The Last Emprex
For Mom and Dad
EJ ALTBACKER
THE
Last
Emprex
An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
A division of Penguin Young Readers Group
Published by the Penguin Group
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Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
ISBN: 978-1-101-60420-5
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
DEDICATION
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
PROLOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER
CHAPTER 1
THE OCEAN AT WAR
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
SALAMANCA
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
GRIMKAHN STRIKES
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
THE SIEGE
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
SPEEDMEISTER
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
BREAKOUT
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
AFTERMATH
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CORAL SHIVER
CHAPTER 30
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROLOGUE
GRAY REACHED OUT WITH HIS SENSES AND zipped forward in the cold water to the massive forest of staghorn coral. It was immense, its branches reaching toward the chop-chop. He turned and in a blink was at the other side of the formation. Using sharkata, Gray could travel the hundred yards between the two ends in a fraction of a tail stroke. Shar-kata was a sharkkind martial art known and mastered by only a very few.
Unfortunately Gray wasn’t one of those few.
Most of the time he could travel well and create shields, but that was about it. He couldn’t consistently use the power of the waters and bend it to his will or turn it into a destructive force like a true master. Instead, Gray relied on his own natural speed and strength as a megalodon. His species had gone extinct from the oceans millions of years ago. But underneath the Big Blue, below even the deepest part of the Dark Blue, were the Underwaters. This was a pocket of ocean unchanged since the time of Tyro, where jurassic sharkkind and dwellers still lived. Gray had come into the Big Blue from the Underwaters when he was just a pup.
Now, many years later, the jurassics that lived there were threatening the Big Blue.
Gray tried to make light of his shar-kata shortcomings as Takiza shook his head. “I have been practicing, I promise. But apparently practice doesn’t always make perfect.”
Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom was his full name and he was a tiny betta, or Siamese fighting fish. Takiza, though a small fish, was a shar-kata master. He flicked his billowing, rainbow colored fins, annoyed. “And apparently, sometimes practice doesn’t even make barely sufficient. Yes, I can see that while I was away you continued re-learning to swim quickly in a straight line. That will be ever so helpful if Hokuu and Grimkahn decide to hover directly in front of you.”
Grimkahn was the mosasaur king, a seventy foot ocean crocodile, who wanted to conquer the Big Blue. And Hokuu had been Takiza’s own master. He was an evil frilled shark, thirty feet long with a dangerously spiked tail that could split even the thickest skull. It was Hokuu who had freed Grimkahn and his forces to menace the Big Blue. Just as Gray was Takiza’s apprentice, Takiza had been Hokuu’s. But that was before the frilled shark had turned evil.
While his master wasn’t impressed, Leilani was astonished. The AuzyAuzy spinner shark had never seen Gray use his shar-kata powers. “That’s incredible! I mean, I’ve heard of shar-kata, the legends, how could you not—but to actually watch it in action, wow!”
Gray smiled at Takiza. “See? I got a wow from her.”
“Is that why you chose to bring Leilani to the training area?” Takiza asked. “To impress her? How nice.”
It seemed to be sheer coincidence that Takiza had passed by this side of Fathomir, but Gray knew the betta far too well to believe that. And he kind of was trying to impress Leilani, but of course he would never admit to it. Takiza had returned from searching much of the ocean for Grimkahn and his jurassic horde and found nothing, which was troubling. The mosasaur king wanted more than anything to rule the ocean and send Gray to the Sparkle Blue. But after Gray had miraculously defeated Grimkahn and the jurassics at the Battle of the Spine, they had disappeared into the depths of the vast ocean.
Leilani swished her tail. “With respect, Takiza, that’s not fair. I know he’s been practicing a lot and this is the first time he asked me along.”
“It gets boring by myself,” Gray said.
“This is serious,” Takiza said. “You must progress or you will never defeat Grimkahn and Hokuu.”
Leilani added, “The Eyes and Ears have nothing new to report either. And BenzoBenzo has been listening carefully to everything.” BenzoBenzo was a giant deep sea blowfish and the head of AuzyAuzy’s spyfish unit, the Eyes and Ears. “We do know that Grimkahn did return to the Underwaters, though.”
Takiza stared thoughtfully at them both. “Yes, but we don’t know if they’ve come back.”
“We would know if they were in the Big Blue,” Gray said, trying to stay positive. “You would have found some sign. Hopefully they’ll think better of trying anything after the whipping we gave them last time around,” he added, emphasizing his words with a fin slash.
“I hope you are right,” the betta told them. “I really do. But you should not trust the safety of the entire Big Blue to hoping things shall work out. You must prepare. Now, use your shar-kata speed and swim through this field of staghorn without breaking any of the branches. . . .”
