Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (85 page)

Gallus looped his thumbs in the front pockets of his pants. “No, nothing about them is edible. The only muscles they have are used in the digestive—”

“Disgusting,” Aloren said.

“—and eating process. Their mouths are incredibly large and strong.”

Matt shook his head, an expression of displeasure on his face. “You know, normally I’d ask to see one . . . but I think I’ll pass this time.”

Gallus chuckled. “You wouldn’t see it anyway—your sight will be gone.”

Matt nodded.

“Any more questions?” No one responded, and Gallus grinned. “Good. Let’s get going!”

He told them what to look for—smaller, oddly-colored bushes, stones that didn’t really look like stones, and other such things.

The group spread apart by five feet and started forward through the forest, walking slowly, watching where they placed each step. Occasionally, they called back and forth, checking up on one another when the undergrowth got too thick to see each other.

They didn’t make much progress. Jacob assumed everyone felt the way he did—terrified to be trapped by the creatures. What would it be like to step on them?
Springy
, Gallus had said.

After around fifty feet—nearly long enough for him to have forgotten they were in danger—he noticed a bush that had leaves on it. Leaves—green, and natural-looking—but leaves nonetheless. It was November, and all the other plants had already lost their foliage.

“Got something here!” He wasn’t worried about the Argots hearing, since Gallus had said the creatures didn’t have ears.

“Same!” Aloren responded.

“I’ve also found signs of them,” Gallus called. “Let’s regroup.”

Jacob backtracked a few feet, staying away from the edge of the creatures, and joined the others. He looked around. “Where’s Matt?”

“Here! I need some help,” Matt called from somewhere up ahead. “I think I might have gone too far—the lights just went out. Oh, whoa! Something’s moving under me!”

Jacob and Gallus rushed together through the brush toward the sound of Matt’s voice. Gallus put his arm out and stopped Jacob from going onto the Argots when they saw Matt. He stood frozen, one foot ready to take another step, already twenty feet past the line where the Argots started.

“Nothing’s moving anymore, but I can’t see,” he said. “I can’t see!”

“Don’t panic!” Gallus yelled to him.

Jacob figured he meant well, but how was that supposed to keep Matt from freaking out?

“And don’t put your foot down. Hold still. They know you’re there, but they might be waiting for you to do something.”

“How do I go back?”

Gallus looked around the group. “Give me a second.”

Just then, the ground around Matt rippled. Aloren screamed, catching up with Gallus and Jacob.

“I didn’t do anything! I swear!” Matt shouted, struggling to hold his balance and keep his foot in the air. “Tell me what to do!”

The brush and boulders moved and huge pits appeared around him, razor-sharp teeth growing from the edges.

Jacob’s jaw dropped. The teeth were growing? How was that possible? “We’ve gotta get him out!” He spun. “Where’s Akeno?”

Akeno pushed through the group, rushing forward. He held his arm out and picked Matt up.

Matt disappeared just as one of the huge mouths closed around his leg. He reappeared with Akeno, a little smaller than his normal height. They fell into the grass, both screaming in pain.

Everyone dashed to them—Aloren got there first. She dropped to the ground next to Matt. “His leg! It’s bleeding and cut all over!”

“Kaede Sap!” Sweet Pea yelled, ripping off his backpack. He pulled out a package and a bowl. “Fast! Help me!”

“I need a package too!” Gallus called, pulling Akeno away from the feet rushing around Matt.

Sweet Pea handed one to Jacob, who tossed it to Gallus, then fell at Matt’s side, helping separate the cloth while Aloren pulled Matt’s shoe and sock off and Sweet Pea mixed the sap.

It wasn’t until Jacob was putting strips of sap-saturated cloth on Matt’s foot that he realized the implications of Gallus
also
needing a Kaede Sap package. Had Akeno been injured too? He put the last strip on Matt, then jumped to join Gallus.

“What’s going on?”

“My arm . . .” Akeno gasped. “My chest—it hurts. Everything hurts.”

Akeno’s bag was open near them and Gallus was mixing a second package of Kaede Sap, the first near him, ready to be used. “I don’t know what happened—maybe Matt was too close? Too heavy?” He looked up at Jacob. “Go back to the door and get Ebony—she’s the only one who can diagnose this.”

Jacob rushed through the forest, trying to remember where the door was. He nearly ran into the tarri, but saw the door just in time, veered for it, and Keyed to Kenji’s house.

