Eyes of the Sun (4 page)

The Fat Lady reached toward her, and Jacob barely had time for the details to sink in before Lasia’s entire body began glowing bright red.

“No!” Dad yelled. “Drop to the ground!”

The Fat Lady tumbled away, and the rest fell as soon as they heard his command. Lasia turned brighter than the sun. Fire blasted from her, enveloping each person, whooshing past the Ember God and the Lorkon. Jacob put his arms over his head, thankful for Ebony’s impulsive decision to have everyone wear protective leaves.

He felt the leaves in his clothes swell, taking in the heat. The fire whirled around him, growing hotter and hotter with each second. How long would the pulse last? Dad said they never went more than thirty seconds, but the thought crossed Jacob’s mind that she’d been contained for so long, she’d probably built up a lot of energy.

And he was right. Before her flames died out, Jacob felt his leaves exerting their last push of magical energy.

Things began to get very hot.

Just as his skin started to burn, the fire stopped. Jacob jumped to his feet, preparing to make a dash for it. He and the others had to be out of range before Lasia pulsed again. Who knew how quickly she could regenerate under these circumstances.

But before anyone could do anything, the Ember God shouted, “Stop!” He tossed Akeno aside and dashed toward the Fire Pulser. He grabbed her, swung her out of the hole and over his shoulder, and then raced toward the canyon that led to Macaria and Sonda Lake, Lasia struggling to get free as he ran.

The Lorkon laughed. It didn’t surprise Jacob to see that the beast hadn’t been harmed. “Our thanks for releasing the Fire Pulser. And look at yourselves—you’re more like Lorkon now than ever.” He whirled, heading toward the canyon where Sanso had just disappeared.

Jacob glanced around. The Lorkon was right: they were all bright red, and by the expressions on their faces, dismayed, in pain, and frustrated.

There were only piles of ashes where the Molgs used to be, and Jacob was glad he was upwind from them. He was especially glad he hadn’t seen the creatures get destroyed.

“We didn’t even have a chance to do anything,” the Fat Lady said, throwing her rag on the ground. “That was ridiculous.”

“At least we were mostly protected.” Dad started walking away, motioning for the others to follow. “One more blast from her and we would’ve been dead.”

Matt shielded himself from the sun. “I hate getting burned.” He growled. “And what do they want with her, anyway?”

“That’s easy,” Aldo said. “They can’t have her on our side.” He gingerly patted his arms, then began fanning them. “And . . . it would appear that they planned this. It was a trap.”

Everyone looked at Jacob and he stared at the ground, watching as they left the scorched earth and entered green grass. Whatever the others thought, it wasn’t his fault.

Dad cleared his throat. “Jacob, it seems the Lorkon know you’re watching their moves. They used it against us.”

Jacob nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”

Dad put his hand lightly on Jacob’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault—don’t feel bad.” He sighed. “And keep watching them, but we’ll have to remember that their actions aren’t going to tell us much anymore.”

Jacob and his friends arrived at Taga Village cranky, tired, and wanting a lot of water and cool air. Mom, Kenji, Aloren, and Kevin were waiting.

Kenji jumped up from his chair as soon as Jacob opened the door. “Good—no one hurt? Uh . . . more than the burns?”

Dad shook his head. “Just burned. And annoyed.”

Kenji nodded. “Understandable.” He pointed to the table. “Everyone, have a seat. We will tend to your burns with aloha vera.”

“Aloha Vera?” Matt asked. “Who’s Vera, and why are we saying hi to her?”

“He means aloe vera,” Mom said. She smiled at Kenji. “It’s new to him.”

Ebony plopped into a chair. “Well, when you’ve got Kaede Sap, you don’t need anything else. And now that we don’t really have Kaede Sap . . . well, this is what we’ve got.”

While everyone was getting the greenish, liquidy gel slathered on their arms, faces, and, in some cases, heads, Dad filled the others in on what had happened.

“This isn’t good,” Kenji said. “Not only do they have access to the world where the Fire Pulsers originated, but they’ve got one in their possession. We don’t have anything or anyone who could fight a Fire Pulser in hand-to-hand combat.”

Dad leaned back in his chair, watching as Mom tended to his burns. “Perhaps we won’t need one.”

“What do you mean?” Ebony asked.

“Well, we don’t really know what the Lorkon plan to do with her.”

Jacob couldn’t keep his mind off her appearance. “She had gross veins everywhere,” he said. “I didn’t even think about how she’d look.”

“She also has retractable horns.” Dad motioned to the sides of his head, above his ears. “When she’s been pulsing for a couple of minutes, they come out here.”

“That’s totally cool,” Matt said.

Kevin finished with Akeno’s burns and moved to Sweet Pea. “So . . . will I be allowed to fight? When that time comes?”

The adults exchanged glances.

“I’m not comfortable with that,” Mom said. “Your parents don’t even know what’s going on, and Coach Birmingham is one of Lee’s best friends on Earth. We don’t want to risk putting you in danger and upsetting your parents.”

Kevin shook his head as if to clear it. “Lee, Dmitri, Dad, Your Majesty . . . I can’t keep up with all the things you guys call him.”

Mom and Dad chuckled, and Jacob was relieved no one pursued the conversation. He still wished Kevin hadn’t heard anything about Eklaron. It really complicated things. And though he knew Aloren trusted the guy, Jacob still wasn’t sure. But he put his thoughts aside, and as soon as everyone was ready, he Keyed them all to their proper places.

Once they’d gotten back home, Dad spoke to Jacob. “Mr. Coolidge is stopping by to pick up his payment. Make sure he sticks around for a couple of minutes—I’d like to talk to him.”

