Rise of Keitus (4 page)

Jacob watched as the small army left Aldo’s place. The Molg with the map skulked away from the rest and circled around Dunsany Mountain to the left, passing the switchbacks. He entered a dark cave. Jacob had no problem marking the progress of the Molg, but being able to see the beast, even in the complete blackness, still surprised him.

The Molg entered large caverns with light trickling in from above and flowing with streams of water. The creature crossed one especially huge area, then entered more tunnels and stopped in a small lair off the main passage. Those huge caves had been very familiar, and it took a moment for Jacob to realize why. He was nearly pulled from his visions with the shock of it.

The caverns they’d just gone through had been created by the mud bubbles—one of the original traps of the Lorkon meant to keep Dmitri from finding his princess.

And Jacob had fallen into those bubbles. He felt horror, like ants, crawl across him as he realized what would’ve happened if he’d been there, at the bottom of the bubbles, without Akeno and the Minyas. He would’ve been killed by the Molgs when they found him. Wow.

Pushing aside his feelings, Jacob focused on the Molg again and watched as it nailed the map on the wall and grunted, staring at it with satisfaction. Then the creature started doing other random things in its lair, including finishing the meat off a bone and rummaging through a pile of junk—some of which looked like books.

Jacob wanted to see what the books were, then decided he could do that later. He needed to watch the map. He fast-forwarded to the present time, keeping his eyes on it. It stayed in place. They’d be able to get it by following the Molg’s steps.

He returned to Azuriah’s fortress and looked up at the Shiengol sheepishly, hoping he hadn’t broken any rules by staying away too long.

“I’m impressed. You handled that very well. You are ready to start Time-Traveling.”

Warmth spread across Jacob’s chest and face. He couldn’t remember Azuriah ever complimenting him before. He scolded himself, though, realizing how silly it was to feel so delighted by the praise of a Shiengol.

But this wasn’t just any Shiengol. This was Jacob’s uncle, and Jacob had never known any of his extended family. He allowed himself some satisfaction from the compliment.

Azuriah abruptly called the practice session to an end. Jacob looked at his watch—it had only been half an hour. Weren’t they going to start training right away?

“I’ve got things for you to study and learn.” Azuriah motioned for Jacob to follow him, and they walked through the tapestry-lined halls of the fortress to a well-lit room in the back. A desk was in the center, with piles and piles of books and papers on top.

“Have a seat,” Azuriah said, pointing to the chair behind the desk. “This is where you’ll be spending most of your time.”

Jacob pulled the chair out and settled himself into it. “Doing what?”

“Memorizing everything in front of you.”

Jacob raised his eyebrows. “You’re serious?”

Azuriah ignored Jacob’s question and pulled out a book. “Starting with this one.”

Jacob opened it and inspected the weird, loopy-looking writing. It was in a language he didn’t know.

Azuriah grabbed a sheet of parchment, glanced at it, and nodded. “Here’s the key to translating. I’ve got some extra paper and pencils, but next time you come, bring your own.”

“What am I going to be doing?”

“Translate that book into English, to begin with. You’ll be learning, or at least becoming acquainted with, every ancient language of Eklaron, starting with the Shiengol language, of course. After that, I’ll have you study the customs and traditions of all the Eklaron people—their magic systems, politics, religions, everything.”

Jacob nodded slowly, feeling overwhelmed. He didn’t have to ask why any of that was important. He’d need to understand as much about Eklaron as possible, especially since he was a prince of that world.

Jacob made little progress. The Shiengol language was flowery, and most of the different letters looked exactly like other letters. They all blended together on the pages of the books.

Several hours later, well after dinnertime, Azuriah finally let Jacob go and asked him to return on Monday. Jacob let out a pent-up breath of exhaustion as he walked away from the fortress. He couldn’t wait to hit the sack that night.

Monday, on the way to Azuriah’s, Kenji stopped Jacob.

“Has your dad, or anyone else, mentioned seeing bugs all over on Earth?”

