by EJ Altbacker
“That sounds . . . awesome!” Snork said, whipping his bill back and forth in the water. He stopped and turned to Takiza. “But it can’t be true, about my dad, I mean. My dad never went on adventures. He never went anywhere. He stayed with me and my mom.”
“Yes, he would have,” Takiza said, nodding. “Bladefish are loyal and true. I suspect your father met your mother, promised himself to her, and then you came along.”
Snork liked the story. And his father had loved his mother. That was definitely true. He thought back to the last time he had seen his father. Their shiver was being attacked. Even though his dad wasn’t in the Line, he was right at the front of the fighting. Then it was all chaos . . . Snork swam and swam. He didn’t know how long he was alone before meeting the first of his friends. He had been very young.
“Are you going to train me to be a bladefish?” Snork asked in wonder.
“I cannot,” Takiza said. “A bladefish must be trained by another bladefish. Oh, it pains me, but there is only one fin for this job.”
“Who’s that?” Snork asked.
Takiza was about to answer when a flying fish darted to a stop in front of the betta. The flying fish flicked his glittering fins in a downward salute. “Quickfin Speedmeister with a message for Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom from the Seazarein, Graynoldus Emprex, lord of the seven seas, master of the five oceans—”
Takiza slashed his tail through the water. “Can’t you see that I am ages old? Please get to the message while I am still alive to hear it.”
Snork watched as Speedmeister—what a cool name!—continued.“Yes, honored Takiza! Code word: Orange Roughy. The message is as follows—”
The betta shook his fins once more. “I assume this is a private message.” Takiza pointed with his tail at Snork.
“Oh my, yes! Sorry!” the quickfin messenger responded. “I just get so excited. I love this job!”
Snork couldn’t hear anything after that. He could see Takiza nod, frown, and then frown some more. He told Speedmeister something and the flying fish sped off in a blur.
“Bad news?” he asked.
Takiza sighed. “It seems your training will be continued at a different location.”
THE FIRE WATERS BLAZED TO HOKUU’S LEFT AS a gout of lava blasted from the seabed before being snuffed out in a sizzling hiss. He reached out with his senses. The ground below trembled with seaquakes, causing some of the giant rock spires nearby to crumble and fall. The barrier between the Underwaters and the Big Blue was weak here.
This would be the spot.
Here is where a new watery world order will begin, Hokuu thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by one of his captains, Freya, a mako finja. “This place gives me the creeps,” she said.
Hokuu gazed at the prehistore mako. Freya was an excellent predator, one of his most reliable mariners. She had betrayed the former Seazarein, Kaleth, at the flick of his tail. Her loyalty was unquestioned. Freya had vowed to lay down her life for his cause along with each and every one of the fifty or so mako finja who were left from the original group. Just like frilled sharks, makos had been mistrusted since the time of Machiakelpi, who had swum with Tyro and First Shiver. Hokuu had promised an end to that. He had promised that they would never be looked down upon again, that they would be important.
Hokuu would keep his word. Now was the time he would make good on all his promises.
“Gather the others,” he told her. “I have something to tell them.” The finja left to spread the message.
Hokuu saw a flare of orange brilliance as another stream of molten rock brightened the waters for an instant. It was all coming together. After years of frustration, he would succeed in a matter of days. There had been so many delays, mostly caused by the massive challenge of creating a passageway to the Underwaters large and sturdy enough for a prehistore to use. The power he exerted with his mastery of shar-kata wasn’t enough to do it properly. Other times his setbacks were caused by Kaleth, Takiza, and even the insolent pup named Gray.
But Kaleth, the former Seazarein, was dead, and it was Hokuu’s tri-tipped teeth and spiked tail that were responsible. That victory had been sweet. Takiza would have also fallen but the little puffer fish had wriggled from his coils. Hokuu’s muscular body rippled in frustration at the memory. It would have been good to rid himself of that nuisance.
