Eyes of the Sun (30 page)

Then something occurred to him and he whirled, shocking the people behind him. He spoke to Dad, Gallus, and Kenji. “How are we going to close the link? The Lorkon will be able to walk right back through if we don’t.”

A panicked expression crossed Dad’s face and his mouth opened and closed.

Gallus didn’t seem to notice Dad’s condition. “Rope. We attach rope to the door and have men pull it shut from the trees.” He pointed, indicating where to tie the rope and where to have men pull.

Mr. Coolidge volunteered to find men to do it, and Dad asked Matt to get rope from the shed.

Precious minutes went by while they waited for Matt to return. Then another thought occurred to Jacob. He hated that they hadn’t had enough time to plan everything!

“Where do I Key them to?”

“Uh . . .” Gallus said, looking at Dad. “A place that’s far enough away. What’s on the opposite side of the world from Taga Village?”

Dad shook his head—Jacob could tell he was still concerned about the rope situation—and Gallus bit his lip, turning to Jacob.

His eyes lit up. “Tadrys. Key them there.”

“Taw-driss?” Jacob made sure he was pronouncing it correctly.

Gallus smiled. “Yes. And make sure you know where the keyhole is.”

Jacob glanced at the bush he was supposed to hide behind while waiting for the Lorkon to stand on the door. “Got it already.” The shiny metal was hidden enough for the Lorkon not to see it, but Jacob could.

Matt ran back, carrying the hundreds of feet of heavy rope over his shoulder. He dumped it on the ground, then leaned over, panting. “Here . . . use it.”

With Gallus directing, Akeno grew wooden latches to the door and Jacob strengthened them. The men attached the ropes to the door and climbed the trees. Akeno was making sure the ropes weren’t visible right as the Lorkon reached the Eklaron end of the link. Dad turned to Kenji. “Let them through—but only the Lorkon. Have the trees stop the army for as long as you can.”

Jacob readied himself to crouch at any moment. He watched as the Lorkon approached—the branches and bushes stopped everyone else, but the Lorkon didn’t seem to notice. They were still fighting to get through, the colors for frustration swirling in the air around them. Kenji was making it hard for them, but not impossible. They were distracted and probably couldn’t see what was going on. Or maybe Kenji made it so the link wouldn’t allow them to see the other side yet.

Just as the Lorkon reached the edge of the link, Dad called to them.

“Come forward slowly,” he said.

Jacob crouched behind the bush. He could barely see anything that was going on—he was to wait for a signal from Dad or Gallus or Kenji. In case something happened to one or two of them, the other would issue commands.

“Whatever you wish,
Your Majesty
,” one of Dad’s brothers said, laughing.

With a rustle of branches and cloaks, the Lorkon stepped onto the door. Jacob felt the wood near him shift lower, and he prayed it would hold. His knees and legs were starting to hurt from crouching, but he ignored the pain, peering through the branches at his grandfather and uncles.

“I
thought
you’d be here to welcome us to Earth,” Keitus said to Dad.

Dad straightened, looking Keitus in the eye. “Father, we’d like to negotiate with you and come to an agreement of peace. Surely you don’t need war to live with other people.”

Keitus scoffed. “So you’ve figured out who I am,
finally
. I’m surprised it took so long.” He stepped forward, and Gallus raised his sword. Keitus laughed. “Don’t think that’ll stop us.” He looked around. “Where’s the boy?” When no one responded, he said, “We’ll spare the town and your people if you return what rightfully belongs to me.”

Dad shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. You gave up your relationship with him a long time ago.”

Keitus glared at Dad. “Come now. We could share him—you take him for a time, I’ll have him for the rest.” He leaned forward. “And speaking of possessions, where did you hide that little Key your son stole from me?”

Dad folded his arms. “He didn’t steal—he rightfully recovered it.” He made sweeping gestures with his arms. “Come, Father. You must realize I’ve got the upper hand. I have Danilo
and
both Keys. I’ve got access to great minds of the past through my son, and great powers of the present through the Shiengols.”

Keitus laughed. “Ah, yes. Your pets.” He looked around. “I don’t see them now. Where are they?” He laughed again. “Of course. They’ve deserted you after only a little work.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. A little work? Was Keitus drunk? Tingling in Jacob’s legs reminded him of his uncomfortable position, and he tried to shift without making noise. He peered at Dad, hoping the word would be given soon. Really, really soon.

Then Jacob noticed Kenji—he was grimacing, the veins on his neck sticking out. The Makalo was in obvious pain. Why? What was going on?

He squinted through the branches, wanting a better look, but jumped when a Makalo fell out of the tree, unconscious or dead. The Lorkon jumped into defensive positions, which startled Dad and Gallus—they pulled out their swords, ready to fight.

“What are you playing at, son?” Keitus asked.

Dad looked bewildered. He turned to Kenji, noticing the Makalo’s state of being. Jacob figured out what was going on right when Dad probably did. The Makalos couldn’t hold the army much longer—it was taking every ounce of strength they had to keep the enemy back as it was.

Jacob had to Key the Lorkon away as soon as possible! He refused to allow the Makalos to sacrifice themselves. By that point, Keitus was at the edge of the door. If Jacob created the link, there was a large chance the Lorkon wouldn’t fall through.

Gallus and Dad stepped closer, still at least fifteen feet away, and Keitus laughed.

“You actually think you can fight me?”

“I’ll die trying,” Dad said. He leaped forward, swinging his sword. It caught Keitus off guard, and the Lorkon stepped back in surprise.

Dad jumped away from Keitus and yelled, “So long, Father.”

