Dolphin Knight

by Robert T. Jeschonek

  As terrified as she was of plunging underwater on the back of a fish, she was even more scared of facing that approaching army.

  "By the way," said the grayfish, "my name is Seek."

  "My name is Raka," said Raka.

  The grayfish made a rapid clicking sound that could have been laughter. "No it's not," he said brightly. "Your name is Cryssa."

  Suddenly, Raka's mind was off the Sharkites. A chill passed through her, and the breath caught in her throat.

  That name. She couldn't believe that he had said it.

  That name. The sound of it was like a lightning bolt turning night into day.

  It was the name from her dream. The name that the grayfish had called in her dream, over and over.

  Cryssa.

  "Hold on!" said Seek.

  Questions rushed through Raka's mind like minnows darting in the surf, but before she could say another word, Seek charged forward.

  *****

  Chapter Ten

  Raka had never traveled so fast in her life as she did while riding Seek. She had never realized that anything could move so fast.

  And she had never spent so much time underwater, either. After a lifetime of avoiding the sea, she suddenly found herself plunging into it again and again.

  At first, the dives beneath the waves were so sudden and surprising that she wasn't prepared. Though Seek had told her to take breaths when he surfaced and hold them when he went under, Raka swallowed a lot of water and got dizzy for lack of air. The Kee must have expected this, because he kept his first few dives brief and came up often for air until she got used to it. As Raka adjusted to the rhythm of breathing and submerging, Seek spent more time under the surface, where he was able to move faster.

  Soon, Raka and Seek were breathing as one...rising quickly to exhale and inhale, then holding the breath in their lungs as they ducked back underwater and shot forward at incredible speeds. Though she didn't have gills like the Sharkites, Raka learned that she could survive beneath the waves in her own way.

  Unfortunately, she didn't manage to see as well as she controlled her breathing. When she tried to look around above water, she was blinded by salty spray; under the ocean's surface, Seek moved so fast that the force of the water pushing against Raka's face wouldn't let her open her eyes much. She badly wanted to see what was ahead and how far away the sharks and riders were behind them, but all she managed to see was a series of blue-green blurs.

  After a while, Seek finally stopped...but not for long. As he broke the surface and looped around for a look back the way they had come, Raka blinked the water from her eyes and managed to open them. What she saw wasn't good, but she didn't have much time to consider it. She barely caught a glimpse of the approaching sharks and guardsmen, much closer than they had been before and gaining fast, before Seek whirled around and took off again.

  The next time Seek stopped was different, however...and not just because the troops were even closer. This time, instead of racing off right away, he stayed put, as if waiting for the sharks and riders to catch up to him.

  Looking right and left, Raka saw that the other Kee had also stopped and were holding position, watching the approaching troops.

  "What's happening?" Raka said to Seek, returning her gaze to the sharks and Sharkites.

  "We are lucky," said Seek, bobbing his head and clicking. "Help is on the way."

  "Help?" said Raka.

  Seek pointed his snout to one side. "Look there," he said. "Friends of ours are coming. Friends and cousins, though we don't always get along. We called for help a while ago, and they're finally here."

  As Raka watched, unexpected movement in the distance caught her eye. A cluster of black fins rolled in and out of the water, rising and falling as if they were mounted on turning wheels. The rhythm of their motion was familiar to her now, its purpose clear; the black-finned creatures were surfacing to breathe and diving underwater to swim just like Seek and the Kee.

  "They call themselves Orga," said Seek. "They're always late, but they're great fighters."

  Raka saw the black fins race through the water between the Kee and the shark troops. As the Orga moved closer, Raka could see that their bodies, as they rolled into and out of the sea, were splotched with white as well as black.

  Raka thought that there were at least twenty Orga spread out in front of the onrushing pack. She wondered, at first, if that would be enough to fight off the dozens of sharks and riders hurtling over the waves.

  Then, she saw the Orga in action, and her doubts disappeared.

