Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (64 page)

“Aloren!” Jacob called.

“Jacob!” Her voice was distant, but it was hers.

That was enough motivation for Jacob to run again. He reached her in record time, Matt struggling to keep up.

Aloren burst into tears, myriad colors dancing around her face. She dropped Eachan’s hand and threw her arms around Jacob. He held her tightly, too happy to see her alive to care that his older brother was watching.

Matt pushed around the two of them and reached for Eachan. He called over his shoulder, “Lover Boy, get over here and help me.”

Jacob let go of Aloren and grabbed one of Eachan’s hands while Matt took the other. They tried to pull the large man to his feet, but he barely moved a fraction of an inch.

“What’s going on?” Matt asked.

“The barrier,” Eachan groaned breathlessly. A very deep shade of purplish-blue swirled around him—despair. “The Lorkon must know—stopped me.” He reached for Aloren, looking her in the eye. “Please, Aloren. Go!”

“I can’t just leave you here!”

“Yes . . . you can. I’ll be fine.”

“They’ll kill you!”

“I’m dead already,” he said.

Jacob was shocked to see tears flow from the man’s eyes. “Are you sure, Eachan? We can figure something out.”

A whooshing sound came from behind the villagers and they screamed, falling to the ground. Fire flowed along the ceiling over their heads. It dissipated and the Ember Gods stepped through, their hands and feet glowing, striding toward Jacob and the others.

“Oh, dang it,” Matt said, voicing Jacob’s thoughts.

“Hurry!” Eachan yelled.

A blast of flame shot down the length of the tunnel. Jacob dropped to the ground, covering Aloren with his body, Matt alongside them. Jacob felt the flames above him and tried not to breathe in the smoke. The heat wasn’t as bad as he’d expected, and he looked at his arms. His skin was glowing blue, and the leaves were so bright, he had to shut his eyes.

Laughter floated toward them. “Turn yourself in, Jacob, and we’ll let your friends go. Put up a fight, and none of them will survive.”

When the flames died down, Jacob, Matt, and Aloren jumped to their feet and started running as fast as they could away from the deranged men.

Jacob felt the blast before he heard it. There was no way they’d make it in time. Eachan yelled out in pain, and something in Jacob snapped. He let go of Aloren’s hand and spun around.

No more. The Ember Gods would no longer terrorize the people of this city.

“Leave him alone!” Jacob yelled.

The flames stopped, and Jacob saw Eachan slump in relief.

“Come with us, and we will.”

Jacob glared. He grabbed Matt’s knife from where it was attached at Matt’s outer thigh, pulled out his own, and ran down the tunnel, yelling.

“Jacob!” Aloren screamed.

“No!” Matt yelled, his voice full of agony.

The Ember Gods laughed, each of them pulling out their swords.

“How darling,” one of the men said, then turned to his companion. “Sanso, the human wishes to fight us.”

Sanso grinned, beckoning for Jacob to come forward. Jacob jumped over Eachan and met the swords with a clash of metal. He swung violently, dodging the attacks. The Gods barely did anything, though, and he recognized they were just playing with him.

“Stop messing around!” He pushed Sanso as hard as he could, nearly knocking him to the ground. “You’re wimps! Cowards!”

Sanso’s color flickered between boredom—the purplish pink—and irritation—a dark pink—like he was trying to maintain control of his emotions. Jacob pushed him again. “Coward!”

The air around Sanso’s face flared bright red, and Jacob knew he’d gotten what he wanted. Sanso glowered. “You really want us to fight? You think we’re afraid of you? We could smash you like a fire beetle right now—never mind what’s intended for you.”

“You couldn’t hurt me if you tried. And you’re just a puppet of the Lorkon! They tell you what to do, and you do it!”

The other leather-clad man growled, his color changing to match Sanso’s. “Let’s show him the true power of an Ember God.”

Sanso nodded in agreement and they jumped forward, a new energy behind their strikes. Jacob wasn’t able to block everything, and he felt the Kaede leaves heating up. He trusted they’d do their job and keep him safe.

