The Key of Kilenya

The Key of Kilenya

Andrea Pearson

Copyright 2011 Andrea Pearson

Book design and layout copyright 2011 Andrea
Pearson

Cover design copyright 2011 James E.
Curwen

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal
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the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction, and the views
expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author.
Likewise, characters, places, and incidents are either the product
of the author's imagination or are represented fictitiously, and
any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events
or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Summary: When two vicious wolves chase
fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark down a path from our world into
another, his life is forever changed. He has no idea they have been
sent by the Lorkon—evil, immortal beings who are jealous of powers
he doesn’t know he possesses—powers they desire to control.

The inhabitants of the new world desperately
need Jacob's help in recovering a magical key that was stolen by
the Lorkon and is somehow linked to him. If he helps them, his life
will be at risk. But if he chooses not to help them, both our world
and theirs will be in danger. The Lorkon will stop at nothing to
unleash the power of the key—and Jacob's special abilities.

The Kilenya Series Continues:

The Ember Gods
(Kilenya Series, 2. Release: September 2011)

August Fortress (Kilenya Series, 3. Release:
January 2012)

To Josh.

This story was, is,

and always will be

for you

Table of
Contents

Chapter 1. Into the Woods

Chapter 2. The Rog

Chapter 3. The Key of Kilenya

Chapter 4. Maple Syrup

Chapter 5. Speed of Light

Chapter 6. Infected

Chapter 7. A Bucket Full of Nuts

Chapter 8. Mud Bubbles

Chapter 9. Minyas Up Close

Chapter 10. Macaria

Chapter 11. Grrr

Chapter 12. Storm's a Comin'

Chapter 13. Caves and Bones

Chapter 14. The Fat Lady

Chapter 15. Stone Barricade

Chapter 16. Deformities and Eerie
Lights

Chapter 17. Breakneck Speeds

Chapter 18. Bacon and Pancakes

About the Author

Pronunciation Guide

Acknowledgments

Back
to Top

Journal Entry

W
ould my father kidnap his own
daughter-in-law? The castle has been attacked and ransacked. I
suspect my father was behind it. We are trying to count how many
are dead and missing, and I’m heartbroken because I can’t find the
princess anywhere. Eight months’ pregnant with our first child—and
such a difficult child to come by, after years of trial and
loss.

Aldo and Ezra have instructed me to meet
them at their mother’s cottage nearly a mile from the castle. They
believe Princess Arien was kidnapped and that her captors will
demand ransom. What else would they want from the royal family?

J
acob tossed his favorite hand-held video game
onto his bed, then grabbed his basketball and dashed downstairs. He
paused, glancing out the kitchen window to check on his
six-year-old sister—still playing in the sandbox out back—then
bolted through the front door, eager to take advantage of the last
hour of sunlight.

“Hey, I wanna shoot too,” Matt, Jacob’s
sixteen-year-old brother said, popping out from under the truck
he’d been working on in the garage.

“Fine, but I really need this practice. So
give me a challenge.”

“Don’t I always?” Matt said, then
laughed.

They played a quick game of one-on-one with
Jacob barreling past Matt, constantly staying at least fifteen
points ahead. His last three-point shot won the game for him, and
he bent over, hands on knees, panting.

“Yeah, well, I can still beat you at
football,” Matt said with a grin.

Jacob laughed, then tossed the ball to Matt.
“Here. You need to practice more.”

“You still trying out tomorrow?”

“’Course—I have to.”

“Uh-huh.” Matt glanced at Jacob, holding the
ball under his arm. “You know . . . letting Kevin win at something
might not be a bad thing. ‘Sides, you could both make it.”

“No, we couldn’t. You know Coach—he’s not
going to let two fourteen-year-old guys on Varsity.”

A rustle in the trees next to the driveway
made Jacob look that way. It sounded like a large animal or a
person. “You hear that?”

“Hear what?” Matt was back by the hoop again,
throwing the ball up into the net.

Jacob motioned for Matt to stop, and took a
step closer to the trees, squinting to see better. The sun had set,
though, and the brush was too dark. “Hey, turn on the light. I
think something’s in there.”

Matt’s footsteps faded, then light flooded
over the cement of the driveway, casting weird shadows into the
forest. That wasn’t much better.

“Hello?” Jacob called.

Matt came back and stood next to him for a
moment. “Nothing’s there, man.” He dropped the ball at Jacob’s
feet. “I’m gonna go work on the truck some more.”

Jacob reluctantly picked up his ball and
started shooting again. After several satisfying
swishes
, he
forgot the sound, picturing himself on the court at Mountain Crest
High School, playing in front of Coach and the Varsity team. He had
to make it. He just
had
to. He’d never live down Kevin’s
teasing and Coach’s patronizing glances of pity if he didn’t.

