Forsaken Prince (Kilenya Chronicles Book 1)

by Andrea Pearson

  The ground all around them was pelted by several smaller explosions, many of which missed him and Amberly by a few feet.

  “Hurry, Jacob!” Early yelled. “Hurry!”

  Jacob watched as a large blast of fire bounced off the Fat Lady’s cabin and fell into the brush out of sight. Her house wasn’t harmed in any way. Another huge blast went off in front of him, and he veered to avoid the hole. The explosions were much bigger now and coming more rapidly, but something was odd. If Lirone wanted, he could easily hit Jacob, so why didn’t he? There were no trees providing cover this time, just the wide-open meadow that Jacob and Amberly were running through. What was going on?

  Chapter Forty-Four

  “You must go faster!” Early yelled. She paused. “I have an idea. Can I use it?”

  Jacob nodded, nearly dropping Akeno when an explosion went off right behind him.

  Early disappeared, and seconds later Jacob felt warmth spread through his body, originating from a spot on his head. He felt as though his calves had been given an immense supply of energy. He put on a burst of speed, feeling he was about to lift off the ground. Realizing Amberly couldn’t possibly keep up, he swung her up on his back, grunting when her little arms tightened around his neck. Once she was securely on his back, she gripped him by the shoulders instead.

  There were fewer than a hundred yards to go when Lirone’s bombardment stopped.

  The Fat Lady stood on the step of her cabin, waving her arms and yelling. He could only pick out one word—diamonds. He looked at the key still clenched in his fists, then back up at her, confused.

  “Diamonds!” she screamed.

  “She said to slide the two diamonds!” Amberly said near Jacob’s ear.

  Jacob shook his head, not understanding.

  “The diamonds move!” Amberly yelled.

  Jacob adjusted Akeno’s position, taking care not to knock Amberly off, grateful when the spot on his head stayed hot as Early continued to loan power to him. He used both hands to hold the key up to his face as he ran. He located the different diamonds and fiddled around with his thumbs. The pinkish diamonds slid until they were aligned with each other.

  Jacob looked up at the Fat Lady, ready for her next instructions, running free without Lirone’s shock waves ramming his body.

  The Fat Lady yelled again. “Put the key in my door and turn it to the left! Go to Taga Village!”

  Jacob still had about forty yards to go. The ground in front of him was level and hard, and he risked a quick glance over his shoulder, barely able to see past Amberly. He wished almost immediately he hadn’t done so.

  The nearest Lorkon was only a foot outside of grabbing distance. Nearly stumbling in fright, Jacob yelled, noticing he could hear his voice again. He willed his body to move even faster.

  “Early . . . do something . . . Lorkon.” he gasped, readjusting Akeno so he was easier to carry. The muscles in Jacob’s arms and shoulders were burning. His skin where Amberly held on burned horribly.

  “Okay.” Early disappeared.

  “Arrgh!”

  Jacob looked back in time to see the Lorkon face-plant into the dirt. A second Lorkon ran only ten or so feet behind the first, with the third almost having caught up as well. Akeno started to convulse in Jacob’s arms, nearly causing Jacob to drop him. Early returned to Jacob’s head, giving him more energy.

  “Are you ready?” the Fat Lady yelled.

  “Yes!” Jacob gasped. His lungs were burning so badly, he was afraid he’d pass out from lack of air. They were down to fifteen yards.

  “Do you know what to do?”

  “To the left, Taga Village.”

  “Close the door behind you or they’ll follow you.” The Fat Lady went into her cottage and shut the door.

  The third Lorkon caught up to him. “Early! Stop the Lorkon!” Jacob shouted just as he took the last few leaps toward the door.

  Reaching out, he put the key in the hole.

  “Taga Village!” he yelled, turning the key to the left. He swung the door open. Running through, he spun around, feeling as Amberly flew off his back, and tried to shut the door in the face of the Lorkon, but the door bounced open again. Jacob took an instinctive step back. The Lorkon had stopped the door from shutting with his foot. An evil, disgusting smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

  Something small flitted through the air, and the Lorkon flew across the open space, blasted away from the cabin.

