Into the Abyss

by EJ Altbacker

  The ancient and grand Speakers Rock meeting area of the Riptide homewaters was eerily empty. The small dwellers were keeping hidden and large ones such as whales and giant mantas hadn’t visited since the Battle of Riptide.

  Gray was still shaken by the grim message sent in the form of the mauled long-range scout. The Indi armada was readying itself to move, he just knew it. The only reason to take out their scouts—other than being vindictive—was to keep your own movements secret. Finnivus and his Black Wave were coming, and the waters would turn red with blood when they arrived.

  Gray was so big that he could take care of himself against anyone or anything in the Big Blue. In fact, Barkley would tell me I could stand to lose a few pounds, Gray thought. No, he was scared for the others. How could he protect everyone he loved? His mother and the sharks he’d grown up with, his five best friends here, his new friends from AuzyAuzy—now all battle brothers and sisters—and a host of dwellers like Yappy and Prime Minister Shocks were at risk.

  At least Gray was sure that Lochlan and his Line needed no protecting. And probably Takiza, who had suddenly left again without telling anyone. Where was the mysterious, magical betta? He could definitely take care of himself. But still. Gray didn’t like the fact that everyone he knew was in danger. “How did it come to this?” he whispered.

  “It’s not your fault, Gray,” Barkley answered. “It isn’t anything we did. We’re just alive and in the way.”

  Striiker bristled and slashed his crescent-shaped tail through the water in frustration. “Barkley’s right. We didn’t ask that big flipper Finnivus to swim halfway’round the world and attack us!”

  But Shell got to the truth of the matter. “We do seem to be smack in the middle of it, though.”

  Mari gave Gray a sympathetic rub on the flank with her long thresher tail. “With everything that’s been heaped on you, it’s okay to cry if you want.”

  “But please don’t,” Shell muttered, a little louder than he intended. Everyone laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Snork. “I cry when I’m sad. It always makes me feel better.”

  “Of course you would, but Gray can’t!” Striiker emphasized. “You’re not a leader. Leaders don’t get respect from other sharkkind by bawling their way around the Big Blue.”

  “Striiker, quit being a tailbender,” Mari told the great white.

  Snork didn’t take offense. He waggled his serrated bill in agreement. “That’s okay. I know I’m not tough. But I’m trying to learn!” The sawfish said this with such enthusiasm that it caused another round of laughter.

  “So what’s the latest with Hammer and Vortex Shivers?” asked Barkley, because they hadn’t been allowed in that meeting. The dogfish was smart. Probably the smartest fin Gray knew. It made hiding any setback extremely difficult.

  Gray gave a noncommittal swish of his tail. “Those negotiations are moving forward with vigor, and Lochlan and I are expecting good news any day now.”

  Striiker looked at him quizzically along with everyone else. “What? Forward with vigor?”

  Barkley sighed. “That was what Lochlan told Gray to say in case we asked.”

  “Sounds pretty good!” Snork remarked.

  “Too bad it’s a load of chum,” Shell said in his dry way.

  Mari swam forward. “Really? Lochlan wants you to lie to us? Your friends?”

  “No, not lie. Not exactly,” Gray hedged. “He just doesn’t want anyone to know he’s having a tough time getting them to join up … fully.”

  “Or at all,” Barkley prodded.

  “Or at all,” Gray agreed before he could stop himself. “I mean—no, not that. Something else. Something better.”

  “We’ll be crushed without their mariners if Finnivus comes with his full armada,” Shell remarked. “We won’t take them by surprise twice.”

  “Yeah, that’s for sure,” Striiker agreed. “The amount of training they must do. They are the nearest thing to perfect mariners in the Big Blue.”

  Mari bristled. “You admire them?”

  “No. I respect them,” Striiker said, without the usual sarcasm or scorn he mustered when speaking about Finnivus and Indi Shiver. “We all should.”

