Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (63 page)

Matt nodded. “Well, we could always make a mad dash for it—run past the Dusts and Bald Henries, push through the villagers, and use the Key to get in the town hall.”

Jacob thought about this plan. “It might work . . .” He hesitated. “I don’t know, Matt. I just don’t feel good about it. If something happened—one of us tripping, or a Dust figuring it out, or the villagers turning on us, we’d be completely stuck.”

He turned to watch the creatures and an idea occurred to him. “You know what?” He faced Matt, feeling a smile cross his face. “The Bald Henries are following the Dusts around. We could draw them away from the town hall.”

“Like, trick them away?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. It might be our best bet.”

“It’s worth a try,” Jacob said. “What about the villagers, though?”

Matt shrugged. “They might just follow as we’re leading everyone else away.” He stood. “We’ll have to make sure to do it perfectly the first time. I doubt we’ll get more than one shot. I’ll run—take those little beasts on the adventure of their life—and you get to the town hall.”

“You don’t want me to lead them away? I can see the Bald Henries—you can’t.”

“No—if the turkeys are following the Dusts around, they should chase after me, too. And the girl knows you—she doesn’t know me. I’d freak her out.”

“What if the turkeys attack you?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m fast enough—they won’t be able to keep up with me.”

Jacob took a deep breath, thinking it over, then agreed. There were probably a ton of flaws in this plan, but he didn’t want to take the time to come up with a different one. And how were Ebony, Sweet Pea, and Gallus doing? They hadn’t seen or heard them since leaving the fight.

Jacob stood too. “On the count of three?”

“Yes.” Matt said. “One. Two—”

Right as they were about to jump forward, shadows appeared on the ground in front of them, and they scrambled to hide in time.

Jacob gasped when two Lorkon passed by, coming from the direction of the town hall. He clamped his hand over his mouth, and Matt glared at him. The Lorkon paused, but when they didn’t see anything, they probably brushed it off as a villager and continued on.

That was
way
too close. Who knew how long the Lorkon had been inside the hall?

“What
were
they?”

“Lorkon,” Jacob whispered.

Matt exhaled—his eyes as round as oranges. “Wow. They’re
huge
.”

Jacob shook his head in astonishment. “Good thing we didn’t use the Key. Without Akeno, we wouldn’t have gotten away.” His heartbeat refused to slow. Everything had come so close to falling apart. How had the Lorkon missed them? “And there might be more of them in the town hall.”

A loud bang startled the brothers, and Jacob peeked around the corner. One of the villagers had somehow gotten his hands on a huge ax—much bigger than the other axes—and was pounding on the door to the town hall.

The brothers waited a few more minutes, making sure more Lorkon didn’t come out.

Then Matt dashed off, waving his arms and jumping around like a lunatic. The Dusts and Bald Henries went berserk and he took off down the street, the creatures on his heels.

Jacob turned to face the town hall. Now, to deal with the villagers.

Chapter 19. The Passage

Eachan ran into the kitchen to help Aloren out of the cupboard. She was shaking with fear, tears running down her cheeks. She started pounding him on the chest, anger and panic making her words come out in a jumble. “How—how
dare
—you put me in this situation? I
trusted
you!”

He let her continue hitting him—he deserved much worse than this. “I know, Aloren. I know.”

She crumpled to the ground, sobbing. He didn’t know how to make things better. “Had to protect my family,” was the only thing he could say in his defense. His argument was weak—especially now that Duana was gone. Dead. The word hit him hard and tears sprang to his eyes.

“It’s not too late, Aloren, I can still help you. Please, let me.”

She watched him quietly for several moments, and he waited patiently.

Finally, she nodded and sat up, wiping her face. A calm expression replaced the panic. “I watched—could see through the crack. They didn’t even look at the body! Why do they think it was me?”

“They’ve never seen you before, and haven’t seen my daughter in years.” He helped her to her feet, then into the front room. “But I don’t think they believed me. I need to get you out of this place.”

Aloren stared at him, her lip quivering. “I just don’t understand. Why turn me in, then try to help me?”

