Into the Abyss (6 page)

The group looked over, and the other mako did the exact same thing as his gills stopped moving.

“Because,” Trank said as he swam up from his hiding place. “He’s an assassin.”

“I thought you were in charge of those,” Barkley said. When Trank gave him a look, the dogfish added, “I mean,
if
you were in charge of those.”

The stonefish nodded. “If Gafin had assassins, they would be
dwellers
. There was a rumor of assassin sharkkind long ago, but I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. I do know it would be
verrry
expensive.” He nodded at Gray. “In a way, youse should be flattered.”

“Who sent you?” Barkley asked urgently as the mako’s gills struggled to pump his last breaths. “You’re dying, so you might as well tell us.”

“You already know.”

“Finnivus!” breathed Mari, nervously switching her tail back and forth.

“Well, it didn’t work,” Gray said to the dying shark. “You two are done!”

The mako worked his jaws back and forth, close to death. He spit up a gob of blood as the light faded from his eyes. “Who—who said there were only two of us?”

GRAY STARED AT THE BODY OF THE MAKO
assassin. For a moment he was shocked numb. Then he realized what the mako had meant—they were after Lochlan, too!

“Back to Riptide!” he shouted to Barkley and Mari as he roared from Slaggernacks. He was a good distance ahead of them on the high-speed swim to the homewaters, so he was the first to hear the commotion coming from there. A feeling cold as ice froze his insides, but he accelerated to an attacking sprint, leaving Barkley and Mari further behind.

“Look out! Here they come again!” shouted an AuzyAuzy mariner.

“Where?” Gray shouted. “What direction?”

A squad of mariners charged him. They thought
he
was the attacker!

AuzyAuzy tiger shark Jaunt skidded in front of him. “Ease
off, you wonky drongos! Doncha see it’s Gray? Swim the perimeter and look sharpish!” The AuzyAuzy sharks did as they were told.

“Jaunt, what happened?” Gray asked as Barkley and Mari joined them.

“There’s been an attack against King Lochlan!”

Mari gasped. “Is he okay?”

“He has to be,” Barkley said grimly.

Gray thought it was odd, the way his friend put that.

Jaunt nodded, but looked upset. “You should come with me.”

She led them to one of the areas where Riptide mariners slept when they weren’t on patrol. Gray’s heart leapt when he saw the golden great white. He was alive! “Lochlan!” he yelled as relief washed over him.

But when the AuzyAuzy king turned, Gray could see he was injured. A ragged bite had been taken from his side. The doctor and surgeonfish were tending the wound, nibbling the edges that were now sutured together with urchin spines by the nimble claws of skillful crabs. AuzyAuzy Shiver was an ancient shiver, and its injury care was second to none. But this wound was deep.

The sight of Lochlan’s injuries made Mari whisper a shaky, “Oh no …”

“These scratches? No worries.” Lochlan shook his broad head dismissively. “It’s nothing. But we lost two of my guards, and also—”

Barkley was aghast. “I know you’re tough, but you’ve lost
part
of your flank.”

“A sliver. I can swim fine. But I have to tell you three something—”

“Does anyone know if Coral Shiver was attacked? Are they safe?” Gray asked over Lochlan, who was distracted by another surgeonfish who came out of Goblin’s old resting cave. This particular dweller Gray recognized as Oceania. She looked at Lochlan and shook her head sadly. Her reaction seemed to deflate both Lochlan and Jaunt.

“Your family is fine,” Jaunt told Gray. “Let Loch finish.”

Gray didn’t listen. “I can’t believe this happened in the middle of our homewaters!” he yelled, a bit louder than he wanted. “How can we defend against Finnivus if we can’t even keep you safe?”

“Do you think you can still lead?” Barkley asked Lochlan.

“Stop asking dumb questions, Barkley!” shouted Mari.

“Quiet, everyone! Please, let me speak!” Lochlan ordered. Gray, Barkley, and Mari stopped talking. “I would be swimming the Sparkle Blue for sure—”

Gray knew he shouldn’t be speaking—that Lochlan had something important to tell him—but he had a bad feeling and didn’t want to hear it. He interrupted again, “But thankfully you’re not and—”

Lochlan bumped Gray hard, repeating himself more
forcefully. “I would be swimming the Sparkle Blue for sure … if it weren’t for your friend … Shell.”

“Fought like a prehistore monster, that one. A finner of the highest order,” Jaunt said in a cheerless whisper.

Gray shook his head from side to side, preventing the thought from settling in his mind. This couldn’t be. This could
not
be!

“What are you saying, Lochlan?” Mari asked. But she already knew.

So did Barkley. “We’ve got to hear the words,” the dogfish told him.

“Your friend Shell died saving me.”

It was agreed that no good would come from letting the rest of Riptide United see Shell’s body even though he was a hero. It was ripped and torn beyond belief, a grim reminder of what Finnivus wanted to do to everyone.

“Hard to believe he could keep fighting,” Lochlan said in wonder as Mari cried silently nearby. Gray viewed the body of his friend with deep shock, but for some reason, tears did not come. He didn’t feel anything, and that made him feel like a monster.