Ebony jumped up from the table. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Akeno—come!”

Ebony raced through the door and followed Jacob. She fell to her knees, and her panic was replaced with urgency and determination. No wonder she was good at this sort of thing. She poked and prodded at Akeno through his shirt, checking his skin first, then the bones.

“Several broken ribs, a broken collarbone, shoulder, and his arm bones,” she said. “There are probably other things broken—in his legs. Too bad he can’t shrink himself to be put in a Minya container.”

Akeno moaned. “Sorry, Mom . . .”

She brushed his hair off his forehead, a tender expression crossing her face. “Rest, love. We’ll do our best not to cause you any more pain.” She turned to Jacob and Gallus. “Help me take his shirt and pants off. Jacob, tell Aloren that she might want to stay away since he’ll be nearly naked.”

Jacob relayed the message to Aloren, then he, Gallus, and Ebony quickly removed Akeno’s outerwear. Jacob couldn’t help but notice that Akeno was wearing Batman boxers. He did his best to put that fact out of his mind, helping Ebony mix three more packages of Kaede Sap.

They got to work covering his entire body with the strips, being careful to put them under him as well. It took ten minutes, at least, and they used five Kaede Sap packages—everything Sweet Pea had in his knapsack.

When they finished, Ebony got to her feet and helped Gallus spread a blanket over her son. “He’ll be fine now.” She wiped moisture off her face. “What happened?”

Gallus explained, and Jacob looked at the Argots. They were just as they had been before, as if nothing had taken place.

Ebony frowned. “The distance between the boys should have been enough.” She shook her head. “This is why we’ve always warned Makalos about shrinking big things, and then enlarging them again. Akeno hasn’t had a problem with it for a while—he must’ve been completely panicked.”

Jacob tilted his head. “He was panicked when I fell into the mud bubbles and he didn’t get injured
that
time.”

She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Makalos have to be completely in control of their emotions—they struggle with it at first, and most struggle their entire lives.” She looked at her son. “But he doesn’t normally have those problems.”

Jacob looked at Akeno as well. He didn’t know the Makalo could even make a mistake in that area. “Why did his bones break?”

“Akeno’s arm and body couldn’t hold your brother’s weight. But the magic is stronger than bones—Matt would’ve come to him, regardless.” She walked to Jacob’s brother. “How
is
Matt?”

“Asleep,” Aloren said.

“Good. He’ll need the rest.” She lifted a piece of cloth to inspect his ankle. “How bad was his leg?”

“Not terrible—just a few cuts from the teeth.”

Sweet Pea joined them. “Did you see how the Argots’ fangs grew when their mouths opened?”

Gallus nodded. “The teeth are kept inside the jaws until they’re needed, and then they extend like cat claws. They can be several feet long, depending on the age of the Argot.”

Jacob shook his head. “We barely got Matt out in time, didn’t we?”

“He wouldn’t have lasted another few seconds. Oh, and another thing about these creatures is that they share their meals—what one of them eats gets spread through them all.”

“No more,” Aloren said. “I can’t
handle
any more of it.”

Sweet Pea laughed and started to say something, but Ebony glared at him. His mouth slammed shut.

“I don’t know, Gallus,” Ebony said, turning to the black man. “Should I come along?”

They’d gone over this a lot during the last meeting. Ebony had opted to stay home since Echo, her baby, still needed her. But she was the only one who really knew medical things inside and out.

Gallus blew out a breath. “It’s up to you. However, as we’d already said, we won’t be able to see or feel or hear anything. We won’t know if we’re injured, and neither will you—you won’t be able to help us.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You can come with, or we can stick to the original plan.”

She sighed. “We shouldn’t change course now. I . . . I just hate feeling helpless.”

“I know it sounds abrupt, but you’ll be helpless anyway. How about you stay until we’re safely to the other side? Then Jacob could Key you back and he’ll cross last.”

She nodded. “I’d feel much better about that.”

“Okay, good.” Gallus motioned to Matt and Akeno. “How long until they wake?”

Ebony shook her head. “An hour for Matt, possibly several for Akeno. It depends on how much damage there is.”