Takiza waited.
Gray nodded, gritting his teeth. He called for the power of the tides and it came to him, filling his body with energy in the form of pure white sparkles. He could do this. The field was thick but all he had to do was make a few turns and he’d easily pass through. Gray launched himself forward and . . . plowed straight into the staghorn, taking out a swath thirty feet wide. He was a megalodon, after all, so training mistakes tended to cause damage.
After a moment, he swam out, embarrassed. “Oops.”
“Well, t
here goes two hundred years of coral. Since we are hoping, I hope you can do better, and soon,” Takiza said. “I fear that the situation in the Big Blue may turn for the worse.”
Gray was scratched and bruised but he was determined not to let Takiza ruin his optimism. Deep down he was worried. But a leader couldn’t be frightened of shadows. That made everyone nervous. The seven seas were quiet and he would remain positive. Perhaps Grimkahn had ordered his mariners to stay in the Underwaters.
What was the mosasaur king going to do? Fight the entire Big Blue?
Gray did not know this at the time, but he would bitterly regret not having made more progress in his shar-kata studies during this peaceful time. In fact, the future of the Big Blue would ride on an urchin spine because of it.
CHAPTER 1
“WE ARE CUT OFF, MY FRIENDS,” SAID Silversun, the leader of Vortex Shiver. He was a port jackson shark with a blocky head and a mottled, dark brown hide. He was also the smartest sharkkind that Grinder knew. With them was Kendra, the leader of AuzyAuzy Shiver, who had come to their aid earlier with a force of five hundred sharkkind. Their numbers had dwindled rapidly in the fighting. Kendra herself was badly wounded with a deep frilled shark bite below her right fin.
It didn’t look like she would survive the battle.
It seemed none of them would.
Grinder gnashed his teeth in frustration. Silversun was totally right. There was no escape. Years ago he would have never asked a port jackson for advice, or any other shark for that matter. Grinder was the leader of Hammer Shiver, the largest force of hammerheads in the Sific Ocean, maybe in the entire wet world. Asking advice was for weaklings. Or so he used to think.
Was I stupid, Grinder thought.
“Nevertheless, we have to face the facts,” said Kendra. “This will not go our way.” She swirled her long tail with its characteristic white tip. Kendra, Grinder, and Silversun were leaders of the most powerful shivers in the Sific Ocean. A few years ago, if any of their forces had met, there would have been blood. Now, because of the prehistore threat from the Underwaters, they were close allies.
No, it was more than that.
They were friends.
Not that their friendship was making much of a difference at this moment. They were losing badly.
Grinder yelled at one of his subcommanders. “Fix our midsection, Slasher! We’re Hammer Shiver, and we’re not going down without a fight!”
“Yes, sir!” the shark told him. Slasher began barking orders, shoring up the center of their diamond formation. They had used a pyramid before and were blasted for that effort. Would this formation work better against Grimkahn and his horde of giant mosasaurs and evil-quick frilled sharks?
Grinder’s heart sank because he knew the answer.
No. It would not.
“I wish Jaunt was here with the rest of our mariners,” Kendra said. Jaunt was Kendra’s second-in-command, but she was off on the other side of AuzyAuzy territory battling a splinter force of Grimkahn’s horde.
“It wouldn’t make a difference,” Silversun said in a low voice.
“Why haven’t they finished us off already?” Grinder asked. “They broke away from their last attack after smashing our formation to pieces.”
Silversun flicked his paddle tail back and forth before he answered. “They’re taking our measure, I think.”
It made sense. The jurassic dwellers from the Underwaters were powerful to begin with, but now they had learned to swim in formation. They had probably been practicing during their absence. The huge mosasaurs, most fifty and sixty feet long with large crocodile mouths, could destroy a battle fin of a hundred sharks by themselves. There were also frilled sharks, or frills, which were twenty and thirty feet long. These eel-like frills were wickedly agile and plugged the holes between the mosasaurs to protect them—all this while launching deadly attacks with their own spiked tails.
Over the last three months this horde had gone on a rampage through the Sific. Grinder, Kendra, and Silversun weren’t going to hover idly by and do nothing, and negotiations were pointless. Grimkahn wanted to rule the ocean and would destroy anything in his path. After the jurassic horde tore through AuzyAuzy Shiver’s territory, they had come to Hammer and Vortex Shiver waters.
There was nothing to do but fight.
If only Gray and the others at Fathomir were here, then perhaps they might have a chance. Gray was the Seazarein Emprex of the seven seas. He alone could bring together all the shivers and then maybe, just maybe, they would have a chance. But there was no way to get word to Gray in time. Grimkahn’s horde had appeared out of nowhere.
“They’re playing with us,” Grinder spat.
