The Battle of Riptide (14 page)

THE ROYAL COURT WAS ALL IN A BUSTLE. Velenka heard that an intruder had been captured just off the western edge of the heavily patrolled Riptide homewaters. She watched Finnivus stare imperiously from his place, high above everyone on one of his blue whales. Framed by the terraced greenie behind him, the young tiger shark looked royal indeed.

Then Velenka suddenly spotted the prisoner. The battle-scarred hammerhead could be no one else:

Ripper!

So he hadn't been killed by the armada's advance guard as she had thought. The
squaline
had secured Ripper by looping an ancient chain through his mouth. The ends were attached to two other armored hammerheads, so Ripper couldn't make a rush at the emperor. There was also some sort of device in his mouth that would prevent him from biting down all the way. The massive hammerhead didn't struggle, allowing himself to be led down the main aisle to the foot of Finnivus's well-guarded throne. It seemed odd for a sharkkind as proud and strong as Ripper to come so easily.

“What have we here?” asked Finnivus.

“Your Magnificence,” Tydal announced, “a prisoner caught by your armada mariners.”

Finnivus glared at his first court shark. “Obviously, Tydal. Now tell us something we don't know.”

The brown-and-yellow epaulette shark bobbed his head. “Apologies. This hammerhead, who calls himself Ripper, says he was the first in the Line for Riptide Shiver.”

“Really?” Finnivus mused, looking over at Velenka. “I thought we ate those flippers.”

“Ripper was Goblin's first,” Velenka explained. “But Goblin left when your mighty armada arrived. I thought Ripper also turned tail and swam away.” There was a bloom of anger in the hammerhead's eyes at Velenka's words, and she was glad he was bound and chained.

“Well?” Finnivus asked Ripper. “Is that true? Are you a coward?”

The device in his mouth made it difficult to speak, but not impossible. Clearly whoever made it had given some thought for this very situation. “Lies,” the hammerhead spit. “And Goblin didn't leave. She killed him.”

A murmur rose within the court. “I did no such thing!” yelled Velenka, voice rising. “I worshipped my leader despite his bad decisions. But he would have swum the Sparkle Blue, anyway, because Emperor Finnivus Victor Triumphant—the rightful ruler of all the Big Blue—was coming.”

Finnivus laughed his tittering laugh. “That's true, we suppose. Should we eat him and be done with it? From the looks of him, he won't be tasty no matter what the royal seasoners do.”

This would solve all of Velenka's problems so she immediately agreed: “Yes, excellent idea!”

“Oh, I could give you some great advice,” Ripper told everyone. The court let out a gasp. Apparently, they weren't used to anyone, especially a prisoner, talking so directly with their ruler.

Finnivus's eyes blazed. He certainly felt insulted. “And what would that be?”

“Two things. First, Coral Shiver has formed a treaty with an old friend of yours, King Lochlan boola something-or-other and his AuzyAuzy Shiver. They're gathering their forces about a day's swim from the east side of these homewaters.”

“WHAAAT?” shouted Finnivus. “Impossible! I destroyed them! I destroyed
him
! That can't be true! Commander, is it true?”

The new spinner commander who had been promoted to Whalem's position was caught by surprise. “I—I—there's no sign of that from the patrols.”

“YOU'RE NOT SURE? You're not sure that Lochlan isn't here with an armada! He hates me, that one! I had to strike first! But that's beside the point! The point is YOU'RE NOT SURE!”

“I am! The prisoner is lying. We haven't seen anything.”

Ripper was unconcerned. “You wouldn't. They're hidden, call themselves the Golden Rush. He's coming for you.” The hammerhead smiled maliciously.

Finnivus swished his tail furiously. “Take an entire battle fin and find them! But do not attack. I want to be present for my victory. And their destruction.”

“Yes, Magnificence!” yelled the new commander before swimming off as fast as he could.

The emperor looked back at Ripper. “You said there were two things. What's the second? Speak. I command it.”

“The second is . . . watch your tail, pal.” Ripper gestured toward Velenka. The court let out another louder gasp. “If you're going to let this one near you, better watch it close.”

Velenka couldn't help herself. “Kill him!” she yelped as everyone was shouting and talking at once. “He's insulting you!”

The emperor whirled. “I give the orders around here, Velenka! You do what
we
say, and
we
say . . . shut your cod hole!”

Velenka went silent and said nothing more. Unfortunately, she should have spoken up earlier. She should have listened to that nagging feeling when they had brought in Ripper without a struggle. If Velenka had thought about it more, she would have realized that the scarred hammerhead would
never
allow himself to be brought in without a fight.

Amid all the shouting and accusations, what Velenka, Finnivus, the
squaline
, and everyone else in court failed to notice was one sneaky little dogfish swimming unseen, right past their distracted snouts.

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, THEY WENT INTO THE blackness of the Maw. Gray's mind boggled. How could there be so much ocean? The world he swam in was just a tiny drop of water compared to the immense area below.

But who lived down here? What exactly was he passing?

Perhaps it was better to slide downward not knowing. The glimpses Gray saw were unsettling. At one point, there were a thousand tiny lights floating in the darkness, just like the stars in the sky. It was only when Gray got close that he realized that every single one of these lights belonged to a devilfish, or to their larger cousin, the deep-sea angler. That fish was like a puffer squashed flat with a wedge taken out for the mouth. In place of the missing wedge were bristling needle teeth jutting in all directions.

Gray caught glimpses of other horrors that didn't give themselves away with lumo lures. Briny and Hank pointed out the eerie black chimera, the mantis shrimp with its deadly claws, the deep sea swallower—that could eat a fish three times its own size in one gulp!—and deadly jelly fish, giant squid, and even bigger octos that dwarfed Gray as they spread their arms to embrace their lightless kingdom.

