Just as the Lorkon reached the edge of the link, Dad called to them.
“Come forward slowly,” he said.
Jacob crouched behind the bush. He could barely see anything that was going on—he was to wait for a signal from Dad or Gallus or Kenji. In case something happened to one or two of them, the other would issue commands.
“Whatever you wish, Your Majesty,” one of Dad’s brothers said, laughing.
With a rustle of branches and cloaks, the Lorkon stepped onto the door. Jacob felt the wood near him shift lower, and he prayed it would hold. His knees and legs were starting to hurt from crouching, but he ignored the pain, peering through the branches at his grandfather and uncles.
“I thought you’d be here to welcome us to Earth,” Keitus said to Dad.
Dad straightened, looking Keitus in the eye. “Father, we’d like to negotiate with you and come to an agreement of peace. Surely you don’t need war to live with other people.”
Keitus scoffed. “So you’ve figured out who I am, finally. I’m surprised it took so long.” He stepped forward, and Gallus raised his sword. Keitus laughed. “Don’t think that’ll stop us.” He looked around. “Where’s the boy?” When no one responded, he said, “We’ll spare the town and your people if you return what rightfully belongs to me.”
Dad shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. You gave up your relationship with him a long time ago.”
Keitus glared at Dad. “Come now. We could share him—you take him for a time, I’ll have him for the rest.” He leaned forward. “And speaking of possessions, where did you hide that little Key your son stole from me?”
Dad folded his arms. “He didn’t steal—he rightfully recovered it.” He made sweeping gestures with his arms. “Come, Father. You must realize I’ve got the upper hand. I have Danilo and both Keys. I’ve got access to great minds of the past through my son, and great powers of the present through the Shiengols.”
Keitus laughed. “Ah, yes. Your pets.” He looked around. “I don’t see them now. Where are they?” He laughed again. “Of course. They’ve deserted you after only a little work.”
Jacob rolled his eyes. A little work? Was Keitus drunk? Tingling in Jacob’s legs reminded him of his uncomfortable position, and he tried to shift without making noise. He peered at Dad, hoping the word would be given soon. Really, really soon.
Then Jacob noticed Kenji—he was grimacing, the veins on his neck sticking out. The Makalo was in obvious pain. Why? What was going on?
He squinted through the branches, wanting a better look, but jumped when a Makalo fell out of the tree, unconscious or dead. The Lorkon jumped into defensive positions, which startled Dad and Gallus—they pulled out their swords, ready to fight.
“What are you playing at, son?” Keitus asked.
Dad looked bewildered. He turned to Kenji, noticing the Makalo’s state of being. Jacob figured out what was going on right when Dad probably did. The Makalos couldn’t hold the army much longer—it was taking every ounce of strength they had to keep the enemy back as it was.
Jacob had to Key the Lorkon away as soon as possible! He refused to allow the Makalos to sacrifice themselves. By that point, Keitus was at the edge of the door. If Jacob created the link, there was a large chance the Lorkon wouldn’t fall through.
Gallus and Dad stepped closer, still at least fifteen feet away, and Keitus laughed.
“You actually think you can fight me?”
“I’ll die trying,” Dad said. He leaped forward, swinging his sword. It caught Keitus off guard, and the Lorkon stepped back in surprise.
Dad jumped away from Keitus and yelled, “So long, Father.”
That was the signal. Jacob fell to his knees and reached through the bush, Key in hand. He heard a scuffle, but ignored it. He put the Key in the lock and said, “Tadrys.”
Jacob looked up before turning the Key to make sure the Lorkon were still in place. He bit his tongue to keep from calling out when he saw that Myler was on the door, knife in hand. What was he doing there? Dad had ordered him to be locked in Azuriah’s dungeon! How’d he escape?
Gallus yelled and tried to pull Myler back, but he wasn’t fast enough. Keitus grabbed the man by the back of the neck and swung him to the grass on the door. The Lorkon placed a foot on top of Myler’s chest and stepped down.
Jacob looked away when he heard a crunching noise. His eyes smarted, and one of the Lorkon laughed. Jacob felt his blood pulsing in his brain when he realized it was probably Myler’s brother.
