Rogue Currents

Chapter One

Lamprey flew low over the water, scanning the waves for fish. He saw a small shark beneath the surface and folded his wings in. He plunged through the waves and closed his talons around the shark's body. He lifted up from the water again, waving a wing at another SeaWing to the east.

Lamprey settled on the shore of an island and began eating the shark. He would need to be home soon, before nightfall, or his parents would worry about him. The unrest in the kingdom made them reluctant to let him out of their sight for long.

Lamprey ate the last of the shark and flew back over the water. The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon, and Lamprey sped up. He dove into the water and swam down towards the lower points of the reef. Before he got there, however, a dragon surged from behind an outcropping of coral. Lamprey raised his talons before recognizing the dragon. Barnacle, one of his parent's friends, waved his wings and flashed his scales. He's here.

There was a responding flash from the crevice in the reef where Lamprey lived, and his mother swam out of the crack.

Lamprey! her scales flashed just before she wrapped her wings around him. She stroked his wings as Lamprey squirmed in her grip.

What happened? he asked over and over, but he couldn't see her response, if she answered at all.

Finally, he felt a talon on his shoulder, gently disentangling him. Don't suffocate him, Reef, his father, Octopus, said gently.

If we had lost him... Reef said fearfully.

I know, his father responded. But we didn't. He's safe, he's-

Lamprey waved his wings wildly, getting his parent's attention. What is going on? he asked when they looked over at him.

There was a pause that Lamprey didn't like at all, until Octopus finally began flashing his scales again.

The caves were attacked, he said eventually.

The scales on Lamprey's snout flashed. Who?

Octopus shrugged. We don't know. They slipped past Seagull, and by the time he noticed what had happened, they were too far away to see.

How many? How bad?

At least three. No one was hurt; we were all out hunting. But the caves were badly damaged.

Lamprey followed his parents down between the coral and gaped at the damage. Large chunks of coral had been torn from the rocks and lay strewn across the bottom of the reef. A huge overhang of coral that had hidden the entrance of the largest cave had been ripped off and smashed into tiny pieces. The reef down here was all but destroyed.

We'll have to leave early tomorrow, Reef flashed at Lamprey. We can't stay here if they know about us. I thought we'd escape the violence, out here in the middle of nowhere, but it seems I was wrong...

Why not stay? Lamprey offered. Whoever did this, they've already been through here, so why would they come back? Wouldn't we be safer here, where they think there's nothing, than out somewhere else?

Reef, Octopus, and the other adult SeaWings looked at each other. Maybe, Seagull said slowly. But would you really feel safe here, knowing that it had been ransacked?

Lamprey admitted that he wouldn't. Even now he was turning to look at every glimpse of motion.

It's too late to leave tonight, Barnacle flashed. We'll just have to have more guards around the caves tonight. By tomorrow we'll be gone.

Octopus nodded. Reef and I can take the first shift, then...

Lamprey lost interest in the conversation and wandered over to the cave he had once slept in. A large chunk of coral had been thrown against the entrance. Lamprey slipped through the opening and saw the inside of the cave was still relatively clean. Only a few small pieces of coral lay on the floor, along with something else that caught his eye. He swam over to the oval-shaped something on the floor. He lifted it in his claws and peered at it. He brought it outside the cave, where dim light from the moons trickled through the water. It was a dragon's scale, and while he couldn't see the color, he could tell it was much lighter than his own dark scales.

He placed it under a rock near the entrance to the cave, resolving to look at it again in better light.

Lamprey was awakened in the night by flashes of light coming from outside the cave. He swam to the entrance, peering out. Octopus and Shell were flashing their scales at each other.

Why the queen doesn't do more to track down these criminals, I'll never know, Octopus said angrily.

These attacks are happening all over the kingdom, Shell said, seeming calmer than Octopus. She may be overstretched. And there's always a possibility that they're not committed by the same dragons. Fear is powerful. If things are bad enough, decent dragons may resort to things like this out of fear that we'll do the same to them. I'm sure Queen Dolphin is doing her best.

Octopus lashed his tail in the water. If this is her best, I'd hate to see her worst. Shell, nothing has changed. The attacks are just as bad now as they were three years ago, only now, it's not just areas that are near the palace that are in danger. Now, innocent dragons are getting their homes and lives torn apart. We're just lucky no one was in the caves, or dragons could've died.

I know, but I don't see why the queen wouldn't try to stop them. Why would she want her subjects to be hurt in this way?

Why would she care? She and her family are sitting safely in their palace with the entire SeaWing army protecting them. Why should she care what happens to us?

Lamprey swam back to his bed, thinking. Did Queen Dolphin really not care what happened to the civilians of the Kingdom of the Sea? Was there anything that could be done to change her mind?