Rise of Keitus (10 page)

“Kinda. I didn’t know I was royalty until October or so. I learned the other things in August.” He paused, still hesitating. “Anyway, I’ve made a lot of cool friends there and have been helping them out a lot. But we’ve had problems. We’ve run into some sticky and dangerous situations.” He kicked a rock off the path and watched it bounce into a small ravine on his left. “Again, that’s not all.”

“Really? What else could there be?”

He stopped and made sure she was looking at him. “You’re not going to believe me.”

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“The place where my dad is king isn’t technically on Earth. And he isn’t king over just humans, but other races and creatures too.”

Tani frowned and folded her arms. “Jacob, that’s not funny.” Several emotions sped across her face at once, but the one she chose to stick with was anger. Typical. Bright red swirled around her face. “Were you lying the
whole
time, or just part of it? And how gullible do you think I am?”

“Tani, I’m being completely and one-hundred-percent honest. I promise!”

“Why should I believe you? How am I supposed to know when you’re telling the truth now?” She turned, storming back the way they’d come.

Jacob stared at her for a moment, not blaming her, but still surprised at her anger. He jogged to catch up and grabbed her arm. “Wait, stop! I can show you. Tani, please. Just a few more minutes and you’ll understand everything.” He looked around the forest, recognizing they weren’t far from Taga Village. “You’ll be able to see for yourself.”

“Did you make new friends who dress up weird and act out scenes from plays? ‘Cause I think I’ll know if you’re trying to pull a trick on me.”

Jacob scowled at her and she sighed in exasperation. “Fine. Five more minutes.”

“Come on!” He dashed forward, pulling her to make sure she didn’t escape. But then the branches and bushes stopped her, snagging her clothes. He growled. “Dang rule. I forgot.”

He dug in his pocket, pulling out a plastic bag of dried seeds. He pulled out a few and whispered into them. Good thing he kept seeds with him all the time.

“Dude. Why are you talking to seeds?”

“You’ll see. I’m calling a messenger.”

Tani flipped her hair out of her face. “Huh?”

Just then, Early appeared.

“Early, this is my friend, Tani. Tani, this is Early. She’s a Minya and delivers messages.” He turned to Early. “Go tell Kenji I’m bringing a visitor and to please let her through.”

“Okay!” Early disappeared with a flash.

Jacob glanced sidelong at Tani and tried to hide his smile at her reaction.

Her jaw was slack, her eyes almost popping out of her head. “What on
Earth
was that?”

“Like I said, she’s a Minya. Well, more specifically,
my
Minya. They’re from Eklaron—that’s the world I come from. Minyas deliver messages and fly really fast.”

Tani didn’t respond—she looked really pale, actually—and Jacob worried she’d faint or something. He was about to start fanning her face when the undergrowth cleared around them, allowing her to pass through. He pulled on her arm until she followed.

They entered the meadow with the huge tree looming overhead. Several Makalos were walking briskly, going to and from the gardens and village.

Tani stopped and stared. But she covered her surprise quickly and dropped her gaze. “Dwarves. Dwarves everywhere. And I’m staring at them—so rude.”

Jacob shook his head. “They’re Makalos, not dwarves. And they’re magical.”

She tilted her head, staring at him. “There you go again.”

“Come on. I’ll introduce you to Akeno, one of my best friends here.”

He pulled her past the tree and they climbed the wall on Kenji’s side of the village. As they followed the path leading toward Kenji’s house, Tani stopped walking several times to stare at the Makalos. Jacob had to guide her around the holes in the ground—she nearly stepped in them because she was so distracted.

“There’s something wrong with these people—they’re not normal! And they glow blue!”

Jacob only laughed in response. A moment later, they reached Kenji’s house.

Akeno answered Jacob’s knock. “Jacob! Hey. Who’s this?”

“Her name is Tani. She’s my best friend from Earth, and my parents just gave me permission to tell her everything.”

“Wow. That’s awesome! Hey, Tani!” Akeno led them into his house, shutting the door. “How are things going?”

Tani smiled at him and Akeno chuckled.

“I want you to show her your abilities,” Jacob said. “Oh! Start with how you light the rooms!”

Akeno chuckled. “Okay.” He turned to Tani and said, “Watch closely.” Then he put his left ring finger up to the wall near the door, touching a glowing stream of silver. The lights in the room went off, and Tani gasped.

“Just wait!” Jacob said. “The best part is turning it all back on.”

Akeno pressed his finger to the stream again and light erupted from his fingertip, trailed up the wall, and connected with streams that zigzagged across the ceiling.

Tani slumped against the wall, staring up, her mouth open. “Wow.”

“Isn’t it awesome?” Jacob asked.

“How’d you do that?”

Akeno shrugged. “I’m a Makalo. We’ve got a magic called Rezend inside us. It allows us to control electricity, plants, water, and other stuff to an extent. Things of nature, basically.”

Jacob nodded. “And his finger acts like a flashlight—show her.”

Akeno held up his hand, bright blue light emanating from his finger. Tani squinted at the glare and turned her head away.

Jacob smiled. “Cool, huh?” He motioned to Akeno. “Shrink something.”

Akeno stretched out his arm and pinched with his fingers. A chair from the other side of the room disappeared than reappeared in his palm. He handed it to her.

Tani turned it over in her hand several times. “Are you a magician? Show me how you did it.”

Akeno took the chair from her, reached out, and dropped it. It appeared back on the other side of the room full-sized. “I have magic inside me, but I’m not a magician—not like what you’re thinking. As I already said, I’m a creature called a Makalo. We live here on this world, Eklaron, and there are a lot of other magical creatures here. Jacob discovered us last summer when he accidentally came through the link from Earth.”

