Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (25 page)

Was she crazy? “I disagree,” Jacob said, sitting up straighter. “I think it’s better to know as much as possible before doing anything that might be dangerous, since—”

“Yes, you would, wouldn’t you?” the Fat Lady said, peering down at Jacob. “It is, after all, second nature to you.” Her voice changed to a more business-like tone. “Knowing as little as possible in this case is in your best interest, though.”

How would she know what was second nature to him, and what was in his “best interest?” He’d never met her before in his life. Jacob scowled and looked at Akeno, who still fingered his vial.

The Fat Lady also glanced at the Makalo. “Boy, you’d better drink that! You’ll wish you were dead if you don’t!”

Akeno didn’t move to drink it, instead looking at Aloren, who shrugged. “Bottoms up,” she said, emptying the vial into her mouth and swallowing. “Wow, bitter!” she gasped.

The Fat Lady guffawed, slapping her knee. “What were you expecting? Fruit juice?”

Akeno also swallowed his, with much the same reaction as Aloren.

“Why do I have to wait to take mine?” Jacob asked.

“Because theirs were designed to
prevent
reactions, and yours was designed to
control
reactions. If you drink it too soon, we’d have problems. And if we were to prevent your reactions, we’d all be in trouble, wouldn’t we?” She smiled her odd grin.

Jacob just stared at her, not sure what to think or say.

“Oh, come on—tell me you’ve noticed that some things affect your companions that don’t affect you.”

Jacob thought about the way Akeno acted when they were in the infected forest. “I’ve noticed.”

“Well, get this. They aren’t going to be affected by those things any more, now that they drank the potion.” She put her legs on the table again.

“What about me?”

“What about you?”

“What does the potion do to me?”

“Well, you’re a special case. If you take that potion now, you’ll be really messed up, and the potion would be diluted by your blood, taking away its effectiveness. Then, when the thing happens that is supposed to cause your reaction, it’ll most likely kill you. Either that, or turn you evil. So, thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather you take the potion when you need it. Oh, and the time to take it is when you feel you have no control over your body. Have them help you,” she said, pointing at the other two.

“What—when I feel like I have no control?” Jacob asked. Was she purposely being vague, or would he really be in danger if he knew more?

“But of course!” she said. “You know, when your body goes haywire, and you don’t know what’s going on anymore? I have no idea when it will happen. Figure it out yourself.”

Her demeanor changed again and she stood, looking intently at Jacob. “When you get the Key, come straight back here. No detours, no stopping for breaks, and no trying to figure out how to use the Key until I tell you.”

She turned to Akeno and Aloren. “Don’t let the Lorkon touch you. The potion might prevent bad reactions, but it will be worthless against their blood.” Walking to the door, she opened it and motioned for them to exit. “I believe you have something to get done, and fast. The longer you take, the worse off you’ll be.”

Jacob, Akeno, and Aloren hurried through the open door. Jacob turned to ask another question, but the Fat Lady shut the door in his face.

Chapter 15. Stone Barricade

Jacob followed the others down the trail. He looked over his shoulder at the Fat Lady’s cabin a couple of times, but gave up, realizing she wasn’t going to open the door. He released the Minyas, ignoring their shouts of joy and exuberant flips in the air. He’d wanted to ask the Fat Lady about the Key and the Lorkon. Why’d she have to push them out of her house so fast?

After walking deep in thought for a few minutes, Jacob noticed that Aloren and Akeno were laughing and talking to each other, bouncing with each step they took. He rolled his eyes, trying to ignore them as he puzzled through what the Fat Lady had said. The potion. How on earth could she create it, not knowing what it would fix, or what reactions it would cause, and then expect him to take it? And why would he need it to save his life?

Akeno bumped into Jacob, and Jacob frowned at him. “I’ll bet she gave you guys some sort of hyper potion,” he said. “Will you notice anything bad going on around you? Of course not. You’ll be too busy laughing and bouncing all over the place.”

Aloren pulled food out of Akeno’s bag, handing out carrots and apples. “So we’re in a good mood! It’s not about her.” Stuffing a chunk of bread into her mouth, she ran to catch up with Akeno, who had just sprinted off for no apparent reason.

Jacob didn’t quicken his pace to keep up with them. He needed peace and quiet, and with them far ahead, he just might get it. He fingered the corked vial in his pocket, wondering when he would have to drink it.

