The Golden Symbol (33 page)

Jacob turned just as Isan’s head rolled away. He couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed today. So much death and destruction. It was so hard for him to take in—so hard to comprehend. He tasted bile in his mouth and gasped, breathing deeply, trying to get the bitter taste to go away.

Sanso blew out a long breath, swords down. “Sorry about the fire,” he said. “I’ll put it out.”

Jacob looked, grateful for the distraction. Not much had burned yet, thank goodness, and the Ember God extinguished it using his hands and feet—waving them above the flames, then patting everything down.

After he finished, Sanso nodded to Jacob. “Thank you.” He turned and left, not looking back. Jacob didn’t need to Time-See to know the Ember God was heading for the link to the Fire Pulser world near August Fortress. He blew out a breath—Sanso had turned out to be a blessing in the end, but Jacob knew he really wouldn’t miss the man.

The enemy soldiers waited to see what Jacob would do. He lifted his pole, molded the air into a shield, and motioned to them. “If the rest of you want to follow in Isan’s footsteps, by all means, attack. But if you’re more interested in helping me kill the other two Lorkon and joining Dmitri, the obviously stronger king, come with me.”

With that, he spun, walking in the direction of his house. He had to find Dad. His heart ached as he walked past the bodies that littered the forest. He refused to look at any of them. Couldn’t show weakness.

To his surprise, several of the soldiers followed. None of them said anything—they simply walked behind him, swords sheathed.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the house, and as they traveled, Jacob was shocked at how few enemies were left. No one was fighting anymore. Was the war over? What had happened? Akeno’s attacks had taken out a
lot
of Keitus’s soldiers, but not
twenty thousand
of them. Maybe they’d all run off when they discovered their leader wasn’t as immune to death as he’d professed to be.

Jacob found Matt in the backyard, helping carry injured people into the house. He dropped the Shiengol pole and ran to his brother, throwing his arms around him. He didn’t care who saw.

Matt laughed. “Glad to see you alive too.”

Dad came outside. “Jacob!” He dashed to his son and wrapped him in a one-armed bear hug. “We had no idea what happened to you—Matt said you ran off after one of the Lorkon.” He put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder, inspecting him. “Are you okay?”

Jacob nodded. “Het and Isan are dead. Ferron and Keitus are at the tree, last I saw.” He looked around the yard. “How is everyone doing?” Then he saw that Dad’s arm was wrapped and Matt’s thigh and forearm were bandaged. “What happened?”

Dad exhaled loudly. “It was really awful for a while there. I didn’t think any of us would survive.”

Matt looked at Jacob. “We were ambushed—the Lorkon sent their men, thousands of them, around the edges of the forest, bypassing all Coren’s men, and they attacked here.”

Jacob’s heart skipped a beat. “What? How did you survive? There weren’t many people stationed at the house.”

“Someone blew a horn,” Dad said, “and suddenly, they all ran off. We figured it was because Keitus himself was ready to attack. We’ve been trying to get all the injured people out of the way. But no one came and we couldn’t leave to find out what was going on.”

“Yeah,” Matt said. “The whole place was swarming with soldiers, and then it was just a bunch of injured people. No one even died—just injuries. That’s how quickly the horn was blown after the attack started.”

Dad grabbed Jacob’s shoulder again. “Where’s Gallus? Have you seen him?”

“Yes. The Fat Lady, Aldo, and I took him to her cabin. Isan spread disease all over the poor guy. They’re taking care of him—they have extra potion and he’ll be okay.”

Dad sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “That’s good to hear.” He hugged Jacob again. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” He looked beyond Jacob, finally noticing the soldiers who’d followed Jacob and now hesitated at the edge of the forest. “What do they want?”

“To join you. And to kill the other two Lorkon.”

Dad hesitated. “Wow. Help really
is
coming in unexpected ways.”

He strode forward to the group. Jacob followed, wondering what he was going to do.

Dad put his hands behind his back. “Thank you for joining our ranks. You will be paid for your efforts, and if you show true valor, conviction, and integrity, I’ll offer you a place on my castle guard.”

He paced, inspecting the men before him. They straightened, staring ahead, at full attention.

“If any of you have information on more Lorkon plans, I’d appreciate hearing them.”

A soldier raised his hand. “One of the Lorkon—not Keitus—was about to kill someone. He said it was his brother.”

