Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (96 page)

His mind wandered as he gazed at the ceiling. How did the Lorkon get Molgs all the way out here?

He rolled over, then jumped when a Molg opened the door, putting a tray of food on the floor. The Molg sneered at him and slammed the door shut.

Jacob bounced off the cot and grabbed the tray. It only took a minute to down breakfast, satisfying his empty stomach.

When he’d finished eating, he thought about home, wondering how his family was doing. They had to be completely panicked. He’d never disappeared like this before. ‘Course, he was positive they’d figured everything out, especially with Early’s messages.

And another thing was bothering him—how much school had he missed? Today was . . . Tuesday. Or maybe Wednesday. That meant he’d missed five days. Last Monday and Tuesday, and the first half of this week.

Jacob spent the next couple of hours in boredom, scratching designs in the slime on the nearest wall. Sometime around ten or maybe eleven—he couldn’t tell—he decided he should probably be practicing his Time-Seeing ability. Maybe he’d be able to find the Key of Ayunli, and then not tell Keitus he’d seen it. Jacob seriously doubted he’d be able to accomplish the goal that day. But if the Lorkon kept him there for the rest of his life, he’d definitely be able to do it with practice.

He sat on the cot, facing the door, and concentrated on the Key of Ayunli. He unfocused his eyes and centered on the pain in his chest, willing it to grow and envelop him.

With a pop, it did. And things were different this time—easier. Suddenly everything around him changed, and he was in a much different castle from any he’d ever seen before. All the walls were covered with ornate tapestries, the floors with rugs. Not one inch of stone was visible. He only knew it was a castle because of the spaciousness, and the fact that he could see towers through the many windows.

He turned his attention to the hooded man who stood in front of him, holding the Key in one hand, gaping at it. He held the leather package with his other.

This was the most detail Jacob had been able to see yet. He looked around in wonder, taking in the entire room. Beautiful tapestries and swords hung decoratively on the wall. Gold and marble statues graced the hall, and the carpet underfoot appeared to be plush, though Jacob couldn’t feel it. There was a hallway behind him lined with stained-glass windows. Sunlight filtered in, making colored patterns on the floor.

With a start, Jacob realized the man had left. Dang it! How had he missed that? He tried Time-Seeing to find the man, but everything went black.

Jacob found himself waking up on the floor of his cell. The light from the window was different—it was late afternoon, almost twilight. Several hours had passed. Had he blacked out? How long had he been Time-Seeing? He tried to get up, but his body freaked out with spasms of pain and he was barely able to roll onto his side. What was wrong? He’d been sore that morning when he woke up, but not
that
sore.

He rolled to a sitting position, groaning. The food tray had been replaced with a full one, and something dawned on Jacob. The Lorkon must have returned. Horror washed over him. Would they attack him while he was unconscious? They must have done something—his entire body ached. He pulled up his shirt—sure enough, his stomach was black and blue. He felt like retching. Why would the Lorkon do that? Were they the reason he blacked out? Or had he blacked out because he’d been Time-Seeing too long, making the Lorkon frustrated when they couldn’t wake him?

An urgency to get out of his situation flooded over him, replacing the horror he’d felt earlier. He had to get home! He had to get away!

But how?

Jacob eased himself off the floor and onto the cot. He slumped in exhaustion, noticing he was covered with slime again. So much for keeping it off—nothing he could do about it anyway.

Early rapped on the window, and he scooted over to where he could see her. They kept each other company. She danced on the window sill, smiling at him, mouthing things he didn’t understand.

He couldn’t help but wonder why she wasn’t able to break through the window. Maybe her magic had a rule that prevented her from breaking things? He didn’t know. ‘Course, it wouldn’t do him any good for her to get the glass open. He was way too high above the ground to jump. But it really would be nice to talk to her. Even though her conversation was trivial, it was still conversation. And they’d done a lot together in the past month—he’d really grown to care for and appreciate her.

The sun was about to set, and he watched the rays fly across the sky. A moment of stupor hit him—he hadn’t allowed himself to relax or take a mental vacation for a long time. He invited it in, enjoying its simple calmness.

