Jacob jumped with a start, hands swinging, but it was too late. Nothing was there. The tree door opened, and he was momentarily blinded by the late-afternoon sunlight before the door shut.
“Hello?” Jacob called out. No answer. He shook himself, trying to get rid of the creepy feeling that surrounded him.
A roar from outside made him jump. Oh, no, not the wolves again.
He forced himself to calm down. Wolves don’t roar, and it didn’t sound very close. Maybe he had time to get away! He couldn’t stand the idea of being trapped again. Jacob raced to the door, but jerked to a stop as soon as he’d swung it open.
The biggest bear he’d ever seen charged at top speed toward the tree—and it was coming straight for him.
Terrified, Jacob slammed the door shut, then backed as far away from it as he could. Bumping into a staircase, he dashed up a couple steps, and tensely waited for the impact. Only, there wasn’t one.
He could hear heavy breathing outside—it must be the bear. The knob shook … then jiggled a bit. There was a thump and Jacob froze, expecting the bear to break through at any second. Another loud roar, and the knob jiggled again. Jacob stared at it, wondering if the bear had the intelligence to figure it out. He hoped not. The crack of light around the doorway shifted as the bear continued looking for a way in.
The knob turned, the latch released, and the door swung open. Jacob straightened in fright. The bear roared, opening its mouth wider than Jacob thought possible—the largest set of teeth he’d ever seen dripped with saliva. Jacob stumbled backward, nearly falling, as he tripped over the edge of the step behind him.
The bear roared again, then lunged toward Jacob, who spun around and dashed up the stairs.
Jacob felt the bear grab at his back. He expected pain, but felt nothing. Relief flushed through him, but it was short-lived. There seemed to be nowhere to hide in this tree. He kept running up the stairs, passing rooms as he did so. Beds, books, shelves—what was this place? He could feel the hot breath rushing over his neck, making his skin crawl.
The bear took another swipe at him, but again, the claws didn’t catch. Still tripping over himself, Jacob finally reached the top of the stairs, a room with no exit—just windows. He ran at them, hoping to jump through, but his body merely slammed against the glass. Jacob whirled as the bear roared and pounced, knocking him to the ground. Spittle flew across his face.
Expecting to have his head bitten off, Jacob was surprised to feel large fingers grip his shoulder and start dragging him down the stairs. He jerked around, looking for the person who’d grabbed him, but only the bear was there. It had a human hand? How was that possible? More surprised now than afraid, Jacob twisted so he could see the other hand—it was human too! His surprise lasted merely seconds as pain shot up his back and rear with each step he hit on the way down. He flailed around, screaming for help, desperately trying to escape, but nothing worked. The fingers dug into his shoulder too tightly.
The bear—or whatever creature this was—dragged him out of the tree. It paused for a moment, but didn’t loosen its grip on Jacob’s arm. It seemed undecided as to where to take him—it looked to the forest on the left, where Jacob had come from the night before, then looked to where the forest continued on the right, leading up the canyon. Canyon walls towered above them to the front and right. Jacob hollered for help when he saw groups of people scrambling down a rope ladder that led to a large cave-like split in the rock. The meadow wasn’t very big—he was positive they’d hear.
Suddenly, the creature pulled Jacob to the right. They rounded the tree, and Jacob was momentarily surprised to see that the canyon wall on that side also had a large fissure in it. People climbed down the side of the wall from the crevice, hands and feet gripping small holes in the rock.
As the creature dragged Jacob on the ground, gravel tore through his pants and started digging into the skin of his ankles, and he screamed. The creature charged into the forest, heading up the canyon, and the walls on either side were obscured.
A small group of people raced after Jacob and his captor. In the lead was a short blonde woman, followed by a small, black-haired boy wearing a top hat—a top hat? The boy raced to a tree and, in a deliberate yet unassuming manner, placed his left hand on the trunk. Suddenly, a sharp crack—like a rifle shot, but much louder—sounded through the air and the bear-like creature collapsed, releasing its hold. Jacob rolled, limbs sprawling across the ground, and cried 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 creature, dragged it to a nearby tree, and tied it down.
