Dolphin Way: Rise of the Guardians by Mark Caney Read Free Book Online

billows of white into the clear water. He had lain there a long time; watching, thinking.
    ‘ It is I, Deneb Rising!’
    ‘ And I, Wakes Softly!’
    Deneb’s dark form appeared in front of Sky, his serious face showing concern. Wakes hung back at a short distance to give them a chance to speak privately.
    ‘ We’ve been looking for you little brother,’ Deneb said gently. ‘You’ve been gone a long time.’
    ‘ I needed some time to think. It’s been such a shock.’
    ‘ Of course it has. Come on, swim with us, I can hardly hear you with all this noise. Let’s go down where it’s quieter.’
    Sky slowly followed Deneb and Wakes into the calm of deeper water, reluctant to leave the clamour of the waves; the comforting caress of the swell.
    ‘ Whatever everyone else thinks Sky, nothing has changed for me. I will still treat you like a brother and I’m sure my mother will still treat you like her son. You’re still the same zeta.’
    ‘ Maybe I’m not though. I’ve gone through my life thinking my family was dead, now it seems my father may still be alive. And a Guardian! If half of what is said about them is true they’re bad enough. They say they condone killing other zetii sometimes and that they follow a perverse form of the Way; saying it was only really meant for us Ka-Tse or something like that — that the other kinds of zetii are inferior.’
    Wakes shook her head. ‘Even if that’s all true, it doesn’t matter. You’re not a Guardian.’
    ‘ The rest of the clan won’t be as reasonable as you though — after all my father might be! Deneb, I have to know, I want to ask him what would make him do such a thing!’
    ‘ Well, you can’t! You know the penalty for any kind of contact with them. You’d be crazy to risk everything now when you are almost at the end of your studies.’
    ‘ Alright, alright, I know that makes sense, but I really need to know more somehow…’
    At that point Sky trailed off. Ahead of them were five adult males from the clan. Sky made his signature call:
    ‘ It is I, Touches The Sky!’
    Before Deneb or Wakes could add theirs, and without any proper reply to Sky’s call, the largest of the males said, ‘Don’t you mean “It is I, Son of a Guardian!”’
    Sky recognised him as Last To Speak. One of his daughters was Bellatrix Unseen, who Sky had seen at the wreck and who sometimes attended the classes that he helped to teach at the Academy.
    Deneb advanced towards the older, larger dolphin; deliberately placing himself between Sky and him. ‘How dare you speak like that! There’s no proof of this. And even if it is true it’s not Sky’s fault.’
    Last To Speak snorted. ‘Don’t come on high and mighty with me, boy. Just because you’re the Prime Mother’s son doesn’t give you any authority over us.’ His companions circled around them, watching the exchange without comment but clearly following it with interest. Sky was shocked by the animosity but felt he had to defend himself. He moved closer.
    ‘ Who told you this story?’
    ‘ Everybody knows it now. And maybe you haven’t done anything wrong yet, but I think it’s just a matter of time. Like they say, “no stronger current than the father’s blood in the child’s veins”. I think the Council should get rid of you now before you do any harm.’
    Deneb replied before Sky could, his voice cold but angry. ‘Fortunately the Council are able to make their decisions based on facts, not emotions. That’s why zetii like you aren’t on it! Come on Sky, let’s go.’
    They left the group of males behind them, Last To Speak’s voice just reaching them as they moved swiftly towards the headland: ‘We’ll be watching you, Guardian’s son! The first sign of you turning bad and we’ll drive you out of this clan in a tailbeat!’
    The three friends swam around the headland into the clan’s bay. The western end of the bay was quite calm, but the breakers boomed against the other side of the