  Before the other Lorkon got the chance to rush through the door, Jacob slammed it shut, making sure it clicked this time.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Jacob put Akeno on the floor and bent and gasped, hands on his knees. Where had he ended up? He turned around, noticing furniture and rounded wooden walls. Amberly was holding a hand to her head where a large bump was forming.

  “Sorry, sis,” Jacob said, dropping to his knees beside her. “We can get that taken care of.”

  “It’s much better than being stuck with those horrible Lorkon.” Amberly lurched to her feet, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you so much for coming, Jake.”

  Jacob felt tears prick his eyes. “There’s no way I would have left you there.”

  “What about Mom? Where is she?”

  “She’s at home—she’s safe.” He hoped.

  Jacob put the key in its box, picked up Akeno, then opened the door. They’d apparently ended up in that huge tree in the middle of the meadow in Taga Village. The sun had almost set, casting long shadows all over the canyon. He was grateful it was almost night. His eyes ached from a headache that had built up behind them, and he looked forward to having as little light around him as possible.

  Forcing his legs to hold him up, he limped toward one of the crevices in the canyon. “Help! Is anyone there?”

  “Jacob?” a voice called from the ledge. It was Ebony. “Oh, Jacob, you’re back, you’re back!” She began crying, calling out for Kenji and Patriarch Brojan. Kenji rushed to her side, then saw Jacob.

  “Help him,” he said to a few Makalo men who had gathered.

  Jacob raised Akeno as high as his arms would let him, and one of the men climbed down a set of steps etched into the side of the stone wall and lifted him the rest of the way. Jacob helped Amberly up before him, then, climbing as carefully as he could, pulled himself over the top. One of the Makalo men supported him and another supported Amberly as they rushed with Kenji and Ebony to what Jacob assumed was Akeno’s house.

  Kenji laid Akeno on a table in the middle of the room, and he and Ebony went to work, acting as a team to cleanse Akeno’s leg. Ebony soaked strips of cloth, then handed them to Kenji, who wiped the ooze from Akeno’s leg. Pretty soon, the leg was as clean as they could get it. Kenji poured the rest of the liquid into the main part of the wound, which had expanded to cover Akeno’s entire lower leg.

  An older Makalo with long gray curly hair and a large beard burst into the room from outside. “I came as quickly as I could,” he said, joining Ebony and Kenji at the table.

  “Thank you, Brojan,” Ebony said. “One of the Lorkon touched Akeno.”

  Kenji glanced at Ebony with a worried expression on his face. “If the fever doesn’t break—”

  “Wait!” Ebony gasped. “I think we might have—” She ran out of the room, still talking, her voice muffled by the wall. “Potion . . . you . . . last time . . .” She came back, carrying a very familiar vial. “I saved this.”

  Kenji relaxed. “Oh, thank goodness . . . here, let me.” Using an extra cloth, he wiped up the liquid he’d poured in Akeno’s sore, then put a couple of drops from the vial into the wound. He then forced Akeno’s jaw open and poured the rest of the stuff into his mouth.

  Ebony wrapped the sore with strips of cloth, then hurried out of the room, returning with her arms full of sheets. Kenji took a couple and handed them to Jacob. “Wrap him as tightly as you can from head to foot.”

  Jacob started at Akeno’s head, leaving a space around his nose to breath. Ebony started at
his midsection, and Kenji at his feet. Brojan held the sheets in place until they were secured, and Amberly watched from the side of the room, a worried expression on her face.

  “The sheets hold in his body heat. The potion needs that heat in order to be activated.” Kenji turned to Ebony once they’d finished. “How long did it take for me to heal?”

  “Two minutes, maybe more. His situation is fairly similar to yours.” She put her arm around her husband. “He’ll be fine.” She smiled at Jacob. “Last time, I was the one stressing about whether Kenji would live, but I didn’t need to worry. The Fat Lady really knows her stuff.”

  After a few moments, Kenji pulled the sheet off Akeno’s head. His face was pink again, the dark circles gone. “It’s working!”

