by EJ Altbacker
Barkley saw Gray zooming from another secret training session. He had been hovering unseen in the tall greenie for just this opportunity. “Hey Gray!” Barkley said when he was right above him.
“Gah!” Gray shouted, startled. “What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
“Umm, sorry,” Barkley said. “I’m sneaky, remember? I need to talk with you for a minute.”
“I don’t have a minute!” his friend snapped.
Barkley kept pace. He was speedy for a dogfish. “Look, I want to be helpful, but being in the armada—”
Gray wheeled, and Barkley banged his snout against his rock-like side. “What? Are you too good to fight?”
“Of course I’m not too good to fight!” Barkley protested. “I’m too bad to fight!”
“Let me tell you something,” Gray shouted. “We all wish we could do something else, especially me! But sometimes you have to swim with the current that’s flowing!” And with a flick of his powerful tail, Gray was gone.
The pressure was really getting to his friend. And Lochlan didn’t seem to be getting any better. We’re in real trouble, Barkley thought as he swam through what used to be the Razor Shiver homewaters.
The fact remained, he was a terrible mariner.
If there was only something else I could do!
Barkley had tried being a long-range scout but discovered he wasn’t strong enough. A dogfish didn’t have the endurance to swim the distances in the time necessary to bring in vital information. Blues and tigers were much more suited for that. And every fin was needed in the armada. If Riptide United’s formation was too much smaller than its foe, the Indi armada would simply overwhelm them.
So, my job is to be chum, Barkley thought. The best I can hope for is that a Black Wave mariner chokes on me. I’m worthless.
“Move aside, doggie!” said a group of Hammer Shiver mariners as they swept past. The last one gave Barkley a tail slap to the face and they all laughed.
Barkley thought most big mariners were chowderheads. They never had to swim away from a threat when they were growing up. Many of the best ones were bullies from time to time. Or always. They certainly didn’t show respect to anyone who couldn’t hold their own in a snout-to-snout fight.
And of course, they don’t have a high opinion of dogfish in particular, Barkley thought. Not many sharkkind do.
They were right in a way, though. They were mariners of Riptide United. They would be fighting on the front lines. They were risking their lives to protect everyone else. They were useful.
Barkley’s tail drooped. He felt an electric charge tingle his left flank. Prime Minister Shocks was speaking to a group of refugees with Sandy by his side. Remnants of shivers attacked by Finnivus had sporadically arrived since the Battle of Riptide. But for some reason, even though the threat of Finnivus was coming closer, the numbers were growing. More and more came. And it wasn’t as if Lochlan or anyone was keeping it a secret. They told everyone that the Riptide homewaters would be attacked as sure as the tide moves. Oddly, most decided to stay in spite of this.
Perhaps they were tired of moving, or perhaps they wanted revenge, although he didn’t think the latter was the case. Barkley thought it was because Riptide was the one place in the Big Blue that offered hope. Here gathered the fins who refused to lower their snouts to that royal flipper, sharks who had actually swum out against Finnivus and bloodied his invincible armada.
Barkley let out an involuntary shiver. If they saw how he’d messed up during Striiker’s practice drills, perhaps they’d think again. But still, they came.
This new group of refugees was a small one. Barkley wondered how big their shiver had been before they were attacked. He swam over and heard Shocks saying, “I know you have questions, but I don’t have time to answer them now. Why don’t you go feed? Follow Sandy. You look like you can all use a meal! While you do that, I’ll find you a place to call your own.” Shocks waved them away with his supple eel body.
The sharkkind refugees reluctantly moved off. Barkley could see many wore markings and tattoos, like Indi Shiver, but different. The group seemed confused at which way to go, and some were injured.
“Barkley, would you mind helping me out?” Sandy asked. She motioned that another group of refugees was coming. “Can you show them where to hunt and maybe talk to them while I help the ones coming now?”
“Sure,” he answered, feeling a sense of relief. Here was something he could actually do.
