She glanced over them all. “There’s a tunnel that leads to my house from the castle. I wish I had more time to tell you where it is. The entrance to it is down a side corridor on the third floor. It has a small window near it and an end table with candlesticks on it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “What I wouldn’t give to have a picture of that hall to show you.”
Walking to the door, she opened it and motioned for them to exit. “I believe you have something to get done, and fast. The longer you take, the worse off everyone will be. Especially King Dmitri and his little princess.”
Jacob, Akeno, and Aloren hurried through the open door. Jacob turned to ask another question, but the Fat Lady shut the door in his face.
He followed the others down the trail. He looked over his shoulder at the Fat Lady’s cabin a couple of times, but gave up, realizing she wasn’t going to open the door. Why’d she have to push them out of her house so fast? He’d wanted to ask more about the key and the Lorkon.
They continued down the trail quietly—all lost in their own thoughts. After a few minutes of walking, Aloren closed her eyes, raising her face to the sun.
“Oh, it smells so good here,” she said. “Like the bread Gallus’s wife makes!”
“No, it smells like trees and wildflowers.” Akeno breathed deeply. “Aaaah . . .”
Jacob opened his mouth to reply, but Aloren grabbed his arm, interrupting him. “Look at that,” she said, pointing.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jacob had to blink a couple of times. “What’s he doing?”
A man stood not far away, staring at the lake, a vacant smile on his face. He was clean-cut and neatly dressed.
Jacob slowed down, unsure what to do. The trail was about to curve to the right around a very large tree, and he stopped behind that tree to watch.
The man didn’t move. He didn’t even blink—at least from what Jacob saw. What was going on?
Something that Seden said came back to him. Something about the Lorkon traps. “I . . . can’t smell anything out of the ordinary,” Jacob said. “But both of you can.” He rubbed his chin, concentrating. “It’s not doing anything to any of us.”
Akeno frowned. “No . . . should it?”
“Don’t you remember? Seden told us that Dmitri went through four elemental traps that were placed by the Lorkon to stop him. Well, one was scented air that trapped people.” He glanced at them. “I can’t smell anything out of the ordinary, but you both smell something completely different.” Jacob motioned to the man. “He’s obviously not going anywhere any time soon.”
“It’s not affecting us . . .” Aloren said. “Do you think that’s because of the potions?”
“Probably.”
“But what about you?”
Jacob slowly shook his head. “Not sure, though the Fat Lady did make the comment that things that affect my companions don’t affect me. I hadn’t noticed anything, but if this is what she was referring to, it would make sense.” And while it made him feel almost invincible, it also freaked him out—which he did his best to keep hidden. Just like in the cave, when he’d been able to see the Molg. These things couldn’t be normal.
“Shouldn’t there be more people?” Akeno asked. “If the trap is still active, this guy can’t be the only one.”
Aloren took a few steps around the tree, then shrieked. “Whoa! There are definitely more people.”
Jacob and Akeno joined her. She was right. There were people everywhere. Some lay on the grass, staring up into the sky. Some sat cross-legged, elbows on knees, resting their chins in their hands. Many were standing, as the man had been. All wore the same vacant smiles. Their attire varied from very nice to grubby and dirty.
“What are they doing?” Akeno asked.
Jacob frowned. “I think . . . I think they’re living their lives in their minds. Sort of like an invisible prison. I’d bet a lot of people have disappeared to this place.”
Aloren grabbed Jacob’s arm, and he jumped. “Do you think my brother might be here?” she asked.
“I don’t know—we can check. Let’s separate and look for guys about his age. How old would he be?”
“Seventeen or eighteen—around a year older than me.”
“What does he look like?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe like me, except with blue eyes and blond hair? He also had dimples.”
Lucky guy. Matt had dimples, and it definitely made getting dates easier. ’Course, he was also a lot more outgoing than Jacob. “That’s good—most of them are smiling. It’ll help narrow things down.”
