The Golden Symbol (Kilenya Series Book 6) Page 14

  “She’s going to continue living in the Taga Village tree—she’s grown accustomed to it and all her things are there.”

  That made sense. Jacob was about to ask what Gallus thought of that when he realized Gallus wanted to say something. And judging by the colors in the air around the man, it was another sensitive subject. Jacob felt his hands start to sweat, burning his sores.

  Finally, after several moments of Jacob being extremely patient, Gallus cleared his throat. “So, uh . . . have you spoken with her?”

  Jacob waited a second before answering, not wanting to seem too eager. “About what?”

  Gallus wiped off his hands, then took a drink from his canteen. He looked back up the way they’d come, and Jacob glanced too. He was disappointed it wasn’t more than one hundred feet. He felt like they’d been going forever.

  Coren wasn’t far behind, but was talking to another man. That made Jacob happy—he didn’t want anyone overhearing this conversation.

  Finally, Gallus responded. “About you and her.”

  Jacob’s cheeks burned. How to answer? Of course he hadn’t talked to Aloren about anything. But he couldn’t just say that—Gallus might get offended, or might get the wrong idea. And Jacob didn’t want word going back to Aloren that he wasn’t interested.

  Jacob wasn’t sure how Gallus interpreted his silence, but the man rushed on. “I don’t want to push you into anything. But you should know she’s in love with you.”

  Now Jacob’s ears, neck, arms—everything was burning. He definitely did not want to be having this conversation! But then . . . he turned from Gallus when a grin spread across his face. Aloren was in love with him? Wow. Part of him was celebrating, the other part a little freaked out. Love was a strong word.

  “Um . . . I, uh, I like her too,” Jacob stuttered out. What was he supposed to say? That he loved her back? Ack! No way! He quickly changed the subject. “She seems to enjoy being a student on Earth.”

  “Oh, yes,” Gallus said, “quite a lot. She tells me the things she’s learning, and I’m happy for her.” He quieted for a moment. “I think she’s considering staying on Earth permanently. I don’t know how I feel about that.”

  Jacob didn’t say anything—he was surprised that Gallus was sharing this much with him. Usually the man was all business, never emotions or personal life.

  “She’s like a daughter to me—you know that. And I want her to have the best. This is a fantastic opportunity for her. But I’ll miss her. And Bezza will miss her.”

  Gallus abruptly strode forward, putting an end to the conversation. The colors around him confirmed that he was having a hard time controlling his emotions, so Jacob didn’t push anything. He trailed behind, finding it impossible to keep up with the man. Gallus was much stronger and a lot taller.

  Twenty minutes later, they reached the bottom of the volcano and Jacob Time-Saw, wanting to make sure the way the Eetu had gone was clear. It was an entrance to a cave that looked like it was going to be tight, especially for Gallus and Coren.

  Trunt volunteered to go first, and the others watched as he squirmed into the opening. He was gone for several minutes and Jacob fidgeted, wiping the sweat off his face and neck. What if Trunt died? Would they even know? Would they be able to find his body? The steam and heat coming from the hole made Jacob worry that they were much closer to the Fire Pulsers than he’d originally thought. He had to be wrong, though—this was just the link to the other world, not to the Fire Pulsers themselves.

  Right when Jacob was about to send someone after Trunt, the man returned.

  “The way is not long, but it’s tight in places and treacherous in others. We’ll need to go one at a time.” He scratched his head, studying everyone. “I propose that we change the order of things and have Gallus and Coren follow me. They’re the largest men here, and I’d rather get them through before attempting it with anyone else. The three of us could then take turns coaching the rest, if that’s all right with you, Your Highness.”

  He looked at Jacob, and Jacob nodded. That was fine with him. But he was preoccupied with something. This was the first time people had consistently referred to him as “Your Highness.” Had Dad said something? He must have—this just wasn’t usual.

  Trunt was to go first, then Gallus, then Coren. Jacob was after Coren, and he waited for the man to call for him to head down. Trunt had refused to tell anyone what to expect—he said the anticipation would make it worse. Jacob wasn’t so sure. His imagination was full of flames and scorched people, none of which was probably true. He hoped.

