The Key of Kilenya Read Free Page A

twisted until he could see the other hand—it was
human too! His surprise only lasted a second, though. Pain
registered as his legs and rear end hit each step on the way down.
He flailed around, screaming for help—doing everything to stop
himself, but nothing worked. The fingers dug into his shoulder too
tightly.
    The bear pulled him out of the tree and
toward the forest on the opposite side of the meadow. Canyon walls
surrounded them, groups of people poured down the walls, and Jacob
hollered for help.
    He screamed when his pant legs tore and
gravel began digging into the skin of his ankles and shins. The
creature charged into the forest.
    A small group of people charged after Jacob
and the bear, a blonde woman at the front. A short, black-haired
boy wearing a top hat—a top hat?—raced to a tree and put his left
hand on it. The bear continued dragging Jacob through the forest.
Suddenly, a sharp crack—like a rifle shot, but much louder—sounded
through the air and the bear collapsed, releasing its hold. Jacob
tumbled to the ground, calling out in pain.
    The woman caught up and issued orders to the
others. A group of men—all of whom were very, very short—threw a
net over the bear, dragged it to a large tree not far away, then
tied it down.
    “Jacob, how badly are you hurt?”
    “I don’t—”
    “He’s bleeding, Ebony—his legs.”
    “Yes, I see,” the woman replied.
    Jacob looked down and nearly fainted. Sure
enough—his pants were tattered, and blood fell from several gashes.
The skin on his calves and shins stung, and he could only imagine
how much dirt and rocks were embedded in it.
    Ebony motioned to the boy with the top hat.
“Akeno, call Early and September.”
    Akeno ran to a dandelion head that had gone
to seed, lifted it to his mouth, whispered into it, then blew the
seeds away. Jacob frowned—what an odd thing for someone to do. A
sharp pain in his leg made him look down—Ebony had ripped the right
pant leg off, exposing more deep cuts. She pointed to another
person. “Find Jacob a pair of pants and shoes. He can’t get the Key
dressed like this.”
    Key? What in the heck was she talking about?
And who were these people, anyway?
    She finally glanced at Jacob. “You’ll be
fine. As soon as we call Kenji, he’ll bring the Kaede Sap.”
    Kenji? Sap? Jacob wanted to ask what was
going on, but Ebony ripped the other pant leg off. The pain from
the cloth rubbing against his flesh was too much. He dug his hands
into the grass on the side of the trail, trying not to call
out.
    A bright flash of light distracted Jacob, and
he jerked away in shock. A miniature person—no, two miniature
people— hovered in the air. Without wings . He'd surely gone
crazy. How on Earth was that possible? He pointed at them, his
mouth open.
    Ebony addressed the little people.
“September, go tell Kenji to come here as soon as he can, and to
bring a Kaede Sap package and a Rog cage.” One of the
persons—dressed in green pants—saluted her, a large grin on its
human-like face. Ebony turned to the other creature, this one
wearing a white dress. “Go tell Brojan that Jacob is awake and that
a Rog attacked him.” The girl flitted a couple inches away before
Ebony stopped her. “Oh, and Early, when you're done with that, find
Jaegar and tell him to get home at once—he’s in big trouble.”
    The two creatures flitted to each other’s
sides, palms together. Their hands started to glow and white rays
swirled around them, spinning faster and faster. A burst of light
engulfed them and then diminished. Little glitters of silver
floated to the ground.
    Had Jacob gone crazy last night when he hit
his head? Somehow he'd entered one of Amberly's pretending games!
Remembering his accident, he touched his forehead, confused to find
a bandage there. When had he fixed up his cut?
    “You can remove that now, Jacob,” Ebony said.
“Your forehead is fine.”
    He winced when she pulled something out of
his shin.