  The black-and-white fighters charged straight into the ranks of the shark troops, instantly disrupting the troops' formation. Sharks and men scattered in every direction, and the Orga chased after them.

  Orga leaped out of the water, swatting riders from sharks with their noses and tails. Alone and in teams, Orga rammed the sharks in staggering collisions and bit into their gray hides.

  The Orga went through the shark troops like a storm, moving so fast that Raka had trouble sorting out the action. Before long, she lost track of the individual fighters in the blur of violent motion....though she could clearly see the results.

  What had been a unified, threatening force bolting toward her just moments ago had become a disorganized jumble stopped dead in its tracks.

  At that point, Seek turned away. "I told you the Orga are great fighters," he said. "I wish we could get in there and join them, but we have to get you home."

  Though Seek had turned from the fight, Raka continued peeking at it over her shoulder. "I see some sharks getting away," she said, watching as a few distinctive gray fins slipped out of the chaos and skated toward her and the Kee knights. "They're coming after us."

  "That's why we have to get you home," Seek said as he began swimming away from the approaching sharks. "We could beat them with no problem, but we can't take any chance that you'll get hurt."

  "Why?" said Raka. "Who told you to protect me?"

  Seek emitted a stream of rapid chattering sounds. "Everyone," he said. "All the people and Kee at home. We have been looking for you for a long time."

  "But why?" said Raka, leaning down to grip the harness as Seek picked up speed.

  "You're somebody special," said Seek, his voice becoming garbled from the water rushing over his snout.

  "What do you mean?" said Raka.

  "You're a princess," said Seek. "A princess of the island of the Kee."

  Before Raka could say a word, Seek sank beneath the waves, leaving her just enough time to suck in a deep breath before the water closed over her head.

  *****

  Chapter Eleven

  As Raka and Seek and the other Kee knights left the scene of the battle, the sharks that had evaded the Orga followed, pressing hard to chase them down. Unlike the first time when sharks had pursued her and Seek, Raka saw them closing in; with practice, she had finally learned how to blink away the sea water and peek behind her when Seek surfaced for air.

  The other Kee did their best to thin the gang of pursuers. One at a time, the Kee knights broke away from Seek and swam back, bravely attacking individual sharks and driving them out of the speeding pack.

  To their credit, the Kee reduced the size of the shark pack by more than half, improving Seek and Raka's chances of survival...but the Kee couldn't stop every shark from continuing the chase. By the time all the other Kee were gone, three sharks still rushed after Raka and Seek.

  With no help left, it was up to Seek to outrun the sharks and get Raka to safety. As fast as Seek was, Raka wasn't surprised that he met the challenge, zooming forward at what felt to her like ever increasing speeds.

  While she braced her legs against his sides and hung on to the harness so tightly that her hands hurt, Raka wondered if there was any limit to how fast Seek could go and how long he could swim. Once, when he was already charging forward at what seemed like his fastest speed yet, one of the sharks raced up alongside him...and Seek burst away from it as if the crea
ture were standing still.

  Back when she had known of them only as grayfish, Raka had never imagined that the Kee were capable of such feats. She had not known that they could speak (though she had dreamed it), and she had not considered that they might risk their lives to save her. Thinking back, she was amazed at how little she had known in those days...and not just about grayfish, but about herself. She hoped that she would have the chance to find out more.

  When she finally glimpsed land in the distance, she thought that she might get that chance after all.

  She first spotted it during one of Seek's surfacings. The land was so far off that she couldn't make out details, but she could clearly see a solid hump standing out above the waves.

  As Seek continued to rocket forward, the hump grew larger. Soon, Raka could see that it was a mountain wrapped in green. Around its base, a wall of black rock rose from the sea; as she and Seek rushed closer, Raka could see waves throwing themselves against the rock wall, shooting curtains of white foam high in the air.

