Page 84 of Echoes of the Tide

Arges still appeared lost, but Daios nodded and replied, “We were. He was busy with Mira at the time, if I remember correctly. I had my concerns about what the key would open.”

“It seems it’s not a key for a vault, like the people from Gamma thought. It is a key to knowledge itself. Especially about a city called Tau.”

Daios looked confused by that name, but Fortis and Arges stiffened. He’d never seen the depthstrider turn that color either. It spread from his dark tail all the way up his chest, turning him not only a strange shade of dark purple, but sinking him into the background of the sea. Almost as though he was invisible to the naked eye.

Arge? hissed long and low. “I have heard that name before. A soldier uttered it before I tore him in half.”

“Did you say... Tau?” Fortis asked, his voice so low it was little more than a growl.

“I did.” Maketes tilted his head to the side, confused by the reaction in front of him. “I didn’t know it existed, neither did the achromo I brought home. Why do you know the name?”

Suddenly, all three of them were looking at the colossal beast, but Fortis wasn’t looking back. His gaze was out beyond them, toward the sea and the depths that sank so far into the abyss no light could survive. It was there that Maketes had never explored, but it was there that Fortis lived.

“It is a name that is spoken only rarely amongst the depthstriders. A whispered echo of a place that once existed. Few of our kind have ever found it, and those who have only remain in memories and in the souls that visit us.” His eyes swirled with colors, as though he were already speaking with the dead. “Those who linger in the sea, in the place between life and death. Those are the ones who have seen this city.”

All the scales on his tail lifted, sudden fear lancing through his entire body. “Ace said the key holds all the knowledge of this place, and perhaps a direct connect to those who rule it. Apparently, there are quite a few people in each city who have a direct connection with them. The man who held this key believed that someone in Tau controlled every achromo city under the sea.”

“That cannot be,” Fortis snarled.

His two brothers turned to him as well, their brows furrowed in concentration. But it was Arges who spoke first into the angry silence.

“Maketes, do you believe her?”

“I don’t have to believe her.” He thudded his hand on his chest. “I know it to be true. The man was not lying. I was therewhen he spoke, and I traversed through Gamma to get her back. The people in that tower were wrong. Corrupted. They ate each other and all those who threatened them. But this man spoke true, and his voice rang with purpose.”

“Then it is true that Tau exists.” Arges shook his head. “This place should not be in the ocean.”

“I say we use the key.” Maketes needed them all to listen, because he knew his purpose was to tell them. “Use the key. Find this controlling city. If we can figure out where it is, then we can destroy it. With that knowledge, we could force all the other cities to run on their own. Perhaps if Beta no longer gets orders from someone more powerful than them, then they will have to work with us.”

Daios shook his head. “That is why we destroyed Alpha. It has only made tensions worse between us and the achromos. It is a failing mission, brother.”

“Perhaps. But if Tau controls as much as they say...” He didn’t know how to tell his brothers that this was important.

The sea swirled around him, kicking up sand so that it misted around his body. He could feel the ocean urging him on, telling him to continue arguing with them. It was his job to convince them that this was the right path to swim.

Yet, he didn’t know the words. He couldn’t find them. Because in the end, he didn’t know what this key would open or what it would unlock.

So instead, he pressed his closed fist over his hearts. “I know this is the right path. I know this is the only choice for us.”

All three of them stared at him, and he could feel the currents change in his direction. One moment, they looked confused, and the next, understanding passed over them like a wave had crested over their heads.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he repeated.

Fortis nodded. “Keep me informed. I was told that you are seeking out your achromo’s sister as well. Would you like me to get involved?”

His hip fins flared in surprise. “You know of that?”

“I know of everything that happens with my people. Especially when there is a yellow finned bastard who asks one of my hunters to find an achromo without killing it.” Fortis’s jaw clenched before he continued. “I will help them find this woman if you wish. There has been no news of her that I have heard.”

“I would be in your debt.”

Surprise lifted Fortis’s brows before he nodded. “Consider it done.”

Then the purple beast swam off. Gone, with just a flick of his tail, like the conversation was over just because he’d decided it to be so.

Daios frowned, then bared his teeth in a nasty snarl. “I don’t like that one.”

Arges snorted. “No one does. That’s his charm, don’t you know? I pity the achromo he finds who will break him.”

---