Page 22 of Music of the Ocean

Just like that damned dream he’d had earlier.

The contact was warm, almost electric. Saxby didn’t know why that surprised him, but it did. He’d kinda expected the creature to be cold and slimy like a fish. It was part fish, wasn’t it? Wait, that didn’t sound right. Hadn’t he read somewhere that octopi were—

Another tentacle pressed against his temple, and suddenly, what the thing was or was not didn’t matter because what the hell? This was getting a bit too up close and personal.

There was a surge of energy, a shock that made the world snap into focus. The thing’s mouth moved, but instead of sound, Saxby felt a vibration in his head.

Welcome. You are safe. Thank you for returning voluntarily. Let me show you your new home now.

The tentacles pulled him in, but not crushing, not predatory. The pressure changed, and suddenly, they were moving, him and the creature, together, plunging down through the water at a speed he couldn’t comprehend.

The ocean blurred past, and the pressure increased, but the gills fed him, and his new body didn’t care.

They dove downward, toward darkness, away from the surface and the shuttle and anything he’d ever known. Saxby’s mind reeled. The pressure should have killed him a dozen times over, but his new body took it in stride. Every cell in him sang with the thrill of the descent.

FAR BELOW the surface, a city took shape in the dark. The ghostly outline of a metropolis emerged in the shadows with spires and turrets, spheres and domes, bridges that arched with impossible fragility between distant towers.

Buildings were massive blocks of coral in a dizzy mix of greens, browns, reds, blues, and purples with veined bands of iridescent blue throughout.

They formed the foundations of every visible structure, and from their porous surface exuded a steady, bioluminescent glow. Corridors connected the structures like the natural tunnels of a reef.

The entire city shimmered as if it were both decayed and alive, its surfaces mottled with vast colonies of fungi and lichen, which glowed a cool blue-green through the chamber. The arches and porticos that surrounded the plazas were worn smooth by centuries of current.

From what Saxby could see, the city sprawled vertically and had anchored itself to massive underwater trenches, hydrothermal vents, or basalt columns.

So, a city, but not a human one. The shapes were too organic, too fluid, everything built for the flow of water, nothing at right angles. The city thrummed with energy and color, streaks of light moving along the walls like a current.

They plunged toward the heart of it, Saxby and the creature. The tentacles loosened as they neared the city edge, and Saxby could sense the change in current. It became gentler, almost inviting, drawing him through winding canyons and past walls pulsing with the heartbeat of millions of tiny creatures.

Other entities moved in the water. Some were half fish, like his guide, while some were wildly different, ranging in size from the tip of his thumb to something that could have swallowed a one-man shuttle.

The city was alive, every inch of it moving, breathing, reacting. Saxby felt the presence of others at the edge of his mind, their attention sharp and curious as he passed. He drifted alongside his companion, who led Saxby to a massive building that looked fancy and important. The structure rose from the ocean floor, its base honeycombed volcanic basalt.

Above the foundations, the architecture erupted upward and outward in massive limestone towers that seemed to be made from natural rock formations and living coral that pulsed with iridescent mother-of-pearl light.

Swaying kelp gardens lined its grand courtyards, while bioluminescent jellyfish drifted through archways like floating lanterns, casting an ethereal, shifting glow.

The creature approached the main doors, which weren’t doors at all but a living membrane that stretched and parted at his touch. They passed through and emerged into a vestibule, its walls lit by lines of embedded biolumen.

The temperature here was noticeably warmer than in the outer corridors, and the water held a faint tang of salt and something that caught his attention, but Saxby couldn’t quite place the scent.

They drifted past the vestibule and into the chamber proper. If the outside of the building had been striking, the interior was breathtaking in an altogether different way.

The main hall was oval, lined with tiered platforms that curved upward like the rows of an amphitheater. Scalloped edges on each platform overhung the one below, creating alcoves where groups of citizens gathered.

The alcoves featured cushions, low tables, and clusters of what looked like hand-blown glass artifacts, each shaped into twisting helixes, geometric orbs, or delicate, flower-like sculptures.

Drifting kelp and dangling strands that resembled spun glass obscured the ceiling. From this tangle hung hundreds of globes, each glowing a different color and bobbing gently in the water’s current.

The floor of the chamber was equally remarkable. It curved continuously, the central bowl overlaid with a tessellated mat of soft, almost flesh-like material that gave way slightly underfoot. Here and there, circular pools opened into deeper wells or side passages, suggesting there was far more to the place than first met the eye.

It paused just inside, letting Saxby take in the view. Around them, citizens of every color and shape drifted through the space, some lounging in the alcoves, others floating mid-water to watch or converse.

The creature motioned for Saxby to follow. They left what Saxby assumed was the entrance of the building and swam to a chamber filled with a gentle, warm light. Bundles of luminous polyps dotted the curved walls, their soft radiance giving the place a homey feel.

He had a feeling this was the creature’s private room, and he didn’t know how he felt about that.

There was a cluster of seating, and the cushions were covered in a textile with an iridescent sheen, and as Saxby settled in, he realized it adapted instantly to his shape and buoyancy, keeping him perfectly balanced in the water.