by EJ Altbacker
The megalodon scowled. “Bah! The sun burns now as it has done for all time, even though we did not see it. Do not think I’m some feebleminded fish to believe your flattery.”
“Of course not!” Hokuu said. “I’m only trying to lift your spirits.”
“Lift them by bringing more of my mariners from the Underwaters,” he answered. “Though we are powerful, there are far too few of us to withstand an all-out fight against Graynoldus’s allies.”
“I am so sorry about that,” Hokuu told the king. “My powers suddenly gave out. When I’m feeling stronger, I shall tunnel to the Underwaters once more.”
Hokuu smiled inwardly. Actually, he had so much power from the life force stolen from his finja makos, he was fighting to keep it under control. It was pup’s play to bore to the Underwaters now, and easier still to collapse his tunnel before too many of Drinnok’s guard came through the passage. It wouldn’t do to give the king everything he wanted. Drinnok might become unsympathetic to Hokuu’s desires and that was to be avoided.
Hokuu slithered through the water so he was close to the massive megalodon king. “You must send Graynoldus to the Sparkle Blue, King Drinnok. Then you will be Seazarein.”
What Hokuu really wanted was for Drinnok to kill the most beloved leader in the Big Blue. The megalodon king would have all sorts of enemies then. Hokuu would have to calm things by being named leader himself! But Hokuu could only lead after the Big Blue was conquered. And though he was very powerful, Hokuu couldn’t do that alone. He needed an armada, and the prehistore mariners would only follow their king. Or someone in the Line after their leader’s unfortunate death . . .
“Crowns are earned, not given, Hokuu,” Drinnok replied.
“Crowns are taken by those who are worthy,” he told the king.
Drinnok grunted, acknowledging that truth. “Graynoldus’s son—tell me more of him.”
Hokuu spat. “An upstart pup. A bumbling usurper. The day you rid the ocean of him, the waters will rejoice!”
The megalodon king gazed at Hokuu before answering. “You told me that he led his forces to victory while outnumbered by a superior and better trained force—not once, but twice. I saw with my own eyes this AuzyAuzy Shiver come to his aid without question. And Kaleth, who was no fool, chose him to take her place as Seazarein. Graynoldus sounds like his father’s son, not a bumbling usurper.”
“He may have some small talent, along with a large current of luck, but he isn’t a true Seazarein!”
Drinnok considered. “One victory can be counted to luck. But twice? You underestimate him. It makes me wonder if you’ve given me an accurate image of Graynoldus.”
Hokuu gnashed his tri-tipped teeth as his spiked tail swished back and forth. “How can you doubt me, King Drinnok? I freed you!”
“After a time,” Drinnok noted.
“Because Graynoldus, Kaleth, and Takiza blocked me at every turn!”
Drinnok growled. “Takiza. That one. It’s hard to imagine such a tiny dweller with so much power.”
Before he could stop himself, Hokuu snapped his tail through the water with an angry craaack! “I will take care of that little puffer. He’s no match for me, and besides, I taught him everything he knows.”
Drinnok smiled. “That seems to have been a mistake. Back to Graynoldus. He did not immediately attack us. He wanted to speak of a peaceful solution.”
Hokuu sputtered, “My—my king, I can’t believe I’m hearing this!”
“Even if all of Fifth Shiver were brought to these waters along with the dwellers, we would still number far fewer than those who swim her presently.”
“They are puny compared to any of you!” exclaimed Hokuu. “You can win!”
“Yes, but at what price?” Drinnok said, his voice rising. “What good is victory if there are so few of us left that illness or disease could wipe us out? It would mean the end of Fifth Shiver. That will not happen while I lead!” The megalodon calmed himself. “I must at least allow a chance for compromise.”
“When Gray spoke, it was a trick!” Hokuu said, his anger rising. The king was being a fool. “You saw how his allies attacked when you hesitated. The Big Blue may not be as dangerous as the Underwaters, but one thing does remain the same. On any day, you can either have lunch, or be lunch. Which would you like to be, Drinnok?”
