Into the Abyss

by EJ Altbacker

  That wasn’t the case.

  Ever since Finnivus attacked their homewaters and killed their king, the Golden Rush had waited for this very second, of this minute, of this hour, of this day.

  They swam like sharkkind possessed.

  Time slowed. Gray’s senses went into overdrive. He felt the individual vibrations when a shark down the row screamed his last scream. He heard every wail as doomed mariners from both sides spiraled into the crushing depths of the Maw. And he saw it all clearly as if it were a sunny day.

  The Golden Rush zoomed into the gap created by Hammer and Vortex Shivers. Gray and AuzyAuzy tore their way past the last rows of regular mariners in front of Finnivus and slammed into the armored squaline.

  “Defend me!” shrieked Finnivus when he saw how close Gray and his forces were. “Defend me!”

  For a split second it seemed as if the sheer ferocity of the Golden Rush’s charge would overwhelm the squaline. But these sharks were the best of the best. They stiffened their resolve and stopped Gray and the AuzyAuzy fins dead in the water. Now the battle was a straight up brawl. Sharks above and below twisted madly back and forth in mortal combat. It was like fighting inside a cave where the cave itself was made of brawling sharks.

  The AuzyAuzy mariners fought, biting and ramming armored flanks and fins. Some squaline were sent to the Sparkle Blue, but many more attacks were unsuccessful because of the tough landshark armor they wore. And Finnivus’s personal guard was superbly trained. Soon three and four Golden Rush sharks were dying for each squaline they defeated.

  All would be lost if they didn’t break through in the next seconds.

  “PRIME MINISTER!” Gray yelled, extra loud, because Prime Minister Shocks definitely didn’t understand dolphin. “NOW!”

  Prime Minister Shocks was a very good representative for the dwellers. That he was an eel didn’t matter for that job. But that he was an eel—an electric eel—did matter for this job. Shocks and his friends swam out from under the bellies of the sharkkind that were carrying them and struck the squaline, unleashing their stored electricity. Gray knew that the charge packed power, but it worked beyond his wildest dreams. Somehow the metal landshark armor the squaline wore multiplied the strength of the electrical bolts from Shocks and his kind, creating absolute devastation.

  When they were zapped, some of the squaline went rigid, others twitched and jerked, and still others slammed their jaws shut so hard they broke their teeth into shards. While the landshark armor was very hard to bite through for Gray and his allies, apparently electricity had an entirely different kind of bite.

  “NOOO!” yelled Finnivus. “RETREAT!”

  Gray was close enough that he could see the emperor’s insane eyes rolling. Finnivus wanted to swim away, but there were Tik-Tun and his orcas, hitting the Indi armada from behind. There was nowhere to go.

  Gray was close enough to shout, “Yield now! You’ve lost!”

  The tiger emperor’s eyes glowed with hatred. “I never lose! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill everyone!”

  Finnivus charged, as did Gray. Neither did a fancy or brilliant move. It wasn’t the elegant dance of combat that Gray sometimes admired. No, they just crashed into each other at full speed. Gray was heavier but was stunned by the hit anyway. Finnivus received worse, yet still he came on, his lunacy propelling him with a ferocity that was almost otherworldly. “I’ll never give up! I’ll kill you all!” he screamed.

  Gray did a quick reverse spin and landed a huge tail slap under the emperor’s chin, flipping him completely around. Gray knew that Finnivus was telling the truth. He would never give up. Capturing him wasn’t an option. Not when defeat hovered in the battle waters with each split second the clash continued. All this went through Gray’s mind in an instant.

  He struck at Finnivus’s tail and sheered it clean off.

  The fighting around them slowed.

  “The emperor lost his tail!” one of the remaining squaline shouted. Other sharks stopped fighting, turning to watch.

  Stillness and quiet spread through the battle waters. Sharks from both sides wanted to see what would happen next.

  Finnivus was in shock, blood pouring from the stump where his tail used to be, thick and red. “What? Why—why can’t I move properly?” he gasped and sputtered. He tried to lunge at a squaline to bite him. “Why aren’t you fighting? You will give your life for mine! Kill someone!”

  Finnivus began to drift downward. Sharks adjusted their position, opening a path for the emperor to glide downward. Gray swam at the tiger’s side as he headed for the blackness below.