The three of them separated, with Akeno heading to the left, Aloren going straight, and Jacob taking the right. He came across his first seventeen- or eighteen-year-old relatively quickly. The guy’s eyes were shut, and though his expression pleasant, he wasn’t smiling. Could Jacob get him to respond? Open his eyes? He hesitated, then reached out and prodded the guy on the shoulder.
The teen turned his face toward Jacob and smiled vacantly, his eyes slowly opening. “Hmmm?”
Jacob backed away, uncomfortable. Weird. The guy’s eyes were brown, though, so it wasn’t Aloren’s brother.
From there, Jacob walked as quickly as he could through the people. He glanced at each face, trying to see someone who resembled Aloren even in the slightest. Only one other person was the right age, but he also had brown eyes. In five or ten minutes, Jacob met up with his friends on the other side of the large group of people.
“No luck?” Jacob asked.
Aloren shook her head. “It doesn’t feel right for him to be here. I still feel like he’s in Maivoryl City.”
“Let’s keep going, then. Maybe we’ll have better luck there.”
They continued forward, passing the last person. The trail soon turned left, heading toward the large mountains at the south of the valley. On the hills to the right, the forest thinned, and the path led the group close to the base of a very large hill that obstructed their view of both the castle and Maivoryl City.
“How much farther?” Akeno said. “The sun will be setting soon, and I don’t think we want to enter the castle in the dark.”
“I’d say at least another hour, if not longer,” Aloren said. “I’ve never been this far, though, so I’m not exactly sure.” She glanced at Jacob. “We still have the last trap to get through. We might want to set up camp soon and approach it in the morning.”
“Good idea,” he said. “As soon as the sun goes down, we’ll do that.”
They walked in silence until the sun set, and Akeno put together the usual huts. Everyone ate the meal he cooked, then they turned in.
***
Jacob woke up the next morning both excited and troubled by the dream he’d had. The lady in the forest nearly captured him, snakes had swarmed all over him, and his skin felt like ants were crawling on it. But what she’d said to him had finally come back. “Danilo.” He had no idea what it meant, but at least he could tell the Makalos he’d remembered.
As they walked, Jacob glanced at the foothill beside them. Doing a double take, he pointed up. “Check that out.”
On top of the hill, a wall rose high above them. It was gray and looked like granite. The surface wasn’t smooth, but had vertical ripples flowing through it, giving the appearance of gray curtains.
“That’s really odd,” Akeno said.
“Yes, it is. I wonder if it’s the first element.” Jacob continued to peer up while walking and noticed that even though the hill was getting smaller, the wall-like thing on top stayed the same height. “This is different, though. Seden said it was a waterfall.”
As they followed the path, the foothill disappeared, and the trail ran flush with the wall. Jacob stared at it, trying to see the top. The glare of the sun was too bright, and he wasn’t able to measure the height. He looked forward, surprised to see the path turn and disappear beneath the wall.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Is that really the end of the trail?” Akeno ask
ed.
“Uh, I guess it is,” Aloren said. “Now what?”
“No, it’s not the end,” Jacob said. “The wall was put on top of it. I’m sure it continues on the other side.” He scratched his head. “Maybe Early can see over it.”
Akeno pulled out his Minya container and told Early what he needed her to do. She returned seconds later.
“It was way too high—goes up several miles at least. I didn’t want to keep going. Do you want me to try again?”
Jacob shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m wondering why we didn’t see it earlier. You’d think something this big and solid would’ve been visible.”
Aloren turned and looked toward the lake. “I’ve got an idea,” she said. “Let’s have Early go halfway across the lake and see what the wall looks like from there.”
The Minya flew off, returning moments later.
“The wall became transparent the farther away I got,” she said.
“Weird.” Jacob paused, thinking over the situation. “All right, the Lorkon have a way through it. Let’s separate and see if we can find it.”