Ferron. Myler’s brother.

Jacob looked at Dad. “There’s no way Myler would survive a fight alone against him.”

Dad’s grim expression showed he agreed. “Let’s gather those who are willing and go help. Time-See—figure out where they are.”

Jacob did. He wasn’t surprised to find that the battle between Myler and Ferron had already begun. They were in the forest, south of where Jacob had fought Isan. Just as he was pulling back from his vision, though, he noticed a flurry of activity up by Azuriah’s fortress. A
ton
of activity! He zoomed in closer. His mouth dropped.

The gardens were covered in dead bodies.
Covered
. There were more enemy soldiers pouring from the forest, rushing toward the garden area, but because of all the dead bodies, they were tripping, scrambling, unable to get to their targets.

And their targets?

Six Shiengols. Azuriah’s kids! Jacob put his hand over his mouth. They’d decided to fight!

He watched in amazement as the Shiengols continued leveling Molg after Molg, human after human. They combined their bright eyesight with their shields and skills with the pole, using all three to effectively disable all who came within their reach.

And they weren’t stumbling over the bodies. In fact, they were so light on their feet, they were jumping around, acting as if nothing was stopping or holding them back.

Reluctantly, realizing that Myler needed help, Jacob pulled back from his vision. He wanted to watch the rest of that fight! “Got them. Let’s go.”

Dad invited Keitus’s former soldiers to accompany them and they took off at a jog, following Jacob. As they ran, Jacob told Dad what he’d seen.

Dad’s mouth dropped. “But . . . Azuriah said none of the Shiengols were coming to help!”

“His kids came back ‘just in case’ Azuriah needed saving. Maybe they saw how well we were hanging on and decided to help after all?”

Dad passed a hand over his face as he jogged. “Regardless of their reasons, their timing couldn’t have been better.”

Pretty soon, shouting, jeering, and calls of encouragement guided them to the battle. A ring of enemies and friends surrounded Myler and Ferron. Coren was there. It looked like he was doing everything he could to help Myler while staying out of reach of the Lorkon.

Dad pulled Coren aside. “Report.”

Coren inclined his head. “We can’t break up the two. Ferron is toying with his brother. Anyone who gets close, the Lorkon infests with diseases and flings aside.”

Jacob looked—Coren was right. Men, Makalos, and Wurbies lay everywhere, sick, diseased. Many were dead already. Others struggled for air.

Dad frowned. “These Lorkon could have destroyed our entire army on their own if they didn’t have so many personal vendettas.”

Coren nodded. “And if they didn’t know about Jacob’s antidote. Word of it has spread, and because the enemy knows we can cure the Lorkon, they’ve all hesitated. Things definitely haven’t gone as we expected.” He lowered his voice. “Not to mention the fact that some Shiengols arrived and are taking care of a large portion of the army.”

“You heard about that?” Dad asked.

“Ferron said something about it.” Coren glanced back at the fighting brothers, who hadn’t yet noticed that more people had arrived. “What can we do to help Myler?”

“I’m not sure,” Dad said. “I don’t know that we can.”

Jacob pulled a syringe from his pocket just in case. He would be ready the moment Ferron showed any weakness.

The brothers both wielded two-handed swords. They parried back and forth, and Jacob shook his head watching. They looked like castle guards practicing. Why wasn’t Ferron acting like a Lorkon? With his immense strength, he could have destroyed Myler easily.

Dad put his hand on his chin. “What is Ferron playing at?”

“I don’t know,” Coren said. “Things got intense really fast and it didn’t take long for Ferron to . . .” Coren shook his head, gesturing with his hands, probably trying to find the right words. “To stop fighting like a Lorkon. It’s as if he’s forgotten how powerful he is.”

“He’s fallen into old habits,” Dad said.

Jacob hoped that was the case. If it was, Myler actually had a chance.

The size of the group watching the battle increased as stragglers arrived. Ferron finally seemed to notice how much his audience had grown. And instead of it angering and giving him power, he acted overwhelmed and nervous. He jumped from side to side, then forward, striking at Myler almost rashly. Myler dodged his blows, getting in some hits that even Jacob could have blocked.

Jacob needed to be closer—Ferron’s downfall couldn’t be that far off. He slipped through the people, syringe out, watching the battle closely.

Back and forth they went, Myler maintaining the upper hand.

