Rise of Keitus (15 page)

He and Akeno started down the massive brick road that led to Gratitude, which appeared to be both a forest and a city. Jacob couldn’t stop staring at everything. Other humans joined them on the road and Makalos were everywhere, smiling or waving. They walked with confidence. None had their heads covered and all were cleanly dressed. The Makalos glowed blue—Jacob had a hard time looking away from them at first. He couldn’t help but wonder why Akeno didn’t glow as brightly.

Their clothing was elaborate, but not pompous—bright colors, vivid decorations. The Makalos wore robes or pants and shirts with patterns that led the eye to their left arms and hands.

Jacob stole a glance at Akeno. He, too, appeared to be enthralled with the people around them.

They joined a steady trickle entering the un-walled city, and Jacob looked up in awe when they stepped inside. It was absolutely beautiful. Broad-branched trees grew so tall he could barely see their tops. They gleamed in the daylight, shining with multiple colors just like a prism. The greens and blues were the most noticeable.

Stone and elaborate wood, adorned with gold and silver decorations, had been used to construct the buildings. Stairs were affixed and circled around the outsides of the trunks. The city was almost completely integrated with the forest, which grew sparsely, branches touching each other and forming a canopy overhead.

Jacob tapped Akeno’s shoulder. “I thought they decided not to live in trees anymore.”

“They used to live separately from each other, every person in his or her own tree. Now they live as families. The forest, along with stone, is incorporated into their designs.”

The street wound around huge trunks and through a market-type area, intersecting several times with other brick roads. Jacob led the way. He knew the patriarch’s residence was at the end of this main street.

One thing that fascinated Jacob: the buildings weren’t cramped together, and there wasn’t a whole lot of undergrowth. Huge roots, several feet wide, poked up through the earth, glowing just like the ones that grew behind the Fat Lady’s cabin.

The street led them to a massive house which was built to circle upward around an equally massive tree. By this time, Jacob and Akeno were alone, approaching a set of Makalos standing outside the large wood-and-gold doors.

“How can we help?” the Makalo on the right asked.

Jacob realized they were guards. They were relaxed, they didn’t have weapons—he figured their magic was much more powerful than a bow or gun—and the aura around them was blue. It was hard to read their emotions because of the overwhelming color.

Jacob cleared his throat. “We . . . we’re visitors here and would like . . .”

Akeno stepped forward and took charge, completely surprising Jacob. He watched, mouth open, as Akeno explained to the guards that he’d never met Onyev and it was his life-long dream to do so. Akeno had always been shy—was that only around people outside his species?

Akeno finished by asking, “May we please enter?”

The guards summoned a Minya to deliver a message to Onyev, and the Minya returned with a positive response. Akeno shot a confident grin at Jacob as the guards opened the doors to reveal a huge room that ended in a staircase.

“Follow the stairs,” one of the Makalos said.

Jacob and Akeno did so. After a couple of rotations, the stairs led them outdoors. Jacob gasped—they were already several stories up, with a magnificent view of Gratitude City. From that high, he could see the patterns of the roots under the dirt. Makalo children were running around, playing with their dads, while women were gathered together, laughing, cooking, and caring for infants.

Jacob couldn’t help but admire the obvious happiness these people shared. There wasn’t even a speck of dissatisfaction in the air around them.

The stairs continued to wind around the tree, leading Jacob and Akeno indoors again. Then a room opened before them. At the end was a set of large doors with two more guards, who opened the doors as Jacob and Akeno approached.

Jacob fully expected a throne room, but instead, they entered a large garden with benches and flowers. The ground underneath changed from stone to squishy, uneven wood, and Jacob suspected they were now walking on top of one of the branches. A Makalo was roaming the garden with a watering can, pulling weeds. His hair and beard were silver, and he wore a beautiful, ornate robe made of cream, gold, and green. It was obviously Onyev.

Jacob nearly stopped walking. He couldn’t believe he was in the presence of the Makalo patriarch who’d created the Key of Kilenya. Whoa. Should he say something? He put his hand in his pocket, fingering the Key. He gripped it, almost pulling it out, but the pain in his chest let him know that wouldn’t be allowed.

Onyev turned and greeted them with a smile.

Just then, Akeno fainted, falling to the ground.

