The Last Emprex

by EJ Altbacker

  He would have to do it alone.

  And Gray was tiring by the second. Exhaustion descended on him with a vengeance. As much as he usually hated sitting on the Fathomir throne, he would have given anything for five minutes there right now. But there was no way he would leave his injured mariners to be eaten.

  Absolutely none.

  The enemy also sped up. He could hear the low thrumming their snaky tails made as they whipped back and forth through the water.

  “They are fifty yards behind us,” Shear commented.

  “I know,” Gray said. “Take the guardians and go.”

  Shear brushed against his dorsal. “I will not.”

  Gray didn’t have the strength to argue and kept swimming. After their group crossed the Fathomir homewaters boundary, they were only minutes away, but it was still too far. A frilled shark broke free from the pack at their tails and struck at Gray but Shear rammed it away. Then two more joined it.

  “We’re not going to make it,” Gray panted.

  “You will,” Shear said. “It’s been an honor.”

  Gray was momentarily confused but then felt Shear’s tail whip around as the tiger carved a turn and attacked the lead frills. Gray and the slowest of the wounded were given a twenty-yard lead because of this.

  But Shear was gone.

  Gray didn’t notice Striiker sweep in with seven battle fins.

  And neither did the frilled sharks locked in on their tails.

  It was a destructive blow.

  Striiker’s force blasted the five hundred frills off to the side.

  The great white hadn’t left Gray. He had sped up to exchange his tired mariners for fresh ones that were already at Fathomir and turned around to fight.

  Gray could have kissed the great white.

  He pushed the wounded mariners into the cavern’s main entrance.

  Moments later Striiker and his mariners made it inside with the frilled sharks in hot pursuit. The frills could only try to force their way into the twisting main cavern entrance a few at a time though. That’s what made Fathomir a strong point: a good current so sharkkind could breathe, combined with a defendable entrance to keep anything else out. The few enemy frills that breached their defense were quickly ripped apart.

  Striiker hovered next to Gray when it was over, his gills flicking in and out as he caught his breath. He had surprised the frills so thoroughly with his bold attack that Riptide took no losses. “What?” he panted. “You didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?” The great white flicked a fin above Gray’s dorsal where Shear was usually stationed. “Where’s your shadow?”

  Gray shook his head sadly and Striiker understood that Shear wouldn’t be joining them.

  The great white’s tail drooped. “Oh,” he said.

  “Am I interrupting?” asked a familiar voice. It was Tydal, the epaulette leader of Indi Shiver.

  “Not at all,” Striiker said. “I’ve got stuff to do.” With that he bellowed at his exhausted mariners to get them in order. There was some grumbling but they did it. The great white had turned their fighting sharkkind into something special.

  Tydal hovered in front of Gray, who remained on the rock floor. It wasn’t the throne, but who cared? He was tired. Tydal avoided looking as if this embarrassed him. Then Gray saw that other sharkkind were watching with curious or even worried looks on their faces. Judijoan motioned for him to get up with her tail, staring death at him.

  Gray heaved his bulk into hover. Apparently the Seazarein couldn’t be tired either. “Sorry, had to scratch my belly and the lava rock is great for that,” he said loudly for all to hear. This satisfied everyone and they went on with their business. Gray signaled to Judijoan that he wanted to speak with Tydal alone, and the oarfish nodded.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to swim with you during the retreat to Fathomir,” Tydal said. The epaulette looked at him sheepishly. “I’m not fast and it took everything I had to keep up with you and the wounded.”

  “The important thing is that you made it,” Gray said. “Although we aren’t in the clear by any means.”

  Tydal lowered his voice so no one else would hear. “So, it’s as I feared. You don’t have a brilliant plan to turn the current in our favor . . . as of yet.”

  “As of yet,” Gray repeated. “I want you to attend my council meetings and help me figure one out.” The Indi leader bobbed his head, accepting the offer. Gray lowered his voice so only the epaulette could hear. “Tydal, what am I going to do? I’ve trapped us here.”

