“Akeno and I can get ready now,” Jacob said. He turned to his friend. “What do we need?”
The Makalo shrugged. “Just the meat. And a door. Oh, and the Key.”
Jacob patted his pocket. “Got the Key. You have a door?”
“No. Let’s go back to my house and get one.”
They weren’t gone long, but when they returned, Ebony had swung the back door of the fortress open and Sweet Pea, Jaegar, and a bunch of other Makalos rushed in, carrying burlap bags that dripped blood. Rogs roared just a few feet away. Azuriah shoved the door shut barely in time—one of the beasts almost made it inside.
The Shiengol raised an eyebrow at the bags resting on his floor, and the Makalos lifted them.
“You’ve got the meat,” Azuriah said. “Get rid of the Rogs.”
Kenji explained the plan to the hunters. “I’m surprised you even made it back with that much meat,” he said.
Sweet Pea grinned. “It was fun.” He made a fake pouty expression. “And now we practically have to throw away our spoils.”
“Not all of it,” Ebony said. “Sweet Pea, you and I will accompany Jacob and Akeno.”
“Just follow me,” Sweet Pea said. “We’ll run as far from the fortress as possible.”
“And they’ll come after us?” Jacob asked.
“As long as we’re carrying one of the bags, yes.” Ebony said. She inspected the burlap sacks. “Rogs don’t have a very strong sense of smell, but this should catch their attention.”
Sweet Pea retied his shoes, hefted the bag, and then looked up at the others. “Ready?”
Jacob nodded, his heart racing. He’d nearly been killed by a Rog months ago, and here he was, voluntarily going up against at least twenty of them.
After making sure the way was clear, Sweet Pea inched the door open and looked both ways before sneaking to the right. The others followed.
They slipped around the side of the fortress, so far unseen by the Rogs. The creatures were busy trying to get into Aldo’s cabin. Jacob hoped the old man was okay.
Moments later, one of the Rogs raised its snout into the air, sniffed, and then roared. All the Rogs turned, watching Jacob and his group sneak away.
“That’s our cue,” Sweet Pea said. “Run!”
Jacob did just that, dashing into the forest, following the Makalos. The trees grew a lot thicker here than on the other side of the village, and he struggled to keep up with the much faster Makalos. He hurdled a log, snagging his pant leg in the process. He almost fell, but counterbalanced and continued.
His lungs began to burn. The way was steep, there wasn’t a clear-cut path, and Jacob hadn’t done any sort of real aerobic activity since dropping out of basketball. He sucked in as much air as he could, forcing his legs to continue the fast and awkward climb. So far, his injuries seemed to be holding up well.
He glanced over his shoulder. Three Rogs were gaining on him.
Jacob raced around a huge tree, keeping his eyes on the Makalos.
Ebony noticed he was lagging and stopped long enough for him to catch up. Then she ran alongside him, zig-zagging so the Rogs would be confused. It seemed to work, and Sweet Pea and Akeno slowed down as well. Soon, the four of them were running side by side, Sweet Pea carrying the bag of bloody meat.
Jacob kept wanting to ask if they’d gone far enough, but he was so out of breath, he couldn’t. He heard roaring behind them, building in strength. More Rogs had caught the scent and were giving chase.
Moments later, a Rog caught up. Jacob was afraid he would become the creature’s first meal after hibernation, but the beast didn’t seem interested in him—it wanted the food in that sack of Sweet Pea’s.
Suddenly, Jacob’s legs gave out, and the Rog batted him to the side with such force, it knocked the wind out of him. He slammed into a tree and slid to the ground, dazed.
He shook his head, trying to get his eyes to focus. It looked like Ebony and Akeno were dancing with the Rog—they were jumping around it, yelling and bouncing out of reach over and over again. Where was Sweet Pea?
Jacob struggled to his feet, holding his side where the creature had smacked him. That thing had a wicked arm!
Just then, a Rog roared behind him. He whirled, nearly losing his balance. The beast was standing on its hind legs, loose hair tufting into the breeze as the thing shook itself, spittle flying from its mouth.
Jacob turned and ran.
