The Key of Kilenya (3 page)

“Jacob, how badly are you hurt?”

“I don’t—”

“He’s bleeding, Ebony—his legs.”

“Yes, I see,” the woman replied.

Jacob looked down and nearly fainted. Sure
enough—his pants were tattered, and blood fell from several gashes.
The skin on his calves and shins stung, and he could only imagine
how much dirt and rocks were embedded in it.

Ebony motioned to the boy with the top hat.
“Akeno, call Early and September.”

Akeno ran to a dandelion head that had gone
to seed, lifted it to his mouth, whispered into it, then blew the
seeds away. Jacob frowned—what an odd thing for someone to do. A
sharp pain in his leg made him look down—Ebony had ripped the right
pant leg off, exposing more deep cuts. She pointed to another
person. “Find Jacob a pair of pants and shoes. He can’t get the Key
dressed like this.”

Key? What in the heck was she talking about?
And who were these people, anyway?

She finally glanced at Jacob. “You’ll be
fine. As soon as we call Kenji, he’ll bring the Kaede Sap.”

Kenji? Sap? Jacob wanted to ask what was
going on, but Ebony ripped the other pant leg off. The pain from
the cloth rubbing against his flesh was too much. He dug his hands
into the grass on the side of the trail, trying not to call
out.

A bright flash of light distracted Jacob, and
he jerked away in shock. A miniature person—no, two miniature
people—
hovered in the air. Without wings
. He'd surely gone
crazy. How on Earth was that possible? He pointed at them, his
mouth open.

Ebony addressed the little people.
“September, go tell Kenji to come here as soon as he can, and to
bring a Kaede Sap package and a Rog cage.” One of the
persons—dressed in green pants—saluted her, a large grin on its
human-like face. Ebony turned to the other creature, this one
wearing a white dress. “Go tell Brojan that Jacob is awake and that
a Rog attacked him.” The girl flitted a couple inches away before
Ebony stopped her. “Oh, and Early, when you're done with that, find
Jaegar and tell him to get home at once—he’s in big trouble.”

The two creatures flitted to each other’s
sides, palms together. Their hands started to glow and white rays
swirled around them, spinning faster and faster. A burst of light
engulfed them and then diminished. Little glitters of silver
floated to the ground.

Had Jacob gone crazy last night when he hit
his head? Somehow he'd entered one of Amberly's pretending games!
Remembering his accident, he touched his forehead, confused to find
a bandage there. When had he fixed up his cut?

“You can remove that now, Jacob,” Ebony said.
“Your forehead is fine.”

He winced when she pulled something out of
his shin. “Huh?”

“I fixed it last night while you were
sleeping.”

He took off the bandage, gingerly touching
the skin underneath. There was no evidence anything had happened.
“You fixed it?”

“Yes. Now relax. As soon as Kenji comes—oh,
there he is now—he and I will have to clean your wounds, and that
won’t feel very good.”

Jacob sat up. A large—but short—man with
curly, thinning brown hair rushed up the path toward the group, a
package in his hands. He wore light-colored denim jeans.

“How is he?” Kenji asked, breathless.

“Hurting, but he’ll be fine. Let’s get
started.”

Ebony ripped open the package and pulled out
a jug, bowl, small pouch, and several strips of white cloth. She
handed everything but the cloth to Kenji, and started separating
the strips onto the grass nearby. Her eyes were very dark—darker
than most eyes Jacob had seen before.

Kenji opened the pouch and mixed the contents
of it and the jug into the bowl. He and Ebony finished their tasks
at the same time and turned to Jacob.

“Lay down completely,” Ebony said. “This will
hurt—especially since you’re awake.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Clean your wounds.” She pushed him down all
the way.

Jacob couldn’t see what she was doing, but
felt it when she started. “Holy cow,” he said and gritted his
teeth, trying to control the wave of pain that rolled over him.

Akeno took off his top hat, moving to Jacob's
side. “I’ll talk to him, if you’d like—distract him.”

Ebony nodded. “Yes, son, that would be
fine.”

“Jacob, what do you want to know?”