  “As far as any mariner or shiver shark is concerned, I don’t believe that’s what happened today,” the epaulette said.

  “Really? Because I had a pretty good view.”

  Tydal smiled. “I saw a strategically brilliant maneuver that allowed us to escape a superior force. I saw a controlled retreat that got everyone to safety and frustrated Grimkahn and his horde yet again.”

  “Oh, come on—” Gray began, but Tydal cut him off with a tail slash.

  “I, and everyone inside here, have confidence in you,” the Indi leader continued. “And though we are confined for the moment, we are safe. That’s the most important thing. The only thing.” Tydal nodded and left, conferring with Xander about his mariners.

  Gray felt better.

  It was true. They were trapped.

  But for now, it really was the best option available.

  Barkley panted in a corner of the throne cavern. He and the ghostfins had managed to fast-swim one behind the other and beat the frilled sharks inside.

  But it was close.

  Velenka had also made it.

  Barkley was unsure how he felt about that. She had performed well in the fight against Hokuu. But the evil frill wanted her dead and it was natural to take the chance and attack him. Once again Barkley questioned whether Velenka’s new personality was real.

  Was everything the mako did some sort of plot within a plot? He couldn’t be sure.

  Somehow Velenka knew what he was thinking and frowned. “You’re worried that a traitor made it inside this cavern, aren’t you? You’re worried it’s me.”

  “Don’t be a crazyfish,” Barkley said, keeping his face neutral at her amazingly accurate statement. “I’m enjoying not having to swim full bore.”

  But she wasn’t about to let him off that easy. “If you think I’m a traitor then you should send me to the Sparkle Blue. It’s the only logical current. You shouldn’t take the chance you might be right. So what are you waiting for?”

  Velenka bumped Barkley, who bumped her back. “We don’t execute fins because of a suspicion,” he said. “But I’d be stupid not to keep my guard up given your past, wouldn’t I?”

  Velenka’s black eyes blazed. But it wasn’t with the evil intensity that Barkley had seen in the past. This was something different. It was as if she really cared what he thought of her.

  And she seemed . . . hurt.

  That couldn’t be. Could it?

  “I’m trying to change!” she said. “And I’ve done nothing to make you doubt me since I asked to join the ghostfins.”

  “Maybe you’re waiting for the right moment to strike!” Barkley shouted. He lowered his voice. “I won’t leave my tail unguarded with you. No way.”

  Velenka’s own tail vibrated with emotion but then drooped. “I understand. Let me ask you one question, though. If I were anyone else, would you give me a chance to earn your trust?”

  Barkley was struck by the question with an almost physical force. He realized she was right. When Ripper had come over to their side from Goblin’s, Barkley was okay with it. He had even gone on a dangerous mission with the battle-scarred hammerhead. A few months earlier Ripper might have sent him to the Sparkle Blue for no reason at all.

  The dejected mako turned to go but Barkley stopped her. “I’ll tell
you what Velenka. You make it through the next few days without betraying or killing anyone and I’ll see what I can do about trusting you. Deal?”

  “Deal.” Velenka smiled a little before joining the defenders at the cavern entrance and making herself useful.

  For now Barkley would hope for the best.

  But he’d keep an eye on her, too.

  CHAPTER 16

  “DON’T LET EVEN ONE INSIDE!” YELLED Striiker as he fought snout-to-snout with the frilled sharks pushing themselves into the cavern. The frills were a seething mass of death trying to jam their way inside. They ripped with their tri-tipped teeth and stabbed with their tails. If the armada hadn’t been in a strong defensive position, Fathomir would have surely fallen.

  It was their fourth attack of the day and the enemy showed no sign of giving up. But neither did Fathomir’s brave defenders. There was only one main way in and out of the throne cavern for any dweller larger than a mackerel. It was suicide to do a frontal assault, but still Grimkahn’s horde came. The mosasaur king knew that taking Fathomir was his path to winning the war.

