章 154: A final hurdle

Pulling the vibrating Chronica out of his jacket, Xander held it before his face, letting it dangle loosely from the double-linked platinum fob chain. Two of its hands pointed straight at twelve while the other continued swinging between one and two.

As Xander looked past his pocket watch, the stifling silence was shattered by the piercing cries of a newborn. At the other end of the room, two lanterns hanging from the wall flickered into life, casting an eerie glow on the tiled floor. 

In the dim yellow light, Xander something in the distance. With slow and steady steps, he trudged forward and soon discovered another disturbing sight.

The bawling child was lying inside a hard-shelled clam whose upper lid was filled with several rows of sharp serrated teeth which glittered like rough, uncut diamonds in the dark, obscuring the child's face in a mesmerizing dance of light and shade.