Jacob Time-Saw to the castle in Maivoryl city, “rewinding” until he reached the point before the Lorkon left to come to August Fortress. An involuntary shudder crossed him when he saw Keitus on his throne with the other Lorkon around him. He remembered how it had felt to be in that room the first time—the awe at seeing the Key of Kilenya, followed by the fear and pain from his encounter with that disgusting individual. That had happened only five months ago, but it felt like ages had passed.
A small burst of flame near Keitus startled Jacob—luckily none of the Lorkon could see him. That flame had been familiar, though, and in surprise, Jacob nearly lost control of his Time-Seeing. He grimaced. He’d seen that flame as he’d been about to go into August Fortress. Apparently, it was a fire beetle—they must all have different colors and sizes.
A crackly voice addressed Keitus. “The boy and his group are on their way to release the Shiengols.”
Keitus jumped to his feet. “We leave now,” he said to the other Lorkon in the room with him.
“You were right, Your Majesty,” one of the Lorkon said, grabbing things from behind a curtain, “about having beetles spy on the boy.”
Keitus glared at the Lorkon. “And if you were doing your job, you would’ve thought of the idea.”
“Yes, but they can’t get into the Makalo village, so it would’ve been pointless.”
Keitus ignored him. “Send for Sindons. And we’ll need as many Molgs as possible.”
“What about Dusts?”
Keitus’s disgusted grunt said enough. Jacob figured he was probably sick of the nearly useless creatures. Maybe training them was too difficult? Jacob felt little hope that was the case.
“You were right about that too, Keitus. You think of everything!”
The Lorkon continued to praise Keitus, and Jacob felt sick at how he received the compliments. Such arrogance! If anyone treated Jacob like that, he’d avoid them.
He fast-forwarded through time, wanting to see what the Lorkon did rather than hear their annoying conversation. They mounted the Sindons—Keitus, of course, sitting on top of one in a rather silly-looking caravan-type thing—embellished with gold and silver and dark blues and purples.
Jacob watched as the group rounded up several Molgs and passed through Maivoryl City and the tunnel in the wall. The Sindon barely fit inside it.
A moment later, when the Lorkon reached the scented air, Jacob slowed down time, watching in interest as the Molgs got stuck. The Lorkon had a hard time pulling the large creatures out. He laughed when he saw Keitus throw a fit from the top of his Sindon, screaming at the other Lorkon to get the Molgs. Then he stopped laughing when Keitus ordered one of the Lorkon to rip Kenji’s warning signs out of the ground and throw them into the lake.
Stupid Lorkon.
The three Lorkon in the scented air bickered like little kids, and out of curiosity, Jacob drew near to hear them.
“This is ridiculous,” one said.
“If I’d known when I accepted his challenge that I would become a slave . . .”
“Shut your mouth!” the third Lorkon said. “You aren’t a slave. If I’m ever in charge, you will be, though.”
The first and second Lorkon responded, and it looked like things would escalate. Jacob watched with interest. The Lorkon certainly were childlike sometimes.
Keitus called orders from the top of the carriage, but the other three weren’t paying attention. Finally, he stepped down.
“Enough!”
The Lorkon stopped and stared at him. At a flick of his hand, they fell to the ground, terror on their faces, groveling before him, begging for forgiveness.
Jacob raised an eyebrow. How had Keitus gotten them to change their attitudes so quickly? Did he have them under a spell?
“My own flesh and blood! How dare you act like this? You’re worse than Dusts!”
“Father, please—”
“Shut your mouth!” Keitus spat. “You will not speak until I command it!”
Flesh and blood? Father?
The Lorkon pressed his face into the ground, and Keitus paced. “The next who speaks out of line will become meat for the Molgs!”
Jacob thought that sounded like a dumb threat until he noticed the affect it had on the Lorkon. They were trembling with fear. Why? And it didn’t seem like the Molgs had any desire to eat a Lorkon. Speaking of the Molgs, they’d wandered back into the scented air and had stupid grins on their faces. Jacob laughed—they looked even more ridiculous than any human he’d seen there before.
Keitus finally stopped pacing. “I’m undoing this Counter. I’m tired of dealing with it every time we pass through with inferior beings.”
Counter?
Keitus lifted his arms waist high and chanted something. He raised his hands higher, still chanting, staring ahead, until his arms were pointed to the sky. The ground shook, every blade of grass, including the dead ones, straightening, pointing up. The brush in the area nearly uprooted itself. A bluish substance, not quite liquid, not quite gas, flowed from the earth all around the group. It rolled along the ground, floating upward, then swirled around Keitus, faster and faster. Like an explosion, the substance burst and then dissipated into air.