  Then Coren yelled back for Jacob to enter. Jacob got down on all fours and crawled through the first part. He could hear the blacksmith, but couldn’t see him. He couldn’t see much of anything, actually.

  “You’re going through the tightest section now,” Coren said. “Just keep going—don’t panic. It opens up soon and will be tall enough for you to stand.”

  The sides and ceiling of the cave eventually forced Jacob to army crawl, using his hands, elbows, and occasionally knees to gain enough leverage to move. He couldn’t believe that both Gallus and Coren had made it through.

  A blast of steam hit him in the face and he yelled in surprise. It burned! Oh, it burned. His throat dried out and he couldn’t swallow. Air! He needed air. Jacob fought the panic that rose in him.

  “Calm, Jacob, calm. Relax—the air will come. The steam will too, many more times. Just hold your breath and turn away. You’re doing great.”

  Jacob focused on Coren’s voice, on what he’d said. Wait a second. Doing great? “How can you tell when you can’t even see me?”

  Coren hesitated, then chuckled. “You make an excellent point, Your Highness.”

  Jacob relaxed for a moment, taking a break. He forced himself to breathe normally, to swallow as saliva entered his mouth. It wasn’t much, but helped relieve his parched throat.

  Then he continued forward. He’d army crawled maybe five feet when the sides spread away by two feet and the ceiling rose at least seven. A crude tunnel opened up for twenty yards, leading downward at a slight slope. Coren was there at the end, waiting. Jacob stood, stretched, and began walking forward, but Coren waved his hands in panic.

  “Stop, stop! The ground is unstable. Only stand on the sections that are the darkest. The others will cave beneath you.”

  Jacob looked down, surprised to see that what had once appeared to be smooth rock was obviously riddled with holes, now that he was close up. How’d he not noticed that before?

  The darkest sections were only a couple of inches across.

  “How am I supposed to do this? There isn’t enough standing room!”

  Gallus laughed from around the corner of the tunnel. “I believe it’s called tippy-toeing in your culture. You’ll do fine.”

  Jacob rolled his eyes. Easy for Gallus to say when he’d already gotten across. Jacob took his first step, thinking about a scene from an Indiana Jones movie. What would happen if he stepped on a less-secure section? Would he fall through, his legs dangling as he tried to grab on to something to pull himself up?

  He’d reached the halfway point when he had his question answered. His calves had started burning from standing on his tiptoes the whole way, and without his permission, his left leg relaxed a hair too much. His heel crumbled through a patch of light gray rock and a searing heat blasted up into the tunnel, singeing him, forcing him to cover his face to protect it from the steam. He scrambled forward to the next black section and looked back.

  The lighter rock was burning red. Had he really been that close to lava? How had he not been fried to death? As he watched, the redness dissipated, and the rock turned back to gray. Jacob waited a moment, but his calves couldn’t handle the pain any longer. He took a deep breath, then started forward again. He was tempted to take a break and inspect himself for injuries, but knew that the only harm he’d received would be first-degree burns from the steam.

  Without further problem, he crossed the rest of th
e tunnel and turned the corner. A huge cavern opened up before him, lit by streams of flaming lava. The lava was just far enough away that it didn’t hurt, but the air was still uncomfortably hot.

  Gallus, Coren, and Trunt all had lit torches. They waved Jacob to them, and Trunt went back to start coaching the next person.

  Gallus clapped Jacob on the shoulder. “Well done. That wasn’t so bad, right?”

  Jacob snorted, inspecting himself. “My arm hairs are all singed.” He looked up at Gallus. “How does my face look?”

  Gallus chuckled. “Pretty much hairless. Too bad your eyebrows and eyelashes will grow back—this is a great look for you.”

  Jacob rolled his eyes, but smiled at Gallus’s joke, then sat, deciding to take a break while waiting for the others. The rock beneath him was warm, but not enough to burn him. From his visions, he knew that people lived just around the corner up ahead. He didn’t know how they survived with the constant heat down here.

