Kingdom of the Deep (6 page)

CHAPTER 8

“FINS UP AND AT THE READY!” BELLOWED
Striiker to the other sharks from his position at diamondhead. All the training had really paid off. The two hundred Riptide mariners maintained their pyramid formation effortlessly. A reserve force of one drove was under the command of Quickeyes, and another hundred fighting sharks formed a perimeter behind that led by Onyx. For a moment, Mari wished she was a part of their armada.

But Mari was a ghostfin and she was proud of that. She didn't have the brute strength of most sharkkind mariners. But she was perfectly positioned in the greenie, hidden and ready to attack from the rear with Snork and the others, where they would do the most damage. The children and elderly shiver sharks, meanwhile, had been sent safely away under the leadership of Sandy, Gray's mother.

The prehistore snake-thing had swept past their defenses easily, killing anything in its path. It seemed to move slowly, but that was only an illusion. The monster was lightning fast and deadly. Mari couldn't believe it! She recognized their attacker as an immense frilled shark. She thought that they only lived in the depths of the Dark Blue.

“On my mark!” yelled Striiker. The command was click-razzed by a battle dolph volunteer from AuzyAuzy Shiver. “Let's show this muck-sucker what's what!” There were whoops and hollers from the gathered mariners.

Then the monster appeared from the lava tunnel to the prison cells.

And he smiled!

“Is all this for me?” he said in jaunty, unconcerned way.

“Give up and no one else gets hurt!” Striiker yelled. Mari couldn't believe that the big great white would even offer this. He had changed since becoming the leader of Riptide Shiver—he didn't want any of his mariners to swim the Sparkle Blue if it could be avoided.

The frilled shark laughed. “No, I don't think so! You see, I don't mind hurting you!” He moved his supple body, twisting it in an intricate pattern. A glowing globe of red light, crackling with energy, grew in the water where his body curled. Mari had seen Takiza do something similar when she and the rest of Rogue Shiver fought Goblin and his sharks at the Tuna Run. But this energy was different from Takiza's. Its deep red shade was the color of blood, and she could feel its malicious power growing as it gained intensity.

Striiker recognized the threat also. “Bull Shark Rush!” he shouted, and his two hundred mariners streaked at the monster.

The frilled shark flicked its tail and the ball of wicked energy blazed into the lower part of Riptide's formation. It seared through the ranks, setting any shark it touched on fire as if a volcano had coated it in lava! The heat caused the very ocean it passed through to boil. This scalding water roared upward through the formation killing every sharkkind it touched. In a moment more than eighty mariners were gone.

Somehow Striiker managed to avoid being sent to the Sparkle Blue. He shouted, “Re-form! Seahorse Circles Down!”

“See what fun this is?” yelled the thirty-foot monster. For a moment Mari thought the comment was directed at Striiker and the rest of the Riptide mariners.

But then she saw Velenka! Mari had been right! The mako
was
involved in the previous, mysterious attack in the homewaters. She hovered by the entrance to the passage leading to the prison, her large eyes even wider than normal. “Hokuu, let's get out of here!” she yelled.

Velenka seemed frightened, but Mari's rage at the mako grew. I knew she was evil, Mari thought. And this Hokuu had to be stopped. But the frilled shark was too far away for her small force of ghostfins to make a rush from where they were.

Snork was close by and read what was in Mari's eyes. “We have to do something!” the sawfish whispered. Mari nodded and signed in the secret ghostfin language, twitching her tail and sending orders to move closer without giving themselves away. It would take a minute, though.

Hokuu released another blast of energy, this one an orange, explosive force that blasted Striiker and the Riptide mariners away, clearing a path from the homewaters. Hokuu cackled. “This is such good exercise!”

Quickeyes and his drove of mariners zoomed in, hoping to catch Hokuu while he laughed at what he had done to Striiker and the main force.

It was a false hope.

Faster than any sea snake, the frilled shark turned and faced Quickeyes and his hundred sharkkind. With a tail flick Hokuu released a blinding bolt of electricity that split into several branches. Each of those sizzling zigzags screamed through the water and hit a shark, the bolts passing through it and then another and another until almost every mariner there was struck. Quickeyes spasmed and slammed his jaws shut, breaking his teeth and drawing his own blood. Other sharks broke their spines. Many had their eyes boil away. It was horrible! The scent of burning sharkkind filled the water and its stench caused Mari to gag.

Striiker and his fins were still being tossed in the incredibly rough currents that the frilled shark was somehow creating. They couldn't regroup. Onyx gathered his defensive perimeter force and attacked. Hokuu twisted his body again. Another bright globe of energy gathered to destroy Onyx and the sharks with him.

She had to do something!

