The Battle of Riptide by EJ Altbacker

Author:EJ Altbacker
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2011-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

GRAY AND TAKIZA WERE BACK AT THE TRAINING ground next to the Maw. It was pitch-black, for it was night above the chop-chop, with no moon to provide even a little light. The ancient coral spires stood, wickedly sharp and unmoving, mocking him in the darkness. The greenie harness chafed and rubbed Gray raw under his fins and belly. How Takiza had managed to weave it was a marvel. The frilly betta took a long strand of greenie in his mouth and looped through the water this way and that, almost faster than the eye could see. When it was done, Gray didn’t know what to make of it. But now that the harness was on him, he knew exactly what it was—a torture device.

“Can I take a break, Shiro?”

Takiza released a frustrated whoosh of water from his gills. “You may loaf after you have mastered this exercise. Unfortunately, you have all the grace of a pregnant sea cow, and I despair of you ever completing this task.”

Gray muttered underneath his breath, “I’ll give you a pregnant sea cow . . .”

Takiza gave him a surprisingly strong tail slap across the snout. “What was that, Nulo?”

“Nothing, Shiro!”

“I know it was nothing. The vast majority of things you say are nothing. So stop muttering and concentrate! Now—again!”

Gray could hear the greenie in the harness stretch as he pulled the giant rock inside off the seabed. He navigated the course carefully, floating the rock between, over, and under various obstacles. “Good, feel the weight and shape of the burden you are carrying. Use your lateral line to sense it as if it were an extension of your own pudgy body,” Takiza said into his ear.

“I’m not pudgy, Shiro! Mom says I’m just big cartilaged,” Gray answered through clenched teeth as he strained.

Another tail slap. “Quiet, Nulo! Your mother is a gentle soul who was merely being kind! Listen and learn!”

“Yeah, right,” Gray said sarcastically. “Because I’m sooo special. But will you tell me why I’m special? Why I have to do this stuff? Nooo.” He looked Takiza right in the eye, something that usually made the Siamese fighting fish act like his name.

Instead, his teacher sighed. “If I tell you some small bit of what I know, will there be no more complaining for the rest of this session?”

Gray couldn’t believe his luck! Maybe he’d just worn Takiza down! He found that hard to believe, but wasn’t going to look a gift bluefin in the mouth. “Yes! I promise. No more complaining!”

“There is an ancient prophecy that tells of a great sharkkind leading every good fin in the ocean against an ancient evil.”

“And?”

The little betta ruffled his fins. “And I have now told you one small bit of prophecy.”

“But that could mean anything!” Gray whined. “And it could be for anyone!”

“Yes, it could. Frustrating, isn’t it? That’s why it’s best not to put too much stock in prophecy. Now, I have kept my end of the bargain—”

“By tricking me!” Gray interrupted, whipping his tail back and forth to try and warm up.

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