But then, a few minutes later, Jacob shook his head to clear it. He’d wasted precious time and energy trying to find the Key when he should’ve been focusing on Seeing how the Lorkon had trapped him. There had to be something special about the fortress or this room that hadn’t been the case earlier. If he found out what it was, perhaps it would give him the needed information to escape.

Jacob Time-Saw to the Lorkon castle, “rewinding” until he reached the point before the Lorkon left. An involuntary shudder crossed him when he saw Keitus on his throne with the other Lorkon around him and remembered how it had felt to be in that room the first time—the awe at seeing the Key of Kilenya, followed by the fear and pain from his encounter with that disgusting individual. That had happened only five months ago, but it felt like ages had passed.

A small burst of flame near Keitus startled Jacob—luckily none of the Lorkon could see him. That flame had been familiar, though, and in surprise, Jacob nearly lost control of his Time-Seeing. He grimaced. He’d seen that flame as he’d been about to go into August Fortress.

A crackly voice addressed Keitus. “The boy and his group are on their way to release the Shiengols.”

Keitus jumped to his feet. “We leave now,” he said to the other Lorkon in the room with him.

“You were right, Your Majesty,” one of the Lorkon said, grabbing things from behind a curtain, “about having beetles spy on the boy.”

Keitus glared at the Lorkon. “And if you were doing your job,
you
would’ve thought of the idea.”

“Yes, but they can’t get into the Makalo village, so it would’ve been pointless.”

Keitus ignored him. “Send for Sindons. And we’ll need as many Molgs as possible.”

“What about Dusts?”

Keitus’s disgusted grunt said enough. Jacob figured he was probably sick of the nearly useless creatures. Maybe training them was too difficult? Jacob felt little hope that was the case.

“You were right about that too, Keitus. You think of everything!”

The Lorkon continued to praise Keitus, and Jacob felt sick at how he received the compliments. Such arrogance! If anyone treated Jacob like that, he’d avoid them. Like how he avoided Shirley from school.

He fast-forwarded through time, wanting to see what the Lorkon did rather than hear their annoying conversation. They mounted the Sindons—Keitus, of course, sitting on top of one in a rather silly-looking caravan-type thing—embellished with gold and silver and dark blues and purples.

Jacob watched as the group rounded up several Molgs and passed through Maivoryl City and the tunnel in the wall. The Sindon barely fit inside it.

A moment later, when the Lorkon reached the scented air, Jacob slowed down time, watching in interest as the Molgs got stuck. The Lorkon had a hard time pulling the large creatures out. He laughed when he saw Keitus throw a fit from the top of his Sindon, screaming at the other Lorkon to get the Molgs. Then he stopped laughing when Keitus ordered one of the Lorkon to rip Kenji’s warning signs out of the ground and throw them into the lake.

Stupid Lorkon.

The three Lorkon in the scented air bickered like little kids, and Jacob drew near to hear them.

“This is ridiculous,” one said.

“If I’d known when I accepted his challenge that I would become a slave . . .”

“Shut your mouth!” the third Lorkon said. “You aren’t a slave. If I’m ever in charge, you will be, though.”

The first and second Lorkon responded, and it looked like things would escalate. Jacob watched with interest. The Lorkon certainly were childlike sometimes.

Keitus called orders from the top of the carriage, but the other three weren’t paying attention. Finally, he stepped down.

“
Enough!
”

The Lorkon stopped and stared at him. At a flick of his hand, they fell to the ground, terror on their faces, groveling before him, begging for forgiveness.

Jacob raised an eyebrow. How had Keitus gotten them to change their attitudes so quickly? Did he have them under a spell?

“My own flesh and blood! How
dare
you act like this? You’re worse than Dusts!”

“Father, please—”

“
Shut your mouth!
” Keitus spat. “You
will not
speak until I command it!”

Flesh and blood? Father?

The Lorkon pressed his face into the ground, and Keitus paced. “The next who speaks out of line will become meat for the Molgs!”

Jacob thought that sounded like a dumb threat until he noticed the affect it had on the Lorkon. They were trembling with fear. Why? And it didn’t seem like the Molgs had any desire to eat a Lorkon. Speaking of the Molgs, they’d wandered back into the scented air and had stupid grins on their faces. Jacob laughed—they looked even more ridiculous than any human he’d seen there before.

