Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (30 page)

“We’ve really got to go, Jacob—now. The Lorkon, wolves, and Dusts are stunned, but won’t be for much longer.”

Reality entered Jacob’s mind, and his eyes snapped open. He jerked to a sitting position, immediately regretting it. “Whoa,” he said, holding his head in his hands. It took a second for everything to stop spinning.

While waiting for the dizziness to pass, Jacob mentally examined himself. His body was sore all over, and his eyes ached a great deal. The ringing in his ears was gone, though. He glanced around the small, dark space. “Where are we?”

“I had September find us a place to hide. We’re only a couple of rooms away from where we found the Key.” Akeno got to his feet. “There are Dusts everywhere. As soon as you fell to the floor, several of them came in. I think they all knew we’d entered the castle and were hiding from us.”

“I saw hundreds of people going back and forth,” Jacob said. “Were they chasing us?”

Akeno looked confused. “People? What people?”

“Makalos, Lorkon, humans—tons of them. Even Shiengols and Dusts. Or Wurbies. I couldn’t tell which ones they were. And others . . . different creatures.”

“I only saw Dusts and the four Lorkon. No one else.”

Jacob scratched his head. “Are . . . are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did I see them?”

Akeno gave him a worried look. “I don’t know.”

Jacob groaned in frustration, switching gears in his head. “Okay, let’s just focus on finding a way out. I don’t think going through the door would be the best choice right now.” He stood. “September, you keep a lookout. Let us know if anyone comes toward the door.”

September flew to the keyhole and positioned himself inside it while Jacob felt the walls, searching for warmth. He found several shelves on one side with rags, buckets, brooms, and mops, but no warmth.

“This ability I have is great and all, but it sure isn’t the fastest,” he said.

After checking the walls, he got to his hands and knees, feeling his way around the floor. “Here!” he said, finding a warm spot in a corner of the room. He held his hands over the stone, heating it up. Soon there was a hole about two feet across. The rest of the stone wouldn’t give way. “Hope that’s big enough,” he whispered, then peered over the edge. “I can’t see anything. Akeno, can you?”

Akeno crawled to the hole, looking down. “Can I use my Rezend? It’s too dark.”

Jacob went to the door, shoving rags underneath it. “Don’t use too much light. Oh, and we should have Early check, instead of us.”

A blue glow emanated from Akeno’s finger, not bright enough to make Jacob squint, but giving enough light for him to see Early as she flew down. She came back a moment later, reporting that the room below was empty.

Jacob ducked his head into the hole to survey the room. “Okay, there’s a bed kinda underneath us. If we swing a little, we’ll be able to land on it.” He turned to Akeno. “Ready?”

“Yes, ready. September, you come too.”

Jacob lowered himself until his arms were straight, then swung his body and let go. He barely made it to the bed, surprised at how far beneath him it turned out to be. Reaching up, he caught the bags Akeno dropped to him, slinging them over his shoulders.

Akeno then dropped down. Being smaller and more nimble than Jacob, he landed on the bed without difficulty. Jacob handed Akeno his bag, then looked around for Early. He sent her through the keyhole to inspect the place outside of the room.

She returned. “It’s busy in the hall.”

Jacob nodded. “Let’s wait a few minutes. Who was out there? Lorkon?”

“Yes, and Dusts.”

Jacob sat on the bed. “Were they standing around guarding the doors, or were they going somewhere?”

“They were in a hurry, going somewhere.”

“Which way were they going?”

“Down the corridor to the left.”

“All right,” Jacob said. “Let’s wait for a few minutes and go to the right. Hopefully we won’t run into anyone.” He turned to Akeno. “Where’s the Key?”

“I put it in your bag.”

Jacob stood and paced for a while, then motioned to Early. “Okay, check again. Actually, just keep watch and let us know when the Lorkon and Dusts go away.”

Early took a position halfway out the keyhole. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, she pulled back into the room. “It’s clear.”

“It probably won’t stay that way for long,” Jacob said. “Let’s go.”

He motioned at the Minyas to keep a lookout, one of them staying several feet ahead, the other several feet behind. He took a step down the hallway, but stopped, realizing he had no idea how to get out of the castle, or even where they were. Concentrating, he tried to orient himself to which way was east—where the castle entrance was located—and started running again.

