The Key of Kilenya (34 page)

Brojan was silent the rest of the way, and
Jacob was fine with that. His mind wasn’t clear enough to form
coherent thoughts, and he wasn’t sure what he would say,
anyway.

He felt like he was sleepwalking, and they
reached the tree quickly. Brojan left after making sure Jacob
didn’t need anything. Deciding he was too tired to bother with a
shower, Jacob climbed to the third floor, sank into one of the
beds, and fell into a deep sleep.

When Jacob finally woke, his mind was clear.
He stretched as far as his legs and arms would let him, then sat
up, rubbing his eyes. The sun was bright in the sky, and he guessed
it was close to noon. He heard voices downstairs, recognizing one
of them as Jaegar's. He grabbed the bags and went down the stairs,
crouching at the bottom where the two Makalos wouldn’t see him.
Jaegar was opening the windows, and the little, blonde Makalo
followed him around.

“No, Kaiya,” Jaegar said.

She stomped her foot. “Why not? I won’t wake
him. I just want to peek.”

“Mother and Father said not to go upstairs,
so the answer is still no.”

“But, Jaegar—”

Jacob jumped into the open. “Boo!” he yelled,
then laughed when Kaiya screamed and dropped the book she’d been
holding.

She jumped behind Jaegar, covering her
face.

“Hey!” Jacob said. “You look a lot
better.”

Jaegar smiled. “Yeah. Thank you—for
everything.”

“How’s Akeno?” Jacob asked.

“Still sleeping,” Jaegar said, taking his
sister's hand. “Come—Mother and Father wanted to see you as soon as
you woke up.”

Jacob sat at the table in Akeno’s house with
Kenji, Ebony, and Brojan. They were eating a wonderful breakfast of
bacon, eggs, and a type of pancake Jacob had never had before. He
felt refreshed and clean for the first time in several days–he’d
taken a shower as soon as he’d gotten to Akeno’s house.

He felt torn between wanting to go home,
going after Aloren, and talking to the Makalos, who were now giving
an update on Akeno.

“The redness on his leg has almost
disappeared, and the skin is healed over,” Kenji said.

“That’s awesome,” Jacob said. “Where are
Early and September?”

Kenji chuckled. “They came back after you
went to the tree last night,” he said. “We haven’t seen them since.
They’re probably pretty tired of being ordered around.”

Jacob laughed, rolling his eyes. “No kidding.
I owe them my life, and Akeno’s as well.” He rested his chin on his
hands. “The Minyas told us the humans came back. When do I get to
meet them?”

Kenji glanced at Ebony. “Soon enough—they
want to properly introduce themselves to you, and promised to come
back in the near future.” He pushed his plate aside. “We have more
important things to discuss.”

“But where are they now?”

“They’re probably searching for the other
Key—remember that two were created. Don’t worry, we’ll focus on
them at a later time.” Kenji leaned forward. “Right now, you need
to tell us what happened so we’ll know what’s coming.”

Jacob nodded. “Where do you want me to
start?”

“Where you last left off. When you went back
to see Gallus.”

It took at least half an hour for Jacob to
share what had happened over the last few days. He hesitated for a
couple of seconds after completing his narration. “Do you . . .
think it’s too late to get Aloren?”

Kenji sighed. “It would depend on so many
things, and since we haven’t been to Maivoryl City since the Lorkon
took over, we don’t know. From what you were saying about the
people who live there, Aloren might be diseased and deformed beyond
recognition by now.”

Jacob ran his fingers through his hair. “I
hate the feeling that she’s stuck somewhere in that disgusting
city,” he said. “I . . . I feel like I let her down by not turning
around to get her.”

Ebony’s eyes started to fill with tears. She
seemed to be doing a lot of crying lately, though he didn’t blame
her. “Jacob, that decision saved Akeno’s life. We know it was hard,
but we appreciate it a great deal.” An awkward silence filled the
room while Ebony regained her composure. After a minute she spoke
to him again. “We’ll help you remove her from that situation as
soon as we can.”

Jacob cleared his throat. “I’d actually like
to go right now. We can use the Key—my family doesn’t have to know
that I’m back yet.”

He hadn’t even finished talking before the
adults in the room were shaking their heads.

“Why not?” he demanded. “We can’t just leave
her there—every hour will make it harder to get her away.”

“Jacob,” Brojan said, “it's too great a risk
now. We don’t have enough information on Maivoryl City to send any
sort of rescue team.”

“I was just there—I can tell you what to
expect.”

“But not everything. Please do not make the
same mistake the Lorkon made in underestimating the ingenuity of
others.”

“But you can’t ask me to wait around while
she goes through . . . who knows what!”

“And as soon as the Lorkon realize who she is
and how she’s linked to you, they’re not likely to let her out of
their sight.”

“This is stupid!” Jacob said, throwing his
hands up. “You think I’m going to sit on my thumbs and wait?”

“You have to trust we’ll help you as soon as
we know more of what’s wrong in that city.”

Jacob growled in exasperation, but didn’t
make any reply. He didn’t agree with them. He’d be able to get her
out safely—he knew he could. And just thinking about the people
there—his skin crawled as he pictured the greasy hands reaching for
him and the disgusting, leering faces. And knowing Aloren was left
there—he couldn’t tolerate it. What if she ended up like them? What
if she was forced to live out the rest of her existence in that
dirty, disgusting, filthy place?

He scowled at no one in particular, not ready
to accept what they’d told him, but realizing he didn’t have a
choice. They had the Key now, and he wasn’t about to steal it from
them.