Aloren and Akeno followed the wall to the south and Jacob followed it to the north, climbing up the foothill where it met with the wall. He ran his hand along every edge and crevice he could reach, searching for a hole or something similar. After several minutes, he came to a section where the hill changed into huge rock outcroppings that would be impossible to climb without ropes and harnesses. Turning around, he was surprised to see how far he had gone. Aloren and Akeno were little dots at the far end.
Jacob half-jogged his way back down, meeting up with them where the path disappeared. “Did you find anything?”
“No, nothing,” Aloren said. “You?”
“Nothing.”
Aloren looked up at the wall. “What do we do?”
“I know there’s a way past this,” Jacob said. “There has to be. The Molgs and Lorkon have been coming and going through it, for crying out loud.”
Akeno slid his bag off his shoulder, helping Early back into her container. “Can we eat something while discussing this? I’m really hungry.”
“Yeah,” Jacob said. “It’ll give us a few minutes to think about how to get through the used-to-be-waterfall.”
They sat next to a small mound of dirt near the shore of Sonda Lake, stretching out their legs and pulling food from their bags.
“I wonder what happened to make the waterfall stone. And visible, for that matter.”
“Do you think we can see it because of the potions the Fat Lady gave us?” Akeno asked.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think so,” Jacob said. “She said the potions would make you avoid reactions. Seeing something invisible is not a reaction.”
No one said anything for a moment. Jacob bit his lip, thinking. The Molgs and Lorkon couldn’t climb over the wall, and couldn’t have been going around it—it was too wide. The only way was to go through it. But how? And where?
Jacob got to his feet to pace. He loved puzzles, and this one was proving to be a difficult one. He walked back and forth several times between his friends and the wall, trying to keep everything clear in his mind. As he neared them for a fourth time, something by the mound of dirt they were sitting next to caught his eye. He paused, then circled the mound.
“Hey, come check this out,” Jacob said. The mound was from dirt that had been dug up. “This has to be the tunnel.”
“It could be, but it looks like it’s only a pit,” Aloren said. “And if it is a tunnel, it’s fallen in on itself. Not recently, though. That dirt’s been there for a year at least. It’s too dry and settled to be fresh. And I know for a fact that the Lorkon and Molgs have been out of Maivoryl several times during the past year.”
“What is it, then?” Akeno asked. “It’s not here naturally.”
“An animal hole?” Jacob said. “Do animals this big live around here?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Aloren said, then paused. “Oh, I’ll bet Dusts made it. They do things like this in the Macaria castle too—digging through things, making tunnels. We’d better move away just in case. They’re stupid, but can cause a lot of damage. I have to reinvent the way into my tower in the castle regularly. It takes them forever to work out new problems.”
The group circled back to their lunch spot and finished eating—facing the wall so they could continue to examine it.
After several moments, Jacob glanced up—did he just see a section of the wall shift? It was a spot twenty feet or so to the left of where the trail disappeared—the part Aloren and Akeno had inspected. He stood and walked closer, squinting in the bright light of the sun. He stopped in front of it—something flickered again.
“Wait,” he said. “That’s weird. The wall has a . . .” He reached out to touch it and jumped back when the stone dissolved around his hand. “Wow! What was that?”
The tunnel was now right in front of him—it was dark, and he couldn’t see very far into it.
He turned to his friends. “Holy cow! Come see! I just found the tunnel!”
“I can’t see anything,” Akeno said.
Aloren shook her head. “Neither can I.”
“Wait—what? You can’t see the tunnel? It’s right here.” Jacob motioned to it.
“There’s nothing there but wall,” Aloren said.
Jacob frowned. “You . . . really can’t see it?”
Aloren smiled, rolling her eyes, and Akeno gave him a look that said “Didn’t I just tell you that?”
Jacob sighed. “Okay, come here then.” He grabbed Akeno and pulled him over to stand right in front of the entrance. “Put your hand out. You’ll feel the wall sorta dissolve around it.”
Akeno put his hand out, but the wall didn’t dissolve. His palm landed flat on stone. “Now what?”
