Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (98 page)

He shook his head. If he did join Keitus, he might actually have more power to help his family.

He got to his feet and paced, making a path in the slime. Was joining Keitus the right thing to do? He searched himself, trying to understand his feelings, and felt shock when he found an element of peace there. Was that because it was right? Was he “meant” to be with Keitus? Would things fall into place for him?

He sat on the cot again. He couldn’t think. Things kept slipping from his mental grasp. Okay, a more logical, straightforward reasoning was required. What were the pros and cons?

Pros—he wouldn’t die. And he might be able to prevent the deaths of those he loved. He shook his head. He wasn’t so naive as to believe Keitus would allow his enemies to live. But maybe, maybe he’d be able to convince Keitus to transport them somewhere far away—somewhere safe, where they’d have no control or influence. Would that be enough?

Other pros. He wracked his brain, concentrating. He could be a spy. He could feed the good guys information. Act as a double agent.

And the cons?

He’d be selling his soul, basically. And he felt strongly that was true. But if it saved the lives of his loved ones, would it be worth it?

Also, he hated the Lorkon. He felt dirty and gross around them. He doubted that would ever go away. He naturally shied away from bad things. Always had. Plus, he knew the Lorkon would probably treat him very poorly. They’d abuse him mentally, emotionally, physically.

Jacob got up to pace again. What could he do? Join the Lorkon, save his loved ones, and lose himself. Or deny Keitus and be killed, knowing his loved ones would follow.

There
was
one more con to joining Keitus.

If he sided with the Lorkon, it would destroy his mother. And he couldn’t live with that. He couldn’t.

Jacob felt peace then—true peace—and he held on to it as hard as he could. He closed his eyes, picturing his mother’s face. He pictured Amberly’s sweet smile and Aloren’s beautiful eyes. Then he jumped to his feet. He’d wasted five minutes with his moment of weakness. That left him with only twenty-five to escape.

Concentrating, he Time-Saw the fortress, wanting to know where everyone was before he did anything. The Molgs stood guard outside his door still, looking bored. Keitus paced in the throne room. The three Lorkon were at the table there, playing some sort of game with rocks.

Then he looked outside. Molgs were stationed randomly around the fortress, some pacing, others staring into the forest.

There was the makeshift door where it had been before. Jacob “looked” behind it, making sure no Molgs were there, and then his eyes caught a gleam in the trees behind the door.

The Key! The Lorkon hadn’t found it! But how did it get way over there? He wondered if Early had moved it. Wasn’t it too heavy for her? He zoomed in closer, wanting to be sure that’s what it was. It was barely visible—only a sparkle of one of the diamonds and a little metal catching the sunlight—but definitely the Key. Relief flooded through him.

He pulled back, seeing the fortress from farther away, counting how many Molgs were outside. Ten, one of which was near the makeshift door, but the rest were placed across the grounds.

He could do this!

Jacob jerked to his cell, making sure he was still alone, then quickly knelt on the cot and resumed warming the caulking. Hurry! Faster! Faster! Early was on the other side, cheering him on. He could see her excitement—it flowed in the air around her.

When he was down to the last bit, he put his hand on the window to steady it, hoping that by yanking hard enough on the caulking, the glass would fall inward, rather than outward.

He tugged on the stuff. The window creaked. He tugged harder, and it shifted visibly. Then he pulled with all his might and the window flipped out of the seal, landing on him. He got knocked to the floor with a thud, and the sheet of glass slid with him.
Ouch
.

But it didn’t break.

He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned the glass up against the wall. The floor was too slippery, though, and the pane started sliding. He jumped forward, caught it just in time, and froze, waiting to see if the Molgs outside his door had heard it scraping.

Early flitted to his side, doing somersaults in the air, but Jacob waited.

When nothing happened, he lowered the glass to the floor, where it wouldn’t break unless someone stepped on it.

Jacob jumped back up on the cot and looked out the hole he’d just created. His eyes blurred and he pulled himself back in quickly, clutching his chest. The ground was so far below! His head spun and he began hyperventilating. How was he going to do this? He’d always been afraid of heights, and when they were this bad, he had no hope.

