The Key of Kilenya (4 page)

“
W
here should we take the Rog?” Akeno asked
Kenji.

“Far away—to the other side of the farm.
Knock it out again so it doesn’t struggle while they transport
it.”

Akeno put his left hand on the nearest tree.
“Plug your ears, Jacob. We don’t want you to experience too much
hearing damage.”

“Huh?”

Akeno motioned at him to hurry. Jacob did so,
noticing the others had already covered theirs. A loud crack,
similar to the one he’d heard earlier, sounded through the air, and
the creature slumped inside the cage. Jacob shook his head. He felt
like he was in a blender—he couldn’t keep his thoughts
straight.

“Akeno, help them carry the Rog,” Kenji said.
“We’ll get Jacob up to Brojan’s place—go there once the Rog has
been deposited.”

Akeno nodded and ran to join the men. On the
count of three, the group heaved the cage into the air and lumbered
down the trail.

Ebony reached for Jacob, motioning for him to
follow her and Kenji.

Jacob stared at her. Her eyes were more
circular than they should be, the irises too large, and she had no
eyelashes. How did she keep stuff from falling into her eyes? “Uh .
. . it’s time for me to go home.” He looked at Kenji. “I told you
only five minutes, remember?”

“Jacob, you can't leave,” Kenji said. “Not
yet. Everyone is so excited that you’re here.”

Jacob paused. “How do you all know my
name?”

Ebony and Kenji glanced at each other. “We
need to take you to meet Brojan now. He’ll explain everything.”

Jacob nodded and reluctantly followed.

The Makalos led him back down the trail and
to the side of the meadow where a canyon wall loomed overhead.
Someone from above lowered a rope ladder.

“You first,” said Kenji.

Jacob raised his eyebrow, studying the
ladder, then shrugged and began climbing. He stopped when his head
was just above the ledge. His eyes widened. A huge, natural crevice
was cut into the side of the canyon wall. It was full of little
stone buildings—many brightly colored.

A large group of Makalos stood in front of
him, apparently waiting. Their average height looked to be around
four feet, and their heads and bodies were proportioned like an
adult human’s body. Most had blue eyes, though there were a couple
whose eyes were green, but none with Ebony’s dark hue. They watched
him closely. Several nervously whispered to each other, while
others smiled confidently at him. All looked excited.

The age differences in the group surprised
Jacob. Most appeared to be older, with graying hair and wrinkles,
and the rest looked as though they were Akeno’s age or younger,
with nothing in between.

A few of the men approached Jacob, who
continued up the ladder, letting them help him over the ledge. He
realized this area was a sort of gathering place for the people. It
was framed by small stone buildings, which appeared to make up a
market area.

The group of Makalos parted, letting Kenji,
Ebony, and Jacob pass through. Kenji smiled at many of the people,
and several of the women approached Ebony and whispered to her. She
smiled, nodding in reply.

Jacob did a double take when he noticed all
of them had something in common—their left ring fingers glowed
blue. How had he missed that earlier, while Ebony and Kenji were
working on his legs? He’d probably been too confused and in too
much pain.

After they passed through the group of
people, they followed a path—which skipped around holes in the
ground, skirted houses, and ran parallel to the ledge and the back
wall of the canyon.

Jacob stayed behind Kenji and Ebony, keeping
his eyes on the scenery around him. Above them were dark spots
where the Makalos’ fires had left smoke marks, and Jacob realized
how similar this village was to Mesa Verde, the deserted Indian
village in Colorado. There were only a few differences—painted
buildings, rather than all stone-colored. And people still lived
here.

Jacob was amazed at the skill with which the
houses were crafted. Drapes hung at windows made of what looked
like real glass. He spotted a couple of Makalos watching him, but
they quickly looked away. Children ran all over the houses,
climbing ladders and jumping across the closely-built roofs.

They walked for about five minutes before
reaching a small, red and blue sand-stone house. Kenji strode up to
the door and opened it, waving the others inside ahead of him.

The front room was dark when they entered the
house, a glow coming from under one of the doors at the back of the
room. Kenji touched his left ring finger to the wall, and a strip
of silver lit up in the rock. The light raced upward, where it
joined many streaks that crisscrossed the entire ceiling,
illuminating the room.

“Wow,” Jacob said. “That was awesome.”

Kenji grinned broadly, and Ebony smiled.
“Yes, it's how we light our buildings here.”

“Cool!”

The room was clean—mostly stone floors with a
few grass-type rugs here and there—but it smelled musty and old,
like the elderly lady’s place next door back home. Jacob wrinkled
his nose.

A door opened opposite from the one they’d
come in, and a Makalo entered who Jacob guessed was Brojan. He
looked much older than the others, had a very wrinkly face, and his
hair was gray, curly, and long. He was a little overweight, but
stood tall—though still shorter than Jacob. He approached Jacob,
hand extended.

“Jacob, my name is Patriarch Brojan, and on
behalf of the Makalos, I welcome you to both Eklaron, and Taga
Village.”

Jacob shook the older man's hand, then
followed when Brojan motioned the group to another room. The
patriarch sat at the head of a large table surrounded by chairs.
Everyone took a seat.

He leaned forward. “I’m going to get right to
the point. Two weeks ago an object was stolen from our village.
It’s a magical key and was made hundreds of years ago, along with
one other—which is now lost. This key was created to save a
princess from an evil king.”

“What does it do? Open a treasure box or
something?”

“Yes, every treasure box ever made, and
more,” Ebony said. “It’s a powerful instrument. When placed into
any lock and turned to the right, it makes entry possible into the
room—or box—behind the door, regardless of the spells or bolts
used. When turned to the left, you can go through any door,
anywhere, regardless of where you are or your destination.”

