The Golden Symbol (6 page)

“You disappeared,” Akeno said. “Completely. And I couldn’t even find the tree anymore.”

“How long was I gone?”

“Three hours.”

“Three . . . three hours? No way. Totally not possible. It was barely thirty minutes.”

“What happened?” Dad asked.

Jacob explained the two tests he’d encountered. While he was talking, Aldo noticed the scroll in his hands and jumped forward, grabbing it.

“You found it! We’ve got the antidote!”

“Yeah, but open it to make sure it’s all there. I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

Aldo pulled the ribbon off and unrolled the scroll. “This is it!” He danced around, yelping with excitement. “We’ve got it! We’ve got it!”

When he’d finally calmed down, everyone tried to crowd around him to read it. But Aldo shook his head. “The whole thing isn’t written in the same language.” He turned to Jacob. “Key me to Azuriah’s fortress. Perhaps he, the Fat Lady, and I can get this figured out.”

Jacob did so. Dad asked everyone to return to their chores so Aldo and the other two could concentrate, but he, Kenji, and Jacob stayed in the fortress.

Jacob only had a couple of hours left until he, Gallus, and Onaly were to go get Aloren and Myler. While he and Dad waited, Hazel came and gave them an update on the situation. Aloren was fine, and they’d finally found her a bed. She said it was really hard to distract them from the fact that she wasn’t injured.

After what felt like forever, but was only probably forty-five minutes, Azuriah, the Fat Lady, and Aldo leaned back in their chairs.

“It’s complicated,” Azuriah said, rubbing his eyes. “Very complicated. And it’s going to require a lot from Jacob.”

The three of them turned and looked at him. His ears started burning as they turned red from the attention. “Why me?” It was always him—he should be used to that by now.

“Let’s first go over the ingredients,” Aldo said.

He pushed the scroll aside, got to his feet, and held up the list they’d put together.

“‘Blood of the royal Fire Pulser. Blood of the royal Shiengol.’” He furrowed his brow. “And this one is interesting, because they weren’t even supposed to exist anymore. The Lorkon know that and must feel very safe. ‘Blood of a pure Makalo.’”

Everyone looked at Kenji.

He looked surprised. “I . . . Wow. Brojan was right. We would need a full-blood Makalo again. How could he have known?”

The Fat Lady grunted. “Don’t give him too much credit. He was acting purely out of selfishness.”

It was her turn for everyone to stare at her. Jacob couldn’t believe she would say that.

Kenji took a moment to respond. “Please, don’t be too harsh. We’ve lived through some very trying times.”

She held the Makalo’s gaze for a moment before nodding. “You’re right. I apologize.”

Jacob waited for the tense moment to pass before asking a question. “Why does it require royal blood from Fire Pulsers and Shiengols, but not a Makalo?”

Kenji answered first. “Because there has never been a royal Makalo. Patriarchs are chosen based on the life they’ve lived, not their bloodline.”

That answered Jacob’s question well enough, and everyone looked back at Aldo.

He continued. “The next part should be easy. ‘Sap from a reca plant. Sap from a Kaede tree.’ And we already knew this one: ‘Sap from a silver tree.’” He looked at the Fat Lady and Kenji. “The reca plant and silver tree will be easy. But are there even any Kaede trees left? Any that are pure?”

Jacob almost volunteered the information about Akeno growing Kaede trees, but realized it wasn’t his secret to share. And besides, the trees Akeno had planted had the anti-bug potion flowing through them, so they weren’t technically pure anymore.

“Akeno could probably grow one,” the Fat Lady said. She motioned to the list. “But let’s figure out everything else in order.”

“Blood of a royal Shiengol,” Aldo said. “That one’s easy.” He looked at Azuriah.

Azuriah had already started shaking his head. “You read it correctly the first time. I’m
a
royal Shiengol, but not
the
royal Shiengol.”

“What’s the difference?” the Fat Lady asked.

Azuriah frowned at her. “Everything. This recipe calls for the blood of
the
royal Shiengol. And that would be Renforth.”

“But that’s good news,” Jacob said. “We can just go find him again and get him to donate.”

Azuriah shook his head. “No, we can’t.” He leaned on the table. “Renforth is back on his own world, and he’s always considered the Lorkon threat to be below him.”

“His own world?” Dad asked. “What do you mean?”

