Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (21 page)

Aloren emerged from the trees high above him, and he waved at her. She was staring up at the clouds, though, and didn’t see his hand. He felt tension in the air, but didn’t know where it was coming from, or why.

Jacob caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye, and turned to face south. The waves on the lake were much bigger than they’d been earlier, as if there was a huge windstorm. No wind was blowing past him, though.

The clouds rolled grotesquely—forming weird, twisted shapes—and were a brown, almost gray-green color. Jacob turned and yelled back to camp, wanting to know what was wrong with the clouds, but no sound came out. Surprised, he clamped his jaw shut and then opened it again, trying to talk. He could feel his lips forming words, but he couldn’t hear anything.

Someone jerked him around and started to drag him toward the trees. He ripped his hand out of the person’s grasp before realizing it was Akeno.

Akeno said something to him, but Jacob shrugged, motioning to his ears. Akeno shook his head, apparently exasperated, and grabbed Jacob’s arm. Pulling Jacob with one hand, he motioned to the sky with the other.

Jacob looked up again. His jaw dropped and he stumbled backward. What on
earth?

Chapter 13. Caves and Bones

What a day! We were successful in defeating, albeit temporarily, the Fire Pulser! I should note it didn’t happen exactly as the Fat Lady had said. Once the five diamonds were in place, instead of the shield we were expecting, a bright light shot between them, connecting them and forming a solid sphere around her. This circle, at least ten feet in diameter, glowed brighter and brighter until it became painful to look upon. However, after several minutes the light dimmed, and all that remained was a diamond ball with Lasia contained inside.

I can only imagine her fury to see us there, watching her. As we did so, she pulsed fire from every inch of her body, and the diamond surrounding her became hot. We were quite surprised when we saw the dirt around the diamond begin to melt, and the sphere that encircled her start to sink. Eventually all that was visible were the top few feet of the diamond, which we promptly covered in dirt.

So much for the third element!

A large section of clouds had rolled into the shape of a face. As it became clearer, its eyes opened, glanced around for a moment, then focused on Jacob and Akeno.

The cloud was also forming massive hands and arms that appeared to be gathering something, but Jacob couldn’t look away from its angry gaze.

“Jacob! Run!” Aloren screamed. He ripped his eyes from the monster in the sky, surprised he was able to hear her. He hesitated for a split second before the adrenaline kicked in, then tore up the hill toward Aloren’s voice, Akeno running beside him.

Suddenly his feet flew out from under him and he soared through the air, landing hard on his knees ten feet from where he’d been standing.

Dazed, Jacob scrambled up and spotted Akeno about a yard away. He appeared to have been knocked unconscious. Jacob looked down the hill to see what it was that had thrown them forward and was surprised that a hole now smoldered, three feet in diameter, where he and Akeno had just been.

Aloren stood at the edge of the trees, screaming. No sound carried to Jacob, though he wasn’t more than forty feet away. She motioned with her hands for them to run. Jacob picked up Akeno and both bags, and made a beeline for the trees. Another shock wave blew through the air, nearly knocking him over, but this time he didn’t turn around.

He reached Aloren, tossed her the bags, and kept running. They ran up the hill, through the trees. Continual shock waves hit them on all sides with explosions and blasts of fire.

Trusting that Aloren knew where they were going, he stayed as close to her as possible, following her far up the side of the mountain and away from the trail. He still couldn’t hear anything, and shock waves rammed into his body, making any kind of movement difficult.

After what felt like an hour of solid running, Jacob saw several caves in the rock ahead of them. He followed Aloren into one, and they ran as far as they could until the cave stopped. Aloren mouthed something and darted out of the cave, unable to hear Jacob’s shouts to come back. Jacob wasn’t surprised—he couldn’t hear them, either.

She was gone for a couple of seconds before returning. Racing back in, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cave. Confused, he chased after her into the entrance of another cave. They didn’t stop running until they were almost completely enveloped in darkness. Dropping Jacob’s hand, Aloren faced the entrance. The only thing visible was a glimpse of the mountains on the other side of the lake. She put the bag down, slumping by one of the walls.

Jacob stood for a moment, letting his eyes adjust, and then set Akeno down next to Aloren. He ran his hand through his hair, raking out twigs, and leaned up against the wall near the others.

After a moment, he got tired of standing and sat next to Akeno, whose eyes were now wide open. Jacob still couldn’t hear anything, and it occurred to him that his hearing might have been damaged by the shock waves.

It wasn’t long, however, before the faint sound of an explosion reached his ears, making him jump. “Hey! I can hear again!” He turned to Akeno. “Are you okay? You blacked out for a minute there.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Akeno said, sitting up. “I think I’m doomed to be thrown over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes every time something bad happens.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Jacob smiled. “What about the Minyas? Are they going to be okay?”

“They’re much too fast for Lirone,” Aloren said. “Besides, he doesn’t care about them. They’re too small.”

“Anyway, they probably went somewhere else to wait out the storm and will catch up to us when it’s safe again,” Akeno added.

Jacob turned to Aloren. “All right.
Now
can you tell me what’s going on out there?”

“That, Jacob, is Lirone,” Aloren said. “He’s one of the main reasons why most people don’t make this trip.”

Jacob frowned. “What is he? And why couldn’t I hear anything? I mean, I know that shock waves and loud noises can mess up your hearing, but I wasn’t able to hear even before the explosions started.”

“It wasn’t because of the explosions. Lirone has the ability to control particles and waves in the air. As soon as he spots someone, he takes away all sound before it reaches their ears or leaves their mouths. It’s part of his way of trapping people before he blows them away.”

Jacob’s mind was reeling. What would’ve happened if Aloren hadn’t been with them? They’d be dead, he was sure of it. “How’d you know about him, Akeno?”

