The Key of Kilenya (10 page)

Stealing a quick glance to the side, what he
saw caused him to lose his balance and fall. The dark eyes of a
beautiful woman were piercing into his own. She was at least a
hundred feet away, but the trees were leaning over, almost touching
the ground as they bowed to her, and he could see her clearly.

The woman was clad in flowing white robes
that billowed in the breeze. Long, dark hair mingled with her robes
and fluttered around her in the slight wind. Her smile mocked him,
and it appeared that she found his situation humorous. Her walk was
graceful, and though she moved toward the house, when their eyes
met, she stopped and faced him.

“Danilo,” she said in a whisper, her voice
haunting, carrying across the large distance between them.

Akeno whimpered, and Jacob, distracted by the
woman’s beauty, realized he was probably squishing his little
prisoner. Tearing his eyes away from the woman’s, he saw fear
written all over the poor Makalo’s face. He looked at the woman
again and saw that she was still watching him, though now she
reached toward him, beckoning him to come.

Feeling an odd yearning to do so, Jacob got
to his feet, brushing himself off with the hand that wasn’t holding
Akeno. What was a beautiful woman like that doing alone in a
forest? There were dangerous things here, and—and she obviously
needed him. He could take care of her. He’d even clean the manor
and fix it up. Akeno didn’t need his help. The Makalos were
probably just being pessimistic about the Lorkon and their old war.
He took a step in her direction, but Akeno struggled in his arms,
possibly noticing what Jacob was doing.

Jacob scowled at Akeno. He was always getting
in the way, trying to make Jacob do something he didn’t want to do.
Jacob glanced at the lady, and she again beckoned.

He smiled at her. The picture she created was
one of serenity and beauty. He wanted to gaze at her and say
something intelligent to make her like him. He took a determined
step forward, but jumped when Akeno bit him and tried to
escape.

“Stupid Makalo!” Jacob said, scrambling to
cover Akeno’s mouth and hold him in place.

The pain made him hesitate, however, and he
frowned, feeling the struggles of an internal war. Something made
him long to be near the woman. But, then again . . . A gross
feeling started in the pit of his stomach and spread to his heart.
He blinked, his mind clearing, somewhat confused by the feeling.
Something so beautiful and perfect couldn’t be bad, could it? But
there was that feeling again.
Take a step back
, it warned
him. He growled, frustrated with the persistence of that stupid
thought, ruining his peaceful moment.

Finally recognizing that he couldn’t ignore
the premonition, he closed his eyes, willing his intuition to tell
him why he shouldn’t just go.

Logic entered his mind. The trees wanted to
be near her, and they’d been trying to kill him earlier. He scowled
and opened his eyes. She was still there, patiently waiting. He
glanced down at his arms, the scratches and scrapes from the
branches visible on his skin.

He sighed and looked at the woman again,
almost feeling wistful, and then saw the hundreds of snakes
swirling around her ankles. That wasn’t good. Snakes had taken him
to a room full of dead people. No, he couldn’t go to her.

The moment he thought this, a feeling of
warmth spread through his chest as a confirmation, and the bad
feeling started to leave.

He took a step back, stumbled, and almost
fell again. A look of anger crossed the woman’s face. Again she
beckoned to him, imploring him to come.

Shaking his head, unable to speak, he took
another step away.

This time a definite expression of anger
marred her exotic features. With a quick movement, she spread her
arms, raised her face to the sky, and emitted a shrill, piercing
scream.

Out of her mouth poured thick black air, and
thousands of flying bugs and beetles congregated around her.
Dropping her head, she directed her scream toward Jacob, and the
cloud came shooting across the distance between them.

No longer hesitating, Jacob ran in the
opposite direction as fast as his legs would carry the two
boys.

“Go faster!” Akeno yelled, still slung over
Jacob’s shoulder. After what felt like an eternity of fighting
branches, a bright patch of light came upon them, and Jacob toppled
onto the trail, skidding on his knees.

Jumping to his feet, he readjusted his hold
on Akeno, grabbing both their bags from where they’d fallen. He saw
the Minyas and pointed at them. “You, come now!”

They immediately flitted into the air,
following him as he turned to run down the trail.

The trees were now bending toward something
almost directly behind them. Jacob didn’t want to know if the lady
was there.

After running for only a few hundred feet, he
came to a crossroads. All three paths led into the forest, but one
led to the south and looked less worn. Without stopping, Jacob made
a split-second decision and chose that one.

Akeno yelled in fright at something behind
them, and Jacob, who thought he was already running as fast as he
could, put on even more speed, nearly losing his balance in the
process. He became aware of an angry, buzzing noise.

The Minyas flitted alongside him, both
looking terrified and urging him to go faster. The smell of dead
animals was nearly overpowering, and Jacob’s head spun from the
stench.

Moments later, he looked up from the trail
and saw the end of the forest ahead. Relief coursed through him.
Only that much farther to go—he could make it—he
had
to make
it.

With one final push, he sailed through the
last bit of forest at what he felt was breakneck speed. A few feet
after leaving the forest, the buzzing sound dissipated, and he
chanced a look backward. The cloud of black had stopped right at
the edge of the forest. There was no sign of the woman.

He ran a good two hundred feet farther before
he simply couldn’t run any more. He released his hold on Akeno, who
tumbled out of sight, and Jacob collapsed on his back in the tall
grass on the side of the trail.

After several breaths, Jacob realized the
scent of decay was no longer around him. And he could see color
again! He breathed deeply the warm fragrance of sun-baked grass and
wild flowers. Rolling to his side, he reached over and grabbed a
handful of the nearest flowers, pulling them out at the roots. He
shoved them up against his nose, hoping their sweet aroma would
crowd out the smell of rot that seemed to be forever imprinted on
his brain.