Early’s warning made him stop, and he whirled. A Dust charged down the corridor at them, its hands formed into hooves.

“Let’s go!” Jacob yelled, and he and Akeno raced the other direction.

The Dust had no trouble keeping up, though, and quickly overtook them, grabbing Jacob and pulling him to the ground—Jacob was surprised at how quickly the beast’s hands had changed.

So was the Dust, however, and it yelled at itself. “Stop! No! Where hooves?”

Jacob scrambled to his feet, but the Dust was too fast for him—it quickly recovered from its shock and pushed him down again.

Another warning from Early, and more Dusts poured into the hall. One wouldn’t be too difficult, but all these at once? Jacob scuffled with the first, knocked it aside, and got to his feet.

The creatures only paused briefly before they had him surrounded, ignoring Akeno and the Minyas who had rushed to Jacob’s assistance.

For several seconds the group struggled—Jacob wasn’t able to see Akeno through the punches and kicks he was both receiving and blocking.

“What do I do?” Akeno asked. “Knock them out?”

Jacob shoved the nearest Dust into a couple of others, forcing them to the ground. “No loud noises.” The crack would alert the Lorkon to their presence—he was sure they’d recognize Akeno’s ability and come running. He whipped around, grabbing a Dust by the throat and throwing it against the wall. The hallway filled with even more Dusts, and Jacob found himself overwhelmed.

One of the beast’s hands formed into a long rope, another’s hands became knives, and Jacob was knocked to the ground again, his head cracking against the stone. That would leave a bruise.

A Dust’s hands formed a blindfold, and it extended its arms around Jacob’s neck from behind. Although he struggled, Jacob couldn’t prevent the other creatures from tying the cloth over his eyes. He felt a sharp knifepoint at his neck, and he became motionless while the Dusts tied his hands and feet.

He heard a muffled yell of pain—Akeno’s—and realized they were both trapped. Jacob wracked his brain. He wouldn’t give in—especially not now that they had the Key!

Then he remembered what Aloren had said about Dusts. He had to do something they wouldn’t expect—something to surprise them. A new obstacle—but what?

He felt his body being lifted from the ground, and he’d been rushed several feet before an idea came to him. He moved his hand a fraction, the rope slipping to the edge of his palm, and begged it to heat up. It did.

The Dust whose hands had tied him yelped, and Jacob’s arms were free again. He put his hands over the blindfold, warming it up as well. He blinked at the light when the cloth was whipped off his face. The Dust who’d tied his feet quickly backed away, and Jacob jumped out of the arms of the others.

“It burnded me! It hotted its hands and burnded me!”

The creatures swarmed around the Dust to see the evidence for themselves—Jacob momentarily forgotten, even though there were close to twenty Dusts in the corridor. He raced to Akeno’s side and freed him from the little beasts there as well, who raced to the other group.

Jacob placed one hand against the wall, the other pulling off his bag and tossing it to Akeno. He knew the distraction of their hands being burned wouldn’t last long.

“Our food, Akeno—throw it at them when I give the go-ahead.” He molded several rocks from the now-hot stone, filling his pockets with them.

“Ready?” he asked as the Dusts turned, angry glares on their faces. “Now!”

Apples, carrots, jerky, and rocks flew through the air, pelting the Dusts. Several of the creatures formed shields to block the missiles, crying in frustration at the change in their hands, but others caught the food and acted surprised when their hands stuffed it into their mouths. Jacob chuckled—what else were you supposed to do with food?

The Minyas finally joined in the fun, zooming at the monsters, disappearing and reappearing in random places along the hall. It wasn’t long before the entire group of Dusts swarmed to get away, frightened by the change of events.

Jacob and Akeno laughed in relief, but realized they were still in danger. They turned and ran in the opposite direction, Jacob re-orienting himself to the entrance and which door would take them there. He thought hard, biting his lips and squinting in concentration, willing visions to enter his mind like earlier.

A bright, happy glow coming from a small corridor caught his attention and he paused, backtracking to check it out. Looking into the hallway, he saw warm sunlight pouring in, a stark contrast to the darkness of the rest of the castle. A well-dressed man walked down the corridor, his back to the group. He wore light-colored clothes and a weird hat. There was something familiar about the man’s walk, but Jacob couldn’t put his finger on it. As he watched, the stranger pushed against the left wall with both hands and the wall shifted away from him, sliding to the side and revealing a set of stairs leading down. The man didn’t hesitate before descending out of view.

