The Last Emprex (4 page)

CHAPTER 3

BARKLEY WATCHED AS VELENKA WENT INTO
the golden greenie fields of Fathomir. The blacker-than-black mako with her big eyes and striking silhouette disappeared into the thick kelp. He had sent two of his best ghostfins, Sledge and Peen, into the area ten minutes before to set an ambush for her. Velenka was cunning, devious, and deadly. Her progress had been remarkable and she was one of the best ghostfins now. But while Barkley was beginning to respect Velenka's abilities, he could never think of her as a friend. She was much too untrustworthy.

And
she had tried to send him to the Sparkle Blue more than once.

Now, though, she had changed.

The sulky and egotistical Velenka of old had been replaced by a shark who was eager to learn. She not only accepted challenges, but welcomed them. She had actually given a few of the newer recruits advice on how they could improve without being asked.

Not only that, but it was
good
advice.

Yes, Velenka was a different shark all right.

And Barkley didn't buy it for one second.

In the past all Velenka was ever interested in was power and how to get it for herself. If you were between her and that goal, look out. She even had the nerve to betray Hokuu! This caused the evil frilled shark to send assassin sharks after her. That was when Velenka's single-minded focus switched from gathering power to staying alive. It was a change Barkley understood.

But somewhere along the way Velenka had transformed yet again.

Was Barkley actually the cause?

He didn't like to think about it. For some reason it made him uncomfortable. During the Battle of the Spine, when Gray fought off Grimkahn and the jurassic horde, Barkley
accidentally
saved Velenka's life. A frilled shark had reared its ugly head to strike and in a moment of unthinking stupidity, Barkley rushed forward and shoved her out of the way.

That was when Velenka claimed she became this
new
shark.

She couldn't understand how Barkley, who loathed her, could do something so selfless. Neither could he for that matter. It would be one thing to save Gray or any of the sharks or dwellers he called friends—but to risk his life for Velenka?

That was a mystery.

And now he was stuck with her. She had completed ghostfin training in record time. The mako had been pestering him for more important tasks. Barkley said if she could stalk and “kill” two of his top ghostfins—by ramming instead of biting so there were no permanent injuries—then he would move her up to squad leader.

Barkley smiled. Velenka didn't have a chance.

Sledge and Peen, two hammerheads, were the best. And they had a ten minute head start to find a good place from which to strike in the thick, thick golden greenie. Barkley couldn't see anything at the moment, but he was sure the contest would be over soon.

Grinder and Striiker swam over, in mid-argument about something. Striiker was the large great white both Barkley and Gray had known since almost the first day they swam into the open ocean. He commanded the Riptide mariners at Fathomir.

“It's always been hammers on the bottom!” Striiker insisted.

“That was true one minute before I led my formation against the jurassic horde!” Grinder growled. “It was outdated ten seconds later!”

Barkley waggled his tail for them to be quiet. “Guys, please. Go shout by the training field. I've got something going on here.”

“We came to get your advice, so we gotta yell here, next to you,” Striiker said. He and Barkley hadn't gotten along well when they were younger, but now they were fast friends and battle brothers.

Maybe we just grew up, Barkley thought.

“What
are
you doing?” asked Grinder as he looked over Barkley's head into the greenie field. “Watching kelp grow?”

Barkley snorted. “Velenka wants a promotion. If she tags Sledge and Peen she gets it.”

“Not likely,” Striiker said.

“How are my boys doing?” asked Grinder.

Barkley smiled. He had almost forgotten that Sledge and Peen, were originally from Hammer Shiver. “They both made squad leader a while ago,” he told the hammerhead.

Barkley saw a glint of pride bloom in Grinder's eye. “I guess putting them with you was the right call.”

“Yeah,” Barkley answered. He thought he saw some disturbance in the kelp, but then it calmed. The current sometimes gusted. It could have been nothing. “So what could you two
armada leaders
possibly want to ask a dogfish?”

“You've studied the different armada stacks—you know about them, right?” asked Striiker.

“I know the theories behind the formations. But you've seen me as a mariner,” Barkley said. “It wasn't pretty.”

Grinder gave him a tap on the flank. “That was before you invented a whole new type of superscout. Now we value your opinion.”

“Fine, go on.”

Striker did. “Hammerheads are heavy sharkkind that usually get stacked on the lower levels along with great whites and bulls. Grinder says we should put them somewhere else since they lost a couple times.”

The hammerhead glowered at Striiker. “It wasn't just
losing
. They blasted through us like a swarm of krill. We gotta put our hammers somewhere else, someplace they'll matter.”

“They're best on the bottom,” Striiker said. “I've got a hundred thousand years of battle lore behind what I'm saying. If they were better on top or in the middle, we would know because someone would have done it already.”

Grinder bumped Striiker. “If we leave them on the bottom, we'll lose. Guaranteed.”

Striiker raised his voice “If we put them anywhere else, we swim the Sparkle Blue even faster!”

Then both sharks looked at Barkley.

“So, I'm supposed to decide between two losing strategies?” They nodded. “I pick neither.”

“For the sake of this conversation, ya gotta pick one,” the great white said.

Grinder flicked his tail. “Yeah, choose.”

Barkley stared into the greenie. Something was definitely happening about a hundred yards to his left. “You need to think up something different. Something that has a chance of
winning
. Gray won't accept anything less and neither should you.”