“I’d heard stories and myths,” Akeno said, pulling the leaves off his shoes. “My father spoke of a creature big enough to cover the entire sky who existed in the form of clouds and used particles in the air to kill things. I didn’t know much else about him, though.”

Jacob looked to Aloren. “Why could I hear you scream?”

“Because he’d only seen you and Akeno. If he hasn’t seen or heard something yet, it doesn’t exist to him, and he can’t take away its sound.”

“And as soon as you yelled at me, he knew you were there?”

Aloren nodded. “We can hear each other now because he’s given up trying to find us for the time being.”

Jacob thought for a minute. “So, what’s the purpose of doing that? Make it so people can’t call out for help or something?”

Akeno shrugged. “I’d guess it’s more of a cruel joke he likes to play than anything else.”

“Calling out for help can’t save you from Lirone,” Aloren said. “And usually the people who know his tricks won’t stand out in the open.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks for letting me know.”

Aloren laughed. “Sorry, I should have said something. I feel really bad. Honestly, it didn’t occur to me to mention it until I saw you step out of the trees.”

“Even with my pestering you guys to tell me what was going on?”

“Yeah, I was a little preoccupied and freaked out. Next time, though, I’ll let you know beforehand if something bad is going to happen.”

Jacob snorted. “That’d be great,” he said. He shifted to a more comfortable position. “So, next time Lirone comes around, all we’ll need to do is remain hidden, and we’ll be safe?”

“Not quite. He still throws bombs even if he can’t see anyone. If there are living things in the area, throwing the bombs will either kill them or scare them out of their hiding places.”

“But why does he do that?”

“He’s always been a violent creature,” Akeno said. “There are many theories and legends about why he’s that way, but no one really knows for sure.”

Aloren rummaged through her bag, pulling out a hair tie. “The first cave we went into was too shallow, and he’d know we were there. That’s one of the many mistakes people make. They figure if they can’t see his face, he can’t see them. They don’t know the clouds they’re looking at are actually him. If they can see clouds, any part of them, then he can see them.”

Jacob frowned. “So I wasn’t really looking at his face?”

Aloren fastened her hair back with the tie. “Not in a conventional way. He doesn’t have the same shape we do.”

“Why could I see a face, then?”

She smoothed her hair. “He was probably doing it for your benefit. To scare you. I’ve seen him do that before, though today was the first time I’ve seen him form arms.”

“Okay, so he’s made of clouds,” Jacob said, still trying to get a grasp on this creature. He was both fascinated and freaked out by Lirone—what guy wouldn’t be?

“Yes,” Aloren said, then paused. “Well, no. I mean, he’s not
made
of clouds, but he
looks
like clouds. Any time a storm comes through this land, it’s almost impossible to tell if he’s part of it or not. He moves a lot when he sees someone, which makes it easy to tell if he’s there. But when he’s just waiting, he rarely moves, except to shift a little or follow the wind. He doesn’t look like a normal cloud when he moves, and that’s what Akeno and I were searching for.”

“I think I saw that while I was standing out in the open like an idiot.” Jacob grabbed his knapsack, feeling around inside it for the journal. He couldn’t see anything, though. “All right, I’m tired of it being dark. Akeno, why not light up the place? Aloren, do you think that would be okay?”

Aloren nodded. “Yeah, there shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I’m starving, and we’ll want to see what we’re eating.”

A second later, the cave filled with Akeno’s bluish light, and Jacob resumed digging inside his bag for the book and food for the others. He handed them bread and jerky. “Where did Lirone come from?”

“No one knows,” Akeno said. “He didn’t originate here, though.”

“He’s existed for as long as there’s been a history kept by my people,” Aloren said.

Jacob leaned back against the cave wall, munching on jerky and fingering the journal. “And how long do you think we’ll need to hide out in this cave?” Too bad they didn’t have a grill. And some steaks. Fresh, barbecued meat sounded really good.

Aloren inspected her bread. “Until the sun is shining again and there aren’t any storm clouds in the sky. He only comes when there’s already a storm.”

“Dang, that’s going to take forever.”

“Not necessarily. The weather can change fast, so it might only be an hour. Soon after we see sunlight, we should be fine to leave.”

Jacob sighed, then stuffed the last of his jerky into his mouth, leaned his head against the wall, and looked toward the back of the cave. It opened into a medium-sized room a couple of feet from where they sat, then tunneled off to the left, out of sight. He stood, wanting to know how far into the mountain the tunnel led. A pile of junk sat to the side of the room just before the bend. Approaching it, he saw that most of it was covered with a thick, coarse material. Jacob lifted one edge, peeking underneath. He jumped back in surprise, letting out a small exclamation of shock.

“What?” Akeno asked, leaping to his feet.

“Sick,” Jacob said. “Human bones.” He moved closer and kicked the cover aside, revealing torn and tattered clothing, broken dishes, a fork, and a smashed pocket watch, all of which had been strewn across skeletons.

“Bones?” Aloren asked.

“Yes. Skulls and femurs. And other junk.”

Aloren came over and picked up one of the bigger bones, holding it with a corner of the material. Akeno moved his finger closer, and Jacob gasped. Weird-looking marks were all along the bone, and Aloren dropped it. The marks had been made by teeth.

Aloren looked at Jacob, then back at the bone, shaking her head with an expression of horror on her face. “No, no, no,” she wailed. “Oh, I forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Jacob asked.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” Akeno said, taking a step back.

“Shhh!” She waved her hand at Akeno’s finger. “Off, off, off!”

Blackness covered them as Akeno’s finger stopped glowing.

Aloren’s moan was barely audible. “I can’t believe—stupid of me!” She grabbed Jacob’s arm, making him jump, and whispered, “Back away as quietly as you can, both of you.”