He forced himself back to the conversation
when Ebony asked him a question.

“How many Lorkon did you see?”

“There were four in the castle. Then there
were only three chasing us to the Fat Lady’s house.”

Ebony looked at Kenji. “That sounds right,
wouldn’t you say?”

“But one extra. There used to be only three.
And I really doubt Keitus would stoop to chasing a human boy, even
one with such great significance. He’d view it as beneath him.”

“Is Keitus the head guy?” Jacob said. “He’s
the one who wanted me to activate the Key. He freaked out when one
of the other Lorkon tried to hurry him.”

“Yes, we’ve dealt with him before,” Kenji
said. He took a bite of eggs before continuing. “He’s arrogant,
especially toward those he feels are lower than he is.”

“So, only four Lorkon?” Jacob asked. “What
about the one in the infected forest?”

“Five, then,” Kenji said, “which brings up
another point. Remember when we told you female Lorkon are rare?
Well, that was a slight exaggeration. We’d never even heard of one
existing before—just that it was a possibility. The Lorkon you saw
in the woods came as quite a surprise to us.”

Jacob snorted in derision. “Yeah, it didn’t
do me a whole lot of good, either.” He paused, a thought coming
alive in the back of his mind. “Oh, I remembered what she
said.”

Ebony’s face showed her excitement. “What was
it?”

“‘Danilo.’”

“‘Danilo’?” Brojan said, leaning forward.
“You’re sure of this?”

“Yes.” Jacob nodded. “What does it mean?”

“It’s a name of someone connected to Dmitri,
and I’m very surprised she even knew it. No one on our side would
ever have mentioned it.”

“Why did she say it to me?”

Brojan glanced at the other adults. “Kenji
and Ebony don’t agree with me, but this pretty much solidifies it.
If she is who I think she is, Danilo is someone who would have been
very important to her—someone she’d never met, but knew existed and
longed to know. I’d guess she’s been searching for a long
time—suspecting anyone who entered her forest to be him.”

Kenji bit his lip. “It . . . does make sense,
I guess. But I’d rather be sure.” He turned to Jacob. “We’ll be
researching her history and where she came from over the next few
months.”

“Speaking of Dmitri, I have another
question.” Jacob leaned forward. “He was supposed to be the next
king of the land. Both the journal and Gallus said so. But it
didn’t happen. I’m guessing that’s because the Lorkon took over.
And what happened to him, anyway?”

“Dmitri disappeared from among the
inhabitants of Eklaron, going through a link to a different world
long ago. There are rumors he’ll return, eventually.”

“And he’d never even heard of a Lorkon
before,” Jacob said. “How’s that possible?”

“Lorkon haven’t always existed,” Kenji said.
“They’re immortal, it’s true, but before they were Lorkon, they
were mortal beings.”

“Like what? Human?”

“Human, yes, or any other race, really. I’ve
never seen it, but I’ve heard that the ‘recipe’ for becoming Lorkon
is incredibly complex and dangerous. It almost never works, and
instead usually kills or physically destroys the one attempting
it.”

“Which explains why there are only a few of
them,” Jacob said.

“Exactly.”

“Why would someone want to be a Lorkon?”

Kenji waved his hand at Jacob. “Think about
it. What do you know about them so far?”

“They’re immortal, physically strong, and can
kill basically anything they touch,” Jacob said. “But, they’re so
disgusting-looking. I’m going to have nightmares for months after
yesterday’s experience.”

“To some, the advantages far outweigh the
disadvantages,” Ebony said. “Not everyone wants to be attractive.”
She motioned to the journal on the table next to Jacob. “How much
have you read?”

“A lot. I’m at the part where Dmitri just
rescued Arien. Kelson and those guys are all dead.” Jacob almost
stood out of his chair, suddenly remembering. “Kenji! You were with
Dmitri the whole time, and you didn’t tell me.”

“Yes, I was. Dmitri . . . he and I were
almost inseparable at that time.”

“Okay, now I want you to explain the journal
to me. What I’ve read so far, anyway. Why were the two journals put
together? A lot of information was skipped.”

“That was Dmitri’s decision,” Ebony said. “He
wanted to make sure that those who read his story knew he hadn’t
always lived in this kingdom, and that he wasn’t always a good
person. He didn’t feel the rest of the other journal was important,
since all it did was explain his travels to this kingdom, marrying
Arien, and the first few years of their marriage.”

“Okay, so this is what I’ve figured out so
far,” Jacob said. He proceeded to explain his theory that he and
Dmitri had taken the same path, only coming from opposite
directions. He couldn’t remember passing anything like the Fire
Pulser, though.

“No charred or burned land, or anything
similar?” Kenji asked.

Jacob shook his head. “No, nothing. How close
to the mud was the Fire Pulser?”

“Very close, actually. It wasn’t long after
we left her that we reached the poisoned mud.”

“And you guys didn’t kill her?” Jacob
confirmed.

“No, we just put her in the diamond
ball.”

“But where . . .” Jacob paused. “Wait! The
valley! It was beautiful, but I felt all sorts of negative emotions
there. I’ll bet anything that’s where she is—still alive.”

Kenji frowned. “How can you be certain?”

“Because of how I felt—for some reason I’m
able to sense things that others can’t. Like, I could see the Molg
in the cave, and I saw the man in the castle where the passage was
hidden. It makes sense to me. There isn’t any other explanation for
how I felt there.”