Taken With A Grain Of Salt (Salt Series Book 2)

by Aaron Galvin

  Where are you guys? Kellen continued his search as Edmund waded in to retrieve his partner.

  A handful of people lay on their backs, chests heaving as they caught their breath. Others puked seawater. A few meandered toward the hooded men, begging in languages Kellen had never heard. The hooded men turned them all back, some with words, others with a strike of a baton.

  “Kell!”

  Marrero! Kellen saw his friend across the pool, sitting on his knees with a seeming corpse laid in front of him. Kellen’s gut panged with recognition. Tardiff…

  Marrero waved Kellen over, then resumed giving their friend CPR.

  Kellen ran to their side, slipping on the wet rocks at the last. He fell beside Marrero.

  Tardiff didn’t move.

  “Wh-what happened?”

  “I don’t know, man,” said Marrero. “He wasn’t breathing when they brought him up. I tried giving him CPR but…he just…he…”

  Kellen shoved Marrero away. Gently tilted Tardiff’s head back to clear his airway, bent to breathe life back into his friend’s mouth. Tardiff’s lips felt cold and slimy as Kellen gave him quick, short breaths. Come on, Tardiff…come on…

  “They left him, man…” Marrero said. “I saw them bring him up. He just…just hung there…like, dead…”

  Kellen pulled away. Put all his weight into pumping Tardiff’s chest. Come on…

  Marrero sniffled. “Th-they left him…”

  “No!” Kellen lost himself raining fists on his friend’s chest.

  Tardiff never batted an eye. Never coughed. Never took another breath.

  His strength drained from the Gasping Hole, Kellen tired quickly. He fell back, staring at Tardiff’s corpse, and felt tears welling inside him.

  What’s wrong, Kelly? A shade of his father’s voice haunted him. Need to have a little cry?

  Kellen closed his eyes. Steeled himself against the fear and sadness.

  “He’s dead…isn’t he?” Marrero asked, panting. “I kn-knew it. He’s dead. Oh my God, Kell, Tardiff’s dead. And B-Bennett. And Bo-Boone. Th-they’re gonna kill us too, man. We’re gonna die down here.”

  Kellen shuddered. “No…” he whispered.

  “Wh-what?”

  “No,” he said again, louder, drawing strength from the words. “I’m not.”

  Look at him. Kellen pulled away, forced himself to gaze on Tardiff’s body a final time. Tardiff always was just a whiny little pussy. Not like me. That’s why I’m still here. Kellen glared at Tieran as the weasel-faced man approached. That’s why I’ll get out.

  “Too bad your mate didn’t listen…” said Tieran. “Might not’ve—”

  Kellen leapt up swinging.

  Tieran stepped away and caught him upside the head with the butt of his whip. He unraveled it with a flick of his hand and cracked it for good measure.

  Kellen winced at the loud snap.

  “Have your attention now, do I?” Tieran addressed the crowd. “I’ve my eye on each and every one of you lot. You step out of line, look at me in a way I don’t like…” He cracked the whip again. “You’ll get a lil’ kiss from ol’ Tieran.”

  Kellen inched backward, joining Edmund and Bryant.

  “I don’t care where you’re from, or who you were before,” Tieran continued. “This is your home now. You don’t like it? Try to run?” He cracked the whip.

  “Hey!” The beefy man stood. “You can’t get away with this. It ain’t—”

  Kellen barely saw Tieran flick his wrist. He heard the end of the whip snap, however, and saw the thin line of red it left across the beefy man’s cheek.

  As the big man fell to his knees, holding his cheek, Tieran held the whip aloft. “This is the only language you know from now on. You’ll obey me and my lot, or we’ll have the skin off your backs. You don’t speak. You don’t go nowhere. You don’t even die unless I give my leave!”

  Tieran lowered his whip. “Order up in two lines, now. Gents on the one side. Ladies on t’other. Step lively!” Tieran flicked his wrist, cracking the whip anew.

  Kellen surprised himself with how fast he and the others obeyed.

  “Righ’, now follow the leader!”

  Kellen traipsed after the beefy man in front of him, following the stuttering torchlight near the front. From the corner of his eye, he noticed hooded taskmasters marching alongside them. All wore one-piece clothing that resembled threadbare snowsuits. Kellen noticed only a few kept careful watch, the others seemed to him as dispirited as the ones they guarded.

