Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (93 page)

“
No
, they did
not
. For now, just know that some of your abilities—the good, the more pure, more intelligent ones—were inherited, not administered via Rezend or Lorkon.”

Shocked, Jacob stood. “Inherited? From who?” And why hadn’t he been told? He crossed his arms. This secret-keeping was really getting on his nerves.

Azuriah grunted in annoyance. “Never mind that.”

Jacob almost clenched his fists. Instead, he ran his fingers through his hair. At least he was getting information—he figured it was better not to press his luck. He glanced over, realizing no one was guarding the hole. Why hadn’t his friends come in? “My brother . . .”

Azuriah seemed to know what Jacob was thinking. “Is fine. We’ll join them shortly.”

Jacob nodded.

“What else?”

“You mean, about my gifts?”

The Shiengol didn’t answer.

“Well, sometimes I can sense the abilities of other people. Though that seems to come and go.”

Azuriah nodded. “It isn’t necessary at all times, and will fade until it needs to be used again. Of course, it would be ridiculous to expect to tap into it whenever you feel like it.”

Jacob couldn’t see why such an expectation would be so ridiculous—all his other talents were available whenever he wanted them. He brushed that aside. “Okay. I can also Time-See.”

“Time-See?” Azuriah sat down. “You mean, you can ‘gussam?’”

“Huh?”

Azuriah waved his hand dismissively, an impatient expression on his face. “Time-See is fine. Describe it to me.”

Jacob stood to pace, hoping Azuriah wouldn’t get mad about him doing that too. The Shiengol didn’t say anything, so Jacob continued. He took a breath. “It’s my newest thing. I used to think I was hallucinating, but then I discovered I could control it. I have to concentrate really hard, but I’m able to see different places.”

Azuriah cocked his head, an expression of pleasure on his face. “How far have you developed this ability?”

“I’ve tried to see one place for longer than a couple of seconds, but I haven’t been successful. It’s pretty painful to do it.”

Azuriah suddenly jumped to his feet. “We shall practice now.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to practice with me?”

“Yes. Come.”

Jacob followed and stopped in the middle of the room when Azuriah turned to face him.

“Show me.”

“All right.” Jacob paused. “How?”

Azuriah tapped his fingertips together. “Just Time-See, and I’ll watch what you do.”

Jacob closed his eyes, trying to think of a place he hadn’t gone yet. He decided to Time-See his high school.

He stared ahead, unfocused his eyes, and concentrated on a mental picture of the school. The room around him suddenly changed, and he was in the orange gym. Kevin was there with Coach, shooting balls.

The pain in Jacob’s chest pulled him back to the somewhat dark interior of the fortress.

Azuriah was still watching him. “Well, that was interesting. Have you no control
whatsoever
over your body?”

Jacob shook his head, holding back his response because he was sure it would make the Shiengol upset. How was he supposed to focus on controlling his body while he was trying to see a different place?

“You went somewhere in the present. Have you tried seeing in the past?”

“Only a little. Time-Seeing hurts.”

“Well, of course it does.” Azuriah’s tone sounded like he was talking to a child. “Do it again. Time-See to when your mother was kidnapped by the Lorkon.”

Jacob nodded. He concentrated on the event, not sure how to tell his body to take him back that far. Things around him flashed over and over again, then stopped, and he saw a younger Princess Arien with a large belly. A feeling of nostalgia flooded over him—he missed his mom! The pain in his chest stung, but he wanted to see what happened next, especially when someone—a Lorkon—stepped up behind her. He was hit by an overwhelming desire to cry out and warn her, but he couldn’t stand the sharp burning any longer, and lost focus. He was whipped back to the present.

“That was . . . disappointing. Danilo, you
must
try harder.”

Jacob bit his tongue. Danilo might be his name, but it was really starting to annoy him. He’d much rather be called Jacob. And he was tired of being pushed around by this Shiengol. “Fine.”

He concentrated more. The room around him vanished, replaced again by the one where his mother had been. It looked like her personal quarters. There was the Lorkon, reaching a gloved hand around Arien’s face—

The pain in his chest was just too great. It felt like his heart was going to explode. With a rush, things popped back to normal and he fell to the ground.

