But most of the Shadow Fae were smarter.
From unseen positions, poison darts began to fly. They came from every direction, from the surrounding trees, rocks, and from the cave itself. Some hit armor and fell harmlessly to the ground. But others found flesh, through breaks in the armor. Within seconds, men and women began to fall. Then Fae were leaping out of the trees and flanking the band on both sides. In their hands, they held slim daggers that quickly buried themselves into the flesh of the Watchers.
The band, who had performed so efficiently against a group of demons, struggled with this new threat.
Jak watched it all in horror, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her mother was gone, no longer at her side, probably aiding the fight. And through it all, Kuldain watched her, that same sneer on his face. He had not broken their gaze since he cut the captive Fae’s throat.
A few darts came at Kuldain, but he simply plucked them from his skin and threw them away, with no sign of the effects of the poison. Even in the middle of a battle, Jak could see that something was wrong. Blood-burning didn’t make one immune to poison, did it?
A Shadow Fae came for Kuldain, but the man was too fast. His arms shot out and grasped the Fae by its wrists. Then his Blood-burning activated. The Fae instantly dissolved into ash. Jak gasped, she had never seen Blood-burning work that quickly before! Kuldain was more powerful than he let on.
She spotted Naem, who was fully concentrated on the battle. His gift of Grace allowed him to weave in and out of the fight, dodging the knives and darts of the Shadow Fae just in time. Jak winced as she saw his spear take out a Shadow Fae. She had to stop this!
But there was nothing she could do. She had no weapon. Her brand was useless to her. People on both sides of the conflict had already forgotten about her, lost in the battle. Even her mother was gone. Perhaps if she used her brand again to make something explode or catch on fire? That might work. She looked all around to find something, anything that might work. A rock caught her attention and she stooped to pick it up. Calling to mind the same determination that she’d felt the last time she activated her brand, she focused to infuse the rock with a Flamedancer brand.
Nothing.
Panicking, she tried again, but nothing worked as the battle raged on around her.
Disadvantaged as they were, the Watchers still had far greater numbers than the Fae. One by one, a soldier would score a lucky strike, or a Flamedancer would set a tree on fire with Shadow Fae still in it. There were only two dozen or so of the Fae, most of the inhabitants of this particular cave. Jak knew there were others, but her mother had implied that they were far away, beyond their reach.
She looked for her mother everywhere, but couldn’t see her. Perhaps she was safely back inside the cave. She hoped so.
Kuldain was part of the battle now, but he too seemed to be looking for someone. He fought when he was attacked, but otherwise he walked slowly, deliberately through the chaos. Then his eyes found what he was looking for, and he moved faster. Jak followed his gaze, and her heart nearly stopped. It was Karlona, who stood with two knives at the ready, facing down Kuldain.
They circled each other for a few seconds before Karlona made the first strike. She leapt forward, and her daggers swiped at Kuldain. The man was quick to dodge. He let Karlona move right past him, casually sidestepping. If he wanted to, he could have reached out and used his magic to burn Karlona to ashes. Why didn’t he?
Jak could see Kuldain saying something to her mother, but with the sound of battle raging across the clearing, she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Whatever it was, it angered her mother, who lunged forward one more time. This time her blades nearly met their mark. Kuldain barely got out of the way in time. He still had no weapon in hand, his sword still sheathed at his side.
The battle around them continued for several minutes more, but Jak could tell that the Watchers were beginning to have the upper hand. The Telekinetics were the ones primarily responsible. Their abilities allowed them to freeze the Fae in place, and now that the Fae were fewer in number, and had fully revealed themselves, the Telekinetics were able to find each one and subdue them. Only a handful of Fae remained alive.
Jak watched as the remaining Fae froze under the influence of a Telekinetic who stood with his arms outstretched, holding each of the Fae in place. That left only Karlona and Kuldain, who were still fighting. With the rest of the Fae incapacitated, the others turned to watch, waiting to see what would happen. Jak’s heart sank as she realized the fight was completely one-sided. As skilled as her mother seemed to be, Kuldain played with her like a kitten. He grinned as he watched her grow more and more frustrated.
