Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (91 page)

He looked down—he’d been slashed across the stomach. And his leg. It was broken. No wonder he couldn’t move! There were gashes on his arms, too. He watched the blood seeping through the fabric of his clothes. He was losing too much blood. He needed help now!

“Hello!” he cried out. “Early? Someone! Help me! I can’t move—I’m hurt! Bad!”

He stopped when Early appeared with a flash next to him. “They’re coming!”

A dizzy spell hit him and everything turned black.

Jacob woke up, surrounded completely by darkness. Not again. He groaned in frustration, realizing the traps must have been sprung once more. But did that mean the dinosaur was alive? Looking for any visible emotion, he sat up in terror and cracked his head against something solid above him. He fell back. That hurt.

But wait. It shouldn’t have—not if the traps were in place.

Hesitantly, he reached out. His hands met a hard, smooth surface above him, and below was a soft, cushy fabric. He could feel!

Then it dawned on him—he was in a Minya box! He must have been saved!

Preparing for the rush of light, he reached up to push the top open, squinting against the brightness.

“Jacob!” Aloren said, her head—much larger than normal—appearing next to him. “You’re awake!”

Jacob laughed. “Yeah, and please stop yelling! It hurts.”

“Oh, oops. Sorry.” She jumped to her feet. “He’s up!”

Jacob heard a chorus of exclamations of joy, and was suddenly surrounded by giants. He could only see their knees.

“Akeno? Are you there? Can you enlarge me?”

“Sure!”

One of the giants—Akeno—reached over and picked up Jacob, held him out, and dropped him at least fifty feet away.

Relief rushed over him when he saw that his hands and arms were back to normal. He stretched, enjoying the pops in his joints, breathing deeply, the smell of the nearby forest rushing through his nostrils. The clouds above were fluffy, partially covering the sun. Rays of light streamed across the sky, and a slight breeze lifted the hair off his forehead. He’d never, ever take these things for granted again.

Before returning to the others, he took stock of the area around the group. August Fortress was to his left, with the emotions of the Shiengols showing impatience, happiness, and of course, annoyance. He smiled, shaking his head. Thank goodness they’d helped him.

Only a part of August Township was close to the fortress. Huge, towering walls and volcanic rock marked the boundaries between most of the city and the Shiengol stronghold.

Early flitted to his side, tumbling and doing somersaults in the air. “You’re alive, Jacob! You’re alive!”

He laughed with her. “Yes, I am!”

They headed back to the group, more relief washing over him when he saw that everyone looked healthy, safe, and happy.

Gallus stepped forward and shook Jacob’s hand. “Well done, Your Highness. Well done.” He grinned broadly. “Thanks to you, and of course, Aloren, we all made it out okay.”

“What happened?”

Gallus motioned to a bunch of logs set up around a campfire. The tent was situated a few feet away. “Let’s have a seat.” He nodded to Akeno and Sweet Pea. “Would you grab us something to eat? I’m sure Jacob is starving.” Then he pointed to Aloren. “She can tell you everything that happened—she’s the only one who didn’t get injured.”

Guilt crossed Aloren’s face. “I’m really sorry about that. I—”

Jacob shook his head. “Someone had to stay in charge of the situation.”

She thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right.” She sat down.

Jacob summoned the courage to take the seat nearest her. It felt good to be that close.

Aloren took a deep breath. “While you and the others attacked the Cerpire, I worked on Gallus. He was really badly injured, but Akeno helped me fix him up after you went back into the traps.” She frowned at Jacob. “Which was absolutely insane, by the way!”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry.” He grinned at her, glad they could joke around.

She continued. “Anyway. Akeno had a concussion and a cut on his head. He worked through it all, helping me keep Sweet Pea alive while you were fighting. Sweet Pea ended up getting shrunk too, and put in a box like you.”

Akeno gave everyone bottled water while Sweet Pea handed out apples, bananas, and beef jerky. He grinned at Jacob. “I spent at least a day or two in that thing. Don’t remember it, but I’m sure it was awesome.”