“Get up. Now.”

Jacob scrambled to his feet.

“That was
pathetic
. Is this how it has always been?”

Jacob nodded. “Before, when I wasn’t in control, it lasted a lot longer and there wasn’t pain. Why does it hurt now?”

“Because your body is feeble. It’s using a muscle you’ve not exercised.” Azuriah strolled around Jacob, hands behind his back. “You must focus on the pain. Concentrate on it. Force it to expand and envelop you.”

“That’s crazy! Why would I do that? It’ll kill me!”

Azuriah stopped in front of Jacob. “No, it won’t. It’ll make you stronger. Do it now.”

Jacob’s shoulders slumped. Practicing with Azuriah was the last thing he wanted to do, but it seemed he had no choice. He doubted he’d be able to escape, and he didn’t want to argue or fight the Shiengol. There was no way he’d win. Azuriah’s presence was commanding, and he could really whip someone verbally. And even though he was skinny, he didn’t look weak.

“Get on with it.”

Jacob nodded. He took a deep breath and concentrated again on the place he wanted to see, but now he focused on the pain in his chest, willing it to grow.

With a jerk he was in his mother’s quarters, but only momentarily before flipping back to the present. Jacob held up his hand, not wanting Azuriah to say anything, and tried once more. He concentrated on the burning and felt a corner of it sliding to his lungs. Jacob tried to hold it there, but something snapped him back. He scowled, annoyed at his inability to do something which, to Azuriah, was so simple.

“This is ridiculous,” he said.

Azuriah frowned. “You
must
master this!”

Jacob realized he’d forgotten his earlier vow not to ask any more questions. He didn’t care anymore. “But right this second? Before we can even go home and eat?”

“
Yes
!” Azuriah shouted.

Jacob clapped his hands over his ears. Azuriah’s response had been so loud—almost like a gunshot—it made Jacob’s ears ring. How did he have so much volume?

“All right. I’ll try again.”

And he did, going from a different angle. Instead of focusing on the pain first, he Time-Saw to his mother’s quarters, held himself there, closed his eyes, and
then
honed in on the pain. Instead of forcing it to grow, however, he willed it. He poked and prodded at it gently, requesting it to grow. He felt it start to spread, just as easily as butter over warm bread. It reached across his torso, up his neck and over his head, then down his arms and legs.

The agony was so bad he felt like he was on fire, as if he was being covered head to toe with hot oil.

But then . . . it dissipated. With a gasp he opened his eyes, and things were different. His body tingled, but no longer hurt. The residual soreness in his chest went away.

He watched as the Lorkon put a handkerchief around Arien’s face. She screamed, almost staring right at Jacob, then collapsed. He rushed forward and tried to beat the Lorkon off his mother, but was powerless. His swings hit empty air. The Lorkon hoisted Arien, carrying her from the room. Jacob followed, unable to believe he was still there. He hadn’t been whisked away yet!

The Lorkon strode through several rooms and halls, then down a series of stairs. He entered a huge room with ornately carved doors on the opposite end.

Where was everyone? The place was completely empty.

The creature swung the doors wide open, revealing a group of Dusts, a Sindon, and two other Lorkon practically on the front porch of the castle. All three Lorkon conversed for a moment in hushed tones, then together raised Arien to the back of the Sindon, where she was placed inside a coach-type thing. It was then that Jacob noticed each Lorkon wore gloves and was careful not to touch her skin. What would have happened if their blood had gotten on her? She probably would have died.

The three Lorkon took hold of the Sindon, and with a loud command from the one who had kidnapped Arien, the huge, four-legged beast got up and rambled away from the castle. Jacob followed on foot, but at the sound of a whip, the Sindon unrolled its long arms, reached forward through the trees, and suddenly zoomed away, leaving Jacob in the dust.

He growled in frustration. He couldn’t possibly keep up! Then he realized something, and felt like slapping his forehead—he wasn’t really there. He didn’t have a body and shouldn’t need to walk or run to Time-See. Right when he figured this out, his sight zipped forward, making it seem like he was floating in the air alongside the Sindon.