“Yes,” Kendra said. “And they’re gaining valuable information about what to expect when they attack Gray and his forces.” She winced because of her wound. It was an effort for her to even speak.
“So Grimkahn will glide through the waters, taking out the largest shivers one by one,” Grinder growled.
Silversun nodded, becoming thoughtful. “And the Seazarein doesn’t know that formation fighting is useless against the horde. He’ll need a new way to beat them.”
“Let’s focus on this battle first,” Grinder said. He saw a scout tear back to his commander, who gave the mariners a signal to get ready. All snapped into attention hover.
“It’s time,” Kendra told them.
At least they had the current at their tails. That would help a little. “I should get back to the diamondhead,” Grinder told them. He had been chosen to lead the combined force.
The diamondhead was a position near the top and in the middle of a formation. Grinder’s commands would be relayed by battle dolphins when the fight began. The mariners were well trained and their moves were second nature when in their own shiver formations. But AuzyAuzy, Hammer, and Vortex had mixed their sharks, putting them in levels; heavy sharkkind below for a base, the quicker ones above to ride the currents down. It had been done this way for thousands of years. But the sharks from each of the three shivers hadn’t been in battle together; they hadn’t trained as a whole. Even though their numbers were advantageous, this larger armada wasn’t able to turn as fast or switch shape. It was a distinct drawback against the horde.
Silversun blocked Grinder and Kendra and gave them a nervous grin. “I think I should take diamondhead.”
“Are you crazy?” he asked.
Kendra nodded at the port jackson. “Silversun, we admire your courage, but . . . but . . . ”
“Yes, I know. I’m not a fighter,” he answered. “But you need to take all the mariners who are unhurt and swim away.”
“Swim away? Never!” said Grinder.
“I know you think it’s cowardly, but you have to save what’s left of our mariners and get to Fathomir. Tell Gray what’s happened. And figure out a way to beat Grimkahn.”
Kendra straightened, gathering her ebbing strength. “It’s a good idea, but I should do it.”
Grinder shook his head and gnashed his teeth again and again. “No! Anyone who stays will be slaughtered.”
“Then everyone will die for nothing!” Kendra said, slashing her tail through the water for emphasis.
“I’ll do it,” Silversun insisted. “I don’t have the endurance to make the swim to Fathomir.”
“In this condition, neither do I!” Kendra said, rolling to show her deep and ragged wound. Blood flowed freely from it. Kendra looked Silversun in the eye. “Maybe there’s a way we could do this together.”
Grinder felt tears welling in his eyes and whispered, “No, no, no . . .”
“Safe journey, old friend,” the port jackson told him.
Grinder steadied himself. He wouldn’t be a blubbering fool in front of the two. “Bite somebody for me, will you?”
“We will.” Kendra nodded.
Grinder hesitated fo
r a moment. It would be the last time he would see the Vortex and AuzyAuzy Shiver leaders. The last time he would see his friends. “You’re the bravest sharks I’ve ever known,” he told them. Then, as Silversun and Kendra rushed Grimkahn and his horde, Grinder took the mariners that were able and drove them toward Fathomir as he wept.
Hokuu felt a thrill as he and the mariners sped toward the pitiful defenders. He couldn’t believe it when Grimkahn had ordered the last attack stopped. Apparently the mosasaur king was still stung by his lack of victory during what the other side was calling the Battle of the Spine. Gray, that fat oaf of a pup, with a pitifully small group of sharkkind, had managed to find himself a strategic position on the Atlantis Spine where the current was shriekingly fast to buy time and had then used the Tuna Run and its millions of bluefin to pound the jurassics into defeat.
The pup was lucky.
Today Grimkahn wanted to see what the defenders would try next against the immense power of his horde. The mosasaur king was counting the days until he could eat the Seazarein’s beating heart. That was a goal Hokuu and Grimkahn had in common.
Grimkahn, all the mosasaurs, and every frilled shark had been trapped in a pocket ocean for millions of years and, thanks to Hokuu, they were finally free. After their initial battle against Gray, their force had retreated to the Underwaters to regroup and train. Now they numbered a thousand frilled sharks and nearly a hundred mosasaurs. There used to be other jurassic dwellers: pliosaurs, elasmosaurs, plesiosaurs, and on and on. But these dwellers were impatient. They wanted to reap the benefits of the Big Blue without contributing to the fight. Grimkahn made the only logical decision and sent the troublemakers to the Sparkle Blue. He couldn’t have dissension nipping at his massive tail, now could he?
The strengthened Sixth Shiver, the true name of the horde, destroyed everything that it faced. Now that he had reinforcements, Grimkahn wanted to devour every major shiver that might later ally with Gray.