“Come, Ferron,” Myler said. “You can’t possibly lose to me now. I’m your younger,
weaker
brother.”

Ferron growled, reared back, and struck at Myler with a roar. His sword clanged sharply against Myler’s, and the vibration on the blade caused Myler to stumble.

“I will
not
allow a shrimp like you to beat me!” Ferron hit again, and once more, Myler barely blocked in time.

But Myler wasn’t defeated. He jumped to his feet, concentration etched across his features. He attacked and regained the upper hand. Ferron was forced back and nearly knocked into Jacob.

It didn’t take long for Ferron’s greater strength to once again put him on the offensive. He swung repeatedly. Myler blocked or dodged all his blows, but eventually, the human couldn’t stand against Ferron’s power.

The Lorkon grabbed Myler by the shirt and swung him onto his back on the ground. He held the tip of his sword to Myler’s throat, but then he hesitated.

Jacob realized this was the only opportunity he’d have. He jumped forward, pulling off the top of the syringe as he landed. In two strides, he was directly behind the Lorkon. With all his might, he pushed the needle through Ferron’s robes and into his back, releasing the antidote.

The Lorkon growled at his brother. “I’ll do it. You know I will.”

Did the needle go in?

Jacob couldn’t tell. Ferron didn’t react.

Myler glared. “Because you’re a coward. You kill without thought.”

A wet spot spread out from where the needle had pierced, and Jacob realized it hadn’t entered the Lorkon’s skin. He’d done it again! Stupid, stupid, stupid! And now he only had one syringe left.

Jacob’s brain scrambled as he tried to decide where to stab Ferron next. He couldn’t waste the last syringe!

“Yes, I do. I kill lesser creatures, such as you.”

Myler scoffed, then saw Jacob for the first time. “Your boots aren’t even tall enough to cover your calves, brother.”

Ferron hesitated. “My boots? What are you talking—”

But Jacob caught it, and without hesitation, he stabbed Ferron in the back of the calf. Ferron shrieked, trying to kick Jacob away, but Jacob had already pushed the antidote into his leg.

Ferron dropped his sword, swaying, screaming, grabbing at his leg. Then he started quaking and shrinking. The poisonous blood left his skin. Somehow, he stayed on his feet.

He tried to pick up his sword, but couldn’t. It was too heavy. Jacob watched in satisfaction as dread crossed Ferron’s face. He looked at the group of people around him, who were now closing in on him. He recognized how outnumbered he was.

Then he leveled a glare at Myler. “Scum of a brother. You waste of flesh!”

Myler jumped up. “This is for Mother, Father, and Kelsa!”

He roared, holding his sword high, and stabbed Ferron through the heart.

Ferron dropped to the ground.

Then Myler did something Jacob hadn’t expected. He fell to his brother’s side and sobbed, holding the dead man, looking up at the sky. Tears poured down his face as he wailed. He called out his brother’s name over and over again, then buried his face in Ferron’s robes, clenching them in his fists.

“
Why
?” Myler screamed.

Jacob felt like crying, just watching. How would he have reacted if Matt had turned on him, had killed Aloren and, given what Myler said, Mom and Dad too? His eyes stung thinking about it.

After several moments, he cleared his throat, trying to get his emotions under control. It was hard, and thoughts of his family kept popping in. But there was still one Lorkon left.

Jacob searched the crowd for Dad. Many were leaving or helping injured people.

Dad was looking for Jacob too, and after wading through the crowd, they met not far from Myler. “Where’s Keitus?” Dad asked.

“I was about to look for him, but . . .” Jacob motioned to Myler and whispered, “I feel so bad.”

Dad nodded. “Me too.” He bit his lip, the deep blue colors around him showing his sorrow. He shook himself. “He’ll be fine. Go ahead and search for Keitus.”

Jacob Time-Saw and found the Lorkon in the Taga Village Kaith tree. He wasn’t alone—several men were with him. They were scanning through books and studying maps. Jacob recognized a map of America, and he ground his teeth together. Keitus hadn’t even won the war, and he was already preparing to rule Jacob’s country.

While Jacob watched, another man rushed into the tree. Jacob put all his concentration on hearing the conversation.

“My Lord, they’re dead. They’re all dead!”

“Impossible,” Keitus said.

“I watched the boy stab Ferron with the needle you spoke of. And we found Isan’s body.”