“Jacob!” Dad yelled. “Do it now!”
Without looking up, Jacob turned the Key. He heard the hinges squeak and the Lorkon scrambling to get their footing. They shrieked as the ground beneath them fell away.
The door slammed into the side of the hole and Jacob looked then. Had Myler dropped with the Lorkon? He didn’t see any way the man hadn’t, and the place where the Lorkon had fallen wasn’t visible. He scrambled to the edge of the hole, wanting to see Myler, but the ropes went taut and the men pulled the door shut.
Jacob was barely aware of the army that came rushing through. Dad had pulled him to his feet and had him run through the forest toward the house, helping hold Kenji up. The fighting raged on behind them.
“No—we have to get Myler!” Jacob said, struggling to get out of his dad’s grasp.
“Son, he’s gone.”
Tears flowed down Jacob’s cheeks. He couldn’t believe Myler had sacrificed himself like that. The guy was insane—so insane.
They arrived at the house. Dad had Jacob stay with Kenji and make sure the Makalo was okay—he was unconscious. Aloren dashed down the stairs and out of the house, following Dad back to the fight.
Jacob grabbed some rags from the kitchen and mopped Kenji’s forehead, trying to bring him back. He couldn’t stop thinking about Myler and what happened. Why did the guy do that? He hadn’t needed to—their plan was solid and Myler didn’t have to fight.
Dad yelled from the forest loud enough for Jacob to hear. “Archers! The leaders—take them down!”
Jacob left the rag on Kenji’s forehead and ran outside to watch. But by then, the battle had already slowed. Leaders of the enemy army realized the Lorkon were gone and started calling for everyone to fall back. The Molgs and humans were confused—they scattered through the forest. Jacob watched as Dad’s small army rounded up the stragglers and chased them back through the link.
It was all over so fast. Their plan had worked, but somehow, Jacob didn’t feel victorious. His heart dropped as he thought of Myler, and then of the losses they’d sustained over the past couple of weeks. So many injured and dead. And this wasn’t even the big war still to come when the Lorkon returned, angry about all that had happened.
The cleanup took hours. Jacob helped as much as his hands let him, working alongside Kevin, Tani, and Matt. Kevin and Tani joked about when the mailman had come during the attack and heard noises. The two teenagers had concocted a silly story that made the man give them the mail and then hurry away. Jacob couldn’t follow the story, though, and they soon got the hint and stopped talking.
He already felt the pressure mounting—the need to find the book that contained the locations of the antidote. And once they’d found that, they would need the ingredients. Who knew if it was like the Malono potion, and would require months to prepare?
They didn’t have months.
Aldo had freaked out when he heard that Gallus and Jacob had sent the Lorkon to Tadrys. “That’s only two months away by foot—if we’re lucky! Hardly on the other side of the world!”
Gallus shoved back from the table, knocking his chair over. Even sitting, he was imposing, but standing? He looked freaky. “Where else would you have sent them?” Gallus yelled, his face almost purple with anger.
“To Leyish! Or even Gunst!”
Gallus threw his hands in the air. “We only had moments to pick the location. If you’d thought of that part of your plan ahead of time, we wouldn’t be in this
predicament.”
“How dare—”
Dad stood, motioning for Gallus and Aldo to sit. “What’s done is done. We can’t change things now. And honestly, I’m very pleased with how it all went.”
Jacob glowered at his hands. “Except for Myler, right?”
Dad sent him a sympathetic glance. “Yes, I am sorry about him. But we have to remain focused! We can’t let arguments tear us apart now—not now.” He turned to Kenji, obviously wanting to change the subject. “How are the Makalos doing?”
“Better,” Kenji said. “Much better.”
“Good. Are you able to keep the link strong?”
Kenji nodded. “For now—it’s all we’re focusing on. If we hadn’t had Akeno’s help, the army would’ve broken our mental barriers on the link.”
Dad ran his hand through his thinning hair. “And what of Brojan’s books? Have you retrieved them yet?”
