The Golden Symbol (15 page)

Onyev nodded. “You’ve come a long way. This is a good thing. But remember, the Fire Pulser’s blood was the most difficult to retrieve.”

Jacob already knew that, but didn’t want to offend Onyev by saying so. “I just hope we all make it back safely.”

Onyev leaned back in his chair and opened his mouth to continue talking, but Jacob felt a stab of pain in his heart. He held up his hand. “Don’t talk. Don’t tell me more. My magic won’t allow it.”

Onyev sighed. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help you with the Fire Pulsers.” The colors for regret and sadness surrounded the patriarch, and Jacob couldn’t help but wonder what the Makalo had been about to say. He would probably never find out.

He left then, promising to return first thing in the morning. Upon getting home, Jacob Time-Saw to the Lorkon. He memorized their location, then went and reported to Aldo.

“Are you sure?” Aldo asked, the colors for stress flooding the air around him. “Absolutely positive? The trees really were black?”

Jacob grabbed a pen from Mom’s desk. “Very, very black. And tall. And they didn’t have a lot of branches. They looked like this.” He quickly drew a tree. He tilted his head, staring at what he’d created. It didn’t look very much like the ones he’d seen, though, so he put the pen down. “Well, similar to that, anyway. Oh, and the city was black too.”

Aldo paled. He turned to Dad, the Fat Lady, and Gallus. “The Lorkon are only a week away.”

Dad gasped. “But a few days ago, they were a full month away!”

Aldo nodded. “They must have found something to carry them. A cart or possibly even a Sindon.”

Dad rubbed his head and paced back and forth. “But why didn’t they continue using that method of travel?”

Aldo looked at Jacob. “We could have your son find out.”

Dad shook his head. “No time now. He needs to leave as soon as possible. We can’t spare even a moment.” He strode from the living room, Jacob following, and out the back door. He grabbed the first person who walked by. It was Tani. “Go, run. Tell everyone to come as fast as they can.”

Tani looked at Jacob quizzically, but dashed off to obey anyway. Word spread quickly, and it only took a couple of minutes for everyone to assemble by the back porch. While waiting, Aldo peppered Jacob with questions about the black city where he’d seen the Lorkon, just to be sure of their location.

When Dad had everyone’s attention, he said, “The Lorkon are only a week away. We must double our war preparations. Those of you who are accompanying Prince Jacob to the Fire Pulser world, get ready to leave at once.”

Jacob’s hands and feet started shaking. First, Dad had just called him Prince Jacob. That hadn’t happened before. And second, he wasn’t ready to leave right away. There was too much to do. He hadn’t packed, he needed to pick up Akeno, and he needed to eat.

He decided that getting Akeno was the most important thing. While Dad was still giving instructions to those who would stay behind, Jacob slipped back inside and went through the necessary steps to take him to the past. He found Patriarch Onyev and Akeno in the deserted city.

He ran up to the two Makalos. “Akeno, you have to come home now. We’re leaving for the Fire Pulser world. The Lorkon are only a week away.”

Akeno panicked. “A week? I’m not ready. I can’t do it that soon!”

Onyev put his hand on Akeno’s shoulder, the emotion color for peace surrounding him. “You’ll be fine. You’re more ready than you realize. I’m very pleased with the progress you’ve made.”

Akeno nodded, but Jacob knew from his emotion colors that what the patriarch had said hadn’t really comforted him much.

They returned to the present. Akeno dashed off into the forest, probably to start getting things ready, and Jacob ran upstairs into his bedroom. He first Keyed to the town hall in Maivoryl City to warn Sanso, then got his backpack and Early’s Minya container. He checked his supply of seeds—there were still plenty—and ran back to the kitchen. He grabbed all sorts of food: nuts, cheese, beef jerky, and dried fruit, eating as he went. He filled his backpack as much as he could, grateful that Mom had restocked their emergency foods.

He had a hard time controlling his breathing. Only a week. Only a week. Only a week. The words repeated over and over again in his mind, giving a rhythm to what he was doing.

Would they succeed? How could they? It might take a week to get blood from a Fire Pulser, if they even got close enough to ask! Sure, they had Sanso to help, but who was to say the Ember God would be successful?

Jacob slung his backpack over his shoulders and went to find Dad. Whether or not he was ready, it was time to go.

***

As soon as Jacob returned to the group, Dad put his hand on his shoulder and pulled him aside.

