The Golden Symbol (16 page)

Aldo steepled his fingers. “Why not have Jacob Key you all directly there?”

“We had him try that yesterday,” Gallus said. “Too many of the doors led straight to the Fire Pulser’s dominion, and the rest led to very unstable ground and conditions. It was suicide, trying to cross over.”

Aldo frowned in concentration. “What are our options now?”

Coren looked up from where he was working on the armor of an archer. “We siege the army—starve them. Keep supplies and food from being delivered.”

“A siege could take weeks,” Gallus said. “We’d end up waiting forever, and with the Lorkon coming in less than a week, we don’t even have a day.”

“What about getting more help?” Coren asked. “I know you already brought it up, Gallus, but even a hundred more would be extremely beneficial.”

The Fat Lady sat on the couch by Aldo. “King Dmitri couldn’t spare any more for Jacob’s group,” she said. “He needed as many as possible to help him.”

Coren waved her off impatiently. “Yes, but there are more people on this planet than just the humans around us.” He looked at Jacob. “What about the Shiengols?”

Jacob shook his head. “Azuriah said he wouldn’t be able to come to the Fire Pulser’s world—he didn’t say why, but I think it’s because Fire Pulsers hate Shiengols. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to help get rid of the army by the tree.” Jacob’s heart dropped. “But I forgot. He and Pambri, his wife, went to try to get the other Shiengols to come back.”

No one said anything for a moment.

“I do have an idea.” Aldo said, getting to his feet. “And it doesn’t involve the current army. But it will require Jacob Keying to the castle in Macaria.” He looked at Gallus. “We need water from an Eetu fish. If we do it right, it shouldn’t take too much time to get.”

Gallus raised his eyebrows. “You do remember that the Lorkon destroyed all the doors in Macaria, right?”

Aldo’s face fell. “Oh. Yes, I remember.” He frowned. “What else can we do?”

Sanso leaned against the wall. “Why do you want Eetu water?”

Aldo smiled, seeming eager to be able to explain his plan. He pointed at Jacob. “We’ll put Eetu water on his Minya. Then he’ll open a link anywhere to the fire world. We’ll have her go through and the Eetu fish will show us the closest link while trying to get to her. Jacob, of course, will Time-See, watching the fish. Minyas are nearly immune to heat, so the stability of the location where Jacob Keys her wouldn’t matter.”

The Fat Lady was already shaking her head. “Just because an Eetu can go through a link doesn’t mean humans will be able to follow. They’re notorious for finding passageways where others can’t go.”

“I know that,” Aldo said, “but this is the best plan we’ve come up with—it really is.”

He looked so dejected that Jacob had to say something to cheer him up and let him know his thoughts were appreciated. “I personally think it would work, with getting the water being the only thing stopping us.” Jacob glanced at Aldo apologetically. “If we had more time, we’d definitely do it.”

Sanso raised his hand. “So . . . Eachan and I have Eetu water back in Maivoryl City. And it’s fresh.”

Gallus stared at the Ember God. “Why do you have it?”

“Part of our plan.” Sanso motioned to Jacob. “Take me to Eachan, and we’ll get your water.”

Jacob nodded, glad they would be able to try out Aldo’s theory after all. It
was
the best plan so far. But how did Sanso and Eachan get that water, and why?

When Jacob and Sanso entered the town hall, Eachan was testing a water gun, opened packages littering the floor all around him. He grinned when he saw Sanso and Jacob. “So far, only three don’t leak. But that’s more than enough. It’s going to work, Sanso!”

“Fantastic!” Sanso rubbed his hands, looking back and forth between Jacob and Eachan.

“I’m not going to ask him,” Jacob said. “You do it.”

Sanso told Eachan what had happened, then explained the new plan. Eachan started nodding. He grabbed a spoon from the kitchen and carefully poured a very small amount of water on it from an empty bottle of ibuprofen. He offered the spoon to Jacob.

“That’s all?” Jacob asked, looking at the spoon. “I don’t think it’s enough.”

Eachan raised an eyebrow. “How big is your Minya? Do you want to soak her completely?”

Jacob shook his head, and Sanso took the spoon from Eachan. “You should conduct your testing here. The fewer people involved and the shorter the distance you carry the water, the easier it will be to succeed.”

