Eyes of the Sun (Kilenya Series, 5) Page 5

  Jacob followed as the servant ran out of the mine and rushed back to the building where Keitus still waited.

  Keitus grabbed the cloth bags from the man’s hands and poured their contents—a dark gray powder—into a large bowl. Then he sat and waited, watching as the others continued their hacking and squeezing of the plants. Finally, they had three cups of liquid.

  Keitus took the cups, shoved a few people out of the way, and strode to the bowl. He poured all the liquid in, then chanted something over it and mixed the ingredients together.

  A woman handed Keitus a thick paintbrush, and the Lorkon smeared the contents of the bowl over the walls of the room. He laughed as he did so, bright green for excitement swirling in the air around him. Once every wall had the stuff slathered on it, he stepped back to watch.

  Jacob watched too. Either Keitus had lost his mind, or he was starting up a new profession as a painter. The liquid started drying, darkening in the process. Almost as soon as it darkened, a black spot in Jacob’s vision appeared over the dried section of the wall. At first he thought something was in his eyes, but as he blinked, the spot grew. And it continued growing as the rest of the walls dried. Jacob gasped. His vision was completely fading.

  Then the room was totally locked from his view.

  Jacob pushed against the blackness that replaced the room, but nothing he did allowed his Sight to enter again.

  He pulled back in frustration and sat on his bed, arms folded. This was stupid. Obviously, what he’d just seen was how Ramantus had kept Jacob from Seeing into his workroom back in Troosinal. He couldn’t believe it had been something so simple. A stupid plant and some dust would keep Jacob—and the Shiengols—from Seeing anything.

  Was it possible to break through? Jacob shook his head. He knew it wasn’t. He’d tried way too many times before.

  He sighed in frustration, then Time-Saw again and sped forward, waiting for Keitus to leave the building. Jacob followed the Lorkon back into the Molg tunnels. A large group of humans accompanied him, each carrying a cup of what Jacob assumed was the plant liquid.

  Every twenty feet, Keitus would stop and mix the ingredients, chant, then smear the stuff on the cave walls. Jacob scowled at the Lorkon king, wishing he could reach through the vision and smack the guy. Apparently, he didn’t want Jacob watching him as he traveled to and from Fornchall City.

  Soon enough, they’d reached the castle in Maivoryl City. Jacob watched as Keitus spread the potion across the walls of the throne room. He wondered why the Lorkon didn’t have someone else do the work—a servant, perhaps. But maybe only he could do the magic and chant the words? Or maybe they were in a language only he spoke.

  Pretty soon, Jacob was unable to follow the Lorkon king nearly anywhere. He watched as Keitus covered almost all of the Molg tunnels, nearly the entire city of Fornchall, and then last, most of the castle. Jacob could only imagine just how many plants all that work had required.

  He pulled away from his vision, sat on his bed for a moment, trying to decide what to do, and then went downstairs to the kitchen, where Mom sat at the table.

  “Mom, we need to go talk to Dad about something I just discovered.”

  She didn’t look up from her novel, and didn’t respond.

  “Mom?” Jacob said, a little louder.

  “Hmmm?”

  She still didn’t look up, so Jacob went to the table and peered over her book, into her eyes. “We need to go talk to Dad. I’ve found something.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  After they’d all settled into chairs at Dad’s work, Jacob told his parents what happened.

  Dad leaned forward. “This isn’t good.” He furrowed his brow. “How are we going to watch the Lorkon?”

  “At least we now know what they’ve been farming and mining in Fornchall,” Jacob said.

  Mom rubbed her face. “If that’s all of it.”

  “They’re probably going to be doing something they don’t want anyone to know about.” Dad straightened in his chair, then rested his eyes on Jacob. “I don’t like this new development. It makes me feel vulnerable.”

  “Yeah, no kidding,” Jacob said. “Now what?”

  Dad slowly shook his head. “I don’t know.” He paused for a moment. “I need to think about it for a while.”

