The Key of Kilenya Read Free Page B

“Huh?”
    “I fixed it last night while you were
sleeping.”
    He took off the bandage, gingerly touching
the skin underneath. There was no evidence anything had happened.
“You fixed it?”
    “Yes. Now relax. As soon as Kenji comes—oh,
there he is now—he and I will have to clean your wounds, and that
won’t feel very good.”
    Jacob sat up. A large—but short—man with
curly, thinning brown hair rushed up the path toward the group, a
package in his hands. He wore light-colored denim jeans.
    “How is he?” Kenji asked, breathless.
    “Hurting, but he’ll be fine. Let’s get
started.”
    Ebony ripped open the package and pulled out
a jug, bowl, small pouch, and several strips of white cloth. She
handed everything but the cloth to Kenji, and started separating
the strips onto the grass nearby. Her eyes were very dark—darker
than most eyes Jacob had seen before.
    Kenji opened the pouch and mixed the contents
of it and the jug into the bowl. He and Ebony finished their tasks
at the same time and turned to Jacob.
    “Lay down completely,” Ebony said. “This will
hurt—especially since you’re awake.”
    “What are you going to do?”
    “Clean your wounds.” She pushed him down all
the way.
    Jacob couldn’t see what she was doing, but
felt it when she started. “Holy cow,” he said and gritted his
teeth, trying to control the wave of pain that rolled over him.
    Akeno took off his top hat, moving to Jacob's
side. “I’ll talk to him, if you’d like—distract him.”
    Ebony nodded. “Yes, son, that would be
fine.”
    “Jacob, what do you want to know?”
    “I . . . ” He took a deep breath, trying to
ignore what Kenji and Ebony were doing at his feet. “I’m not sure.”
He felt dumb asking where he was, although he really wanted to
know. He'd run here last night, after all, and he knew where his
home was. Instead, he asked the next most important thing. “Who are
you?”
    “We’re Makalos. We live here.”
    Since when? Jacob had lived here his whole
life. “How come I’ve never seen you in school?”
    “Because I don’t go to your school. I’m from
Eklaron.”
    Eklaron? There wasn’t a city with that name
around here. Unless it was farther up north, and Jacob had never
heard of it before. He sighed to himself in frustration. His mind
was tired. He didn’t want to think about “Eklaron” anymore, and
relaxed as the irritation in his legs faded.
    Just then, Ebony caused a sharp pain in his
left leg, and he winced. Of course it would happen as soon as he’d
finally become comfortable. He blinked away the sudden tears. Not
wanting the others to see the moisture, he closed his eyes, feeling
warmth spread across his face. Fourteen year olds don’t cry over
these sorts of things.
    He tried to distract them from his
embarrassment by asking another question. “What kind of a bear was
that?”
    “It’s a Wahberog. We call them Rogs. Usually
they’re not this dangerous, but Jaegar and his friends like to
tease them.”
    Jacob scowled. Rog. Weird name, and another
thing he’d never heard of before. He thought he’d watched all the
nature shows ever made. Of course, there was no way he’d forget
seeing a show about a bear with human hands. Speaking of which, how did it get hands? Jacob mulled this over in his mind for a
moment, then sat up when an idea occurred to him. “Genetic
mutation!” Akeno looked at him curiously. “The bear. It’s been
genetically altered. Though I’m not sure how you guys pulled it
off.” A wave of exhaustion rolled over him. “Whoa—I’m tired.”
    “That’s normal with the Sap,” Kenji said.
“You can rest, if you’d like. We’re nearly finished.”
    Jacob shook his head, fighting off the
sleepiness. He forced himself to watch as Ebony laid a final strip
of white cloth across his left shin on a really deep gash. His
legs, where the wounds had been, were covered in fabric. She rocked
back on her heels, a smile spreading across her