Jacob nodded. He pulled his Minya container from his bag, then let Early out. “I need you to do something for me,” he said.

She smiled at him, fluffing her curls. “Okay!”

It took Jacob only a couple of seconds to tell her what was going to happen—she didn’t seem to care about the Eetu possibly catching her, nor would she even be in danger’s way. She could fly out of reach, if necessary. But she flitted up and clapped her hands when he said she would get to travel anywhere she wanted for a full day.

Jacob opened the link to the Fire Pulser world first, just in case. Then instead of putting the water on Early, he had her step onto the spoon and dab it on herself.

The task done, she flitted through the link. Jacob shut the door, then Time-Saw to Sonda Lake as quickly as he could. A huge fish—the biggest he’d ever seen—swam to the surface of the water, then faster than Jacob thought possible, skipped along the top to the shore, then disappeared off into the mountains. Jacob squinted, searching through the mountains. Where did it go? He couldn’t have lost it already, could he? Had it already crossed over into the Fire Pulser world? Would he even know? He’d never Time-Seen there before.

Jacob jerked his vision back to the present. “I lost the fish! It was too fast.” He wrung his hands, trying to figure out what to do. Then he remembered to use the sun to search for people and things.

Jacob dashed to the window and looked outside. The porch overhang gave too much shade, though, so he flung the door open and ran down the steps, then onto the dusty street. He looked up at the sun, but it was so muted by the green air, he couldn’t get enough light from it. It occurred to him that the Lorkon did this on purpose.

He would have to go somewhere else. But not back to the Fat Lady’s cabin—he wanted everything taken care of before he returned.

Jacob Keyed himself to the tree in Taga Village. It was eerily quiet there—every available hand was with Jacob or Dad, or preparing the forest for the upcoming war.

Jacob stared at the sun for as long as he dared, given the circumstances, then dashed back to the door and opened a link to where he’d sent Early.

“Come back, just for a second,” he said when she flitted in front of him.

She did, and Jacob shut the door.

“Your eyes!” she said. “They’re all glowy and bright and pretty!”

“Yeah, thanks.” He counted to ten, then, hoping that had been long enough, he opened the door back to the Fire Pulser world, letting her through. He closed the door, looked at the sun one last time, then Time-Saw, pulling back as far as he could until he saw the golden beacon that was the Eetu fish.

Jacob zoomed his vision in on it and gasped when he realized where the fish was.

It had already entered Taga Village. It was almost to the meadow.

Jacob couldn’t believe how close he’d gotten to getting his Minya killed. He put his hand on his chest, breathing deeply, nearly pulling from his vision. He tried not to imagine the fish sneaking up on them, then snapping its powerful jaws around Early. He would never have seen Early again.

Jacob forced himself to concentrate. He had work to do.

The fish scampered away, then headed through the infected forest and past Queen Ara Liese’s manor. It dashed down the hill, crossed the meadow with the poisoned reca plants, and ran through the forest toward August Fortress, having no problems with the Argots. Jacob frowned, watching, wondering where the link possibly could be.

The Eetu raced through the city, then past the fortress. The thing was unbelievably fast and Jacob nearly lost it a couple times more, even with it lit up. The creature scrambled up the hill behind the fortress and Jacob gasped, figuring out where the fish was going. The hill wasn’t a hill—it was a volcano. Was it possible the volcano itself was a link to the Fire Pulser world?

Jacob nodded as his theory proved correct. The fish dove over the side of the volcano and down, down. Then it disappeared.

Jacob pulled his vision back to the present, looked at the sun, then Time-Saw to the Fire Pulser’s world. He found the fish quickly. It was traveling underground through caverns with hot, steamy water.

People were there—humans! They screamed when they saw the fish and jumped away, out of reach. Jacob knew what they didn’t—that they were safe from the creature. But he didn’t know where Early was in relation to the fish, and he didn’t want to take chances. He pulled back, opened the link to Early’s door, and called her to him.

She flitted to him, excited with the urgency of this new “game.”

“I’ll be gone for a while,” he said, shutting the door. “Just be safe, okay? Go wherever you need to go.”

She nodded. “Just like last time, except the fish is coming for me and not you.”

