Eyes of the Sun (31 page)
Authors: Andrea Pearson
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #MG Fantasy
Dad stared at the Fat Lady and Aldo, excitement swirling in the air around him. “This seriously changes things. Let’s refocus—find books that match that description.”
Then he glanced at Jacob. “I know there isn’t a lot you can do until we find that book, but keep track of how much time we’ve got and keep an eye on the Lorkon.”
Jacob nodded and then looked down. His eyes smarted and he thought about that morning when he Time-Saw to the Lorkon. They were still in Tadrys, and Myler was lying dead in a ditch where the Lorkon had tossed him. Jacob blinked several times. Before, he hadn’t known why he felt so strongly about the man. But now that he understood Myler’s history better, everything that had happened was so much harder to swallow. Poor Myler.
Jacob sighed, turning his attention back to the meeting. Two months. They only had two months before the Lorkon returned.
Chapter Twenty: Location One
Aldo jumped to his feet, knocking over a huge stack of books. “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!”
He, Jacob, and the Fat Lady had spent several hours going through Aldo’s and the Fat Lady’s libraries, and Jacob’s shoulders hurt from hunching over for so long. Jacob and the Fat Lady scrambled to see the book Aldo held. The Fat Lady got there first and snatched it from the man’s hands.
A grin spread across her face. “I can’t believe I never noticed this before! I’ve owned it for thirty years.”
Jacob peered over the Fat Lady’s arm and read,
Antidote Location One
Ingredients:
One Kaith tree
One small grass-filled meadow
One canyon, tall on either side
Instructions:
Combine with a surrounding forest
And a link to a human-filled world
Open the tree to the center
There you shall find the scroll
The Fat Lady exclaimed, “Wow. That sounds awfully familiar!” She and Aldo met eyes, then the two turned to Jacob at the same time. “Key us to the tree!” they said.
Jacob fumbled in his pocket, trying to pull out the Key. His hands shook and his eyesight blurred. Just to think that the antidote might be there in Taga Village made him want to throw up—whether from excitement or nervousness, he wasn’t sure. Could it be that easy? He mentally crossed his fingers, finally getting the Key turned the right way.
The Fat Lady pushed past Jacob and strode into the tree. She started pulling shelves apart, moving the fridge, lifting cabinets—she was so strong!—and looking under tables.
Dad, Kenji, and Mom watched with shock from the table where they’d been sorting through books.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.
“We found it.” Aldo dropped the book on the table in front of Dad, opened to the page where the first location was written. “There’s one here, in this tree.”
Dad and Mom both jumped from their chairs. Dad pointed at the floor. “Dig that up! Let’s get some people in here to inspect every surface.” He turned to Kenji. “Did you and the other Makalos find anything when you helped hollow out the tree?”
For the first time, Jacob noticed that Kenji wasn’t excited about the news. In fact, the colors in the air around him showed he was upset, disappointed, and frustrated.
“It’s useless,” he said. “The tree was already dead—we dug out the center, ground it up, and used it as garden compost. You and Arien helped with the final part before turning it into a place for you to live.”
Dad slumped into his chair. “You’re sure?”
Kenji nodded. “It’s been far too long—nothing has ever turned up, and if it had, we wouldn’t have known what it was. I’m afraid this location is no longer a viable option.”
Jacob’s heart fell. He’d figured it wouldn’t be that easy—they’d need to work to find the recipe. But at least they had the book. He looked at his parents. “Cheer up!” he said. “We’ve got the other locations here.” He motioned to the book. “We’ll find the antidote. And we’ll be ready when the Lorkon return.”
Dad got up and put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “Yes, son, we will.”
That evening, Akeno came to the house and got Jacob. He’d been very distracted by his plans to grow new Kaede trees and hadn’t volunteered to help search. The two friends walked through the forest in silence. Jacob didn’t want to break it—he enjoyed Akeno’s company.
“We’re almost there,” Akeno said after some time.
The Makalo had asked Jacob not to mention his solution to the bug and Kaede tree problem to anyone—he didn’t want to get their hopes up.
“Where?”
Akeno smiled mischievously. “You’ll see . . .”
He stepped under an arch and pushed aside some overhanging vines, then stepped into a little meadow Jacob had never seen before.
“Whoa,” Jacob said. “Where’d this come from?”
Akeno laughed. “I grew it over the past two days.”
Jacob looked at his friend. “You’re really getting good at your powers.”
Akeno shrugged, his face turning red. “Yeah, I am. Thanks.” He turned away, motioning for Jacob to follow.
Little trees grew in perfect rows—twenty, thirty of them. It took Jacob’s breath away, seeing them all. “Do you think they’ll work?”
Akeno laughed. “They already have—I risked bringing a couple of bugs here. They couldn’t infect the trees. But again, don’t say anything to anyone.”
Jacob stopped walking. “Are you serious? You figured it out? That’s so awesome!” He clapped Akeno’s shoulder.
Akeno smiled. “The trees aren’t the only thing I wanted to show you. It’s what’s growing behind them that matters.”
Jacob followed as the Makalo stepped through the rows and carefully pushed a little branch aside. “We’ll need to move these eventually—they can’t grow this closely for long.”
“When will they be big enough to harvest sap?”
