Kingdom of the Deep

by EJ Altbacker

  Hokuu laughed. “My former Nulo? Oh, please! That mincing dweller is no match for me! The only reason little Taki can even feed himself is because I taught him.”

  Gray felt anger rising, hot in his throat. No one spoke about Takiza that way but him! “You’ll pay for the Riptide sharks you sent to the Sparkle Blue and everyone else you hurt! I swear it!”

  “But they attacked me! I’m the injured party here,” Hokuu said, gently bouncing Gray up and down with his tail. “And if you’re going to avenge deaths, you’ll need to fight Taki, also. Did you know he killed one of his apprentices just for talking back? Snapped his spine like that!” Hokuu made a cracking noise by flicking his tail in front of Gray’s snout.

  “You lie! Takiza would never do that!”

  Would he?

  Hokuu drew close and Gray could see the dangerous, tri-tipped teeth filling his mouth. “If you aren’t going to stick up for a fellow apprentice, that’s fine by me. But what about your father?”

  “What do you even know about my father?” Gray spat. He still couldn’t move his tail though he was twitching his fins furiously.

  “Takiza killed him,” Hokuu said, his green eyes sparkling in the cloudy red water. “You didn’t know? Yes, Taki did stop the prehistores from coming through. But he killed your father doing it!”

  Gray could only whisper, “No.”

  “Oh yes,” Hokuu said, drawing even closer. “He knew you and your father were in the passage and still closed it! It was a miracle you survived at all! I’ll bet he didn’t mention that during any of your training sessions, hmm?”

  Hokuu moved off and the misty barrier began to dissolve. “Say hi to Taki for me when you speak with him. Until we meet again, Gray!”

  And with that Hokuu disappeared along with the mako finja.

  The fight was over, for now.

  CHAPTER 17

  THE DEEP BLUE WATER TURNED DARK AS NIGHT fell above the chop-chop. Of Hokuu and his renegades there was no sign. The Riptide sharks moved as quickly as they were able toward Fathomir, but then had to stop. The wounded could go no farther, and many of the younger and older shiver sharks hadn’t eaten in days. Striiker ordered heavy patrols and sent out the hunting parties to gather fish. When everything had been taken care of, only then did everyone crowd around Gray.

  “Good to see you again!” Mari exclaimed.

  “That goes double for me,” added Barkley.

  Snork nodded. “And triple for me!”

  Striiker gave Gray a bump to the flanks in greeting. “I’m still mad you’ve been gone, but you sure know how to make an entrance.”

  “It wasn’t my choice,” he told everyone as he swished his tail in frustration.

  “We know,” Mari said quietly.

  Gray didn’t want to think about the information Hokuu had given him, so he got caught up on Riptide Shiver matters instead. Hokuu’s renegade mako finja had been harassing the mariners as well as sneaking inside their defensive screens and sending shiver sharks to the Sparkle Blue.

  “They’ve been making us bleed for days,” growled Striiker. “Those finja are some sneaky krillfaces, I tell ya.” Striiker gave Shear a nod. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” the guardian captain answered. “They are traitors with no honor.”

  “We weren’t sure we were going to make it all the way to Fathomir,” said Mari, swishing her long thresher tail pensively.

  Barkley flexed his flippers. “I don’t think there’s a guarantee we will. Our group’s too big to protect with the mariners we have left.”

  “Aw, come on, everyone,” Snork interrupted, a little surprised at the group. “There’s nothing we can’t do when we swim together.”

  Striker chomped his teeth together loudly. “Bark does have a point, Snork. We’re spread too thin. And every time we set a trap, they sniff it out and hit us where we’re weakest.”

  Gray gestured to Shear with his tail. “Not anymore.”

  The finja commander nodded, dipping his snout to Striiker. “We should be able to provide another layer of defense that Hokuu’s renegades shall not easily overcome.”

  “You guys do look really tough,” commented Snork.

  “But Hokuu is something else,” Barkley added. “Riptide couldn’t defeat him at full strength.”

  Gray slashed his tail back and forth. “Let’s keep swimming. We have a good current at our tails. When we get to the Seazarein’s territory, we’ll be safe. Or at least, safer.”