Every time the swords struck, a flash of blue light burst from his skin or armor. He blocked as many attacks as he could, doing his best to keep pushing the Ember Gods away from Eachan and the others.

Sanso roared with frustration, becoming even more ferocious in his advances.

After several minutes, Jacob felt his armor begin to wear out. The strikes started to hurt and he couldn’t tell if they were piercing through. Sweat dribbled into his eyes, making them sting and get blurry.

Suddenly, the scenery around Jacob changed drastically. He froze, still holding his knives. The Ember Gods, the tunnel, the darkness—all of it had disappeared. Instead, he was surrounded by mountains so tall, he couldn’t see the sun.

“No, no, no!”

Jacob shook himself, punched out, kicked, tried to get over whatever his body was doing to him. The mountains didn’t disappear. “
No!
I can’t hallucinate now!”

A gust of wind brought snow flurries with it, and Jacob realized he was shivering. He spun and ran up the side of the mountain nearest him. He threw rocks, viciously stabbed snow banks. Nothing he did jolted him back to his own reality.

He’d failed. Sanso and the Ember Gods would take Aloren and Matt to the Lorkon. Devastation hit him and he fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands, squinting to keep the tears from dropping from his eyes. What was wrong with him? Why, during the most important fight of his life, had this happened?

“Jacob!”

The shriek made him raise his face. A flash of light replaced by blackness, then a burst of flame as an Ember God blasted him with fire. He was back in the tunnel. Relief poured over him even as he realized he didn’t have much time left. How long would the armor last?

Sanso was still attacking, though he was starting to favor his left shoulder—the one Jacob had stabbed when they first met. Had he and his companion even noticed Jacob’s episode? Matt and Aloren were screaming at him from behind.

Jacob jumped to his feet, thrusting forward with his knife. It nicked Sanso in the left shoulder, and he screamed in rage.

“Pile of beetle dung!” he shrieked. “Worthless human!”

The Ember God grabbed Jacob and flung him over Eachan, at least twenty feet down the tunnel, toward Matt and Aloren. Jacob slammed against the side of the passage before falling to the ground. The power of the leaves dimmed to a nearly imperceptible level. He only had a few moments of protection left.

The Ember Gods sent a blast of flame and Jacob jumped to his feet, bright fire roaring past him on either side. His armor barely held the heat back.

“Early!” Jacob called. “Hazel!”

The Minyas appeared next to him.

“Give me strength, both of you, and help me push forward!”

The Minyas nodded and disappeared.

The blaze stopped and he jogged toward the Ember Gods, his mind clearer than it had been since entering Eklaron. Two spots on his shoulders warmed where the Minyas touched him and he broke into a sprint, then a fast lope. He put his hands in front of him and concentrated on molding the air—something he’d never done before. The flames were just erupting for a second time when Jacob leaped over Eachan.

The air in front of Jacob’s hands started to ripple. It bounced, then held still as soon as it hit the fire. There was a flash of light as the hot element touched Jacob’s palms, and his hands started glowing such a bright blue that he couldn’t look at them. The inferno flared around him, not burning him.

He continued running, letting the Minyas’ energy help him push forward. The strength behind the Ember Gods’ power grew as Jacob neared, but he didn’t stop.

Taking advantage of the element of surprise, Jacob jumped through the last of the flames and landed in front of the Ember Gods, letting loose a wild roar.

The men looked up in surprise. Blinded by the searing light, they hadn’t seen him coming. Instinctively, they raised their hands to blast him, but Jacob was ready.

He concentrated as hard as he could, sensing power originating from the Minyas. He drew on this and held the intensity inside himself. Then he released it at the same time the fire exploded from the Ember God’s hands.

Jacob’s ability was stronger.

The Ember Gods cried out, and the force behind Jacob’s attack blasted them back. He heard his brother and Aloren calling him to come, but he ignored them. He wasn’t done.

Drawing from the Minyas’ power again, he reached into the sides of the tunnel, using the air shield he’d created as spatulas to pull out huge chunks of earth, then he dug into the dirt above him.