  Now away from the Gasping Hole, the scent sweetened, albeit still foul and fishy. To his left, only cavern walls. On his right, large pools of water with people hip-deep, shoulders hunched, as they raked in nets hand over hand. High atop a stone hill, Kellen noted a small castle, carved from the cavern walls. What is this place?

  Tieran halted them not much later.

  Kellen saw no reason why. He glanced over his shoulder. Marrero stood behind him with Bryant and Edmund in line after them.

  “Kell…” Marrero hissed. “What’s going on?”

  Would’ve thought a wrestler like Marrero would know to size up an opponent before making a move, Kellen thought as Tieran paraded down the line. Get your mind right, Marrero, or else you’ll end up like Tardiff.

  “Bend your ears, you sea-rats. As lord dockmaster and auctioneer, it’s my lot to sort you in the way I see fit. Some of you’ll stay with us, others moving on directly. If I tell you the block, step to the right. Those bound for the pits to the left.”

  Kellen felt a chill up his back as he listened to Tieran call out orders.

  “Block,” he said of a woman and a girl Kellen assumed as her daughter.

  Next, he looked to a man with dark hair and heavy eyebrows. “Pits.”

  Down the line Tieran went with his orders. Kellen found himself guessing which would be sorted where. He deciphered Tieran sent the hardiest amongst them to the pits, those with children, elderly, or otherwise weak, went to the block.

  Kellen’s legs shook at each sorting called out, watching Tieran draw closer to him. His teeth chattered by the time Tieran reached the trucker.

  “Oi,” said Tieran, clapping the beefy man under the chin with the butt of his whip. “Well, now aren’t you a big fella. You belong to me. The Crayfish means to throw some games for his company soon. Best find out how much fight there is in you beforehand, eh? Pits!”

  Tieran grinned as the beefy man stepped to the left. It faded when he looked on Kellen.

  “Ah, if it’s not the bravest amongst the lot.” His gaze wandered across Kellen’s face and body. “Handsome and fit too. Whether the fields or the brothels, you’d fetch a pretty price at market, son, but I’ll warrant you earn Master August more another way. Pits!”

  Kellen stepped to the left as Tieran moved on to inspect Marrero.

  “Righ’,” said Tieran. “Pits for this one, but see that he don’t get tossed in willy-nilly with the rest. He still belongs to Henry, he does. Man’s already lost one to the Gasping Hole today. You can bet he’ll blame me for it too. Best make sure this one sees the games or else.”

  Kellen watched Marrero quickly step to the left and join him, bumping shoulders in the process. Kellen sighed, grateful he and Marrero wouldn’t be split up, or at least for the moment. He listened as Tieran continued down the line, ordering Bryant to the pits, Edmund too due to his already owning a suit.

  Still, Kellen felt relieved to see the elder marshal join them on the left. The sorting ended sooner than Kellen anticipated. He found himself watching the line on the right continue their march southward down the boardwalk.

  Tieran gave him little time to wonder where the others ended up. “Righ’, lads, this way!”

  Kellen traipsed after him with the remaining handful of men and teens sorted with him. They followed Tieran westward and approached a narrow geode tunnel of purple crystals.

  Whoa, Kellen thought as he followed the line through. For a moment, he forgot his p
redicament, lost in the sparkling shine the crystals emoted when reflecting the hooded guardians’ torchlights. He heard a steady trickle nearby and noticed a bowl-like shelf, fashioned by a combination of time and constant drips.

  Tieran stopped to dip his fingers in the bowl, then touched them to his forehead and ran his fingers down his face. Each of the guardians did the same. So too did Edmund, the lone captive to partake in the ritual.

  The end of the tunnel opened into an area large enough to accommodate half the Tiber High School swimming pool. A row of rusted and barnacle encrusted cages lined one wall. Five hooded men with lean, starved frames occupied them. All stepped to the edge of their cages. Their hollow faces neither surprised, or glad, to see Kellen and the newest arrivals.

  At the center, the cavern floor ended suddenly into another pool of equal size to the Gasping Hole. Its water held the same blackish veneer.

  Kellen heard the creak of a wooden door swing closed as torchbearers shut the captives inside.

