The Last Emprex Read online

  For a moment, he hovered and enjoyed the silence.

  Then something tickled his face in a familiar way. This wasn’t shar-kata but a sense called the lateral line. For most sharks it was only a close-range detection alert, but then Gray wasn’t like most sharkkind. Because of his training with Takiza, Gray’s lateral line could detect the electrical shadows of larger fins up to a quarter mile away when conditions were right.

  Even though he could not see a shark, Gray knew one was there because of the size of the shadow it cast. Or maybe it was a large bluefin tuna. Gray’s stomach rumbled. He could go for a big bluefin about now. He swam silently through a copse of greenie and into a clearing.

  Leilani was there.

  The spinner didn’t notice him. She was entranced by streams of glowing algae that floated through a valley in the distance. There was no moon and the currents were lit up by different-colored flows of algae. They moved and dipped with the waters, changing when they merged. Blue and yellow became green, red and green transformed to yellow, red and blue formed magenta.

  It was beautiful and Gray sighed at the sight.

  “Oh!” Leilani said when she heard. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” she asked. Then the spinner shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so distracted by this dumb algae formation when so many are dying in the war.”

  Gray moved closer. “No, don’t say that. If you can’t enjoy things like this, then what’s the point of fighting? Besides, you’re right, it is beautiful.”

  “Did you want to be alone? I’m sure you have things on your mind,” said the spinner. “I can go.”

  Gray laughed. “You were here first, Leilani. And no, I don’t want to be alone. But I would like to not talk about Grimkahn, Hokuu, or jurassic hordes for a while.”

  “What would you like to talk about?”

  “I don’t know,” Gray said. “You choose. Something you think is interesting.”

  Leilani thought. “Do you know how landsharks pick their leaders?”

  They seemed pretty violent, so Gray guessed, “A fight to the death?”

  “No, they vote,” she told him. “They each choose their favorites and the human with the most votes is the leader. It’s called an election. They elect their leader.”

  Gray laughed. “Really? What a waste of time! Wouldn’t everyone vote for their friends?”

  “Well, the humans who want to lead have to talk to all the different shivers in their home territory,” Leilani said. She began to swim side to side as if she were teaching a class. Gray found this cute for some reason. “The landsharks of the different shivers listen to each one and then decide who has the better ideas on how to lead. Everyone gets one vote.”

  “What about royal votes?” Gray asked. “Are they worth more?”

  “I heard it used to be that way, but now everyone’s vote is the same.”

  Gray nodded approvingly. “And what if the winning leader does something totally different than he said he would before he was elected?” Gray asked. “Is there a fight to the death then?”

  “I don’t think they use mortal combat at all. I think they vote again after a time. You aren’t appointed for life, only a few years. If they believe you’re a liar, they choose someone else.”

  “And if that human dies, do they have a Line for someone to take over?” All shark shivers had a leader and what was called the Five in the Line. Number one would take over if the leader died or if the number one in the Line won a challenge. It had been that way since the time of Tyro, the First Fish.

  Leilani nodded. “They do have something like that, but when the leader’s term is over, he or she and their whole Line leave or have to be elected again.”

  “That’s interesting,” said Gray.

  “I know,” she agreed. “I was talking with Tydal, the minister prime of Indi Shiver, and he wondered if sharkkind could ever do it the landshark way.”

  This struck Gray as ridiculous, and he laughed out loud for a moment but then stopped.

  Was the sharkkind way better?

  Many shivers had the right of challenge. That usually meant someone like Silversun, a smart port jackson shark, could never become a leader. They weren’t big and strong enough. But brains didn’t always come with size. Barkley was proof of that. Sharkkind weren’t really getting the best leaders their way. Mostly, they got the best fighters, some of whom happened to be smart.

  “That would be something, all right,” he told the spinner.

  “We should get back,” Leilani said. “Everyone is probably wondering where you are.” Gray watched the masses of luminous algae drift and mix and change colors. It was soothing. “Another minute,” he told her.