  Ebony gave Kenji another hug. “Wonderful.” She glanced at Jacob. “Oh, Jacob, I’ll love you forever for what you’ve done for my son.” Her eyes welled up with tears, and Jacob stared at his feet. He was grateful Akeno would be all right, but felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

  She turned her attention to Amberly, then back to Jacob. “You both look exhausted.” She sniffed, and her nose wrinkled. “And you definitely need to bathe.”

  A weary smile crossed Jacob’s face. “Sorry.” He pulled out the box with the Key of Kilenya inside and handed it to Ebony. “Here, take it.”

  Ebony held the container in her hands, her expression one of gratitude. “We knew you’d be able to do it.”

  “There was no doubt,” Kenji said. He took the box and opened it. The familiar tune filled the room, and peaceful colors danced across the walls.

  “Wow,” Kenji said. The Makalos all looked at Jacob.

  “What?” Jacob asked.

  “You know it’s only doing this because you’re near it, right?” Kenji asked.

  Jacob shrugged. “Okay.” He was too tired to care. “Where’s my mom? Early said she’d been here.”

  Ebony nodded. “She’s at your house, waiting for Matt to get back from running an errand. He still doesn’t know much about the village.” If that bit of news bothered Ebony, she didn’t let on.

  Kenji cleared his throat, handing the box with the key in it to Brojan. “Where is Dmitri?”

  Jacob reached for Akeno’s knapsack, taking it from Amberly. “In here.” He pulled out the Minya container, setting it on the table next to Akeno. “He was in really, really bad shape. Akeno shrank him, and he’s healing now.” He was grateful the container had kept his dad protected during all of the running and fighting they’d done.

  “Oh, poor Jacob and Amberly,” Ebony said, “you’re exhausted. I imagine you want to go home soon, but do you want to eat and sleep here? Start for home in the morning?”

  Jacob shook his head. “No, thank you. We really need to get to my mom.”

  “I understand. Would you like us to let her know you’re on the way?”

  Even though Jacob wanted to surprise her, he couldn’t tolerate the thought of making her wait any longer than she had to. “Yes, that would be good. What do I do about my dad? I can’t enlarge him again when he wakes up.”

  “Neither can we,” Ebony said. “Not without Akeno’s help.”

  She and Kenji glanced at each other, then turned to Brojan.

  “Dmitri will stay here,” Brojan said. “Jacob still has travels ahead of him, and the king will heal faster if he’s not being moved.”

  Jacob nodded, seeing logic in the choice.

  Brojan stepped to him, extending a hand. “I’m the Makalo patriarch. I look forward to getting to know you better.”

  “We’ll let you know the minute Akeno or Dmitri awaken,” Ebony said.

  “Sounds good.” Jacob had tons of questions—what had happened when the Lorkon touched him? What was going on with the Fat Lady, and was she safe? When could he go get Aloren? What would the Lorkon do now? How safe was he really? What other magical abilities would he have? Most of all, though, he wanted to see his mom. His body was still screaming at him, and he couldn’t wait to get in his own bed.

  Brojan must have sensed his need to leave. “I’ll take you and your sister to the edge of the meadow.” He motioned to the door. “There will be plenty of time for conversation later.”

  The older Makalo led the way out of the house. He looked at Jacob for a minute, then nodded. “Yes, you are exactly what we need.”

  Brojan was silent the rest of the way, and Jacob was fine with that. He’d had enough conversation lately to last him a lifetime. At least, it felt that way. And from how quiet Amberly was, Jacob knew she felt the same. He kept his hand tight around hers, unwilling to let go even for a minute.

  They reached the forest quickly. Brojan left after making sure the siblings didn’t need anything, and with the sun setting behind them, Jacob and his sister headed through the forest and on to their home, where an overjoyed mom and brother greeted them.

  Through the tears, hugs, and exclamations of happiness—and letting Mom know that Dad was safe and healing—Jacob couldn’t get one thing out of his mind.

  Aloren was alone in Maivoryl City.

  He would not leave her there to rot. He would get her out, and as soon as possible. She was depending on him, and he wouldn’t fail her.