Jacob chuckled. “There are billions of bugs there.”

Kenji smiled, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. Okay, come, I’ll show you.” He took Jacob across the meadow to the trees nearest the path to Mendon. “Just wait a moment.”

Nearly a minute later, something buzzed from one tree to the next, and Kenji pointed it out. “They’re everywhere. We've never seen one before. Have you?”

Jacob stepped closer, recognizing the bug right away. “Yeah, I saw one once.” He’d forgotten all about the earwig with wings. But he frowned, staring at the thing. It had been after nightfall last time he’d seen one of these insects, but now its bright blood-red color was very visible. He cringed, thinking what it would be like to squish one. Messy. “I found one on my clothes while we were getting the Wurbies.”

Kenji nodded. “We have no idea what they do, and I’m not sure if we should be concerned or not, but there are so many of them suddenly . . .”

“I’ll talk to my dad about it and see what he thinks.”

Jacob and Kenji parted ways, but Jacob couldn’t help worry that he and the others had brought the bug to the village. What if something bad happened as a result?

Azuriah was waiting when Jacob arrived. His robes for that day were a brilliant blue with yellow print along the edges, and they swept out behind him as he walked. He was all business as usual and took Jacob to a large library with a stone fireplace, wanting to get started right away with practicing Time-Travel.

“It’s similar to Time-Seeing in that you’ll have to unfocus your eyes while picturing where you want to go.” The Shiengol tilted his head. “How long ago did you leave your home?”

“It’s been fifteen or twenty minutes.”

“Good. Practice Traveling to your bedroom, going back in the past by ten minutes. You weren’t there at that point, and that is very important. Also, as with Time-Seeing, the farther in the past you go, the harder it will be.” Azuriah stepped away from Jacob, giving him space. “Try it.”

Jacob unfocused his eyes, picturing his bedroom ten minutes ago.

Learning how to put a specific time frame on Seeing was easier than he’d originally thought it would be. All he had to do was think, “Ten minutes ago,” and he could Time-See there. He hoped it would be the same with Traveling.

His vision shifted, the library replaced with his bedroom, and he reached over to pick up Early’s container from his desk. But nothing happened.

He returned to the present with Azuriah. “I’m just Time-Seeing, not Traveling. There’s got to be something different for me to do as part of the process.”

Azuriah nodded. “You must envision your body being transported there. But be careful—if you don’t maintain your concentration, you’ll get stuck somewhere in between, and that will be painful.”

“How painful?”

“I’m not sure the extent of it for a human, but roughly, you’ll feel like someone is trying to rip your heart and lungs out and tear your limbs from your frame.”

Jacob groaned. “Great. Just great.” He scowled. “How long will it take for me to learn this so I don’t have to go through that?”

“Just do it right the first time.”

Jacob raised an eyebrow. Easier said than done, he was sure. “Okay. My bedroom, ten minutes ago.”

He first unfocused his eyes, concentrating on his destination, then thought of his body as a whole, imagining it crossing time and distance. Suddenly, with a pop, he stood in his bedroom. This time, when he reached for Early’s container, he actually picked it up.

“Awesome!” he said, laughing.

“Jacob? Is that you?” Mom asked.

He heard her footsteps on the stairs. Not sure what would happen if she found him, he decided to return to the present.

As with Time-Seeing, he released his hold on the past. But something seemed off. What was wrong? His body felt weird and he didn’t return right away.

Then nausea struck him so hard he doubled over. His heart beat out of control, about to explode from the pressure, and he couldn’t breathe. His lungs were on fire. His arms, legs, hands, and feet started shaking, and black and white flashed in front of him. Was he about to die?

“Danilo! Danilo Leontii!”

A second pressure was suddenly applied to Jacob’s head, and with a ripping sensation, making it feel like he’d left half his body behind, Jacob fell to the floor in front of Azuriah. He lay there, gasping, praying the pain would leave. He refused to move, too scared to do anything. Then he closed his eyes and took stock of his body. Everything was intact. He waited for the dizziness and nausea to pass. They did, then the pain dissipated somewhat.

