Page 55 of Treasure of the Abyss

Macy removedher mask as she walked up the beach. Her body felt heavy after leaving the water, turning the trip across the sand into a trudge. Was this what Jax experienced when he went ontoland?

He followed her with an empty container in his arms, leaving wide, confused tracks in his wake. Had she not known their source, she might’ve guessed they’d been left by some massive seaserpent.

The beach continued for another nine or ten meters before giving way to rockier ground; to either side, those rocks grew into the seaside cliffs dominating most of the coastline, but here they were tame enough to cross. The thick jungle vegetation was visible just beyond — dark green, violet, and crimson growth. Just like the woods around TheWatch.

Tugging her hood down, Macy turned to Jax. “If we’re lucky, we won’t have to go too farinland.”

Out in the sunlight, the gray of his skin was muted, but he displayed no discomfort. “I’ll follow wherever you lead,Macy.”

They made their way over sand and stone until they reached the first vegetation — tendrils of crimson creeper and short stalks of capeweed with bowl-shaped, indigo leaves. She glanced back at Jax; he’d slowed amidst the plants, his expressiondrawn.

“This feels strange,” hesaid.

“Good strange or bad strange?” Macy brushed aside a red vine as she reached the tallervegetation.

“For now, just strange. And the taste… You do not eattheseplants, doyou?”

“No, I don’t. But the capeweed — the little blue ones — make gooddyes.”

He was silent for a time; leaves rustled and crunched with their passage, and the waves sighed against the shore behindthem.

“Do you have another meaning for that word?” heasked.

“Whichword?”

“Dyes.”

“Dyes are mixtures that can be used to change the color of fabric or make paint. A lot of them can be extracted fromplants.”

“What about the redplants?”

Macy wrinkled her nose. If she never had to tear up another crimson creeper, she could die happy. “No. Even though their pigment is bright, it changes to a muddy brown when you try to distill it, and itstinks.”

The shadows thickened as Jax and Macy ventured farther into the jungle, the thickening canopy blocking out more of the sunlight. She quieted, splitting her attention between the search for edible plants and the search for safe passage. She pointed out poisonous vegetation to Jax, warning him to keep away, and avoided the worst of the tangled roots and uneven ground as best shecould.

Macy stopped when she spotted something familiar up ahead — a plant with huge, layered green leaves at its base. The leaves narrowed toward their tops, and a two-meter-long stalk jutted from their center, with several smaller, thorn-like protrusions toward its tip. Four tendrils hung from the end, glistening with some sort ofnectar.

“Do you see that one? It’s asnatcher.”

“A snatcher?” Jax furrowed hisbrow.

“Watch.” Macy crouched and snapped a branch off a nearby bush. When she stood, she threw the branch as hard as she could. It landed in the undergrowth in front of thesnatcher.

The stalk snapped down — almost matching the speed she’d seen from Jax underwater — and the thorns turned inward, catching the branch and piercing several fallen leaves. The tendrils at the end of the stalk had retracted. After a few moments, the thorns parted again, and the stalk straightened. Slowly, the tendrils extended, dangling their beads ofnectar.

“How much else is like that up here?” Jax swept his eyes over their surroundingswarily.

“There are a few different species of carnivorous plant native to Halora. That one’s the most dangerous. If it doesn’t get enough sustenance, it can actually uproot and drag itself to a new huntingground.”

Jax frowned and moved closer, positioning himself between Macy and the snatcher. One of his tentacles curled briefly around her calf. “I will remainwatchful.”

They continued onward until Macy found thick shoots of naba growing around the base of a tree. She drew her knife and cut them into small enough pieces to lay in the container. Rather than store the last one, she split it down the middle and scooped out a chunk of its spongy center. She stuck it in her mouth and moaned, squeezing her eyes shut at the sweet burst ofjuice.

“Sogood. Here,” she said, offering a piece to Jax. “Tryit.”

“I have tried cooked meat. Let that be enough fornow.”

“Please?”

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