Jacob chuckled, taking a huge bite of his apple. Of course Sweet Pea would think that way.

Aloren rolled her eyes. “I left Sweet Pea in Akeno’s care so Matt and I could find you.”

Jacob held up his hand, swallowed, then asked, “How
were
you, Matt?” He couldn’t imagine what life would be like if Matt had been killed.

Matt shrugged. “All of my sores were superficial and easily treated. They could’ve been much worse.”

Aloren nodded. “Yeah. And Jacob, when we found you, we weren’t even sure you were still alive. It was insane! You’d fallen down into a big tunnel-type thing—Matt said it probably used to be a main line for sewage—and the Cerpire was dead underneath you. At first, it looked like you’d stabbed yourself with your sword.” She pointed at Matt. “He sprained his ankle jumping down to get you.”

“It’s still sprained, actually,” Matt said, holding up his wrapped ankle. “We ran out of Kaede Sap trying to keep you and Sweet Pea alive.”

Aloren gave Matt a glance of pity. “I do feel bad about that, you know.”

Matt snorted. “Whatever. You’re just glad Jacob didn’t die.”

Aloren flushed slightly, and Jacob didn’t need to see the colors around her to tell him she was embarrassed. She apparently chose to ignore Matt’s comment, but Jacob really had to concentrate hard on what she was saying—he wanted to hear more about what Aloren had felt.

“I hated leaving you there on top of that disgusting thing, but we worried it would kill you to be moved, even just to put you in a Minya container. So, I cleaned you up there, and Jacob, it was awful. Absolutely awful.”

Jacob finished his apple and peeled the banana. “I can imagine. I must’ve lost a ton of blood.”

“You did. Aldo helped a lot.”

Jacob perked up. “Aldo? He’s here?”

He looked around, then jumped to his feet when the old man stepped out from the tent, a big grin on his face.

“Surprise!”

Jacob quickly reached Aldo and they embraced.

Aldo grabbed Jacob’s cheeks with both hands. “You scared me, boy.”

Gallus chuckled. “Apparently, when you went back into the traps, Aldo figured you’d lost your mind. He deserted his post and charged down the hill, deciding he was willing to risk the tarri, blindness, and loss of sensation and hearing to help.”

Aldo turned to Gallus and pushed a bit of wild gray hair away. “Yes, but by the time I got off the hill and into the forest, you must’ve killed the Cerpire because the tarri were running around, trying to get away. Sick of being stuck there, I’m sure.”

Jacob raised his eyebrows, munching on his banana. “So it’s true—all the traps are undone?”

“We think so,” Gallus said. “You probably noticed that your senses returned when you killed the Cerpire.”

Jacob nodded.

“We’re thinking it was the magical source for everything. Once it died, everything else did too.”

“That makes sense, actually,” Jacob said. “‘Cause I could feel its magic, and it felt spent. Tired. Like it had been used too much.”

Aloren cleared her throat. “I’m not done telling what happened.”

Everyone turned back to her, amused, and Matt snorted, muttering something about her being a drama queen who wanted all the attention.

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him, then continued. “Luckily, Aldo had no problem crossing the board and getting down the wall. Early helped him. He arrived while we were cleaning you up. He had you drink an entire package of Kaede Sap. Said it would completely burn your mouth up, but it was the only way to keep you from dying. He was right. It worked on you from the inside while we focused on your external wounds.”

Jacob’s mouth had a slightly rubbery taste and was a little numb, but other than that, it was fine. He ate the last of his banana, and started on the beef jerky next.

“We decided it was safe to shrink you and put you in a Minya container. And then we hung out, waiting for you to get better.”

Jacob looked at Matt. “Did you let Mom and Dad know what happened?”

“Yeah. Early sent messages all over for us. She’s really been great.”

Early hovered down and stood on Jacob’s knee. “Your family was worried, but they’re fine now that you’re awake and okay.”

Jacob felt a sudden urge to pet her in appreciation, like he would Tito, his dog. He refrained, figuring she wouldn’t respond well to it. But she’d definitely earned his respect all over again with everything she’d done over the past few days. He looked back at Aldo. “I’m assuming it was your idea to have Early help me form the shield when we first got to the Cerpire?”

