Page 13 of Treasure of the Abyss

Was this Macy’smate?

Heat spread through Jax’s abdomen. She was Jax’s, now; he’d taken her from the sea, had brought her to safety, had — if she was to be believed — saved herlife.

Climbing out of the boat, the human walked to its front, leaned down, and pushed. The boat began a slow journey toward thewater.

Jax dug the tips of two tentacles into the soft sand beneath him, anchoring himself in place as he watched the human’s progress. The risk in keeping Macy was already too great; he shouldn’t allow this human to get away. If they were anything like kraken — and they seemed to be, in more ways than he was comfortable with — this one would report Macy missing. More would come, searching, and if they passed the area near the cave at the right moment, and Macy calledout…

The human plunged into the water, walked alongside the boat until he was waist-deep, and swung himself up into the craft. It rocked as he moved to the pole. He tugged on the ropes, and the wind-cloth rose, filling with the seabreeze.

On land, humans were likely more dangerous, but the sea belonged to the kraken. It would be a simple thing to kill the male in thewater.

Still, Jax didn’t make his move. For some reason, the look of utter sadness on Macy’s face came to the forefront of hismind.

The male manipulated the horizontal pole to alter the wind-cloth’s direction. His boat turned, riding the wind back toward the place the humans came from. Away from the cave. Away fromMacy.

As the boat grew smaller with distance, Jax hoped he wouldn’t regret hishesitation.

It wasdifficult for Jax not to see the Facility with new eyes as he approached; having encountered a living human up-close, having talked to her and touched her, he was reminded that her kind had built the place. Many, many years had passed since humans dwelled in the Facility, but their mark was all over it. Their hands had crafted the metal walls and doorways, had placed the clear windows and put up the lights, had shaped the hallways and installed the strangedevices.

The Facility had always sparked Jax’s curiosity, but it held only so much for him to explore. Though the Computer possessed a wealth of information, it only responded to certain requests, and generations of kraken hadn’t been able to unlock its secrets. The mysteries of the Facility were alluring…but the mysteries of the surrounding sea were far easier — if more dangerous — tosolve.

Was it possible that Macy held the key? Did she know how to access the Facility’s secrets, would she understand the way itworked?

The place was a wonder; five individual structures nestled on the seafloor, interconnected by a series of human-built tunnels. Three of the structures had suffered damage during the Uprising and were fully flooded. They served as den space for the kraken — the safest, most secure shelter in the entireocean.

Jax angled himself toward the glow of the exterior lights. They were beacons of hope in the vastness of the sea, a steady reminder that the kraken had a home, that the wrongs done to them in the past had not goneunpunished.

Two lights stood apart from the main building, a few body lengths from the door. When hunting parties left, they draped a net between the two posts. It signified their absence, and was meant as encouragement for those who remained —should we not return, you have the means to hunt, and we know you will besuccessful.

There was no net today; Arkon would be somewhereinside.

Jax stopped before the entrance door and pressed the buttons on the keypad beside it. Every kraken was taught the sequence from a young age, though the meaning of the symbols on the buttons had been lost to history. The light over the door changed from red to green, and it slidopen.

He swam into the dim entry chamber and pressed the interior button. The door closed behind him, and the water drained from theroom.

“Pressurization normalized,” the Computer said; this gentle, female voice was only one of the many itused.

The inside door hissed and opened. Pure, white light filled the hallway ahead. Jax took hold of the grip over the doorway and swung himself through. Water streamed off him as he moved down the hall, flowing into the drain channels on eitherside.

As infrequently as he visited since achieving adulthood, Jax knew this place well from his youth. Kraken younglings learned much in these hallways and chambers — from their elders, from the Computer, and from theghosts.

He moved at a quick pace, pulling himself forward with arms and tentacles, and soon entered the largest — and strangest — room in thisbuilding.

The scent of old chemicals lingered in the Pool Room’s humid air, fouling each breath. Large metal lockers lined one wall, and various equipment Jax could not identify was scattered throughout the space. Some of it looked like the clothing humans wore. In the center of the room was a huge pool ofwater.

Jax moved to one of the floor hatches and tugged it open, lowering himself into the hallway below. Huge, clear windows ran along the entire inside wall, allowing an unhindered view of thepool.

Arkon was in the water, floating above his latest work. Thousands of stones were spread on the floor beneath him, carefully arranged by color to create intricate, flowing patterns. He reached down with the tip of a tentacle to adjust some of thestones.

Reaching forward, Jax tapped his knuckles on the glass. Arkon turned in a torrent of bubbles, skin flaring yellow before shifting back to its normal blue-gray. He smiled and signed that he would comeup.

Jax climbed the ladder, emerging from the lower chamber just as Arkon drew himself out of thepool.

“You must be nearly done,” Jaxsaid.

Arkon dropped his bag on the floor; the stones inside clacked together. “I have almost finished the base layer, but it will take many more days to achieve balance in thepatterns.”

When they were younglings, Arkon had been fascinated by the human ghosts in the facility and had spent long hours listening to them and speaking with the Computer. He knew words the others did not understand; did he know what agardenerwas?

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