He sighed, not meeting her eyes. “I’ve been a coward far too long—could’ve saved her life—selfish.” He stepped away from her.

A crash on the door made them both jump—the tip of an ax appeared in the thick wood. The villagers had found a better way to attack the town hall.

Aloren shied away. “What do we do?”

“If I can get you out of the city, will you know where to go?”

“Yes—but I can’t get through the wall without—”

“Don’t worry about that.” Eachan grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the stairs leading up.

“Where are we going?”

“Trust me.”

She jerked her arm out of his hand. “How can you
say
that?”

He turned to her, feeling shame spread across his features. He grabbed her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “If I swear on the body of my daughter—on her memory—that I will do everything I can to get you out, will you believe me?”

She watched him—didn’t let him look away—and took a deep breath, exhaling in a rush. “Yes.”

“Then come with me.”

He pulled her up the stairs, down a hall, and into his quarters, shutting the door behind them. She only hesitated for a moment before allowing him to lead her across the room, past the bed, and to a poorly fashioned door. He flung it open, revealing another set of stairs, these leading down.

A great crash and a cheer from the front of the building made them both jump.

“They’ve broken in!” Eachan said. “Down, now!”

She started down the stairs and Eachan followed, closing the door. The only sound for a few moments was their feet on the wooden stairs. Aloren gasped, and Eachan heard her stumble. He couldn’t stop quickly enough and tripped over her, landing roughly at the bottom of the stairs.

He pulled himself up, his joints groaning in protest, then he fumbled in the dark, reaching everywhere, trying to find her.

“Aloren?” he whispered. “Aloren!”

“Here.” Her voice was just a breath.

“How badly are you hurt?”

“Don’t know.” She took his hand, letting him help her up.

“Can you walk?”

He felt her moving forward.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

The air streamed past them as they ran blindly onward, Eachan trailing a hand against the wall. Relief poured over him that he’d constructed the tunnel so smoothly. There wouldn’t be anything to trip them along the way. Last he’d checked, a day ago, animals hadn’t found it just yet.

Noises behind them—he looked back. A light at the end—the villagers had found the tunnel. He wasn’t surprised, since many of them had helped dig it. They hadn’t known what it was for, though, and couldn’t figure that out on their own. The few who’d helped toward the end, Eachan had released as a test, making them promise to return. When they never came back, he didn’t send more.

A sudden pulsing across his entire torso made him stumble, then fall to the ground. Aloren screamed. He forced himself to his feet and lurched forward a foot or so more before collapsing again.

“Come on, Eachan, come on!” Aloren tugged on his arms.

“Something’s wrong,” he said, out of breath. Why was it so difficult to move? “Go, girl. Run!”

The dim light revealed the confusion in her eyes. She looked down the tunnel first one way then the other, then back at him, indecision and panic on her face.

Chapter 20. The Lorkon Barrier

Jacob sneaked forward, keeping tight to the wall as he neared the town hall.

The villager with the big ax struck the door again, then kicked his way through the hole. All the villagers poured inside the building.

Jacob waited several seconds—no one stayed outside—then dashed forward, eyes wide open, looking for any sign of more Bald Henries. He had to go fast, before Matt returned. They’d planned it so Matt would race around the town for ten or so minutes, hopefully giving Jacob enough time to run in and out with Aloren. Doubt crept into his mind. How was he supposed to go into the town hall, grab her, and get out with people all over inside the building?

He pushed these thoughts aside and trotted up to the front door, peering inside. The room was empty. He paused. Except for a girl lying on the ground. What if it was Aloren? Jacob ran to her and rolled her over, then jumped back in fear. It was Duana. Dead, bruised, barely recognizable. His breath caught in his throat and he stepped away from her, wiping his hands on his jeans. No colors swirled around her at all. He’d gotten so used to seeing varying shades of the rainbow on people’s faces that it disturbed him to see someone without it.

Noise upstairs made him jump and he stepped against a wall, flattening himself. The sounds dissipated. After giving the rooms on that floor a cursory glance, he decided to go upstairs to find the source of the noise.