  Gray moved forward, halfway over Speakers Rock. “Maybe Grinder and Silversun would join up with Lochlan if they knew I was a megalodon?” Gray had learned the truth about his species from Velenka, the crafty mako who was now allied with Finnivus. Megalodons were thought to have died out millions of years ago. How Gray came to be here no one knew. Not even his mother, Sandy. She had rescued him when he was only a pup in a faraway ocean on a day when the very water was on fire, and mountains of rock were swallowed up by the Dark Blue in a gigantic seaquake.

  For a moment there was only silence. Gray hoped everyone was speechless because his idea was so good.

  “That’s gotta be the dumbest, most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard,” Barkley said, a tinge of awed amazement in his voice.

  Striiker shook his massive head. “Nope, nope, you’re giving the idea too much credit. It’s the dumbest idea that anyone in the entire Big Blue has come up with.”

  “Don’t forget about the past,” Shell added. “It might also be the worst idea of all time.”

  “All right already!” Gray shouted. He was a little miffed. “I get it!” There had to be someone who was on his side. “Snork, what do you think?”

  “It’s an … interesting way to go,” Snork began, before petering out.

  “Wow, worst idea ever,” Gray told everyone. “You must be so proud to have me as your leader.”

  Mari allowed herself to drift a bit closer with the current. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Striiker surprised Gray by adding a strong, “You got that right. But telling others that you’re a megalodon would cause—well, we don’t know what it would cause, actually. But nothing good.”

  “I can guess,” Barkley said. “It would cause confusion and nervousness, even outright panic. And we need exactly none of those right now. Lochlan would probably tell you the same thing. Don’t worry, he’ll convince Grinder and Silversun to join us.”

  Barkley’s words made everyone feel a little bit better. Gray hoped his friend was right. He really did. Everything counted on Lochlan’s persuasiveness and leadership. He had to succeed! Because Finnivus was coming, and the evil fish would stop at nothing to get his revenge on everyone Gray loved.

  VELENKA WATCHED AS THE INDI ARMADA SWEPT in and destroyed a pitiful force of prisoners—a captured shiver, a few Riptide scouts, and several sharkkind that had somehow displeased Finnivus in the past few weeks. One poor tiger shark was a mariner from the Indi armada. His mistake had been to cough during one of the emperor’s speeches.

  Though blood clouded the water, the three battle fins of the Indi armada worked together smoothly, never a tail stroke out of place. They executed the orders of the mariner prime flawlessly and without hesitation. There were only a few of the opposing force still alive, all clumped into a terrified ball. Any who tried to flee were ripped apart by the Indi mariners.

  “Kill them all!” screamed Finnivus. “Every single one!”

  The mariner prime, a middle-aged tiger shark, dipped his head and obeyed. Ever since Gray had destroyed Indi Shiver’s lantern fish signaler, the orders had to be relayed by fin signs, which weren’t nearly as fast as the signaler. The previous mariner prime had also been killed by Gray at the battle whose name could not be spoken. That had not been a good day for Indi Shiver.

  Moments after the command was shouted by Finnivus, it was over. Not a single one of the opposing hundred and fifty prisoners remained.

  “Excellent!” yelled Finnivus. “Well done!”

  The mariner prime took his place at the head of the Indi armada. Every shark in the armada held attention hover and then bobbed their heads to the emperor. The precision of so many performing the move exactly at the same time made an odd fwumph noise in the reddish water.

  Fin
nivus allowed the warm current to gently push him into his throne built on top of the Speakers Rock directly in the center of the Indi homewaters. Velenka took in the sight as the emperor ordered various court sharks this way and that. Finnivus was a boastful young fin, but he hadn’t been pulling her tail when he said the Indi homewaters were the most beautiful place in all the Big Blue. The royal court was arranged before him—at a lower depth, of course—and it had taken her breath away the first time she saw it. Crabs and urchins created glorious, colorful patterns that changed many times each day. Sometimes the designs were intricate lines done in the Indi colors. Other times they were spot-on representations of Finnivus himself, swimming or hunting! It was amazing.

