Free Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow by James Rollins Page B

salvation.
    Heronidus stiffened in surprise as he saw Jake and Kady. His hand dropped to his sheathed sword. He waved the second Roman soldier out of the chariot.
    “Trespassers…”
    The second soldier drew his sword.
    “Who…?” Heronidus asked boldly, having to clear his throat to achieve the right rich baritone of command. “Who are you?”
    Pindor stepped forward and planted his spear more firmly. “I think…” His voice cracked. He glanced to Jake, then down to his toes. His voice hardened to match his brother’s. “They are spies. Spies sent by the Kalverum Rex, the Skull King.”

7
CALYPSOS
    As the day grew hotter, the road down into the valley proved to be longer than it appeared from the Broken Gate. It was made even longer by the tense stretches of silence and suspicious glances from the two older boys in the chariot. The pair of pygmy dinosaurs tugged at their leads, as if sensing the anxiety. The driver kept hauling back on the reins, to keep pace with those on foot.
    They were marched quickly through the farmlands that covered the valley floor. Jake tramped behind the chariot with Kady on one side and Marika on the other. Pindor and Heronidus followed, one with the spear, the other with his sword.
    No one was taking any chances with spies in their midst.
    Eyeing the sword and spear, Jake considered ways to escape, but where would he and Kady go? Back out into the surrounding wild jungle? They would not survive long on their own.
    And besides…
    Jake’s attention turned forward.
    Marika must have noticed his sudden focus on the dragon pyramid. Pointing, she said, “That is the great temple of Kukulkan. It protects this valley and—”
    Heronidus cut her off with a bark. “Mari! You’ll not speak to the spies.”
    “I’ll speak to whoever I want! And they’re not spies,” she said for the tenth time, as if declaring it enough would make it so. “They are newcomers .”
    Heronidus scoffed. “Newcomers? There have not been strangers to these lands in a score of lifetimes. And if they truly are newcomers, I wager it was the dark alchemies of Kalverum Rex that brought them here. To plant spies in our midst.”
    On Jake’s other side, Kady exhaled loudly with disgust. She eyed Heronidus up and down with disdain. It was a look she had perfected at school, capable of withering a freshman with a glance.
    The older boy tried to ignore her, but Jake noted he grew a little red around his tunic’s collar and shifted his sword nervously for a better grip.
    A muffle of movement drew Jake’s eye to the left. From out of the meadow, a snaking head rose. It stretched higher and higher, twenty feet into the air, then tilted over to spy on the small band of travelers on the road below.
    Jake stared upward, holding his breath. The creature’sskin was purplish, its eyes large and moist above blubbery lips. It blew a short bleat from its trumpet-shaped nose at them, then sank away and returned to its grazing.
    Kady grabbed Jake’s elbow. “What was that?”
    He shook his head, too awed speak. It looked like some type of duckbill dinosaur.
    “We call it a blow horn,” Marika said. “They’re very good at pulling plows.”
    As the dinosaur vanished, Pindor rubbed his belly. “Shouldn’t we stop to eat?”
    Heronidus scowled at his younger brother. “We’re not stopping. Not when we have prisoners with us.” He looked hard at Jake, then back to Pindor. “You’ll be lucky to get water and dry bread after Father finds out you went to the Broken Gate by yourself… and took his spear.”
    “Father doesn’t have to know about the spear, does he?” Pindor pleaded.
    Heronidus shrugged and continued down the road. “We shall see.”
    A half mile ahead spread the city of Calypsos. Built on a small hill, it rose from the valley floor. But as much as the place intrigued him, Jake’s attention was drawn beyond its borders. Deep within wild woodlands that ran up against the city walls on the right, the