About forty-five minutes later, Jacob was no longer enjoying the scenery. The sun was bearing down, and the air felt humid. The wind rustled the leaves on the upper branches of the trees, but it wasn’t reaching them on the ground.
Jacob tried not to focus on the sweat trickling down his back, but was unsuccessful. He felt grimy—especially after the forest and the manor.
The Minyas were playing a game of tag, flitting around Akeno and Jacob’s heads, when all of a sudden they paused, floating still in the air. Early let out a squeal, and the two of them took off through the trees to the left of the trail. Jacob raised an eyebrow and looked at Akeno, who shrugged and followed the Minyas.
In the middle of the forest was a little lake with water so clear the bottom was visible. Jacob jumped forward, hoping to cool off, but Akeno stopped him. He pointed farther up the lake. A bear was partway in the water, staring into the depths. Jacob realized it was a Rog when he saw the human hands.
The Minyas flitted past, both giggling, zooming toward the Rog. There was a flash of light and the Rog soared over the water, landing with a splash. It surfaced, sputtering.
“Oh, no,” Akeno said. “Uh . . . Jacob, we might want to run. Fast.”
“Why?”
Akeno pointed. A huge Rog—much larger than the one who’d attacked Jacob in Taga—exited the forest only fifteen feet away. It shuffled to the water’s edge and took a drink.
Just then, the Minyas flitted up to it and with another flash, thrust it into the water. Except this time, they didn’t push it far enough. It bounded out of the lake, spotted Jacob and Akeno, and roared, standing on its hind legs.
Jacob spun around and ran as fast as he could. The Minyas zoomed alongside him, giggling so hard they were almost bent in half. A sudden urge to whack them out of the air nearly overwhelmed Jacob, but he concentrated on getting away from the Rog instead.
He and Akeno were nearly separated several times. That Makalo was fast! After a moment, though, Akeno grabbed Jacob and pulled him. They stumbled through underbrush, barely staying ahead.
Soon, they were able to put some distance between themselves and the Rog. Before long, Jacob couldn’t see or hear it. He and Akeno ran up the slope, exited the trees, and raced down the trail, putting more space between them and the lake.
Akeno reached out, stopping Jacob. He bent, hands on knees, and panted before saying, “We probably don’t have to run anymore, but we’d better keep going before the Rog figures out where we went. They’re not very smart, but they are dangerous.”
Jacob agreed and settled into the swift pace set by Akeno, holding his arm over the stitch in his side.