Kenji nodded. “Because the Key is magic, an
evil race called the Lorkon sought after it. They caused a huge
war, nearly fifteen years ago, which almost destroyed the entire
Makalo civilization. This wasn’t an easy feat—Makalos used to rule
over the lands and people in our world. Millions died. We're all
that remain.” He paused and stared at the wall across from him. “It
was horrendous. So much bloodshed and destruction.”

The room was silent for a moment. Jacob
couldn’t imagine a war like that. He’d seen things in movies
before, in his history classes, but still, it was difficult to
process. And it was obvious these Makalos had lost many loved
ones—the pain written on their faces relayed this much. Fifteen
years probably wasn’t long enough to lessen their suffering.

Kenji met eyes with his wife and sighed.
“Many of our loved ones were murdered. Slaughtered.”

“We hid here in Taga to protect the Key of
Kilenya from the Lorkon,” Brojan said, leaning back in his chair.
“But they were able to break through our protections and steal
it.”

“Our alarms didn’t even go off,” Akeno said,
entering the room, top hat in one hand and a book in the other. He
looked at his father. “We deposited the Rog on the far side of the
corn fields.” He handed the book to Brojan. “What did I miss?”

“Not much—have a seat,” Brojan said.

Akeno sat next to Jacob, smiling at him.

“The fact that the Key opens any door
anywhere isn’t the only reason it can be dangerous, though,” Kenji
said. “It bypasses links between worlds.”

Jacob frowned. “Are you telling me whoever
has the Key could use it to get to Earth?”

“Yes.”

“But why is that bad?”

“Because of the Lorkon,” Kenji said. “It’s in
their possession, and they seek power. Your world is far more
advanced than ours, and they want knowledge and technology. They
won’t ask for it—they’ll take it, and make sure your people won’t
come for it.”

Jacob smiled. He knew too many people
obsessed with their game stations to let
that
happen.
“How?”

“Violence. Murder. Destruction of
everything.”

“Is that possible? We have a pretty good
military in my country.”

Kenji shrugged. “There aren’t many Lorkon,
and yet, in a matter of weeks, they were nearly able to annihilate
the Makalo civilization. Millions died in the first week. So, yes,
they could do it.”

“If the Key’s in their possession, shouldn’t
they have already come and gone from Earth?”

Kenji shook his head. “We put protections on
it a few years ago, and they must be holding up. We don’t know how
long it’ll take until the Lorkon figure out how to get through the
spells, though.”

“What does all of this have to do with
me?”

“We need you to get the Key for us.”

Jacob paused. “Wait, what? You can’t . . .
There’s no way. I . . . I can’t do that.”

A sympathetic expression crossed Ebony’s
face, and she and Kenji exchanged a glance.

“We’re unable to get it, Jacob,” Kenji said,
rubbing his shoulder. “How many youth have you noticed here? The
war killed them all off, and those who remain aren’t in positions
to go on a trip like this. We’re old—slow. We need someone fast and
powerful.”

Jacob shook his head. “Powerful? You must be
confusing me with someone else—Matt, or someone. Matt’s captain of
the football team and he’s only sixteen. He can date any girl he
wants. He’s strong. And he figures things out faster than anyone I
know.”

Ebony leaned forward. “Jacob, you are not yet
aware of your abilities. A magic resides within you, waiting to be
unlocked. We want to help you find it—we want to know what skills
you have.”

“But . . .” Jacob paused. “Why do I feel like
I’m being used?”

“You are.” Brojan shrugged, then spoke over
the resulting noise of disagreement. “But only with the best of
intentions. Jacob, you’re a celebrity here. We’ve known of you
since your birth, and have watched you closely.”

“You have? That’s really creepy. How?”

“We have ways,” Brojan said. “Besides, you’re
the only one who
can
get the Key, since we haven’t been able
to get past the entrance to this part of Eklaron.”

“Oh? How come?”

“As you’ll see, when the Lorkon came, they
tore through the barrier. But they did something to the forest on
the other side of the entrance—weird things happened to us the
instant we stepped through the tunnel. Our minds were rendered
useless, basically. Thoughts of self-doubt, past fearful memories
were brought up. We think it’s because of our age, as it didn’t
happen to the younger Makalos.”

Kenji leaned forward. “Our people believe in
you—they feel hope when they see you. Didn’t you notice how excited
they were?”

Brojan didn’t wait for Jacob’s response. “And
don’t think we haven’t tried in other ways to get the Key—we have.
We sent Minyas to Aldo—our friend who stayed in Gevkan to watch the
entrance to Taga—but to no avail. We don’t know if he’s still
alive, and we fear to send Minyas farther than his cabin. Anything
could be out there.”

“And . . . If I agree? How am I not going to
die? This sounds like failure itself.”

“Don’t underestimate your abilities,” Ebony
said. “You really are more powerful than you know.”

Jacob slumped in his chair. Their confidence
in him was overwhelming. What would they do if he couldn’t get the
Key? “How long would it take?”

“Not long—maybe four or five days,” Kenji
said.

“I still can’t imagine that you guys wouldn’t
be able to do it on your own. I’ve seen what you can do. Akeno
knocks Rogs out, Kenji makes things bigger, and Ebony heals with
sap.”

“But if we can’t even get past the forest?”
Kenji asked. “There isn’t another way to travel—not without the
Key.”

Jacob rubbed his eyes. What a nightmare this
was becoming. “What about my family? How would we explain all this
to them?”

“We had the Minyas give Matt instructions to
let your parents know where you are as soon as they call in to
check up on you. And he’s pretty capable with your sister, isn’t
he?”

“Yes . . .”

“And your school doesn’t start for two
weeks—this is the best time for you to go, isn’t it?”

“I guess. But this could mean the end of my
NBA career—you know that, right?”