The Last Emprex (8 page)

CHAPTER 10

VELENKA SWAM BY HERSELF BEHIND GRAY,
Barkley, Leilani, Takiza, and the rest of the Seazarein's guardians. The ghostfins didn't bother to fast-swim or even move stealthily. It wouldn't matter in the numbers they were traveling. The entire ocean could see them coming.

She used to prefer swimming alone.

Now it wore on her.

Some time ago, maybe as she was being hunted by Hokuu's assassins, things had changed. The looks that she got, from those supposedly on her own side, made her feel bad. She wouldn't have cared before, but now it mattered. Velenka couldn't blame them. During the days-long swim toward the Pax Shiver homewaters, she had looked back on her life and decided that she had done some very questionable things.

Certainly she wouldn't be alive if she hadn't traveled the current that she did. Her upbringing was brutal even before her shiver was attacked and destroyed. There was no other way to survive but to be the best and most devious predator she could be.

That meant doing whatever was necessary.

But after Barkley saved her life so selflessly, remembering these past actions caused her great shame. Velenka had never, ever felt that before and hated it. She joined Riptide Shiver and the ghostfins with the goal of saving Barkley's life once and repaying her debt. Gray was no bloodthirsty ruler. If she asked to be let go after that, he and his friends would be happy to see her leave.

But Hokuu still wanted her dead so it was safer to stay.

That was the initial calculation.

But after a while Velenka discovered she
liked
being a ghostfin.

To be a part of this elite unit gave Velenka a feeling—it was hard for her to admit—of pride and belonging. This was especially true since she had bested Sledge and Peen in Barkley's test. Word had spread that she had beaten two of the best ghostfins. Though most in the unit didn't trust her completely, they
did
respect her. That was new.

Maybe it was something she had craved all along.

It was an odd time for Velenka.

The world seemed to be ending and she felt like a newborn pup.

Could she actually change the course of her life? Could she become a good and goodly fin? She had never given it a thought. Nice sharkkind were lunch in the Big Blue, and she prided herself on being ruthless. It was the only way.

But now? Now there was a chance for a brand new start.

Velenka worried that maybe it was too late for her to change. Or was it? Truly, these feelings were overwhelming. Could she toss away her old life and start over? Would any shark that knew of her past believe it? More than a few wanted her dead but she had to at least try. The evil course she had swum so far in life had brought nothing but enemies and pain.

Off to her side the massive armada moved along. Velenka didn't think it would be enough. She had heard there were a hundred mosasaurs, most fifty feet long. And there were a thousand frilled sharks with their ripping teeth and razor-sharp tails.

How could regular sharks hope to win against those beasts?

Still, Gray and his mariners went out to face them, snout-to-snout.

They fought to make the ocean safe for everyone in the Big Blue. Little sea dragons and tang fish that were too tiny to be a target of a frill or mosasaur didn't even realize they were being protected. It was illogical and foolish to risk your life for others who didn't even know you were doing it.

This sort of selflessness confused and humbled Velenka.

The tension in the water increased and she saw Gray giving orders to Striiker and Grinder. She followed Gray and his group into the Pax Shiver homewaters while the mariners in the armada slowed and bolstered their formation.

The current shifted and Velenka smelled blood in the water.

They were too late.

There were few corpses left, but the majority of those were only stubs of tails or heads. The Pax homewaters were devastated. Gray was staring down at something, his tail shaking with emotion. Velenka glided forward to see what it was.

She wished she hadn't.

It was a pup, a small girl whitetip.

Velenka's stomach lurched when she saw that the little shark had no tail.

“Why?” the pup asked Gray, her eyes wide. “Why did they do this?”

Gray had his mouth clamped shut so tight he drew his own blood with his dagger-like teeth. He couldn't speak.

“I want my mommy,” the pup said, and then she swam the Sparkle Blue.

Then Gray howled, and it was terrible to hear.

CHAPTER 11

FOR A TIME THERE WAS ONLY A HISS IN
Gray's ears. It was faint but drowned out every other sound in the ocean. His senses, so finely tuned, were dead. He saw nothing and smelled nothing. All he could feel was pain as he screamed into the water at the injustice of it all.

These sharkkind were peaceful and had done nothing to deserve this evil.

It didn't matter.

They were gone.

Seeing the little whitetip pup die had been the last thing Gray could bear. He felt a snap deep in his mind as the overwhelming weight of this horror came down onto his soul like an avalanche.

After a minute Gray felt the current buffeting him.

But it wasn't the water. It was Shear giving him a series of strong tail slaps to the face. Slowly, the others around him came into focus; Leilani and Barkley were closest.

“Stop it!” she yelled. “You're hurting him!”

“Enough, Shear!” added Barkley.

With a fin flick Takiza sent Shear spinning ten feet away. The betta told Gray, “You are needed as Seazarein. You must keep control.”

Gray let the current streaming through his gills cleanse his mind. “I am here.”

Shear joined them none the worse for wear, although he did give Takiza a look. “Scouts report that Grimkahn and half the jurassic horde are coming from the west. What are your orders?” Gray took a look. They were in luck. Grimkahn had divided his forces and there were only five hundred frilled sharks and fifty mosasaurs.