  “It’s over,” Gray told him. “You’ve lost. Would you like me to end your suffering?”

  “You’ll end nothing!” Finnivus spit blood. “I—we—will overcome this! You’ll see! I’ll make you suffer! I will slaughter you all!”

  Gray hardened his heart and stopped swimming as Finnivus sank into the darkness of the Maw. “As you wish,” he told the emperor.

  Finnivus shrieked, “Get over here so I can bite you in the gills! I—we—command it!” His raging threats continued but grew quieter as he got farther away.

  Then Finnivus disappeared into the blackness of the Maw. After a moment of silence, his insane, high-pitched tittering could be heard.

  Then nothing at all.

  Gray turned, and the Riptide United mariners re-formed around him. They had inflicted so many losses on the Indi armada that it was barely larger than their own force.

  Gray knew he could beat them.

  But it will be so bloody, he thought sadly.

  A tiger shark, one of the last Indi commanders alive, swam out in front of the Black Wave’s ragged formation. For a moment Gray thought he would give the order to attack. Then, the commander simply said, “We surrender.”

  It was over.

  The war was finally over.

  Velenka clung low by the rocky bottom and scrub greenie that grew in the depths near the Maw. The pressure and darkness were stifling, but the ferocity of the battle was far worse. She was uninjured and planned to keep it that way. The battle waters quieted somewhat, but dying sharkkind were landing everywhere. Velenka was glad. It meant that no one would notice her slinking away.

  Almost no one.

  “Going somewhere?”

  Her eyes went toward the voice in the gloom, and she saw—No! It couldn’t be! The dogfish, Barkley, was there.

  “Did you still want to take a fin from me?” he asked.

  Velenka needed no further prodding. She accelerated to send the little nuisance to the Sparkle Blue—but the sneaky dogfish did an amazing move, slipping by her strike and landing a stinging blow with his tail to her face!

  She didn’t have time for this.

  “Get out of my way, doggie!” she hissed.

  “Take her, Mari,” Barkley said and waggled his tail in some sort of signal.

  From out of nowhere, a thresher rammed Velenka in the soft of her flank.

  “I’ve always wanted to do that,” Mari said as Velenka lost consciousness.

  THERE WAS A WEIRDNESS TO FROZEN LAVA ROCK. It could look as if it were still moving, sometimes jagged and sharp while other times collecting in smooth pools. Gray idly noted this as he, Barkley, and Mari swam down the rippled lava tube.

  “I have to admit, I thought Jaunt was crazy to do this,” Mari said.

  “Yeah, but she was right,” Barkley added. The three of them rounded a corner. Several lumos had agreed to stay in one-month shifts to give off enough light to see by, in return for food and a great place on a coral reef in the now very popular Riptide homewaters. “Who knew these prison cells would be this useful?” The trio glided from the lava tube into a cavern.

  “Come to taunt me, Gray?” Velenka asked when they entered. The blacker than night mako stared balefully from inside one of Jaunt’s reclaimed cells in what she called Riptide’s royal dungeons.

  “I can’t believe you caught her,” Gray said, not answering her question but instea
d continuing his conversation with Barkley and Mari.

  Velenka was in a cell cave off the main lava tube. Thick whale ribs saw to it that she would stay put. It allowed plenty of water to circulate so she could breathe easily and even see a bit of the Big Blue through a long, thin hole. That was probably created by an air bubble escaping when the lava was hot and liquid.

  “I don’t know how you planned everything so completely by the Maw, but putting the ghostfins down below to bump and guide our injured mariners to safety was a tail stroke of genius,” Barkley said.

  Mari gave Gray a friendly flank rub. “We saved at least seventy of our mariners from sliding in. The royal doctor and surgeonfish have healed many of them. And we caught this bit of trash as a bonus.”

  “Don’t ignore me!” Velenka shouted. “You can’t keep me here! It’s cruel, Gray! Are you like Finnivus?”

  Now Gray did look at Velenka, and his stare made her back away.

  “What are you going to do? Get away from me!” The mako shivered and shook in fear. For a moment, Gray felt sorry for her.

  “Some think I should execute you, Velenka,” he said.