  Behind his throne were the fantastic Floating Greenie Gardens of Indi. Beautiful kelp, seaweeds, and undersea flowers bloomed constantly for the enjoyment of Finnivus and his father before him, and his father before that, all the way back to times unremembered. Walls of delicate coral had been built by master dwellers that could either stop the current or allow it to whisk the blooms upward and form a spectacular path. This was so that whenever Finnivus decided to have a swim, he would not see anything that wasn’t beautiful.

  It was truly the most wondrous place in the Big Blue, and Velenka wanted nothing more than to recline on the royal throne—which was made of lustrous, glowing corals that were regularly polished by sea snails! But the throne wasn’t hers to rest on. It belonged to Finnivus Victor Triumphant, emperor of—almost—the entire Big Blue. Velenka could understand his passion to be ruler of all the waters. She loved power, too, more than anything. But why risk your life for one little area of the Atlantis if you controlled everything else?

  Finnivus, though, was crazed with anger. He had been routed and his royal court forced to flee from the Riptide homewaters. The arrogant tiger shark couldn’t just lean on his shining coral throne and relax. He would kill everyone who did not bow before him. And though the tiger emperor hated leaving the Indi homewaters, you couldn’t conquer the seven seas if you stayed put, could you?

  “This tastes terrible!” Finnivus yelled about his meal. “Bring me a fresh one this instant.”

  “Immediately, Your Magnificence!” answered Tydal, the first court fish, as he whisked off to get another seasoned bass. The brown and yellow epaulette shark was in charge of the details in the court. Tydal was undoubtedly very good at his job to have survived this long.

  Velenka knew that there was nothing wrong with the sea bass. The dwellers responsible for seasoning it would never have sent it from the preparation area if there was even the slightest doubt about its deliciousness. This was just Finnivus working himself into another mood about his favorite topic of hatred—Gray.

  “They were only prisoners,” Finnivus muttered to himself about the recently concluded battle exercise.

  Velenka didn’t react. Neither did anyone else in court. It was better to be sure you had to answer than to casually put forward an opinion. That could get you eaten. Or placed with the prisoners for the armada to practice on. Finnivus cast a glance directly at her from his throne. “Velenka. They were prisoners,” he said.

  There was no avoiding this any longer. “Your Majesty?” she asked, dipping her head respectfully.

  Finnivus sighed as if she were a pup, too stupid to understand. “The sharks my armada just demolished—they were only prisoners.”

  “That were caught by your invincible armada,” Velenka said. “They had no choice in the matter.” It wasn’t the response he wanted, but it was enough of an answer to keep her out of trouble.

  “Yes, of course,” groused Finnivus. “But what I mean is that mere prisoners are hardly an acceptable substitute for the mariners which Gray and Lochlan will have when I—umm, we, obliterate them.”

  Well, of course they aren’t! Velenka thought to herself. These prisoners were hungry and tired. Beaten. No match for the finely tuned Indi armada. It would have been disastrous to suggest that, though, which was why she chose to play dumb.

  “Any practice will make your mighty mariners even better,” Velenka soothed. “And there is no fighting force in the Big Blue that can match the Indi armada. You will one day go to Riptide and conquer what is rightfully yours!”

  But not if I can convince you otherwise, she thought.

  There was a smattering of agreement from the other sharkkind in the court, but only after Finnivus nodded and clicked his notched teeth together. “You are very smart for a fin from the boonie-greenie,” Finnivus said, turning to the court, who all laughed as if this were the funniest thing they had ever heard. Velenka bobbed her head once more and smiled, flashing her own pointy, white teeth. How she hated playing the sea toady to anyone. Even to Finnivus Victor Triumphant, Emperor of the Big Blue.

  “You are right! My armada has no equal!” exclaimed Finnivus. “And soon, I will exact my revenge on everyone in the North Atlantis, but Lochlan and Gray most of all!” Everyone cheered. “If they are still alive when my armada faces theirs—” Finnivus smiled as if at some secret thought. Velenka wondered what he might be hiding. “They will be captured! Then, oh then, they will watch as we exact our justice for their treachery by sending every single fin they care for to the Sparkle Blue before their very eyes!”

