The Key of Kilenya (8 page)

Akeno laughed out loud. “‘Yet?’ Are they
expecting us to have that much trouble?”

Jacob picked up his bag. “Let's get
going.”

“Yes, good idea. We can eat while walking.”
Akeno pulled bread and jerky from his knapsack, handing some of it
to Jacob.

Jacob fell into step behind Akeno, munching
on a piece of bread, appreciating the beauty of the morning and
tranquility of the thin forest. The sunlight was bright, but not
too warm, and the sky was almost cloudless. The leaves and grass
glowed light green in the sunny morning light, and there were
flowers everywhere.

After they had been walking for several
minutes, the trail turned sharply upward and was fairly difficult
for at least a hundred feet. Large weeds and underbrush grew over
their path, and they had to push their way through.

“Not . . . much . . . farther,” Akeno said,
panting.

As predicted, the path stopped. There was a
gaping hole in the canyon wall in front of them, with broken boards
on either side. The boards appeared to have been ripped from the
sides of the hole, and several were strewn across the ground. The
canyon wall was sheer rock, and the hole looked man-made.

Jacob picked up one of the smaller pieces of
board. It was attractive, somehow, in its coloring. It was very
light brown, with silver streaks flowing through the grain. It was
thick and sturdy. “I'm guessing this is where the Lorkon came
in.”

“Yes, this is the entrance.” Akeno said. He
motioned to the wood in Jacob's hand. “That comes from the Kaede
tree—the same tree which produces the healing sap.”

“Oh, yeah. It smells like maple syrup. Why's
that?”

“It’s a type of maple tree—but don't eat the
sap. It tastes disgusting.” He laughed—probably at a memory. “The
trees are awesome. They're grown naturally, but with some . . .
help
from Makalos.” He smiled. “Rezend makes them grow
stronger than other trees, and steel develops in the grain, making
it nearly unbreakable.”

“It looks really cool,” Jacob said.

He dropped the board and studied the area.
The ground had leveled, forming a slight meadow around the
entrance. There were only a few trees up here, and they appeared as
though they had some type of horrible disease. Their leaves were
shriveled, the bark was a slightly red shade, and the grass around
them was yellowed.

“It's sad to see the trees like this,” Akeno
said. “Normally, Kaede trees live through everything.”

“The Lorkon did it?”

Akeno nodded. “Let’s get going.” He walked to
the tree closest to the entrance, putting his hand on it for a
moment. A frustrated expression crossed his face. “I can’t sense
anything. I hate running blind like this.” He frowned at the tree,
then spoke to Jacob. “Are you ready?”

“I guess so,” Jacob said. “I can’t tell which
emotion is stronger right now—nervousness or excitement.”

“Me, neither.” Akeno motioned to the hole.
“After you.”

“I’ve got a better idea. You go first, and
I’ll make sure no one kills us from behind.”

“Right,” Akeno said, laughing, but entered
the tunnel first anyway.

The hole was the perfect height for Akeno,
but Jacob had to duck to get through. It was both cooler and darker
inside the short tunnel, and Jacob’s eyes had just enough time to
adjust when suddenly the tunnel ended.

Akeno stopped and Jacob ran into him,
squinting in the glare of the brightly shining sun. Looking
forward, he stopped as well, his jaw dropping. A feeling of shock
and apprehension came over him at what he saw.

Back to Top

W
e finally managed to contact the Makalo patriarch and
beg his assistance. Luckily, he is just as determined as we are to
remove the Lorkon from our land. The Lorkon have amassed a huge
army, and he is sending an army
of Makalos to assist in the
war that is surely coming
.

T
he trees on the far side of the entrance were
dead, misshapen, and shriveled. It was almost painful to look at
them. The land around the trees also appeared to be dead, and there
were animal carcasses lying on the ground. The stench was so strong
that a sharp, nauseated feeling hit Jacob’s stomach.

All of this, however, was not what had caught
Jacob off guard.

Everything, including the sky, was completely
devoid of color.

