Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (22 page)

Jacob followed Aloren, stopping when he felt the wall behind him.

Aloren stood close to him, and Jacob could barely see Akeno’s outline on the other side of her. “Be quiet and no moving,” she said.

Standing as still as he could, Jacob tried not to concentrate on his awkward position up against the cave wall as it curled into the ceiling. He blinked a couple of times, waiting for his eyes to adjust in the near-complete darkness.

After what felt like forever, he heard a slight shuffling sound coming from the back of the cave, around the bend. Images crossed his mind as he tried to imagine whatever it was that might eat humans and prowl in dark caves. Wolves, bears, Big Foot, ogres, and orcs—all from books he’d read and movies he’d watched. He remembered the white monster in the beginning of
Star Wars 5
and wondered if it would have eaten Luke if given the chance.

The sound got louder and Jacob glanced at Aloren, barely able to see her in the dark. He grabbed her hand.

She gave him a quizzical look. “What?” she whispered.

Jacob put a finger to his lips and nodded toward the back of the cave. An expression of understanding crossed her face, quickly replaced by fear. She turned to her other side, and Jacob heard Akeno’s small, quick intake of air.

A few moments later, there was another shuffling sound, and a massive body came into view. Jacob pressed back as hard as he could against the stone as he stared at the creature that had entered the room. He was surprised at how much of the monster he was able to see in the dark. It was almost as if a light were shining on it, though there was no source.

It wasn’t as big as he’d expected it to be—it was only about five and a half feet tall—but it made up for its height in mass. Long, heavy arms hung from huge shoulders, and its legs were thick and powerful.

It had large eyes and very pale skin that covered only part of its face. The skin on the beast’s huge chin was interrupted by spikes that curved out and downward from the roots of its teeth. These spikes came to a sharp point about an inch below its chin and turned slightly outward.

The creature had no lips, and its teeth were visible. The incisors were sharp and pointed, the molars large and blunt. Food was stuck between the teeth, and Jacob’s stomach turned as he tried not to think about the human bones he’d found. Short hair stuck out all over the creature’s head and neck like needles.

As the three continued to press against the wall, Jacob risked a quick glance at Aloren. She faced the entrance of the cave, and her eyes were out of focus. She appeared lost in thought. Had she not noticed the beast yet? How was that possible?

Relief spread through him when the creature didn’t see them right away. It shuffled over to the pile of junk, bent over, and moved the coarse material.

Suddenly it stopped, its back stiffening. It lifted its head as if to sniff the air, then turned until it faced the small group that cowered against the wall of the cave. Jacob’s breath caught when the creature’s eyes met his.

For what seemed like an eternity, they held each other’s gaze, neither moving.

His breath caught again when he realized he was able to sense the creature’s feelings. Did the beast have the ability to transfer its emotions to other beings? It was confused at not having noticed right away that there were humans in its cave, angry at finding its things had been touched, surprised the human could see him.

The last feelings Jacob sensed from the beast were determination, stubbornness, and then another wave of anger. These emotions were caused by the gaze Jacob held with the beast. It was not used to small, insignificant humans defying it as Jacob realized he was doing. He tried not to tremble or show fear, refusing to look away. But he’d never had a poker face—there was no chance the beast wouldn’t recognize how terrified he was.

The creature opened its jaws, a hiss issued forth, and Aloren stiffened. This small movement caused the brute to lose its eye contact with Jacob and it looked at Aloren instead, surprised. The creature hadn’t expected a female. Taking a small step forward, it stared at her.

Aloren’s gaze was directed toward the bend in the cave, still unable to see the beast. Jacob bit his lip, trying to remain level headed. This was disturbing. It was an evil creature, and Jacob had recognized its emotions. What was wrong with him that he could connect with it?

He suppressed a growl, recognizing that if he didn’t maintain his focus, they’d all be toast. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to put aside any speculation on the matter. He looked back into the creature’s huge eyes, again sensing its emotions. A sudden feeling of protectiveness came over him when he saw its plan to get rid of Akeno and Jacob first, leaving Aloren for last—like dessert.