Finally, he was done playing games. On Karlona’s next pass, he dodged once again and caught her arm. Karlona screamed, and Jak realized she was screaming too. Her mother’s knives fell from her hands as agonizing pain shot through the Shadow Fae. But Kuldain did not kill her instantly like he had some of the others. He must not have been using the full extent of his powers. Just a taste.
Jak felt an arm around her, and she tried to shrug it off, not taking her eyes off her mother. Her mother! She had come all this way and now she was losing the only parent she had left!
Kuldain spoke again to Karlona, but since the battle had died down, Jak could make out the words this time.
“This isn’t like last time, Karlona, you have no power over us now.”
Karlona stirred and glared at Kuldain. Darkness began to gather around her, a last attempt. But it quickly dissipated as Karlona screamed once more. Kuldain was using his magic on her again.
Jak yelled and rushed at Kuldain, but something was holding her back. She turned to see Marek, firmly grasping her shoulders. “Let go of me!” she exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Marek said. “You’ll only make things worse.”
“That’s my mother!” she yelled in exasperation. She saw Marek’s eyes widen, then narrow in confusion.
“How?”
Jak took advantage of his confusion to wiggle free of his grip. Then she ran towards Kuldain and her mother.
She never stood a chance.
With one heavily muscled arm, Kuldain grabbed her wrist as she closed in.
Pain! Agony like nothing she had ever experienced ran through her entire body. She was on fire, she was fire! Surely, this was what death felt like.
And then it was gone. Disoriented, she found herself on the ground, lying near her mother. Her eyes refused to focus properly and she felt foggy as she tried to think. Her heart raced, and adrenaline eventually brought her back to reality.
Kuldain was speaking again. “Bring me that one,” he ordered, pointing to a Shadow Fae subdued by a Telekinetic. The Fae struggled and cursed. It was Vander, the one who hadn’t trusted her. He had been right after all. They should never have trusted her.
“We’ll take these two as hostages, proof of the threat that these Fae pose. We’ll take them for the Gifters and Alchemists to study and dissect. That should help us understand these Fae and any others that threaten the Kingdom.”
“And the rest of them, sir?” one of the Telekinetics asked.
“Kill them all.”
“No!” Jak screamed. She was supposed to protect these people, to be their ambassador.
“Sir, we have them at our mercy, they’re unarmed.” Jak turned to look at the protestor. It was Naem. He had advanced to the front of the line and now stood next to Marek. Both of them looked shocked and disapproving. “We can’t just kill unarmed prisoners.”
“You can and you will. They would do the same to you.”
“All due respect, sir, but I see no reason why they would. We attacked first. They were willing to talk.” A few soldiers lowered their heads. Was that shame? “They had the girl for days and haven’t harmed her.”
Kuldain looked at the remaining Watchers, could see the doubt in their eyes. When he spoke, his voice was fire. “Sergeant, you are hereby stripped of rank and will face tria
l when we reach Foothold. You will not question me on this matter. I know these creatures. And anyone else who wishes to question my orders will meet the same fate. Now execute the rest of these monsters!”
“Sir, may I have a word in private?” This time it was Major Skellig speaking. She was smarter not to disagree in public with the Colonel, but Jak could see the disapproval on her face.
“No, you may not, Major.” Kuldain responded. “If we give these creatures any leeway, they will turn on us. This is not up for discussion. Obey my orders.”
Skellig kept her gaze on Kuldain, but finally waved one hand, bowing her head as she did so. The rest understood. They would obey or lose their rank like Naem.
Jak could feel the tears in her eyes as she watched the remaining Fae die. The Watchers obeyed their orders, though Jak thought she saw a hint of reluctance in their actions. She heard her mother and Vander yelling and struggling to get free and save their comrades. But it was no use. Soon, they were the only two that remained.