  Seek raced faster, and the distant island zoomed closer. Soon, the island's central mountain loomed high overhead, its blanket of green resolving into a leafy jungle swaying in the wind. As Seek flew ever closer, Raka could make out the giant boulders and jagged outcroppings of the surrounding rock wall.

  Still, the three sharks kept up the chase, surging forward to come up alongside Seek and falling back as he applied each new burst of speed. Raka realized that if Seek slowed down at all, the sharks would pounce on him in an instant.

  The island hurtled closer. Raka could see a sliver of a gap in the rock wall, straight ahead, which had to be Seek's target. Through that gap, she guessed, must lie safety...though she wondered how safe it would be if the sharks followed them inside.

  The rock wall grew higher as she and Seek approached it. Above the gap, Raka saw a huge gate built of metal bars, suspended from chains mounted high above the water. Beyond the gap, Raka glimpsed bright blue water and white sand.

  Rising and falling on the waves, Seek closed in on the gap. He was so close...but suddenly, the sharks charged up on either side of him and didn't fall back.

  Raka wished that she could help Seek swim faster. The gap in the wall was so close. It wouldn't be fair to have come so far, only to come up short in the end.

  Raka clung to Seek, willing him to keep up the pace for just a little while longer. From the corners of her eyes, she glimpsed the shark fins, edging further forward each time Seek surfaced for air. Just as Seek was about to enter the gap, Raka saw that the sharks' noses were even with Seek's.

  Then, all of a sudden, Seek exploded away from them.

  The sharks couldn't keep up. When Seek whirled around on the other side of the gap and bobbed to the surface, Raka saw that the three fins were just gliding into the mouth of the passage.

  But they would go no further.

  Raka heard the sound of clanking metal. Looking up, she saw men atop the rock wall release the chains that had been holding the gate above the gap. Before the sharks could dart through, the gate suddenly plunged downward, crashing into the water with a tremendous splash.

  Raka let out the breath that she had been holding. The sharks were blocked from coming after her and Seek, kept out by the closely spaced bars of the gate.

  Then, the sharks were driven away, too. When they lingered outside the gate, the men atop the rock wall shot arrows and hurled spears at them, howling with anger. After a few moments under attack, the sharks turned toward the open sea and slipped away. Two of them had arrow shafts sticking out of their backs as they retreated.

  As the sharks departed, Seek clicked and whistled. "We did it!" he said, splashing his tail in the water. "We made it!"

  "This is your home?" said Raka, twisting around for a look at the island. Across a wide lagoon, a crowd of people waited on a white sand beach, palm trees swaying behind them.

  "Yours, too," said Seek, turning toward the beach. Slowly, he began to swim toward it. "Welcome home, Cryssa."

  *****

  Chapter Twelve

  As Seek swam closer to the shore of the lagoon, the crowd on the beach grew. Men, women, and children emerged from the jungle and hurried over the sand to join those already standing there.

  Everyone was smiling. Some waved, and some applauded. Children hurried past the adults, splashing into the surf and swimming out toward Raka and Seek.

  Raka watched in amazement. She couldn't remember ever seeing these people before, but they all seemed to be happy to see her. She couldn't remember ever being on this island before, but she was being welcomed as if she were coming home.

  More than that, she could see that this crowd of strangers had something in common with her. Even at a distance, she could see that every person on the

  beach--except the very old--had red hair like hers.

  "These people are the Sylva," said Seek, carrying her slowly across the surface of the lagoon. "You are Sylva. The Sylva are brothers and sisters of the Kee."

  "I don't understand," said Raka. "I thought Shark Island was my home."

  "The Sharkites took you from here when you were a baby," said Seek. "I was your brother's best friend, and I swore that I would bring you back someday."

  Raka scanned the crowd on the beach, looking for a face that might be the slightest bit familiar. "I have a brother?" she said. "Is he here now?"

  "No," Seek said sadly. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but he is dead. He gave his life for you."