“Jacob, 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 was oozing from several deep gashes. The skin on his lower legs stung, and he could only imagine how much dirt and gravel was 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 was ripping the right pant leg off, causing it to rub against his wounds, and 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 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 of the cloth ripping from his flesh was almost unbearable. He dug his fingers into the grass, trying not to call out.
A bright flash of light blazed in front of Jacob, and he jerked backward in shock. A miniature person—no, two miniature people—hovered in the air. Without wings. How on earth was that possible? He must’ve gone crazy. He pointed at them, his mouth open. They were only about two inches tall!
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 them, dressed in green pants, saluted her, a large grin on its human-like face. Ebony turned to its companion, this one wearing a white dress. “Go tell Brojan that Jacob is awake and that a Rog attacked him.” The girl flitted a couple feet away before Ebony stopped her. “Oh, and Early, when you’re done, find Jaegar and tell him to get home at once—he’s in big trouble.”
The two creatures flitted to each other’s sides and placed their 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 as they disappeared. Little glitters of silver floated to the ground.
Had Jacob gone crazy when he hit his head? Somehow he’d entered one of Amberly’s make-believe worlds! He touched his forehead, confused to find a bandage there. When had he fixed up the cut?
“You can remove that now, Jacob,” Ebony said. “Your forehead is fine.”
He winced when she pulled something out of his shin. “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, package in hand. He wore light-colored denim jeans.
“How is he?” Kenji asked, breathless.
“Hurting, but he’ll be fine. Let’s get start
ed.”
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 on the grass nearby. Her eyes were very dark—darker than most eyes Jacob had seen before.
Kenji opened the pouch and poured the contents of it, along with those of the jug, into the bowl, and mixed. He and Ebony finished their tasks at the same time and turned to Jacob.
“Lie down,” 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 as he tried to control the wave of pain that overcame him.
Akeno removed his top hat and scrambled to Jacob’s side. “I’ll talk to him, if you’d like—keep his mind off what’s going on.”
Ebony nodded. “Yes, son, that would be good.”
“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. Jacob had never heard of it before. He sighed to himself in frustration. His mind was tired, and he relaxed as Ebony continued to work and the pain started to fade.
Just then, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg and winced. Of course, that would happen as soon as he finally became comfortable. He blinked away the sudden tears. Not wanting the others to see, he closed his eyes, feeling warmth from self-consciousness spread across his face. Fourteen-year-olds don’t cry about these sorts of things.
He tried to distract them from his embarrassment by asking another question. “What kind of bear was that?”
“It’s a Wahberog. We call them Rogs. They’re not usually this dangerous, but Jaegar and his friends like to tease them.”
Jacob scowled. Rog. Weird name, and yet another thing he’d never heard of before. He thought he had watched all the nature shows ever made, but there was no way he would forget seeing a show about a bear with human hands. Speaking of which, how did it get hands? Jacob mulled this over 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 like. We’re nearly finished.”
Jacob shook his head, fighting off the sleepiness. He forced himself to watch as Ebony laid the last strip of white cloth across a deep gash in his left shin. His legs were covered in fabric. She rocked back on her heels, a smile spreading across her face.
“There! You’ll be good as new in just a few moments.”
Jacob stared at her, all exhaustion gone. “Good as new? What did you do—give me a different set of legs?”
“Just about,” Kenji said. “Wait a moment, then take a look.”
What if they had given him new legs? Freaky idea. But being taller would be cool.
Finally, Jacob couldn’t wait any longer and lifted the edge of one of the strips. He quickly forgot about his height. “How’d you do that?” The skin was nearly smooth—almost no sign that anything had happened. Just pink stripes where the gashes had been, which, as Jacob watched, faded before his eyes.
Kenji smiled. “We put on the Kaede Sap and allowed it to do what it does best—heal.”