  Velenka screeched, “Not fair! I didn’t do anything! I tried to help you all! I—”

  Gray slammed his bulk against the whalebone bars, rattling them and startling her into silence. “Don’t think anyone will believe that, Velenka! Your soul is as black as your hide.”

  “Will you … execute me?” she asked in a small voice.

  “No,” Gray said.

  Barkley added, “Not that you don’t deserve it.”

  Velenka stopped trembling and sniffled. Now Gray realized it had been an act by the crafty mako. “So what will you do?” she asked.

  “You’ll stay here for now,” he answered.

  “But you’ll let me go sometime? One day?”

  Gray hesitated, and Mari took it as a sign he was considering this. “She’s evil and will only cause mischief. Or worse.”

  “Be quiet or else!” Velenka yelled at Mari.

  Barkley smirked at Gray. “There’s the Velenka I remember.”

  “I—I don’t know what came over me,” the mako stammered. “Finnivus, he—he—twisted my mind!”

  “Give it a rest,” Mari told the mako. “Like Gray said, we can see through you.”

  Gray knew Velenka was dangerous, that was for sure. And she certainly couldn’t be let out for a long while. She might take over Indi Shiver if the new ruler proved to be weak. Gray heard that an epaulette shark from the royal court would be speaking for Indi when they met to discuss their future. He hoped that this Tydal, as he was called, was a peace-loving shark. Indi’s mariners were still under guard, their commanders held with their own landshark chains to avoid any regrouping or organizing. And the entire royal court was under AuzyAuzy’s watchful gaze.

  Velenka swished her tail hypnotically. “So, what will you do, then? You won’t send me to the Sparkle Blue, and you won’t keep me here forever.”

  Barkley was about to say something, but Gray cut him off with a light slap to his flank. “You may swim free one day, Velenka. But that won’t be today, tomorrow, or next week. In fact, you can count on it not happening for a long, long while.” He looked at Barkley and Mari. “We’re done here. Let’s go.”

  Velenka shouted as they swam up the lava tube, and it echoed as they left. “Have your fun! I have lots of time down here, and all I’ll be doing is thinking—thinking about how to get even with you! Remember this, it’s what I do best!”

  GRAY WAS RELIEVED WHEN THEY SWAM INTO the brilliant sunlit waters. “Are you okay?” Mari asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Barkley saw Gray was troubled and said, “It’s what we have to do for now. She’s too dangerous to be off on her own, unsupervised.”

  “I know,” he answered. “Can we do something besides talk about Velenka?”

  Mari gave Barkley a look. “Oh, I think we might be able to help with that.”

  “Follow us, please,” Barkley said.

  So Gray did.

  And it was just what he and everyone needed.

  There was a party at Slaggernacks, possibly the biggest party that the North Atlantis had ever seen. There were so many sharkkind from Riptide, AuzyAuzy, Vortex, and Hammer Shivers that a second party started at the homewaters. It was a reaction, Gray thought, to the spine-jangling fear that everyone was forced to endure since Finnivus and the Black Wave had come into their lives. Sharks and dwellers could finally stop worrying and get on with living. If it was a nice day and you wanted to do something fun, there was nothing stopping you.

  It felt wonderful.

  As chance had it, Gray, Mari, and Barkley got the same spot they had the last time they went to Slaggernacks. That was the night they were attacked by the finja and Shell lost his life.

  Barkley knew what Gray was thinking and bumped his flank. “It’s okay to miss him, but Shell wouldn’t have wanted us to be sad. Not today.”

  The band, which featured two bowhead whales, sang a joyous song with backup from five of Tik-Tun’s orcas. Though the orca leader left for the Arktik with the others from his battle pod, the injured had remained to heal. It looked like the five were well on their way to a full recovery as they belted out song after song.

  “You’re right,” Gray said. He moved himself upwards and caught the eye of his server. “Another round of the haddock! As hot as you can make it!”

  “Aww, come on, Gray!” huffed the dogfish. “Are you punishing me?”

  “You said it was tasty last time,” remarked Mari, clicking her teeth together in a grin.

  Barkley tail slapped Gray in mock annoyance. “That was before I said it felt like I was going to explode in a fireball.”