Stepping to Akeno’s side, Jacob was disturbed
to see that the Makalo, too, was colorless. Akeno’s mouth was set
in a grim line. He'd seen this before. The Minyas were oblivious to
what was going on and continued flitting around in the air.

“Why is everything black and white?” Jacob
asked.

“We don’t know,” Akeno said.

While he was taking in their surroundings,
Jacob had the slight feeling that he was on a boat, rocking side to
side. He couldn’t put his finger on why he felt this way. He
studied the forest around them, trying to figure it out. After a
moment, he noticed something odd about the trees. “Akeno, are the
trees moving?”

“I’m not sure.” Akeno walked up to the trunk
of the tree nearest them.

“Oh, wow!” Jacob said. “Did you see that? The
tree leaned away from you!”

“Yeah, I saw. But why’d it do that? Nothing
like that happened last time.”

“I don’t know.” Jacob joined Akeno and
noticed that most of the trees shifted as they got closer. “It’s as
though they’re trying to get away, like they’re repulsed by us or
something.”

“I don’t like this.” Akeno reached out with
his left ring finger to touch the tree. As soon as he made contact
with the bark, a branch whipped through the air and smacked his
hand, making both of them jump.

“Ouch!” Akeno looked down at the skin, where
a bright red welt was already forming. “Why did it do that? Stupid
tree!”

“Maybe it doesn’t want you to touch it. Or
maybe it’s possessed or something.” Jacob backed away quickly,
careful not to get too close to the trees on the other side of the
path.

Akeno shook his head. “I’ve never heard of
this happening before.”

“Should we send one of the Minyas to ask
Kenji about it?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Akeno said
frantically. “What could he possibly do to help?”

“He might have an idea about what’s going
on,” Jacob said, looking at the trees around them.

“I doubt he would.” Akeno started wringing
his hands, his voice almost shrill now. “Why didn’t he come with
us? Why didn’t the patriarch come with us? This is such a waste of
time!”

Jacob looked at the Makalo. What was wrong
with him? “Akeno? Are you . . . feeling okay?”

Akeno turned on Jacob. “Of course I’m not!
What makes you think I would be? I just got attacked by a tree!” An
anguished expression crossed his face. “If it won’t let me touch
it, how will I know what’s going on around us? Th—these things
don’t just happen for no reason! I’ve always been able to use my
Rezend!”

Jacob was astonished to see that Akeno was
almost in tears.

“Can I see your hand? The one the tree just
whipped?” Jacob reached out, but Akeno jumped away from him.

“Don’t touch me! What are you doing? Keep
away!”

Jacob put his hands in the air. “Okay! Sorry.
I won’t do it again.”

Akeno pulled off his top hat and fell to the
ground, crumpled up and sobbing.

“I’m sorry!” Jacob said, exasperated. “I
really didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I don’t need your pity!” Akeno said,
throwing his hat at Jacob.

Jacob caught the hat and turned away,
muttering to himself. “Someone has to act logically here.”

Brojan and Kenji would know what to do—they
must have some advice. He started to run to the entrance to go back
to Taga, but stopped himself, thinking better of it, and turned
around again.

“September, go now—” He paused when he saw
that September was pretending not to hear him. “Come on—it’s for
Akeno, not me.”

September turned to him. “Fine.”

“Is it possible for the two of you to throw
yourselves, or whatever you do, at the same time?”

“Yes, it is,” September said.

“Then you go to Kenji, and you, Early, go to
Brojan. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

“On it!” Early said, and with a bright flash
of light, they were gone. Jacob faced Akeno, who was no longer
sobbing, but glaring up at him.

“Okay . . . uh . . . well, hopefully we’ll
figure things out soon,” Jacob said, giving back the hat, then
running his hand through his hair.

Akeno jammed the hat on his head. “There’s
absolutely nothing going on that wasn’t supposed to happen, Jacob.”
The amount of venom in his voice was shocking. “Are you so stupid
you can’t see that?”