He felt a slight quiver in the ground beneath him when the Rog fell onto all fours again and charged after him.
Not knowing what else to do, Jacob headed toward Ebony and Akeno.
He finally spotted Sweet Pea. The Makalo was up a tree, still holding the bag. The tree bent over, possibly at Sweet Pea’s command, and Sweet Pea jumped to the neighboring one. This happened several more times, and then Sweet Pea fell to the forest floor and started hollering at the Rogs.
The creatures—including the one chasing Jacob—paused and looked his way.
Sweet Pea opened the bag, tipping the contents onto the pine needles beneath him.
With one massive, combined roar, the Rogs tore off in Sweet Pea’s direction.
“The door,” Ebony shouted.
Akeno pulled it from his pocket and dropped it fifty feet away—not far from Sweet Pea.
Jacob and the two Makalos raced toward it, Jacob taking the Key out of his pocket.
They arrived at the same time as Sweet Pea, with some of the Rogs rushing toward them.
Jacob pushed the Key into the lock and turned it. He flung the door open and they all scrambled through. A Rog jumped into the frame. Jacob tried pushing the door shut, but the creature was too big and too strong. The door flew open, smacking Jacob in the shoulder, and he fell to the ground.
The Rog hesitated, obviously trying to see into the dim room. It stepped forward, sniffing and growling. It shuffled forward again, clearing the doorway.
Akeno slammed the door shut before more Rogs could enter. The Rog jumped and lunged toward the Makalo, but Ebony was there with one of her long knives. She swished at the beast, catching it on the shoulder. The Rog turned to her, about to attack.
Suddenly, a loud crack sounded through the air, and the Rog fell to the ground.
“Thank you, Akeno,” Ebony said, putting away her knife. “We’ll need to transport it back through the link as soon as possible.”
She opened the door and called across the meadow to several Makalos who were carrying gardening tools. She motioned frantically, and soon they were all running to the tree.
“All right, Jacob,” she said. “Open the link.”
He did so, then stepped behind the door. The Makalos held their shovels up, but no danger came rushing through, so they dropped them. Akeno shrank the Rog, then enlarged it far away from the door, through the link, in the forest.
Jacob closed the link and plopped into the grass of the meadow. “I don’t ever want to do that again.”
Ebony smiled. “You won’t have to, hopefully. We don’t normally have problems with Rogs.”
“Uh-huh,” Sweet Pea said. “When they come out of hibernation, they’re always grouchy and hungry.”
Ebony rolled her eyes. “Yes, but we take care of them when that happens. They awoke earlier than usual. It caught us off guard.”
She pulled Jacob to his feet. “You’d better return to Azuriah’s fortress and see if he wants you to finish your practicing.”
He nodded and headed that way.
Azuriah didn’t answer Jacob’s knock, so Jacob went home to practice there.
Chapter Two: Flames and Burns
Before practicing what Azuriah had taught him, Jacob decided to check up on the Lorkon.
He Time-Saw, finding them in the throne room of the castle in Maivoryl City. The Lorkon king, Keitus, stood with his palms on a table, staring down at a ton of papers and books. His lip was curled, the veins on his forehead standing out, and Jacob looked away in disgust as blood oozed from his chapped, red hands to the wood beneath th
em.
The other three Lorkon appeared to be waiting for Keitus to say or do something. After several moments, Keitus straightened and stepped away, his black robes swirling around his legs. He said something unintelligible and Jacob focused harder, trying to follow the discussion.
“Soon . . . they . . . her,” Keitus said, walking to his throne. He sat down.
In the way the Lorkon king said “they” with such disgust and annoyance, Jacob knew he was referring to King Dmitri and his followers. But who was the “her” they were talking about?
One of the other Lorkon pulled a book off the table, reading from it. “Fire Pulser . . . royal blood . . .” He looked up at Keitus and said one word. “Lasia.”
Keitus leaned forward. “You’re sure?”
The other Lorkon nodded and Keitus shook his head, appearing to be deep in thought. Jacob concentrated extra hard—he wasn’t sure why it was so difficult this time to follow the conversation, but he couldn’t afford to miss anything. Especially when he remembered that Lasia was the name of a Fire Pulser Dmitri and the others had buried—one of the elemental traps set to stop the prince from rescuing his princess.