That was the signal. Jacob fell to his knees and reached through the bush, Key in hand. He heard a scuffle, but ignored it. He put the Key in the lock and said, “Tadrys.”

Jacob looked up before turning the Key to make sure the Lorkon were still in place. He bit his tongue to keep from calling out when he saw that Myler was on the door, knife in hand. What was he doing there? Dad had ordered him to be locked in Azuriah’s dungeon! How’d he escape?

Gallus yelled and tried to pull Myler back, but he wasn’t fast enough. Keitus grabbed the man by the back of the neck and swung him to the grass on the door. The Lorkon placed a foot on top of Myler’s chest and stepped down.

Jacob looked away when he heard a crunching noise. His eyes smarted, and one of the Lorkon laughed. Jacob felt his blood pulsing in his brain when he realized it was probably Myler’s brother.

“
Jacob
!” Dad yelled. “Do it
now
!”

Without looking up, Jacob turned the Key. He heard the hinges squeak and the Lorkon scrambling to get their footing. They shrieked as the ground beneath them fell away.

The door slammed into the side of the hole and Jacob looked then. Had Myler dropped with the Lorkon? He didn’t see any way the man hadn’t, and the place where the Lorkon had fallen wasn’t visible. He scrambled to the edge of the hole, wanting to see Myler, but the ropes went taut and the men pulled the door shut.

Jacob was barely aware of the army that came rushing through. Dad had pulled him to his feet and had him run through the forest toward the house, helping hold Kenji up. The fighting raged on behind them.

“No—we have to get Myler!” Jacob said, struggling to get out of his dad’s grasp.

“Son, he’s gone.”

Tears flowed down Jacob’s cheeks. He couldn’t believe Myler had sacrificed himself like that. The guy was insane—so insane.

They arrived at the house. Dad had Jacob stay with Kenji and make sure the Makalo was okay—he was unconscious. Aloren dashed down the stairs and out of the house, following Dad back to the fight.

Jacob grabbed some rags from the kitchen and mopped Kenji’s forehead, trying to bring him back. He couldn’t stop thinking about Myler and what happened. Why did the guy do that? He hadn’t needed to—their plan was solid and Myler didn’t have to fight.

Dad yelled from the forest loud enough for Jacob to hear. “Archers! The leaders—take them down!”

Jacob left the rag on Kenji’s forehead and ran outside to watch. But by then, the battle had already slowed. Leaders of the enemy army realized the Lorkon were gone and started calling for everyone to fall back. The Molgs and humans were confused—they scattered through the forest. Jacob watched as Dad’s small army rounded up the stragglers and chased them back through the link.

It was all over so fast. Their plan had worked, but somehow, Jacob didn’t feel victorious. His heart dropped as he thought of Myler, and then of the losses they’d sustained over the past couple of weeks. So many injured and dead. And this wasn’t even the
big
war still to come when the Lorkon returned, angry about all that had happened.

The cleanup took hours. Jacob helped as much as his hands let him, working alongside Kevin, Tani, and Matt. Kevin and Tani joked about when the mailman had come during the attack and heard noises. The two teenagers had concocted a silly story that made the man give them the mail and then hurry away. Jacob couldn’t follow the story, though, and they soon got the hint and stopped talking.

He already felt the pressure mounting—the need to find the book that contained the locations of the antidote. And once they’d found that, they would need the ingredients. Who knew if it was like the Malono potion, and would require months to prepare?

They didn’t have months.

Aldo had freaked out when he heard that Gallus and Jacob had sent the Lorkon to Tadrys. “That’s only two months away by foot—if we’re lucky! Hardly on the other side of the world!”

Gallus shoved back from the table, knocking his chair over. Even sitting, he was imposing, but standing? He looked freaky. “Where else would you have sent them?” Gallus yelled, his face almost purple with anger.

“To Leyish! Or even Gunst!”

Gallus threw his hands in the air. “We only had moments to pick the location. If you’d thought of that part of your plan ahead of time, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

“How dare—”

Dad stood, motioning for Gallus and Aldo to sit. “What’s done is done. We can’t change things now. And honestly, I’m very pleased with how it all went.”

Jacob glowered at his hands. “Except for Myler, right?”

Dad sent him a sympathetic glance. “Yes, I
am
sorry about him. But we have to remain focused! We can’t let arguments tear us apart now—not now.” He turned to Kenji, obviously wanting to change the subject. “How are the Makalos doing?”

“Better,” Kenji said. “Much better.”

“Good. Are you able to keep the link strong?”

Kenji nodded. “For now—it’s all we’re focusing on. If we hadn’t had Akeno’s help, the army would’ve broken our mental barriers on the link.”

Dad ran his hand through his thinning hair. “And what of Brojan’s books? Have you retrieved them yet?”

“Yes. And I’ve started studying them. We’ll find an antidote somehow.”

“Oh!” Jacob said, jumping to his feet. “I can’t believe I forgot! With the Lorkon army coming, I didn’t want to bring it up and get everyone needlessly excited when we couldn’t do anything about it.” He waited until everyone was looking at him—it didn’t take long, since he’d been so loud. “Onyev found the antidote. He said he made five copies of the recipe and hid those in different places around Eklaron. And he made note of how to find the hiding spots in a book about potions and cures.”

Jacob looked at Kenji. “Did Brojan have any books like that?”

“I’m sure he did,” Kenji said. It looked like his brain was going at full speed. “Did he say where he hid them?”

Jacob shook his head. “No, just that he needed to have five places in case one of the copies didn’t make it.”