Striiker was about to argue but Grinder gave him a poke to the flank. “He's right. We're fighting about how to reorganize the levels in the stack. To win, we gotta think bigger.”

The great white became more thoughtful. “Like a whole new type of armada? A whole new way of formation fighting?”

“Can it be done?” Grinder asked, in awe of the idea. “All those great mariner primes, generals, diamondhead leaders—they never did it.”

Barkley looked at the two sharks. “But they didn't
have
to. They weren't fighting an armada made up of mosasaurs and frills.”

“You've definitely given us something to think about,” Striiker said.

The two sharks left, talking rapidly to one another.

Barkley turned to the kelp field and saw Sledge and Peen swimming toward him.

Neither was happy.

But behind them, Velenka was positively beaming. She looped around and around in a victory swim. “Who's the shark? I'm the shark! Who's the shark? Oh yeah, it's me!”

“Oh, come on!” Barkley muttered.

CHAPTER 4

SINCE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COMBINED
AuzyAuzy, Hammer, and Vortex armada, the horde swam wherever they pleased in the South Sific. The shiver Grimkahn was attacking today didn't even know how to get into a formation. They definitely weren't trained mariners. Their homewaters were beautiful, though. Complex and colorful brain coral grew everywhere, creating a stunning area teeming with dwellers and small fish. Food was abundant and predators few. These sharkkind had lived here for thousands of years. They probably never had a need to train.

Until today.

And now it was too late simply because Grimkahn and his jurassics were here and hungry.

The toughest of their mariners swam out to fight—if you could call it that—and were eaten. Others were so terrified by the sight of the giant mosasaurs, they turned and zoomed away screaming. But the frilled sharks had cut off any way to escape. Blood wafted onto the current in a pleasing way. A few minutes later the only sound in their homewaters was the satisfied munching of the victors devouring the vanquished.

Another shiver destroyed.

“HOKUU!” yelled Grimkahn as he ripped a flank from a large thresher shark. “Come here!”

“Yes, my king,” Hokuu said, dipping his snout only a little. How he hated bowing before anyone. But he needed Grimkahn. The king had the absolute loyalty of the mosasaurs, and due to their many victories since they emerged from the Underwaters, he had earned the respect of the frilled sharks as well.

This made Hokuu angry. He was the one who made sure the frilled sharks were included in the new watery world order. But these frills knew Grimkahn as a king. They respected his power. And now he was giving them victory after victory.

But that current wouldn't last forever.

Once Grimkahn had conquered the Big Blue, Hokuu planned to take control. The mosasaur king would sadly die in a tragic accident and the jurassics would turn to Hokuu for leadership. All these thoughts flashed through Hokuu's head as Grimkhan made him wait like a fool as he stretched his massive, clawed flipper, digging it into the seabed and tearing up swaths of brain coral as he ate.

The mosasaur swallowed a smaller carcass whole and chewed thoroughly before speaking. “This is taking too much time. I grow tired of crushing these puny shivers. I want the Seazarein!”

“You made the decision to deny Gray allies by sending them to the Sparkle Blue, by way of your bellies,” Hokuu said. “I know sharkkind aren't that tasty, but the plan is working.”

“
Your
plan,” Grimkahn said, eyeing Hokuu. “I wanted to swim to Fathomir and fight Gray. Or reduce it to rubble.”

“Not even I have the power to do that,” Hokuu said. “Fathomir is a strong point.”

“No one is stronger than me!” Grimkahn yelled.

“Of course, my king,” Hokuu said, dipping his snout once more. “But if we attack the fortress, Gray's allies can come at us from behind.”

“So?”

Hokuu coughed, gathering his thoughts before trying to make the delicate point.
Because that would be stupid
was what he wanted to say. “Fighting in every direction at once, even with your new formation, has less chance of working than if we face them in open waters. He will come out, eventually.”

“I don't want to wait for
eventually
!” Grimkahn pressed. “I want him now! Show me that I was wise to appoint you as my first in Line.”

Hokuu nodded. The mosasaur had stumbled onto a good point. It wouldn't do to let Gray pick the spot of their battle when it occurred. He had shown some small skill in the past at trickery, especially during the Battle of the Spine. “The Seazarein doesn't know where we're attacking next,” Hokuu noted, thinking.

“Of course he doesn't know!” Grimkahn said. “As soon as you told me of those quickfins carrying messages back and forth, I tasked my fastest frilled sharks to eat any they saw leaving any area we entered. The Seazarein is blind!”

“Then maybe it is time for him to see a bit more.”

Grimkahn swished his tail. “Go on.”

“Gray is foolishly compassionate. He cares about fins he doesn't even know. The way to attack the pretender is through his soft heart,” Hokuu said. He could feel his eyes glittering as everything came into focus. It was perfect!

Grimkahn understood. “I'll give him a chance to save someone. Someone sweet, innocent, and defenseless. Yes, this might work. You've earned your keep, Hokuu. For today. Now go.”

Hokuu studied the mosasaur before leaving, bowing one more time. He was surprised the mosasaur king figured out what he meant so quickly. The king wasn't stupid. Rash sometimes, but definitely not stupid. Hokuu would have to remember that when it came time to kill him.