The Battle of Riptide (17 page)

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GRAY TORE THROUGH THE WATER, MINDLESS OF the shrieking crowd all around him. His concentration was total as his huge opponent barreled forward using an attacking move called Spearfisher Streaks by the Cliffs. Gray feinted to the left before slipping into the Swordfish Parries. There was a tremendous shock down Gray's spine as his snout struck the left flank of the ferocious great white. A solid hit!

The crowd's yells and excited thrashing vibrated the water so much that his hearing and lateral line senses were nearly useless. But the battlefield was well lit—that wasn't the problem. No, the problem was that there was absolutely no quit in his foe, who recovered quickly and zoomed straight for him once more.

I didn't even slow him down
, thought Gray, gnashing his rows of curved and razor-sharp teeth in frustration.

The great white was wickedly agile, carving turns through the water that Gray was hard pressed to deflect or defend against. But he had learned much in the months since the Battle of Riptide. “Come on, come on,” Gray muttered to himself. “I know you want to do it.” The huge shark tried Yellowfin Feeding on Minnows, which Gray ruined by using Waving Greenie. Then the great white went for a Topside Slide, which was a deadly dorsal fin attack. But Gray knew it was a trick. And sure enough, at the last moment the charging shark switched into his favorite move—the one Gray had been waiting for him to use—Orca Bears Down.

Gotcha!
Gray thought triumphantly. He rolled into a rising current, madly churning his tail to shift sideways just enough so the hurtling shark missed him by a fin length. Then Gray streaked after the great white and performed the very same move, Orca Bears Down.

There was a satisfying “Oof!” from the great white as he was driven into the seabed. With a tail waggle he signaled surrender, and the match was over.

Gray had finally won. He had finally beaten King Lochlan Boola Naka Fiji, and it was glorious!

“Yes! Yes! I knew you would come at me with Orca Bears Down!” Gray exclaimed triumphantly as Lochlan spat sand from his mouth.

“Went to that feeding ground once too often, eh? Oh, I'm going to be tasting sand for a week! Good match, though!”

Gray flexed his pectoral fins. “I don't blame you for trying. You've beaten me, like, twenty times with it!”

The crowd watching their match, mostly sharkkind and dwellers from Rogue and Coral Shivers, began chanting, “Gray! Gray! Gray!” He waved his tail to everyone in the stadium, acknowledging the cheers. His mother Sandy was there, as were his younger brother and sister, Riprap and Ebbie. Of course his friends from Rogue were right in front. Striiker was fighting in the arena next, Gray saw. If there was fighting to be done, his first in Line would be there. But Shell, Mari, Snork, and Barkley preferred to just hover and watch.

“I have to go with Lochlan,” Gray told Barkley, Sandy, and the others. “I'll meet you all later!”

Gray felt a small electric charge roll through the water. He looked back to the arena and sure enough, Prime Minister Shocks was motioning Striiker and an AuzyAuzy mariner forward for their match. The eel's electricity was especially useful when he wanted everyone's attention, like at dweller council meetings, where things could get a little shouty. After a few instructions to tell both combatants to keep it clean and bloodless, another bolt of electricity signaled the start of the match. Gray and Lochlan swam off, the shouts of the excited crowd rolling with them as they glided away from the training field and to their meeting with the leaders of Hammer and Vortex Shivers.

Gray sighed, finally able to relax a little. He was glad the match was over. Gray liked training, of course. But this felt more like fighting to
entertain
others. Something was just not right about that. Not when so much blood had spilled. But taking back the Riptide homewaters from Finnivus and his armada demanded some celebration. And Lochlan told Gray that he needed to prove his worth in front of the two other shivers that were here to talk about joining their cause. Finnivus and the Indi armada had been sent swimming back to their homewaters, that was true. But the hateful emperor would be back to seek vengeance. This wasn't a matter of
if
, but
when
. That was why Lochlan had sent messengers to Hammer and Vortex Shivers.

“Besides,” Lochlan told Gray, “We really should break in the place with a bang-o, doncha think?”

To Gray's thinking this whole week had been one heck of a bang-o. After long and often boisterous council meetings, Gray had decided to resurrect Riptide Shiver. After all, it had been an ancient and honorable shiver for thousands of years before Goblin, its previous leader. “And in a few years, no one will even remember that flipper,” Striiker had said. Whalem's long-range scouts had confirmed that Finnivus was still in the Indi Shiver homewaters.They could breathe easy, at least for a little while, and so they had this party. Lochlan had told Gray it was a
working
party. They would work to gain allies during the festivities. Most everyone else treated it like a party-party, though.

I wish I could
, thought Gray.

Even though there was laughter and excitement because of today's celebration, underneath that he felt a dreadful tingle in the water. It was the feeling of a danger, not close right now, but coming for sure. Gray thought back to the momentous event that was the reason for the celebration.
And
the reason every fin should be on edge.

It had been six months since the combined forces of AuzyAuzy, Coral, and Rogue Shivers had defeated the Indi armada and sent Emperor Finnivus frantically swimming all the way back to the Indi Ocean and his own homewaters. Finnivus was a cruel and vicious tiger shark, the leader of an ancient shiver that wanted to conquer all the Big Blue. The emperor had been miraculously beaten, but Finnivus wasn't the type of fin to forgive and forget. He would come to wipe them out. And that was why, even though the celebration was fun, Gray couldn't shake the feeling in the water that seemed to say, Watch your tails, everyone. Watch your tails.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to all the great people at Razorbill for putting up with me, but most of all Ben Schrank, who took a huge chance by choosing someone who never wrote a book before; Jessica Rothenberg, past super-editor, future super-novelist; Emily Romero, Erin Dempsey, Mia Garcia, Shanta Newlin, Bernadette Cruz, and everyone else from marketing and pubicity; also Gillian Levinson and finally Laura Arnold, my fin-tastic Shark Wars editor.

 

Special thanks to everyone in Los Angeles who helped me over the years but especially the awesome Jim Krieg, who I met in film school and who despite that still picks up the phone when I call; John Semper, who hired me first; Mark Hoffmeier, great writer and fantasy football superstar. Also my friends from Notre Dame, Go Irish! And finally my sister Jude, who's not the most annoying sister in the world, most of the time.

  

Visit
www.SharkWarsSeries.com
to learn more and to play the Shark Wars game!

 

EJ ALTBACKER
is a screenwriter who has worked on television shows including
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
,
Ben 10
,
Mucha Lucha
, and
Spider-Man
. He lives in Hermosa Beach, California. He is also the author of
Shark Wars
.