Page 12 of Treasure of the Abyss

Those questions were minor concerns compared to the sadness and desperation Macy had displayed. He’d been so close to relenting. So close to sinking down on the ground beside her and sayingyes, yes, I will take you home. I will take you anywhere you want togo.

But he would not betray hispeople.

As he descended into the underwater tunnel, he changed his skin, causing it to emit a faint light. He used the uneven protrusions as handholds to pull himself through the narrowpassage.

Macy wasother; an enemy, dangerous and deceptive. Humans sought only two things — power over that which they did not control, and the destruction of what they could not control. That was what the only kraken ghost in the Facility taught, when heappeared.

Never trust ahuman.

But Macy’s blue eyes were so full of feeling, and though they were so different from a kraken’s, they held something he could not deny — a spark of life, of intelligence, of compassion. As strange as she looked, there was an exotic appeal to herfeatures.

The feel of her, the smell, thetaste…

His muscles burned with exertion as he sped through the tunnel. His urge to return to her was far stronger than he’d expected. For the first time in his life, Jax doubted his strength ofwill.

What would going back now accomplish? If he gave in, she’d be in control. How long before he gave away everything and put his people atrisk?

Humans had only ever brought hardship tokraken.

She was with anotherhuman.

Within a few moments, he emerged into the all-encompassing blue of the open ocean. Nearby fish scattered at the sight of him, flitting away in all directions. Tendrils of grass swayed below, illuminated by shafts of sunlight pouring through the glittering surface above, and hard-shelled bottom feeders scuttled amongst the rocks and plants at the base of thecliffs.

Jax descended, swimming close to the rock face along the coast. From what little he’d seen of humans, they preferred the land, venturing into the water only on the floating platforms they calledboats. Macy had thanked Jax forsavingher, and had panicked when she fell into the water in thecave…

Perhaps the old stories were true — humans needed air to survive. If so, Macy’s companion had likely been claimed by the sea; anything that might have remained of the missing human after the storm would have been eaten by scavengersalready.

When Jax rescued Macy, she was being pulled into the open sea. The current would’ve drawn her farther and farther from land, eventually into deeper water than most kraken dared swim. But the sea could be fickle; there was a chance the other human had been swept back toshore.

At the very least, Jax was likely to discover some sign of theirboat.

He turned away from the cliffs and swam into deeper water, toward the place he’d found her the night before. When he reached the general area, he pushed up, breaking thesurface.

The breeze was cool against his exposed skin. He rode the water, turning his gaze to the land; the shore was hazy in the distance, rising from the sea like a cresting wave frozen intime.

Curiosity had brought him onto land a few times in the past — as far as he knew, he was the only one of his kind to do so. The others feared it because it was the unknown. Because it was the domain of the near-mythical humans. A cursed place. Though he’d never ventured far from the sea, Jax knew the truth — everything felt different on land, the textures alien and sometimes painful, but there was nothing more to fear there than in theocean.

He swam forward, dipping just below the surface. The likelihood of finding Macy’s missing human was low, but it was an excuse to explore. An excuse to get away and sort his jumbledthoughts.

Jax lifted his eyes above water as he neared the shore. Along much of the coast, the land was a wall of rock that stood against the ceaseless battering of the ocean, impossible to traverse without climbing. But there were spots — often hidden — allowing easier access. The beach ahead was one suchplace.

There, the cliffs were broken up for a short span; they gave way to boulders, then to smaller rocks and pebbles, and finally the sand. Macy’s boat lay on its side, between the high tide line and the surf. The large cloth the humans used to catch the wind flapped in thebreeze.

He advanced slowly, fighting a current that wanted nothing more than to sweep himashore.

When a figure rose from the sand beside the boat, Jax’s hearts thumped. Macy’s human wasalive.

And — even from this distance — Jax knew it was amale.

The human moved to the long pole that held the wind-cloth, squatted, and lifted. He walked forward, sliding his hands as he moved, until the boat lay on its belly. The cloth billowed in the wind. Scrambling over the side, the human manipulated some ropes until the cloth hunglimp.

Jax altered his color to match his surroundings as he eased closer. The human, shoulders heaving, sat in the boat with his head bowed. He remained that way for a time, oblivious to hissurroundings.

Soon, Jax was close enough to make out the male’s features; his short, orange hair, the reddish hue to his skin, his wide nose and thick brows. He was larger than Macy, with a heavier build. The sand around the boat was dotted with tracks leading back forth along the beach and winding up toward the rocksbeyond.

The human dragged his hands over his face, dropped them to his legs, and pushed himselfup.

“Macy!” he shouted into the wind. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he repeated his call, louder than before. His voice broke as he dragged out the last part of hername.

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