text: Many centuries ago, when magic was as common as the springtime rain, a giant whale lived in the ocean deep. His name was Agathus, the Guardian of the Sea. He was awake the day the ocean came to being and knew each creature by its primal name. Throughout the centuries he grew and grew, and on the day that land arose, he was thrice bigger than the largest peak. And, by the time that humans learned to travel seas, the ancient giant’s shadow stretched for miles as he moved below their fragile ships. One stormy day, while wind furries danced wild spirals with the son’s of lightning and of rain, Agathus calmly followed western currents deep below the crashing waves. He glanced above to see the silver crackling of the darkened sky and spied a lonely ship, tossed savagely between the treacherous waves. Agathus sighed. The world above the waters was still young and full of growing chaos. Without a doubt he knew the ship with all its forty souls would soon be swallowed by the sea. The ancient whale was set to pass them by, resigning them to certain doom, when something made him pause. Between the crashing of the waves, the thunder of the skies, and the curses of the sailors, a single voice drowned out the chaos with its soothing calm. A mother huddled with her babe, below the rocking deck. Her crying son she cradled to a song, in hope to soothe his final hour. Agathus listened to the gentle lullaby she sang: The starfish sing a lullaby As mermaids drift to sleep Give them your worries and your fears They’ll drown them in the deep. And then they‘ll send you dreams of gold On waves of sea-weed foam The starfish song will keep you safe Until you come back home The ancient whale was touched by the courage of the soothing song. “Today is not a day that such a one should die,” he whispered to the sea. And so, Agathus rose beneath the sinking ship. Allowing it to safely cradle on his back. The sailors all fell to the deck as an enormous landmass rose beneath their ship. Looking with gaping mouths at still the storming sea, now miles away on either side, they raised a cheer to all their spirits and their gods. The mother and her child, still hidden below deck, paused but for a breath, and then continued singing to her child. Agathus stilled his movements and honed in to hear the lullaby once more. The gentle song felt soothing to his heart. His eyelids growing heavy with slumber’s honeyed call. The ancient whale slipped into a most pleasant dream. ... Two hundred years did pass before Agathus once again awoke. He felt his body weighed. Instead of one broken and helpless ship - now a small town was perched upon his back. A port was anchored to his side. His back stung from the rows of plow scratches of the human farms. A grove of fruit trees delved like splinters in the giant’s hide. *I did not give them leave to stay. With just one dive, I’ll make them dearly pay.* Agathus took a breath but then he paused. A lullaby wove through the night. A Father’s voice sang soothing to his daughter’s twins. The starfish sing a lullaby As mermaids drift to sleep Give them your worries and your fears They’ll drown them in the deep. Agathus heard the care within his voice. *Perhaps, just one more day, I’ll let the humans stay upon my back.* Agathus stilled to hear the ending of the song, and with each verse, sleep pulled him deeper into her embrace. .... Another century slid past with Agathus asleep. Then on a freezing winter’s night, when blizzard’s raven covered all with cold white feathers of his wings, the whale awoke in agonizing pain. The town had grown into a kingdom of 10,000 souls. Four massive ports were now staked firm within his flesh. A thick oak forest delved its twisted roots into his aching back. And deep beneath his second rib, the humans had begun to mine his pearl-white bone. Agathus tensed with anger and disgust. He readied his descent below the ice-cold waves. But then a child’s voice began the lullaby anew, he paused. A little beggar girl was shivering as she sang her straw-made doll to sleep. The starfish sing a lullaby As mermaids drift to sleep Give them your worries and your fears They’ll drown them in the deep. And then they‘ll send you dreams of gold On waves... On waves.... The singing stopped. A bought of coughing racked the child’s frame. Agathus waited for the girl to finish the last verse. The love he heard within her voice kept all his pain at bay. Yet, she did not resume the tender lullaby. With one more ragged breath, she clutched her doll, curled tight beneath the quickly falling snow, and closed her weary eyes. Agathus felt her tiny heartbeat slowing like the echo of a distant call. He knew the winter frost had come to claim her soul. And, as her heartbeat gave a final thump, Agathus shook with fury and dismay. *That they would let a little one as this die in the cold. They don’t deserve another day’s reprieve.* Agathus took a breath and dived below. The human kingdom given freely to the deadly sea. ... None guessed of why the isle of Berianth had disappeared. Some spoke of witchcraft, ghosts, and spirit’s whimfull wrath. The few who did survive kept endless search for land they claimed their own. And Agathus, the guardian of the sea, lay resting on the ocean floor, still angry, hurt, but wiser than the day before. As gentle ocean currents tended to his wounds, the Ancient swore to never lend again his back to those above. And as he slowly drifted off to sleep once more, he called to mind the ending of the fateful lullaby.