“Jacob!” Early said. “You must come now! You’ve got a way out of the fortress!”

He steadied himself against the wall. He sucked in one deep breath after another, trying to clear his mind. When he felt more ready, more determined, he pulled the last of the water from below his cot and washed his hands. He
would
save himself.

Realizing he wouldn’t be able to concentrate well enough to Time-See while he was escaping, he turned to Early. “Go find out where everyone is, then give me updates every couple of seconds. Make sure no one is coming.”

She nodded and zoomed back and forth quickly, giving him reports. The Molgs below hadn’t noticed anything, and she could see the Lorkon through a window—they were still in the throne room.

Jacob sat on the ledge, legs outside, careful not to look down. “Just like on the wall of the fortress,” he muttered. “Just like on the wall of the fortress.”

Holding on to the ledge, he turned around, lowering himself. His feet swung wildly in the air as he tried to find somewhere to put them. Nothing.

He paused, breathing deeply, calming his heart.

“Don’t look down,” Early whispered. “There’s a Molg directly below you.”

Great. Just great.

His breath came in quick bursts and he closed his eyes as tight as he could. The tower felt like it was falling—his senses were completely messed up.

Finally, when he was sure he could control his panic, he swung his left arm over the ledge, careful not to the touch the slimy interior of the cell, and used the crook of his elbow to hold on, freeing up his right hand.

Jacob heated a deep handhold into the stone, then another one next to it. He made sure there was plenty of stone to grip, fitting it perfectly to himself.

This was easy. He could do it. He pretended the ground was only a foot below. If he fell, it would be like stepping off a curb. Nothing more to it.

He reached down as far as he could and molded another spot. Then taking a deep breath, he put his right hand in one of the upper holes, letting go of the sill with his elbow. For a moment, his body swung as he tried to put his left hand in the other hole. He nearly slipped.

A warming sensation started on his rear end and he felt lighter, his mind clearing. He would have blushed, but instead felt intense gratitude. Early was helping him. He wondered how she was doing it without sending him shooting into the air.

Finally, Jacob got his fingertips into the other hole. They inched in, and his grip there strengthened. Once he knew he wouldn’t slip out, he hung for a moment, letting himself relax as much as possible. He didn’t have a lot of experience with rock climbing, but at least basketball and learning sword play had strengthened his upper body considerably.

“Early,” he whispered, “can you help me find places to put my feet?”

With Early’s guidance, he warmed more holes in the stone and slowly lowered himself, making sure to go to the right from the window, just in case someone looked down. Which he was sure they would. Early gave him frequent updates on Molg and Lorkon activity so he’d know how much time he had.

Several moments later, he neared a corner. After Early checked that no one was watching, he reached around and molded holes, then pulled himself past. He breathed a sigh of relief. He would no longer be visible from the window. So far, so good.

Jacob continued like this—working through shaking muscles, warming up handholds, slowly lowering himself, avoiding windows, and having Early keep watch. It felt like hours had passed, though he knew it had only been maybe ten or fifteen minutes. How much more time did he have? Five minutes? Would Keitus actually wait a full half hour? Jacob doubted it.

He rested for a moment, taking stock of how far he’d gone and how much farther he had left. He was relieved to see that the ground was much closer now. He’d made progress! But the wall ended a couple of feet below. The drop to the next roof was at least ten feet down. That would be difficult to manage.

He made two handholds just above the edge where the wall ended, then lowered himself, closing the distance to the roof below. He shook his head, wondering at the Shiengols’ thought process when they’d built this place. Random walls and roofs and ledges everywhere.

With Early encouraging him, he released his grip, landing with a clatter.

Jacob scrambled to find something to hold on to, but couldn’t. He started sliding down, gaining speed. Just in time, he caught himself. His legs slid off the edge of the roof, but he held on tight, hanging over the side.

He nearly cried in relief. He’d made it!

Early hovered next to him. “You can’t go down this way!” she said. “Too many windows!”

Jacob pulled himself up, got to his hands and feet, and scurried across the large roof, trying to remain out of sight of the Molgs on the ground.