Azuriah shrugged. “Not every Shiengol is from Eklaron. My branch of the family has interbred with Shiengols from this and Renforth’s world. I’m the most royal Shiengol here, but Renforth has a more pure bloodline and is the most royal Shiengol there. His family was very strict in marrying only those from his world, while mine has been a little more lenient.”

“So . . . I have to go to another planet, then?” Jacob felt his scalp prickle. He was just getting used to
this
one!

“And not just that world.” Azuriah motioned to Aldo. “You mentioned the blood of
the
royal Fire Pulser.”

Aldo nodded.

Azuriah pursed his lips, tapping them with his fingers. “Knowing Keitus’s personality, he made sure to understand what it takes to get rid of Lorkon. He knew we’d need the Fire Pulser. They took Lasia away for a reason.”

“Is Lasia a royal Fire Pulser?” Jacob asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Azuriah said. “And I’ll bet they returned her to her own world.”

Jacob took a deep breath. “This is getting really complicated.” What had started as a simple—well,
relatively
simple—idea was now becoming a huge undertaking. He should have guessed it wouldn’t be any other way, especially after what Ramantus went through to
become
a Lorkon.

Jacob exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself. He’d be going all over the place. Experiencing new things that were bound to be dangerous. And if the Lorkon had set up traps? Jacob shook his head. This might end up being completely impossible.

Azuriah put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder and gently squeezed. Jacob had forgotten that the Shiengol could read emotions too—he had never acted on them before where Jacob was concerned, so this comforting action was surprising.

“I’ll go with you to Renforth’s world. He’d kill you immediately if you went alone.”

Jacob nodded. He wasn’t sure if that was supposed to reassure him or not.

“And we’ll find someone who can accompany you to the Fire Pulser world as well. Full-blood Shiengols are not welcome there.” He looked down at Jacob. “You, of course, will be fine—they won’t know you’re part Shiengol.”

“Does he have to go at all?” Dad asked. “If possible, I’d like him to stay home for some of these things. It would be better to have adults go instead.”

Azuriah shook his head. “Adults will accompany him, but as always, he’s our best defense against any attack. He has the Key to get you out. He has Lorkon blood in him, should you run into anything evil. Their touch won’t hurt him and he’ll see evil approaching. He molds shields of a different nature from mine and can seal things off and change the shapes of things with his hands. No—he won’t be staying home.”

Jacob had no idea his shields were different from Azuriah’s. “What are my shields like compared to yours?”

“You mold the particles of dust and dirt in the air, along with the air itself. I mold the light.”

Wow. “That’s cool. Though . . . I want to mold light too. Can I?”

Azuriah shook his head. “Of
course
not—you obviously don’t listen very well in your lessons.”

Jacob decided not to mention the fact that he was positive Azuriah had never talked about any of this before.

“Only a pure Shiengol can. But don’t be disappointed—you’re the first part Shiengol ever to be able to mold
any
shield. You can thank the Rezend and Lorkon blood in you for that.”

The Fat Lady grunted. “Enough talk—let’s decide on the groups.”

Azuriah nodded. “He and I will go to Renforth. Gallus will accompany us. Any more than that and we’ll have problems.”

“What about the Fire Pulser world?” the Fat Lady asked.

Azuriah shrugged. “I won’t be going, so you all will figure that out. Remember that you’ll need men who are tough and able to handle anything. That world is not forgiving.”

Kenji stood, hands behind his back. “I vote Gallus again, along with Coren the blacksmith. He’s incredibly strong and has endured quite a lot. He’s one of our best fighters.”

Dad nodded. “I agree.”

Jacob remembered that a long time ago, when the Ember God had sneaked into Taga Village, it had been Coren who’d come running, carrying a ton of weapons. He, Dad, and Gallus had fought the Ember God.

Kenji continued. “And as for the rest, we’ll figure out when the time comes.”

“I need to get ready to bring Aloren back,” Jacob said, looking at his watch. He turned to Dad. “When will Azuriah and I leave?”

“It’s up to him.”

Azuriah strode to the front door and the others followed. He held it open for them. “I have to decide exactly where to have Jacob Key us, along with sending preliminary messages to Renforth. It’ll be a couple of days.”

Jacob frowned. “Should we go get the blood of the Fire Pulser first, then?”