The megalodon swiped at Hokuu with his mighty tail, missing by an urchin spine. “I am the king. Remember that. What I command of you is to free more of Fifth Shiver from the darkness of the Underwaters. If you can’t—or won’t . . . we have a problem.”
Hokuu relaxed his coils, straightening out his kinked and clenched body. He dipped his snout. “Rest assured, I will bring more of your subjects out from the depths.”
Drinnok grunted and left. Hokuu watched the powerful megalodon swim away. Perhaps Drinnok, for all his size and teeth, wasn’t strong enough to conquer the Big Blue. Hokuu twirled his long body, thinking. He couldn’t expect the currents to be smooth while creating a new watery world, now could he? It was hard work and some days would bring frustration.
Like today.
But still, Hokuu would do exactly as he had been asked and bring new and vibrant Fifth Shiver blood to the Big Blue. It would take a little time. Perhaps by then, Drinnok would see the error of his thinking and Hokuu wouldn’t need to change his own plans. Perhaps Drinnok would realize that Gray, Takiza, and all the rest who opposed them had to be swept away.
Perhaps . . .
GRAY, BARKLEY, LEILANI, SNORK, AND SHEAR crept over the rise and spotted the dark hole in the volcanic rock. The pale moonlight shining into the water cast everything in a ghostly white. “There,” Leilani whispered. “Right where I thought it would be.”
“Come then,” Takiza said, floating above their group. “Let us see if this foolishness is even possible.”
“What if Hokuu or someone is watching the hole?” asked Snork as he peered at the passage between the Big Blue and the Underwaters. “I know Drinnok and his prehistores were chased away, but what if they came back?”
“Hold a moment,” Takiza told them as he gazed into the murky distance of the fire waters. Gray knew the betta wasn’t looking with his eyes but stretching out with his other senses to detect if anyone was hiding nearby. Finally the betta said, “We are alone in this area.”
“And my senses tell me that this hole doesn’t go all the way through,” Gray said. He could feel the other ocean far below but there was definitely some blockage between it and the Big Blue. His own senses, under Takiza’s guidance, had become fine-tuned indeed.
The betta grunted approval. “Good, I see some of my training got through that thick skull of yours. But will you be able to move that amount of earth and rock?”
“I think so,” Gray answered.
Takiza shook his head. “Do not think; do.”
The group swam quietly to the ragged hole in the seabed that Hokuu had made to free Drinnok and the Fifth Shiver prehistores. “This is such a bad idea,” Barkley said as he peered into the blackness. “How do we know it’s not totally plugged?”
Leilani swam over the opening. “Because it’s warm,” she said. “The water is rising so it’s not totally blocked. They say the water is warmer way below because it’s closer to the ocean of lava that makes up the center of the world.” She looked at the others. “That’s only a theory, though.”
A seaquake caused a crack to ripple across the seabed. Everyone looked at Gray, worried.
“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” he told them.
“I don’t like it,” Shear remarked.
“For once, I agree!” Barkley added and then looked at Takiza. “If he’s going to do this, shouldn’t you give him some maredsoo?” Maredsoo was a type of deep- sea greenie that gave energy and warmth.
Takiza shook his fins. �
�Maredsoo can confuse the mind. It is not chilly in the Underwaters, and the pressure is only a bit more than here. Gray is strong enough to make the journey without it, provided he can break through whatever blockage there is between here and there.”
Shear turned. “At least let me go with you.”
Gray slashed his tail through the water. “We’ve been through this. If someone sees you, they’ll think we’re invading. No one will recognize me. That’s the safest way. Besides, I don’t know if I can get myself through, much less another set of fins. As the Seazarein, I’m ordering you to stay and protect everyone. That’s how you can help me. I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
Barkley began, “Gray—”
“We’ll talk later,” he said. “I’ll be five, ten minutes, tops.”
“I think it’ll take longer than that,” Snork told him.
“I know, Snork. I know,” he said. And with that, Gray launched himself upward and then curved down and into the passage to the Underwaters.