“I . . . ” He took a deep breath, trying to
ignore what Kenji and Ebony were doing at his feet. “I’m not sure.”
He felt dumb asking where he was, although he really wanted to
know. He'd run here last night, after all, and he knew where his
home was. Instead, he asked the next most important thing. “Who are
you?”

“We’re Makalos. We live here.”

Since when? Jacob had lived here his whole
life. “How come I’ve never seen you in school?”

“Because I don’t go to your school. I’m from
Eklaron.”

Eklaron? There wasn’t a city with that name
around here. Unless it was farther up north, and Jacob had never
heard of it before. He sighed to himself in frustration. His mind
was tired. He didn’t want to think about “Eklaron” anymore, and
relaxed as the irritation in his legs faded.

Just then, Ebony caused a sharp pain in his
left leg, and he winced. Of course it would happen as soon as he’d
finally become comfortable. He blinked away the sudden tears. Not
wanting the others to see the moisture, he closed his eyes, feeling
warmth spread across his face. Fourteen year olds don’t cry over
these sorts of things.

He tried to distract them from his
embarrassment by asking another question. “What kind of a bear was
that?”

“It’s a Wahberog. We call them Rogs. Usually
they’re not this dangerous, but Jaegar and his friends like to
tease them.”

Jacob scowled. Rog. Weird name, and another
thing he’d never heard of before. He thought he’d watched all the
nature shows ever made. Of course, there was no way he’d forget
seeing a show about a bear with human hands. Speaking of which, how
did
it get hands? Jacob mulled this over in his mind for a
moment, then sat up when an idea occurred to him. “Genetic
mutation!” Akeno looked at him curiously. “The bear. It’s been
genetically altered. Though I’m not sure how you guys pulled it
off.” A wave of exhaustion rolled over him. “Whoa—I’m tired.”

“That’s normal with the Sap,” Kenji said.
“You can rest, if you’d like. We’re nearly finished.”

Jacob shook his head, fighting off the
sleepiness. He forced himself to watch as Ebony laid a final strip
of white cloth across his left shin on a really deep gash. His
legs, where the wounds had been, were covered in fabric. She rocked
back on her heels, a smile spreading across her face.

“There! You’ll be good as new in just a few
moments.”

Jacob stared at her, all exhaustion gone.
“Good as new? What did you do? Give me a different set of
legs?”

“Just about,” Kenji said. “Wait a moment,
then take a look.”

What if they
had
given him new legs?
Freaky idea. But being taller would be cool.

When Jacob couldn’t wait any longer, he
lifted the edge of one of the strips and quickly forgot about his
height. “How’d you do that?” The skin was nearly smooth—almost no
sign anything had happened. Just pink stripes where the gashes had
been, which, as Jacob watched, faded.

Kenji shrugged. “We put the Kaede Sap on you
and allowed it to do what it does best—heal.”

“Sap healed me?”

Ebony nodded. “Yes. Your forehead, too.”

“Amazing!” Jacob lifted all the strips—his
legs were, as Ebony had said, like new. “No way. I can’t believe
it. Why isn’t this stuff used at hospitals? It’s incredible.”

Ebony nodded and glanced at Akeno. “Go check
on the Rog.”

Akeno left, and Jacob, with Kenji’s help, got
to his feet, astonished at how much his legs
didn’t
hurt.
He’d be okay for basketball tryouts today . . . then realization
hit him.

“I missed tryouts!” He stepped away from
Ebony, who’d reached to brush dirt off his shirt. “Oh, man! What
have I done?” He turned to Kenji. “The wolves! This is their
fault!”

Kenji frowned, concerned. “Technically, it
wasn’t their fault, though it might seem that way. I’m sorry.”

Jacob stared at Kenji. He was sorry? He
didn’t even know how important this was! Jacob paused. “Do you have
a phone? Can I use it?”

“We use Minyas,” Ebony said. “Much better
than—”

“Maybe Matt could go talk to Coach
Birmingham. Maybe Coach’ll still let me shoot a few hoops for him.
Maybe it’s not too late. Oh, I can’t believe I missed tryouts!” He
slumped to the ground and put his head in his hands.

“You’re understandably upset,” Kenji said.
“Here, eat this. Food’ll make you feel better.”