  “Now,” said Tieran as he walked to the far wall. “Time to see what you lot are made of. In the testing pool with you.” Tieran cracked his whip.

  Kellen warily stepped forward as torchbearers ushered he and the others onward.

  “Did you not hear what I said?” Tieran yelled. “Get that one outta line! He belongs to Henry!”

  “Kell!” Marrero cried as hooded men pulled him away from the group. “Where are you taking me?”

  Kellen stepped after him when he felt a strong grip on his arm.

  “He’ll be fine,” Edmund growled. “And so will you.”

  Kellen watched as they locked Marrero in a cage.

  “Righ’,” said Tieran. “Get in, I said. We’ve not got all night, do we?”

  “Boss Tieran,” said a torchbearer. “You want us to pull the old Selkie too?”

  Tieran approached Edmund, lifted his chin to inspect him better. “Nah. Maybe he did earn his suit, once. Don’t mean he gets to keep it now. Let’s see if this runner still has fight in him. Toss ‘em in.”

  Edmund didn’t wait.

  Kellen watched the elder man dive in. Bryant followed suit.

  Get in there and fight. Kellen jumped in feet first, desiring to learn the depth. His feet grazed a needle-like, rocky bottom of razor-sharp stone. Kellen gazed up at the glow of torchlights above the surface. He estimated the pool no more than twelve feet deep.

  A crossing shadow broke his vision, startling him, and vanished.

  With a hard breaststroke, Kellen ascended. He surfaced near Bryant and the beefy man. Where Edmund swam, he didn’t know. Other men bobbed around him, a few desperately trying to reach the edges and climb out.

  Hooded men stepped on their hands and laughed.

  “I’ll lay five anemonies on him,” one of the hooded men motioned toward Bryant. “The rest of this lot are rotten.”

  “The runner’s who I’ll take, Tieran,” said another. “Wherever he disappeared down to.”

  “That old geezer?” a third hooded man laughed. “Nah. The big man’s who I want. What about you, Tieran? Who’s your pick?”

  Kellen watched Tieran’s gaze fall on him.

  “That one. Said it from the start, I did. Ol’ Tieran knows a fighter when he sees it.”

  “Aye, he looks a strong one, he does. But can he swim?”

  “Time to find out.” Tieran stepped to the edge of the pool. “Righ’, listen up you lot. Let ol’ Tieran school you on the difference between dogs and rats. Dogs got fight in ‘em, loyal beasts and easy to train. Rats though…we drown rats. Time to learn which of you’s is which. This is a simple pool, with simple rules. All you lot gotta do is reach the other side and make it back.”

  Swim to the other side and back? Kellen nearly laughed as he looked on the length of the pool. It’s like a hundred meter swim…

  “Oi,” Tieran called. “What you waiting for? Get swimming now.”

  Kellen ducked under the water, placed his feet against the wall, then kicked off the side. He remained underwater as long as he could, cupping his hands and pulling himself forward. He surfaced near the middle of the pool and swam freestyle, hand over hand, losing himself to his competitive nature. Leaning his head to the side for a quick breath, he saw no other swimmer close.

  He heard cheers and applause coming from behind and, for a moment, almost believed he was back in his high school’s pool. Placing his face again in the water, he opened his eyes but saw only blackness.

  How am I supposed to know when to flip turn?

  A few strokes later, his hand slapped the rocky siding, slicing his palm.

  Ah…Kellen winced and halted. His torso drifted under him as he treaded water to stay afloat.

  “What you stopping for, seadog?” Tieran yelled from the far side of the pool. “Move on. I got good monies on you!”

  Kellen glanced back the way he’d swam and gasped.

  Bryant had barely passed the halfway mark. His eyes wide, but determined, he sidestroked his way onward, always keeping his focus on what lay behind him.

  Kellen saw why.

  The waters at the far end churned frothy. Few of the others tossed into the pool with him had even made it a quarter of the way. Most struggled to hold onto the tiniest outcroppings along the stony wall. Blood streaked down their arms, their faces round with terror as water splashed around them.

  What the…

  “Kell!”

  Marrero? Kellen blinked water from his eyes to better see.

  “Kell, swim! Hurry!”

