“You can’t imagine how difficult the last few days have been,” Gallus said.
Everyone was squashed around Kenji’s table. Matt, Jaegar, and Akeno had been mostly silent—the discussion didn’t directly affect them.
“As soon as . . .” Gallus paused. “Well, we guess it was as soon as Jacob escaped through the Fat Lady’s door, the Lorkon stationed guards in all the cities. We’re under surveillance and curfews have been placed. They seem to know Jacob had found help in one of the cities, and I’m sure they know it was Macaria.”
“Aloren’s not being held in the castle, is she?” Jacob blurted, forgetting that Gallus had been ignoring him for the past twenty minutes. He’d tried to give the man space, but he couldn’t help it this time—he needed more information.
Gallus didn’t look directly at Jacob, but more at a spot over his head. “I’m not sure. I don’t have any details.” He then stared at his cup. “What I wanted to tell you,” he motioned to Kenji, “was that I saw someone walking around the lake on the other side of the scented air. And there’s no way they would be there, unless they’re from Maivoryl.”
“How’d you see them?” Jacob asked. “Macaria is really far away from Maivoryl City.”
“With a lens—it’s like a telescope in your world.”
Ebony frowned. “And you’re sure it wasn’t a Lorkon you saw?”
“Positive. Absolutely positive. Nowhere near tall enough.”
“They didn’t come from Ashay Hills?” She asked.
Gallus shook his head. “The mountains are impassible, which is the reason the royal castle was built there in the first place. They could only have come from Maivoryl itself. We already know the everlasting potion the Lorkon placed between Maivoryl City and Ridgewood traps people, and the residents of Ridgewood won’t let others pass. The Lorkon must have allowed a few people to leave.”
Jacob got chills when he thought of the scented air. It became an invisible prison for people who hadn’t taken one of the Fat Lady’s potions.
“So, what do you propose we do with this information?” Kenji asked.
Gallus shrugged. “I was hoping we’d all be able to figure that out.”
“We go get Aloren. Before anything else weird happens,” Jacob said. “Never mind the Fat Lady’s potion.”
Kenji shook his head. “Not a chance. That potion is necessary. You also need more than two people. Imagine if you met up with a Bald Henry, but couldn’t get through a door on time.”
“We didn’t see any Bald Henries there last time.”
“But you also didn’t see Bald Henries when you went to Aldo’s cabin, either. They’re invisible. And maybe they were in the city, but being held back.”
“Regardless,” Brojan said, cutting off Jacob’s reply, “there are too many things that could go wrong. There are several more species here, Jacob, besides Molgs, Sindons, Dusts, and Bald Henries. If the Lorkon brought Fire Pulsers to Maivoryl, there’s no way you’d get out alive.”
Jacob tugged on his hair in frustration, squeezing his eyes shut. He allowed his negative emotions to boil over. “You told me that sometimes the best thing to do is sit and wait for the right time. Well, sometimes the best thing to do is act quickly and strike while it’s hot! I can’t wait for the potion to be made! It’s eating me up!”
“I’m with him,” Sweet Pea said. “We gotta get her out of there.”
“But not without help from other people,” Kenji said firmly.
The expression on Gallus’s face made it look like he was experiencing an internal war—Jacob could only imagine what was going on in the black man’s mind. He was probably on Jacob’s side where rescuing Aloren was concerned. But, being an adult, he’d support Kenji.
Ebony covered her husband’s hand with her own, meeting eyes with him—trying to calm him down, probably. She turned to Gallus. “Did you notice where the person went?”
“Probably into the scented air, but I have no proof of that.”
“Why were you watching Maivoryl City, anyway?” Sweet Pea asked Gallus.
“We’ve been keeping our eyes open for any activity whatsoever. I’m not the only one who’s noticed things happening. Holg, actually, was the first to see a person wandering around on that side of Sonda Lake. We’ve been watching as much as we can since then.”
“When did you see the person?” Kenji asked.