  His left heel began to burn, and in a rush to get rid of the unpleasant feeling, Jacob kicked his shoe off. He hadn’t been doing anything—why would his foot start burning like that? Then he saw—the rubber sole had melted almost completely away from when he’d stepped in the wrong spot earlier. The heat had taken that long to reach his skin. His sock was sticky from the rubber.

  Jacob set his shoe aside, hoping it would cool enough to wear again. There was no way he’d walk with only one shoe in this hot place. In fact, with the lava so close, they shouldn’t even be alive.

  He looked up at Gallus. “Why haven’t we melted to death yet?”

  Gallus switched his torch to his other hand so he could see Jacob better. “The caverns here are protected by magic, as is the link.” He pointed to a drawing on the cave wall. It was the trident with the sun on it that the Shiengols had etched into the walls of August Fortress and had painted on their faces. “Judging by those, I’d be inclined to believe that the Shiengols used to come down here frequently. They probably had Makalos do something to the place so the heat wouldn’t be unbearable.”

  He sat on the ground near Jacob and leaned back, torch still in hand. “I wonder what happened to make the Shiengols stop coming. Didn’t you say that Azuriah wouldn’t be welcome on this world?”

  Jacob nodded. “He didn’t say why, though.” What could the reason be? Things must have gone wrong between the Shiengols and . . . who? The humans? The Fire Pulsers? Some other race or creature that lived here?

  Sanso was the last one through. He jumped out of the tunnel, a huge grin on his face. “I haven’t felt this wonderful in years!” he said.

  If the grin hadn’t been enough to show his excitement, Jacob would have been convinced by the bright green surrounding the Ember God. Of course Sanso would love the heat.

  Jacob made sure everyone was ready, then faced the huge cavern in front of them. “Let’s keep going.”

  He alternated between Time-Seeing and walking. The path the Eetu took through this first section of the cave was complicated, and the cave was riddled with holes. Upon closer inspection, Jacob and Gallus noticed that the holes seemed to be manmade. It was obvious they’d been chiseled and hacked at with metal tools. But why?

  Looking around, they saw that the ceiling and walls had also been cut away. This room was once much smaller than it was now. Maybe the people were planning to move here and had to enlarge it?

  Before entering the next area, Jacob turned to the others. “We’ll be running into humans pretty soon. I have no idea what their customs are, so I can’t warn you about anything. We should stay close together, just in case.”

  Everyone nodded, and Jacob was glad to see that they were taking him seriously.

  “And Sanso,” he said, “you stay in the back for now. I don’t want them to freak out by seeing you first.”

  Sanso gave Jacob a half salute and Jacob took a deep breath, then walked through the short passageway to the next cavern.

  Chapter Thirteen: Maldok

  The first person they encountered in the cavern was a woman. She jumped when she saw them, then turned and ran. She was hideous, and for a moment, Jacob thought it was because she’d been burned at some point. But as they continued forward and met more people, he realized this was how they all looked, with thick, dark, almost leathery skin that was heavily calloused. Some sections of the skin were cracking.

  They also had yellow eyes. Jacob couldn’t help but stare—it was really creepy. The skin made sense, given the world they lived on . . . but the eyes? Where did those come from?

  Gallus and Jacob had decided ahead of time that Gallus would represent the group. Jacob really didn’t want to have to go through all of the introductions with him as prince, and now that he saw the people, he was glad he and Gallus had made that choice, because they acted more comfortable around Gallus than they did around the lighter-skinned people.

  A large group of people gathered, watching the newcomers, and Jacob found himself wondering how long it had been since they’d had visitors. Apart from the Lorkon, of course.

  “I’d like to speak with your leader,” Gallus said to them.

  No one said anything—they just stared.

  “Who’s in charge here? Do any of you speak English?” Gallus then switched to another language, probably asking the same questions, but still, no one said anything.

  Gallus turned back to his group. “Uh . . . this mission is going to fail unless we figure out a way to communicate with them.”

  Sanso rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

  The people gasped when they saw him.