“Exactly.” He put out his hand and she hopped onto it, hugging his thumb. He brought her close to his face, glad the Eetu water was only effective against the first creature it touched. “I’m so grateful you’re my Minya.”

Early beamed, then reached out and patted his cheek. “Me too.” She flitted into the air and twirled a couple of times before shouting, “Bye!”

“Good luck!” he called as she flitted away.

Jacob Keyed himself back to the town hall. “It worked,” he said to Sanso and Eachan.

Sanso got up from the table where he’d been playing with one of the broken squirt guns. He waited as Jacob opened a link back to the Fat Lady’s.

It didn’t take long to tell everyone what had happened. As soon as Jacob finished, they all started getting ready to leave for August Fortress.

Gallus pulled Jacob aside. “Did it look like the link was large enough for an adult male to get through?”

“Yes,” Jacob said. “I’m pretty sure—that Eetu isn’t a small one. And anyway, we have to try it.

Gallus nodded, rubbing his eyes. “I agree. If this doesn’t work, though . . . I can’t think of another way to buy time after the Lorkon return. And there’s obviously no way they’ll leave the link by the Kaith tree unguarded.”

“We don’t need to worry—we’ll be fine.”

Jacob was glad Gallus couldn’t read emotions. He was confident they’d be able to get through, but he wasn’t so sure that it would happen without injuries and even fatalities. He hoped not.

Once they had Keyed to the door in August Fortress, Jacob showed Gallus the path the Eetu had taken. Gallus shaded his eyes, staring up at the steep hillside in front of them. “You realize the Sheingols built their fortress here for a reason, right? The volcano was impassible. We might die trying to get up there.”

Jacob didn’t answer. He wasn’t going to argue when Gallus was probably right. This
was
their only option, but he couldn’t ask the others to go to their deaths. He turned to face everyone. “This is going to be very dangerous. Some might not make it. I won’t condemn or look down on anyone who chooses not to continue.”

While waiting for that to sink in, he turned to Gallus. “Do you have rope?”

Gallus nodded. “Of course.”

“We’ll need it. Also, we need to find someone who is good at climbing, then have that person be in the front, leading the way. Once that’s organized, let’s tie everyone together. If one of us falls, we’ll be able to pull him up.”

“So long as he doesn’t drag everyone over the side.”

When Gallus asked if anyone was experienced with rock climbing, Trunt raised his hand. Jacob had barely noticed the man was there—he’d been uncharacteristically quiet, probably because he was supposed to get married after the war was over. But what if he died before the war even officially started?

Gallus organized the group, putting Trunt at the beginning and Jacob in the middle, with Gallus before him and Coren after. Jacob wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not—both men were quite large, and if either of them fell, Jacob was sure to fall as well. He bit his lip, deciding not to say anything about the arrangement.

Trunt went around, having people bind their hands with strips of bandages to help protect them from the sharp rocks. When that was done, he didn’t waste any time starting up the side of the volcano, and the next person in line was forced to follow.

The path the Eetu had taken proved to be impossible for the two-legged humans, and Trunt had to find another way. He took frequent breaks, allowing those below to catch up.

Soon, Jacob’s arms and legs were shaking. His hands ached from constantly having to grip and pull himself—the volcanic rock wasn’t forgiving, and if not for the bandages, his hands would’ve been shredded.

Jacob paused on his knees after pulling himself over a large rock and wiped the sweat off his face. It was so hot, the sweat was quickly replaced, but he had to keep it under control as much as possible. He didn’t rest long.

No one spoke, and at first, it didn’t bother him. But then he started missing conversation. He wondered how Matt was doing back home, taking care of Mom and Amberly. Probably just fine—even though Matt was more daring than Jacob, trouble rarely followed him.

Jacob took a deep breath and put his focus back on climbing.

They were nearly to the top when someone below screamed. Jacob felt a jerk on the rope tied around his waist and was nearly pulled off his perch. He struggled, trying to find a secure place to put his feet and deep-enough handholds. Nothing was good enough, though, and he started sliding. Did Coren fall?

Jacob reached out, grasping, trying to find something—anything—to keep himself from falling. People below were shouting. His ears rang. Was he about to fall to his death? Were they all? His stomach clenched and almost emptied itself at the thought, and he avoided looking down.

The rope slackened—they weren’t falling anymore. Jacob held on with his might, his feet slipping.