He glanced around, surprised at what Maivoryl City looked like before the Lorkon took up permanent residence in the castle. It was magnificent. Tall stone buildings, flagpoles, rich draperies in nearly every window, ornately carved bas reliefs on the walls. Definitely worthy of a king’s city.

After only thirty seconds of charging, the beast stopped near the shores of Sonda Lake, and Jacob realized that the stone wall wasn’t there. He quickly looked back at the Lorkon and watched as one of them pulled a strange-looking creature with many arms and legs from a bag. He set it on the ground and said something in a different language.

With a rush, the thing scurried off, up over the hill.

“
Jacob Clark!
”

The sound of his name freaked him out and he gasped for air, feeling like the oxygen had been ripped from his lungs. Everything around him flashed and he returned to the present and the musty fortress.

Azuriah stood before him, the colors around him showing he was annoyed, but also pleased. “Very well done.”

“Why’d you bring me back? That was interesting! I was about to—”

“Yes, you were learning things, but they are things you don’t need to know right now. There will be opportunities in the future to figure it all out. If I’d let you stay longer, it would have killed you.”

“What? How?”

Azuriah motioned with his hands. “As I said before, you’re employing muscles you’ve never used before, which are being forced to facilitate the magic they were designed to use. Just like learning to fight with a sword, you must allow your body to heal between each practice.”

Azuriah looked expectant, but Jacob didn’t say anything. This made sense, even though it was disappointing that he hadn’t been able to watch the wall get constructed.

“Did it hurt this time?”

“Only a little—at the beginning.” He checked to see how his body felt. A sudden exhaustion fell over him. “Whoa. I’m so tired!”

Azuriah nodded. “That will eventually go away with practice.” He sighed. “You don’t respond to the name Danilo.” He looked at Jacob disapprovingly. “That needs to change. And you must have someone near you when you practice to keep track of how long you’ve Time-Seen. You went for five minutes, which is way too long. Have the individual clock you for two minutes, and then gradually add ten seconds every following instance. Have them call your name to bring you back.”

“Why can’t I just keep track myself while I’m doing it?”

Azuriah watched Jacob for a moment. “With practice, you’ll be able to do that.” A glint of happiness colored his emotions.

Jacob felt his legs turn to jelly underneath him. The exhaustion seemed to keep piling on him. It was so overwhelming, he felt like he was about to faint or something. Azuriah put his hand out to steady him.

“It will get better.”

Jacob nodded.

“With practice, you’ll learn to master this ability, and then you’ll be able to take your Time-Seeing to the next level: Gussar. I suspect you’ll refer to it as Time-Travel.”

“Wait—did you just say time travel?”

“Of course. I’ll teach you how. Don’t try to figure it out on your own—there are many, many rules you must follow that will keep you from killing yourself.” Azuriah strode away, sweeping his robes behind him. “We’ll go now.” He paused near the hole, motioning for Jacob to go first.

Relief flooded through Jacob at the idea of going back to his house. The new information he’d received in the past half hour had turned his brain to mush, and he couldn’t wait to get home and into his warm, comfortable bed.

Chapter 15. Keitus

T
he sunlight burned Jacob’s eyes as he wriggled out the other side of the tunnel. He had to be careful that his sword didn’t get caught on the rock.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Gallus said. He reached up to help Jacob down to the crate. Matt, Sweet Pea, and Aloren watched, worry written on their faces.

“Jacob, what on
earth
were you doing in there?” Matt asked. “We were freaking out—we couldn’t follow you into the hole, and then the Shiengols came out, but you still didn’t come, and they were seriously the biggest jerks I’ve ever met—wouldn’t let us go in after you—and . . . whoa. Who’s that?”

Azuriah had just climbed through the hole. “None of your
business
, human.”

Matt’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, uh . . . Okay.” He looked at Jacob, who shrugged.

Aloren gave Jacob a quick hug, then stepped back. “We were really worried about you. What took so long?”

Jacob wasn’t sure how to answer, and when Azuriah spoke, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“We were practicing. But now we must go to Taga Village to speak with the king and queen and the Makalos.” He turned to Aldo and shook his hand. “Thank you for sending Danilo.”

Aldo inclined his head slightly. “Don’t thank me—thank Arien. She was the most adamant about getting you out.”