Free Into the Abyss by EJ Altbacker Page A

you blast through our party without even a hello. Then you smash your head on the wall, and when we send Mog to
show
you which way is up, you try and jerk one of his tentacles off. And you top it off by
attacking
him. I’m curious, I really am—where were you raised?” Hank then asked Briny, “I mean, really, who does that?”
    Gray shook off his pain and weariness. The giant octo was closer and favoring the one tentacle. “It hurrrrtssss,” he rasped.
    Gray felt awful. It sounded like Mog was
crying
. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I thought you were trying to eat me.”
    “You’re a sssstupid jerrrrrk,” Mog replied. He was definitely sniffling. Could the giant octo be a
pup
? Unbelievable!
    Gray’s throat grew tight, but not because of the water. I’ve done something stupid!
Again!
he thought. And he was no closer to finding a way to save his friends from Finnivus and his mariners.
    Briny swam closer, concern etched on her horrible, fang-filled, but somehow still kind features. “What’s the matter?” she asked. She turned toward Hank. “Something’s the matter.”
    “I’ll tell you what’s the matter,” Hank grumbled. “He’s a jellyheaded party ruiner. That’s what’s the matter.”
    “You shush,” Briny told her husband. “Gray, tell me what’s got you upset. You tell Aunt Briny this instant!”
    So he did.
    Gray told Briny, Hank, and even Mog—who had stopped sniffling and seemed to regain the use of his injured tentacle—about everything that was happening in the waters above: Finnivus, the finja, the armada, the death of Shell, how Takiza had gone who knew where, Lochlan’s injury, and how Gray was expected to lead everyone to victory over the Indi armada! He ended with, “And I just don’t think I can do it! I’m going to fail, and everyone I care about will swim the Sparkle Blue!”
    “You poor boy,” Briny said.
    “Sssooo ssssad,” Mog agreed, and then placed one of his huge tentacles gently over Gray’s flanks. It didn’t feel so bad, once you got used to it.
    Kind of comforting, in fact.
    “Hank, say something nice,” Briny ordered.
    “You care for your friends, so you’re not a total loser,” Hank said. “Let’s get you back where you belong before you catch your death.”
    Gray was so tired from the swim that he knew there was no point in going deeper for the maredsoo. He would never make it. He let Hank and Briny guide him upward.
    The depths, physical strain, and terror made him numb. Though Briny said many encouraging things, all Gray could focus on were Hank’s words
before you catch your death
. The phrase echoed in his ears, and the blackness of the Maw seeped into his mind and darkened it.
    When Gray got to the training fields, he swam home. He went fast, the time spent on his failed quest making his face burn with shame.
    Finnivus is coming, and all I did was waste time! he chastised himself.
    Gray felt like crying.
    There is no hope, he thought. I
will
catch my death. Everyone will …

 

     

     

IT HAD BEEN ONLY A DAY SINCE GRAY’S ill-fated trip to the Maw, and he was exhausted. But Whalem’s scouts reported there was still time before Finnivus and his hordes arrived, so Gray carefully brought up the idea to get maredsoo for the mariners to Takiza, without actually saying he had already tried, of course.
    It didn’t go well.
    The betta basically called him an idiot in his wordy way. He explained between insults that while maredsoo was good for giving energy for long-distance swims, it wasn’t good in the short term. In fact, giving mariners maredsoo would guarantee they wouldn’t be able to swim in battle formation. “They would have too much energy to concentrate on their orders, and half of them would be throwing up. But why do you ask such a stupid question?”
    Gray quickly changed the subject and swam off to his training with Lochlan. Between Takiza and Lochlan, it was like he was being buffeted by two completely different, but equally