  “That’s right,” said Striiker. “Maybe Takiza can grind that slimy worm into chum.” Striiker gestured to his subcommanders. “Once everyone has fed, we increase speed to fifteen tail strokes a minute. Make sure the wounded keep up. No stopping until we’re there.” The great white looked at Gray. “Can’t believe I’m rushing to get that little fish on our side.”

  Barkley nodded. “He’s one tough betta, all right.”

  Gray’s mind wandered. What Hokuu had revealed was beyond belief. It couldn’t be true! But the mysterious betta kept so many secrets. Could Takiza have sent his father to the Sparkle Blue?

  On purpose?

  “Gray,” said Snork. “Is something wrong? You know you can tell us anything.”

  Now that the sawfish had brought it up, everyone saw the worry on Gray’s face. He shook his head. “I’m okay, Snork. You look like you’ve been through a lot, all of you do, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” Gray couldn’t tell them these new fears yet. It wouldn’t be fair to pile that on top of everything else they’d been through.

  Now Gray knew how Kaleth felt. The pang of betrayal felt like something was piercing his heart. All those training sessions and Takiza never said anything? He hoped Hokuu was lying. Even so, Gray would direct some tough questions at the betta when they got to the Seazarein’s territory.

  He hoped that Takiza’s answers weren’t the ones he feared.

  CHAPTER 18

  “YOU CANNOT ALLOW THIS RIPTIDE SHIVER INTO our waters,” Judijoan said, raising herself straight up next to the throne, the red plumes on her head arching toward it.

  “I’m thinking,” answered Kaleth. “You’ve advised, so let me think.”

  Kaleth had dismissed Takiza and wanted to hear Judijoan’s advice without him there. The oarfish was smarter than almost anyone she knew, but could also be a tailbender. Kaleth had wanted to swallow the betta whole by the time she ordered him from the throne room. To think he knew of Drinnok’s treachery and didn’t share it with her for all these years!

  But would I have done anything different if our places were exchanged?

  Probably not. This thought troubled her.

  Takiza had a point. It had been not even a year after Fifth Shiver’s discovery of the Big Blue. Kaleth had been much more uptight and secretive with him at that time. How could he know what side she was on then? How could he not take action?

  Her king, Bollagan, had placed great stock in Takiza, thinking him a good and goodly dweller. Though the prehistores were more than a match for anything swimming in these waters, fins such as Takiza, Hokuu, and a few others were a total surprise to Fifth Shiver because of their mysterious powers. Shar-kata had not been invented in the under-waters, although a few fin’jaa abilities among the guardians did exist. There was no need for shar-kata, each of their ancient, prehistore species being so strong. The powers that these few fins had mastered was incredible. Was her king afraid? That couldn’t be.

  Bollagan felt that these waters belonged to the sharkkind and dwellers who lived here, just as the under-waters below belonged to Fifth Shiver. Yet he would not leave his fins in the darkness forever. He wanted his subjects, and all who were trapped below, to swim in the Big Blue, but he was determined that they do it in peace. Bollagan’s way would have taken time and diplomacy, but Kaleth thought it was much bett
er than causing a huge war.

  This view was not shared by Drinnok. “We should not ask for permission to swim free! If they have a problem, then let them meet us in the battle waters,” was what he said. Drinnok was the one who insisted on Hokuu being her Aquasidor after Bollagan made it known that she would be the Seazarein, representing Fifth Shiver in the Big Blue. The king had agreed to use Hokuu as his Aquasidor to keep Drinnok on his side.

  Bollagan thought that naming a frilled shark, one rare type of sharkkind that looked the same in the Big Blue and in the under-waters, to be the link between the two oceans was a wise decision. But not when that frilled shark was poisonously evil! What a fool she had been to agree to use Hokuu as her Aquasidor!

  Luckily—and calling this luck was really stretching things—Hokuu betrayed her before she had gotten the chance to send him out on a mission as Aquasidor. Kaleth could only imagine what dissent he would have spread in this Big Blue as her representative. Since that dark day, all Kaleth’s time had been spent trying destroy Hokuu and the renegade makos who had joined with him. But the wicked frill was demon hard to find, and when he was found, it was her guardians who died.