It took him a moment, but he found a side of the fortress where there weren’t many windows. Luckily, it wasn’t very far from the makeshift door and the Key. But how was he going to get down this time? The roof had a ledge that took him too far from the wall. He wouldn’t be able to get close enough to mold any holes.

Deciding it was time to figure out where everyone was, he Time-Saw the surrounding area. Molgs were still pacing—none of them had seen him. How was that possible? He Saw the throne room and panicked when he found it empty. He pulled back, searching for Keitus. The Lorkon was just entering the cell.

The anger on Keitus’s face was evident, yes, but Jacob could hear the Lorkon’s scream, even while Time-Seeing. He jerked back to his surroundings. The Molgs below went berserk, rushing to see what was going on, and Jacob sprawled to his stomach, barely lifting his head a fraction—enough to see that the Molgs were all staring up in the direction of Jacob’s former cell.

“Find him!” Keitus bellowed. “
Find him!
He’s out there somewhere!”

The Molgs reacted instantly, unsheathing swords and maces. They split up, some going to the right and away from the window, some going into the forest in front of it, and others rushing to the left, closing the distance between themselves and Jacob.

Jacob lowered his head. “What do I do?” he whispered frantically to Early. “How do I get down?”

She shrugged, shaking her head, and wrung her hands frantically.

Then her face lit up. “I’ll help you! You drop from here to the ground. I’ll be careful—reduce your weight again. It won’t hurt as badly if you’re lighter.”

Jacob nodded, breathing rapidly. The risk of having her shoot him off in some random direction was huge. But this was his only choice. “We’ll need to wait for the right moment—there’s no way I’m going to make it to the door now without someone seeing me.”

Early nodded. “And you can go into the forest and sneak around to the door that way!”

Jacob raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That’s a good idea, actually. Thanks, Early!” And if they
did
see him? Without his sword, he had no way to defend himself.

Remembering his sword made him groan. His dad had given it to him. He’d killed a dinosaur with it—he couldn’t leave it behind. He didn’t care how stupid others would think that was—if at all possible, he wanted to get it.

An idea popped into his mind, and he Time-Saw to see if he could do it. Keitus was pacing in Jacob’s cell, his color red so bright it was nearly impossible to see his actual facial expression.

The other Lorkon were searching the halls and rooms nearby.

“He’s outside!” Keitus yelled at them. “Go out there and find him!”

The three Lorkon disappeared down some stairs. Jacob quickly Time-Saw to the throne room. Relief hit him. Oh, good. His sword was still there.

The idea continued to formulate, and he quickly figured out how far away the room was from his current position. After a moment of searching, he scanned around and found a stairway leading up near the throne room. He pulled himself back. Now would be his only chance.

“Change of plans,” he said. “I’m going after my sword.”

“No, Jacob!” Early said. “Bad idea!”

Jacob shook his head. “They think I’m outside. If I go in, I’ll avoid them longer, and will be able to get my sword. I’m not leaving without it.”

“It’s just a sword!”

The room was on the other side of the roof. If he hurried, he might be able to mold his way through the roof and to the staircase while Keitus was still in the cell.

“Keep a lookout—let me know if anyone’s coming.”

Jacob scurried across the roof, being as careful as he could not to be seen or make a lot of noise.

He was lucky—the Molgs were plenty noisy down on the ground, yelling at each other in their language.

It didn’t take long for Jacob to feel his way to a weak spot above the staircase. He Time-Saw one last time—Keitus was just leaving his cell—and molded as quickly as he could. A moment later, he had a hole large enough. Early slowed his decent and he softly fell to the top landing of the steps, then crouched in the shadows of the stairwell. It must have been for servants—it was small and scuffed up, not glamorous like the other staircases he’d seen.

After making sure no one was there, he zipped around a corner and peeked into the throne room. Empty still.

“Keitus is coming!”

Jacob hesitated for a moment, growled, and dashed inside the room anyway, racing for the throne. He fell to the ground, sliding the last couple of feet, and whipped behind the back of the large chair, grabbing his sword and pulling it close to him. Then he tucked his legs in and prayed the back of the chair was big enough to keep him hidden. He heard approaching footsteps.