Akeno didn’t respond at first. “Well, I want to make sure they’re just the way they should be. If we push them to grow too fast, the sap might not work properly. So . . . probably not for another twenty years.”
Jacob’s shoulders slumped. Twenty years? The Makalos might not even make it that long.
Akeno stopped walking and put his hands behind his back. His gaze fell on an odd-looking bush.
Jacob tilted his head, eyebrows knitted. “What on
earth
is that?”
Akeno laughed. “I know it looks weird . . . but don’t make fun of it.”
“I’m not making fun of it. It looks like a . . . a leg. It’s kinda gross, Akeno.”
“It
is
a leg. And in about a week, it’ll be the right size for Sweet Pea.”
Jacob’s jaw dropped. “You grew a new leg for Sweet Pea?”
Akeno ducked his head. “Yeah. It’s wood, so it won’t be exactly the same, but I think he needs something. He’s been so depressed since . . . since the attack.” Akeno bent and lifted some leaves out of the way to inspect the entire thing. “What do you think? We’ll need to add knee and ankle joints, but . . .”
Jacob hugged Akeno. “It’s so cool. It’s wonderful.”
Akeno grinned, then showed how he’d tried to replicate Sweet Pea’s toes exactly.
Jacob laughed. “They’re big, ugly, and perfect.” He sighed.
Akeno brushed his hair out of his face, pulled a ball cap from his back pocket, and put it on. “Anyway. I wanted to see what you thought of it. We can go back now.”
Jacob smiled at his friend, his heart swelling.
The next two months were bound to be stressful and difficult, and Jacob knew he should be more worried than he was. But it was hard to let the negative emotions overwhelm him when he was surrounded by the best people ever.
And even though these people had introduced him to the most difficult experiences he’d ever had, he was grateful for them
and
the experiences. He wouldn’t erase anything, if it meant losing the friendships he’d gained.
###
Note from the Author:
Hi, everyone! Thanks for reading
Eyes of the Sun
. :-) It was a lot of fun to write! It was also a lot of fun to title—I picked the name for this book around the same time I picked the name for
The Key of Kilenya
. It was one of those no-duh moments for me and made me so eager and excited to be able to write it. :-)
If you haven’t already joined my newsletter list (whaddya waiting for? :-)), you can do so
here
. And then you can get
Discern
, the first book in my new Katon University series, for free. :-) Because I like giving away eBooks occasionally. :-)
And if you’d like to leave a review on
Amazon
for this book, I’d appreciate it greatly.
Have a great day!
Andrea
Books by Andrea Pearson:
The Kilenya Series:
The Ember Gods, Kilenya Series Book Two
August Fortress, Kilenya Series Book Three
Rise of Keitus, Kilenya Series Book Four
Eyes of the Sun, Kilenya Series Book Five
The Golden Symbol, Kilenya Series Book Six
The Key of Kilenya: Special Edition with Illustrations
Grail Bestiary Volume I: Creatures of Grail and Kilenya
Kilenya Romances:
Katon University:
Discern, Katon University Book One
The Focus (A Katon University First Year Novella)
The Manor (A Katon University First Year Novella)
The Angel (A Katon University First Year Novella)
Praxis Bundle One: The Focus, The Manor, The Angel
Perceive, Katon University Book Two (coming early 2015)
Ranch City Academy:
Bezza’s Book of Enchantments (coming mid 2015)
For information on the above books, click
here
. (http://www.andreapearsonbooks.com/p/my-books.html)
About the Author:
Andrea Pearson, author of the Kilenya Series, the Kilenya Romances, and Katon University series, lives with her husband and daughter in a small valley framed with hills. She is the Executive Director of the LDS Indie Author group and owner and co-creator of the writing application, Writer’s Progress Bar. She is an editor for the website Gather.com.
Andrea spends as much time with her husband and daughter as possible. Favorite activities include painting, watching movies, collecting and listening to music, and discussing books and authors.
Her mother says they can’t possibly be related because Andrea doesn’t really like chocolate and tomatoes, though she’ll eat either if forced to do it. (But not together.) She would much rather eat toasted English muffins with lots of butter or nearly anything with cheese.
Connect with her Online:
Join her email mailing list for news on upcoming releases
(She doesn’t sell or misuse email addresses or send long, frequent emails)
Acknowledgements:
I’d first like to thank my wonderful husband and daughter for their support and love. You’ve helped me become a much more dedicated and proficient writer. I love you! I also want to express gratitude to my parents for their support these past difficult months. Thank you for always being there for me!
Much appreciation goes to the following people: James Curwen for another fantastic cover, Tristi Pinkston for her superb editing skills, and BJ Rowley for the beautiful typesetting of the print version of the book. Without these three individuals, I’d pretty much be lost.
My beta readers deserve a round of applause: Dad, Mom, Lon Pearson, Amy Stephens, Karen Adamson, Liz Smith, Kimberly Blackham, Lance Good, Robert Taylor, Victoria McArthur, Laurie Pessetto, Millie Brady, Jensen Bean, Ralph and Tami Hall, Lori Koerper, Rosann Havey, Melisa Petty, Darlene Raymond, and Martha Taylor. Your suggestions, comments, encouragements, and advice have really kept me going.
