“Get up. Now.”
Jacob scrambled to his feet.
“That was pathetic. Is this how it has always been?”
Jacob nodded. “Before, when I wasn’t in control, it lasted a lot longer and there wasn’t pain. Why does it hurt now?”
“Because your body is feeble when you’re in control. It’s using a muscle you’ve not exercised.” Azuriah strolled around Jacob, hands behind his back. “You must focus on the pain. Concentrate on it. Force it to expand and envelop you.”
“That’s crazy! Why would I do that? It’ll kill me!”
Azuriah stopped in front of Jacob. “No, it won’t. It’ll make you stronger. Do it now.”
Jacob’s shoulders slumped. Practicing with Azuriah was the last thing he wanted to do, but it seemed he had no choice. He doubted he’d be able to escape, and he didn’t want to argue or fight the Shiengol. There was no way he’d win. Azuriah’s presence was commanding, and he could really whip someone verbally. And even though he was skinny, he didn’t look weak.
“Get on with it.”
Jacob nodded. He took a deep breath and concentrated again on the place he wanted to see, but now he focused on the pain in his chest, willing it to grow.
With a jerk he was in his mother’s quarters, but only momentarily before flipping back to the present. Jacob held up his hand, not wanting Azuriah to say anything, and tried once more. He concentrated on the burning and felt a corner of it sliding to his lungs. Jacob tried to hold it there, but something snapped him back. He scowled, annoyed at his inability to do something which, to Azuriah, was so simple.
“This is ridiculous,” he said.
Azuriah frowned. “You must master this!”
Jacob realized he’d forgotten his earlier vow not to ask any more questions. He didn’t care anymore. “But right this second? Before we can even go home and eat?”
“Yes!” Azuriah shouted.
Jacob clapped his hands over his ears. Azuriah’s response had been so loud—almost like a gunshot—it made Jacob’s ears ring. How did he have so much volume?
“All right. I’ll try again.”
And he did, going from a different angle. Instead of focusing on the pain first, he Time-Saw to his mother’s quarters, held himself there, closed his eyes, and then honed in on the pain. Instead of forcing it to grow, however, he willed it. He poked and prodded at it gently, requesting it to grow. He felt it start to spread, ignoring the pain. It reached across his torso, up his neck and over his head, then down his arms and legs.
The agony was so bad he felt like he was on fire, as if he was being covered head to toe with hot oil.
But then . . . it dissipated. With a gasp he opened his eyes, and things were different. His body tingled, but no longer hurt. The residual soreness in his chest went away.
He watched as the Lorkon put a handkerchief around Arien’s face. She screamed, almost staring right at Jacob, then collapsed. He rushed forward and tried to beat the Lorkon off his mother, but was powerless. His swings hit empty air. The Lorkon hoisted Arien, carrying her from the room. Jacob followed, unable to believe he was still there. He hadn’t been whisked away yet!
The Lorkon strode through several rooms and halls, then down a series of stairs. He entered a huge room with ornately carved doors on the opposite end.
Where was everyone? The place was completely empty.
The creature swung the doors wide open, revealing a group of Dusts, a Sindon, and two other Lorkon practically on the front porch of the castle. All three Lorkon conversed for a moment in hushed tones, then together raised Arien to the back of the Sindon, where she was placed inside a coach-type thing. It was then that Jacob noticed each Lorkon wore gloves and was careful not to touch her skin. What would have happened if their blood had gotten on her? She probably would have died.
The three Lorkon took hold of the Sindon, and with a loud command from the one who had kidnapped Arien, the huge, four-legged beast got up and rambled away from the castle. Jacob followed on foot, but at the sound of a whip, the Sindon unrolled its long arms, reached forward through the trees, and zoomed away, leaving Jacob in the dust.
He growled in frustration. He couldn’t possibly keep up! Then he realized something, and felt like slapping his forehead—he wasn’t really there. He didn’t have a body and shouldn’t need to walk or run to Time-See. Right when he figured this out, his sight zipped forward, making it seem like he was floating in the air alongside the Sindon.
He glanced around, surprised at what Maivoryl City looked like before the Lorkon took up permanent residence. It was magnificent. Tall stone buildings, flagpoles, rich draperies in nearly every window, ornately carved bas reliefs on the walls. Definitely worthy of a king’s city.
After only thirty seconds of charging, the beast stopped near the shores of Sonda Lake, and Jacob realized that the stone wall wasn’t there. He quickly looked back at the Lorkon and watched as one of them pulled a strange-looking creature with many arms and legs from a bag. He set it on the ground and said something in a different language.
With a rush, the thing scurried off, up over the hill.
“Jacob Clark!”
The sound of his name freaked him out and he gasped for air, feeling like the oxygen had been ripped from his lungs. Everything around him flashed and he returned to the present and the musty fortress.
Azuriah stood before him, the colors around him showing he was annoyed, but also pleased. “Very well done.”
“Why’d you bring me back? That was interesting! I was about to—”
“Yes, you were learning things, but they are things you don’t need to know right now. There will be opportunities in the future to figure it all out. If I’d let you stay longer, it would have killed you.”
“What? How?”
Azuriah motioned with his hands. “As I said before, you’re employing muscles you’ve never used before, which are being forced to facilitate the magic they were designed to use. Just like learning to fight with a sword, you must allow your body to heal between each practice.”
Azuriah looked expectant, but Jacob didn’t say anything. This made sense, even though it was disappointing that he hadn’t been able to watch the wall get constructed.
“Did it hurt this time?”
“Only a little—at the beginning.” He checked to see how his body felt. Exhaustion fell over him. “Whoa. I’m so tired!”
Azuriah nodded. “That will eventually go away with practice.” He sighed. “You don’t respond to the name Danilo.” He looked at Jacob disapprovingly. “That needs to change. And you must have someone near you when you practice to keep track of how long you’ve Time-Seen. You went for five minutes, which is way too long. Have that someone clock you for two minutes, and then gradually add ten seconds every following instance. Have them call your name to bring you back.”
“Why can’t I just keep track myself while I’m doing it?”
Azuriah watched Jacob for a moment. “With practice, you’ll be able to do that.” A glint of happiness colored his emotions.
Jacob felt his legs turn to jelly underneath him. The exhaustion seemed to keep piling on him. It was so overwhelming, he felt like he was about to faint or something. Azuriah put his hand out to steady him.
“It will get better.”
Jacob nodded.
“With practice, you’ll learn to master this ability, and then you’ll be able to take your Time-Seeing to the next level: Gussar. I suspect you’ll refer to it as Time-Travel.”
“Wait—did you just say time travel?”
“Of course. I’ll teach you how. Don’t try to figure it out on your own—there are many, many rules you must follow that will keep you from killing yourself.” Azuriah strode away, sweeping his robes behind him. “We’ll go now.” He paused near the hole, motioning for Jacob to go first.
Relief flooded through Jacob at the idea of going back to his house. The new information he’d received in the past half hour had turned his brain to mush, and he couldn’t wait to get home and into his warm, comfortable bed.