“Are-are we th-th-there yet?” Gray asked, shivering from the intense cold and pressure.

“We'll get there when we get there!” Hank grumbled. “One more word and we'll turn around!”

Gradually, Gray had to work to swim downward. The water became lighter than he was, even with the rock's added weight, something Takiza had warned him would happen. He was stiff and sore from the vicious cold that froze him inside and out. Gray panted as he fought the elements, swimming his way down, down, down.

“There it is!” said Briny as she scooted in front of Gray. The devilfish was a poor swimmer in the waters Gray called home but did just fine here. Briny shined her glowing lure and illuminated the area where the ghostly, glowing maredsoo grew. There was no other greenie or coral here. This one plant grew by itself in the desolate sand and stood alone as if waiting for Gray.

He wanted nothing more than to get the magical greenie and head up to Takiza. Exhausted beyond belief, he tilted himself to get rid of the rock inside the harness—only to hear Hank yell, “No, no, no!”

It was then Gray remembered: Get the maredsoo first, then lose the rock. But it was too late. The stone rolled out and Gray shot upward as if he were being pulled by his tail! He was no longer heavy enough to stay at this depth!

Hank looked at Briny and said, “See? The big ones never think.”

Frantically, Gray shook off his numbing terror of the blackness and cold, focusing on the glowing plant. He panted, pumping the thick water through his gills, furiously swimming for the bottom. For all his exhausting efforts, Gray only inched closer with agonizing slowness. The tail length he was short seemed like a chasm.

Gray wouldn't—no, he couldn't—fail. Not after all the training. Not after Takiza had saved the lives of Rogue Shiver at the Tuna Run. He must complete this task! With one final burst, Gray closed the distance to the maredsoo. It was like swimming through syrup. He forced himself to open his jaws—despite the pressure that wanted to slam his mouth closed—and bit! His teeth sheared off the maredsoo plant at the stalk, and somehow it floated into his harness!

But then gray saw it wasn't luck at all. Briny had pushed the plant into position. He barely had time to chatter a final, “Th-th-thank-you!” before being pulled up and away from the pair. Gray didn't know if she had turned off her dangling light lure or if he'd shot away so fast he couldn't see it anymore. By the sound of the water rushing past his ears, it could have very well been the latter. Gray's mind reeled and everything spun. He tried to make sure he wasn't actually spinning but couldn't tell. He passed an angler fish with its light lure and thankfully left it underneath him. But Gray found he
was
upside down!

Flipping himself, he saw a distant
lightness
in the blackness. It couldn't be called light, but it was a lighter shade of the total black surrounding him. That was where home was.

Heartened, Gray willed himself to swim toward the less dark darkness. He forced his tail to stroke left and right but often got this simple order wrong, which stopped his upward ascent and turned him sideways.

He kept his eyes fixed on the light. It was definitely light. He fouled up the order of his tail strokes yet again—left
then
right, what's so hard about that? At least there was no one around to see, he thought.

“Do you recall when I compared your swimming skill to that of a pregnant sea cow?”

Gray's heart leaped with relief and joy. He had never been so happy to see the little fish, no matter what insult was coming.

“Yes, Shiro.”

“I am withdrawing my comment,” the little betta said as he swam in front of Gray's left eye. “It's an insult to all pregnant sea cows. And you are late! Now follow me!” Takiza led Gray upward. They were only a few minutes from the ledge, which was the gateway to the Maw. When Gray crested the cliff, Takiza told him, “Rest, Nulo. You've done passably well in this task.”

“Thank you,” Gray answered, panting.

“Thank you—what?”

“Thank you, Shiro.”

Takiza nodded and moved in a blur, taking off Gray's harness and weaving a smaller harness from it. The frilly betta turned with a flourish, wearing the new harness. He looked positively heroic carrying the glowing maredsoo greenie as his fins rippled majestically in the water. “Nulo, you will swim as fast as you can to join your friends. Remember to tell them to wait for me before they do anything.”

Gray was pained. There was no way he could rush the entire distance back this instant. He felt like he wanted to sleep for a week! “I can't!”

“You can't or you won't?”

“I can't! I just swam to the bottom of the ocean!” Gray protested. “Where are you going, anyway? You're rested. Can't you do it?”

“Where I am going is none of your concern,” Takiza told him.

“But—”

The betta shook his fins and cut him off. “It is of no use for anyone to know what I am doing. It is useful to remind Lochlan and your friends not to attack Finnivus before I get back! Time is short, so swim!”

Gray got himself off the seabed. It felt like he weighed less than normal, but still, he was tired. So tired.

Takiza sighed irritably. “Fine!” The betta did a quick roll, and a large leaf of the glowing greenie floated from the harness. “Eat!”

“I'm not hungry. I'm tired!”

“No talking! Only eating!”

Gray obeyed and closed his mouth on the still glowing greenie. He didn't feel the single leaf go into his mouth or down his throat. “Did I do it? Did I eat it?” he asked, puzzled.

All of a sudden it felt as though something had
bloomed
inside his stomach! Something hot! The feeling spread outward in each direction, all the way to his snout and tail. It warmed Gray's body, banishing the coldness as well as his dreary thoughts. He suddenly felt he had the strength of ten sharkkind!

“YEEEE-HAAAAA!” Gray yelled as he swam in a tight circle so fast it spun the sand on the seabed into a whirling funnel.

“I will be there soon. Tell them to wait!” Takiza began moving his frilly fins in an odd pattern.

“What if that isn't possible?” Gray asked.

“Then be prepared to do the
im
possible!” Takiza said. The betta shot away so fast Gray only saw a churning wake in the water.