Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (17 page)

Jacob waved at the girl. “I am.”

“Who’s Jacob?” she asked again after a pause.

He waved both hands in the air, and the girl glanced at him. “I’m Jacob!”

“How did you get three Minyas?” she asked, still walking. “My mother was only able to catch one.”

Jacob scowled at her and yelled, “I’m not a Minya!”

No response. He cleared his throat. “Hello? I said I’m not a Minya!” Again, no response, and Jacob felt like kicking something. “Are you serious? How is it possible that you can’t hear me? Akeno, tell her.” He blew out a breath of air in frustration. “And can I go back to my normal size now? I’m tired of not being able to walk.”

Akeno shot a look at the girl before answering. “Not yet. The tunnel has too many curves in it. You’d only be about as tall as me if I were to try enlarging you right now.”

“This is really annoying,” Jacob said. “And my sides are starting to hurt from the way the Minyas are carrying me.”

The girl turned to walk backward, watching Akeno. She smiled, as if amused by the attention he was giving his three “Minyas.” Jacob scowled again.

Akeno moved the strap of his bag. “I’m sorry. Here, you can sit on my shoulder.”

“Yeah, that’s not embarrassing or anything,” Jacob said, giving in and allowing the Minyas to put him down. “Hey, you!” he yelled at the girl. “I’m not a Minya! I’m a human! And who are you, anyway?”

Either the girl didn’t hear him or she pretended not to hear him.

“Sorry, Jacob,” Akeno whispered. “Not many people outside the Makalos respect Minyas . . . or even address them directly.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jacob said. “Anyone who actually looked at me would see that I’m human.”

Akeno sighed. “I know, but—”

“And I really don’t like being this little. It’s stupid.” Jacob looked at the Minyas, who were now flitting back and forth near the ceiling. “No offense to them, of course.”

He settled in for a long ride. Yesterday he had been excited to be shrunk again, but this wasn’t what he’d envisioned. And the tunnel seemed to go on forever.

Finally, after the umpteenth curve, they reached what Jacob hoped was the end. Stairs were cut into the stone, heading up.

The girl looked back at Akeno. “These stairs will lead us to a building not far from Gallus’s store.”

Jacob started. “Gallus! Yes! Let’s go there.”

After climbing for several minutes, they reached the top of the stairs. The girl pushed a slab of wood away and peered over the top. Then she and Akeno crawled out, Jacob hanging on to Akeno’s shirt. The Minyas flitted through the hole behind the group. They entered a small, grimy room full of broken furniture, then went through a doorway into a slightly larger room with a big glassless window which overlooked an empty street.

“I need to set Jacob right again,” Akeno said. “Are we in danger of the wolves coming here?”

“No, we’ll be fine. It will take the wolves quite some time to find us. If they do at all.” The girl looked around the room as she spoke. “And who’s Jacob again?”

Jacob yelled out in fury, but Akeno’s “Never mind” covered his voice. He looked up and saw that Akeno was smiling, which made him even more irritated.

Akeno walked out the open doorway onto the street, took Jacob off his shoulder, and, using his Rezend, put Jacob down at least fifty feet away, returning him to his normal size. He watched Akeno go back inside.

Jacob brushed himself off and took a deep breath, getting ready to storm back into the building and tell the girl a thing or two.

The distance between himself and the old, run-down building quickly disappeared as Jacob walked up to it, and he sighed in exasperation when he heard the girl’s voice again, coming from inside. He leaned against the wall, feeling his determination waver. What would he say to her, anyhow? “Why couldn’t you tell I’m human?” That sounded stupid. He stalled for as long as he could until Akeno yelled out the open door. “Hey, Jacob, are you here yet?”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Jacob scowled, mentally preparing himself as he entered the building.

The Minyas flitted around the ceiling, Akeno leaned against a wall, and the girl lounged in a broken chair. Her hair was dark, and she had sparkly brown eyes. There was a dimple in one of her cheeks. She was cute, and his mind went blank, irritation forgotten. Cute girls did that to him, and he hated it.