“It’s time,” Keitus said, his words completely clear now. “We leave tomorrow morning. Begin preparations immediately.”
The other Lorkon snapped his fingers and a Molg entered the throne room. The Lorkon barked out an order and snapped his fingers again. This time, several Dusts and Molgs rushed in and began following commands, running around, gathering things. Jacob pulled away from his vision.
It was obvious that the Lorkon were planning to do something with Lasia. But why bother her? She wasn’t harming anything or anyone by being underground. Jacob knew Azuriah wanted to move her from the land and return her to her own world, but why should the Lorkon be concerned about her?
Then it occurred to him. They wanted to use her against Dmitri’s people. Of course—Fire Pulsers were incredibly dangerous. It had been so long since Jacob had last thought or heard of her that he’d nearly forgotten.
But how would the Lorkon get her out of the diamond she’d been sealed in? There was no way they’d be able to carry her like that. She’d melt anything that touched her shell.
He needed to report this. Jacob jumped from his bed and grabbed the Ziploc bag of dandelion seeds he kept on his desk. He opened his window, whispered the name of his Minya, Early, into the seeds, and then blew them out the window.
“Jacob!” Early said, flitting to his side moments later. “I missed you!”
He chuckled. “We saw each other this morning.”
“I know!”
He quickly explained what was going on with the Lorkon, then had her deliver that message to Dad. Not surprisingly, Dad wanted to have a meeting with the Fat Lady and Aldo. They ended up holding it in Jacob’s kitchen. Azuriah should have been included, but the Shiengol said he didn’t have time and asked Jacob to give him the particulars when they’d ended.
Jacob sat with the others at the table. He felt weird—Aldo was always at his house, but the Fat Lady had only been there a couple of times. And without Mom, who was with Amberly at a dance recital, it was just strange.
Dad finished welcoming the other two and then interrupted Jacob’s thoughts, asking him to explain what he’d learned.
“Did they say how they would get her out of the diamond?” the Fat Lady asked after Jacob had finished. “Because they shouldn’t know—it took me a long time to figure out, and I’m naturally inclined toward these sorts of things.”
He shook his head. “No—the papers they were looking over mentioned digging trenches. Maybe they plan to roll the diamond out? From the papers I saw, I think they were more concerned with how they’d contain her in Maivoryl City once they got her there.”
Aldo leaned forward. “Fat Lady, do you have a way to break that diamond and keep her bound?”
“I do—my anti-stone would be do the trick. But I think the best thing would be for us to move her to a different location in her current prison.”
“We wouldn’t be able to do that: last time, from what we could tell, the diamond got far too hot, and it was incredibly dense and heavy,” Dad said. “We’ll have to think of something else.”
No one said anything for a moment. Then Aldo raised his hand. “If the Fat Lady knows how to dissolve the diamond, we might have to do that. Then we could take her to August Fortress or somewhere near the lake by my old cabin—somewhere where the Lorkon wouldn’t suspect—then put her in another diamond prison and bury it.”
The Fat Lady nodded. “Yes, that would work. But if the Lorkon are getting her in two days, we’ll want to go now—or as soon as possible. Have it all done before they’re even near her current spot.”
“Two days?” Jacob asked. “They’re leaving tomorrow morning.”
The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow. “And you remember how long it took you to get to Maivoryl City from where Lasia is?”
He felt a blush creep across his cheeks. “Two or so days.”
“Exactly.”
“But they have access to Sindons. It won’t take them nearly that long.”
Dad stood. “That’s a very good point.” He put his hands on the back of an empty chair, the colors in the air around him showing he was concentrating. “We’ll leave at dawn and have Jacob Key us to one of the doors left over from when Akeno was destroying Molg tunnels. That’ll place us within a couple hours of Lasia’s prison, giving us a few hours’ head start on the Lorkon.” He turned to the Fat Lady. “So you do have a way to dissolve the diamond?”
She nodded. “Yes. And I’ve got plenty more of the diamonds I gave you before. Putting her in another trap won’t be a problem.”
