Into the Abyss (27 page)

Gray thought he was going to pass out.

Barkley finally whispered, “Didn’t see that coming.”

“QUICKLY, MY SON!” GRAYNOLDUS SHOUTED at his terrified pup. “You must swim faster than you have ever swum before!”

The little megalodon wasn’t old enough to speak, but understood and churned his tail as quickly as he could. Would it be enough? Graynoldus could not believe how the situation had spun out of control so quickly and completely.

It was madness!

Did the Seazarein know of the coup? Were Hokuu and the mako
fin’jaa
that agreed with Drinnok part of it? If so, the Seazarein was in terrible danger! He had to get to the other side and warn the others. Everything depended on it!

“Stop him! By the order of Drinnok, stop him now!” yelled one of the giant frilled shark guards in hot pursuit.

Graynoldus risked a look back as he made a sharp turn, guiding his young son into the narrow canyon leading upward toward the new world above. Frilled sharks were better suited for swimming in tight spaces and flowed over the jagged ridges and switchbacks while he scraped himself on the sharp rocks. The frills were part eel, and that made them very tough in a fight, especially in cramped places. They could turn quicker than any sharkkind, and though their tri-tipped teeth were smaller than his, they could tear chunks off a shark with alarming efficiency. They also had a razor-sharp spike on the end of their tails to pierce even the toughest shark hide. And they were swimming in a swarm of at least twenty.

If he and his pup were caught …

Graynoldus kept his attention on moving upward through the twisting passage. There was no time for playing “what if” right now. He would deal with that situation if the time came. Graynoldus ground his teeth and bore down, pushing his son forward.

Fifth Shiver had been sealed off for eons. It had been so long that only in legend was it whispered that there were a sun and moon above what was called the chop-chop, a term that had lost all meaning. Their watery world was hemmed in by a limestone- and lumo-encrusted boundary. You could swim five thousand aqualeagues in any direction and no further. Such had it been from barely a thousand years after the time of Tyro, the First Fish who created all sharkkind and then set
them in a Line to protect those who lived in the ocean. There were ancient stories that the Big Blue was bigger than their own waters, but there was no way to prove it.

Not until the seaquake.

The titantic quake had cracked the stone barrier and opened a path upward into the wider ocean world. A scout had swum through the falling rocks, hissing steams, and glowing lava—and made it to the other side! What he discovered was hailed as a miracle, a sign that their time was not over in the Big Blue. Graynoldus, too, was overjoyed when he swam out from the warm darkness of their pocket ocean. It had taken some time for his eyes to adjust, but he had seen the waters of the Big Blue, and the sun and moon above! Miraculous!

It was called the chop-chop because it was choppy from the waves! Who knew?

But this was a different world; much colder, the water different, but most importantly it was teeming with brand-new sharkkind and dwellers. They were younger races, but doing wonderfully.

Graynoldus’s wise king, Bollagan, had decided that other than his fifth in the Line, the Seazarein, and a small group to guide the younger race of sharkkind, no one would swim into the new world until he had time to think over the consequences. Rightly, he thought that the younger races should swim their own current, with just a little help from their older, wiser cousins, as in the ancient times.

Bollagan did not want to start a war by rushing out and surprising them. If Fifth Shiver was to join the new world they should live in peace with the younger races. Yet although Bollagan was supported by Graynoldus and most others of his Line, Drinnok disagreed. He thought that they, the prehistores, as the younger race called them, had the right to reclaim the Big Blue as their own. He wanted to destroy everyone already there to the last fin.

“Let only the strongest survive! Death to everyone else!” he shouted as he sent Bollagan to the Sparkle Blue, along with the rest of the Line. Now Graynoldus was the only one left to tell the Seazarein of Drinnok’s treachery! With her fin’jaa guardians they would be able to deal with him before he could invade the Big Blue.

If she was still alive.

Graynoldus used his massive tail to dislodge the loose rocks he hurtled past, but it wasn’t enough. The frilled sharks, very willing allies in Drinnok’s plan, were too agile. A pocket of steam blasted out, scalding his side. The path was swelling and contracting, as if it hadn’t yet decided if it wanted to stay open.

“Swim, my boy! Swim!” Graynoldus urged his son as he felt a tug on his tail. One of the frilled sharks had taken a bite out of it. Their teeth were so sharp you almost didn’t know you were being bitten.

Almost.

Graynoldus pushed little Gray forward and then
flipped over, blasting the attacker away with his massive tail. The rest of the frills came forward in a rush. Each time one of the swarm struck, a scoop of flesh was taken from his flank or tail. He was streaming so much blood that little Gray had stopped in shock, his mouth trembling. Graynoldus’s son watched as his father was being eaten alive.

They weren’t going to make it… .

“Swim, Gray! Swim or you will be punished! Do what I say!”

Little Gray, frightened beyond belief, began moving upward once more.

Graynoldus turned and brought his own massive teeth to bear, snapping two frills clean in half. They went writhing and twisting into the blackness. He ground several others to paste against the rough passageway before turning to his enemies. The way was thin enough so that the frills would need to attack him face-to-face now. Though Graynoldus dwarfed any one of them, the combined strength of the swarm would tear him apart.

“You will not pass!” he yelled with all his might. “By Bollagan’s mighty heart, YOU WILL NOT PASS!”

Then suddenly the mountainous walls around him cracked and heaved. An orange glow brightened the waters before deepening to an angry red.

Steam hissed, louder and louder.

Graynoldus turned and looked at his son for what he knew would be the last time. “Swim, Gray! Swim! I love you!”

Little Gray disappeared around the last corner.

Good boy, Graynoldus thought.

The frilled sharks rushed forward to finish him.

And then the world exploded.

Thanks to all the great people at Razorbill for putting up with me, but most of all Ben Schrank, who took a huge chance by choosing someone who never wrote a book before; Jessica Rothenberg, past super-editor, future super-novelist; Emily Romero, Erin Dempsey, Mia Garcia, Shanta Newlin, Bernadette Cruz, and everyone else from marketing and pubicity; also Gillian Levinson and finally Laura Arnold, my fin-tastic Shark Wars editor.

Special thanks to everyone in Los Angeles who helped me over the years but especially the awesome Jim Krieg, who I met in film school and who despite that still picks up the phone when I call; John Semper, who hired me first; Mark Hoffmeier, great writer and fantasy football superstar. Also my friends from Notre Dame, Go Irish! And finally my sister Jude, who’s not the most annoying sister in the world, most of the time.

Visit
www.SharkWarsSeries.com
to learn more and to play the Shark Wars game!

EJ ALTBACKER
is a screenwriter who has worked on television shows including
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
,
Ben 10
,
Mucha Lucha
, and
Spider-Man
. He lives in Hermosa Beach, California.