Tani didn’t respond. She stared at Akeno like he was from a different planet. Jacob chuckled at his thoughts—Akeno
was
from a different planet.

“Is there anything you’d like to know?” Jacob asked her.

“I . . . I . . .”

Akeno tilted his head, a sheepish expression on his face. “I think she’s seen enough for today.”

Jacob nodded. “Tani, did you walk to my place?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll get you back home.” Jacob pulled the Key out of his pocket. “This Key is magical. I can use it to create a link between here and your place.” He put the Key in the lock, turned it left, and said, “Tani’s house in Mendon,” then pushed the door open. He motioned for Tani to go ahead.

She stepped across the threshold, then stopped when she apparently recognized her front room. “How? Wha . . .?” She stared at him.

“It’ll take time for things to sink in. I’ll tell you the full story when you’ve had a chance to think it over.”

“Uh. Okay.”

“I’ll see you later.” He smiled at the spacey expression on her face, then closed the link and turned to Akeno. “Wow. She took it much harder than I thought she would—she’s like a completely different person right now. Usually she’s bouncing all over the place and telling everyone what to do.”

“She’ll catch up soon, I’m sure.”

Jacob nodded.

Later that night, he gave Tani a call, wanting to make sure she hadn’t discounted everything she’d seen that day.

“Jacob! Okay, so I want to go back. When can I go back?”

Jacob chuckled. He should’ve known she’d be fine. “Soon, I hope. They’re letting Kevin come several times a week, and that’s been all right. Aloren convinced them, and so far, no one regrets it.”

“Aloren? She knows about that place?”

“She’s from Eklaron,” Jacob said.

“Really? No way!” She paused. “Wait a second. You said Kevin.
Kevin
knew before
me
? Jacob! I can’t believe you. You call me your best friend? Well, some best friend
you
are!”

Jacob cringed. She was right. “Sorry. We didn’t give Aloren permission to tell him, but he started figuring things out, and she didn’t want it to get out of hand.”

“I can’t believe it. Your worst enemy knew before I did.”

“Not my worst enemy, actually. That would be a Lorkon by the name of Keitus. He’s tried to kidnap me many times—he started the uprising against my family, is the reason we left, and he wants to control my abilities.”

“Abilities? You mean, like basketball?”

Jacob shook his head even though he knew she couldn’t see him. “Nope. First off, I can sense weakness in things and mold them. Remember how I used to get in trouble in Mr. Coolidge’s class all the time? It’s because I was molding my desk. He freaked out—said I was destroying school property.”

“You’re
definitely
going to show me! I won’t believe it until I see it.”

Jacob decided to tell her about his other powers later. “Okay, okay. But I’m going to bed now. We’re having a meeting first thing in the morning—we, as in, the people who are working to get rid of that guy, Keitus.”

“All right. Thanks for calling.”

Jacob sighed with contentment. His best friend didn’t hate him after all.

Dad started the meeting the next morning by announcing that it was finally time to get the Molg map.

“Those who will be going are Akeno, Sweet Pea, Matt, Ebony, and Jacob.” He pulled his chair closer to the table. “It should be fairly easy—in and out. Jacob can Time-See to make sure the cave is empty before you go in.”

Brojan cleared his throat. “I’d like to go as well.”

Everyone stared at him, but Brojan’s expression didn’t change. He turned to Kenji. “Do you remember Dreget?”

Kenji nodded. “Of course. But I doubt he’s still alive.”

“Who’s Dreget?” Matt asked.

Brojan looked at Jacob’s brother. “The Molg I used as a spy during the war against the Lorkon. It was very difficult to get him to turn to our side, but once he did, he was a great ally. It would be perfect to have him working with us again.”

Jacob folded his arms. “What if he’s turned on you?”

Brojan lifted his hands. “It’s entirely possible, but I’d like to find out just the same. And Jacob, you can communicate with the Molgs—I want you to help find Dreget by interpreting.”

“I don’t communicate with them. I touch their skin and see what they’re thinking about.”

“That’s fine. I’ll do the talking and you tell me what the creature sees. It’ll work.”

Dad tapped the side of his face with a finger. “I don’t know, Brojan.” He sighed. “No offense intended, but at your age, the group will be slowed down considerably.”

Brojan looked away. The orange-pink color in the air around him showed that he
was
offended.

Jacob smiled. Then he had an idea. “How about we ask Akeno to enlarge a door right when we need Brojan, and he can come then? He doesn’t have to be with us the whole time.”

Brojan and Dad both nodded, agreeing to that.

Dad steepled his fingers. “Now then. Sweet Pea and Ebony, as soon as you’re back from getting the map, you’ll start training those humans who choose to stay and fight. From what I understand, there are several who are ready now.”

“They sure are!” Sweet Pea said. “Ready and waiting for orders.”

“Good.” Dad pushed back from the table. “That’s everything.”

It didn’t take much time for Jacob and the others to get ready to leave.

He Keyed them to Aldo’s cabin and then led them up the trail, following the steps he’d seen the Molg take. When they reached the switchbacks, Jacob took them to the left.

“I’ve never been over here,” Akeno said.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’ve been in, like, two places outside the village.”

Akeno snorted. “I’ve been to more places than you.” He playfully slapped Sweet Pea on the arm, his hand flailing through the air. Sweet Pea snorted, and Akeno glanced at Matt, a questioning expression on his face.