  "Oh," said Raka. "What about the rest of my family?"

  "Your grandfather is there," said Seek. "See the old man in front with the crooked cane?"

  "Yes," said Raka. "But do I have a mother and father here?"

  "They all died in the attack the night you were taken," said Seek. "My mother and father died that night, too."

  Softly, Raka patted Seek's head. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said.

  "Just remember," said Seek. "We are all your family here. Every Sylva on the island and every Kee in the water."

  Raka watched as the Sylva children swam toward her, laughing and shouting. According to Seek, they were all part of her family; how different that was from Shark Island, where she had never fit in and had always felt alone except for Ikaz, Perza, and Bey.

  "Speaking of Kee," said Seek, "look who's joined us."

  Raka looked around. Behind and to either side of her, the water was filled with the curved fins of dozens of Kee. While Raka watched, three of them leaped from the lagoon and dove back down at the same time, then three more. Raka heard splashing on the other side and looked over in time to see five more do the same thing.

  Then, all at once, every Kee but Seek repeated the graceful leap. The sight was so beautiful, it made Raka gasp.

  "Family on land," said Seek. "Family in the sea. Would you like to stay a while and get to know them?"

  Raka frowned. "A while? You mean I'll have to leave? When will I have to leave?"

  Seek let loose a stream of clicks and bobbed his head. "You'll never have to leave," he said, "if you don't want to."

  The lagoon-full of Kee all leaped up and dove back down again. "That's good to know," Raka said softly.

  "Well?" said Seek, slowing down a little. "Are you ready to meet your land family? Or would you rather get some rest first?"

  Raka was exhausted, but rest was the furthest thing from her mind. "Are you kidding?" she said as one of the Sylva children splashed up beside her. "I've been waiting my whole life for this."

  *****

  During Raka's ride across the lagoon, the crowd on the beach had been noisy--clapping and chattering and repeatedly calling out the name "Cryssa." When Seek finally delivered her close to shore, however, the people grew quiet.

  The sudden hush made Raka nervous as she slipped her legs from the harness loops. She felt as if she were expected to say or do something, but she didn't know what it was.

  "Go ahead," said Seek, nodding his snout toward the waiting crowd.
"Say hello to them. They won't bite."

  Raka hesitated, then pulled one leg over Seek's back and slid into the water. Her feet sank into warm, powdery sand.

  As Raka took a step forward, Seek backed out of the shallows and headed for the deeper part of the lagoon. "Good luck!" he said as he left her there, facing the

  crowd of red-haired Sylva. "If you need me, I'll be nearby."

  Raka took another step, then another. With so many eyes staring at her, she felt shy as she walked up out of the water.

  At least everyone was smiling. Her first impression of them was that they were kind and friendly. They didn't seem at all like the Sharkites, who were generally grim and unsociable.

  They didn't look at all like the Sharkites, either, and not just because of the red hair. The Sylva didn't shave their heads, and their skin wasn't tattooed. As a rule, they were thinner and taller than most Sharkites. Instead of clothing made of stitched grayfish skin, they wore loincloths and dresses of some kind of soft, colorful material that Raka had never seen before. The women wore glittering bits of metal and gemstones in their ears and on their fingers.

  The men and women alike wore identical pendants on silver chains around their necks. The pendants were made from some kind of gleaming black stone, carved in the shape of a leaping Kee. Only the children didn't wear them.

  And there was one more thing that Raka noticed about the Sylva as she stood and looked at them...one more thing that was different from the Sharkites.

  None of them, from what she could see, had gills in their throats.

  Without thinking, Raka touched the sides of her own throat. The thing that had most set her apart from everyone else while growing up no longer set her apart. All her life, she had never dared think that there were other people just like her...but here they were.

  A tear slowly trickled down her cheek. All at once, she felt happier than she had ever imagined she could be...and sad and angry and confused because she had been forced to spend so many years away from the one place in the world where she clearly belonged.