The Battle of Riptide Read Online Free

sunken ship. “Yeah, you being such a great hunter, it’s practically impossible for you
not
to catch a fish whenever you want,” Striiker said, bumping Barkley with his pointy great white snout. In the old days there would have been a sting to his words, but now Striiker gave Barkley a good-natured toothy grin.
    â€œAww, that’s not nice,” said Snork, waving his long serrated bill with a frown.
    â€œI was only kidding,” Striiker explained. “Did everyone get that I was kidding?”
    â€œI got it, I got it,” said Barkley. “Good one. I know I’m not the best hunter, but this was different. Never seen anything like it. It was like something chased every fish in the Atlantis away.” The dogfish turned to Striiker with a grin. “But we know that since you weren’t there, the fish didn’t run away from your ugly krillface, so it must have been something else!” Barkley gave the great white a confident tail slap.
    Gray marveled at the change in his friend since they first swam into the Big Blue as scared pups. Barkley had followed him out of loyalty and friendship after Gray had been banished from Coral Shiver. They’d gone through some tough times. At one point, they were so angry with each other they didn’t speak at all. But even when they were fighting, Barkley could always be counted on.
    One of the small things Gray appreciated was that Barkley had insisted on being fifth in his Line. After their victory over Goblin at the Tuna Run, Rogue Shiver had made Gray their leader. He’d appointed Striiker as his first but wanted Barkley to be second. “A tiny dogfish as your second?” Barkley had said sarcastically. “Are you out of your jelly-brained mind? Do you want to get Rogue Shiver laughed out of the Big Blue?”
    Gray grinned at the memory as he tapped his tail against the side of the landshark boat, making an impatient thumping noise. Mari shook her head. “Why don’t you just tell him?”
    â€œHe’s eating,” Gray said. “Don’t want to interrupt.”
    â€œTell me what?” asked the dogfish, his mouth full.
    â€œTrank gave me some interesting information—”
    â€œAwww, Gray. Not the stonefish again.” Barkley gnashed his teeth as if he had tasted a bitter mackerel. He didn’t like anyone from Slaggernacks, but especially not Trank.
    â€œWait, listen,” Gray told him. “Trank said he heard about a sea dragon who tells wild stories about his huge cousins in the Dark Blue.”
    â€œYappy!” exclaimed Barkley.
    â€œDo
you
think there might be more than one Yappy?” Gray asked.
    Barkley shook his head. “No way. Who would have thought his nonstop talking would actually work in our favor?” He flicked his fins up and down in excitement. “So, go on. Where are they? Is everyone okay?”
    â€œWell, that was kind of it,” Gray replied.
    â€œWhat do you mean, ‘kind of it’?” asked Shell. “Didn’t that muck-sucking stonefish actually
find
this sea dragon for you?”
    Striiker joined in. “Seems like with all the fish you’ve been bringing to Slaggernacks, they might actually do some work.” The great white churned his tail so hard it caused loose greenie to fly everywhere. He didn’t like Trank much, either.
    â€œTrank did try and find him,” Mari told everyone. She swished her shapely thresher tail in a figure eight, signaling everyone to calm themselves. “But Yappy wasn’t there. Neither was anyone else from Coral Shiver.”
    â€œSo they’ve moved on,” Striiker said, nodding to himself. “Smart.”
    â€œCould be,” Gray answered the great white. “Or maybe not!” He flexed his tail, full of nervous energy.
    Barkley looked at him. “Why are you so happy?”
    â€œBecause Coral Shiver was always good at hiding.”
    â€œYou think