After a moment of silence, Keitus lowered his hands and pointed to the Lorkon. “Get up. Now. We have work to do.”
The Lorkon and Molgs got back on the Sindons, which had appeared to be unaffected by the scented air. They moved quickly and Jacob zoomed to keep up, finding himself fast-forwarding through time to skip the boring parts.
He was somewhat surprised when the group took a shortcut through Dunsany Mountain, then came out in the city Kenji had called Fornchall. If only Jacob had known that shortcut before. It would have been easier than going around the mountain, and perhaps Seden would still be alive. Then he decided that wouldn’t have been good—the Lorkon passed several areas thick with Molgs. If Seden had taken them that way, they would never have made it out.
Jacob fast-forwarded even more, realizing his body would be getting tired soon. Azuriah’s warning sounded in his ears—he needed to get to the point quickly, before his body gave out on him.
The group finally stopped near the fortress, on the opposite side from where Jacob and his friends had been.
Another burst of flame near Keitus, and again, a crackly voice reported. “They’ve found a way into the fortress.”
Keitus said something curt in another language—Jacob could tell it was a swear word, due to the tone of the Lorkon’s voice and the expression on his face. He motioned for the others to follow him on foot.
They left the Sindons behind and slunk around the huge building to the front, followed by several Molgs. They moved into the trees, and Jacob caught a glimpse of Aldo and Aloren looking up at the fortress wall. Things blacked over for a moment and Jacob worried he was slipping out of consciousness again, but then the scenery returned with usual clarity. The Lorkon were watching Jacob’s friends, who were gawking at a hole in the fortress. Jacob realized he must have just gone through that hole.
Two of the Lorkon tried to go forward to attack, but Keitus held them back. A moment later, the Shiengols emerged, and Jacob watched the Lorkon’s reaction with surprise. Their emotions went so quickly from eagerness to fear that he nearly jumped in shock. They were afraid of the Shiengols! No wonder they’d trapped the creatures! Could he use that to his advantage?
A few of the Shiengols stared at the Lorkon as they passed, and anger flashed through Jacob. They’d known the Lorkon were there! Why hadn’t they done anything about it?
Had Azuriah known?
Jacob gasped when he realized that of course the Shiengol leader knew about the Lorkon. He’d insisted on having Jacob practice his new ability before leaving the fortress. He must have known Jacob would be kidnapped, but how? And why hadn’t he done something to stop it? Why hadn’t he warned Jacob?
Jacob realized that Keitus and two or three Molgs had gone around a corner, and he opted not to follow them for the time being. He wanted to see what the three Lorkon did. A couple of the Molgs hid behind the door Jacob and his friends had set up. He shook his head, making a mental note to check behind every makeshift door just to be sure nothing was there.
Azuriah came out of the hole in the fortress, followed by . . . then everything got muddled again and Jacob couldn’t see details well enough. He tried everything he could—going around the haze, below, above. Nothing worked. He sighed in frustration, realizing there wasn’t anything he could do but go See where the Lorkon leader had gone.
But then he felt an odd sensation flooding through him—originating at his heart—and he hesitated. What was wrong? His body—exhaustion crept into his mind. Oh! He was about to black out again! Time for a break.
Lights flashed around him, and he found himself back in his cell. It was nighttime—he’d been Time-Seeing for half an hour at least, if not more. No wonder it’d almost knocked him out.
He rolled to a sitting position on the floor, then jumped when a shape on the other side of the room shifted too.
A Lorkon was with him in the cell.
“Keitus?”
“No. He sent me to check on you. You were Time-Seeing, were you not?”
“Yes.”
“What have you to report?”
“Not much. I . . . I still need more time. I mean, I’ve been trying, but—”
Jacob jerked into the corner when the Lorkon jumped forward, looming over him. Any feelings of smugness Jacob had felt earlier at the ineptitude of the Lorkon fled when he saw the expression on this one’s face. Keitus might have been much, much more powerful than the other three, but that didn’t mean this guy couldn’t inflict a whole lot of damage. “I swear! I’m doing my best! And I have made progress—I saw the entire room the hooded man was in this time! And he went through a hallway. I’m going back to see where he—”
“I don’t care about the trivialities. You will find what Keitus desires.”
The Lorkon rapped on the door, it swung open, and he stepped out.