With a loud umph and a painful kick to his face, Jacob caught the Makalo.
“Sorry! I felt that! Was it your head?”
Jacob put Akeno down, his cheek smarting. “I’m fine.” He rubbed where he’d been kicked, hoping it wouldn’t bruise too badly. It sure hurt! His eyes watered. He blinked several times, then shook his head to clear it and called up. “All right, Aloren, we’re ready for you.”
Aloren didn’t hesitate before coming. That wasn’t surprising—she’d had a lot more practice doing insane things.
Determination was the emotion that guided Jacob. The colors flowing around her were red and green—anger and happiness. He’d been surprised a couple of months ago to figure out that determination was closely related to anger, but a determined person would face their problems with a positive attitude.
The tinted air showed Jacob when she’d reached the edge and had lowered herself. He stretched up and felt her ankle.
A blush crossed his face, and he was very glad no one could see it. Except Early, who probably didn’t care. Speaking of the Minya . . . she was most likely observing and making sure no one got hurt. Jacob hoped so, anyway. He couldn’t see her emotions right then.
“Okay, I’m dropping now.”
Jacob caught her smoothly, enjoying the feeling of holding her in his arms, knowing his blush was spreading. He put her down quickly, then froze when she kissed his cheek.
“Thanks,” she whispered. The red in the air around her dissipated, overpowered by green. Did she like him? Had she been hiding it all that time? No—she’d also had those feelings toward Kevin. Maybe the stress of the current situation made her like Jacob more?
Her emotions showed her moving away, and he brought a hand to his face. She’d kissed the same cheek Akeno had kicked. He sighed, then realized Matt was trying to talk to him.
“Hello? Are you ready for me?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I am.”
Matt’s typical emotions of excitement and happiness marked his progress, and Jacob guided him without a problem. Matt didn’t want to be caught when he dropped, and Jacob was grateful for that. His brother was heavy.
When Sweet Pea’s turn came up, Jacob had everyone lock hands, forming a sort of trampoline where Sweet Pea could land. It worked perfectly. They put him down and moved back when Gallus said he didn’t need any help. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way he and the others would be able to support the man’s weight. He was much taller than anyone there.
Jacob watched Gallus’s emotions descend as the man lowered himself. When he dropped, he stumbled, and Jacob reached out to steady him. His hands swept through empty air. The swish of cloth and a thud, followed by a sharp smacking sound, let Jacob know Gallus had fallen. The black man cried out in pain.
“What happened?” Akeno asked.
Gallus only gasped in response.
“Everyone stay where you are.” Jacob got to his hands and knees and carefully approached Gallus’s colors. “Gallus fell. I’ll inspect him—we don’t want anyone to stand on him accidentally.”
Gallus moaned. It looked like he was trying to get to his feet.
“Don’t move.”
Gallus stopped and Jacob found the man’s foot, glad the man wasn’t thrashing. “I need Kaede sap,” he called over his shoulder.
“I’ll get it!” Akeno said.
Jacob turned his attention back to Gallus, feeling around until he located the man’s shoulder. “Gallus? Are you okay?”
Gallus gasped. “My knee . . . my knee . . .”
“Ouch. We’ll take care of you.” Jacob turned. “Akeno? The package?”
Akeno’s voice sounded very small. “Um . . . my bag’s open and mostly empty—no sap. I . . . I think it fell out while we were crossing the Argots.”
Jacob growled in frustration. “Anyone else have some? Check your bags, even if you don’t think you do.”
He was glad Mom and Ebony had packed the bags for the group. They’d come up with the idea to separate everything into different categories, using cloth for the food, paper packaging for the Kaede sap, plastic for hygienic items. Of course, this would only work before the trap that removed the sensation of touch.
“I had a ton of it,” Sweet Pea said. “But we used it all on Matt and Akeno.”
The others reported they didn’t have any sap either. Gallus groaned, then gasped out a couple of words. “Pain” and “hurry.”
“How is it possible that Sweet Pea and Akeno were the only ones carrying it?” Jacob asked. He bit his lip, frustrated. They couldn’t continue without Gallus, and they couldn’t leave him here like this. That left only one other option. Jacob had to get more sap. “Aloren? Where are you?”