Mari gave the signal. They still weren't in a very good position, but the time for hovering unseen was over. “Attack!” she yelled. The ghostfins hurtled from their hiding places and formed a tight wedge. If Hokuu turned, he would only see one shark. But this time Hokuu's attention
was
on Onyx as he formed his powerful killing energy. Mari, Sledge, and Peen slammed into the frilled shark from behind, Sledge taking a chunk of his slender eel body. Snork swam underneath Hokuu and cut him with his long, serrated bill.

“WHAAAT?” screamed Hokuu. “No one touches me!”

The glowing energy, not fully ready, zipped off and exploded at the edge of Onyx's forces. The damage was terrible but it could have been worse. Even so, what was left of those sharks was swept away.

Then the monster turned and fought the ghostfins snout to snout. His snapping jaws closed on one of the newer recruits, biting that blue shark in half. Hokuu's tail slammed Sledge away. Snork managed to dodge an attack but was thumped against the rocks below. In seconds everyone around Mari was swimming the Sparkle Blue or so injured they couldn't fight.

Mari dove to attack again but the monster wrapped its coils around her flank, stopping her flat. Hokuu squeezed, and she felt her heart strain to keep beating. He drew her close to his mouth, filled with vicious, tri-tipped teeth.

“And who are
you
, exactly?” Hokuu asked.

Mari couldn't answer. She felt her life slipping away from the crushing pressure of the monster's might.

“That's Mari,” said a voice behind Hokuu.

He turned. It was Velenka who had spoken.

“Mari,” the monster growled. “Such a pretty name for my lunch.”

She was drawn toward Hokuu's mouth.

“NO!”

Hokuu turned and the pressure eased. It was Velenka again!

“What do you mean, no?” asked Hokuu. “I give the orders around here, remember?”

Velenka's tail flicked back and forth, nervously. “I'm sorry,” she said, dipping her snout in a sign of respect. “What I meant was, Mari was nice to me. The only one. Let her live.”

“I don't know. She did touch me. Or one of her friends did.”

“You killed the one who did that,” Velenka told the the frilled shark, her voice gaining strength. “Show this one mercy. Use her to express whatever message you want to give.”

Hokuu clicked his teeth together, thinking. “I've left the message I wanted to leave today.” He gestured at all the destruction with his tail. “But I suppose I want someone to see what I do next to tell Gray and the Seazarein about it.”

Hokuu slammed Mari to the seabed and began twisting his body once more. “Watch now as I destroy Riptide Shiver—forever!”

The frilled shark's body glowed with a malevolent orange color. He released the energy with a flick of his tail and Mari waited for another burst of killing energy. But it didn't explode.

The energy expanded and settled over the center of the Riptide homewaters. Then the sickening orange energy became blacker than night, sucking the life from everything around it. The mariners trying to regroup began to twist and struggle because they couldn't breathe. The greenie and glowing coral lost its color and shine as the lumos on the reef winked out, their colorful glows ending, one by one.

Then Mari lost consciousness and everything went dark.

CHAPTER 9

GRAY CRUISED WITH THE CURRENT, AT EASE FOR
the first time in a long while. They were only a half-day swim from Fathomir and the sun was shining brightly, though the clear waters were cooler than those they left in the southern Sific. Gray had actually
solved
a problem in his position as Aquasidor! And both sides, while not exactly overjoyed with his solution,
respected
the decision. Not too shabby. AuzyAuzy and Hammer Shiver will
not
be killing each other next week, thank me very much, Gray thought. That was what he'd tell Kaleth, but in a more dignified way. Maybe he would do a little tail waggle after stressing all was well on the southern reaches of the Sific.

“So why was Taanglvos incorrect in his assumption?” asked Takiza, maintaining his distance from Gray's snout effortlessly without moving a fin. The betta had been interrupting the relaxing swim all day with questions from his studies. Gray sensed that Takiza was actually annoyed that he was feeling good. Well, if that was the case, it would be the betta who was disappointed today. Gray hadn't missed a single question. Judijoan's constant carping must have rammed a bunch of knowledge into his head without his even realizing it.

“Let's see, that is so hard,” Gray said, feigning to struggle with the answer, which he totally knew. It would be his fifteenth correct reply in a row. “You may have me with this one, Shiro.”

Takiza wasn't fooled at all. “If you know the answer, simply say it. You very much enjoy blurting out incredibly
incorrect
answers. By all means, prove to me that you can blurt an accurate one from time to time.”

“Someone is in a bad mood because of my winning streak,” Gray said in a singsong, doing a barrel roll as he slipped into a cooler current. “How many is it, by the way? I wasn't keeping count. Oh, I remember, fifteen! So, my fifteenth correct answer in a row to the question ‘Why was Taanglvos wrong in his—' ”

“ALARM!” shouted Shear. “Protect the Aquasidor!”