An hour later Gray was stuck fast. “Great,” he muttered. “Just great.”
Though Drinnok and most of the prehistores who came through days earlier were larger than he was, the tunnel had collapsed since then. It was probably the work of the nearly constant seaquakes that choked off the passageway. The mild current between the oceans allowed Gray to bore through even small openings, but now he was stuck. He was also exhausted. Though the distance wasn’t so great, the constant twisting and turning he had to do was tiring.
“I’m not going to die in the dark,” he told himself. Gray churned his tail and wriggled past the tight area. Physical strength wasn’t going to work here. He needed shar-kata. His training on gathering energy from the waters around him had been going forward slowly. Takiza thought he wasn’t making progress because he could solve most problems with his strength. That’s why the prehistores from the Underwaters didn’t have shar-kata. The surviving ones were all super-strong and didn’t need it.
Gray concentrated, reaching out with his senses. He felt the energy all around him. In addition to being in the water, it was in the very earth. He didn’t try to bend it to his will—he worked with it. Soon Gray was encased in a glowing shield bubble. There was water inside, of course. With a thought he extended and moved the dirt ahead of him. Gray swam forward, pushing the shield ahead. While he didn’t have the strength to move the massive rocks blocking his way, shar-kata, along with the power inside the rocks themselves, did.
Finally, with one last push he popped into the Underwaters.
There was lumo light everywhere. It was kind of like swimming in water to which sea cow milk had been squirted. Gray went forward cautiously into the massive prehistore greenie. The fronds of some of the white plants were wider than he was. The stalks they grew from were also much larger than he had ever seen. All were a bone-white color from lack of sunlight.
Gray moved through the greenie, making sure he kept his bearings so he would know how to find the passage again. The water was warmer than the Caribbi Sea in the summertime. It tasted odd—Takiza had told him to expect this—but he could breathe all right. Gray shook his tail when it got tangled in some kelp and continued moving into the dense undergrowth where he hoped he would be well hidden from the large predators that were surely here.
Gray had half hoped that there would be some pressure change, or the different water would make each side weak or dizzy. Clearly this wasn’t the case. If Drinnok got his armada into the Big Blue they would fight on equal terms.
Except that they’re all giants, Gray thought, growing cold from that realization.
He tugged his tail free from a snarl of greenie. That was odd. He was being careful but had gotten his tail tangled twice now. Maybe there was some effect from the water even though he didn’t feel it. Gray swam toward a brighter glow ahead.
He would have to go through a wall of the largest plants yet. These had huge bladders that swayed soothingly even though there was almost no current. There were fleshy sea flowers growing around these bladders. They looked and smelled delicious! Small fish were nibbling on them. Gray started thinking about a quick snack on some of the mouthwatering flowers but then chided himself. He didn’t come down here to eat!
Get moving, fatso, he thought.
But he couldn’t. Something was tangling one of his front fins. Gray saw that the greenie had somehow twisted around his left pectoral. At least that’s what he thought until his right fin was grabbed!
It was then he realized . . .
The greenie was alive!
Gray swung his tail left and right to rip through the fleshy kelp but couldn’t get enough force to free himself. Then the swaying bladders stopped swaying and turned toward him. It opened to reveal rows and rows of jagged spikes inside!
Gray struggled, ripping free his right fin, then his left. But now his tail was wrapped tight and he was being drawn backward toward the gaping mouth of the largest bladder pod.
I’m about to be eaten by prehistore greenie! swam through his mind.
“Oh, no, no!” said an enormous turtle who glided into Gray’s view. His shell was as wide as Gray was long, and since the turtle was circular, that made this prehistore massive indeed. “I told you never to play in my garden alone. And you certainly shouldn’t be feeding yourself to my plants.”
“It’s not my idea!” Gray said as he tugged against the greenie that drew him closer to the toothy bladder that was now snapping open and closed in excitement.
“Hold still,” the giant turtle said as he stretched out his neck and clipped the greenie with his sharp beak. “I heard whispers you might be alive and here you are. It’s good to see you.”