After several minutes when his breathing had
returned to normal, when his heart had slowed, and when he could no
longer taste or smell death, he set the flowers aside, sprawled on
his back again, and stretched out his sore muscles. Locking his
hands behind his head, he gazed into the deep, deep blue sky,
unable to remember a time when he was more grateful to see it.

Back to Top

T
oday we experienced the second element: wind. As with
the water, it was nothing like what we’d been expecting, and the
form in which it came was a complete surprise to us. There was no
warning at all, not even a wave of heat
as before.

We were following the trail, conversing,
when we noticed a nice smell. Kelson claimed it was his mother’s
bread and soup. Kenji believed it was maple, pine needles, and
mountains. To me, it was the perfume Arien wears. The other Makalos
and humans also listed favorite things. Regardless of what we
smelled, however, the effect was the same—we were made to feel
completely happy and at peace.

We continued our trek, satisfied and
content, and weren’t surprised that we ran into no problems as we
followed the trail.

However, after an hour or two of travel, I
felt someone pull me from my horse and drag me along the ground. I
couldn’t focus on whomever it was, nor could I clear my thoughts
long enough to remember what I was doing. The smell was so
pervasive that my thoughts were completely centered on Arien. I’d
even forgotten that she’d been kidnapped.

I felt water being poured over my head, and
suddenly my thoughts were sharp again. When I looked around, I saw
that I was near a small cabin, the owner of which stood over me.
Instead of fear, I felt joy as I realized who this woman was—a long
time friend of Ara Liese and Arien.

The Fat Lady—as she insists on being
called—drew my attention to the trail and my fellow travelers. I
was disturbed to see every member of the group standing still, a
complacent smile upon their faces. But what shocked me most was
that during the last two hours, we hadn’t moved an inch, and the
horses had wandered away from us to graze. How had they done so,
when we’d been riding them?

Once the members of the group had been
rescued and the horses rounded up, the Fat Lady explained
everything.

The Lorkon have created a type of
everlasting potion that they have placed in thick concentrations
throughout the area. Whenever a person enters the fumes of this
potion, his mind is confounded, and he—or she is rendered
completely helpless. What was most frightening to us was this—the
individual has no idea he is not continuing with his life, because
in his mind, he is. It is an invisible prison.

A
timid voice interrupted Jacob’s reverie.
“Jacob?”

He sat up, focusing on Akeno, who sat not too
far away. “Yeah?”

“Would you accept an apology? The way I
behaved was completely childish and . . .”

“It’s okay, Akeno.”

Jacob watched Akeno closely, waiting to see
if he was going to cry or start throwing punches. Satisfied by the
contrition he saw in the Makalo's eyes, he relaxed.

His mind drifted back to the forest. “Do you
think the lady has an influence over what the trees were doing to
us?”

Akeno picked at the leaves on his shoes. “I
imagine so,” he said, then scratched his head. “Good thing I have
another hat at home, ’cause I think I lost mine somewhere in the
forest.” He sighed and looked at Jacob. “Am I really so weak I
couldn’t even handle a few negative emotions?”

Jacob shook his head. “No, I don’t think you
are. It affected the Makalo adults, too.”

Akeno picked some grass near him, and Jacob
pulled the petals off a flower. He could tell Akeno wanted to say
something, so he waited. He hated awkward silences.

Akeno kept picking the grass. Finally he
looked up. “Why didn’t the forest bother you?”

Jacob thought back to what he had felt while
in the forest. He recognized he’d remained rational the entire time
. . . well, except while the woman was trying to lure him. But even
Matt would have given in under those circumstances.

He sighed, sprawling on his back again. Why
had
Akeno been the only one affected by the trees? Why
hadn’t they bothered Jacob? “Maybe the magic of your world doesn’t
apply to humans,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s that,” Akeno said. “But
you might be immune to bad magic.”

“How ‘bout we not do anything to test
that
theory.” Jacob wanted to avoid anything that would
cause Akeno to go back to how he acted earlier. He propped himself
up on his elbow. “Why weren’t the Minyas overcome by it?”

“The same reason the laws of physics don't
affect them,” Akeno said. “Their magic doesn’t allow it. Very
rarely do they come across something that does bother them.”

“We couldn’t enter the forest,” September
said, floating above them. “We tried to follow, but something
stopped us—perhaps a bad magic.”

Jacob sat up, shading his eyes from the sun.
“But what if we hadn’t come back?”

“Then we would have informed Brojan and
Kenji,” September said.

Jacob stood, facing Akeno. “We can ask your
dad about the forest and the room and everything. They’d probably
know why it all happened.” He spoke to the Minyas. “Early, take a
message to Akeno’s parents and Brojan, telling them everything;
then let us know what they say.”

Early disappeared and Jacob sat and pulled
food out of his bag. He was starving. After they were full, he put
the food away. “Tell me more about Rezend. How do you target the
wolves’ hearing?”

“I use Rezend to make a loud noise.”

Jacob laughed. “Gee, I would never have
guessed.” He rolled his eyes. “Seriously. How does it knock them
out?”

“Well, I concentrate on them while I create a
sort of shock wave that targets ears. The shock wave is really
powerful, and it knocks them out. It’ll target almost any living
thing, but if used too frequently, it isn't as effective.”

Jacob took a drink of water out of the
Makalos’ version of a canteen. Jacob stared at it. It looked like
it came from Wal-Mart. He rolled his eyes, smiling. They sat in
silence for a while, waiting for Early to return.