  Was Hokuu the one who had steered Drinnok’s fins in his coup? That really required no strong guidance. The brute’s views were well known by Bollagan and the Line. Graynoldus had counseled the king to watch his tail. He didn’t trust Drinnok. It turned out that he was correct. Still, Kaleth was shocked that Drinnok would betray his king so completely. At least Graynoldus the elder had saved his son. The families of all the others in the Line, and any allies they had, were surely swimming the Sparkle Blue. Kaleth ground her teeth, the sound making Judijoan give her a look.

  “I’m still thinking,” she told the oarfish.

  Gray . . .

  The son of the father she knew and respected. Gray didn’t remember the elder Graynoldus, but his heart was bigger than any she had met in this watery world. A strong fin, but lacking experience. He showed promise and Takiza had trained him well, steering him from the darker currents. After his demonstration with two of her best finja, Kaleth doubted she could beat Gray in single combat.

  Good thing he’s on our side, she thought.

  But would Gray remain in her camp if she didn’t allow his former shiver the safety of her territory? Even if the fate of the entire watery world drifted in the balance?

  Though the difference between them was only a few years, Gray was far less mature. Kaleth had been forced to grow into responsibility much earlier. The waters where Fifth Shiver ruled were far harsher than what they called the Big Blue. Why, she was only a year older than Gray was now when she was named to Bollagan’s Line. The under-waters could be brutal and harsh. In her world, death arrived because the powerful decided it should. Was that what she wanted for these waters? It plainly wasn’t what Bollagan had hoped for.

  No.

  She would protect the Big Blue from Hokuu and Drinnok. That was her king’s wish, and she would follow it. Besides, it wasn’t in her nature to swim out and terrorize others who were weaker. She hated that about her world, where only the strongest survived. Kaleth had to assume that only Drinnok and fins who agreed with him were in complete control of the under-waters. That would mean if they got free, there would be complete and total war.

  Judijoan cleared her throat, moving her long body with the slow current that flowed through the throne cavern. “Need I remind you that our scouts say Hokuu and his renegades are attacking Riptide Shiver as they swim here? It would be lunacy to allow them anywhere near Fathomir! The chaos would provide Hokuu with the opportunity to send you to the Sparkle Blue.”

  “Stop being such a worry-slug. As long as my guardians protect the cavern entrance, we are safe.” Kaleth gestured at the fin’jaa guarding the throne cavern. Even if Hokuu could get in, he wouldn’t leave alive. He didn’t have that much power.

  But to allow him to swim close enough to try . . .

  It was a bad idea.

  And what was Velenka’s role in all this? She was a mako and that didn’t hover well with Kaleth. All the guardian finjas of that species had betrayed her. She didn’t like makos in general since they were devious and sneaky. The coup only proved it. But what was the crucial information Velenka had? Why was she important to Hokuu? Kaleth didn’t know, and it was maddening.

  “What if there was another way?” Judijoan asked. “One where even Gray would be protected and we could strike at Hokuu?”

  “Speak,” Kaleth ordered.

  “Besides you, there is only one threat that the frill must fear.”

  “Takiza,” she said, nodding.

  Judijoan waved her tail with the current. “Use the betta as bait. He did betray you, after all.”

  Kaleth wanted to yell at Judijoan but didn’t. She held her tongue and thought it through. To do something like that was to swim a darker current than she was used to.

  Of course, Graynoldus’s son must be protected. The father had always been kind to Kaleth, even championing her for a position on the Fifth Shiver Line.

  For now, Hokuu didn’t want to harm him. But that could change.

  Again Kaleth racked her mind. What was the frilled shark’s plan? It followed no logic she could decipher. For some laughable reason she remembered the dogfish Barkley saying, “Hokuu doesn’t need Velenka. There’s something else going on.”

  Kaleth shook her head, dismissing the words of the annoying dweller. When she had to rely on advice from a dogfish, it would be time to give up the role of Seazarein.

  But using Takiza to draw out Hokuu felt wrong. She was playing with his life, although the betta would certainly do the same if the situation were reversed. That much was clear from what Kaleth had learned today.