“I’m putting you in charge of your group. The link to the Fire Pulser world is at the Kaith tree in Maivoryl City. Key to Eachan’s and head to the tree on foot.”

Jacob’s eyes widened and his mouth opened. He closed it, then opened it again, shaking his head. “Me in charge? That’s not a good idea. I have no experience! How am I supposed to know what to do and how to keep everyone safe?”

“You won’t have to carry the full responsibility. Gallus will be second in charge, with Coren in third. They’re both very wise and have done things similar to this in the past.” Dad folded his arms, studying his son’s face. “You need to learn to lead.”

Jacob nodded. There wasn’t any use arguing with Dad, especially when his tone of voice was this strict.

“You’ll do fine.”

Jacob didn’t respond. He didn’t want to let Dad down by disagreeing with him. He just couldn’t see himself successfully leading this sort of mission. Get Aloren from Tadrys? Sure. Talk to the Wurbies and ask them to come to Taga Village? Definitely. Those things were easy compared to this. And of course, Gallus had technically been in charge those other times.

He followed Dad back outside where the groups were assembled. He fumbled with the Key, pulling it out of his pocket. His hand slipped as he tried to push it into the lock. Everyone watched. The groups behind him were completely silent. He had no idea how he was supposed to meet Dad’s expectations. He was young—too young.

Dad’s group would be heading through Taga Village and on to Fornchall on foot, hoping to free the slaves there. Dad really needed reinforcements for his army, but a week wasn’t much time to enter negotiations or do any sort of prison break, if it came down to that. Jacob didn’t want to think about whether they’d be successful or not—he couldn’t take that sort of stress on himself right then.

But at least he had Gallus and Coren. They’d both proven themselves over and over again. He just hoped they’d listen to him and respect him. He thought they would, but thinking wasn’t enough.

Finally, he got the Key in the right direction and opened a link to the town hall where Sanso waited.

The Ember God was pacing in front of the door, obviously anxious and nervous. Jacob wanted to reassure him that things would be fine, but he had no idea if that was true or not. He’d never been to the Fire Pulser world and couldn’t possibly know if Sanso’s stress was exaggerated.

As soon as everyone had come through the link and the door was closed, Jacob faced the group. Gallus and Coren stood to one side near Sanso, separate from the rest. There were fifteen people total—all humans. Dad had wanted to send more, just in case, but Jacob and Gallus wouldn’t let him. Dad needed as many people with him as possible.

“Many of you know Sanso, the Ember God,” Jacob started, hoping his voice wouldn’t crack. “He’ll be helping us get to the fire world.”

There were murmurs of surprise and anger. Obviously, Dad hadn’t warned anyone about this turn of events. Jacob would have to stop the distrust as soon as possible. But how? He racked his brain, thinking through the possible ways to convince them. He turned to Eachan.

“Would you tell them why you trust Sanso now?”

Eachan nodded, hands folded in front of him, and stepped forward. “The Lorkon sent Sanso and the other Ember Gods on a quest to stop King Dmitri. They failed, and the Lorkon ordered their execution. Those who didn’t die immediately, the Lorkon fed to their wolves. Sanso survived both attacks. I helped him get back to health, and he’s now assisting me with finding a way to fight, kill, maim, and inflict as much damage on the Lorkon as possible on our end. But,” Eachan lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “he may never be fully trustworthy when it comes to other matters—so don’t tell him any secrets.”

That got a chuckle from Sanso and Gallus, and Jacob was relieved to see that the emotions coming from the other people were calming down.

Eachan continued, “He’s definitely willing to help destroy the Lorkon. I trust him to that point. And beyond this mission, you won’t need to worry about him. He has no desire to stay around Gevkan once the Lorkon are gone. He’s been as much a prisoner in Maivoryl City as many of you were in that scented air.”

Eachan stepped back and Jacob took over. “If you have concerns at any point during our trip, address them to me. Do not speak to others. We can’t afford to have gossip and distrust ruin the success of the mission.”

He hoped he sounded like a leader—like his father. He also hoped none of them would recognize his words from what he’d heard in movies. Of course, they’d never watched movies, so he should be safe on that count, but still. He definitely didn’t sound like a teenager, and that made him a little uncomfortable. But better him experience discomfort than have them disobey or disrespect him.