September appeared in front of him. “Is it okay if we play in your hair again?”

“Yeah, sure, fine.” Jacob’s thoughts were too far away to care. What was it the Fat Lady had said? Something about not seeing things he shouldn’t see. But what sort of things? And wouldn’t it be better if he knew what was going on? For a minute, Jacob contemplated taking the potion right then. He didn’t want to wait until he was almost dead. Maybe it would act as a precaution for the danger they’d experience.

“Honestly, Jacob, have some fun for once!” Aloren yelled from about thirty yards away. “You’re so boring!”

“What are you talking about?”

She ran up to him. “Come on!” she said, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him toward Akeno.

“I don’t want to . . .” Jacob grumbled, dragging his feet.

“We’re going to have a race.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow in disbelief and looked at his friends. “Are you serious?”

Aloren stared at him. “Do you have some meeting to go to, some unfinished business to take care of while we’re walking?”

“I’m supposed to be reading the book.”

“Well, you
weren’t
. And you did plenty of that yesterday—this will be the perfect break for you. Besides, what are Akeno and I supposed to do while you’re reading?”

“I don’t know. Contemplate the wonders of the universe or something else quiet.”

Aloren frowned. “Come on, Jacob. It won’t hurt you.”

Jacob groaned, shutting his eyes so he wouldn’t have to look at her. They’d probably keep bugging him if he didn’t join them. “All right, fine.” He pulled off his knapsack and put the vial in a small front pocket, then slung the bag over his shoulders.

“Yeah!” Aloren said, her grin showing the dimple on her cheek. “Everyone ready? Okay, go!”

As Jacob ran, he felt himself relax. Too much stress made him grouchy, and he didn’t want to offend Akeno and Aloren. He forced himself to let go of his irritations. A moment later he even began to enjoy the competition.

Akeno got to the finish first, Jacob came in second, and Aloren was third.

Jacob couldn’t help gloating. “I beat you.”

Aloren shrugged. “What if I let you?”

Jacob shook his head. “You didn’t.”

“But you couldn’t beat Akeno, so it doesn’t even matter.”

“Whatever. He’s one of the fastest people I’ve seen!”

“Yes, he’s quick, and I’m glad he won. But only ‘cause he kept you from winning.”

“I don’t buy that!”

Aloren laughed, then closed her eyes, raising her face to the sun. “Oh, it smells so good here, like the bread Gallus’s wife makes!”

Jacob opened his mouth to reply, but Akeno grabbed his arm, interrupting him. “Look at that,” he said, pointing.

Jacob had to blink a couple of times. “What’s he doing?”

A man stood not far away, staring at the lake, a vacant smile on his face. He was clean-cut and neatly dressed.

Jacob slowed down, unsure what to do. The trail was about to curve to the right around a very large tree, and Jacob stopped behind it to watch the man.

He didn’t move. He didn’t even blink—at least from what Jacob saw.

“I . . . think I know what this is,” Jacob said. “If I’m right, it’s the second element Dmitri mentioned in the journal—wind. Aloren, you said it smells good, right?”

“Yeah.”

Jacob paused. “I . . . can’t smell anything out of the ordinary. Akeno, you?”

“It smells strongly of trees and wildflowers.” He breathed deeply. “Aaaah . . .”

“But it’s not doing anything to you.”

Akeno frowned. “No . . . should it?”

“In the journal, when Dmitri and his people passed through here, they all went weird. Kind of groggy and unable to do anything, though they thought they were doing something.”

“And it’s not affecting us,” Aloren said. “Do you think that’s because of the potions?”

“Probably.”

“But what about you?”

Jacob slowly shook his head. “Not sure. Though it doesn’t really surprise me.” Nothing seemed to affect him the way it did the others. Well, Akeno, at least. Why? And while it made him feel almost invincible, it also freaked him out—which he did his best to keep hidden from the other two. Just like in the cave when he’d been able to see the Molg. These things couldn’t be normal.

Aloren took a few steps around the tree, then screamed. A woman stood on the other side, a few feet away. One arm was raised, as if beckoning, and she was staring straight at Aloren. She had the same distant smile on her face as the man.

Jacob grabbed Aloren’s arm and pulled her behind him, next to Akeno. He walked to the woman and stopped a couple of feet away, then waved at her face. Nothing happened.