Keitus finally stopped pacing. “I’m undoing this Counter. I’m tired of dealing with it every time we pass through with inferior beings.”

Counter?

Keitus lifted his arms waist high and chanted something. He raised his hands higher, still chanting, staring ahead, until his arms were pointed to the sky. The ground shook, every blade of grass, including the dead ones, straightening, pointing up. The brush in the area nearly uprooted itself. A bluish substance, not quite liquid, not quite gas, flowed from the earth all around the group. It rolled along the ground, floating upward, then swirled around Keitus, faster and faster. Suddenly, like an explosion, the substance burst and then dissipated into air.

After a moment of silence, Keitus lowered his hands and pointed to the Lorkon. “Get up. Now. We have work to do.”

The Lorkon and Molgs got back on the Sindons, which had appeared to be unaffected by the scented air. They moved quickly and Jacob zoomed to keep up, finding himself fast-forwarding through time to skip the boring parts.

He was somewhat surprised when the group took a shortcut through the Dunsany Mountains, then came out in the city Kenji had called Fornchall. If only Jacob had known that shortcut before. It would have been easier than going around the mountain. Then he decided that wouldn’t have been good—the Lorkon passed several areas thick with Molgs. If he and Akeno had gone that way, they would never have made it out. Plus, he wouldn’t have met Aloren, and she’d never know that Matt was her brother.

Jacob fast-forwarded even more, realizing his body would be getting tired soon. Azuriah’s warning sounded in his ears—he needed to get to the point quickly, before his body gave out on him.

The group finally stopped near the fortress, on the opposite side from where Jacob and his friends had been.

Another burst of flame near Keitus, and again, a crackly voice reported. “They’ve found a way into the fortress.”

Keitus said something curt in another language—Jacob could tell it was a swear word, due to the tone of the Lorkon’s voice and the expression on his face. He motioned for the others to follow him on foot.

They left the Sindons behind and slunk around the huge building to the front, followed by several Molgs. They moved into the trees, and Jacob caught a glimpse of Aldo and Aloren looking up at the fortress wall. Things blacked over for a moment and Jacob worried he was slipping out of consciousness again, but then the scenery returned with usual clarity. The Lorkon were watching Jacob’s friends, who were gawking at a hole in the fortress. Jacob realized he must have just gone through that hole.

Two of the Lorkon tried to go forward to attack, but Keitus held them back. A moment later, the Shiengols emerged, and Jacob watched the Lorkon’s reaction with surprise. Their emotions went so quickly from eagerness to fear that he nearly jumped in shock. They were afraid of the Shiengols! No wonder they’d trapped the creatures! Could he use that to his advantage?

A few of the Shiengols stared at the Lorkon as they passed, and anger flashed through Jacob. They’d known the Lorkon were there! Why hadn’t they done anything about it?

Had Azuriah known?

Jacob gasped when he realized that of course the Shiengol leader knew about the Lorkon. He’d insisted on having Jacob practice his new ability before leaving the fortress. He must have known Jacob would be kidnapped, but how? And why hadn’t he done something to stop it? Why hadn’t he warned Jacob?

Jacob realized that Keitus and two or three Molgs had gone around a corner, and he opted not to follow them for the time being. He wanted to see what the three Lorkon did. A couple of the Molgs hid behind the door Jacob and his friends had set up. He shook his head, making a mental note to check behind every makeshift door just to be sure nothing was there.

Azuriah came out of the hole in the fortress, followed by . . . then everything got muddled again and Jacob couldn’t see details well enough. He tried everything he could—going around the haze, below, above. Nothing worked. He sighed in frustration, realizing there wasn’t anything he could do but go See where the Lorkon leader had gone.

But then he felt an odd sensation flooding through him—originating at his heart—and he hesitated. What was wrong? His body—exhaustion crept into his mind. Oh! He was about to black out again! Time for a break.

Lights flashed around him, and he found himself back in his cell. It was nighttime—he’d been Time-Seeing for half an hour at least, if not more. No wonder it’d almost knocked him out.

He rolled to a sitting position on the floor, then jumped when a shape on the other side of the room shifted too.