Jacob took a deep breath. “Let’s head to the Kaith tree.” He motioned to Gallus. “You lead the way with two archers.” Gallus started toward the group, picking out his archers immediately, and Jacob turned to Coren. “Follow up in the back with two archers.” Jacob motioned to everyone else. “The rest of us will be in the middle.”

Coren found his archers and everyone else got into position. Eachan opened the door and Gallus walked out. Sanso ended up next to Jacob, and Jacob found himself uncomfortable with it. He didn’t know what to do with his hands and shoved them in his pockets, pretending to look around, acting like he didn’t care that Sanso was by him. He could talk, but about what? They had nothing in common.

Their footsteps echoed through the empty streets. No one spoke, and the silence made the footsteps even louder. Jacob still couldn’t get over the fact that Maivoryl City was so deserted. It just didn’t seem right.

It took twenty minutes to get out of the city. Twenty long minutes, with Jacob aware of nearly every breath in and out, every swish of fabric, every turn of head. They didn’t see anything or anyone. Why would the Lorkon leave their castle and its city so unguarded?

Jacob soon found the answer. As they turned the corner toward the Kaith tree, an arrow whistled through the air and struck a tree next to Gallus.

“Take cover!” Gallus shouted.

Jacob had no war experience. He wouldn’t be able to fight alongside the others without fear of hurting his friends.

But both Coren and Gallus knew what to do—they’d take over. Jacob jumped behind the trees with everyone else.

Gallus peered through the thrashing branches. “At least thirty of them. Molgs, Dusts, humans.” He looked at Jacob. “Do we attack, Your Highness?”

Jacob only hesitated a second. He hadn’t been expecting Gallus to ask him about this stuff. “Yes. We don’t have a choice—we have to get through the link. We can handle thirty, can’t we?”

Gallus nodded. He turned to his archers. “Take down as many as you can.”

Coren gave his archers the same instructions, and soon, arrows were flying through the air in both directions.

Jacob whirled, looking for Sanso. Right as he was about to ask the Ember God to roast the bad guys, the enemy charged forward, roaring, swords up. Soon, Jacob’s side was too intermingled with the others for Sanso to do anything.

Jacob pulled out his sword, wanting to assist as much as possible. Right away, he was engaged by a Molg. While parrying, he felt Gallus’s eyes on him, and when things started looking bad, the man jumped in and killed the Molg. Jacob was grateful Gallus had helped, but still felt ashamed that the man had to fight for himself
and
Jacob.

Would that ever change? Did Jacob even want it to? He’d always focused on basketball, and even now, he’d rather be playing. He had no desire to learn how to sword fight. The basics were one thing, but making it his life’s work? That wasn’t something that appealed to him.

It only took a few minutes to knock down every single member of the other army. Gallus and Coren slapped each other on the backs, and Jacob grinned.

“Onward to the link!” he shouted.

Something rustled in the trees, making him pause. He held up his hand. “Stop!”

The group froze where they were. Jacob peered into the forest, waiting, watching, listening.

Another rustle.

A horn was blown, and suddenly, the entire forest on either side erupted into movement as hundreds, if not thousands, of Molgs, Dusts, and humans rushed through the trees.

“Fall back!” Gallus shouted. “To the city! To the city!”

Confused, the group scattered. Jacob ended up between Gallus and Sanso. The Ember God’s hands and feet were flaming, and every now and then, he sent a whoosh of fire behind him, burning anyone who came close.

As soon as Jacob got to a door, he whipped the Key out and opened a link to the Fat Lady’s cabin. He didn’t want to lead these creatures to Mendon, and couldn’t think of another door fast enough. Would everyone make it through before the enemy arrived? He didn’t even know where most of the others had gone.

With Sanso standing guard, flaming enemy soldiers who came near, Jacob counted all fifteen members of his group—Coren and Gallus included—before ushering Sanso through and slamming the door behind them.

They were safe.

The Fat Lady stumbled from one of her back rooms, and Aldo looked up from the dirty orange couch.

“What’s going on?” Aldo asked.

Gallus explained the situation while Coren started taking care of damaged armor.

“That’s the only link we know about,” Gallus said when he finished his explanation. “We have to get more people and attack again. We don’t have time to mess around, and we
have
to get through that link!” He rubbed his forehead. “How can we find enough warriors to face an army that big, though? Thousands of them came running out of the forest. We don’t even have that many total!”