Three guards jammed themselves above and to both sides of Gray. “
Oof
, is this really necessary? Can you can give me a little room?”

“No,” came the curt answer from Shear. When it came to his safety, the leader of the Aquasidor guardians was definitely in charge.

Takiza gazed deeply into the waters, looking into the distance. Gray did the same. They weren't that far from the chop-chop, and the sun was so strong that there were flashes of reflecting light everywhere, making it difficult to discern anything. Then he saw.

There was a single shark, a hammerhead. The shark looked like it was drifting in the water. Then Gray noticed his tail moving, but slowly.

“Do you know this sharkkind?” Takiza asked him.

“I'm not sure,” Gray answered, willing his eyes to see farther. Even though the hammerhead was swimming at a sea snail's pace, he swam smoothly. “Wait! I think he's one of Barkley's ghostfins.”

Takiza nodded, “Yes, I believe I recognize him. Sludge, or something of that sort.”

“Sledge! You're right, it's Sledge!” Gray agreed. He bumped his way through his guards. “Let me through!” Sledge was a Hammer Shiver shark who chose to stay with Barkley and the ghostfins after Finnivus and the Black Wave were defeated. He was also one of the mariners that had accompanied Gray to the Seazarein's homewaters a few short weeks ago for his first meeting with Kaleth. But he and everyone except Barkley had departed with Mari.

What's he doing here? Gray thought as he swam over.

The finja that went out to make sure that Sledge wasn't a part of an ambush changed their color so they were visible again. Shear told Gray, “I don't like this. He's bruised and burned.”

Burned?

Gray moved closer to the hammerhead, who was barely conscious. He had several bruises on his snout and flank and one of his fins was charred. The hide there dropped off, leaving light gray skin underneath.

Gray was horrified. “Sledge, what happened?”

The hammerhead opened the eye facing toward them. He hadn't stopped swimming, but he was so slow Gray didn't have to do much to keep up. “Is that you, Gray? Is Barkley with you? You—you need to come. Hurry. . . . ” Sledge tried to turn and swim toward the Riptide homewaters, but Gray didn't let him.

“You're about to die from exhaustion!” Gray told the shark. “You're coming with us to Fathomir. It's close, and Barkley's there. You can rest.”

“No time,” Sledge replied in a rasp. But the hammerhead couldn't resist the two prehistore finja that guided him toward Kaleth's territory. “Bring Takiza. He can fight. We need everyone . . . who can fight.” Sledge faded out.

“What's he talking about?” Gray asked Takiza, who zipped down from his position and swam right over Sledge's snout. The betta brushed his frilly fins over Sledge's nose, causing the hammerhead to sneeze.

“Speak now,” Takiza commanded. “Who would you have me fight?”

“Flip—flipper named . . . Hokuu.”

Worry gnawed at Gray's insides. “Why, Sledge? What did he do?”

“Destroyed Riptide homewaters . . . ”

“What do you mean? What part?” Gray yelled, fear rising. “What part?”

Sledge mustered his strength and looked straight at them. “All of it.”

Somehow, towing Sledge and fueled by desperation, they made the half-hour swim to Fathomir in fifteen minutes. It took considerable effort by the Seazarein's personal doctor and surgeonfish for the ghostfin to recover enough to tell the full story.

“Some of us, farther away from the main homewaters, got out. But anyone caught in that black thing . . . they're gone.”

Kaleth and Takiza shared a look as they digested the story.

Gray was shaken to his very core. All he could think about was his family and friends swimming the Sparkle Blue. For a moment he couldn't speak. He could not ask the questions. Is my mom okay? My little brother and sister, Riprap and Ebbie? The thought of any of them coming to harm was so horrible Gray was paralyzed.

Barkley stuttered, “Who—who got out? How many?”

“Don't know,” Sledge said, struggling with his injuries and emotions. “Striiker ordered me here to make sure you all knew. Peen, Mari, and Snork made it. Couple others I fought with. But most of the regular mariners . . . they're gone.”

So Striiker had survived. That was something. He would search for survivors and protect them, Gray was sure. “What about the far side of the territory? Where Razor Shiver used to have their homewaters? Where my—my family . . . ” Gray trailed off. He felt guilty asking about his mother and brother and sister when he should be worried about everyone since he used to be their leader.

Sledge nodded. “Sandy hid all the shiver sharks when the alarm went up, and of course she didn't leave Riprap and Ebbie behind while she was doing it. They're okay. That spell, power, whatever it was—didn't get all the way there, thank Tyro. But the main homewaters and most of the hunting grounds, nothing lives there anymore. Last I heard Striiker was gonna move everyone.”

“Move them where?” asked Barkley.

Sledge seemed hesitant to even look at the Seazarein but did so now. “I think he's hoping to come this way.”