“Jacob, this is Aloren. She wants to join us on our trip, and I think it might be a good idea.”

“Uh . . .” He looked away from Aloren and focused on Akeno. “What?”

Akeno just smiled, and Aloren jumped to her feet, extending a hand. “Akeno said you were with us the whole time we were running through the tunnels.”

Jacob dropped her hand, his frustrations coming back. His response was curt—there was no reason to have her on his side. “Yes. I was. Apparently you didn’t notice, though.” He turned to Akeno, scowling. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to have other people come with us?”

“I don’t see any harm in it,” Akeno said. “She was amazing at helping us get out of the castle alive. Besides, I’ve had a chance to talk to her. She’s looking for her brother who’s been missing for a while.”

Jacob raked his hand through his hair in annoyance. “What does that have to do with her coming? Honestly, Akeno, I don’t like the idea.”

“No, listen. It
is
a good idea. I think we can trust her, and she has a lot of experience with the road we’ll be taking.”

“I can help you with any obstacles or other things you’ll come across,” Aloren said.

Jacob turned to her. “You expect we’ll have trouble on the road?”

“The chances are very high,” she said, nodding.

Jacob dropped his bag and folded his arms. “How often have you traveled the way we’re going?” He knew this was a silly thing to ask—if she lived here, she must have gone that way a lot. But he pushed his thoughts aside.

“Six trips coming and going, and each time, we ran into trouble.”

“We who?”

“Me, and the people traveling with me.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Did you stop to think that maybe the problems happened because you were there?”

Aloren thumped into her seat, glaring at him. “Of course it wasn’t because I was there. Most people die taking the trail to Maivoryl City. Maybe the trips were so successful because of me.”

Jacob raised his hand to run it through his hair again, but lowered it instead. “Can I talk to Akeno, please? Alone?”

“Fine.” Aloren stood, flipped her hair, and left the room.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jacob motioned for Akeno to stand near the front door with him.

“Akeno, I trust your judgment, I really do, but I just don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’ll be fine.” Akeno sat and pulled the tape dispenser out of his bag. “You need to talk to her. I don’t think she’ll cause problems for us.”

“And how do you know that? She’d probably slow us down or make us need to be cautious about what we say, or—you know what? I’d bet anything the Lorkon sent her.”

Akeno snorted and started re-taping one of the leaves to his shoe. “After what happened at the castle, you’re worried she might be working for the Lorkon?”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “And you said you’ve read a lot of human books. It’s how it always goes. The good guy trusts some seemingly innocent person who only wants to help, but in the end, turns out to be working for the bad guy.”

Akeno was silent for a moment before responding. “It’s just a feeling I have. Besides, we don’t need to decide right now. We should focus on getting the journal from Gallus first.”

“Agreed.” Jacob frowned, thinking. “Let me just talk to her and get a better idea of who she is.”

Akeno put the tape dispenser back in his bag and stood. “Okay.”

“It’s all I’m promising, though.”

“That’s fine. It’s a start.”

Jacob started toward the back of the room, then stopped. “Hey, Aloren!”

Her voice came from somewhere up above them. “Coming!”

After a moment, Aloren breezed into the room, giving him a look he couldn’t read. She half-smiled, her dimple showing.

Jacob watched her facial expressions, mostly her eyes, trying to sense if there was any dishonesty there. After a brief moment, he gave up. She was a very guarded person. He’d just have to talk to her.

Akeno leaned against the frame of the front door, watching them.

“Where are you from?” Jacob asked, sitting on one of the broken chairs.

“This city.” She kept her eyes on Jacob, but played with a section of her hair.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Most of my life.”

Jacob stood and paced. So far so good—she seemed to be answering his questions honestly. But he couldn’t get the edgy feeling to go away. A cute girl—this was Matt’s arena, not his. Understanding the “mission” objectives had been easy. Get the Key. Find Gallus and get journal. Read the journal. Figure out his ability. “Invite stranger to come along” wasn’t one of them. “Do you have any relatives here?”