Gray always says I never stop talking, Barkley thought as he waved the mixed group over. A few of these sharkkind had green stripes on their flanks. Another half-dozen had a triangular pattern on their bellies, and one older female had an orange dot on her tail.
“Hi, I’m Barkley!” he told them. “Why don’t I take you to the hunting grounds?”
Everyone was grateful. They had been swimming for weeks. Who knew when they had last eaten? But Barkley saw that the older shark with the orange dot on her tail didn’t react as enthusiastically as the others. He hung back and swam beside her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She had been crying. “I’m fine,” she answered, but she obviously wasn’t. “Have you seen any others from my shiver?” She waggled her tail with its distinctive orange dot marking.
“Yes, I think so,” Barkley said cautiously, and she brightened immediately. He knew that at least two of her shiver were here or he wouldn’t have dared mention it.
She came closer to him, full of eager hope. “Are they—the ones from my shiver—are they pups, or adults?”
“Why, they’re adults,” Barkley answered. It was odd, now that he thought about it. Aside from the pups in Coral, there weren’t too many from the refugee shivers. Looking at the two newest groups, he noted there were no younglings among them, either. “Why do you ask?”
The old shark grew sad once more. “Because after they attacked us, they took our pups.” She began crying and rubbed against Barkley. “They took our pups!” she wailed.
Barkley tried to comfort her as best he could, but inside, his heart turned to stone.
He would help Riptide United beat Finnivus in whatever way he could.
And if the only way is to choke one of their mariners by swimming straight down its gullet, than that’s what I’ll do, Barkley thought.
IT WAS EARLY MORNING BY THE TIME GRAY reached the deep-water coral fields where Striiker had been training the Riptide recruits a few days before. He was well-familiar with the area.
Takiza’s Torture Pit.
The razor sharp coral spires were still there, standing silently in the dark waters. But Gray didn’t have the same difficulty breathing he once did.
Must be Takiza’s doing, he thought. The Siamese fighting fish had worked him mercilessly at these depths since the Battle of Riptide.
But a chill crept down Gray’s spine as he drifted over the edge of the training field and saw the dark hole in the ocean called the Maw. That was where he could get the something that might give them the advantage they would need in the fight against Finnivus and his Indi armada—maredsoo!
It was Takiza who had told Gray that maredsoo only grew in the deep waters of the Maw, before sending him after some when they were about to face Finnivus and the Indi armada the first time. Takiza then swam across the ocean into the Sific and gave it to the AuzyAuzy mariners, so they could power back in time for the Battle of Riptide. Without that maredsoo, the Golden Rush wouldn’t have made it, and everyone Gray knew would have gone to the Sparkle Blue.
Well, if it worked once, it could make the difference again!
Of course last time Takiza had woven Gray a greenie harness that held a rock, which dragged him downward. Now, he would have to power himself. Takiza had also gotten two devilfish to guide Gray. Now, he would need to find his own way.
Oh, come on, it’s straight down, Gray thought. It doesn’t get any simpler! Don’t be a baby turtle!
It was well known that turtle hatchlings were the least b
rave dwellers in the entire Big Blue, and he definitely wasn’t one of those. Yet Gray shivered as he felt the cold water rush past him on its way down into the blackness. It gave him the chills something fierce.
The Maw was so deep, it went into what sharkkind called the Dark Blue. Regular sharks didn’t live there. Regular dwellers didn’t live there. Everything that swam in the Dark Blue, at least those that Gray saw when he went down the first time, was weird and scary.
“You don’t bother them, they won’t bother you,” Gray said to himself, trying to ease his fright. He hovered over the edge and yelled into the dark, “I’m not looking for any trouble. Just getting some maredsoo and then leaving.”
No one answered, of course. The only sound Gray could hear was the heavy, black water whisking past his flanks. “Good, then,” he announced, as if someone had answered that it was okay.
There was no sense in putting it off any longer. Here we go, Gray thought as he pushed himself over the ledge into the Maw. He pointed his snout straight into the deep blackness.