“You did it wrong.”

Jacob didn’t respond. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture.

A shuffle of robes sounded nearby, and Jacob peeked. Azuriah had crouched down.

“This is interesting.” Azuriah grabbed Jacob’s elbow. “Your human body doesn’t react to Time-Travel the same as a Shiengol’s.”

Jacob jerked to a sitting position, ignoring the resulting throbbing and stabbing pains in his body, and looked at his arms. He gasped at the bruises that covered them. An examination of his legs showed similar results. “What happened?”

“I don’t know—you tell me.”

“I Traveled to my room. That part was easy. But when I tried to come back, things went completely out of control.”

“You were flickering in and out of view and I grabbed your head, pulling you the rest of the way.”

Jacob slumped, resting his chin on his knee. “I don’t think I want you to do that ever again.”

“It’s better than having you stuck in the middle until you die. Which, given the looks of your body, wasn’t far from happening. And if you’re careful next time, I won’t have to do it again.”

“What did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t have problems until you tried returning?”

Jacob looked around for water. “Right.”

Probably knowing what Jacob wanted, Azuriah got up and grabbed a glass and pitcher from a tall shelf. He poured liquid into the cup and held it out to Jacob. “And what did you do to return?”

Jacob took a long drink of the refreshing water. “I released my hold on the past the way I do when Time-Seeing. Usually, it just pops me back to the present.”

Azuriah replaced the jug and started pacing. “That’s where you made the mistake. Returning to the present must be done exactly the way you would go to the past. Picture where and when you want to go, then focus on moving your entire body. Simply releasing your hold will not work. Time-Traveling is more complicated than Seeing.”

“Yeah. I figured that out.” Jacob lay back down on the floor, trying not to damage his body further. “Now what?” he asked without enthusiasm. He was sure Azuriah would make him practice over and over again.

“Making another mistake like that will kill you, so I’m not sure. Ultimately, it’s up to you. Would you rather wait a few days for your body to heal, or do you want to go again right now?”

“Wait. Definitely.”

“Very well. We’ll practice again on Friday. Go home.”

Jacob looked down at his body, sudden exhaustion sweeping over him. “Can I Key directly to my room from here? Just this once?”

“Yes. Get in bed as soon as you can. Sleep will help the recovery process.” Azuriah extended his hand and pulled Jacob to his feet.

Jacob felt like little ribbons all over his body were tearing and he cried out, then felt stupid for letting his pain show. But Azuriah acted like he hadn’t noticed. Jacob was surprised at how . . . well, not mean Azuriah was being.

Jacob Keyed home. He momentarily considered heading to Taga Village to get some Kaede Sap, but decided against it. He wanted as few people as possible to see him like this.

He immediately looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. His face only had two small bruises, creeping down from under his hair. He was sure his scalp didn’t look good, since Azuriah had grabbed him there. But his arms, legs, and especially his chest were so bruised, the color of his skin was barely distinguishable.

Jacob returned to his room, tip-toeing across the hall and closing his door quietly. He shut the drapes and got in bed, but sleep didn’t come right away. He worried about how much rest he’d need to heal. If he got Kaede Sap, it would knock him out for a couple of days, at least. Unless the bruises weren’t really serious, just dramatic-looking. But without it? He’d never been injured badly without Kaede Sap around.

After a while, he let his mind wander to high school, wondering what everyone there was doing, how Coach Birmingham had taken him dropping out, and how team practices were going. They all probably thought he was throwing a temper tantrum. Oh, well. Nothing he could do about that.

What really bothered him was the fact that he hadn’t heard from Tani, his best friend from school, in almost two weeks. Why hadn’t she called or come by or something? It was very unusual for her to ignore him. Maybe she was dating someone, or just really busy with homework.