Jacob put his hands on the wall behind him, bracing himself against the cold stone. The wall warmed under his palms and an idea crossed his mind. He’d been able to mold the rock, why should the cave wall be any different?

Keeping his eye on the monster, Jacob dug his fingers into the now-soft rock. It gathered easily into his hand, and he pulled several sections of it from the wall. He started molding the lumps into a large rock, but stopped himself when another idea hit him—wouldn’t a sword be better? He and Matt used to swordplay all the time with sticks—if he got the weight close enough to one of those sticks, theoretically, he’d be just as good with it . . . right?

Squeezing and pulling, he tried to make a sword, but couldn’t get the edges sharp enough. Instead, he twisted it into a club. Not as cool, but he could at least defend himself and the others with it. He hoped it would hold its shape long enough for him to distract the beast.

He was surprised that the rock seemed to know what he wanted and went cold, becoming solid once more. Wow—that was awesome.

Jacob focused his concentration back on the beast’s feelings. Its anger had been replaced by determination. It hadn’t noticed what Jacob had done and Jacob moved forward, realizing he was, in essence, challenging the feral creature. The monster sensed the challenge, and a deep rumble came from its chest. Jacob scowled, recognizing a laugh. He tried not to think too much about the extraordinary strength the beast most likely had, focusing instead on the fact that he now had a weapon.

The creature dropped into a crouched position, getting ready to attack. Jacob felt a burst of adrenaline shoot through his body, along with intense fear. He took a deep breath, doing his best to appear self-assured.

Using his right hand, Jacob grabbed Aloren and pulled her behind him, pushing her toward the entrance of the cave. “I guess it doesn’t matter if we talk, since this ugly thing knows we’re here,” he said.

“It’s in the cave with us, isn’t it?” Akeno asked just as Jacob grabbed him as well, pushing him next to Aloren.

“Careful not to get too close to the entrance,” Jacob said, trying to sound confident. He was glad his voice didn’t crack. “There’s no sense in being attacked on both sides.”

Holding the creature’s gaze, Jacob strode—glad he didn’t trip—to the center of the cave, keeping the weapon behind his back.

“Hdakr djksla bi skr!” Low, gutteral words came from the creature’s throat. Jacob took a step back—he didn’t know the thing could talk. The words didn’t make sense, but Jacob could sense their malicious intent. His body was tense, ready for an attack to come at any second.

The brute took a couple of small steps to the center of the cave as well, then stopped. A long pause—was the creature waiting for Jacob to do something first?

Jacob closed his eyes, trying to figure out what he could do. Concentrate on what the beast was feeling—an obvious thing—but hard to do when he needed to figure out how to defend his companions.

A thought crossed his mind.
Touch its skin
.

Jacob opened his eyes. Touch the creature’s skin? Where did that come from? He hesitated, appraising the beast. Nearly every inch was covered in needle-like hair. Only its cheekbones and forehead were clear.

He looked the monster in the eye, trying to gauge where the thought had come from. The monster was concentrating on its hungry stomach about to be appeased and was amused by Jacob’s show of bravery. Jacob was able to see now that the monster’s main source of protection was its ability to remain invisible to its prey, but for whatever reason Jacob could see the creature.

The creature returned his gaze, shock registering in its huge black eyes.

Hadn’t anyone else ever seen it? And why would touching it make a difference? Would that somehow lessen the creature’s power?

Defending two helpless individuals from something they couldn’t see would be next to impossible, much less finding a way to touch the creature’s face, but if doing so allowed him power over the thing, he had to try.

Jacob was six feet away. He pulled the bat from behind his back and held it in a defensive position in front of him.

The creature sauntered to one side of the cave, and Jacob got the feeling it wanted to play with him first. He had no desire to give the monster any sense of enjoyment and put all his concentration on what he had to do.

The monster cocked its head to the side. Another laugh came from inside its chest when it seemed to notice the weapon for the first time.

Jacob tossed the bat from hand to hand, ignoring the brute’s laughter. He leaped forward, swinging the blunt weapon. It connected with the monster’s head with such force that Jacob almost dropped it. His bones jarring from the impact, he moaned when he saw that it didn’t even stun the monster.