Going down.
Gray had timed his journey so it would begin when the sun was straight up above the chop-chop. But soon enough, there was only total darkness.
Gray kept his wits about him, concentrating on the currents and making sure he swam a straight course. If he didn’t reach the bottom, it would all be for nothing.
Down, down, down, he went.
Gray panted heavily, his gills pumping the thicker, freezing waters into his body. It hurt. And the cold water made his body ache more than he remembered.
“I c-c-can do this,” Gray told himself, teeth chattering. “I c-c-can do—”
BOOM!
Gray saw stars!
But there can’t be stars! I’m nowhere near the sky, he thought. Then the tiny motes of light disappeared, leaving only pitch-blackness. Gray swam forward and hit something. He tapped at it with his tail, then rubbed a fin against it.
A rock.
What is a rock doing in the middle of the Maw? Gray puzzled. At least he wasn’t cold. In fact, it was pretty warm, which was nice, but now he couldn’t think straight. Everything seemed kind of fuzzy, like when the warm waters of the Caribbi Sea where he grew up had a mass of plankton float by. Maybe he should just relax and take a nap until his head cleared …
Wait a second!
Gray shook his snout from side to side, clearing it. He couldn’t go to sleep in the Maw! What was he thinking? Gray tried to move forward and discovered it wasn’t a rock in the middle of the Maw. It was the mountain wall of the Maw!
Sometime during his descent Gray had turned sideways! But when? For how far? And in which direction? Since he hit his head, Gray couldn’t remember. And everything was dark around him.
“You look losssst, friend,” said a hissing voice.
Gray tried to move away but hit the mountain wall again! “Who’s that?” he asked, hoping his voice didn’t crack too much.
“They call me Mog,” the voice answered. “Jussst hold sssstill.”
Gray might be dumb every now and again—like when I started swimming down here, he thought—but he wasn’t that stupid. He rocketed away from where he thought the unseen voice was coming from. It was then that Gray felt the thickest, ropiest greenie ever, wrapping onto his flank. He adjusted his course, but the greenie stuck to his side.
Then a light flared!
It was a small light, not even that bright, but in the total blackness around him it was like a flashnboomer had gone off! Gray saw that what he thought was thick greenie wasn’t greenie at all.
It was a giant octopus’s tentacle!
There were voices speaking, but his concentration was totally on the monster attached to him. The ugly head seemed larger than Gray himself. Its beaky mouth screeched, a sound that chilled his blood. And the huge octo’s other creepy, super-long, and very thick arms were coming for him, too!
The light went out when someone screamed in terror.
Is that high-pitched screaming coming from me? Gray thought woozily.
He churned his tail back and forth but didn’t feel he was moving. He spun around and saw the huge octo holding onto his side. Gray was dragging it! He had to get this deep-sea horror off or else the giant Maw dweller would have him for lunch.
As if reading his mind, the creature growled in a raspy voice, “Sssstay sssstillll!”
Two more voices started talking! “What’s his name again?” asked one.
The other, more irritated, answered, “I don’t remember. Big dumb fin? Chunky pup? Something like that?”
Gray felt himself being dragged closer to the immense octopus. He was about to give in to complete terror when he remembered something Takiza had told him: A clear mind is your best weapon.
Gray stopped struggling and let the cold waters wash over him.
Then, he knew.
If he were dragging the immense octo, swimming away would tire him out. He needed to attack and get it to detach. Gray turned and streaked at the Maw dweller, whose giant eyes—each the size of a fully inflated giant puffer fish—blinked in surprise.
BAMMO! Gray rammed the octo in its big, fat head, driving it down into the darkness.
“Ouuuuch!” it yelped.
That was kind of odd. Not really the reaction a Maw monster should have, Gray thought. He heard the other voices again, but now they were closer.
Another light pierced the darkness around him.
Gray found a devilfish floating by his eye. The little horror’s mouth bristled with long needle teeth, and its black, slimy skin glistened in its light.
