The Golden Symbol (Kilenya Series Book 6) Page 13

  The Fat Lady was already shaking her head. “Just because an Eetu can go through a link doesn’t mean humans will be able to follow. They’re notorious for finding passageways where others can’t go.”

  “I know that,” Aldo said, “but this is the best plan we’ve come up with—it really is.”

  He looked so dejected that Jacob had to say something to cheer him up and let him know his thoughts were appreciated. “I personally think it would work, with getting the water being the only thing stopping us.” Jacob glanced at Aldo apologetically. “If we had more time, we’d definitely do it.”

  Sanso raised his hand. “So . . . Eachan and I have Eetu water back in Maivoryl City. And it’s fresh.”

  Gallus stared at the Ember God. “Why do you have it?”

  “Part of our plan.” Sanso motioned to Jacob. “Take me to Eachan, and we’ll get your water.”

  Jacob nodded, glad they would be able to try out Aldo’s theory after all. It was the best plan so far. But how did Sanso and Eachan get that water, and why?

  When Jacob and Sanso entered the town hall, Eachan was testing a water gun, opened packages littering the floor all around him. He grinned when he saw Sanso and Jacob. “So far, only three don’t leak. But that’s more than enough. It’s going to work, Sanso!”

  “Fantastic!” Sanso rubbed his hands, looking back and forth between Jacob and Eachan.

  “I’m not going to ask him,” Jacob said. “You do it.”

  Sanso told Eachan what had happened, then explained the new plan. Eachan started nodding. He grabbed a spoon from the kitchen and carefully poured a very small amount of water on it from an empty bottle of ibuprofen. He offered the spoon to Jacob.

  “That’s all?” Jacob asked, looking at the spoon. “I don’t think it’s enough.”

  Eachan raised an eyebrow. “How big is your Minya? Do you want to soak her completely?”

  Jacob shook his head, and Sanso took the spoon from Eachan. “You should conduct your testing here. The fewer people involved and the shorter the distance you carry the water, the easier it will be to succeed.”

  Jacob nodded. He pulled his Minya container from his bag, then let Early out. “I need you to do something for me,” he said.

  She smiled at him, fluffing her curls. “Okay!”

  It took Jacob only a couple of seconds to tell her what was going to happen—she didn’t seem to care about the Eetu possibly catching her, nor would she even be in danger’s way. She could fly out of reach, if necessary. But she flitted up and clapped her hands when he said she would get to travel anywhere she wanted for a full day.

  Jacob opened the link to the Fire Pulser world first, just in case. Then instead of putting the water on Early, he had her step onto the spoon and dab it on herself.

  The task done, she flitted through the link. Jacob shut the door, then Time-Saw to Sonda Lake as quickly as he could. A huge fish—the biggest he’d ever seen—swam to the surface of the water, then faster than Jacob thought possible, skipped along the top to the shore, then disappeared off into the mountains. Jacob squinted, searching through the mountains. Where did it go? He couldn’t have lost it already, could he? Had it already crossed over into the Fire Pulser world? Would he even know? He’d never Time-Seen there before.

  Jacob jerked his vision back to the present. “I lost the fish! It was too fast.” He wrung his hands, trying to figure out what to do. Then he remembered to use the sun to search for people and things.

  Jacob dashed to the window and looked outside. The porch overhang gave too much shade, though, so he flung the door open and ran down the steps, then onto the dusty street. He looked up at the sun, but it was so muted by the green air, he couldn’t get enough light from it. It occurred to him that the Lorkon did this on purpose.

  He would have to go somewhere else. But not back to the Fat Lady’s cabin—he wanted everything taken care of before he returned.

  Jacob Keyed himself to the tree in Taga Village. It was eerily quiet there—every available hand was with Jacob or Dad, or preparing the forest for the upcoming war.

  Jacob stared at the sun for as long as he dared, given the circumstances, then dashed back to the door and opened a link to where he’d sent Early.

  “Come back, just for a second,” he said when she flitted in front of him.

  She did, and Jacob shut the door.