“I don’t like this,” Aloren said, her voice wavering. “My mom . . . was like this sometimes.”

“Let’s keep going,” Jacob said.

They walked past the tree, taking care not to touch the woman. Jacob glanced back at the man one last time, but Aloren’s gasp made him jerk around.

“There are hundreds of them!” she said.

She was right. There were people everywhere. Some lay on the grass, staring up into the sky. Some sat cross-legged, elbows on knees, resting their chins in their hands. Many were standing, as the lady and man had been. All wore the same vacant smiles. Their attire varied from very nice to grubby and dirty.

“What are they doing?” Akeno asked.

Jacob frowned. “They’re living their lives in their minds. An invisible prison, as Dmitri called it. I’d bet a lot of people have disappeared to this place.”

Aloren grabbed Jacob’s arm—he could tell she was close to losing control. “Do you think my brother might be here?”

“I don’t know—we can check. We’ll probably need to leave the trail to see them all, though.”

“And walk through them? I can’t do that!”

“I don’t want to do it either. But it’ll be impossible to search for your brother if we don’t.” Jacob glanced at Aloren, then back at the people. “What does he look like?”

“I . . . I’m not sure. I’d guess like me, except with blue eyes.” Aloren stared at the people. “Can we please stick together? Just in case?”

“It’d be faster, and we’d get a lot more done, if we split up.”

Aloren looked at Jacob, her eyes pleading. “Jacob, please. I can’t do that. I can go with you or Akeno, but I can’t do it alone.”

Jacob paused and ran his fingers through his hair. “All right, we’ll do that. I’ll go right, you and Akeno go left.” He motioned to the Minyas. “Take Early with you. I’ll take September.”

“How do we know this isn’t just a trap?” Akeno said. “Maybe the Lorkon put these people here as a way to . . . well, maybe attack us?”

“It’s not a trap for us, specifically, but for anyone who happens to walk into it. In the journal, Dmitri finds out the Lorkon put a potion here to stop people from going anywhere. I thought it would’ve lost potency over the years.” He frowned, looking at an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old on the right, close to the trail. “I just gotta see something first.” He hesitated, then reached out and prodded the guy in the shoulder.

The teen turned his face toward Jacob, still smiling vacantly. “Hmmm?”

Aloren gasped, her hand fluttering to her mouth. “Oh . . . let’s keep going, please.”

Jacob split off from Akeno and Aloren, walking as fast as he could through the people. He glanced at each face, trying to see someone who resembled Aloren even in the slightest. After five or ten minutes, he met up with his friends on the other side of the large group of people. September and Early happily rejoined each other.

“No luck?” Jacob asked.

Aloren shook her head. “This place is really creepy. And it doesn’t feel right for him to be here.”

“Let’s keep going, then. Maybe we’ll have better luck in Maivoryl City.”

They continued forward, finally passing the last person. The Minyas flew up ahead of them, doing somersaults.

Aloren released a long breath. “That was really weird.”

“No kidding,” Jacob said.

The trail soon turned left, heading toward the large mountains at the south of the valley. On the hills to the right, the forest thinned, and the path led the group close to the base of a very large hill that obstructed their view of both the castle and Maivoryl City.

“How much farther?” Akeno said. “I’d like to be able to keep the castle in view.”

“I’d say at least an hour more, if not longer,” Aloren said. “I’ve never been this far, though, so I’m not exactly sure.”

They walked in silence. Jacob had to tell himself to relax and enjoy the scenery. The valley really was beautiful. The Dunsany Mountains behind them rose high above Ridgewood. Sonda Lake was to their left, with Aloren’s city on the other side. The mountains to the south were majestic and grand.

Jacob pulled the journal out of his bag and found his place. “I’m going to read out loud so you guys know what’s going on now.”

Today we passed through the fourth and final element. It was boiling, shifting, poisoned earth, incredibly deep. When touched, it burned the skin like acid, and nothing—absolutely nothing—would relieve the pain it caused. But it seems the Lorkon have underestimated the Makalos—as even I did—and having Kenji with us proved beneficial. He informed me that the sap of the Kaede tree both heals and purifies. I’d never heard this. Of course, Ramantus never associated with Makalos and wouldn’t even allow them in his kingdom, so I didn’t have the opportunity to learn any of their ways.