Jacob dropped to his knees by his friend. “Akeno?”

The Makalo’s eyes fluttered, then opened, and he sat up, his face redder than Jacob had ever seen it. “Oh, my goodness. Did I really faint?” He stared at his shoes, refusing to look at Onyev, who was approaching.

Onyev laughed, pulling Akeno up. “I haven’t had that sort of response in a while.” He stepped away, tapping his cheek. “You’re right—we’ve never seen each other. I thought I’d met every Makalo on Eklaron.”

Jacob found himself immediately fascinated by how the patriarch spoke. His accent was different, almost musical, and sounded like it originated in Africa.

Onyev looked at Jacob and then back at Akeno. “You aren’t ordinary people. There’s something very different about you.” He turned his attention to Jacob. “You’re part Shiengol—that much is easy to see.” He cocked his head, then took a step back and fell onto a bench. “And . . . wow.” He hesitated, then cleared his throat, probably deciding not to talk about what had been on his mind. “What are your names?”

Jacob waited for Akeno to take the lead, but apparently, he still hadn’t fully recovered from his shock. “I’m Jacob. This is my friend Akeno.”

He waited for Onyev to acknowledge them in some way, but he didn’t. He stared at Jacob, making him want to shuffle his feet and put his hands in his pockets. He refrained, though, remembering lessons with Azuriah about confidence and holding himself with pride. He was a prince, after all. But what was Onyev thinking? The colors surrounding him were confusing—Jacob couldn’t read them. They blended too much with the blue aura.

Jacob found himself wondering if he’d broken some rule or failed to follow a certain ritual in his introduction. His hands started sweating and he broke eye contact with the patriarch, looking at Akeno as an excuse. Akeno only stared at Onyev. It seemed he wouldn’t recover for a while.

Onyev finally motioned for them to follow him as he continued puttering around the garden.

He watered several plants before speaking. “As I was saying . . .” He hesitated again, then finally turned to face Jacob. “It’s none of my business, but since I know you’re here to seek counsel and advice from me, I’m going to say it anyway. Jacob, you’ve been toying with dangerous things you should have left alone.”

Jacob’s eyebrows raised and his jaw dropped. “What do you mean?” He thought back through all his past activities, and nothing bad or sinister came to mind. He’d only been focusing on his Shiengol abilities lately. “I mean, I’ve just learned to Time-See and Time-Travel. We’re not from here—we’re from the future.”

“Yes, that much is apparent. But in your blood is an evilness—one I’ve never seen before. And if I’m not mistaken, whatever you did to yourself had to be counteracted by introducing Rezend—Kaede Sap—into your blood.”

Jacob felt irritation sweep over him at Onyev’s assumptions, but then he realized that Onyev didn’t have Jacob’s history—he wouldn’t know why any of this had happened.

He looked at his shoes. “When I was a baby, someone tried to turn me into a tool for destruction. The only way my parents and the Makalos of my time could heal me was by adding sap directly to my blood. Since I was already part Shiengol, my body was able to overcome the evil influence. But because of it, the Shiengol blood in me, and Rezend, I’ve developed very different abilities.”

“Then you didn’t do it to yourself.”

Jacob shook his head, wondering why it even mattered. “Nor would I wish it upon someone else.”

Relief flooded Onyev’s face. “Good.” He handed Jacob and Akeno watering containers, instructing them to get to work. Akeno immediately jumped to comply, and Jacob had to hold back a chuckle.

After a moment, Onyev turned to Akeno. “And you. You’ve come from the future—how far have you traveled?”

Akeno nearly dropped his can. “Four—four hundred years or so. That’s what—that’s what we think, anyway.”

Another expression of relief spread over Onyev’s features. “I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see that the Rezend hasn’t waned from your blood yet. You’re still fully magical.” He gazed into the branches above them, tears welling up in his eyes.

Akeno started, half shaking his head. “Wait . . . what? Fully magical? What do you mean?”

Onyev regained his composure, turning back to Akeno. “You’re just as powerful as I am. I assumed that my decision to lead the people away from the trees and Silver City would force them to lose their magic over time.”

“But . . . we have. None of us can do anything like what our ancestors did. I ended up lucky and can do things others can’t. But overall, we’re nowhere near as magical.”