Jacob took the food and, without looking at
it, shoved it in his mouth. The taste of jerky was familiar—one of
his favorite snacks—but this time it made him feel like throwing
up. He’d missed the most important day of his life—of his future
NBA career. Months and months—even years—of practice wasted. He had
to get home. He jumped to his feet, but was stopped by Kenji’s
arm.

“Hold on a minute, Jacob. We’ll discuss
everything—including your tryouts—soon. Let’s take things one at a
time.” He paused when Akeno approached.

Jacob scowled at Kenji. “Fine. Five minutes.
That’s all.”

“Did you bring the cage, Father?” Akeno
asked. “The Rog is about to wake up again.”

Kenji pulled a little wooden box—like a
jail—from his pocket, opening one side completely. Jacob
smirked—how was that going to help? Was Kenji going to throw it at
the bear?

The Rog roared, awake again. It thrashed in
the net, and the men struggled to keep everything in place. Kenji
took several steps backward and stretched his arm all the way
out—straight in front of him. He made a scooping motion with the
cage, dropping it in the process. It disappeared the moment it left
Kenji’s fingers. At the same instant, a huge cage appeared over the
Rog and swept under its feet, knocking it inside.

Jacob jumped backward. “Holy cow!”

The men rushed to shut the beast in. The Rog
roared, grabbing the bars with its human hands, trying to break its
way out.

Jacob looked between Kenji and the Rog. “What
on Earth just happened?”

“You’re not
on
Earth, Jacob,” Akeno
said. “This is Eklaron. It’s a different world. Rules aren’t the
same here.”

“What do you mean, I’m not on Earth? You’re
kidding, right?” Jacob faced the forest. He was tired of these
games. “Okay, Matt, you can come out now!”

Akeno grabbed Jacob’s arm, pulling him back
around. “No. I’m serious.”

Was he telling the truth? Jacob bit his lip.
Could he be on a different planet? Was it possible? After
everything Jacob had seen this morning, he wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d
done something to his brain last night when he’d fallen.

A bear with human hands. Miniature people who
appeared and disappeared with flashes of light. Healing sap. And
Kenji just
enlarged
something! Jacob pulled his hair and
stared at Kenji. His mouth opened, then shut. “Uhhh . . .” was the
only thing he could articulate.

Kenji gave him a sympathetic smile.

Jacob looked back at the Rog. He tried to
swallow, but his throat was too dry. Finally he croaked out, “You
guys are telling the truth, aren’t you?”

Kenji nodded.

“I’m not on Earth anymore, am I?”

Kenji shook his head.

“Oh, man,” Jacob said, then sat on the ground
and put his face in his hands.

Back to Top

I
was able to return to the cabin shortly after my
previous entry. Upon a more thorough search, I found another note
in the cabin, this one left by Aldo. It was addressed to me, with
instructions to go to the nearest Kaith tree, which isn’t very far
from the castle. I did so, and found a much more detailed note
there, protected by spells designed to recognize me as the intended
recipient. It seems the attack wasn’t led by my father
after
all, but was indeed led by a group of evil creatures known as the
Lorkon.

Aldo instructed me to choose several trusted
companions of varying ability, and to embark on a journey to find
my princess, who, he believes, is being held in the land of the
Shiengols.

I have chosen Kelson, my closest friend. He
was one of my followers when I was living under my father’s rule in
Troosinal. I’ve also chosen Kenji, the Makalo. I’ve never known the
Makalos very well, but have formed a close bond with this one.
These two are each bringing along a few good men. In all, there are
eleven of us—six humans and five Makalos.

Several in our group have been affected by
the Lorkon attack. A few have lost loved ones, and three others, in
addition to Kelson and myself, have been unable to locate
wives.

Arien’s mother, Queen Ara Liese, is very
closely associated with the Shiengols and has instructed me to
bring one of these creatures for protection and guidance. However,
we have been unable to locate any on such short notice, and we are
in need of a Minya still. I’ve never found one I trusted, though,
so I am not sure what to do. We may have to use Arien’s—a sour old
Minya who hates me, possibly more than I detest her. I can’t even
remember her name.

Aldo’s note, similar to Ezra’s, also
mentioned the elements—fire, wind, water, earth—though with more
detail. He believes they will be used as a deterrent to keep me
from reaching my Arien.