Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (8 page)

Akeno sat on a log and put on his shoes, which had fresh leaves attached to them. “That ought to do it,” he said.

“That’s so weird.”

“Hey—at least it keeps the dirt away.” He stood, adjusting his top hat. For the first time, Jacob took notice of Akeno’s other clothing. His black T-shirt had the word “
dare
” spelled out across it in bright red, and he wore brown pants.
Dare?

“The Minyas came while you were sleeping,” the Makalo said, “but I let them go play. We’ll need to call them again.” He walked to a dandelion plant and picked one of the bigger, fluffier heads. He whispered into the seeds and blew them into the air, turning the head so he wouldn’t miss any.

Jacob watched the seeds float off. “Why dandelions? And what do the seeds do?”

“They’re available during a large part of the year. The seeds carry the message to the Minyas. I don’t know how, so don’t ask.” He smiled to show he wasn’t trying to be rude. “Okay, they’re coming.”

“How do the Minyas fly without wings?” Jacob asked.

“They use their magic as a way to maneuver, and choose what does and doesn’t affect them: gravity, resistance, laws of physics—things like that.” As the Minyas arrived, Akeno motioned toward Jacob. “September, Early, this is Jacob. He’s here to help us get the Key back.”

“Don’t they remember me from earlier? When they were helping with the Rog?”

Akeno laughed. “I doubt they do. They probably didn’t pay any attention to the cause of the commotion.”

“Hi, Jacob,” Early said. She spoke to September. “My, isn’t he a big Makalo.”

September laughed, slapping his knee. “He’s not a Makalo,” he said. “He’s a human!”

Jacob shook his head. Akeno was right about them not remembering him.

“Oh, another one?” Early looked at Jacob, tapping the side of her face with a finger. “Why’s he here?”

“Don’t care. Come on!” September grabbed Early’s hand, and they flitted away.

Akeno called to the Minyas to stop, then told Early to deliver a message to his parents, telling them the group was heading off. Jacob was a little surprised when she acted thrilled to do it. After a bright flash of light, she was gone.

“How fast do they go?” Jacob asked.

“They travel at the speed of light when they combine their powers.”

“Are you sure?” Jacob asked. Akeno had to be exaggerating. “That’s really fast. I don’t think it’s even possible.”

“In normal cases, obviously it wouldn’t be possible. But remember that the laws of physics don’t apply to them. Their magic makes them invincible to anything that might cause a resistance. There are drawbacks to using their magic, though. In order to travel that way, a Minya must have been to, or seen, the place where he or she is headed. The magic draws on their memories and propels them forward, taking them to their destination. If they don’t know where the place is located, it can be very dangerous, since the magic will then take the shortest route, which is sometimes through solid objects.” Akeno paused. “Oh, and don’t say please to them—they don’t like it.”

“What? Why not?”

“Hundreds of years ago, they were slaves. You don’t say please to slaves. Now it’s just a weird thing about them. Honestly, no one really knows how the mind of a Minya works.” Akeno looked up and frowned, searching the air. “Early should be back by now.”

They continued waiting in silence. After a moment, Jacob spotted Early zooming toward them.

“What took you so long?” September said as soon as Early was close enough.

“Kenji gave me some honey. And they say hi and are happy that nothing bad has happened yet.”

Akeno laughed out loud. “‘Yet?’ Are they expecting us to have that much trouble?”

Jacob picked up his bag. “Let’s get going.”

“Yes, good idea. We can eat while we walk.” Akeno pulled bread and jerky from his knapsack, handing some of it to Jacob.

Jacob fell into step behind Akeno, munching on a piece of bread, appreciating the beauty of the morning and tranquility of the thin forest. The sun was bright, but not too warm, and the sky was almost cloudless. The leaves and grass glowed light green in the sunny morning light, and there were flowers everywhere.

After several minutes of walking, the trail turned sharply upward and looked like it would be difficult for about a hundred feet or so. Large weeds and underbrush grew over the path, and they had to push their way through.