“They attacked without a whisper of warning,” said Jaunt. Since Xander and Kendra, two other members of Lochlan’s Line, weren’t here—they were back in the Sific Ocean guarding the AuzyAuzy territory—Jaunt was in charge of Loch’s personal safety. She was taking the
attack badly. “Like a stupid puffer fish, I didn’t see anything coming!”

“None o’ that now,” said Lochlan. He rubbed her flank with his tail. “It wasn’t your fault. They were invisible!”

“If you had seen anything,
you
would have been killed first,” said Takiza as he floated inside the cove where Shell’s body and the bodies of two more mako killers lay. “What did you mean, they were invisible? They are visible now.”

“But they weren’t,” Jaunt told Takiza. “Honest! It was like they blended in.”

“So did the ones who attacked us,” Gray said. “After they were … dealt with, they changed to a normal mako coloring.”

“It’s true.” Mari nodded in agreement, hovering by Gray. She was trying to be brave, but he could taste her tears in the water.

“This is well and truly troubling,” the betta muttered.

“Trank told us they were assassins,” Barkley said.

Takiza rounded on Barkley. “They are not assassins!”

Everyone’s mouth hung open. They’d never seen the serene betta show this much emotion. Takiza checked his anger and addressed the wide-eyed Barkley. “These are
fin’jaa
. The personal guard of the Seazarein. But she would never allow them to be used this way.”

“Finja?” Barkley asked, using the more common pronunciation. “They’re …
myths
.”

Finja were ghost stories that mothers used to scare their pups when they misbehaved, very ancient ghost stories from prehistore times. “But everyone thought Takiza was a myth, too,” Gray said.

“Okay, finja I can understand,” Barkley gave in. “But the Seazarein? That position went away with the pre-histores.”

Lochlan raised an eyebrow. “That’s real, too?”

Takiza shook his frilly fins. “Do not become Nulo once again. Training you out of that period in your life was trying enough the first time.”

“Father never mentioned anything about a Seazarein, and he was king of an ancient shiver. He would have told me if one was still swimming around, giving orders.”

“The new Seazarein is not like that. She prefers to exercise her will in more invisible ways, unlike in ancient times.”

“More invisible ways? Like assassinations?” asked Lochlan.

“Never!” said Takiza, chopping his fins through the water as if the matter was settled beyond a doubt.

Gray didn’t know what was going on. Although he, Mari, and Barkley were all devastated by the loss of their friend, the dogfish’s curiosity got the best of him.

“Can someone please tell me what a Seazarein is?” Barkley stared sadly at the unmoving body of Shell, only
dimly visible in the dark cavern. “And why she maybe killed our friend?”

“She did not!” Takiza insisted. “She would not!”

“Lochlan? Please,” Mari said. “The Seazarein.” Gray motioned for Lochlan to take over while Takiza inspected the makos, muttering to himself.

“Seazarein is just a title, like King or Queen,” Lochlan began. “But kings and queens would pay tribute to the Seazarein in ancient times. They served at his or her pleasure. The Seazarein was said to be the most powerful ruler in all the Big Blue. In charge of doing whatever was necessary to keep peace in all the wet-wet. If you became a tyrant, the Seazarein would send her
fin’jaa
to give you a warning. If a warning wasn’t enough, well, that was it for you.”

“So she’s kind of like a secret emperor of the ocean?” asked Gray.

“Emperors and Empresses served the Seazarein in ancient times,” Takiza said. “If she found a ruler who was so worthy that they could bring peace, the Seazarein would help them.”

“You think that flipper Finnivus found out there was a Seazarein again?” asked Jaunt. “Tried to use her, maybe?”

It was a really good question.

Everyone, even Lochlan, looked at Takiza for an answer.

“Indi Shiver has always had an exceedingly high
opinion of itself. They would most likely consider the concept of Seazarein a myth, as it would diminish their own standing.”

Lochlan looked at Takiza. “Indi
is
one of the ancient shivers. What if Finnivus not only knew about this new Seazarein but moved against her? What if he took control of the finja?”

The little betta fish didn’t answer for a moment. Then he said, “Pray to Tyro that it is not so. But I must be sure!”

As everyone watched, Takiza swam away so swiftly he left a stream of bubbles in his wake.

FINNIVUS WAS STILL RAGING SIX HOURS AFTER
he had received word that his assassins were unsuccessful. “I was promised they
never
failed! I was
promised
!”

The emperor ripped off another piece of the royal herald who had the bad luck of having to deliver the message. She hadn’t gotten another word out after, “I regret to inform his Magnificence that the
fin’jaa
have failed.” Boom. That was it.

The armada had not moved a tail stroke since then. That was all right with Velenka. She had no desire to speed toward what was sure to be a bloody battle with Gray and his mariners. And their forces had been making good time. Too good! They were nearly by the southern tip of the African land mass. Soon, they would leave the Indi Ocean entirely and enter the Southern Atlantis.

“Tydal! Why did they fail?” Finnivus asked the cowering court shark. The epaulette had his snout in
the sandy bottom of the court below the emperor’s whale and the Speakers Rock embedded in its back. “Tell me why?”

“I would not presume to know, your Magnificence!” he whimpered.

“You are useless, Tydal! Useless!”