“You know me?” Gray asked the giant dweller.
“But of course, little Gray!” the prehistore turtle told him. “Don’t you remember me? My name is Barge and I used to look after you!”
“LET’S GO THAT WAY,” THE PREHISTORE TURTLE named Barge said, gesturing with a flipper. He was larger than Gray and his huge domed shell had bony spikes that were as sharp as volcanic rock. “There’s less old-growth greenie there. The younger fields aren’t as beautiful, but they are less likely to eat you.”
“That’s a big bonus,” Gray replied. “I’m not used to greenie with teeth.”
Barge clucked. “That’s not the kelp’s fault. It just wanted a meal, like you should. Look at you; you’re so thin I can almost see through you. You haven’t been eating properly. It’s no wonder you didn’t have the strength to pull free.”
Gray had to smile. It took traveling down to the Underwaters to finally find a place where he was considered thin. Amazing. But he was on a mission to find out information. “Barge, there’s trouble above this place in the Big Blue. Drinnok came through with some of his Fifth Shiver sharks and it looks like there might be war.”
“I know,” Barge said. “I’m on the dweller council. Nobody listens to me because I’m not a jurassic, but I do get to hear a few things.”
Gray nodded. “Then maybe you can help me. I came down here—I don’t know exactly why—maybe to find out what type of fin Drinnok is and whether there can be peace between us. Can you tell me anything that might be helpful?”
“I believe I can. Unfortunately I think everything circles back to the least favorite day in my long life,” the turtle said with a frown. “The day I thought both you and Graynoldus died. I saw you and your father chased by the frilled sharks. Disgusting things, the frills. But quick. I could do nothing to help as I was too far away and I am rather slow. Sorry about that.”
“That’s all right.” Barge seemed to need a sympathy pat so Gray thumped the turtle’s rock-hard shell with his tail. “You’ve already helped me today and I’m sure there were other times when I was young.”
Barge nudged Gray upward with a flipper as a different type of greenie shot up
from below, trying to take a bite of his belly. “Nibblers,” Barge explained as he gestured at a field of large white bulbs. “Their sting isn’t that poisonous but they can take a chunk of you.”
Gray shook his head as he looked at the (possibly deadly) greenie. “It’s a wonder I’m alive at all.”
Barge smiled and rubbed against Gray, pushing him a good twenty yards to the right. “Oh, you give yourself too little credit. I’ve heard what you’ve accomplished in the waters above. First Aquasidor, now Seazarein. A leader of fins and dwellers, beloved by all—”
“You must be confusing me with someone else,” Gray said.
“Tut-tut! Don’t interrupt,” Barge scolded. “Elder speaking,” he said, referring to himself with a smile. “You always did have a problem with that.”
Gray dipped his snout. “I do apologize. Please continue.”
“I rushed over as fast as I was able,” Barge said. “There was a huge explosion and then a seaquake. No one came down from the passageway after that, not even any of the frills. The swimming lane was filled with loose rock and then lava sealed everything shut. It was horrible. Though Graynoldus was my best friend, many other good sharks, including King Bollagan, died that day.”
“So, it was Drinnok who did that,” Gray said. “I guess he has to be stopped.”
“He may have to be stopped,” Barge agreed. “But he was not responsible for the bloodshed that day.”
“What do you mean?” asked Gray.
Barge gestured with a flipper. “Yes, Drinnok wants to leave the Underwaters. And he believes he deserves to be Seazarein. But he didn’t kill King Bollagan or his Line. It was the frill sharks.”
“Hokuu told them to do it,” whispered Gray.
“Quite right,” Barge agreed. “But they could not do it alone. They allied themselves with the jurassics and their terrible leader, a mosasaur named Grimkahn. The jurassics consider themselves better than all other dwellers. And they especially do not like being told what to do by sharkkind. They willingly allied with Hokuu. But after it was done, Drinnok was next in Line. He wasn’t going to allow anyone else to lead Fifth Shiver. What was done was done.”