The sides and top of the passage collapsed, filling in the tunnel, and Jacob jumped back.

He concentrated one last time, sucking power once more from the Minyas, and molded the entire mound of dirt into a huge stone, barring the way.

His arms fell to his side, the job finished.

Matt and Aloren reached him at the same time. Both were panicked and screaming. Jacob searched the air, looking for the Minyas, but couldn’t see where they’d gone. He looked down and gasped.

Early and Hazel lay on the ground. Jacob prayed they were only unconscious. He gently picked them up and carried them out of the tunnel.

The group caught up right when Jacob exited the tunnel. After a joyful reunion between Gallus and Aloren, Ebony ordered the teenagers and the Minyas to go to the Fat Lady’s cabin while she, Gallus, and Sweet Pea stayed behind to see to Eachan.

Jacob couldn’t remember a time when he’d been happier to see the Fat Lady’s messy interior. He was exhausted, but couldn’t help smile at what had happened. He’d
sensed
the Minyas’ power and had been able to draw from it! Was it a new ability? It had to be—he could now feel the magical skills of those around him. The Fat Lady actually had a gift when it came to potions. That was why they worked so well. Her gift was the final ingredient. He wondered if she knew that.

Matt and Aloren had the same feeling, and Jacob understood why. They were non-magical humans, but had taken the same potion. Matt recently, and Aloren several months ago.

And the Minyas—the poor, sweet Minyas. They’d survived, though they’d been unconscious most of the time. Jacob had carried them back. He watched over them while Matt helped Aloren clean up the cuts she’d sustained during a fall in her escape. When she was ready, Jacob returned her bag. She smiled at him gratefully and pulled out Hazel’s container, placing the Minya inside.

The Fat Lady dug through her cabin for several minutes, trying to find a box for Early. She finally emerged, her bun coming loose, a metal tin in her hand.

“This should do the trick,” she said. “Haven’t used it in years, but that doesn’t matter.” She handed the silver container to Jacob.

Jacob gently slid his fingers under Early’s still form, placed her on the cushioned material in the box, and closed the lid.

“Don’t touch those for at least half an hour,” the Fat Lady said. “Any movement will set the Minyas back, and being so close to death, it’ll most likely kill them.”

Jacob pulled his hand away from the container and sat frozen. He’d feel awful if Early died because he knocked her box accidentally.

Ebony, Gallus, and Sweet Pea arrived, out of breath, and slammed the cabin door shut, deep yellow swirling around their faces.

“Phew!” Sweet Pea said. “That was close!”

“What happened?” Jacob asked.

“The Lorkon showed up right as we were leaving the tunnel. We barely beat them here.”

The Fat Lady looked out the window near the front door. “Yup. They look ticked. Good thing the spells on my cabin are stronger than they are.”

Aloren stood. “Eachan?”

“We had to leave him behind,” Ebony said. “We couldn’t move him. Not even an inch.”

Jacob nodded. “The Lorkon barrier,” he said. He hesitated, glancing at Aloren, then back to Ebony. “Is he alive?”

“Yes,” Ebony said. “He should be fine in a few hours. His injuries were mostly minimal—exhaustion and burns, which we treated with Kaede Sap.” She sat down, wiping sweat off her forehead. “I just don’t know what to do, though. He’s stuck there. Can’t go forward, can’t go back. He’ll die unless someone checks on him regularly. Gives him food and so forth.”

“Wow. That’s gonna be awful for him,” Matt said.

Ebony nodded. “We’ll make him as comfortable as possible.”

Gallus looked around. “How are all of you doing?”

“Matt and I are fine,” Jacob said. He nodded to Aloren. “She could use some Kaede Sap, though. She’s got some cuts that don’t look good.”

The Fat Lady and Ebony worked together to mend Aloren’s wounds, and Jacob rested his forearms on his knees. He looked up when Ebony gasped.

“Oh, wow,” Ebony said, holding Aloren’s arm. “How’d this happen?”

“Sanso, the Ember God, burned me, trying to get me to talk.”

“Let me see,” Jacob said, his voice catching in his throat.