  “Your eyes!” she said. “They’re all glowy and bright and pretty!”

  “Yeah, thanks.” He counted to ten, then, hoping that had been long enough, he opened the door back to the Fire Pulser world, letting her through. He closed the door, looked at the sun one last time, then Time-Saw, pulling back as far as he could until he saw the golden beacon that was the Eetu fish.

  Jacob zoomed his vision in on it and gasped when he realized where the fish was.

  It had already entered Taga Village. It was almost to the meadow.

  Jacob couldn’t believe how close he’d gotten to getting his Minya killed. He put his hand on his chest, breathing deeply, nearly pulling from his vision. He tried not to imagine the fish sneaking up on them, then snapping its powerful jaws around Early. He would never have seen Early again.

  Jacob forced himself to concentrate. He had work to do.

  The fish scampered away, then headed through the infected forest and past Queen Ara Liese’s manor. It dashed down the hill, crossed the meadow with the poisoned reca plants, and ran through the forest toward August Fortress, having no problems with the Argots. Jacob frowned, watching, wondering where the link possibly could be.

  The Eetu raced through the city, then past the fortress. The thing was unbelievably fast and Jacob nearly lost it a couple times more, even with it lit up. The creature scrambled up the hill behind the fortress and Jacob gasped, figuring out where the fish was going. The hill wasn’t a hill—it was a volcano. Was it possible the volcano itself was a link to the Fire Pulser world?

  Jacob nodded as his theory proved correct. The fish dove over the side of the volcano and down, down. Then it disappeared.

  Jacob pulled his vision back to the present, looked at the sun, then Time-Saw to the Fire Pulser’s world. He found the fish quickly. It was traveling underground through caverns with hot, steamy water.

  People were there—humans! They screamed when they saw the fish and jumped away, out of reach. Jacob knew what they didn’t—that they were safe from the creature. But he didn’t know where Early was in relation to the fish, and he didn’t want to take chances. He pulled back, opened the link to Early’s door, and called her to him.

  She flitted to him, excited with the urgency of this new “game.”

  “I’ll be gone for a while,” he said, shutting the door. “Just be safe, okay? Go wherever you need to go.”

  She nodded. “Just like last time, except the fish is coming for me and not you.”

  “Exactly.” He put out his hand and she hopped onto it, hugging his thumb. He brought her close to his face, glad the Eetu water was only effective against the first creature it touched. “I’m so grateful you’re my Minya.”

  Early beamed, then reached out and patted his cheek. “Me too.” She flitted into the air and twirled a couple of times before shouting, “Bye!”

  “Good luck!” he called as she flitted away.

  Jacob Keyed himself back to the town hall. “It worked,” he said to Sanso and Eachan.

  Sanso got up from the table where he’d been playing with one of the broken squirt guns. He waited as Jacob opened a link back to the Fat Lady’s.

  It didn’t take long to tell everyone what had happened. As soon as Jacob finished, they all started getting ready to leave for August Fortress.

  Gallus pulled Jacob aside. “Did it look like the link was large enough for an adult male to get through?”

  “Yes,” Jacob said. “I’m pretty sure—that Eetu isn’t a small one. And anyway, we have to try it.

  Gallus nodded, rubbing his eyes. “I agree. If this doesn’t work, though
. . . I can’t think of another way to buy time after the Lorkon return. And there’s obviously no way they’ll leave the link by the Kaith tree unguarded.”

  “We don’t need to worry—we’ll be fine.”

  Jacob was glad Gallus couldn’t read emotions. He was confident they’d be able to get through, but he wasn’t so sure that it would happen without injuries and even fatalities. He hoped not.

  Once they had Keyed to the door in August Fortress, Jacob showed Gallus the path the Eetu had taken. Gallus shaded his eyes, staring up at the steep hillside in front of them. “You realize the Sheingols built their fortress here for a reason, right? The volcano was impassible. We might die trying to get up there.”

