Free Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three by Andrea Pearson Page A

was much thicker now, with almost no visibility. Panic hit Jacob when he noticed that the distance between himself and Akeno was growing. He couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed that while the trees were still trying to stop him, they were now letting Akeno through. The air tasted stale and dirty, and each breath he took was agonizing. Jacob tried to limit the amount of air that entered his lungs, but the stench of death was unavoidable.
    The forest grew thicker, making it nearly impossible to see, and what little light there was danced around as the branches thrashed. After only a few minutes, Jacob could no longer see Akeno, and very soon couldn’t hear him, either. The trees thinned and he stopped running, not sure where to go since Akeno hadn’t exactly been running in a straight line.
    Something cold and smooth brushed against Jacob’s cheek. He frantically wiped it off his face, spinning to see what had touched him. Nothing was there but the moving branches.
    He started forward again, cautiously peering ahead. He gasped as another cold, smooth thing ran through his hair. He bent over and shook his head as hard as he could, trying to rid himself of the animal—or whatever it was.
    Seconds later, an extra weight slid across his shoulders and over them, circling his neck. Reaching up to grab it, he recognized the feel of the creature. It was a snake about two feet long, and in the dim light, he could see that it was pale in color. He yanked, flinging it off. As it flew through the air, Jacob stumbled from shock as he watched it flatten and float swiftly to a nearby tree.
    The trees stopped moving. With the stillness, the light no longer danced, and Jacob could see better. Nearly every surface was covered with snakes—the ground seemed to have come alive. Several of them floated through the air.
    Worried that the trees had stopped moving because something even larger and scarier than flying serpents had entered the forest, Jacob peered through the darkness, gingerly treading forward. He tried not to step on any of the snakes and grimaced when he did, but they weren’t reacting to him now that the trees were still.
    As he walked cautiously, watching the trees in case they started to fling their branches around again, something large brushed against his leg. He looked down and made out the shape of a snake, two feet in diameter, as it slithered slowly past him, then stopped.
    Jacob’s body stiffened with fear as his mind raced. He flipped through all his Scouting memories—what kind of snake was this? Was it poisonous? He couldn’t remember ever having seen one like it before, even on TV. He gasped when the snake coiled around his feet. He tried to step away, but couldn’t. Not only was the fear overwhelming, but his feet were being held too tightly.
    The snake hissed, and suddenly it was eye-to-eye with Jacob, its intelligent green eyes piercing into him. Pressure around his knees told him the snake was increasing its grip there. He tried to move again, but couldn’t—the massive serpent had coiled around his chest and tightened its hold.
    The snake’s tongue flicked out, barely touching Jacob’s skin and hair, testing the air around him. Then its body tightened so much that it squeezed the breath out of him. Lifting him completely off the ground, the snake leaned in about a foot from Jacob’s face and gave a loud, menacing hiss, revealing six-inch fangs that glistened in the dim light. It whipped its head away and started dragging him through the forest. Jacob gasped desperately for air and was finally able to pull in a short breath.
    After a few moments, they were joined by a second snake just as big as the first. This snake slithered alongside them for a moment, then headed off to the right.
    The forest ended as the snake reached the edge of a clearing. Toward the center was a hill with a very large manor sitting atop its crest. There was no sign of Akeno.
    The manor must have been impressive in its day.