Page 110 of Treasure of the Abyss

The remaining humans stood, staring at Jax, for several moments before they finally acted. Several stepped into boats — teetering to maintain their balance, seemingly unwilling to take their eyes off the kraken — and gathered weapons. Some hefted poles with pointed, barbed tips, others knives of varyingsize.

“A-Alright,” one of the men said. “Just listen to what we say, and we won’t have to use these. Follow me. Everyone else is going to be behind you, just in case you tryanything.”

Jax nodded, and when they made room for him, he slowly rose and moved forward. The man who’d instructed him turned reluctantly and startedwalking.

Their gazes were heavy on his back as the humans fell in behind him. Jax focused on keeping his movements smooth and steady, on giving them no reason to make use of their weapons. He breathed deeply and evenly and did his best to match the pace of the male in front of him, who kept glancing over hisshoulder.

They moved up a stone path cut between the cliffs. Jax tilted his head back to look up at the structures built atop the stone to either side; to his left, a device jutted past the edge of the cliff. It was a large metal arm, and a thick rope hung from its tip, the hook at the end swaying in thebreeze.

Behind him, the humans muttered to one another nervously. Any one of them could lunge at any moment and bury their weapon in Jax’s back. Any one of them could be his end. And he’d brought Macy into the Facility, knowing the same had been true for his people; any one of them might have killed her at anytime.

As they crested the path, Jax’s nervousness was temporarily forgotten. It had always been difficult to determine the size of The Watch from the sea. The sight of it now, from within, was stunning. The structures were so varied; a few bore a vague resemblance to the Facility, but many more were constructed of some sort of stone or wood, sometimes mixingmaterials.

There were more humans in the pathways between the buildings. All of them stared at Jax as the male in front of him led him onto a path that doubled back toward the water — toward the large building overlooking thedock.

Two of the humans hurried forward and slid open the big doors. They escorted Jax into a huge, dimly lit room. Rows of cylindrical glass tanks, all filled with water, ran from one wall to the other. The foremost were full of various fish; was this how the humans kept their foodfresh?

Raised metal platforms ran between the tanks, set at the same level as the lids. The lead human climbed a ladder to get atop the platform. Two more humans followed him before they told Jax to follow. They directed him to one of the emptytanks.

One of the men bent down and manipulated a control on the lid. It slid open, and a light came on at the base of the tank, illuminating thewater.

“Go on in,” the man said. “Please.”

Jax clenched his jaw. It was a cage; he’d have room enough to turn about, and no little more than that. He moved forward — slowly — and lowered himself into thewater.

Surprisingly, its temperature matched that of the sea, and it was familiarly salty. A series of narrow slits ringed the bottom; water seemed to cycle throughthem.

“Does it need air?” one of the menasked.

“I don’t know,” someone replied. “Ask it. It talks, doesn’tit?”

“If it is no trouble to you,” Jax said. The men hushed and stared athim.

“How’d you learn to speak like us?” the closest human — the one working the lid —asked.

“We learned from humans, longago.”

The men exchanged glances, and then the one at the controls swallowed. “O-Okay. Going to close it up. Keep your headdown.”

Jax sank to the bottom and watched as the lid slid shut. The gentle sound of water flowing around him would have been soothing at another time, in another situation. Only Macy’s recovery would ease himnow.

For an instant, the entire tank vibrated. Then several slits — not unlike the ones on the bottom — opened on the lid. Jax poked his head into the small space between the lid and thewater.

“Alright, um…a couple of us will, uh, stay here. If you need anything, we’ll try to help,” said the human crouched there. Most of the others had already descended the ladder and were walking toward the door, glancing back as they moved. Their forms were distorted through the curved glass of thetank.

“I need to know if Macy is okay,” Jaxreplied.

It did not comfort him when he received noanswer.

Macy floatedin a haze of pain, darkness, and noise. There were voices, so many voices; raised voices, quiet voices, voices calling her name over andover.

Then silence. Blissfulsilence.

She slept, unaware of who she was, where she was. Her pain became distant. And she dreamt. She dreamt of waves, of strange, emerald eyes, and the secure embrace of strong limbs, cocooning her, protecting her from theworld.

Herrock.

Herlove.

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