One of the emotions stepped forward. “Here.”
“Come watch over Gallus and make sure he’s comfortable. I’m going to Taga Village.”
Aloren gasped. “You can’t go back!” she said. “What happens if you fall? The key will be lost, you’ll die, and we’ll be stuck here forever.”
Jacob shook his head, not wanting to answer.
“I’ll go,” Akeno said. “It’s my fault we lost the sap.”
“Let’s both go,” Jacob said. Two would be better than one. “Okay, let’s get going.”
“Jacob,” Aloren started.
Jacob glowered. “What else can we do? What are our other options? Leave him, and continue onward? Stay here, hoping someone comes and finds us? There’s nothing else.” He hated talking to her like that, but she was usually tougher than this.
“This is insane.”
“Yeah, I know. But I have to do something.”
“What about setting up a door here and going back that way?”
Jacob did his best not to sound exasperated. “Because Akeno can’t see to enlarge anything, and even if he could, there isn’t enough space under the arch to make the door big enough.”
“Go, Jacob,” Gallus gasped. “I’ll be fine . . . while you’re gone.”
Jacob turned to scan the skies before remembering he couldn’t see anything. “Early? Are you there?”
A spot of green flitted near him. “Here, Jacob!”
“Tell Aldo that Akeno and I are heading back, then please stick very close to me in case anything happens.”
Early agreed, and Jacob put his hand on Aloren’s arm before getting to his feet. “We’ll be careful, I promise. We’ll come back.”
She released a long breath of air. “Okay.”
Careful not to bump into Gallus, Jacob scooted a couple of feet away—clearing himself from the man’s legs—then got up. He unbuckled his sword, laying it down against the wall of the arch. He didn’t want it to knock him off balance while crossing the board.
“Early, would you be able to give us a boost? Like you did while I was fighting the Ember Gods? I don’t know if it would help or not to weigh less while climbing the wall, but it could be good.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, then, “This is different—I don’t know if I can do it.”
Akeno’s voice sounded close to Jacob. “She would have to exert a lot more energy to keep us moving in the same direction,” he said. “Gravity doesn’t affect her, but it affects us. And her energy boost might shoot us off into Argot territory.”
“But when I was fighting the Ember—”
“That was different. You were on your feet, and could somewhat control where you went. Honestly, I’d rather she didn’t help us.”
Jacob raised his eyebrows. Earlier, Akeno had been so afraid of falling, he’d taken a very long time getting off the wall, and now he was turning down assistance? “All right. I’ll go first.”
Early guided them back to the correct place near the arch, then Jacob climbed. The going was difficult—he had to feel around for hand and footholds without relying on sight. A moment later, however, he reached the top and turned to help Akeno.
After Akeno was up, Jacob stepped past the lamp post, then found the line and the board.
He felt like kicking himself when he realized he and Akeno hadn’t tied themselves together. “Akeno, is it possible for you to latch your arm through the strap of my bag so I can keep you from falling? It’ll help me know if you do fall.”
“Sure.”
Akeno did so and Jacob took a deep breath, holding tightly to the line above. “Here goes.”
They started forward, Jacob going as quickly as was safely possible. He’d always been afraid of heights, but thankfully, this was different. He couldn’t see how far they’d fall if that happened, and the dizzy attacks didn’t come. He felt Akeno’s movements behind him and was glad his friend held tightly to his bag.
As he moved forward, he looked at the ground instinctively, then nearly stopped in shock at something he hadn’t noticed before—there were faint white lines tracing patterns through the space below them. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Did the patterns mark where the ground was, or were they floating in the air? And what were they?
Jacob and Akeno were at least halfway when Akeno gasped, then yelled, and the line above jerked, followed immediately by weight on Jacob’s backpack. The increase in weight knocked him off balance, and his hands slipped off the rope. He spun to the side, the board scraping his leg, then smacking into his rib cage as he flipped over. He tried to grab it, but Akeno’s weight pulled him down farther, and he plunged, landing hard on the ground below, Akeno beneath him.