His old apprentice didn’t have the strength to match him, but Taki did possess a cunning and devious mind. Unfortunately, Hokuu himself had taught him some of that. No matter. The betta would swim the Sparkle Blue. And Gray, or Graynoldus, as he was being called now, was less than nothing to Hokuu. As if the fat pup could ever be the true Seazarein! He might be able to lead a drove of weak-minded fish to a few victories, but that was it. Hokuu could send the pudgy shark to the Sparkle Blue anytime he chose. If he and Taki came around now, well, they would get a nice surprise. This made Hokuu smile a bit.
Freya returned with the other mako prehistores and all gathered as a large seaquake shook the ground below them. A few of Hokuu’s mariners had to dodge a volcanic rock pillar that crumbled behind them. The weather in the fire waters was superb today! Hokuu took this as a favorable sign that the current he was on was the right one.
“The makos were the only fin’jaa from the Underwaters who understood that this world is a pale reflection of our shining past. The others—the tigers, the great whites, the hammerheads, blues and bulls, threshers and spinners—all of them, they shrank from the truth like turtles. The Big Blue is broken!”
“Hail, Hokuu!” cried Freya, and the other makos joined in with a throaty yell.
He rippled his body in an intricate pattern, which was his way to draw power from the water. In a moment he began giving off a soft glow. “To heal the Big Blue . . . we must destroy the pretenders who rule it today. To do that I must free our allies from the Underwaters!”
There was more cheering and Hokuu waited for it to die down. All the while he stole more and more energy from the ocean around them. Hokuu glowed brighter still because of this and soon he could see his reflection dancing in the black, black eyes of Freya and every other mako before him.
He dropped his voice. “But to free Drinnok and the others of Fifth Shiver requires more power than I can take from the waters, more than I can call with shar-kata. It requires sacrifice . . . from all of you!”
Some of the finja cheered. Others went silent. Many were confused. That was to be expected. They couldn’t understand how his vision of the future was to be made reality.
Hokuu filled himself as much as he could with the power of the waters and grew incandescent. He reached out and touched each one of his mariners. A few tried to turn and protect their eyes but found they could not. This wasn’t shar-kata, but dark-kata. It was a different and more powerful way of gathering power, not from the waters but from the life force of living things.
“Free Fifth Shiver so we can make everyone here suffer!” Freya shrieked.
Hokuu smiled at her. “You’ve always understood the concept of sacrifice, Freya. A better mariner has never gone to the Sparkle Blue.”
Freya preened, soaking in the compliment as if she were feasting on a scrumptious bluefin tuna. Then the mako realized that she couldn’t move. “What is this, my lord?” she asked.
“I thank you all for your loyal service,” Hokuu told the mako finja. “Drawing power from the waters isn’t enough to free the prehistores. I must have your strength!”
There were no cheers this time. The makos stared in stunned silence.
Hokuu sent his dark-kata lines of energy into the makos, into their powerful hearts and muscles, then sucked it greedily into himself. The mighty prehistore finja aged in front of his eyes as he stole their life force and made it his own. They crumpled, their flanks caving in, their smooth skin cracki
ng and flaking as their energy was added to Hokuu’s own.
Freya was strongest and lasted the longest. She was able to scream, “But—I love you!” before she too was nothing but a husk.
The current swept their remains away.
Hokuu stabilized the power raging inside his body before he answered, “I love you too, Freya. I love you all.”
And then, making sure he was in the correct spot, Hokuu created a beam of power that bit into the seabed toward the Underwaters. Toward glory and the future!
“IT’S TOO QUIET,” SHEAR MUTTERED FROM HIS position above Gray. The big tiger insisted on guarding Gray’s dorsal fin as they swam in the fire waters searching for Hokuu. Sometimes it felt like the captain of his guardians was riding on Gray’s back, which was supremely annoying.
“I think it’s nice,” said Leilani. The spinner shark twirled herself in the water. “I didn’t picture the fire waters being this calm.”