  “Here we go,” Jacob whispered. He met eyes with Gallus, who looked just as annoyed as Jacob felt. What was Sanso doing? He was going to ruin everything!

  The people were scattering, holding up their hands in fright, protecting their children. Sanso said something in a completely different-sounding language. It was so foreign, Jacob couldn’t even begin to tell what languages from Earth it might have been like. It was slippery and crackly. The Ember God used mouth noises along with vowels and consonants.

  But as he talked, the people paused to listen. In fact, Jacob was relieved to see that their emotion colors were changing to light blue—calm.

  “Whatever you’re doing, Sanso, it’s working,” Jacob said.

  Sanso flipped his hair out of his face. “Of course it is. I’m royalty here, even if they hate me.” He turned back to the group, then motioned to Jacob.

  The people all lowered their heads, then dropped to one knee.

  “Sanso . . .” Jacob said with exasperation. “We weren’t going to tell them who I am.”

  “Oh, weren’t we? Oops.” Sanso didn’t look one bit sorry. In fact, he was grinning. “You’ve got their attention—you might as well say something.”

  Jacob took a deep breath of the hot, humid air. It had a sour taste, and he tried not to grimace. He faced the people, then told them what was going on back on Eklaron.

  Sanso translated a sentence at a time. When he was done, several people in the group responded, some with anger, others with excitement. The Ember God turned to Jacob. “They’re familiar with the Lorkon—they’ve experienced plenty of pain and anguish at the hands of those idiots.” He said something to the group, received a reply, then translated again. “And they’re eager to do whatever it takes to help you.”

  “Okay, good. Tell them we need to know how to get to the Fire Pulsers.”

  “I already did—they don’t think we should attempt it.”

  Jacob tried not to look annoyed. “But to kill the Lorkon, we have to see the Fire Pulsers.”

  “Yes, I know that.”

  “Then say it!”

  “I did. Perhaps we need more time to convince them.”

  Jacob opened his mouth to disagree, but paused. Sanso was right—the people might eventually grow accustomed to the idea, but if forced, they would definitely not help. “Why don’t they want us to try?”

  Sanso shrugged and turned to the peo
ple. He held a quick conversation with one of the men in the group, who was mostly bald, with lots of cracks on his scalp. Sanso bit his lip, didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked a question of the man. The man answered and Sanso looked at Jacob.

  “They say we’ll all die. They’re at war with the Fire Pulsers right now.”

  Gallus cursed under his breath. “Great. Just great.”

  But Sanso was grinning. “I do, however, have a cunning plan.”

  He turned back to the man, and it looked like they were negotiating. Whatever Sanso’s idea was, Jacob hoped it worked.

  Sanso nodded, the colors for satisfaction flowing around him. He spoke again to Jacob and Gallus. “They won’t allow one of you to go—you’d die far too easily as soon as you reached the surface. And honestly, your original plan to have your whole group attempt it was stupid. So I told them I’ll be the one going, not you. They’ve agreed that if you all stay here, they’ll show me the way.”

  Jacob looked at Gallus and Jacob saw his feelings mirrored on the man’s face. This idea made them both uncomfortable.

  “Let me talk to Gallus about it,” Jacob said. He motioned to Coren to join them, and the three of them stepped away to where Sanso couldn’t hear.

  “He’s doing it on purpose,” Gallus said. “He manipulated us into bringing him here.”

  Jacob didn’t respond, but looked at Coren.

  “I agree—there must be some ulterior motive, some reason for him to want to leave us with these . . . people.”

  Gallus nodded. “And to approach the Fire Pulsers alone. But for what reason?”

  They both looked at Jacob, and he took a deep breath. He bit his lips, trying to find the best way to say what he was thinking. “We need to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “I’m not familiar with that expression,” Coren said.

  Jacob was about to explain, but Gallus started talking first. “It means that we should let Sanso go ahead and try out his idea, with us acting as if he’s being honest—to trust him one more time.” A muscle in Gallus’s cheek twitched. “Your Highness, I don’t know that we can allow that.”