“I hope you’re happy! Now Mog is going to have a lump!”
A smaller devilfish, attached to the larger one’s side with his fangs, said, “I can see why Takiza doesn’t take you anywhere!”
As if through a haze, their names floated into Gray’s mind. “Briny? Hank?” he asked, not sure if it could be true.
“See?” said Briny, the larger of the two. “He’s coming around. I told you he didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Do what?” asked Gray.
The smaller, male devilfish moved from his position on Briny’s side. “First you blast through our party without even a hello. Then you smash your head on the wall, and when we send Mog to show you which way is up, you try and jerk one of his tentacles off. And you top it off by attacking him. I’m curious, I really am—where were you raised?” Hank then asked Briny, “I mean, really, who does that?”
Gray shook off his pain and weariness. The giant octo was closer and favoring the one tentacle. “It hurrrrtssss,” he rasped.
Gray felt awful. It sounded like Mog was crying. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I thought you were trying to eat me.”
“You’re a sssstupid jerrrrrk,” Mog replied. He was definitely sniffling. Could the giant octo be a pup? Unbelievable!
Gray’s throat grew tight, but not because of the water. I’ve done something stupid! Again! he thought. And he was no closer to finding a way to save his friends from Finnivus and his mariners.
Briny swam closer, concern etched on her horrible, fang-filled, but somehow still kind features. “What’s the matter?” she asked. She turned toward Hank. “Something’s the matter.”
“I’ll tell you what’s the matter,” Hank grumbled. “He’s a jellyheaded party ruiner. That’s what’s the matter.”
“You shush,” Briny told her husband. “Gray, tell me what’s got you upset. You tell Aunt Briny this instant!”
So he did.
Gray told Briny, Hank, and even Mog—who had stopped sniffling and seemed to regain the use of his injured tentacle—about everything that was happening in the waters above: Finnivus, the finja, the armada, the death of Shell, how Takiza had gone who knew where, Lochlan’s injury, and how Gray was expected to lead everyone to victory over the Indi armada! He ended with, “And I just don’t think I can do it! I’m going to fail, and everyone I care about will swim the Sparkle Blue!”
“You p
oor boy,” Briny said.
“Sssooo ssssad,” Mog agreed, and then placed one of his huge tentacles gently over Gray’s flanks. It didn’t feel so bad, once you got used to it.
Kind of comforting, in fact.
“Hank, say something nice,” Briny ordered.
“You care for your friends, so you’re not a total loser,” Hank said. “Let’s get you back where you belong before you catch your death.”
Gray was so tired from the swim that he knew there was no point in going deeper for the maredsoo. He would never make it. He let Hank and Briny guide him upward.
The depths, physical strain, and terror made him numb. Though Briny said many encouraging things, all Gray could focus on were Hank’s words before you catch your death. The phrase echoed in his ears, and the blackness of the Maw seeped into his mind and darkened it.
When Gray got to the training fields, he swam home. He went fast, the time spent on his failed quest making his face burn with shame.
Finnivus is coming, and all I did was waste time! he chastised himself.
Gray felt like crying.
There is no hope, he thought. I will catch my death. Everyone will …
IT HAD BEEN ONLY A DAY SINCE GRAY’S ill-fated trip to the Maw, and he was exhausted. But Whalem’s scouts reported there was still time before Finnivus and his hordes arrived, so Gray carefully brought up the idea to get maredsoo for the mariners to Takiza, without actually saying he had already tried, of course.
It didn’t go well.
The betta basically called him an idiot in his wordy way. He explained between insults that while maredsoo was good for giving energy for long-distance swims, it wasn’t good in the short term. In fact, giving mariners maredsoo would guarantee they wouldn’t be able to swim in battle formation. “They would have too much energy to concentrate on their orders, and half of them would be throwing up. But why do you ask such a stupid question?”
Gray quickly changed the subject and swam off to his training with Lochlan. Between Takiza and Lochlan, it was like he was being buffeted by two completely different, but equally rough, currents.