“They aren’t usually,” Gray told her, moving a little to his left. Shear matched the move, of course. “And I thought you knew the fire waters well.”
“I do,” Leilani said. “I memorized every scout report and put together a complete map in my head.” She grew a bit embarrassed. “It’s just the first time I’ve actually been here. First time I’ve been outside AuzyAuzy territory, in fact. Ohh, that’s stink greenie! It only grows in the fire waters and they say it’s the worst smelling greenie in the entire world.”
Barkley gave Mari and Gray a grin as they watched Leilani swim around and through the copse of bright red greenie, sniffing it, her eyes wide. “It’s true! Oh, this is terrible! You guys need to smell this! It really stinks!”
“So, she’s excited to be out,” Barkley noted.
“Looks like,” Gray agreed as he took in the calmness around him. “The water is still here.”
Mari flicked her fins in agreement. “It’s like there’s no current at all. Weird.”
Shear scanned the distance for danger. “I don’t like it.” His stomach was now resting on the tip of Gray’s dorsal fin.
Gray moved to the side. “Shear, why don’t you enjoy the calm before the flashnboomer? I’m sure something will spoil it soon. Until then, relax.”
Barkley smirked to Leilani when she rejoined them, pointing at the muscular prehistore finja. “He’s always on edge.” The dogfish then did a pretty good imitation of Shear. “I don’t like it. It’s too quiet—there’s too much greenie—not enough greenie—too cloudy—too sunny—too watery!”
“Very funny,” Shear said, not amused.
“Admit it,” Barkley pushed. “There are no conditions you like swimming in.”
“Incorrect. When I’m not guarding the Seazarein, I enjoy battling a cold, fast current,” Shear answered from directly above, again grazing the tip of Gray’s dorsal fin with his stomach. “Good for increasing endurance. But when on duty, I prefer to be alert.”
Gray poked Shear in the belly with his dorsal. “Could you be alert next to me? It’s super annoying having you pressed on my topside like a barnacle. In fact, the Seazarein orders you to swim by his side.”
Shear scowled but did as he was told. In an instant another finja had taken his place, though. “Oh, for crying out loud,” Gray grumbled.
“Your dorsal will be protected or we turn around!” Shear insisted.
“Fine!” Gray shot back. He motioned to Leilani with a fin. “Are we near the area where the patrol reported the green flashes?”
As the spinner was about to answer, Mari pointed with her tail. “Look there! I see it!”
And there it was, over the next rise. The flashing green light had appeared barely two hundred tail strokes ahead. Shear motioned with quick fin and tail signals to his guardians and they faded into the water, almost invisible. It was a trick they could do, and it was difficult to spot them unless you were looking right at them.
“Seazarein Graynoldus, my guardians are in position to attack,” the finja captain whispered. “I recommend you wait here.”
“Shear, have you even met Gray?” Barkley asked.
“I’ve been with him since he was Kaleth’s Aquasidor,” the great white said, puzzled. “Did you hit your head on some coral when I wasn’t looking?”
Gray snickered, but kept his voice low. “Barkley means that there’s no way I’m staying behind. Especially if we’re about to tangle with Hokuu.”
“Um, Gray?” Leilani said and waggled her tail to get his attention. “That’s not the right direction.”
Everyone stopped. They looked from the flashing light to Leilani.
Finally Shear spoke. “It seems as if it is.”
Leilani nodded. “I know. But the patrol saw the light over there.” The spinner shark pointed in the opposite direction. “As you know, Seazarein Graynoldus, ‘In case of an irregularity, it’s best to base your decisions on the facts you do have.’ That’s actually a quote from Seazarein Stehli when he visited AuzyAuzy Shiver in ancient times.” Her fins sagged a little as she lost confidence. “But the patrol saw the flashes there.” Leilani pointed once more.
“Says the girl who’s never been outside of her own homewaters as the bright green light flashes in the exact opposite direction,” Barkley commented.
