The Key of Kilenya

Author's Note:

The video for today is a continuation of Networking with Twitter. It'll give you ideas on how to get more followers, thereby helping you make important connections. Check it out, if you are interested. :-)

Happy Reading!

- Andrea

7. A Bucket Full of Nuts

            Today we experienced the second element: wind. As with the water, it was nothing like what we’d been expecting, and the form in which it came was a complete surprise to us. There was no warning at all, not even a wave of heat as before.

            We were following the trail, conversing, when we noticed a nice smell. Kelson claimed it was his mother’s bread and soup. Kenji believed it was maple, pine needles, and mountains. To me, it was the perfume Arien wears. The other Makalos and humans also listed favorite things. Regardless of what we smelled, however, the effect was the same—we were made to feel completely happy and at peace.

            We continued our trek, satisfied and content, and weren’t surprised that we ran into no problems as we followed the trail.

            However, after an hour or two of travel, I felt someone pull me from my horse and drag me along the ground. I couldn’t focus on whomever it was, nor could I clear my thoughts long enough to remember what I was doing. The smell was so pervasive that my thoughts were completely centered on Arien. I’d even forgotten that she’d been kidnapped.

            I felt water being poured over my head, and suddenly my thoughts were sharp again. When I looked around, I saw that I was near a small cabin, the owner of which stood over me. Instead of fear, I felt joy as I realized who this woman was—a long time friend of Ara Liese and Arien.

            The Fat Lady—as she insists on being called—drew my attention to the trail and my fellow travelers. I was disturbed to see every member of the group standing still, a complacent smile upon their faces. But what shocked me most was that during the last two hours, we hadn’t moved an inch, and the horses had wandered away from us to graze. How had they done so, when we’d been riding them?

Once the members of the group had been rescued and the horses rounded up, the Fat Lady explained everything.

The Lorkon have created a type of everlasting potion that they have placed in thick concentrations throughout the area. Whenever a person enters the fumes of this potion, his mind is confounded, and he—or she is rendered completely helpless. What was most frightening to us was this—the individual has no idea he is not continuing with his life, because in his mind, he is. It is an invisible prison.

***

A timid voice interrupted Jacob’s reverie. “Jacob?”

He sat up, focusing on Akeno, who sat not too far away. “Yeah?”

“Would you accept an apology? The way I behaved was completely childish and . . .”

“It’s okay, Akeno.”

Jacob watched Akeno closely, waiting to see if he was going to cry or start throwing punches. Satisfied by the contrition he saw in the Makalo's eyes, he relaxed.

His mind drifted back to the forest. “Do you think the lady has an influence over what the trees were doing to us?”

Akeno picked at the leaves on his shoes. “I imagine so,” he said, then scratched his head. “Good thing I have another hat at home, ’cause I think I lost mine somewhere in the forest.” He sighed and looked at Jacob. “Am I really so weak I couldn’t even handle a few negative emotions?”

Jacob shook his head. “No, I don’t think you are. It affected the Makalo adults, too.”

Akeno picked some grass near him, and Jacob pulled the petals off a flower. He could tell Akeno wanted to say something, so he waited. He hated awkward silences.

Akeno kept picking the grass. Finally he looked up. “Why didn’t the forest bother you?”

Jacob thought back to what he had felt while in the forest. He recognized he’d remained rational the entire time . . . well, except while the woman was trying to lure him. But even Matt would have given in under those circumstances.