“No, none.”

“Where are they?” Jacob turned to face her.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t have any, except my brother and my father—if they’re still alive.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirteen, almost fourteen.”

“And why, exactly, do you want to come with us?”

Aloren looked down and bit her lip, a troubled expression crossing her face. Jacob glanced at Akeno, who shrugged.

“My mother has been dead for a couple of months. She and my father were separated from each other years ago by the war, and my older brother went with my father. I don’t remember him or my father.”

“I, uh . . . I’m sorry,” Jacob said.

“It’s fine.” She took a deep breath. “Naturally, my mother wanted to be reunited with them. It just never happened. She was always in poor health and unable to travel. For the past few years, I’ve tried to find them by searching this and other valleys. The only place I’ve never been to is Maivoryl City. The groups I’ve gone with always run into trouble before getting there, and each time, we’ve had to abandon our quest.”

“I thought you said you’d been able to take the road six times,” Jacob said.

“Six times to Ridgewood, but never to Maivoryl City. No one ever makes it to Maivoryl City.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t really know. They never come back.” She looked at Jacob for a long moment, her eyes pleading. “Please, Jacob. This is really important to me. I know it might cause problems for you to bring me, but I really can help.”

“Well, give me time to think about it.” Jacob figured he’d first speak with Gallus before making any decisions.

Aloren stood and walked to Jacob’s side, giving his arm a quick squeeze. “Thank you.”

Jacob’s face flushed and he turned away, picking up his bag.

“I’ve been thinking,” Akeno said as he and Jacob walked several feet behind Aloren while she crept around the city, leading the way to Gallus’s store. “And when I talked to my parents about it, they agreed with me.”

“About what?” Jacob asked.

“I think the Lorkon are waiting for you,” he said, then glanced at Jacob. “The wolves dropped their guard on the link as soon as we left. And . . . well, I believe the Lorkon are using the Key as bait.”

Jacob jerked to a stop, forgetting Aloren. “What?”

Akeno shook his head, a concerned expression on his face. “I suspected it before, and mentioned it to my parents, but no one was sure. Things are finally adding up. You’ve noticed that the wolves aren’t attacking. It’s like they’re monitoring our progress. Nothing’s trying to stop us from getting to the castle, and there have been no real distractions.”

“But why are they trying to bait me?”

Akeno and Jacob raced to catch up with Aloren who motioned impatiently by a large building.

“They want you in their possession,” Akeno hissed as they neared the girl. “We think they haven’t gotten past the spells on the Key yet.”

Aloren disappeared around the corner and Akeno and Jacob followed slowly.

“What are they expecting from me?” Jacob asked. “That I’ll be able to teach them how to use it?”

“I’d guess they’re hoping you’ll be the answer to all their problems.”

Jacob snorted. “Well, they’re stupid, then. They have to know this is the first time I’ve been in their world—there’s no way I’ll know how to do anything for them.”

“I agree. I just thought you should hear my theories.”

Jacob sighed. “Thanks—I do appreciate it. Being prepared is never a bad idea. Just the same, though, I hope you’re wrong.”

They were nearing the middle of the city, and Jacob started recognizing buildings.

“I hope Gallus doesn’t throw nuts at us,” Akeno whispered.

Jacob laughed at that, watching as at the next corner, Aloren pointed out Gallus’s store.

“Hey!” Jacob said. “That’s Seden’s place.”

Aloren nodded. “Uh, yeah. They’re the same person. He doesn’t tell people his real name right away.”

Jacob frowned. “What? Why?”

Aloren rolled her eyes. “The Lorkon have been in control here for years, and you expect him to trust people that easily?” She rolled her eyes again and flipped her hair back. She opened the door to the store, waited for Jacob and Akeno to enter, then said, “Okay, what are you looking for? I know my way around here pretty well. I can help you find it.”