Gallus sighed. “Okay, let’s get to work while waiting.” He separated everyone into groups, leaving Ebony to watch over the injured people. Gallus and Aloren went one direction, and Jacob and Sweet Pea the other. Gallus had them work on clearing a long strip of land that ran parallel to where the Argots lived. When Akeno woke up, he’d be enlarging some things that would end up being pretty big.

Clearing the underbrush wasn’t easy. Jacob and Sweet Pea talked while they worked, using machetes Gallus had given them from his duffel bag. Luckily, he hadn’t asked Akeno to shrink them earlier, and they were still their original size.

Jacob and Sweet Pea first talked about school, then basketball, movies, and music. When the topic turned to girls, with Sweet Pea wanting to know if he had ever kissed any, Jacob insisted they focus on their work. Sweet Pea teased him for a moment, then took the hint.

Jacob’s machete got dull, and he was tempted to pull out his sword to chop with instead. He knew better than to use it on weeds, however. Having it in its scabbard, by his side, was oddly comforting. He wasn’t used to fighting with it, but at least he felt like he could seriously injure . . . a defenseless evil creature. He smiled. He still needed a lot of practice.

After nearly an hour, Gallus called everyone over for a rest. Jacob was happy to see that Matt was waking up, and that he felt well enough to get to work. Gallus soon ended the break.

Jacob teased Matt about being shorter than him. “You’re the little guy now!”

Matt rolled his eyes, snorting. “My muscles still work fine, and it’s only by a few inches. I could still beat you at football.”

Jacob grinned at his brother, then got back to work.

After another thirty minutes, Gallus declared everything good and had them all return to where Akeno slept.

“Now what?” Jacob asked.

“We wait until Akeno wakes. There isn’t anything else we can do until he’s better.”

“It shouldn’t be much longer,” Ebony said. “Assuming he didn’t have internal injuries, that is.”

Jacob tilted his head. “It took
me
four days to heal when I had broken bones.”

She nodded. “Yes, but you’re human, not a Makalo. Kaede Sap works best on Makalos. Plus, you were much worse off.”

The group settled themselves in for a long wait. Three hours later, when the sun was ready to set, Akeno woke up. Ebony checked him out, declared him healthy, then had him get dressed and eat.

When he was finished, he jumped to his feet. “All right, I’m ready to put Matt back to his normal size.”

Gallus held his hand up. “Don’t—let’s figure out the next step first. You’re going to need to shrink someone. Preferably one of the stronger guys who can tie knots.”

“Me!” Sweet Pea and Matt said at the same time.

Gallus looked at them. “Matt. You’re taller than Sweet Pea.”

Sweet Pea scowled. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because he’s taller, he’ll ultimately be bigger than you.”

Matt laughed at Sweet Pea’s disappointment. “Maybe next time, dude.”

Gallus addressed Akeno. “After you shrink Matt, you’ll need to enlarge him on top of the wall.” He pointed to the stone wall dividing the forest from the city. It wasn’t very close—perhaps a hundred feet away. Parts of it were crumbling, but it was in good shape otherwise. A large arch was flanked by ornately embellished lamp posts with old, ragged flags attached to them. The flags were really big, deep red, and had a design on them that looked like a trident spear with a sun on it.

Akeno’s mouth popped open. “He’ll be huge if I do that—like, really,
really
huge.”

Gallus’s chin went higher, his chest out. “Exactly. And make sure you put him nearer to the entrance, by the lamp posts.”

A panicked expression crossed Akeno’s face. “But enlarging him that big might cause damage—it could kill him.”

Ebony put her hand on Akeno’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine, son. Makalos used to do it regularly—you won’t hurt him. I promise. And we’ll make sure you’re able to concentrate.”

“It has to be done,” Gallus said. “Otherwise we won’t make it across the Argots.”

Uncertainty remained on Akeno’s face. “You’re sure?”

Gallus nodded. “We need him on the other side. Take a few deep breaths, then go when you’re ready.”

Akeno hesitated, then finally turned to Matt. “All right. Walk over there.” He pointed to the place Sweet Pea and Jacob had cleared. “It might hurt a little when I pick you up. It’s hard for me to tell if I’m holding too tightly.”

Matt ran to where Akeno had pointed and turned, a huge smile on his face.

“For Narnia!” he yelled, fist in the air.

Jacob snorted—his brother was so ridiculous. Matt really enjoyed odd things, and Jacob knew for sure he’d be a lot more nervous than Matt, even though he’d been shrunk and enlarged several times.