Onyev tilted his head. “If that’s the case, then someone must have introduced Kaede Sap into your blood when you were a baby. Perhaps your parents?”

Akeno dropped his can, water flooding over the branch below. “No! They’d never do that!”

“What about close family or friends?”

“No family, and their closest friend was Patriarch Brojan—” Akeno’s face blanched when Onyev started nodding. “But he wouldn’t have done it either!”

Jacob cleared his throat, and Onyev turned to him.

“Jacob knows something of this. Don’t you?”

He nodded and looked at Akeno. “Brojan told me a few weeks ago. He did it because of the Lorkon—because the Makalos were so weak. He felt it was the only thing that would eventually save us in the end.”

Akeno’s shoulders slumped, and a ton of different emotions registered themselves as colors in the air around him. Confusion, fear, anger, surprise, panic, irritation, disappointment. He didn’t say anything at first. Then, “Why didn’t he tell me himself?”

“He didn’t want you to know while he was alive.”

“And he called himself a patriarch?” Onyev asked, his eyebrows raised. “A patriarch doesn’t hide his actions.”

“Brojan was different,” Jacob said. “He was still a good person, though.”

Akeno attempted to pick up his watering can, but it didn’t seem to want to stay in his hands and fell to the ground once more. “But . . . you’re sure he . . . he did that to me?”

Onyev answered before Jacob could. “Of course. Can’t you feel the Rezend flowing through your body?”

“Well, yes, but . . .”

Onyev chuckled. “You wouldn’t know the difference, not having experienced anything else.” He sat on a garden bench, motioning for Jacob and Akeno to sit on the one across from him. “It’s apparent you have a lot of learning ahead.” He looked at Jacob. “This is the reason you’ve come to my time, isn’t it?”

Jacob nodded.

“Well, let’s get started.”

Another multitude of emotions raced across Akeno’s face, but panic won out. “Right now? With—with you? Are you sure?”

“I don’t know anything about your time, but if Patriarch Brojan felt strongly that a Makalo infant needed Kaede Sap put in his blood, I’ll bet your Makalo abilities are greatly needed.”

Jacob felt relief spread like warm butter through his body. He wouldn’t be the only one with abilities—Akeno could help. The destruction of the Lorkon wasn’t completely up to him!

“How will you train me?” Akeno asked.

“I’ll start with the journals written by our forefather, the first Makalo who was healed by Kaede Sap.” Onyev frowned, looking at Jacob. “But if I correctly remember the rules of Traveling, you won’t be able to take them back to your time.”

Jacob shook his head. “Nope.”

“Would you be able to leave Akeno here to study?”

Jacob tilted his head, thinking through what he’d learned from Azuriah. “I think so . . . but if something happens to him, he’ll be jerked back to the present, and without my help, it would probably kill him.”

“I’ll personally ensure he’s safe. We don’t have enemies—this is a wonderful time to be a Makalo.”

Jacob nodded. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll leave you two alone, then. I’ll come check up on him in a few hours.”

Onyev agreed. As Jacob left the room, Akeno shot him one last look of panic. Jacob only waved and smiled. He waited until he was sure he was alone, then returned to the present.

Chapter Ten: Research and Revelations

“Where is your little friend?” Azuriah asked. “You didn’t forget him, did you?”

“He’s staying back there to study.”

Azuriah grabbed Jacob’s shoulder. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Have you thought this through?”

Jacob hesitated. “I think . . . I think so. It’s okay, right?”

“It depends on how strong you are. Akeno is still sapping your magical energy, even though you’re here. Keeping him in the past requires effort on your part—he will only be able to stay there so long as you’re able to keep him there. And if you don’t retrieve him in time, you’ll both be jerked somewhere in the middle, apart from each other, and you’ll never find him.”

Jacob clamped his mouth shut. That was worse than he’d thought it would be. “What should I do?”

“Visit him every few hours until you’re strong enough to let him stay longer. For the next few days, don’t leave him there overnight. You might not wake up.”

“Okay.”

“And tell his parents. They need to know what’s going on.”

Jacob nodded. He’d been planning on doing that anyway. He was about to leave when Azuriah grabbed his shoulder again.

“You must start researching the Lorkon soon. Figure out where they originated so you can prepare to go to their country.”