“Not . . . much . . . farther,” Akeno said, panting.

As predicted, the path stopped. The sheer canyon wall rose up before them, with a gaping hole in it and broken boards on either side of the hole. The boards appeared to have been ripped off, and several were strewn across the ground. The canyon wall was solid rock, and the hole looked man-made.

Jacob picked up one of the smaller pieces of board. The wood was attractive, somehow, in its coloring. It was very light brown, with silver streaks flowing through the grain and was thick and sturdy. “I’m guessing this is where the Lorkon came in.”

“Yes, this is the entrance.” Akeno said. He motioned to the wood in Jacob’s hand. “That comes from the Kaede tree—the same tree which produces the healing sap.”

“Oh, yeah. The sap smells like maple syrup. Why’s that?”

“It’s a type of maple tree—but don’t eat it. It tastes disgusting.” He laughed—probably at a memory. “The trees are awesome. They’re grown naturally, but with some . . .
help
from Makalos.” He smiled. “Rezend makes them grow stronger than other trees, and steel develops in the grain, making it nearly unbreakable.”

“It looks really cool,” Jacob said.

He dropped the board and studied the area. The ground had leveled, forming a small meadow in front of the entrance. There were only a few trees up here, and they looked as though they had some type of horrible disease. Their leaves were shriveled, the bark had a slight red shade, and the grass around them was yellowed.

“It’s sad to see the trees like this,” Akeno said. “Normally, Kaede trees live through everything.”

“The Lorkon did it?”

Akeno nodded. “Let’s get going.” He walked to the tree closest to the entrance, putting his hand on it for a moment. A frustrated expression crossed his face. “I can’t sense anything. I hate running blind like this.” He frowned at the tree, then turned to Jacob. “Are you ready?”

“I guess so,” Jacob said. “I can’t tell which emotion is stronger right now—nervousness or excitement.”

“Me neither.” Akeno motioned to the hole. “After you.”

“I’ve got a better idea. You go first, and I’ll make sure no one kills us from behind.”

“Right,” Akeno said, laughing. He entered the tunnel.

The hole was the perfect height for Akeno, but Jacob had to duck to get through. It was cool and dark inside, and Jacob’s eyes had just enough time to adjust when suddenly the tunnel ended.

Akeno stopped abruptly and Jacob ran into him, squinting in the brightness of the sun. Looking ahead, his jaw dropped.

“Whoa,” he said, eyes wide.

Chapter 6. Infected

We finally managed to contact the Makalo patriarch and beg his assistance. Luckily, he is just as determined as we are to remove the Lorkon from our land. The Lorkon have amassed a huge force, and the patriarch is sending an army of Makalos to assist in the war that is surely coming.

The trees on the other side of the tunnel were dead, misshapen, and shriveled. They were almost painful to look at. The land around the trees also appeared to be dead, and there were animal carcasses strewn across the ground. The stench was so strong that Jacob’s stomach lurched, and a sharp feeling of nausea hit him.

All of this, however, was not what had caught Jacob off guard.

Everything—including the sky—was completely devoid of color.

Coming up beside Akeno, Jacob was disturbed to see that the Makalo, too, was colorless. Akeno’s mouth was set in a grim line. He’d obviously seen this before—most likely when they tried to get the Key themselves. The Minyas were oblivious to the situation and continued flitting around in the air.

“Why is everything black and white?” Jacob asked. Even his own body was in shades of gray.

“We don’t know,” Akeno said.

While he was taking in the surroundings, Jacob had the slight sensation of being on a boat, rocking side to side. He couldn’t put his finger on why he felt this way. He studied the forest around them, trying to figure it out. After a moment, he noticed something odd about the trees. “Akeno, are the trees moving?”

“I’m not sure.” Akeno walked up to the trunk of the tree nearest them.

“Oh, wow!” Jacob said. “Did you see that? The tree leaned away from you!”

“Yeah, I saw.” Akeno started wringing his hands. “But why’d it do it?”