Thirty minutes later, he dropped his
basketball, trapped it, and pushed it with his toe toward the open
garage door, watching it roll up the driveway. It bounced off the
tire of the truck where Matt worked. Jacob was ready for tomorrow.
He could do this—he really could. He just had to make sure he got
plenty of sleep that night and was warmed up before tryouts
began.

“Matt,” he called into the garage, “we need
to get Amberly inside and to bed.”

A grunt came from under the truck, and Jacob
pushed his hair off his forehead. He wondered what his mom would do
if he bleached the tips while she was gone.

Leaves rustled in the forest to his right
again, a twig snapped, and he jerked that way. A large form shifted
in the moonlight, then froze when he looked at it. Light flashed
across a pair of eyes almost level with his. He’d been
right—something was there! The form moved again. It was too bulky
to be human. Jacob stepped back, fumbling for his pocket knife he
kept there out of habit. Nothing that big lived in this part of the
mountains.

A scream raked the air—Amberly!—and he nearly
fell over, stumbling away from whatever was watching him from the
forest.

“What’s going on?” Matt asked, scrambling out
from under the truck.

“Amberly—back yard!”

They raced around the garage and jerked to a
stop when the sandbox came into view, lit by the back-porch light.
A large, black wolf stood over Amberly, who was sobbing, cowering
with her chin pressed to her chest. It sniffed her hair and
clothes, then growled at Matt and Jacob. Footfalls sounded behind
them, and they whirled—another huge wolf lurked near the forest
edge.

“What do we do?” Jacob said under his
breath.

At the sound of his whisper, both wolves
growled. The one closest to Amberly lifted its nose into the air,
then took a couple of steps toward the boys. Jacob almost stopped
breathing as he waited to see what the wolf would do. Intelligent
green eyes locked with his. He tried to look away, but couldn’t.
Neither wolf paid attention to Matt as he edged toward Amberly.
Jacob wondered if he should follow, but something in the wolves’
demeanor made him stay in place.

The gentle August breeze ruffled his hair.
Both animals sniffed the air; then stiffened. The wolf near Amberly
snarled and took a few steps in Jacob’s direction, then both leaped
forward, bolting straight for him.

Matt ran for Amberly, and Jacob made a quick
decision—his only escape route was through the forest behind him. A
small fence separated the yard from the trees. In a split second,
he hopped it and raced into the forest, looking back. Matt had
grabbed Amberly and dashed to the house. Both wolves jumped the
fence and loped after Jacob, and he ran as fast as he could. He
heard the back door slam, and Amberly’s screams were cut off.

Jacob’s breath came fast, and his lungs began
burning. He dodged trees and darted through tight spaces and
underbrush, hoping to lose the wolves. There was no way he’d be
able to outrun them.

The wolves’ paws thundered on the ground
behind him, and adrenaline shot through Jacob’s veins as he
realized how close they were. The predators growled and snarled,
but didn’t leap at him. He pulled out his pocket knife, not sure it
would do any good, but wanting something—anything—with which to
defend himself. The weight in his hand was comforting.

Stumbling onto a game trail, he veered to
follow it for a moment, hoping to maintain his distance from the
wolves. The trail headed in the direction of a small canyon. The
moon offered just enough light for him to see, and he searched
through the dark forest for a place to take shelter. Why hadn’t the
wolves caught up with him yet? He risked a glance backward—they
weren’t there anymore. Where’d they go? He continued running a
minute longer, just in case they showed up again.

The path became springy under Jacob’s feet,
the bushes on either side of him thickening. A rich smell of old
wood assailed him, and he looked up in surprise. The aspens and
evergreens had given way to maples and magnificent oaks—trees he’d
never seen in this forest. Was he farther now than he’d ever gone
before? How was that possible? He and Matt had thoroughly explored
these forests several times. For a moment, panic nearly overcame
him. He started to look for markers, familiar trees, other
paths—
anything
so he could find his way back.

Jacob’s foot caught on something and he fell
forward, his head smacking on rocks, the knife flying from his
hand. Groaning and gasping in pain, he rolled over. Lights flashed
in front of his eyes as he squinted, his head pounding, his breaths
coming in short bursts.

After several moments he pushed himself up,
moaning when something warm trickled down his face. He touched the
liquid and held up his hand. Without light he couldn’t tell the
exact color, but it looked like blood. Nausea hit him in waves, and
he put his head between his knees to control it.

Panic came, replacing the sick feeling, and
he pulled himself to his feet. The pounding in his head nearly
forced him back to the ground. He leaned against a tree and bit his
lip to keep from crying out.

Each breath helped clear Jacob’s mind, and he
was able to straighten again. Blackness was everywhere, and the
path was overgrown—he couldn’t even tell from which way he’d
come.