  Jacob didn’t answer. He wasn’t going to argue when Gallus was probably right. This was their only option, but he couldn’t ask the others to go to their deaths. He turned to face everyone. “This is going to be very dangerous. Some might not make it. I won’t condemn or look down on anyone who chooses not to continue.”

  While waiting for that to sink in, he turned to Gallus. “Do you have rope?”

  Gallus nodded. “Of course.”

  “We’ll need it. Also, we need to find someone who is good at climbing, then have that person be in the front, leading the way. Once that’s organized, let’s tie everyone together. If one of us falls, we’ll be able to pull him up.”

  “So long as he doesn’t drag everyone over the side.”

  When Gallus asked if anyone was experienced with rock climbing, Trunt raised his hand. Jacob had barely noticed the man was there—he’d been uncharacteristically quiet, probably because he was supposed to get married after the war was over. But what if he died before the war even officially started?

  Gallus organized the group, putting Trunt at the beginning and Jacob in the middle, with Gallus before him and Coren after. Jacob wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not—both men were quite large, and if either of them fell, Jacob was sure to fall as well. He bit his lip, deciding not to say anything about the arrangement.

  Trunt went around, having people bind their hands with strips of bandages to help protect them from the sharp rocks. When that was done, he didn’t waste any time starting up the side of the volcano, and the next person in line was forced to follow.

  The path the Eetu had taken proved to be impossible for the two-legged humans, and Trunt had to find another way. He took frequent breaks, allowing those below to catch up.

  Soon, Jacob’s arms and legs were shaking. His hands ached from constantly having to grip and pull himself—the volcanic rock wasn’t forgiving, and if not for the bandages, his hands would’ve been shredded.

  Jacob paused on his knees after pulling himself over a large rock and wiped the sweat off his face. It was so hot, the sweat was quickly replaced, but he had to keep it under control as much as possible. He didn’t rest long.

  No one spoke, and at first, it didn’t bother him. But then he started missing conversation. He wondered how Matt was doing back home, taking care of Mom and Amberly. Probably just fine—even though Matt was more daring than Jacob, trouble rarely followed him.

  Jacob took a deep breath and put his focus back on climbing.

  They were nearly to the top when someone below screamed. Jacob felt a jerk on the rope tied around his waist and was nearly pulled off his perch. He struggled, trying to find a secure place to put his feet and deep-enough handholds. Nothing was good enough, though, and he started sliding. Did Coren fall?

  Jacob reached out, grasping, trying to find something—anything—to keep himself from falling. People below were shouting. His ears rang. Was he about to fall to his death? Were they all? His stomach clenched and almost emptied itself at the thought, and he avoided looking down.

  The rope slackened—they weren’t falling anymore. Jacob held on with his might, his feet slipping.

  Gallus called to him. “Take my hands—I’ll help you up.”

  Jacob latched on to Gallus, and with the man pulling and Jacob pushing, he reached the top. He scrambled to the back of the much-larger ledge.

  Coren soon followed, and he, Gallus, and Jacob helped the others up as well.

  The person who had fallen had been second to last. He seemed fine, but the man behind him was unconscious. Blood poured from a wound on his head.

  “Cloth!” Gallus shouted. “I need it now.”

  Trunt pulled out strips of bandages and Gallus pressed them against the man’s head. He motioned to Jacob. “Hold this here.”

  Jacob had been first aid certified in scouts the year before. He’d kept up on what he learned, so he knew to put pressure on the injury and not move the cloth.

  The man came to while Gallus was searching for other wounds. “My ankle,” he gasped.

  Gallus pulled the man’s pant leg up, revealing that the limb from mid-calf down was huge. Really huge.

  “We’ll have to remove his boot,” Gallus said.

  Jacob shook his head. “No, we can’t. Not until he’s somewhere safe where he’ll receive proper medical attention. The boot will support his ankle until then and it’ll be much less painful for him if he has to put any weight on it.”

  Gallus looked doubtful, but didn’t disagree.

  Jacob turned to Trunt. “How much farther to the top?”

  “It’s just over the next ledge.”

  “Good. Lead everyone there, and then you and I will take this man back down. I’ll Key him to Mendon where my mom can care for him.”