  Grinder and Silversun came over to their area. The hammerhead bumped him with his flank. “You ever need a few good sharks, you send word. We’ll be there.”

  “That’s good to know,” Gray told him. “Thank you.”

  The port jackson shark gave a florid bob of his blocky head. “The same goes for me. But remember, you will never please everyone. Strive to make the best decisions and the rest will sort itself out.”

  Gray wanted to ask Silversun what he meant, but Grinder interrupted with a question for Silversun. “I’m going to get me some seasoned bluefin. You want some?” Both Grinder and Silversun swam off to a less crowded area.

  “What was that supposed to mean?” Gray wondered out loud.

  “It means youse is the big fin around here,” said a gravelly voice above them. Barkley started as Trank floated into their midst from the ceiling. The stonefish could conceal himself better than anyone.

  Mari frowned at Trank. “How long were you going to hover there, listening to us?”

  “Not too long,” Trank answered. He shook himself, and a piece of greenie fell off his weirdly formed scales. “Besides, youse shouldn’t be talking about anything too important in a place where just anyone could hear.”

  “He’s actually right about that,” Barkley agreed grudgingly. He still didn’t like the stonefish very much.

  “And Gafin says youse can count on our support,” Trank told Gray. “Getting rid of that flipper Finnivus was a good thing. A real good thing. Of course, you eat free here from now on. Kings always do.”

  “Kings?”

  Mari and Barkley took in Gray’s bewildered look and burst out laughing. Barkley gave him a good-natured fin slap. “You don’t get it, do you? Gray, you’re the King of the Atlantis.”

  “No, no,” Gray sputtered.

  “There’s no one else anyone would rather follow,” Mari told him with certainty.

  Barkley did an exaggerated head bob in front of Gray. “Oh, Your Royal Muck-Suckerness, you’ll have so much fun sorting out territory disputes, stopping territory feuds, and of course, deciding who will be in your royal court!”

  “No,” Gray said evenly. “We didn’t just get rid of Finnivus to replace him with another king.” Both Barkley
and Mari opened their mouths to disagree, but he waved them quiet. “I am leader of Riptide Shiver, and we’ll watch over the Atlantis so that sharkkind and dwellers can live in peace. But that’s it. No kings.”

  “Do not make any plans for the future,” said Takiza. “There are things you have to do, whatever you choose to call yourself.”

  Everyone shouted, “Takiza!”

  Trank immediately made himself scarce, mumbling a quick, “Gotta check the seasonings. Enjoy your meal.”

  The little betta shook his fins with a flourish. “I am sorry I was unable to help with Finnivus. But I knew you would be victorious.”

  “What were you doing?” asked Barkley.

  “That would be none of your business,” Takiza answered. He looked over at Gray. “Gather two battle fins of your best mariners and those closest to you. You must meet the other leaders of the Big Blue. It will calm everyone, proving that the danger has passed. It will also prevent other sharkkind with inflated opinions of themselves from getting stupid ideas. So many sharkkind are well-versed in thinking up stupid ideas when given half the chance. We need no more blood in the water.” The little betta studied Gray. “And thank goodness you seem presentable. Well, as presentable as you will ever be.”

  “Presentable to whom?” asked Mari.

  “Why, the Seazarein, of course. She desires to meet you,” Takiza said. “We leave tomorrow.”

  GRAY’S MOM STAYED BEHIND, ALTHOUGH HE asked her to come along. But Sandy was now mother to all the pup mariners from Indi Shiver. She was using Barkley’s unit to track down any relatives they could. This was good because the ghostfins also collected information about what was going on in the Big Blue while doing that.

  When family or friends were found, the pups were reunited with them. If there were no relations left, or if they wanted to stay and become Riptide Shiver members, that was okay, too. Gray’s younger brother and sister, Riprap and Ebbie, became the designated mascots to the group and now counted a hundred big brothers and big sisters.

  Even without Sandy, Gray thought they were bringing far too many fins on their journey. But when it was announced that he would be touring the Big Blue, many of the major shivers insisted on sending representatives to join the procession. Gray didn’t mind sharks from Riptide, AuzyAuzy, Hammer, and Vortex Shivers coming along. They were battle brothers and sisters and deserved to be there. But the others he could have done without.