Nothing in the first few rooms. Then he turned a corner and saw the back of a villager as she disappeared into a room at the end of the hall. He scurried forward and looked into that room. Remembering the knife in his boot, he pulled it out, holding it close to him.

The woman disappeared down a set of stairs opposite Jacob. He crept across the room and glanced down. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn’t safely follow.

The stairs had seen quite a bit of use in the last several minutes. There was fresh mud on the steps, and a lot of it.

He reached the bottom, where a long, tall passage opened up before him—man, Eklaron loved tunnels. At least he could plainly see everything in it. A whole ton of villagers were crowding, pushing forward, carrying torches. And there, way ahead of them, barely visible, a hunched-over figure—no, two—running toward the opposite end.

Jacob’s heart felt like it was trying to exit his body. One of the figures was a girl, he was sure of it. Aloren! And the other, a larger person. Possibly Eachan?

But how was he to get to them before the villagers did? He’d have to push through the people, and somehow he knew they wouldn’t be okay with that.

Then he remembered something. The freshly dug tunnel on the other side of the wall! That
had
to be where this passage led! From what he could tell, the direction was right. If he hurried, he might make it there to meet Aloren and Eachan!

Jacob sprinted back up the steps, down those at the other side of the town hall, then dashed out the front door, only checking briefly that no one was outside.

Back at the stairwell where he and Matt had arranged to meet, he waited a couple of seconds for Matt before getting too impatient. Then he raced down the street, not caring who or what saw him. He heard footsteps above him and looked up—Matt jumped across the roof of the building next to Jacob.

“Matt!” Jacob called up to him, again not caring who heard him.

His older brother darted to the edge of the building, jumped onto the roof of a porch, and shinnied down the support pillar.

“Where are the Dusts and Bald Henries?” Jacob asked.

“Back there,” Matt said, motioning. “Where’s the chick?”

“Almost to the main wall now. The villagers are chasing her through a tunnel. We’ve gotta get to the other end to help her.”

Jacob and Matt tore off down the street, nearing the location where they’d left the others. They halted at the sound of running feet, hiding behind an old outhouse. Jacob looked around the side of it. The Ember Gods were coming down the street, heading in the direction of the town hall. Jacob and Matt fled the other way, around the back of a building, and watched as the men went past, swords still in hand.

Jacob’s breath caught in his throat. There was only one reason the Ember Gods would have left the fight. Gallus, Ebony, and Sweet Pea had been killed!

“Hurry!” he whispered.

They darted down the street, ducked into an alley, and collided with someone rushing in their direction. Jacob looked up, relief making him forget his panic momentarily.

“Did you see the Ember Gods?” Gallus asked. “They took off at a run—don’t know why.”

“Ebony and Sweet Pea?”

“Are fine, just a little tired. Where’s Aloren?”

“Being chased by the villagers. We have to go. Now.”

Gallus nodded, and the three of them dashed back to where Sweet Pea and Ebony waited.

Jacob pulled the Key out, shoved it into the lock of the nearest building, yelled, “The Fat Lady’s house,” and swept them all through to her cabin.

She looked up in shock from her dirty couch where she was talking to Hazel. “Did you get—”

She didn’t even have the chance to finish before the group had exited through her door.

Hazel flitted close to Jacob as he ran, exertion making his side hurt. “Where’s Early?” he gasped.

“Here!” Early’s impish voice said from somewhere near his right.

“Make us go faster—Matt and me.”

Seconds later, Jacob felt warmth spread across his legs and back, giving him what felt like limitless energy, and he and Matt left the others in the dust.

They tore through the scented air, barely keeping from plowing the people down, and raced to the hole in the ground.

Jacob jumped into it first, Matt close behind. They stopped, waiting for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. There, a couple hundred feet ahead of them, were Aloren and Eachan. Aloren’s back was to the brothers, and Eachan was on the ground. They were backlit by the torches the villagers carried. The people were thirty or forty feet behind, and no longer running. It looked like they were struggling to move.