  ###

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  Note from the author:

  Hi, everyone! :-) I hope you enjoyed reading Forsaken Prince. I had a ton of fun writing it! In case you weren’t already aware, Forsaken Prince was originally released as The Key of Kilenya, but with a much slower pace and a very different style of writing. It was geared unintentionally to a younger audience, and once I got the rights back to it, I spent a lot of time working it over, trying to make it more what I’d originally wanted. I wasn’t ever quite happy with how it turned out, though, and seven years later, I decided to rewrite the entire thing almost completely from scratch. And that’s how Forsaken Prince came about. Big job! You can check out the earlier version of The Key of Kilenya on Amazon here.

  I’m including a sneak peek below from Ember Gods, Kilenya Chronicles Book Two—just a teaser—and I hope you’ll continue with the series. ’Cuz gosh darnit, Aloren needs to be rescued, and you need to come along for the ride! ;-) :-)

  Anyway, as mentioned above, if you’re interested in getting some free books, click here, and I’ll see you in the next author note! :-)

  Much love!

  Andrea

  P.S. Every time a reader leaves a review, Jacob punches a Lorkon. Would you please consider posting one on Forsaken Prince? I’d so very much appreciate it. Even just one sentence would be wonderful. Thanks. :-)

  Ember Gods Sneak Peek

  Matt and Jacob hid behind a large tree in the back yard of the town hall. Jacob looked around the side—there was a light on in one of the rooms, a warm, welcoming yellow. They decided to head to that window, ignoring the back door for now. Someone, at least, would hear them knocking there.

  Jacob took a step forward, but stopped when a deep, gruff voice spoke behind him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Jacob turned. A tall, muscular man—nothing like the villagers—leaned against a tree not far from the brothers. His brooding expression and black, shoulder-length hair gave him an imposing appearance. He looked like he’d just stepped out of an action movie. Jacob’s eyes strayed to an interesting necklace the man wore. It was oddly shaped metal, and appeared to be on fire with blue flames. How was it not burning him?

  “Just keeping watch . . .” Matt said. “Like we’re supposed to.”

  “On whose orders?” The man crossed his arms, and Jacob noticed he wore black leather clothes. Two swords were strapped cross-wise on his back. His hands and feet were bare.

  “Eachan’s,” Jacob said. “We’re . . . uh . . . watching the townspeople. Making sure they . . . don’t do anything stupid.”

/>   The man raised his eyebrow and stared at Jacob. “I don’t think I believe you.” He put his arms behind him and strolled forward, stopping not far from the brothers. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I know just who you are.”

  Jacob expected the man to bring out his swords, but he didn’t do anything, just stared at Jacob. A gust of wind brought a scent of smoke with it.

  “And you shouldn’t have come to this place—not if you are as intelligent as the Lorkon seem to believe you are.”

  “I have to. There’s a per—there’s something I need to get.”

  The man cocked his head and half smiled at Jacob. “Oh, really? Pray tell—what is it you are searching for?”

  Jacob racked his brain, trying to decide what would sound the most legitimate. Matt was faster in his response.

  “His lucky watch.”

  Jacob looked at Matt and frowned. Lucky watch?

  The man laughed, the light from the muted sun glinting off his perfect teeth. “Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what he’s searching for. A watch.” His face grew serious. “You are to come with me now. The Lorkon very much want to see you.”

  Jacob shook his head. “No. I’m not going back to them. Ever.”

  “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”

  The man whipped his hands in front of him, and Jacob jumped back, expecting blades. Instead, the man’s hands glowed bright red. Jacob’s eyes widened, and the man smiled at his reaction. A burst of flames shot from his feet, licking up around his legs. He reached out, and an eruption of light came from his hands, the flame rolling up his arms and dripping off his fingers.

  “And that’s not the only unique thing about me.”

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  About the Author

  USA Today bestselling author Andrea Pearson is an avid reader and outdoor enthusiast who plays several instruments, not including the banjo, and loves putting together musical arrangements. Her favorite sports are basketball and football, though several knee surgeries and incurably awful coordination prevent her from playing them.