“Yes. And I’ve started studying them. We’ll find an antidote somehow.”
“Oh!” Jacob said, jumping to his feet. “I can’t believe I forgot! With the Lorkon army coming, I didn’t want to bring it up and get everyone needlessly excited when we couldn’t do anything about it.” He waited until everyone was looking at him—it didn’t take long, since he’d been so loud. “Onyev found the antidote. He said he made five copies of the recipe and hid those in different places around Eklaron. And he made note of how to find the hiding spots in a book about potions and cures.”
Jacob looked at Kenji. “Did Brojan have any books like that?”
“I’m sure he did,” Kenji said. It looked like his brain was going at full speed. “Did he say where he hid them?”
Jacob shook his head. “No, just that he needed to have five places in case one of the copies didn’t make it.”
Dad stared at the Fat Lady and Aldo, excitement swirling in the air around him. “This seriously changes things. Let’s refocus—find books that match that description.”
Then he glanced at Jacob. “I know there isn’t a lot you can do until we find that book, but keep track of how much time we’ve got and keep an eye on the Lorkon.”
Jacob nodded and then looked down. His eyes smarted and he thought about that morning when he Time-Saw to the Lorkon. They were still in Tadrys, and Myler was lying dead in a ditch where the Lorkon had tossed him. Jacob blinked several times. Before, he hadn’t known why he felt so strongly about the man. But now that he understood Myler’s history better, everything that had happened was so much harder to swallow. Poor Myler.
Jacob sighed, turning his attention back to the meeting. Two months. They only had two months before the Lorkon returned.
Chapter Twenty: Location One
Aldo jumped to his feet, knocking over a huge stack of books. “I’ve found it! I’ve found it!”
He, Jacob, and the Fat Lady had spent several hours going through Aldo’s and the Fat Lady’s libraries, and Jacob’s shoulders hurt from hunching over for so long. Jacob and the Fat Lady scrambled to see the book Aldo held. The Fat Lady got there first and snatched it from the man’s hands.
A grin spread across her face. “I can’t believe I never noticed this before! I’ve owned it for thirty years.”
Jacob peered over the Fat Lady’s arm and read,
Antidote Location One
Ingredients:
One Kaith tree
One small grass-filled meadow
One canyon, tall on either side
Instructions:
Combine with a surrounding forest
And a link to a human-filled world
Open the tree to the center
There you shall find the scroll
The Fat Lady exclaimed, “Wow. That sounds awfully familiar!” She and Aldo met eyes, then the two turned to Jacob at the same time. “Key us to the tree!” they said.
Jacob fumbled in his pocket, trying to pull out the Key. His hands shook and his eyesight blurred. Just to think that the antidote might be there in Taga Village made him want to throw up—whether from excitement or nervousness, he wasn’t sure. Could it be that easy? He mentally crossed his fingers, finally getting the Key turned the right way.
The Fat Lady pushed past Jacob and strode into the tree. She started pulling shelves apart, moving the fridge, lifting cabinets—she was so strong!—and looking under tables.
Dad, Kenji, and Mom watched with shock from the table where they’d been sorting through books.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.
“We found it.” Aldo dropped the book on the table in front of Dad, opened to the page where the first location was written. “There’s one here, in this tree.”
Dad and Mom both jumped from their chairs. Dad pointed at the floor. “Dig that up! Let’s get some people in here to inspect every surface.” He turned to Kenji. “Did you and the other Makalos find anything when you helped hollow out the tree?”
For the first time, Jacob noticed that Kenji wasn’t excited about the news. In fact, the colors in the air around him showed he was upset, disappointed, and frustrated.
“It’s useless,” he said. “The tree was already dead—we dug out the center, ground it up, and used it as garden compost. You and Arien helped with the final part before turning it into a place for you to live.”
Dad slumped into his chair. “You’re sure?”
Kenji nodded. “It’s been far too long—nothing has ever turned up, and if it had, we wouldn’t have known what it was. I’m afraid this location is no longer a viable option.”