  And together they watched the light show in silence.

  They left a half hour later. Leilani had to go and check for quickfins from Jaunt or BenzoBenzo, her superior in the AuzyAuzy Eyes and Ears spyfish network. Gray knew that he probably had a bunch of urgent messages but there was one stop he had to make first. He felt bad taking time for himself but he wanted to do this. Gray veered toward the Riptide United’s new homewaters, which were at the northern edge of Fathomir territory.

  Riptide’s previous homewaters in the Atlantis had been destroyed when Hokuu poisoned the waters so nothing could grow there. That was slowly getting better, but it would be years before anyone could live there again. There was a nice reef on the northern edge of Fathomir, and that was where he saw his mother, Sandy, a nurse shark. Though he was too young to remember, it was Sandy who first found Gray when he was a scared pup after his escape from the Underwaters.

  “Hi Mom,” he said and gave her an affectionate rub on the flank.

  His mother ran her tail along his back like she’d done when he was little. It didn’t really work anymore because Gray was too big for her to do this without swimming down his entire length. But it felt wonderful anyway. “It’s good to see you, Gray,” she said.

  Onyx the blacktip gave him a hearty flank slap. He was an older fish, but cunning and smart. Barkley called him the original ghostfin. “Don’t tell me Judijoan actually let you out of the royal cavern.” They all laughed.

  “I’m on my way there. I wanted to stop off before . . . ” Gray trailed off.

  He didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

  Before the world ended?

  Was that what was going to happen?

  Gray was so tired.

  Despite a few moments of peace between battles, there had been crisis after crisis since Barkley and Gray swam out into the open waters from their home in Coral Shiver when they were pups. Would it ever end? “I just wanted to stop by and say hi.”

  “You look tired,” Sandy said, her mouth barbels vibrating with emotion. She, of course, saw everything. Gray was her son, after all.

  “Tired?” repeated Onyx. “You are mistaken, Sandy. The great Graynoldus, Seazarein Emprex, never gets tired, isn’t that right, son?”

  “Right,” Gray answered. “I had a training session with Takiza. Those can be tough.”

  “See?” Onyx said, looking straight at Gray. “Not tired. Recovering. Big difference.” Onyx knew that a leader had to be strong for his mariners and other shiver sharkkind. But there was concern in the blacktip’s eyes. If the sharkkind fighting for Gray saw he was dispirited, they themselves might lose hope. He couldn’t allow that.

  “Gray! Gray! Gray!” said his little sister, Ebbie, as she tore over.

  “Ebbie!” he exclaimed. “I was hoping you were around! Look how big you are!”

  “I am totally so big now,” she said, preening a little. “I think I’m big enough to swim into the open waters but Mom won’t let me.” Ebbie rubbed against him. “Can you tell her I’m big enough?”

  “Yes, Gray,” Sandy said with a smile. “Wh
y don’t you tell me that?”

  “Because I’ve learned that Mom knows best!”

  “Jelly-headed no longer!” said Onyx. “Thank Tyro!”

  Gray used his tail to swish the current underneath Ebbie, and she floated to his eye level. “You’ll have to convince Mom. I may be the Seazarein, but she’s in charge of you.”

  “Aww!”

  He looked around for Riprap, his little brother. “Now where’s your—oof!” Gray was tapped with some force on his side—right on the liver, actually—by Riprap’s version of a snout ram.

  “Oww!” Riprap cried. “I think I broke my snout.” Gray’s brother was going to be large for a nurse shark, but he was still a pup. “That was supposed to hurt you more than me!”

  Ebbie shook her head. “I said you couldn’t paralyze him. Even with that thick head of yours.”

  “You didn’t distract him enough!” yelled Riprap.

  “So this was all a plan? How devious!” Gray said, acting surprised. In truth, his little brother and sister had ambushed him like this several times. It was all in fun. “Ebbie diverts my attention and you snout-bang my liver. Pretty good.”