  Then Kellen noticed the empty cages beside Marrero, the doors unlocked and open. They let those prisoners out…

  Another man in the water screamed, drawing Kellen’s attention. He watched as the man tried in vain to climb the wall. Then, Kellen saw a black backed seal leap from the water and knock the man back into the water.

  The hooded men above jeered at the man as he resurfaced, coughing and waving before the seal dragged him below the surface.

  “What you waiting for?” Tieran yelled. “Make it back here and I’ll get you a coat, lad!”

  A coat? Kellen thought back on Edmund’s words. You have to fight. Have to earn—

  Something wet and rubbery brushed Kellen’s thigh.

  He yelped as a seal poked its head above the surface and hissed at him.

  Kellen punched the animal, more reacting than thinking. He threw his face back into the water and pushed off the side, scissor-kicking as fast as he could.

  He felt sharp pinches at his feet. Kellen tried to kick it away, caught nothing but water.

  Then a vice clamped round his ankle.

  “Ah!” Kellen moaned as he lifted his head above the surface.

  The vice tugged him back below.

  Biting me. Kellen gagged on salt water. A seal is biting me.

  Again, Kellen kicked. This time, he connected, the ball of his foot felt like striking a smooth, wet stone.

  The vice relented.

  Kellen fought to surface. He had reached the middle of the pool. Saw chaos continuing in the waters ahead. What do I do?

  A shadow leapt over him, splashing back into the water right in front of his face.

  “Kid!”

  Kellen glanced back the way he’d came and saw Bryant clinging to the far edge.

  “It’s Ed, kid,” said Bryant. “Follow him!”

  Ed…Kellen thought back to the deck of the ship. Watching Edmund change with Boone’s help.

  Kellen heard a seal bark at him. He turned and saw it bound directly at him, mouth open.

  A Sea Lion porpoised beside him and lunged at the other animal, both snarling as they took their fight below the surface.

  Ed! Kellen watched them disappear under. He’s clearing the way for me!

  Again, Kellen swam forward, coaxing all the speed he could muster out of his limbs. Taking a breath, he saw the beefy man’s face red, bare arms squeezing a seal in a chokehold.

  Shut it out. Kellen dipped his face back in the wa
ter. Focus. They don’t matter.

  Another breath and he saw a man clawing to maintain his grip on the cavern wall as a seal leveraged its weight to drown him.

  “That’s righ’!” Tieran yelled. “Come on, lad. Keep swimming! Win ol’ Tieran his monies!”

  “No,” yelled another hooded man. “Stop him, seadogs!”

  Kellen lifted his head and saw the starting point not ten feet away. I’m going to make it—

  A seal reared its head and hissed at him.

  Screw you. Kellen lunged forward, hugging his arms around the seal’s neck and alligator rolling his way to the top. He lifted his head out of the water to catch his breath, then kicked free of the animal and swam for the wall, slapping the rocky side hard the moment he reached it.

  A sharp whistle pierced the air.

  “All righ’, lads. Time to pay up!” Tieran crowed. “And get the rest of ‘em outta the water.”

  Kellen watched as the seals who had been fighting the captives in the water ceased their battles and leapt one after the other onto the deck.

  The Sea Lion jumped up last.

  Treading water, Kellen watched as a hooded man reached for the Sea Lion’s mouth and took hold of its upper lip, then tugged back toward the skull.

  The Sea Lion head peeled away. The body morphed and its skin transformed to clothing. Edmund stood on his human legs a moment later. He glanced at Kellen and nodded.

  Yeah. Kellen thought. I’m still here, old man.

  Another seal moved toward the hooded guardian.

  “No!” said Tieran. “They don’t get freed tonight, nor eat neither. Not after that worthless show. Back in the cages with you lot.” He cracked his whip at the seals. “Call yourselves seadogs, do you? Can’t even lick a new crop a slaves. How’re you supposed to compete in New Pearlaya, eh?”

  Kellen watched the seals slop their way back to the cages. All around him, he heard men coughing. Others cried as they clung to the side, shivering.

  “Drag these sorry rats outta my sight and get ‘em down to the block,” said Tieran. “Not wasting a coat on ‘em.”

  “You don’t want any of them, Boss Tieran?” a hooded man asked.

  “Keep that one on the far end.” Tieran pointed at Bryant, then the beefy man. “And that fat lot Henry gave me. Might be a worthless swimmer, but at least he’s big.”