Glancing back at Akeno, Jacob was startled to see that the hall behind him was dark. The Minyas flitted in the air above them, and Akeno watched Jacob with an impatient expression on his face. Jacob looked back to the spot where the man had disappeared. The wall was shut, the corridor was just as dark as the rest of the castle, and there was no longer even a window to let in light. It had completely disappeared.

“What?” Akeno whispered.

“This way.” Jacob hurried down the corridor, Akeno and the Minyas following.

Suddenly, a Lorkon leaped from the shadows of the hall, knocking Akeno down as he lunged for Jacob. Jacob jumped out of the way just in time, and the Lorkon fell to the ground where Jacob had been standing.

Looking around for a weapon, Jacob spotted a large metal candle holder on a table farther down the corridor. He ran and grabbed it, turning in time to see the Lorkon lurch forward again. He swung the candle holder and hit the Lorkon in the side with it, knocking the creature to the ground.

“Hurry, Akeno! Over here!”

As Akeno ran past the Lorkon, it reached out and grabbed him by the ankle, bringing him down with a crash. Akeno screamed, struggling to get out of the Lorkon’s grasp.

“Use your Rezend!” Jacob yelled. Akeno complied, and Jacob didn’t have enough time to plug his ears before the crack echoed through the corridor. The Lorkon went limp, allowing Akeno to jerk his leg free.

His ears ringing, Jacob helped Akeno to his feet and sprinted down the corridor to the spot where the opening in the wall had been. “Here! We have to go here!” he yelled.

“It’s just a wall, Jacob! We gotta go back to the hall!”

“No, there are stairs behind it. I think it leads to the tunnel Dmitri talked about in his journal.” Jacob pushed against the wall. It didn’t budge. “Help me open it!”

Akeno made a frustrated sound, but jumped to Jacob’s side to help. After a moment of exertion, the wall shuddered beneath Jacob’s hands. Pushing a little harder, he felt it start to give. He heard a few clicks, and then the wall fell back and slid to the side.

“Go down!” Jacob said, motioning to the Minyas, who flitted into the dark hole, Akeno following close behind.

Jacob looked to see if the Lorkon was still unconscious, then went down a couple of steps, turning back to shut the door. It closed much easier than it had opened. He passed his hands over the edges of the door where it met the wall, searching for any warmth, sealing what he could. Satisfied that the door would now keep anyone from coming through for a while, Jacob turned in the pitch black. “Akeno, can you light up the stairs?”

“Yeah . . . I can,” the Makalo said after a moment. The familiar blue light filled the stone stairway, revealing Akeno down several steps from Jacob, rubbing his leg and grimacing.

“What’s wrong?” Jacob asked.

Akeno moaned. “My leg . . .”

“Where the Lorkon grabbed you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you need to rest?”

“No,” Akeno said, then straightened. “We gotta go before they catch up.”

“Let me know if the pain gets worse, okay?”

Akeno didn’t respond.

Jacob pulled his knapsack off his back. “Minyas, in my bag,” he said. September and Early flew inside, then Jacob and Akeno started down the stairs.

After at least three flights, the stairs ended, and a long passageway opened in front of them. Several sections of the ground and walls were wet, but the tunnel appeared to be in good condition.

“Is this the Fat Lady’s tunnel?” Jacob asked. “What if it leads us somewhere else?”

Akeno didn’t answer. He appeared to be in pain, but was keeping up.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? We can take a break.”

“No,” Akeno said, his voice shaking. “Keep going, keep going.”

Jacob glanced over his shoulder every now and then while running. Akeno moved slower every minute, his limp becoming more definite with each step. Jacob tried to figure out how to help his friend.

He stopped running when Akeno stumbled. “Okay, this isn’t going to work.” He frowned, then took Akeno’s bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I have a better idea.” He picked Akeno up and started jogging again.

Akeno gave a weak laugh. “Sack of potatoes,” he said.

Jacob laughed as well. “But this time you’re not being thrown over my shoulder,” he said. “Your job is to keep the tunnel well lit so I don’t fall and drop you.”