“I don’t know.” Jacob joined Akeno and noticed that most of the trees shifted as they got closer. “It’s as though they’re trying to get away, like they’re repulsed by us or something.”

“I don’t like this.” Akeno reached out with his left ring finger to touch the tree. As soon as he made contact with the bark, a branch whipped through the air and smacked his hand, causing both of them to jump.

“Ouch!” Akeno looked down at the skin on his hand, where a large welt was already forming. “Why did it do that?” He glared at the branch that hit him. “Stupid tree!”

“Maybe it doesn’t want you to touch it. Or maybe it’s possessed or something.” Jacob backed away quickly, careful not to get too close to the trees on the other side of the path.

Akeno shook his head, motioning in jerky movements with his hands. “I’ve never heard of this happening before.”

“Should we send one of the Minyas to ask Kenji about it?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Akeno said frantically. “What could he possibly do to help?”

“He might have an idea about what’s going on,” Jacob said, looking around at the trees.

“I doubt he would.” Akeno’s voice took on a shrill note. “Why didn’t he come with us? Why didn’t Brojan come with us? This is such a waste of time!”

Jacob looked at the Makalo. What was wrong with him? “Akeno? Are you . . . feeling okay?”

Akeno turned on Jacob. “Of course I’m not! What makes you think I would be? I just got attacked by a tree!” An anguished expression crossed his face. “If it won’t let me touch it, how will I know what’s going on around us? These things don’t just happen for no reason! I’ve always been able to use my Rezend!”

Jacob was astonished to see that Akeno was almost in tears.

“Can I see your hand? The one the tree just whipped?” Jacob reached out, but Akeno jumped away from him.

“Don’t touch me! What are you doing? Keep away!”

Jacob put his hands in the air. “Okay! Sorry. I won’t do it again.”

Akeno pulled off his top hat and crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

“I’m sorry!” Jacob said, exasperated. “I really didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I don’t need your pity!” Akeno said, flinging his hat at Jacob.

Jacob caught the hat and turned away, muttering to himself. Someone had to act logically here.

Brojan and Kenji would know what to do—they must have some advice. He started running to the tunnel to go back to Taga, but thought better of it and turned around.

“September, go now—” He paused when he saw that September was pretending not to hear him. “Come on—it’s for Akeno, not me.”

September turned to him. “Fine.”

“Is it possible for the two of you to throw yourselves, or whatever you do, at the same time?”

“Yes, it is,” September said.

“Then you go to Kenji, and you, Early, go to Brojan. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

“On it!” Early said, and with a bright flash of light, they were gone. Jacob faced Akeno, who was no longer sobbing, but glaring up at him.

“Okay . . . uh . . . well, hopefully we’ll figure things out soon,” Jacob said, giving the hat back to Akeno.

Akeno jammed the hat on his head. “There’s absolutely nothing going on that wasn’t supposed to happen, Jacob.” The amount of venom in his voice was shocking. “Are you so stupid you can’t see that?”

Jacob tried not to look at him, but couldn’t help it. “Well, uh, I’m sure this wasn’t planned by anyone . . . except maybe the Lorkon.”

Akeno’s fist hit the ground. “You’re wrong. My father and Brojan knew this would happen. They sent us here to fail.”

Jacob shook his head slowly. He couldn’t figure out why Akeno was acting this way. “I really don’t think they did.”

Thankfully, September and Early returned, putting a stop to the conversation. Early flew to Akeno and stuck her tongue out at him. Akeno snarled, his face contorted, and he jumped up, lunging at her. His hands swiped the air, but she was already several feet away from him, grinning. He ran after her, yelling at her to come back.

Jacob turned to September, who, like Early, thought this was hilarious. “What did they say?”

September stopped laughing and turned to Jacob. “Kenji and Brojan were at Akeno’s house. They said you should always keep one messenger with you and to send only one of us at a time from now on, just in case something happens and you need the other Minya’s help.” He looked at Akeno, who was still trying to get Early. “You need to get Akeno out of the forest right now—the trees are poisonous to him.”