Naem and Marek did not join in the slaughter. The former only stood there disbelieving. Jak couldn’t read the expression on Marek’s face. She looked for Major Skellig, who had said nothing throughout the whole exchange. She was watching Kuldain with a new expression on her face. Distrust?
Kuldain spoke again, “Now take these two and make sure their bonds are tight.”
Some of the Watchers moved forward to do as commanded. They bound Vander, then moved on to Karlona, who was still lying incapacitated on the ground next to Jak. Lying there, watching them drag her mother off gave Jak new energy.
“You monster!” She tried, futile as it was, to lash out at Kuldain. But once again pain coursed through her and she collapsed once more. Kuldain’s Blood-burning, even in a non-lethal dose, caused all her muscles to simply stop working. Her head swam, and the light slowly faded as she lost consciousness.
16
Jak wasn’t sure if it was hours or days later when she awoke. She was lying on a makeshift cot, with two sticks on either side and a cloth strung between them. But currently she was on the ground, and it was completely dark, save for the warm flicker of firelight nearby.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” Jak turned to see Naem sitting there. “I was worried there for a while.”
Jak put a hand to her head. She had a headache that could stop a bear, and her body ached all over. Blood-burning was not a pleasant thing to live through.
“What happened?” she asked. She could barely remember anything.
“Well, after Kuldain incapacitated you, he ordered me and some of the others to carry you down the mountain. We traveled all day and eventually made camp here. Me and Marek carried you.”
It was only then that Jak noticed her arms were tied together. She tried to loosen her wrists.
“Don’t bother, the knots are tight.” Naem held up his own hands, which were also tied with rope. His allowed his hands a bit more freedom, probably because he had to help carry Jak’s cot. But they were no less confining.
“Oh, Naem, I’m sorry I got you into all this. If I had just gone with the rest of my village to Tradehall, you wouldn’t have had to…”
She cut off as Naem took her hands in his. Staring her straight in the eye, he said, “Jak, this is not your fault. I don’t regret it for a moment. In fact, having you here...has been the best thing to happen to me in a long while.”
Jak almost blushed, despite the situation. But another thought quickly overrode her response. “What about my mother, and Vander?”
“You mean the Shadow Fae? Kuldain has them restrained at the front of the camp. I think he wanted to keep an eye on them personally. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to care as much about us. Though I’m surprised he even let you live.”
“He knows that Karlona is my mother, I think he still sees me as a curiosity.”
“Yeah, so would you care to explain how a Fae is your mother?”
“She wasn’t a Fae when I was conceived, though she became one while pregnant with me. I suppose that makes me some sort of mutant hybrid? It might explain my hair.”
“I suppose it would.” Before Jak could think, Naem’s hand touched the strand of red hair that wove throughout her raven locks. She didn’t say anything. His hand didn’t go away. Jak swallowed. Part of her wanted him to continue, part of her didn’t. There was just too much going on. One thing at a time. She was grateful when his hand finally retreated, and Naem winced as he shifted his position on the hard earth.
That was when she noticed his leg was bleeding. “Naem!” she cried, “You’re injured.”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “A Fae dagger nicked me, that’s all. It looks worse than it feels.”
“Let me see it.” Jak put both her tied hands forward and grabbed his leg to get a closer look. It certainly looked bad. “Relics, Naem. And they had you walking around, carrying me like this? Don’t the Watchers have any Healers?”
“We don’t actually. Healers rarely join the Watchers, since most of them are pacifists. And Kuldain said the pain might help me learn a lesson. Your friend Marek though, he brought me some brandy to wash it with. That helped a little.”
Jak felt a moment of gratitude for Marek. And not for the first time.
“Still, with everything that has happened. Why can’t people just mind their own business? The Fae weren’t harming anyone.”
“Kuldain seems to think they do.”
“And you still trust Kuldain?”
