Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (16 page)

Jacob stepped through the doorway, and they entered what must once have been a grand receiving room. It was very wide and tall, and the remains of second and third-floor balconies were visible on a few of the walls. The ceiling was gone, except near the back.

“Where should we go?” Jacob said.

“It’s your call—you wanted to explore the place. How much time should we give Gallus?”

Jacob bit his lip. “How about half an hour? And let’s start in the back where the walls and roof meet.”

They walked through a set of doors into a dark and dingy hallway with many doors leading off it. The walls went up six feet on either side and extended away from the hallway, forming a large shelf, one on each side, running the length of the corridor. On top of the high shelves stood life-size statues of humans, Makalos, and many creatures Jacob hadn’t yet encountered.

“Why haven’t we run into any of these?” he said.

“They’re probably extinct or in hiding still.”

Jacob wandered down the hallway, looking at the crumbling statues. He found two next to each other that were identical, right down to their odd-looking hands. He stopped to inspect them. “Why are there two of these?”

“One is a Dust, and the other is a Wurby. They’re very much alike, except Wurbies are good and Dusts are evil. The only way you can tell the difference between them, besides how they treat you, is the color of their eyes. Wurbies have light eyes and Dusts have dark eyes.”

“So, dark eyes represent evil?” Jacob snickered. “My dad’s eyes are brown.”

“Obviously it’s not something that carries over into other species. In the case of Dusts and Wurbies, though, yes.”

Jacob continued down the hall. “When we get back, I want you to tell me all about the other races and species that lived in this world.” He saw the statue of a beautiful woman and walked up to it. It fascinated him. She looked too angular to be human, although she had all the features of a human. Her eyes had crumbled away, but the rest of the statue was in perfect condition.

“That’s a Shiengol,” Akeno said, noticing Jacob’s fascination. “There used to be diamonds in her eyes. Someone must have stolen them.”

“Why did they put diamonds there?”

“The eyes of a Shiengol are the most beautiful part of him or her, and the thing least understood by anyone else. Diamonds were used to represent both the color of their eyes and the power that originated there.”

“Power? As in magic? Like Rezend?”

“Kind of, but not in the way you’re thinking. They had amazing eyesight, and in ways you’d never imagine.”

“How so?”

“All I know is that a Shiengol could see more colors than we can, and in three dimensions. They could see all the senses, including sound waves, and they could even see and smell molecules. Other things about them were different too.” Akeno started opening doors in the hallway. “When we return with the Key, I’ll have my father explain it better. There’s a lot I don’t know.”

Akeno continued down the hallway, examining other statues and opening more doors, but Jacob found himself transfixed by the statue of the Shiengols. There was something powerful about them—even in this form. They were commanding, intelligent. He wanted to meet one, but at the same time hoped he never would.

Suddenly, Akeno’s scream rent the air. Jacob whirled. The Makalo was pointing past—no, reaching toward Jacob. A sudden pinch in Jacob’s midsection knocked the wind out of him. The air on either side of him whooshed by until he was laying on something fleshy.

Akeno had shrunk him again! He was in Akeno’s hand.

The world twisted around him, making him sick as the Makalo moved.

“Take him, Early!” Akeno shouted, so loud Jacob had to clamp his hands over his ears.

The Minya appeared next to Jacob and lifted him into the air just as he caught a glimpse of whatever it was that had upset Akeno.

Something was charging at them, brandishing knives.

Chapter 11. Grrr

It is with deep regret and pain that I write the events of the past half hour. Arien’s Minya was sent to deliver our latest report to the king and queen, and returned with horrible news. The castle has yet again been attacked, and King Roylance was killed. The queen was injured—she probably won’t live much longer—and sent tidings that the crown has passed to me. Though I am still prince until the crowning takes place, I am fully in charge of this kingdom.

I’m beside myself with grief. King Roylance has been a father to me these past few years since my escape from my father, Ramantus. Queen Ara Liese played an immense role, alongside my own mother and Arien, in helping me to change who I was becoming, to prevent me from following in Ramantus’s footsteps. What am I to do without their guidance? Oh, how I wish I were with Arien.

Right before we received word that the king had been killed, Aldo contacted me. He informed me that the Key of Kilenya is now in his possession. I’m not sure how he got it, or from where. I’d nearly forgotten the myths and legends surrounding those artifacts of olden times.

He instructed me not to attempt to contact him for a while longer. He’s in a very dangerous situation and will not be able to communicate. He says he’s seen the princess from a distance. She still hasn’t given birth to our child and appears to be healthy. Oh, what a relief!

“
Hurry
, Early!”

Early jerked Jacob upward just as a long-fingered hand swept through the air at him.

He yelled and clung to her arms, watching in relief as whatever it was that had tried to grab him—something small and humanoid—appeared smaller as he was raised higher. Early set him down on the shelf by the statues. Jacob scrambled toward the edge to see what was going on, but Early yanked him back, stopping him.

“What’s happening?” September asked, appearing next to them.

“A bunch of wolves and a Dust are attacking Akeno.”

“A dust?” Jacob said. “Dirt?”

“No,” Early said. “You saw the statue. They’re creatures in this world.”

“Let go—I want to see.”

Jacob pushed Early’s arms away and jumped forward, dropping to his stomach and army-crawling to the edge of the shelf. Peering over, he saw Akeno brandishing a sword that was much too large for him, trying to protect himself. The wolves were snapping, growling, and barking at him. He was using the sword to fend them off, only taking a few swipes at the Dust every now and then. Jacob frowned. Why didn’t Akeno just use his Rezend?

The Dust was an odd-looking humanoid creature with large hands, small ears, and a big mouth. Brown pants were its only article of clothing. It was fast, but it didn’t seem to have rhyme or reason to its advances. It held two long knives that it was attempting to use as weapons against Akeno.