  Jacob stretched, avoiding looking at Mr. Coolidge. They’d just finished their last study session, and the man had been acting weird the entire time. While Jacob had been going over assignments and making sure he’d understood the instructions, he’d caught Mr. Coolidge staring at him several times, a concerned expression on his face.

  Finally, Jacob couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “Mr. Coolidge?”

  “Yes?” He didn’t look at Jacob, but kept his eyes on the desk in front of him. The colors swirling in the air around him, however, showed he was paying close attention.

  “Are you okay?”

  Mr. Coolidge raised his dark, bushy eyebrows. “Of course. Why?”

  “You’re acting weird today.”

  The teacher shrugged. But he leaned back in the chair, steepling his fingers, studying Jacob. “I want to ask you a question.” The swirling colors changed to nervousness.

  Jacob felt his stomach drop an inch—he thought he knew what was coming. “Go ahead.”

  Mr. Coolidge rubbed his face and avoided looking at Jacob again. Several moments of silence passed. Jacob waited. He didn’t like the quiet in the study—it was uncomfortable.

  Finally, Mr. Coolidge leaned forward, staring at Jacob. “Who are you?”

  “Who—who am I?”

  Mr. Coolidge gazed at Jacob with an eyebrow raised.

  “I’m Jacob Clark.”

  The older man shook his head in quick, jerky motions. “No, no. What I mean is, what are you?”

  Jacob’s mouth popped open. What was he? A human teenager. Duh.

  Then it occurred to him that he couldn’t say that—he wasn’t even fully human. He’d known Mr. Coolidge would figure things out—the guy was way too intelligent. Why hadn’t Jacob prepared himself for this? “I don’t . . . I—”

  “Look, Jacob. I’ve seen you do some really weird things. And everyone back in that village treats you like you’re someone special.”

  Jacob looked at his hands, twisting them in his lap. Mr. Coolidge had only worked in Taga Village a couple of times, and each time, Dad and Kenji had been careful to make sure the Wurbies were out of sight and the Makalos stayed away—they hadn’t wanted Mr. Coolidge to discover things too quickly.

  “I don’t know what—”

  “Don’t give me that. Yesterday, a lady bowed to you. I saw. You can’t hide that from me.”

  Jacob took a deep breath. He might as well just tell Mr. Coolidge the truth. “I’m a prince—Danilo Leontii is my real name.”

  “But a prince of what kingdom? I know there isn’t anything on . . . on Earth . . . where you could be . . .” He swallowed, obviously struggling.

  “I’m prince of a kingdom called Gevkan on a planet called Eklaron.”

  Mr. Coolidge stared at him for several seconds. Jacob couldn’t even tell from the man’s emotion colors if he believed him. “And what about your . . . your powers?” He said the word as if it put a bad taste in his mouth. He obviously wasn’t used to thinking in comic-book terms.

  “My powers?” Which ones? Jacob didn’t ask. There wasn’t any sense saying more than was needed.

  “Yes. I’ve known for a very long time that you could change the shape of things—did you actually think I didn’t notice in math? You nearly destroyed those desks several times.”

  He got up to pace behind the chair. “Besides, I read almost all of that journal of yours. While I find it incredibly difficult to believe it wasn’t just fantasy, I’ve actually seen these Ma—Makalos and how they operate. They do strange things when they think I’m not looking. They help the gardens grow—those plants shot up incredibly fast! They light areas later at night. And I met a really
tall man with long hair . . . but I don’t think he was human. He looked odd and he was very impolite when I asked him a question.”

  Jacob couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s Azuriah.”

  “And yesterday, on my way from the school in Taga, I ran into one of the Makalos. His name was Kenji. He seemed very uncomfortable that I’d seen him.” Mr. Coolidge leaned over, hands on the desk, and stared into Jacob’s eyes. “He was mentioned several times in that journal of yours.”

  The math teacher’s expression—and emotion colors—practically dared Jacob to deny any of this.