Naem hesitated, “I suppose not anymore.”
“I keep feeling like there’s more that he’s not telling us. Some other reason why he hates the Fae so much.”
Naem nodded, “That would make some sense. Either that or he’s just much more irrational than we gave him credit for. Not that any motivation could rationalize his behavior back there. But maybe you’re right, maybe there is something we don’t know.”
“It’s not your place to know anything, just to obey.” It was Estel, coming to taunt them. Jak groaned. Why was it that Estel always seemed to show up when Jak was feeling irritable?
Naem sighed. “What was your name again?” Jak was sure he knew, but she felt satisfaction at seeing the indignance on Estel’s face.
“I am Estel, and I’ve been assigned to guard the two of you today. I am Major Skellig’s protege. So you better not toy with me or she will hear of it. That’s all you would need, to get in any more trouble than you already are.”
Jak chuckled. “If Skellig has taken the time to get to know you, she would probably thank us.”
Estel glared at her. “And what do you know? You, who were so useless they could only spare a young Sergeant, barely older than yourself, to train you. You, who got us into this mess. Honestly, I don’t know why the Colonel didn’t just toss you away after the battle. People died because you stood up for those...things!”
Jak clenched her jaw. “People died because Kuldain wouldn’t see reason. They are not monsters, Estel, they are people.”
“No, you and I are people. Or at least I am. We don’t look like something out of a child’s nightmare.”
Before Jak could respond, she heard a bugle blow, and realized that the sky was already starting to brighten. Naem sighed and rose to his feet, wincing as he put pressure on his leg.
“May I assume you won’t need carrying any longer?” he said to Jak, completely ignoring Estel who still stood there with hands on hips.
Jak got to her feet as well. “Yeah, that’s a safe assumption.”
“Good, because you were very heavy.” He winced as she punched his arm with both of her tied hands.
Estel was staring open-mouthed at the two of them. Jak almost smiled. It was almost more satisfying to pretend that Estel was not there rather than argue with her.
Sadly, the satisfaction lasted only a moment before Estel began running her mouth off again. This continued, with Jak and Naem never getting a word in, until the Watchers were up and moving again. As much as Estel’s voice grated
at her, Jak eventually learned to tune it out. Thankfully, Estel even quieted once she realized that no one was listening. She walked, sulky, as they progressed down the mountainside.
Naem’s leg was growing worse. He hid it well, but Jak could tell that he was quickly tiring. His limp became ever-more pronounced, and she could see blood soaking the bandage. He was going to need proper medical help soon, or...Jak didn’t want to think about it.
She looked around for Skellig. The Major was the only one Jak trusted to help Naem. But she couldn’t see her anywhere. With Naem’s leg as it was, they began to fall behind, towards the back of the camp.
“Keep moving!” Estel cried. “Don’t think you can slack off because you got a small scratch. There are others with far worse than you.”
Yeah, and they all got help, Jak thought. But she didn’t say it out loud. A small plan was beginning to form in her head. Perhaps they could find help faster.
As they continued to slow, Estel grew increasingly frustrated. Even some of the other Watchers were beginning to glance at her. Jak could see them roll their eyes when Estel was not looking. Soon enough, they were at the back of the camp.
“I’m serious, you need to pick up the pace or I’ll…”
“You’ll get Major Skellig and tell on us? Good, Skellig is exactly the person we need right now. Why don’t you run along and get her for us.”
Estel frowned, “You can’t get rid of me that easy. Without me, you could slip away in the dark.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jak said in a cheerful tone. She steeled herself. This next part was going to hurt a little.
Focusing as hard as she could under the circumstances, she imagined a Firedancer brand once again. Last time when she had focused her determination, it hadn’t worked. That left one other theory, that it involved truth. She had always heard that truth was a powerful force for magic. Maybe that was the key. Testing her theory, she summoned a truth in her mind, I hate Estel.
Out of Shadow: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 1) Page 13