Jacob agreed, wondering what Dad would have to say to his school tutor. Maybe they were firing him. Jacob frowned—not possible. At least, he hoped not. He’d actually grown to like the man.

Chapter Three: Ramantus Plants a Seed

Jacob opened the door and let Mr. Coolidge in. “Hi!” He handed the older man a check Mom had written earlier. “Oh, and my dad wants to talk to you.”

Mr. Coolidge frowned at the slip of paper. “We still have a couple more study sessions before school lets out. I know you were on break for a while there, but I’d like to finish things up. I don’t want you to fall behind.”

Mom must’ve heard because she entered the living room, drying her hands on a towel. “That’s fine. We’ll schedule the rest of the sessions now. Let me get a calendar.” She turned and called over her shoulder. “Lee? Mr. Coolidge is here.”

She disappeared into her study, returning with the calendar right as Dad came in from the family room.

The two men shook hands, Mom arranged to have Mr. Coolidge come over for two more sessions, and then Dad and Mr. Coolidge got to business. Jacob sat in a chair in the corner, glad they hadn’t noticed he was still there. He was really curious about what Dad had on his mind.

After exchanging pleasantries and small talk, Dad leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’d like to offer you somewhat of a job. Just for the summer, if you’re willing to accept. It pays well.”

Jacob also leaned forward. This was the last thing he’d expected his dad to say.

“Doing what?” Mr. Coolidge asked.

“It’s complicated.” Dad took a deep breath. “I need to organize a group of people into levels of intelligence, understanding, and leadership. They also need to learn English, and I don’t have anyone in my employ who is qualified.”

Whoa.

Dad continued. “I know you’ve been a teacher for a long time, but I also know you have management experience and have taught ESL before.”

Mr. Coolidge raised one of his dark, bushy eyebrows. “It seems you’ve done your homework.” He rubbed his lips, thinking. “Where would this take place?”

“Not far from here—in the canyon behind our home, actually.”

“In the canyon?” Mr Coolidge stared at Dad.

So did Jacob. What was Dad doing? He was about to blow their cover!

“They’re not from around here,” Dad said. “They’re gathering in preparation for some attacks on their homeland.”

“Is this legal? You’re being very vague.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s necessary at this point. And yes, it is legal.”

Jacob almost snickered, then stopped before he drew unwanted attention to himself. Of course it was legal—Dad was king of Gevkan, and that was where Mr. Coolidge would be employed.

Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’ll understand more when you start. Kevin and Aloren have already been instructing the people for quite some time, but neither of them have the necessary experience, and things are going much slower than I’d hoped they would.

“You’ll organize the people into different ranks and groups according to what you feel they can handle—physical tasks and the ability to handle battle, if necessary. See who out of all of them can follow verbal instructions the best. Things like that.”

Mr. Coolidge frowned and rubbed his lips again.

Dad leaned back, putting his hands on his knees, getting ready to stand. “You don’t have to decide right now. Why don’t you give me a call tonight or tomorrow morning with your decision and we’ll talk over the specifics?”

Jacob knew that was code for money. How much was Dad willing to pay? And would it be in American dollars, or gold? He knew his dad had access to a lot of gold. They’d brought a ton of it with them from Eklaron. But that didn’t mean it would transfer well to Earth money.

Mr. Coolidge left shortly after, and Dad returned to watching a game in the family room. Jacob hesitated for a moment, and almost went in to talk to Dad about all of this. He decided not to press things—he’d figure out soon enough what was going to happen with Mr. Coolidge.

Jacob was excited and nervous when Mr. Coolidge said yes. It would be so weird having his teacher spending time in Taga Village! How would he react to the Wurbies and Makalos? There’s no way he’d see those creatures and not wonder what planet he was on.

Jacob again let Mr. Coolidge into the house when he showed up for work the next day. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and Jacob had a hard time accepting him like that. He always,
always
wore a suit to school and to all of their study sessions. But Dad had asked him to dress a little more casually—the people pulled from the scented air were comfortable with how the humans from Earth dressed and would probably feel intimidated by a suit.

“Hello, Jacob,” Mr. Coolidge said. “Your dad told me you’d be taking me to my post.”

Jacob nodded. “We’re walking. Oh, and it’s pretty muddy on the trail right now. Just so you know.”

Jacob usually just Keyed to Taga Village, but Mr. Coolidge didn’t know about the Key.

The forest behind his house was still experiencing spring run-offs from the melting snow, and he hadn’t been kidding about the mud. They had to leave the trail several times to avoid huge puddles.

After ten or fifteen minutes of walking, they passed from Earth into Eklaron. Mr. Coolidge didn’t even notice, and Jacob hadn’t expected him to. The only visible change was the size and types of trees, and the teacher was pretty distracted by the muddy ground.

Mr. Coolidge also didn’t notice the Wurbies that had been asked to stay out of sight watching from behind a thick bush. Jacob sighed in exasperation. Of course Fubble the Wurby would want to see another human from Earth. He waved behind his back, sending a smile to Fubble, and was rewarded with a huge grin.

Jacob took Mr. Coolidge directly to the cabin where Kevin and Aloren were teaching English. He opened the door and poked his head in. The two teenagers were at the front of the room near a whiteboard. “Mr. Coolidge is here.”

“Sweet!” Kevin said. “Let him in—we’ll get started right away.”

Jacob stepped to the side so Mr. Coolidge could enter. He was tempted to stay, but he had to finish practicing, using the sun. He hoped his math teacher would be successful. And that he wouldn’t freak out too much when he figured out the truth—as would eventually happen. There wasn’t any way a secret this big could be kept from someone as intelligent and perceptive as Mr. Coolidge.