  Gallus shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to leave. If anything happened to you, your father would kill me, and going back down only increases the risk that something would happen.”

  Jacob didn’t even look at him as he added another bandage to the top of the one he was holding down. This man’s wound would definitely need stitches. “He’s not staying here and he’s not staying in August Fortress. I’m Keying him to Mendon.”

  “Prince Jacob, I must insist—”

  Jacob met Gallus’s eye. “What else do you think we should do? I’m the only one who can get him out of the fortress without making him walk or making others carry him a long distance. And don’t forget—the Argots still surround the fortress. We can’t leave him there on his own—he needs medical attention now. And we can’t afford to have anyone stay behind to take care of him.”

  Gallus searched Jacob’s eyes, then finally nodded. “I agree. But I’m going with you.”

  Trunt took the others up the rest of the way, then came back, and he and Gallus figured out how to climb down the side of the volcano. They finally decided to take turns lowering the injured man to each other, with Jacob helping where he could.

  It took two hours for them to reach the bottom. By then, Jacob was so exhausted, he was positive he wouldn’t make it back up again. But they pushed onward anyway, Keying the poor man to Mendon, where Mom waited, then returning to the fortress.

  Jacob drank a ton of water, ate some beef jerky and dried apples—lots of dried apples. He’d need the sugar—then they started back up the cliff.

  Much to Jacob’s relief, it only took half an hour to climb. But even those thirty minutes seemed agonizing to an exhausted, tired group, especially as the sun went behind the mountains, covering them in a blanket of darkness. When they finally reached the others, their hands had bled through their bandages.

  The top of the volcano was just flat enough for them to camp out if they lay in single file. Which they did. Jacob pulled his sleeping bag around him, careful not to mess up the new bandages on his hands. He hoped they’d all sleep well—tomorrow was important.

  Chapter Twelve: Melted Rubber

  The next morning, Jacob woke up long before anyone else. He’d been half awake the entire night, worried he’d sleep too deeply and roll over the side, or even sleep too long and embarrass himself.

  He started inspecting the way down the volcano, munching on a bagel, waiting for the others to wake. Not surprisingly, Gallus was the first up. The
man joined Jacob, and together, they tried to figure out how the Eetu fish got down the steep, craggy slope.

  Jacob ended up Time-Seeing off and on, then indicated to Gallus which places were safest. When they returned, everyone was eating breakfast. Jacob told them how they’d get down—one at a time, following the same person as before, but this time, they wouldn’t need to be tied together.

  The others were in better spirits that morning, maybe because they didn’t have to deal with rope tied tightly around their waists. They packed up and started. Several of them slipped a couple of times on the loose volcanic rock, but no one got injured.

  Jacob took his time getting up the courage to ask Gallus a question as they descended. Finally, he blurted it out. “What are you and your family going to do once all of this is over?”

  Gallus looked back, steadying himself on a large rock. “When the Lorkon have been defeated?”

  “Yeah.”

  He rubbed his chin. “Bezza and I want to move back to Macaria. Fix up the city and return it to its splendor. We’ve talked to many others from there, and a lot of them want to help.”

  Jacob couldn’t help but smile. “That’s awesome. I love Macaria.”

  A wistful expression crossed Gallus’s face. “So do I, Jacob. So do I.”

  They were silent for a while as they continued downward.

  “I used to think that links only existed near Kaith trees,” Jacob said, making his way around a huge volcanic rock. “So this is weird.”

  Gallus grabbed a root protruding from the ground and swung himself past it. “Kaith trees mark sure links. Basically, where a Kaith tree grows, a link is nearby. But links exist all over the place, as you found when the Eetu fish was chasing you.”

  Neither said anything for a moment, and again, Jacob toyed with a question in his mind. This one was of a much more sensitive nature, and he needed to word it right so Gallus wouldn’t read too deeply into his interest.

  He mentally crossed his fingers. Gallus seemed to be in a talkative mood—Jacob needed to take advantage of it. “Do you know what Aloren plans to do after all this?”