Aldo shook his head. “Definitely not. We need the ingredients in the correct order, and they must be fresh. In fact,” he glanced at the Fat Lady, “the sap we harvested from your trees will have to be replaced. It’s one of the last items on the list.”

“Too bad,” the Fat Lady said. “But I’m sure I’ll come up with another use for it in the meantime. I hate to have it go to waste.”

Azuriah folded his arms. “The moment Renforth gives word, we leave. If you’re off on some other world, we’ll have missed our chance.” He flipped his hair back and stared out the door. “Oh, and Jacob, I can’t have you Key us to Renforth’s world. We’ll have to go through the link to his palace on foot.”

“Why?”

“Renforth guards his world very closely. He has set up spells that automatically kill anyone who enters magically.”

Dad’s expression turned skeptical. “Wouldn’t going through a link to his world be entering magically? I mean, the links
themselves
are magical.”

“Yes. But Renforth sets his own laws.”

The Fat Lady stretched her massive frame. “Well, you, Jacob, and Gallus go get that blood. Aldo and I will work on finding the other ingredients. The plant-based ingredients.”

Azuriah nodded, still distracted, and shut the door. No one said anything as they went their separate ways, and Jacob wasn’t surprised. They had a lot of work ahead of them.

***

The sun was about to set when Gallus was finally ready to leave. Jacob Keyed himself and Gallus, along with Onaly, to Tadrys. They approached the hospital cautiously. It was much darker in Tadrys than in Taga Village—the sun had been down for a couple of hours at least—and Jacob’s eyes were playing tricks on him. He spooked at the slightest sounds. What if the Lorkon had returned? What if they were down one of these side alleys, watching? They’d be able to force Jacob to take them back home just by threatening to hurt one of his friends.

But no problems presented themselves, and Jacob and the others got to their destination just fine.

The front door creaked open and a single light appeared. Aloren’s dark eyes were illuminated behind the candle. She beckoned them to enter.

“Myler is unconscious,” she whispered. “He’s been in a lot of pain all day—just like everyone else.” Her lower lip trembled. “We have to help them. We can’t leave them here.”

Gallus and Jacob both nodded.

“We’ll do our best,” Gallus said. “After all, it
is
our fault.”

Aloren led them quietly through the sheet-lined halls. Occasionally she paused to point out rooms where the sickest people were. Jacob wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that Myler wasn’t in one of those places—from what he’d seen, the man was very, very sick. If there were sicker people than him, Jacob wasn’t sure the doctors in America would be able to help.

They stopped almost at the end of the hall. Aloren put her finger to her lips and lifted the sheet, letting the other three enter first.

Myler was moaning in his bed. He wasn’t asleep—the moment Jacob and the others approached, he looked up. His eyes fell first on Gallus, then on Jacob. He raised his hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend . . .”

Aloren put her hand on Myler’s arm. “Shhh . . .”

Jacob bit the inside of his cheek, seeing how miserable Myler was. The poor man—in so much pain, regretting so much. “It’s okay, Myler. Everything’s okay. We’re going to get you out of this place and to a real hospital.”

It took some maneuvering, but Jacob and Gallus helped Myler get out from under his covers one foot at a time. With Aloren’s help, they slid him to a standing position. Jacob took Myler’s right arm and Gallus the left. They started for the door, Myler gasping and limping along. Jacob’s heart hurt, watching him try to walk. No one should ever have to endure this sort of thing.

Just then, Lish, the nurse from earlier, entered.

Jacob and Gallus both impulsively looked for a place to hide. Even though Jacob knew one didn’t exist in the hospital, he still searched for a door.

Lish started screaming. Her scream wasn’t just an endless sound, but contained words in another language. Gallus jumped forward. Myler’s weight slumped onto Jacob, nearly pushing them both to the ground. Gallus reached Lish and grabbed her arms, whipping her around so her back was to him, his hand over her mouth.

No one said anything. Jacob’s ears rang from the dead silence. When no one came, Gallus’s face relaxed. His body remained rigid, though, holding Lish.

Onaly approached Lish with caution. “We’re not going to hurt you, I promise.” She leaned against the bed nearest Lish. “Please, please listen to us. We only want to help.”

Lish nodded, appearing to relax, but Jacob knew better. The panicked emotion colors in the air around her hadn’t gone away.