolphin Way: Captured
For more information about Dolphin Way and the facts about dolphins visit www.markcaney.com