Shear waited for orders. Gray didn’t want to dismiss Leilani’s advice out of hand, but the evidence was rather glaring, in this case a flashing light over the next rise.
Leilani’s tail drooped. “I know,” she told everyone finally. “I’m inexperienced and probably wrong. I’m sorry I spoke out of turn.”
“It’s fine,” Mari said, giving her a tap to the flank.
Gray gestured to Barkley, Mari, and Leilani with a fin. “Why don’t you three find a good place to hole up while we go in?”
“Gray, is it? Nice to meet you. My name is Barkley, and I’m going with you,” his friend said.
Shear got the joke this time and snorted, “Oh. Good one.”
Leilani also nodded. “I don’t get out much so I’m coming, too.”
The group crept to the edge of the rise. The waters were so still that Gray could hear sardines flitting in the scrub greenie by the seabed. The flashing light was there, but it ended about ten yards from the ground.
“That’s odd,” said Mari.
“I don’t like it,” Shear muttered. He noticed everyone looking at him because he said this so often. “Sorry.”
Gray slashed his tail through the water. “We go in strong and straight at the light. Shear, have your mariners space out and let’s Bull Rush right through the entire area in case Hokuu’s masking himself. He won’t stay hidden if we roar in there. On my signal.”
Gray gave Shear a few seconds until the tiger finja motioned that his mariners were in place. He flicked his tail, and everyone moved forward in a silent rush. Oddly, he felt himself pass through a barrier of some sort.
The flashing green light disappeared and the current got rougher.
Suddenly there was a column of boiling water blasting up from the seabed instead of the flashing green light. The current became stronger. Much stronger. By the time they were ten tail strokes past the barrier, the water was pushing them off their swimming lanes.
“Swim through it! Swim through it!” shouted Shear.
But the current became so fierce it picked up the sand from the seabed and blasted everyone to the left. By then Gray knew he had made a terrible mistake.
They were caught in a whirlpool! It was a trap!
THE WHIRLPOOL WAS LIKE A FEROCIOUS BEAST. It pulled Gray and the others closer and closer to a scalding vent that spouted super-heated water from the seabed. This water was thick with sulfur and minerals that made him gag. Gray could feel himself getting woozy as it clogged his gills. In a few moments, he and the group would be unconscious and swept into the blazing
geyser to be roasted alive.
“The current is too strong!” yelled Barkley.
“Swim with it!” Gray shouted over the rushing water and hissing bubbles. “Swim with it as fast as you can to the edge and break free!” He hoped the others had heard, although that seemed impossible. He would have to show everyone.
Gray powered his tail strokes left and right. With the speedy current, everything was a dizzy blur. He forced himself to the outside, where he saw Shear broke through along with two of his guardians.
Barkley dove closer to the seabed. Smart! The whirlpool was weaker there, and he pushed Mari free from its grasp.
Gray bumped another mariner to safety and then sped up as fast as he could to escape.
But then he saw Leilani!
She was tumbling snout over tail while being sucked toward the boiling water spout. He drove toward the sizzling center until he was past Leilani and then pivoted, churning his tail madly to keep from being dragged in. Gray would have one chance.
When the whirlpool brought Leilani around again, he swam with all his strength, crashing into her. He used his bulk to drive them both over the ridge that was the edge of the trap.
Gray and Leilani broke the invisible barrier with an audible plunk and tumbled into the calmer waters. He gasped, breathing in clean water. He looked over at Leilani, who was dizzy from her tumbling, but fine otherwise.
If he had listened to the spinner, they wouldn’t have fallen into the trap. “You keep quoting advice whenever you want,” he told her.
Leilani smiled, a little green around the gills.
Gray looked at Shear, Barkley, and Mari. Thankfully none were injured. “Shear,” he called. “Report.”
The great white dipped his snout. “Two of my mariners were not able to evade the trap. Others have bumps but nothing serious.”
Gray shook his head. Two more lives lost. When would it end?