  It was wrong and she knew that.

  But . . . it could also work.

  CHAPTER 19

  HOKUU RIPPED INTO THE FLANK OF A LARGE Riptide scout he had picked off. The frilled shark motioned with his tail at the torn hammerhead. “Come! You must be starving!”

  That was true. Velenka hadn’t eaten in a long while. And the food in the Riptide prison always seemed stale. Maybe that was because she wasn’t the type of shark that liked anyone else doing her hunting. But still, Velenka didn’t want to eat. “I caught a fat grouper earlier,” she lied.

  Hokuu shook his head. He knew it was untrue but let it pass. He had other things on his mind. “Are you ready to tell me your idea of getting to Gray? It would be a shame if I had to kill a fellow prehistore. Especially one with royal blood.”

  “Gray is a royal prehistore?” she asked. How very interesting.

  “Yes,” the frill answered. “It would be good to have him alive as insurance.”

  “Can you tell me why letting the prehistores into this world is a good thing?” Velenka asked. “I need to explain that to Gray. Especially the part about Drinnok coming in and eating everyone. Why is it good? If I can make him understand that, maybe I can sway him.”

  “Maybe?” asked Hokuu, his emerald eyes narrowing to slits.

  “I mean, I will sway him,” Velenka corrected herself.

  Hokuu nodded. “First of all, Tyro will be pleased. It’s because of his will that I’m doing this. There’s no better reason than that.”

  Velenka’s mouth hung open. “Um, yes. But as you definitely know, we in this world don’t have as good a connection with Tyro as you do.”

  “True, true,” Hokuu said, nodding to himself.

  Velenka felt her stomach clench. Hokuu believed he was doing Tyro’s will by killing the sharkkind in the Big Blue. That didn’t make any sense. But much of what Hokuu said to her didn’t make sense. Her experience with Finnivus was a grim and unsettling one. But at least he—and Velenka couldn’t believe she was even thinking this—at least he wanted to rule the sharks of the Big Blue. Sure, he would eat the
ones that displeased him, but for the most part, Finnivus wanted everyone to worship him.

  Hokuu led her to think that Drinnok wanted the prehistores to resettle the Big Blue and send everyone to the Sparkle Blue doing it. They didn’t want anyone to bow before them? It seemed odd for a royal shiver to simply want everyone gone.

  Was Hokuu lying to her? Why?

  “So when the prehistores and this Drinnok come, they’ll conquer the Big Blue. And then what?” she asked.

  Hokuu gracefully rose from the seabed and his kill. His eyes seemed to shine even brighter. “Oh, it’ll be glorious! Drinnok and his mega-armada will sweep out of the South Sific and conquer everything in their paths! And we’ll get to watch!”

  “I assume you’d help Drinnok rule,” Velenka said, and then in a much lower voice she added, “Or maybe take over if he didn’t make the best decisions?”

  Hokuu was on her in a fin flick, grasping her so tightly with his coils that Velenka thought she would die. “No! That’s what you’d do! I know about your hunger for power. I’d never do that!” The coils wrapping her relaxed. “But I will help Drinnok rule, of course. You see, I’m not royalty, so according to the laws of Fifth Shiver, I can’t rule.”

  “But Gray could . . . ” Velenka whispered.

  Hokuu nodded. “And so you finally get it. The Big Blue needs to be conquered by Fifth Shiver, but Bollagan the fool wouldn’t even consider it. Only Drinnok saw the glory of taking our rightful place, which is everywhere.”

  “But if Drinnok disagrees—”

  “Exactly!” said Hokuu, snapping his tail so it made a loud crack! “If he doesn’t appreciate what I, and my species, have done . . . well, there’s always Gray and his claim to the throne.”

  “Gray won’t stay still while all his friends are eaten though,” Velenka said. “I know this for a fact.”

  The frilled shark waved his tail dismissively. “Once they’re gone, what’s he going to do? He’ll have no choice but to follow orders or die. And if he wants to die by killing Drinnok, should that megalodon not give me and all frilled sharks our due, then so be it.” Hokuu pointed at her. “And of course, I haven’t forgotten about you. You’ll also have your reward.”