Kingdom of the Deep by EJ Altbacker Page A

off and exploded at the edge of Onyx’s forces. The damage was terrible but it could have been worse. Even so, what was left of those sharks was swept away.
    Then the monster turned and fought the ghostfins snout to snout. His snapping jaws closed on one of the newer recruits, biting that blue shark in half. Hokuu’s tail slammed Sledge away. Snork managed to dodge an attack but was thumped against the rocks below. In seconds everyone around Mari was swimming the Sparkle Blue or so injured they couldn’t fight.
    Mari dove to attack again but the monster wrapped its coils around her flank, stopping her flat. Hokuu squeezed, and she felt her heart strain to keep beating. He drew her close to his mouth, filled with vicious, tri-tipped teeth.
    â€œAnd who are
you
, exactly?” Hokuu asked.
    Mari couldn’t answer. She felt her life slipping away from the crushing pressure of the monster’s might.
    â€œThat’s Mari,” said a voice behind Hokuu.
    He turned. It was Velenka who had spoken.
    â€œMari,” the monster growled. “Such a pretty name for my lunch.”
    She was drawn toward Hokuu’s mouth.
    â€œNO!”
    Hokuu turned and the pressure eased. It was Velenka again!
    â€œWhat do you mean, no?” asked Hokuu. “I give the orders around here, remember?”
    Velenka’s tail flicked back and forth, nervously. “I’m sorry,” she said, dipping her snout in a sign of respect. “What I meant was, Mari was nice to me. The only one. Let her live.”
    â€œI don’t know. She did touch me. Or one of her friends did.”
    â€œYou killed the one who did that,” Velenka told the the frilled shark, her voice gaining strength. “Show this one mercy. Use her to express whatever message you want to give.”
    Hokuu clicked his teeth together, thinking. “I’ve left the message I wanted to leave today.” He gestured at all the destruction with his tail. “But I suppose I want someone to see what I do next to tell Gray and the Seazarein about it.”
    Hokuu slammed Mari to the seabed and began twisting his body once more. “Watch now as I destroy Riptide Shiver—forever!”
    The frilled shark’s body glowed with a malevolent orange color. He released the energy with a flick of his tail and Mari waited for another burst of killing energy. But it didn’t explode.
    The energy expanded and settled over the center of the Riptide homewaters. Then the sickening orange energy became blacker than night, sucking the life from everything around it. The mariners trying to regroup began to twist and struggle because they couldn’t breathe. The greenie and glowing coral lost its color and shine as the lumos on the reef winked out, their colorful glows ending, one by one.
    Then Mari lost consciousness and everything went dark.

CHAPTER 9
    GRAY CRUISED WITH THE CURRENT, AT EASE FOR the first time in a long while. They were only a half-day swim from Fathomir and the sun was shining brightly, though the clear waters were cooler than those they left in the southern Sific. Gray had actually
solved
a problem in his position as Aquasidor! And both sides, while not exactly overjoyed with his solution,
respected
the decision. Not too shabby. AuzyAuzy and Hammer Shiver will
not
be killing each other next week, thank me very much, Gray thought. That was what he’d tell Kaleth, but in a more dignified way. Maybe he would do a little tail waggle after stressing all was well on the southern reaches of the Sific.
    â€œSo why was Taanglvos incorrect in his assumption?” asked Takiza, maintaining his distance from Gray’s snout effortlessly without moving a fin. The betta had been interrupting the relaxing swim all day with questions from his studies. Gray sensed that Takiza was actually annoyed that he was feeling good. Well, if that was the case, it would be the betta who was disappointed today. Gray hadn’t missed a