“Sap healed me?”
Ebony nodded. “Yes. Your forehead, too.”
“Amazing!” Jacob lifted all the strips—his legs were, as Ebony had said, like new. “No way. I can’t believe it. Why isn’t this stuff used in hospitals? It’s incredible.”
Ebony nodded and glanced at Akeno. “Go check on the Rog.”
Akeno left, and Jacob, with Kenji’s help, got to his feet, astonished at how much his legs didn’t hurt. He’d be okay for basketball tryouts today . . . then the realization hit him.
“I missed tryouts!” He stepped away from Ebony, who had reached to brush dirt off his shirt. “Oh, man! What have I done?” He turned to Kenji. “The wolves! This is their fault!”
Kenji frowned. “Technically, it wasn’t their fault, though it might seem that way. I’m sorry.”
Jacob stared at Kenji. He was sorry? He didn’t even know how important this was! Jacob paused. “Do you have a phone? Can I use it?”
“We use Minyas,” Ebony said. “Much better than—”
“Maybe Matt could go talk to Coach Birmingham. Maybe Coach’ll still let me shoot a few hoops, and it’s not too late. Oh, I can’t believe I missed tryouts!” Jacob slumped to the ground and put his head in his hands.
“You’re understandably upset,” Kenji said. “Here, eat this. Food will make you feel better.”
Jacob took the food and, without looking at it, shoved it in his mouth. The taste of jerky was familiar—one of his favorite snacks—but this time it made him feel like throwing up. He’d missed the most important day of his life, of his future NBA career. Months and months—even years—of practice wasted. He had to get home. He jumped to his feet, but was stopped by Kenji’s arm.
“Hold on a minute, Jacob. We’ll discuss everything—including your tryouts—soon. Let’s take one thing at a time.” He paused when Akeno approached.
Jacob scowled at Kenji. “Fine. Five minutes. That’s all.”
“Did you bring the cage, Father?” Akeno asked. “The Rog is about to wake up.”
Kenji pulled a little wooden box—like a jail cell—from his pocket, and opened one side of it. Jacob smirked—how was that going to help? Was Kenji going to throw it at the Rog?
The creature roared, awake again. It thrashed around in the net, and the little men struggled to keep him in place. Kenji took several steps back and stretched his arm straight out in front of him. He made a scooping motion with the cage, then let go of it. It disappeared the moment it left his grasp while, simultaneously, a life-size cage appeared and scooped the Rog inside, knocking it off its feet.
Jacob jumped backward. “Holy cow!”
The men rushed over to lock the cage up. The Rog roared, furiously grabbing and rattling the bars with its human hands.
Jacob looked at Kenji, then the Rog, and back. “What on earth just happened?”
“You’re not on Earth, Jacob,” Akeno said. “This is Eklaron. It’s a different world. Things aren’t the same here.”
“What do you mean, I’m not on Earth? You’re kidding, right?” Jacob turned to face the forest. He was tired of these games. “Okay, Matt, you can come out now!”
Akeno grabbed Jacob’s arm, pulling him back around. “No. I’m serious.”
Was he telling the truth? Jacob bit his lip. Could he be on a different planet? Was it possible? After everything Jacob had seen this morning, he wasn’t sure. Maybe something happened to his brain the night before when he had fallen.
A bear with human hands. Miniature people who appeared and disappeared with flashes of light. Healing sap. And Kenji just enlarged and teleported something! Jacob ran his fingers through his hair and stopped with his hand on the top of his head, staring at Kenji in disbelief. His mouth opened, then shut. “Uhhh . . .” was the only thing he could articulate.
Kenji gave him a sympathetic smile.
Jacob looked back at the Rog. He tried to swallow, but his
throat was too dry. Finally, he managed to say in a croaky voice, “You guys are telling the truth, aren’t you?”
Kenji nodded.
“I’m not on Earth anymore, am I?”
Kenji shook his head.
“Oh, man,” Jacob said. He sank to the ground and buried his face in his hands.