  “Okay, you’re right. I’ve got magical abilities and can do stuff with them. And yeah—the journal is a true story. About . . .” He’d almost told Mr. Coolidge the journal was about his dad, but realized that wasn’t his secret to share, and he didn’t know how far into the book Mr. Coolidge had gotten. “About a prince from Gevkan. The kingdom you’ve been working in lately.”

  “Magic?” Mr. Coolidge seemingly couldn’t get past that one word, and it looked like he was trying not to reject Jacob’s story right away. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot . . . but . . . but magic?”

  Jacob shrugged. He didn’t have the energy to try to prove his powers. Mr. Coolidge had already seen Jacob molding things—doing it again wouldn’t be more convincing. Instead, he decided to see what the man had figured out on his own.

  “What do you think is going on?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t know.” Mr. Coolidge dragged his fingers through his thick hair. “Something . . . but it should be impossible.”

  “It’s not. Trust me.”

  Mr. Coolidge met eyes with Jacob. “How is it not impossible?”

  “There’s a link to Eklaron, the planet where I’m from, in the forest between here and Taga Village. You’ve been on a different planet several times over the past week.”

  Mr. Coolidge nodded. “I figured you’d say that.” He sat again, looking almost twenty years older. “Well, for what it’s worth and from what I’ve gathered, your cause is a good one. And I’m happy to be helping. But I’m going to need a lot of time to process this.”

  “I totally understand.” Jacob stood. “We’re done here?”

  “Yes.”

  Jacob had to take a break from studying—he couldn’t concentrate. Despite all his arguments, Mr. Coolidge had insisted that he needed to take finals. So idiotic!

  He’d been studying for two hours and still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. But what? He scowled at the book and papers in front of him, then stood. He couldn’t take it anymore.

  Jacob threw his pencil on his desk, grabbed his ball and a towel, and dashed outside to shoot hoops. Basketball always helped clear his mind.

  It had been a long time since he’d played alone. Over the past couple of months, every time he came out, Aldo, Matt, or Kevin would join him. But for once, no one else was home.

  Jacob took a deep breath, enjoying the smells of spring and the feeling of the sun on his face. A gentle breeze blew his hair back.

  Then he forgot all of that and put everything into his game. He pushed himself hard, and after only a moment, sweat was dripping down his back. When he felt like he couldn’t go any longer, he pushed even more.

  But still, the feeling that something was about to happen stayed with him. It had to do with the Lorkon, he was sure. He couldn’t watch them very well anymore, and he knew they’d hidden themselves from his view for a reason. They were about to do something and didn’t want to be discovered. What was it? And was it somehow possible for Jacob to figure it out and stop them?

  He’d come to rely on his abilities far too much, and they were becoming a crutch.

  In this case, Time-Seeing wasn’t an option. He’d have to think his way through the problem. What did the Lorkon want more than anything, besides Jacob? Well, to break into Taga Village. They’d been working on that for some time. In fact, just the other day, they’d sent more Yoons to the entrance. Jacob had tested it and again found that nothing had occurred that would disturb the integrity of the seal he’d put in place.

  What else did they want to accomplish?

  To gain unlimited access to all the worlds and all the things in them, right? In order to do that, they needed the Key of Kilenya . . . but that came with Jacob. And they’d been very unsuccessful at keeping him in their possession.

  What about objects? What did they want for themselves? The Key of Kilenya. And the Key of Ayunli.

  Jacob wiped the sweat off his face, then paused. That had to be it. They were going after the Key of Ayunli and didn’t want Jacob and his group to know.

  Yeah? Well, they’d have to beat him to it first.

  Chapter Five: The Other Key

  Jacob rushed inside, up the stairs, and dropped his ball and towel on the floor of his room. He said hi to Early, then looked at the sun for ten seconds. He sat on his bed and started to search for the Key of Ayunli.

  After only a moment, the Key lit up, making it possible for him to follow it anywhere. Jacob couldn’t believe how much easier it was this time to find the Key. Last time, it had nearly killed him, but now, he only felt a moment of pain.