Aldo shook his head. “But something we haven’t considered: How are we to transport her outside of her diamond without . . .”
“Getting fried in the process?” Jacob asked.
“Yes. She isn’t likely to be very happy.”
Dad sat again, rubbing his chin, but didn’t say anything.
The rest turned to the Fat Lady, who held up her hands. “Don’t ask me—I have no experience with Fire Pulsers. They’re not even from Eklaron. I only knew about the diamonds in the first place because of a book Aldo gave me a long time ago—one that talks about disasters. It told how to temporarily protect oneself from fire. I had no idea the diamonds would create an actual prison instead of a shield.”
“We’ll ask Azuriah,” Dad said.
Jacob snorted. “You mean, I’ll ask Azuriah.”
Dad smiled. “Precisely.”
They waited while Jacob Keyed to the tree in Taga Village and walked to Azuriah’s fortress. He scoffed, kicking a rock off the path near the Makalo gardens. How had it come to this, him being the only one who ever interacted with Azuriah outside of meetings? Not even Mom approached the Shiengol. So stupid.
After Azuriah let him in, Jacob explained what they’d discussed in the meeting, then asked for Azuriah’s help in coming up with a solution.
Azuriah put down the orange he’d just peeled, his emotion colors showing he was irritated. “Get her out of the thing, then knock her unconscious and transport her that way. If she’s not awake and in control of herself, she won’t be able to pulse fire.”
Jacob shook his head at the easiness of what Azuriah suggested. Why hadn’t they thought of it?
“How do we do that?”
Azuriah looked at Jacob, an eyebrow raised. “You should leave now.”
Jacob snorted inwardly. He knew what Azuriah was thinking: that’s a stupid question. Go figure it out on your own.
He returned home, where everyone was waiting.
“Well?” Kenji asked.
“He says to knock her unconscious and then carry her around that way.”
Aldo chuckled. “Simplest answer, huh?”
“We’ll hold chloroform over her mouth and nose,” the Fat Lady said. “But we’ll have to be quick. Chloroform is highly flammable.”
; Dad nodded. “All right. Let’s get our plan of action in place.”
They decided to bring everyone with them but Mom, Kenji, and Aloren. Jacob was shocked that the Fat Lady would be going on this trip—she’d never taken part in one of these excursions before. He was excited to see how things would go with her there.
Akeno and Jacob would stand by with an enlarged door, ready to Key everyone away as soon as possible. Sweet Pea, Gallus, Matt, and Dad would dig the top off the diamond. Aldo would put the Fat Lady’s anti-stone on top of the diamond, thereby dissolving it, and then the Fat Lady would quickly reach in and cover Lasia’s mouth with a chloroform-saturated cloth.
They’d work out any potential problems as they came up.
Aldo and Dad seemed fairly confident there wouldn’t be any issues, but Jacob knew better than to think that way. There always were issues. He just hoped they’d be resolved before something happened and everything got ruined.
Early woke Jacob long before he was ready to get out of bed. He grumbled his way to the shower, which, thank goodness, woke up his brain. Matt was waiting outside the door when Jacob finished, bright green swirling in the air around him.
“Dude! This is gonna be so-o awesome!”
Jacob rolled his eyes, then grabbed his things.
After Jacob, Dad, and Matt had eaten breakfast, he Keyed them to the tree in Taga Village where the Makalos waited. Then he rounded up the Fat Lady and Gallus, and Keyed everyone to a door Akeno had left in the middle of what used to be the mud bubbles—another elemental trap for Dmitri. The Wurbies and Makalos had completely flattened everything and then pushed all the debris to the side, creating a nice road through the depression.
They got to Lasia’s valley around eight in the morning. The sun was warming everything, removing the chill, and it gave Jacob goosebumps. He breathed deeply, enjoying the smells of late spring and early summer. The valley was beautiful. Tulips and daffodils spotted the hills, and Lasia hadn’t yet sent out her negative and evil emotions. Jacob would never forget the first time he’d walked through this place, when the beauty had been ruined by her anger.
Eyes of the Sun (Kilenya Series, 5) Page 2