  One frilled shark writhed entirely inside the cavern so he could move fully. The high-pitched whine of his tail spike whizzing through the water ended in a sickening thwap! as it pierced a mariner through the head. Thick blood bloomed in the water, clouding the cavern and making it difficult to see. Combined with the lumo light shining from the walls and pillars, it was an eerie and grisly sight.

  Gray streaked forward and bit the frill’s head off.

  The horde was turned away once more.

  Gray sighed, relieved. But he was taken completely by surprise when Grimkahn shot his jaws into the cavern. He scraped the rock walls on both sides of the twisty opening brutally but got far enough in to snap at Gray, who was bumped aside by Striiker.

  Takiza released a bolt of energy, which may have stung Grimkahn, but as before did no real damage. It had become clear that his armored hide protected him and every other mosasaur against shar-kata attacks, and even the powerful burning vomit attack that Hokuu had tried. Grimkahn roared and pulled his snout out. Thankfully he and the other mosasaurs were too gigantic to get inside.

  “You should be more careful!” Striiker said to Gray, irritated. “What are you even doing here? We got this!”

  Gray was about to answer when Grimkahn roared from outside. “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE, PUP!” He went on in a somewhat quieter voice, “You’re a cowardly little turtle, aren’t you? Why don’t you come out and face me? You did it once.”

  “Are these brilliant taunts working?” Takiza asked. The betta was in good spirits but looked paler than usual. His brilliant rainbow colors had dimmed. Or it might have been the light in the throne cavern. Gray hoped that was the case.

  He gave Takiza a negative flick of his fins. “Even I’m not that chowderheaded.”

  Striiker yelled back, “Gray’s busy, Yer Royal Ugliness. But me and my mariners are still hungry! Could ya send a few more frills this way? Because them’s good eatin’!”

  There was a cheer from the mariners after Striiker’s remark. He really was a fine leader.

  Riprap and Ebbie darted over. They thought the siege was a big adventure. They hadn’t seen war from the front lines and didn’t understand.

  “What are you two doing here?” asked Gray. “Move back!”

  “When you beat up Grimkahn, can Ebbie and I watch?” asked Riprap as he circled the group.

  “Yeah, it’ll be great to see you snout bang him good!” said Ebbie.

  Gray shook his head. “No one is snout banging anyone for a while so you two calm down.”

  “Aww, come on, Gray, be cool. We know there’s going to be a big battle!” insisted Riprap.

  Ebbie nodded. “We may be smaller than the mariners but we can fight! We’ve been practicing on each other. I beat Riprap with Orca Bears Down today.”

  “Did not!” sulked Riprap. “Besides, I wasn’t looking. And you promised you wouldn’t tell!”

  “If we need any help I’ll come and get you,” Striiker told the pair.

  “Really?” said Riprap with his eyes wide.

  “So cool!” added Ebbie.

  Gray motioned for Judijoan, and also Leilani and Barkley behind her. “I need to have a strategy meeting and need some room.” He looked at the packed throne cavern. With all their forces inside Fathomir, clear space was valuable indeed.

  “I’ll move a few fins around,” Judijoan said, pausing to grace Riprap and Ebbie with a stern nod. “And you two stop bothering the Seazarein and go play.” Gray’s brother and sister went off as the oarfish continued, “Give me a minute and the space behind the throne will be clear.” Judijoan moved off, rippling her long body and smacking sharks and dwellers that were too slow to swim out of her way. Even with a thousand sharks in the cave, her voice cut through the noise like a shard of volcanic glass. “Make way! Official business of the Seazarein Emprex! Clear the throne area or I’ll have you thrown to the horde!”

  A few minutes later there was space for Gray and his council to gather. Onyx, Striiker, Takiza, Barkley, Leilani, Xander, and Tydal were there, as well as Gray’s mother, Sandy. He looked at his gathered friends and family.

  “There’s no way to put seasoning on this rotten fish to make it taste better,” Gray began. “We’re trapped. So first off, how much food do we have?”

  Onyx flicked his tail. “Not as much as we’d like, that’s for bloody sure.”