  “Not good at all!” pouted Riprap. “You didn’t even flinch! How are we going to send Grimkahn or Hokuu to the Sparkle Blue if we can’t even ambush you when you’re not looking?”

  “We’ll have to practice harder,” Ebbie said in all seriousness. “Maybe we can get Takiza to train us like he did with Gray.”

  “Stop speaking foolishness!” Sandy said.

  “Your Mum’s right,” Onyx said. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait,” Gray said. “What are you two talking about?”

  Both Riprap and Ebbie came to the best attention hover they could. “We’ve decided to be mariners!” he said.

  Ebbie added, “It’s everyone’s duty to fight in the armada. We can’t be turtles, after all.”

  Gray exploded. “DON’T EVEN THINK THAT!” he yelled. Riprap and Ebbie were blown backward by the force of his words. “You’re not anywhere near old enough to be mariners! Or even train!”

  “Are too!” Riprap said before Ebbie gave him a tail poke to be quiet.

  Gray wanted to yell again but saw his mother watching, calm as usual. She’d have an answer to this, so he motioned for her to speak. “It’s true there are other younger sharks than Riprap and Ebbie training with the armada, but they won’t be mariners until they mature,” she told him. “Striiker wanted everyone to be familiar with formation fighting by the time they’re old enough.”

  Onyx dipped his snout. “I’ve been helping with that. Didn’t seem wrong, Seazarein, and no one gets hurt. Do you want us to stop?”

  Gray thought it through. The mariners would be better prepared for the day they had to swim out into the battle waters. The knowledge would help them stay alive. It would be foolish to stop that.

  But to train pups for war? What did that make Gray? He felt like a monster.

  “Don’t stop, but Riprap and Ebbie aren’t allowed to join.”

  “Whaaat?” sputtered Ebbie. “That’s totally unfair! You can’t have one rule for everyone else and a different one for us!”

  This was an excellent point. But Gray couldn’t care less. His brother and sister would be protected.

  “Oh, yes I can,” he said, feeling a bit ashamed at his childish tone. “Because I’m the Seazarein.”

  “We thought you were cool, Gray,” said Riprap, shaking his head in disappointment. “You’re the worst big brother ever!”

  Sandy gave Riprap a tap to the belly. “Say you’re sorry this instant! Both of you.”

  There were grumbled apologies and they all had a group rub before Riprap and Ebbie went off to the rest area. Gray headed to the throne cavern, where a mountain of work was waiting for him. Mostly all he could think about was that Riprap and Ebbie were getting old enough to fight and fully expected to do so.

  It is sad that all they know is war, Gray thought. They hardly even got to be pups.

  CHAPTER 7

  SNORK AND THE OTHER BLADEFISH WERE hidden in a series of greenie-covered caves off the coast of the Spain landmass. This was on the other side of the Atlantis Spine from where the Tuna Run happened and far from where Snork had made his home with Riptide Shiver. He had left Gray and the others to become a bladefish. His training had been hard, but Salamanca, his blue marlin master, had taught him well. And Snork was great at being a bladefish! He could now do things with his bill that he would have thought were impossible a few short months ago.

  Tension tingled in his belly. He would need all of his new skills if he was going to survive the day. They had received word of a jurassic raiding party and set a trap. The frilled sharks and mosasaurs here were few in number, but powerful and ruthless. They had destroyed three shivers already, sending all their mariners and shiver sharkkind—even the pups—to the Sparkle Blue. Grimkahn had sent these marauders everywhere to cause confusion and destruction.

  It was working.

  Snork and the other bladefish had kept their snouts in the seabed for more than a day in the Galacia Shiver homewaters. Waiting was terrible. The Galacia shiver sharks were hiding, but their mariners, two and a half battle fins worth, kept a loose formation in the waters above.

  The plan was for the Galacia mariners to engage the jurassics and then the bladefish squadron would attack from below. This wasn’t Snork’s first battle but it would be his first using his new skills. His stomach lurched and rumbled. It had been doing that a lot lately. Snork didn’t want to let anyone down. What if he forgot everything he learned?