No longer laughing, the beast grabbed the weapon and tried to rip it from Jacob’s grasp. Jacob, holding onto it, was swung into the air.

He kicked his legs, but couldn’t get the weapon out of the beast’s grip. Deciding instead to use it as leverage, he flung himself around the back of the monster, landing on its shoulders, the weapon falling to the ground. Aware of the sharp sting of thousands of needles piercing the skin on his shins and arms, he reached around and touched the monster’s face. Aloren gasped, and he heard an exclamation of surprise from Akeno.

They could see it! His feeling had been right.

Before Jacob could say anything to the Makalo, visions of the beast’s memories flashed into his mind—dark tunnels, fire, a huge city under a bright sky, a large, poorly lit cavern full of other beasts like this one, humans, animals. Then he saw one thing that would get them out of this situation.

“Lirone!” he shouted. “The beast is afraid of Lirone!”

The creature’s loud, responding roar erupted in the cave. It reached back, grabbed Jacob, and threw him across the small enclosure. Hitting the wall hard, Jacob bounced off and knocked into Aloren and Akeno. He jumped to his feet as the beast charged them.

Jacob ducked the creature’s massive arm as it swung around to hit him. “Akeno, you’re going to have to shrink it!”

The creature swung again, this time at Aloren and Akeno, who tried to scramble out of the way. They were barely fast enough to avoid being hit, and the monster growled.

“Hurry, Akeno!” Jacob yelled, attempting to kick the monster in the stomach, doing his best to buy Akeno some time.

The beast, in a quick movement, grabbed Jacob by the leg and swung him across the cave. Jacob slammed hard against a wall and fell to the ground. Dazed, he couldn’t get up for a second.

“Shrink it?” Akeno asked. “Now?”

Jacob shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Just do it!” He got to his feet as the monster came after him. He spotted the club lying where it had fallen and grabbed it, running to meet the creature. Swinging with his might, he brought the weapon across the monster’s head.

The creature turned on Jacob and shoved him over, growling. Jacob jumped to his feet as Akeno rushed toward the entrance of the cave, attempting to put space between himself and the beast.

Jacob turned back, hesitating, unsure what his next move should be. Nothing seemed to affect the creature.

The monster reared on Aloren, grabbed her around the neck, and thrust her against a wall, holding her a foot above the ground.

Anger coursed through Jacob, and he screamed, charging. He slammed hard into the creature’s side, surprised when the beast dropped Aloren and almost fell over. Without hesitation, Jacob grabbed Aloren’s arm, pulling her up and away from the beast.

“Shrink it!” he yelled over his shoulder as he ran with Aloren to the back of the cave. Turning around to face the beast again, he swung Aloren behind him.

The creature roared, making Jacob’s ears ring, and charged them. It smashed hard into Jacob, knocking him into Aloren. They both fell to the ground. Jacob threw his arms over her just as the monster reached for them. Suddenly it jerked and disappeared.

“Got it!” Akeno yelled.

Jacob grabbed Aloren’s arm, helping her up, wincing at the pain all through his body. “Run to the entrance!” he shouted to Akeno.

Akeno turned and ran. Aloren and Jacob followed, but Jacob’s leg gave out, and he collapsed on the cave floor. With Aloren’s help he lurched to his feet and, pushing the pain aside, continued on, reaching Akeno.

The Makalo yelled in surprise as Lirone’s explosions erupted all around him. He turned back to Jacob and Aloren, a panicked expression on his face.

“Put him out in the storm!” Aloren yelled. “Put him out in the storm!”

Akeno spun around, holding the monster at arm’s length, then threw it. The monster landed on its side in a small clearing about forty feet away from the cave, now large and fully visible to Lirone.

Aloren and Jacob grabbed Akeno, pulling him back into the cave entrance just as Lirone sent a ball of flame smashing toward the ground where Akeno had been standing.

Jacob looked over his shoulder as they turned and ran the length of the cave. The monster jumped to its feet and roared, starting to charge.

“Come on, Lirone, come on!” Jacob said.

The monster bellowed again, but the din was cut off. Jacob glanced back in time to see the aftereffects of an explosion. The monster was no longer there.

They stopped and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.