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asked.
    “Stopping me from going home.”
    Akeno took a deep breath. “They can't stop
you. They can't force you to do anything.”
    “What do they want you to do?”
    The voice came from behind, and Jacob
whirled, half expecting a phantom or Lorkon or something to be
standing there. It was only two Makalos—a shorter one, and one with
a lot of facial hair.
    “Don't do that!” Jacob hissed. “You
scared the heck out of me!”
    The hairier Makalo grimaced. “Sorry. We heard
your voices and came to investigate.”
    “And Jaegar, aren’t you supposed to be home
with Mother?” Akeno asked.
    The shorter Makalo looked away. “Yeah, well,
I . . .” He cleared his throat. “What're the wolves doing?”
    Jacob looked at the animals. “Trying to keep
me from going home, I'm guessing. They want me to go back to the
village.”
    As if in response, the other black wolf
jumped to its feet and stepped to the side of the first.
    “You don't want to go?” said the hairy
Makalo—Butch, Jacob decided to call him. “Then don't do it. How are
they going to stop you?”
    “Oh, I don't know. Kill me, maybe?”
    A concerned expression crossed Jaegar’s face.
“They can't kill you. You’re too important to everyone here. We
wouldn’t let them.”
    “Okay, well, it's probably better if I go on
alone.” Jacob nodded to Akeno. “Thanks for trying to come with me.
Maybe I'll see you around.”
    He took a full step away from the Makalos.
The wolves growled and shifted closer. It felt like they were
pushing him back. Well, he wasn't about to let that happen. He
jogged several feet, but the black wolves leaped in front of him,
growling, blocking his path. He spun in time to see the gray wolves
rush at the Makalos. Several chased Butch up a tree while others
jumped at Jaegar, who lifted his hands to protect himself. Jacob
ran forward to stop them, but Jaegar went down, several of the gray
wolves on top of him, barking and slashing with their teeth and
paws.
    “No!” Akeno screamed. A loud crack sounded
through the air, and all the wolves fell to the ground.
    “Help me get them off!” Akeno shouted. “We’ve
only got a few seconds. The effect doesn't last as long on magical
creatures.”
    Jacob caught up with him—two wolves had
collapsed on top of Jaegar, who was unconscious. Together, Jacob
and Akeno rolled the wolves off of the Makalo.
    The shapes around them began stirring. Jacob
lifted Jaegar’s small frame and rushed toward Taga, following
Akeno.
    Butch climbed down from the tree as Jacob
passed it, then trailed behind them. He wasn't as fast a runner as
Akeno and Jacob, though. When Jacob heard scuffling, he stopped,
knowing the Makalo was in trouble. He spun around in time to see
the wolves attacking Butch.
    “Knock them out!” Jacob shouted to Akeno.
    “I can't—it's been too soon. It loses
effectiveness.”
    “Then take him and run!” Jacob handed Jaegar
to Akeno. He ran back to Butch, waving his hands at the wolves. The
gray ones snarled and leaped, but the black ones interceded before
the smaller wolves reached him.
    The creatures backed away as Jacob neared
Butch. He held his hands out in an attempt to stop them if they
jumped. They growled, stopping twenty feet away, baring their
teeth. He picked up Butch, who was bloodied, but awake.
    “Sorry, man . . . I tried to . . .”
    “It's okay.”
    Jacob ran as quickly as he could through the
trees. The yelps behind him let him know the wolves had taken
pursuit again. He nearly dropped Butch a couple of times. This
Makalo was much heavier than Jaegar.
    He entered the meadow, saw Akeno running for
the opposite side of the village from where Brojan lived, and made
a beeline in that direction. He was almost to the tree when he made
the mistake of looking back. He nearly fell as he did, his stomach
tightening in fear.
    The wolves were in fast pursuit, already
having reached the meadow. It looked like they forgot who they were
chasing and only wanted to take him