Jacob’s heart fell. He’d figured it wouldn’t be that easy—they’d need to work to find the recipe. But at least they had the book. He looked at his parents. “Cheer up!” he said. “We’ve got the other locations here.” He motioned to the book. “We’ll find the antidote. And we’ll be ready when the Lorkon return.”
Dad got up and put his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “Yes, son, we will.”
That evening, Akeno came to the house and got Jacob. He’d been very distracted by his plans to grow new Kaede trees and hadn’t volunteered to help search. The two friends walked through the forest in silence. Jacob didn’t want to break it—he enjoyed Akeno’s company.
“We’re almost there,” Akeno said after some time.
The Makalo had asked Jacob not to mention his solution to the bug and Kaede tree problem to anyone—he didn’t want to get their hopes up.
“Where?”
Akeno smiled mischievously. “You’ll see . . .”
He stepped under an arch and pushed aside some overhanging vines, then stepped into a little meadow Jacob had never seen before.
“Whoa,” Jacob said. “Where’d this come from?”
Akeno laughed. “I grew it over the past two days.”
Jacob looked at his friend. “You’re really getting good at your powers.”
Akeno shrugged, his face turning red. “Yeah, I am. Thanks.” He turned away, motioning for Jacob to follow.
Little trees grew in perfect rows—twenty, thirty of them. It took Jacob’s breath away, seeing them all. “Do you think they’ll work?”
Akeno laughed. “They already have—I risked bringing a couple of bugs here. They couldn’t infect the trees. But again, don’t say anything to anyone.”
Jacob stopped walking. “Are you serious? You figured it out? That’s so awesome!” He clapped Akeno’s shoulder.
Akeno smiled. “The trees aren’t the only thing I wanted to show you. It’s what’s growing behind them that matters.”
Jacob followed as the Makalo stepped through the rows and carefully pushed a little branch aside. “We’ll need to move these eventually—they can’t grow this closely for long.”
“When will they be big enough to harvest sap?”
Akeno didn’t respond at first. “Well, I want to make sure they’re just the way they should be. If we push them to grow too fast, the sap might not work properly. So . . . probably not for another twenty years.”
Jacob’s shoulders
slumped. Twenty years? The Makalos might not even make it that long.
Akeno stopped walking and put his hands behind his back. His gaze fell on an odd-looking bush.
Jacob tilted his head, eyebrows knitted. “What on earth is that?”
Akeno laughed. “I know it looks weird . . . but don’t make fun of it.”
“I’m not making fun of it. It looks like a . . . a leg. It’s kinda gross, Akeno.”
“It is a leg. And in about a week, it’ll be the right size for Sweet Pea.”
Jacob’s jaw dropped. “You grew a new leg for Sweet Pea?”
Akeno ducked his head. “Yeah. It’s wood, so it won’t be exactly the same, but I think he needs something. He’s been so depressed since . . . since the attack.” Akeno bent and lifted some leaves out of the way to inspect the entire thing. “What do you think? We’ll need to add knee and ankle joints, but . . .”
Jacob hugged Akeno. “It’s so cool. It’s wonderful.”
Akeno grinned, then showed how he’d tried to replicate Sweet Pea’s toes exactly.
Jacob laughed. “They’re big, ugly, and perfect.” He sighed.
Akeno brushed his hair out of his face, pulled a ball cap from his back pocket, and put it on. “Anyway. I wanted to see what you thought of it. We can go back now.”
Jacob smiled at his friend, his heart swelling.
The next two months were bound to be stressful and difficult, and Jacob knew he should be more worried than he was. But it was hard to let the negative emotions overwhelm him when he was surrounded by the best people ever.
And even though these people had introduced him to the most difficult experiences he’d ever had, he was grateful for them and the experiences. He wouldn’t erase anything, if it meant losing the friendships he’d gained.
###
Note from the Author:
Hi, everyone! Thanks for reading Eyes of the Sun. :-) It was a lot of fun to write! It was also a lot of fun to title—I picked the name for this book around the same time I picked the name for The Key of Kilenya. It was one of those no-duh moments for me and made me so eager and excited to be able to write it. :-)
Eyes of the Sun (Kilenya Series, 5) Page 23