Aldo laughed. “Was that what you were doing? I couldn’t tell. I saw you hold your hands out and concentrate really hard. I figured it would only make things easier if Early pitched in.”

“Yeah, it did. The shield didn’t come until I drew on her magic.” He took a drink of water. “What did it look like from far away?”

“What?”

“The shield.”

Aldo shook his head. “Couldn’t see it.”

“Really? I could.”

“You weren’t using your normal vision—you were seeing it in a magical sense.”

Jacob nodded. “I guess so.” He turned to Aloren. “How did you know the traps had been sprung?”

Aloren’s face lit up. “It was really awesome! All of a sudden, everything went up in flames. Not real flames, I don’t think, but bright blue and green ones, with a whooshing sound. Matt figured something had happened and went to find you.”

Matt raised his chin and thrust his shoulders back. “What can I say? It pretty much made me the hero of the day.” He laughed, dodging Aloren’s hand as she tried to slap him. “After Aloren, of course.”

Aloren leaned back in her chair, and Jacob felt her eyes on him. He glanced her way and she smiled. “It’s great to have everyone healthy again,” she said. She bent forward, scrutinizing Jacob. “Hey. Has anyone told you that you have very pretty eyes? I’ve never seen eyes that light blue before.”

He blushed, looking away. Yes, many people had said so. He didn’t understand what the big deal was.

Gallus chuckled, shaking his head. “Aloren, how many pairs of eyes, other than brown, have you seen in your life?”

She knitted her eyebrows, tapping her cheek. “One or two.” Her face lit up. “But Jacob’s mom has blue eyes too—not as light as his, though.”

“Amberly’s got them too,” Jacob said.

Matt groaned in exasperation. “No offense, but things have been seriously boring over the last couple of days. And now that Jacob is better, can we do something exciting? Like get the Shiengols out of the fortress?”

Gallus stood. “Yes, it’s time to work, and quickly. You kids missed school today.”

Jacob did the math in his head. He’d fought the dinosaur on Friday, so it was now Monday afternoon. He’d been unconscious for three days. Not as long as last time, but Matt and Gallus were right. The group couldn’t afford to hang around anymore.

He looked up at the wall above him, sending another mental thanks and a sorry-for-the-wait to the Shiengols. He half expected a response, and a small twinge of disappointment hit him when he didn’t receive one. Oh, well.

“But before we leave,” Gallus said, “It wouldn’t be fair to our families if we didn’t allow them to talk to us in person. They’ve been begging to see for themselves that we’re all safe.” Gallus nodded at Jacob. “We’ll make it fast. You’ve got the Key still?”

Jacob nodded. “Where’s the door?” He spotted it, leaning up against the wall of the fortress. “Let’s set it up. I’ll go right now.”

Gallus and Matt propped the door between two large rocks and Jacob pulled the Key out, noticing with dismay that the chain had been broken sometime earlier, possibly while he’d fought the dinosaur. He’d have to get that fixed when they returned.

As soon as he created the link to Ebony’s door, Mom and Ebony rushed through.

Mom flung her arms around Jacob, holding him tight. “Oh, my son, my son.”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

She reached out for Matt, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him into the hug as well, then buried her face into Jacob’s neck. He patted her shoulder, feeling the blush cross his face when he realized Aloren watched him with a smile.

Finally, Mom released them. Ebony had just finished fawning over Akeno, and an older woman Jacob hadn’t noticed let go of Sweet Pea.

Ebony restocked their Kaede Sap supplies, then the mothers left, and Jacob shut the door behind them. He created a link to Gallus’s house, and after Gallus had hugged his wife and kids, Jacob looked at Aloren. “Want to see Kevin?”

She held her hands loosely behind her back. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve been talking through Hazel nearly non-stop for the past three days.”

Jacob nodded, pushing his feelings of disappointment away. What did he expect? That she’d ditch Kevin that quickly?