“Oh, my gosh,” Jacob said. “I know I’m not going crazy. Aloren, you try it.”
“No, I believe you can see it. There’s probably a reason why we can’t. I’d guess it’s because we’re not supposed to go with you.”
“What are you talking about? Like crap I’m doing this alone.”
“Then lead us. That’s the only other alternative.”
Jacob scowled at the wall. Was there any other option? He hated the idea of leading them blind, but he knew he’d never get out alive without their help. “Okay, fine. We’ll do that.”
Aloren took Akeno’s hand with her left and Jacob’s with her right. “Let’s go,” she said.
Jacob turned to the wall, trying not to think too much about Aloren’s touch. He stepped forward, pulling Aloren and Akeno in with him as the wall dissolved, revealing the tunnel. The moment they were inside, they were plunged into complete darkness.
“Oh, wow,” Aloren said, gasping. “We’re in the wall now, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.”
“I feel it. It’s pushing all around me. It feels like I’m standing in stone.” Aloren gasped again. “Just . . . don’t let go of my hand.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Jacob looked over his shoulder. “Akeno, how are you holding up?”
“The same . . . as Aloren.”
Resolving to get them through the wall as quickly as possible, Jacob started forward again. He could barely make out the walls on either side. Putting out his free hand, he used the side wall to guide him. It was bumpy and had an odd texture to it, making him stop again. He felt around, trying to figure out why it was so weird, but nothing came to mind.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Taking a few more steps, he relied on the wall to guide him. Then it disappeared from under his hand, and it took him several minutes to find it again. The tunnel had taken a turn to the right. He started to follow it, looking over his shoulder out of habit to check on Aloren and Akeno. The blackness made it impossible to see them, though. He cleared his throat. “Uh, how’re you guys doing?”
“My bag . . . take . . . my bag,” Aloren said, gasping. “Can’t feel . . . it . . . don’t
want . . . lose . . .”
“Okay.” Jacob reached out and found the top of her head, then lowered his hand to the bag slung around her neck. He secured it around his own neck and one arm. “Akeno? Do you want me to take yours as well?”
“No, m’fine,” Akeno said, also gasping now. “Hurry.”
“Okay.” Jacob took another deep breath, tracing the wall as he went. “Something tells me this isn’t going to be a short tunnel.”
The tunnel turned several more times—Jacob lost count of how many. He closed his eyes, realizing he didn’t need them open anyway. “Hey, wait,” he said. “Akeno, let’s see if your finger will light up the place.”
The walls were immediately swathed in the eerie blue light. Jacob yelled at what he saw, jumping backward into Aloren.
“Turn it off! Turn it off!” he shrieked.
The blue light faded, and he was again surrounded by darkness, but the images that had filled his view wouldn’t go away. Hundreds and hundreds of faces, bodies, embedded in the walls of the tunnel. Fingers reaching forward, eyes unseeing, staring into nothing.
“What happened?” Aloren gasped.
“What’s going on?” Akeno said. “I can’t see anything!”
Jacob remained motionless, trying to calm his heart. Those couldn’t have been real people. They couldn’t have. He realized his hand was still on the wall and he jerked it off, wiping it on his pants. Wiping didn’t take away the feeling of death that remained. He wiped harder, groaning in frustration.
“Jacob?” Aloren said, her voice pleading. “Tell us what you saw.”
Jacob furrowed his brow. “No, no, it was nothing,” he said. “Nothing.” He couldn’t seem to take in enough air—even it felt grimy now.
“If you won’t tell us,” Akeno said, his voice higher than normal, “then keep going.”
Jacob braced himself. “Okay.”
He shut his eyes once more, finding it easier to go that way than to try to find light, and used his feet to guide instead of his hand. He touched the wall as little as possible and cringed every time he brushed against it. They didn’t make much progress this way, but he’d never touch that wall again if he could help it.
Forsaken Prince (Kilenya Chronicles Book 1) Page 13