Jacob tried not to look at him. “Well, uh,
I’m sure this wasn’t planned by anyone . . . except maybe the
Lorkon.”

Akeno’s fist hit the ground. “You’re wrong.
My father and Brojan knew this would happen. They sent us to
fail.”

Jacob shook his head slowly. He couldn’t
figure out why Akeno was acting this way. “I really don’t think
they did.”

Thankfully, September and Early returned,
stopping the conversation. Early flew to Akeno and stuck her tongue
out at him. He growled, his face contorted with anger, and he
jumped up, lunging at her. His hands swept through the air, but she
was already several feet away from him, grinning. He ran after her,
yelling at her to come back.

Jacob turned to September, who, like Early,
thought this was hilarious. “What did they say?”

September stopped laughing and turned to
Jacob. “Kenji and Brojan were at Akeno’s house. They said you
should always keep one messenger with you and to only send one of
us at a time from now on, just in case something happens and you
need the other Minya’s help.” He looked at Akeno, who was still
trying to get Early. “You need to get Akeno out of the forest right
now—the trees are poisonous to him.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Poisonous trees?
What else are we going to come across here? Animal-eating flowers?”
The Minya ignored him. “At least the tree didn’t hit me, too. One
of us had to stay sane.”

September shook his head, watching Early and
Akeno. “Brojan said Akeno isn’t acting that way because he got hit.
The trees—their influence—are poisonous to him, like they were to
the adult Makalos. He must be getting older.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. Of
course
the
Makalo was getting older. “Was there anything else?” he asked.

No response. Jacob waved his hand in front of
September. “Hello? Was there anything else?”

“Oh, yes, there was.”

“Well?”

September finally turned back to Jacob.
“Brojan said, ‘Absolutely do not go into the forest.’ And Kenji
said, ‘Don’t tell Akeno you’re moving him. Just grab him and
go.’”

“Okay. And that’s all?”

“Yes, that’s all.”

Jacob motioned toward Akeno. “Have Early
bring him back.”

Akeno’s ranting became louder as he and the
Minyas drew closer. Jacob waved his arms. “Hey, Akeno!”

“You stay out of this, you good-for-nothing
human!” Akeno screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. “Who cares
who you are? Who cares where you come from? I could’ve done this
just as well as you, only I could’ve done it alone!”

Jacob frowned, trying to decide the best way
to move the Makalo. Bribery? But he dismissed that idea as soon as
it formed. Akeno wasn’t acting logically right now, and wouldn’t
respond well to any sort of trickery. That meant there was only one
thing that would work. Grab him and run—just as Kenji had
suggested. “I’m really sorry for doing this,” Jacob said, and then
he rushed forward, picked up Akeno, and swung him over his
shoulder.

“Put me down! Put me down right now!”

With a sudden squirm, Akeno turned and clawed
at Jacob’s face. Surprised, Jacob dropped him, and Akeno took off
at a full run into the forest.

“Oh, no!”

Jacob dropped his bag and tore off after
Akeno. He wasn’t surprised when the trees started thrashing around
him.

Dodging branches, dead animals, and stumps,
he stumbled through the forest, doing his best to ignore the angry
trees. He kept his eyes on Akeno, but the Makalo was much faster
than Jacob had given him credit for, and it was difficult to keep
up.

The forest was much thicker now, with almost
no visibility. Panic hit Jacob when he noticed that the distance
between himself and Akeno was growing. He couldn’t tell for sure,
but it appeared that while the trees were still stopping him, they
were now letting Akeno through. Each intake of breath was agony as
Jacob tried to limit the amount of stale, dirty-tasting air that
entered his lungs. The stench of death was overpowering.

The forest grew thicker, making it nearly
impossible to see, and what little light there was danced around as
the branches thrashed. After only a few minutes, Jacob could no
longer see Akeno, and very soon couldn’t hear him either. The trees
thinned, and he stopped running, not sure where to go, since Akeno
hadn’t exactly been running in a straight line.