Jacob watched the way the Dust moved and realized that the only thing that made it any sort of a threat was its speed, and the fact that it was almost as big as Akeno. The Dust had no skill with the knives and kept acting surprised to see them in its hands. Every time it swiped at Akeno, it looked down, saw the knives, yelled out, and jumped back a step or two before looking at Akeno again and resuming the attack.

September crawled up next to Jacob to watch as well.

“Does it have a short-term memory problem?” Jacob whispered. “It keeps getting surprised that it has weapons in its hands.”

Suddenly the Dust pivoted in place, yelling, and looked up at Jacob. “Said get human!”

Jacob was astonished to see the knives disappear to be replaced with hooves that the creature quickly used to cover the distance between Akeno and Jacob. The wolves also abandoned their attack and ran to the base of the wall. As soon as the Dust reached the wall and lifted its hooves, long-fingered hands appeared where the hooves had been, grasping the wall and climbing.

Jacob jumped to his feet and started to back up, but watched as the creature slid off the wall, staring at its hands.

“Fingers?” the Dust yelled. “Fingers? No fingers! Knives better!” It turned and screamed at the wolves. “I trying! It complicateder than looks!”

A loud crack sounded in the air, and the wolves and Dust fell to the ground.

“September! Early! Bring him down now! We have to go!”

Jacob was lifted in the air by both Minyas and flown to Akeno.

“Hold on to him. We’ve got to get out of the castle before they wake up!”

Akeno led the way toward the front of the castle. He raced around a corner and almost ran into a girl with long brown hair who was tearing down the hallway from the opposite direction.

“No, no!” she exclaimed. “You can’t come this way! There are tons of wolves coming into the castle through the front. We’ve got to go somewhere else.” She grabbed Akeno and tried to pull him with her, but he shook off her hand.

“Stop it!” Akeno blurted. “Who are you, and why should we go with you?”

The ferocious sound of enraged wolves echoed down the hallway in front of them. More angry noises came from behind as the wolves and Dust woke up. Jacob’s heart nearly choked him when he saw several wolves round the bend at the other end of the long hall, trapping the group.

“Run, run!” He tried to scream, but only squeaked.

“Okay, let’s go!” Akeno yelled.

The girl pulled Akeno down a side hallway, taking a couple of turns until they reached a heavy door. She shoved it open with both hands, revealing a descending staircase. Grabbing Akeno’s arm, she pulled him down a couple of steps, then turned and shut the door behind them. September and Early, carrying Jacob, barely made it through before they were plunged into darkness. Jacob was at once grateful that he didn’t have to worry about tripping over his feet on the way down the stairs. He could feel the Minyas speeding up as they followed the girl.

It was quiet for several moments except for the echoes of feet on stone. After a while, they stopped going down and moved forward into pitch-black darkness. Jacob widened his eyes as much as he could, trying to see anything. He hoped the girl knew where she was going.

The faint sounds of howling, barking, and growling wolves came from above. Jacob heard the voice of the Dust, though the words were unintelligible. They must have made it through the door.

“Give me your hand now!” the girl said.

Heavy footfalls echoed through the tunnel as Akeno and the girl started running. The wind streamed through Jacob’s hair and he knew the Minyas were keeping up, though he detected no movement. He opened his eyes—still couldn’t see anything. How did the girl not run into the walls?

The tunnel seemed to go on forever. The sound of the wolves was distant behind them, but growing louder.

The girl spoke and the footfalls slowed down. “We’re going to enter a very large room now. There’s a lot of water in the middle—do
not
touch it or go near it. Stay as close to the wall as you can, and follow me.”

The sound of their feet hitting the hard floor quickened, and the Minyas sped up again. Jacob glanced over his shoulder at the faint light glowing from a torch down at the other end of the tunnel. He barely made out the figures of the wolves and Dust running toward them.

“Hurry, hurry!” he urged the Minyas on.

They soon reached a point where the wall turned in and to the right, forming the first corner of the room. This section was longer than the first, and it took more time for them to reach the next corner.

Just as Akeno and the girl arrived at the second tunnel, the wolves and Dust entered the room. One of the Dust’s hands formed a lit torch, casting weird shadows in the oblong room and over the puddle, which was black as coal.

The wolves caught sight of them and rushed into the water. “No! No! No water!” the Dust yelled, but the wolves didn’t turn back.

The girl grabbed Akeno’s hand, pulling him into the tunnel as the room erupted in a frenzy of commotion. Loud roars echoed, and waves splashed everywhere. Hundreds of roiling things moved in the water, joining with the thrashing wolves as they tried to reach the other side of the room. The wolves howled and yipped, the Dust screamed, and the Minyas took off into the tunnel, following the girl and Akeno. They were soon enveloped in darkness. The howling and roaring coming from behind grew so loud, echoing in the tunnel, that Jacob had to cover his ears to block out the sounds.

After a few moments, the roaring stopped, and the shouting faded away.

The girl exhaled loudly. “I doubt the water got on the Dust—I’ve seen him before, and he knows this castle pretty well—but there’s no way he’ll be able to walk around the side of the room now. It’s too wet, which means nothing is following us anymore. Do you have a torch or something with you? I didn’t bring a light source with me.”

“No, but I’m a Makalo.”

The tunnel filled with the eerie blue light that emanated from Akeno’s finger.

“Oh, wow!” the girl said, slowing to a walk. “I’ve heard of Makalos, but I had no idea there were any here! And you’re still magical!”

Akeno laughed. “Yes, we’re still magical. Not by much, though.”

“But why are you here?”

“Mostly because Jacob came.”

“Who’s Jacob?”