  “We sent hunting parties out before we were trapped, but there are so many of us,” Sandy told him. “We have enough to last us about two or three days.”

  “Make it three, then,” Gray said. This wasn’t good news. The mariners had been fighting. They used a tremendous amount of energy during battle and needed to eat. The longer a shark went without food the weaker he got. He looked at Striiker. “Are we really eating the frills?”

  “Nah,” the great white said, shaking his head. “I was only talking big. It’s been tried, though. They taste terrible and made some of our fins sick. They might be poisonous.”

  “You got that right, mate,” Xander said.

  Striiker slashed his tail through the water. “Let them keep trying to get in. We’ll take ’em out one by one until there are none left. Then we swim out and eat to our heart’s content.”

  “That is not a solution,” Takiza commented.

  Gray nodded. “Takiza’s right. And the longer we stay in here, the more it feels like we’re losing. If that feeling spreads to our sharkkind, it’s over.”

  “But Gray,” Leilani began. “Even if we could get out, how would you set the mariners in formation before the horde attacks? We swam inside here in a thin line. If we go out that way . . . ”

  “We’d be gobbled up one by one,” Onyx said, finishing Leilani’s thought.

  “One problem at a time,” Gray said. “We’ve have three days of food, so three days to find allies. I want the odds to be more in our favor. The only shiver large enough to help is Hideg Shiver in the Arktik and maybe the orcas at Icingholme. But to make it there and back before we starve? I don’t know.”

  Everyone glanced at Takiza but Gray shook his head. “I need Takiza here in case Hokuu shows up. He and Grimkahn may have fought, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make up. And adding to our problems is the fact that shar-kata doesn’t seem to damage Grimkahn.”

  “A definite drawback, I’d say,” Xander commented.

  “You didn’t know this, Takiza?” Barkley asked. “You were in the Underwaters.”

  The betta ruffled his fins. “Yes, I was. But I was not attacking mosasaurs while there.”

  “Maybe you should have,” Striiker said. Everyone looked at the great white. “I’m just saying.”

  “I hate to say this but what about asking Trank for help again?” Shear asked. “What if we made it worth his while?
Gave him territory or something?”

  Gray thought about this. But the risk to the messenger was unacceptable. He wouldn’t send anyone on a suicide mission.

  Barkley gave him a tap to the flank. “I’ll do it.”

  “You?” Striiker asked. “You hate him. And he doesn’t like you much either.”

  “Yeah, but we have to try,” Barkley answered. “And I can bring along someone who speaks his language.”

  Gray was shocked. His friend could mean only one shark. “You want to sneak past Grimkahn’s frills and mosasaurs with Velenka in tow?”

  “Velenka’s very sneaky,” Barkley said. “And she did want something more important to do.”

  Gray shook his head. “I know I’ve sent you into dangerous situations before, but that was when there was a chance. Trank already said he didn’t want to help. It would be a wasted trip.”

  “Gray,” Barkley pressed. “There’s no choice. Unless you know where Yappy’s secret, giant cousins are, we need to try.” Gray let out an involuntary chuckle at this memory from their youth.

  “He’s right,” Leilani told him.

  Gray reluctantly nodded. They needed more allies.

  Palink, the leader of Hideg Shiver, would come if he knew they were in trouble. So would Tik-Tun, who was king of the orcas. But how could they get word to them in time? Without shar-kata speed it was almost impossible to imagine.

  Gray motioned for Judijoan and she glided over. “Do we have any quickfins?”

  The oarfish paused, a sour look on her face. “Only one remained after the attack came.” She motioned with the red plumes on her head. “Eugene!”

  Eugene Speedmeister zipped in front of Gray, flicking his four wings downward. “Eugene Speedmeister reporting for duty, your lordship! What can I do for you, Seazarein Graynoldus?

  Gray nodded. “How fast do you think you could make it to the Arktik, Speedmeister?”

  Eugene flicked off another salute. “Faster than anyone, sir. And I like a challenge.”