If you could call that luck.

But Gray was in no mood to avoid this battle.

In a quiet voice he said, “We fight. Tell Striiker and Grinder to get ready.” Shear went to spread the word.

Barkley flicked his tail hesitantly. “Shouldn't we go to Indi first? Even though it's only half the horde we still need the mariners.”

“Grimkahn is blocking the way and we can't risk circling around. They'd reach Indi homewaters before we did,” Gray said. “If the ghostfins see a chance to take out Hokuu, do it.”

The dogfish shouted, “Velenka, Sledge, Peen! To me!”

Leilani stayed at his side and Gray felt comforted by this. Shear rolled to his usual spot above Gray's dorsal. The ten prehistore finja were flanked above and below them. Gray swam past the armada as Striiker and Grinder got the mariners in order. The battle dolphs were in their places, ready to send the commands through the noise of battle. Gray struggled to remain calm and collected. If he let himself descend into a blind rage, it would hurt their cause.

He had to think!

Hokuu's amplified voice rolled to them with the current. “TODAY IS THE DAY YOU DIE, PRETENDER! YOU FAT, STUPID—” Grimkahn let loose with a shrieking roar that overwhelmed whatever else Hokuu was saying. The mosasaur seemed angry with the frill and snapped his tail at him as they came forward. Gray didn't give a broken clamshell about being insulted, but the way Hokuu's words drifted to them showed that the jurassics had the current with them.

Stupid! It was a trap.

Grimkahn had lured them from the Fathomir strongpoint and they were down current, no less! Striiker and Grinder quickly realized this and made adjustments. They moved their large hourglass formation—it was actually known as Triangles In, meaning the tops of the two triangles pointed at each other—to where the current was neutral. Grimkahn didn't understand how to use the water to his advantage. He made no attempt to keep their angle, moving with Striiker and Grinder, and lost the current. Grimkahn led his horde straight at their forces.

The mosasaur king didn't need the current to win. With the monstrous size and strength of the mosasaurs and the speed of the frills, they only needed a solid hit and the Riptide United formation would break apart.

Takiza dipped his snout to Gray. “I would make myself useful in this fight.”

“And I have an idea how you can, Takiza,” he told the betta. “I'll draw Grimkahn away from the horde. You finish him while he's distracted with me.”

“You would use yourself as bait?” asked the betta.

Gray nodded. “I would.”

“I don't like it,” Shear muttered.

“We need to chop the head off this sea snake and it's worth my life to do it.” Gray looked at Shear and his finja guardians. They had protected him without a word of complaint. “This will probably be a one-way swim so I release the guardians from their duty.”

“Gray! No!” gasped Leilani.

Gray watched as the armada and the jurassic horde made their way toward each other. It wouldn't be long now. “It's my decision,” he told everyone and then looked at Leilani. “You're not coming.” The spinner opened her mouth to disagree and Gray slashed his tail through the water. “That's an order.” He looked at Shear. “Take her with you. If I'm killed tell Striiker and Grinder. As for a new Seazarein, you're it, Takiza. That's for all the rocks you made me carry.”

“A pox on you!” the betta said. He shook his frilly rainbow fins back and forth. “As your Shiro
I
order
you
not to die! Do not disappoint me, Graynoldus!” The betta zipped away.

“That's for the battle currents to decide,” Gray said. “On your way, Shear. That's an order.”

The guardian captain flicked his fins and went off, so mad he couldn't speak.

Gray swam toward the battle waters moments before the Riptide United armada and Grimkahn's horde were going to smash into each other.

But Striiker and Grinder were better than that.

The triangles forming the diamond formation split, one going high, the other low. This left Grimkahn and the strongest mosasaurs, located in the center of their formation, with nothing to fight. The mosasaur king screeched in anger and yelled, “COWARDS!”

We'll see who's a coward, thought Gray.

As Gray sped toward the battle, everything slowed down. To his eyes the Riptide United armada—now split into the Riptide and Hammer-Vortex forces—was swimming in slow motion. Striiker led Riptide over the top with his mariners, attacking the frilled sharks that turned. The mosasaurs in the center weren't fast enough to get into a better position so the frills were vulnerable. The frilled sharks instinctively formed a swarm but were too densely packed for their own good. Riptide attacked them ten to one, killing all they could.

On the bottom Grinder was doing the same. The mosasaurs pivoted, using their giant, clawed flippers to ride the current down to attack. This was easier than propelling themselves upward at the Riptide mariners. They had no plan and did it in a rage, so it was chaos as they rolled through the frills to get into the fight

“GRIMKAHHHN!” yelled Gray as he sped toward his enemy.

The mosasaur king turned in time to get a tail slap to the face. Gray slowed and turned a hundred yards away from the main fighting. He yelled again. “I'm here if you dare to meet me snout-to-snout. Or is it only defenseless pups you like fighting?”

Grimkahn was so surprised and angry at being tail slapped that he roared for longer than Gray would have thought possible. The very waters vibrated with his anger. Others from his force tried to join their king but he shoved them away with snapping jaws.

Grimkahn shouted, “STAY AWAY! HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE!”

The mosasaur king was seventy feet of white-hot rage, and coming straight for Gray.