  Over several years, the Key made its way completely around the world of Eklaron and then to Gevkan. Then in the early 1900s, a man in a cloak and robes took the Key through a link to Earth.

  It was so weird that people on Eklaron knew all about Earth, while people on Earth had no clue about the other planet.

  The man gave the Key to an elderly woman in a busy city. Jacob wasn’t very well traveled, so he didn’t recognize the place—it could have been somewhere in America or Canada or even Europe.

  The elderly woman passed the Key down to her granddaughter, who watched over it for forty years. She took it everywhere with her, wearing it on a chain around her neck. When she started to look frail and fragile, she gave it to her son, a tall, lanky man who always wore bright green sweats. Gross. Judging by the style of the sweats, Jacob figured it was the eighties or nineties. Mom would know better.

  The man only held on to the Key for a while. Jacob watched as he fretted over it, pacing and mumbling. From what Jacob had seen, the man had no family and no close friends. He needed to hand it off to someone, but probably didn’t know who.

  Instead, he hid it in the laundry room of a house in that busy city. Jacob sped up, making sure the Key stayed there. It did. No one else found or touched it since the man put it in place behind the dryer in a hole in the unfinished wall.

  Still not knowing which city this was, Jacob backed up his vision so he could see better. A tall tower dominated the skyline, and the city had been built on the shores of a big lake. Jacob immediately thought of the great lakes that separated America from Canada. Was this Chicago?

  He pulled out of his vision and rushed to the family computer to do a search. He first looked up Chicago. Nope. The tower wasn’t there, and the city skyline didn’t look like the one from his vision. Then he went through all the major cities that were on the shores of lakes and oceans on and around the east side of the United States. None of them matched what he’d seen.

  He broadened his search to cities on the West Coast, including Seattle. The Space Needle in Seattle looked sort of like the tower, but it wasn’t tall enough.

  Jacob rubbed his eyes. It shouldn’t be this hard to figure out. Then he remembered he’d originally thought the city could be somewhere in Canada. Pulling up a map on the computer, he found all the big cities that had been built on a shore, starting in the west and moving east.

  Then he found it. Toronto! That was the city.

  Wanting to know more about the place, Jacob read about it and quickly became overwhelmed. It was huge—millions lived there. And even though English was the dominant language, many didn’t speak it or even French, which was spoken in nearby Montreal. And a gazillion different cultures, languages, and countries were represented in the city. Jacob envisioned himself wandering the streets, asking
for someone who spoke English to help him find the place where he needed to go.

  He settled back in his chair, content that at least he knew where the Key was. And he’d figured it out without anyone’s help—something Mom and Dad had been trying to do for years. A big grin spread across his face, and he put his hands behind his head.

  After taking a break, Jacob Time-Saw to Toronto once more. He knew where the Key was—which house—but he didn’t know where exactly in Toronto it was. He’d have to figure that out first, and zooming in close, then pulling out, just confused him. The place had all sorts of little streets and big streets and it completely dwarfed Mendon. Jacob gave up on that approach and instead directed his vision to a street sign.

  Dimplefield Place. Wow. What a cheesy name. He imagined fields of little girls with big, dimply smiles. So stupid.

  Jacob pulled out of his vision. The next step was to get the Key, especially since he was positive the Lorkon were trying to do the exact same thing. He looked at his watch. Matt should be home soon. He printed off a copy of a map that showed Dimplefield Place and the surrounding streets, then rushed to his room.

  Jacob grabbed his backpack and started shoving things in it: Early’s container, a compass, some string, a lighter—anything the brothers might need. Then he returned to the kitchen and grabbed dried fruit and jerky from the pantry.

  As he was calling Early, he heard the front door open, announcing Matt’s arrival. Jacob dashed into the living room, followed by Early.

  It didn’t take long to convince Matt to accompany him.

  “Dude! I can’t believe you found the Key so fast!” Matt jumped up from the couch where he’d been sitting.

  “We have to take Mom.”

  Matt halted. “What? Why?”

  “Because the owner of the house is a woman. There’s no way she’s going to let us inside without Mom.”