“Great idea!” Gray agreed. “There's plenty of food.”

Shear cleared his throat. Kaleth motioned for the guardian leader to speak. “That would be unwise. So many sharkkind in our territory would make it easy for Hokuu to slip past our guard.” The Seazarein nodded, listening.

“But some are mariners,” Gray pleaded. “They could help guard you.”

Shear shook his head. “Those sharkkind are no match for even one prehistore mako finja, much less Hokuu, as we have just heard.”

“You can't say no!” said Barkley. “You can't!”

“I can and will. The risk is too great. Hokuu can use the disturbance of your wounded forces arriving to pierce our defenses.” Kaleth gave Barkley a dismissive flick of her fins as if the conversation was over and turned to Sledge. “None of this would matter if he and his friends were competent mariners. They didn't even bruise Hokuu.”

Sledge became angry. “It wasn't like we weren't trying! He ripped through us like a bunch of jelly drifters!”

Barkley slashed his tail through the water, signaling Sledge to be quiet so he could go on the offensive. “Kaleth, you knew about Hokuu and the threat he represented. You knew and didn't tell us, isn't that right? Tell me I'm wrong.”

“Shut your mouth, dogfish!” Kaleth yelled. “We have been searching for Hokuu even as Gray and Shear have been maintaining peace. The frill is fiendishly smart, so it is beyond difficult to strike at him.” She went on in a quieter voice. “Unfortunately, we did not see this attack against Riptide coming, or we would have been there to meet it snout to snout!”

“And keeping that secret turned out so well!” said Barkley.

“You didn't need to know!” Kaleth roared. Her finja lined up in front of Barkley, ready to tear him apart on her order.

Barkley was incensed, his tail vibrating in rage. “Didn't
need
to know? Our friends are swimming the Sparkle Blue! And by the way, Gray and I are smarter than you think and we're from these waters. We might notice things that you could overlook. A wise leader uses everyone's talents to the fullest instead of bossing them around!”

“You're questioning my leadership!” the Seazarein thundered. “A dogfish?”

“Kaleth! Stop that!” Gray objected. “Barkley's my friend and I don't appreciate you acting this way!”

Barkley swam in front of him. “It's okay, Gray. Yes, Kaleth, I'm a dogfish. Because of that I see things in a different way. A way you've obviously never even thought of in your prejudice. And it's easy to spot a bad leader, like yourself. They don't listen to anyone because they're too busy yelling.”

Kaleth vibrated with anger, but she wasn't about to prove Barkley right by shouting.

“I'll leave for Riptide right away,” Gray told Kaleth, taking a more apologetic tone, “as your representative, of course.”

Barkley nodded. “I'll go, too. Not like you want me around here.”

Kaleth wasn't persuaded at all. “Neither of you is leaving! You'll stay here because it's my will!”

“That's ridiculous!” Gray answered. “Am I a prisoner now?”

“You are not a prisoner,” Takiza told him. “But you are bound by your obligations. You must keep the shivers from fighting because if they do go to war, it will be impossible to enlist them as allies.”

Gray ground his teeth until he heard one crack but continued listening.

The Seazarein didn't approve of Takiza explaining things, but she allowed it. “Mistrust and war favor Hokuu and his allies. If we require other shivers or Tik-Tun's orcas, and we well might, they will not join us if they themselves are at war. You cannot shirk your responsibility.”

Gray spoke as evenly as he could, but he wanted to scream. “Okay. If I do that, then you need to figure out a way to stop Hokuu from doing anything else to Riptide.”

Takiza drifted by the Seazarein. “Agreed. Hokuu would not have revealed himself in this way if it did not serve a purpose. The question we should ask ourselves is why he would risk doing so.”

The Seazarein calmed, but her tail still pattered right and left in short, heated strokes. “Obviously he exposed himself to free this Velenka, who
should
have been sent to the Sparkle Blue.” Kaleth looked straight at Gray. “But you showed
mercy
. Just what does this mako know about me?”

Gray was shocked. “Nothing! I wouldn't tell Velenka if the sun was shining!”

This seemed to soothe the Seazarein. Takiza swished his gauzy fins thoughtfully. “Gray knows well that she is dangerous. But it was common knowledge that we were coming to see you, even though we took a winding current.”

Barkley shook his head. “Something about this isn't right. Velenka's smart, but Hokuu doesn't need her. No way. There's something else going on.”

This time Kaleth didn't get mad. She ignored Barkley completely and spoke to Takiza. “That could only have been common knowledge if you had chosen to share the reason for the journey with these two.” She gestured at Barkley and Gray. “Are you becoming a fool in your old age, Takiza?”

The betta gave no sign that he was insulted. Instead, he merely replied, “Apparently so.”

“Then Tyro save us all,” Kaleth muttered.