  Stop thinking like that! he told himself.

  The bladefish were a noble crew. Though there were only seventy here, it was still the largest group of the special fins in one place in over a hundred years. Bladefish fought for justice and tried not to take sides. They were a secret organization and didn’t like attention. Well, most didn’t. His master, Salamanca, kind of did.

  One of the surprising things Snork discovered was that most bladefish weren’t even sharkkind! They were dwellers: marlins, swordfish, spearfish, and sailfish. Bladefish could be any fin or flipper with a bill. And it didn’t matter if your bill was flat and edged, like his own, or pointy like Salamanca’s. There were even narwhal whales with them. Those lived almost exclusively in the Arktik waters. One of the narwhals was quite a character indeed.

  Aleeyoot was his name and he was an awesome sight. He was twenty feet long and mottled brown, black, and white with a shimmering green cast all over. His most striking feature was a nine-foot tusk coming out from what looked to be his forehead but was really his upper jaw. The tusk, or tooth, spiraled straight out and was made of ivory. It looked thin and delicate compared to Salamanca’s sturdy bill, but Snork had seen the narwhal cut through a block of coral so dense it could have been rock.

  Aleeyoot and Salamanca were the undisputed leaders of the bladefish. The only thing was that they didn’t seem to like each other. In training they would go out of their way to correct each other’s slightest mistakes. And they argued about everything!

  Snork saw Salamanca waggle his bill to get his group’s attention. The colorful lures in the bottom of his mouth clacked together softly. Salamanca told Snork that he had actually chosen the landshark lures that he wanted as decorations and hooked himself to steal them, breaking the line afterward to take his prize. The sharp hooks pierced the side of his mouth and were evenly spaced. Each hook had a colorful, foot-long lure hanging from it. One lure was of a glittering marlin, the second a row of colorful beads, and the third and newest, a carving of a curvy human wearing a skirt with a wreath on her head. Her hands moved back and forth with the current. “See? She dances for me!” Salamanca had told Snork before he took it. How did he even know the landshark was a girl?

  Sometimes Snork wondered about Salamanca.

  But not now .
. .

  The jurassics were coming.

  There was a commotion above as the Galacia mariners got into their formation. Striiker would have yelled something fierce at those sharks. They weren’t steady in their ranks and their pyramid formation listed to the left. At least the commander noticed and was trying to fix it.

  The jurassics materialized out of the gloom.

  They didn’t even try for the element of surprise, the mosasaurs letting out screeching roars, eager for battle. The sound was terrifying, but the frilled sharks scared him even more. They moved through the water with an eel’s grace and looked like a pup’s bad dream. Though Snork had won a fight against a frill at the Battle of the Spine, he still had nightmares about the monster’s mouthful of bristling, tri-pointed teeth and its spiked tail.

  The square formation was bigger than Galacia’s even though the jurassics had far fewer fighters. The five mosasaurs were gigantic! How could sharkkind mariners hope to bite deep enough to do any real damage? That was why the bladefish were here. Hopefully their bills would succeed where shark’s teeth had failed. They had to!

  “Steady . . . hold . . . ” said Salamanca in a low whisper.

  The two armadas crashed into each other!

  Within a fin flick sharkkind from Galacia Shiver began spiraling down, some bitten in half, others spiked through the head or gills.

  It was horrible.

  Salamanca took a deep breath and was about to order them to move when—

  “ATTACK!” was shouted from their left by Aleeyoot.

  That side of their hidden force sprang upward while the end Snork was on did nothing.

  Salamanca shouted, “The fool! Go! Go!”

  Snork and the right side of the hidden group shot toward the bellies of the mosasaurs and frills above them. Grimkahn’s forces didn’t think to look down. Maybe they didn’t fear anything that swam in the Big Blue. Maybe they were overconfident. Snork and the rest caught up with Aleeyoot and the others before they reached the bottom of the jurassic formation and struck as one.