“This morning.”
Ebony brought drinks to everyone. “This brings us back to our original question. What do we do with this information?”
All eyes turned to Brojan, who’d been silent for a while. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering. The silence was awkward, but Jacob didn’t dare break it.
The patriarch finally looked at the adult Makalos. “We need to focus on getting those people out of the scented air,” he said. “As many of them as possible. The point is, they can’t stay trapped there forever. We’ll need them in the coming months as we try to rid the land of the Lorkon.”
Kenji nodded. “This will be a great thing for Jacob to focus on while waiting for the Malono potion.”
Jacob raised an eyebrow. The Makalos sure loved scheduling his life.
Brojan acknowledged Kenji’s comment, then continued. “We’ll first pull those who are dressed the shabbiest. The people who’ve escaped from Maivoryl won’t have had access to nice clothing in recent years.” He looked to Jacob for confirmation.
“Yeah—their clothes were rags, basically.”
“Now, then,” Brojan said. “Jacob, I know how passionate you feel about getting Aloren back, but even without a potion, you are not ready. How much training do you have in fighting? And those electronic games you play do not count.”
“Uh . . .” Jacob felt a blush crossing his cheeks. He’d not thought of this. “None.”
“There you have it,” Brojan said. “Sweet Pea, you will commence training Jacob in hand-to-hand combat, and anything else we request.”
Sweet Pea nodded, his eyes glinting. “I’ll have him ready in a week!”
Kenji laughed. “Hardly.”
“What? You doubt my abilities? Just you wait and see.” Sweet Pea jabbed Jacob in the side. “How much of that detainment facility can you skip?”
“Detainment facility?”
“Yes—where they teach you things.”
“High school, you mean? None. My mom would kill me.”
“Hmmm . . . that poses a problem. Oh, well, we’ll work around it. I’ll still get you up and fighting in a matter of days.”
Brojan leaned forward. “And Jacob, we will need your help with retrieving people from the scented air. The Key only works for you, so you will be busy.”
Jacob agreed. At least he’d be doing something.
Kenji stood. “As soon as you get out of school and finish your homework each day, meet us at the tree. We’ll need your help for as many hours tomorrow as possible, and most every day thereafter. The Fat Lady will be fine having us use her cabin as the stopping point. Matt, you’re welcome to come as well. We’ll use your help, if you’d like to give it.”
Matt nodded eagerly.
“I can be of assistance too,” Gallus said.
Sweet Pea jumped to his feet. “And me!”
“Good. We’ll all work together to wake the people up. Jacob, when you’re not pulling people from the scented air, we expect you to be learning combat. And, if all goes well, we should be ready to head to Maivoryl very soon.” Kenji looked to Brojan for agreement, and the patriarch inclined his head.
A thought occurred to Jacob. He hated having to bring it up. “We’re talking about the scented air without really bringing up an important point.”
“What’s that?” Kenji asked.
“If it’s everlasting, then how are any of you supposed to pull people out of it? Only Akeno’s taken the Fat Lady’s potion.”
“You’ll pull them out of the potion and hand them off to the rest of us. We’ll take them to the Fat
Lady’s cabin.”
Jacob nodded.
“It’s time for Jacob and Matt to get home,” Ebony said. Why was she the only one who remembered those sorts of things? “Gallus is spending the night in the tree, so you don’t need to worry about taking him back.”
“See you all tomorrow!” Sweet Pea said.
Jacob and Matt said their goodbyes, then Keyed home.
A note on the kitchen counter said that Amberly was at Ida Mae’s house, and their parents had gone out to dinner. Matt went to get Amberly in his truck and Jacob headed to bed, lying across the covers.
He felt like his attention was being spread too thin—school, homework, basketball, learning combat, pulling people out of the scented air, and dealing with obstinate Makalos. How on earth was he supposed to get anything done? He sighed. Maybe this was how growing up felt.
Kilenya Series Books 1, 2, and 3 Page 62