  “Wonderful! Wonderful!” Velenka exclaimed along with the sharks that crowded closer to Speakers Rock.

  While it was tricky to swim the currents in the court, Velenka knew Finnivus liked her. This was important as it saved her from being eaten unless she did something very stupid. And her mother didn’t raise a dumb shellhead for a daughter. Court life was a plush and lazy lifestyle, filled with the best of everything! Why take the chance of ruining it by going to war? But Finnivus thought of nothing else. As soon as he was safely in the Indi homewaters, he set to calling mariners from all around the seven seas to join his Armada of Justice, as he called it. The Black Wave now numbered in the thousands. There was no way that any in the Atlantis would survive the emperor’s royal wrath.

  But still …

  Lochlan’s AuzyAuzy Shiver, nicknamed the Golden Rush for the color of the great whites in the royal family, were formidable fighters. If by some stroke of bad luck the Indi mariners were beaten, Velenka had no doubt that someone would come looking to exact their own revenge on her. She had to shift the current somehow. It needed to be done delicately, of course.

  Everyone was cheering, “Down with Lochlan and Gray!”

  “Yes, yes, I am great,” Finnivus said, nodding to the enthusiastic court. “And they will pay with their lives for daring to fight me!”

  That was the opening Velenka was looking for!

  “But Emperor Finnivus!” she yelled, loud enough to be heard over the others. “Please don’t risk your own life by swimming with the armada! I’m sure Lochlan is a fierce enemy, but Gray is dangerous! He’s devious and will stop at nothing to harm you if you leave your wonderful Indi homewaters!”

  The royal court quieted into a murmur. Finnivus nodded, taking Velenka’s false worry into consideration. She hoped that this idea would get inside the young emperor’s head and cause him to stay. That way, she could also remain at court and not get into any sort of danger. Battles were unpredictable things. They sometimes turned on a fin flick. Better to avoid them altogether.

  “Of course we fear nothing,” Finnivus began. Members of the court shouted in full-throated agreement with the emperor. “Lochlan and Gray are indeed treacherous and vile. But perhaps we won’t have to worry about them at all. Why, with any luck, neither of them will be around when we swim out—tomorrow! We will destroy every single fin in the entire Atlantis Ocean, scrubbing it clean of their traitorous filth! We so decree it, and so it shall be!” And with that Finnivus howled with laughter.

  Velenka was thunderstruck. They were leaving tomorrow? This had to be something he’d just decided! A royal whim she could do nothing about! Velenka hadn’t heard a thing about this—and she made sure to overhear every single conversation she could!<
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  It was then that Velenka decided that a more direct plan would be needed to ensure her own safety, and so began doing what she did best …

  Plotting.

  Gray rushed forward to press the attack using the Seahorse Circles, a tight turning move aimed at Lochlan’s tail. The golden great white answered with Manta Ray Rising to foul the maneuver. The pair pounded each other with a series of rams and bumps, neither able to gain an advantage. “Nice one,” Lochlan said through gritted teeth as he flashed forward. “But watch yourself! Don’t over-commit when you’re tired.”

  Gray smiled through his weariness and zipped to the side, avoiding the great white’s lunge. They had been combat training for hours, and he ached from snout to tail. “Tired? Who’s tired?” Gray wheezed. “I’m still gliding easy from my one-match winning streak against you.”

  “Now you’re just being cocky, mate!” Lochlan tail-whipped Gray across the snout so hard, motes of color flashed before his eyes in the dark blue water. It was all he could do to execute Waving Greenie to stalemate Lochlan’s lightning fast Tang Twist.

  After another minute, Gray and Lochlan both got sloppy, neither able to finish their attacks crisply. Soon the one-on-one drill resembled a schoolyard fight more than the deadly dance they were striving to perfect.

  “Stop, stop! I have seen turtle hatchlings battle with more grace!” Takiza yelled, shaking his frilly fins in annoyance. “This display of clumsy brawling hurts my eyes as I am forced to watch it!” The betta had appeared in the Riptide homewaters as suddenly as he had left, but refused to say where he had gone.