Instantly the ropes tying her hands burst into flame. Jak winced as they burned and caused blisters to form where the ropes touched her wrists. But she felt a satisfaction as the bonds quickly fell from her hands. Triumphant, she turned to deal with Estel.
The girl was staring at her wide-eyed, true fear evident on her face. “You…you can’t. Kuldain will kill you. I...HEL—”
Jak punched her in the face.
Estel staggered back, her nose beginning to spew blood, her cry for help lost on her lips. Naem was starring at both of them. His mouth hung open.
“Now you listen here, you miserable excuse for a human,” Jak said. “You’re going to play nicely, or I’ll do to you what I just did to that rope.”
“You...you wouldn’t! You can’t!”
“I would, and I can. You said it yourself, I’m in league with the Fae. How do you know I won’t just turn you into one of them!” She couldn’t of course, but Estel didn’t know that.
“What’s going on here?” It was Skellig. Jak had been so focused on Estel that she hadn’t even noticed the Major approach on her horse. Marek was there too, standing beside Skellig. He carried something in his hands, food perhaps?
Jak felt ice form in her stomach. She had wanted Skellig to arrive earlier. But now that she was free and threatening Estel, Skellig would probably lock her right up again. But then again, Skellig could plainly see Jak was free from her bonds, and yet wasn’t doing anything. Marek was staring from Jak to Estel, a hint of amusement on his lips.
“I...uh, was showing Estel what I can do with my brand. She didn’t seem to think I could do anything with it.”
“Hmmm,” Skellig seemed to be considering something. “Very well, carry on!”
Shock showed on Estel’s face. Jak almost laughed, but instead said. “Yes sir, thank you sir.”
“And Jak,” Skellig said. “Your friend, my former Sergeant will need medical help. I can do nothing for him, but there are healers in Foothold. If someone were to, say take a shortcut, they might find themselves ahead of us.”
“Ah...what shortcut would that be, sir?”
“Well, if I were on my own, or with a friend, I would slide down the snowbank about a hundred paces to the left which will take you nearly to the base of the mountain, then find the stream that leads out of the mountain to take me the rest of the way to Foothold. I might freeze, but I’d get there soon. Especially if I used a shield like this one to slide down the bank...oops!” Skellig promptly dropped her own shield. “Clumsy me.”
Jak nodded her head gratefully. “That’s some good advice, I’ll have to remember it.”
Major Skellig nodded, bent low to speak a few words to Marek, then trotted off towards the front of the band.
Estel, for once, had no words to say. She simply stared at the Major, her jaw permanently affixed to the ground.
Marek walked over to Jak and Naem and handed them a small loaf of dry bread, which he had obviously brought for Jak. It wasn’t much, but Jak could feel her appreciation for her old friend increase. “She wants me to watch that one.” He pointed at Estel. “To make sure she doesn’t squawk to the Colonel. No one else is looking, so you should probably go now.”
Jak rushed forward and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, Marek. I know we haven’t had much time to spend together on this trip. I hope we can change that.” She didn’t notice Naem glance away.
“I’d like that, but right now you need to get as far away from Kuldain as you can. Get Naem some help, but then you need to go.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t be in Foothold when the Colonel shows up. He’ll boil your blood. He’ll probably do the same to us once he realizes you’re gone.”
“He won’t know you helped me.”
“Oh, of course he will. Even if he can’t prove it, he’ll need someone to blame. Who better than your best friend from Riverbrook?” Marek shrugged as if it were no big deal. “But what’s the worst that he’ll do, demote me like Naem? Banish me from the Watchers? Honestly, I don’t know if I’d care anymore.”
“Just take care of yourself.”
“I will, but you seriously need to go now. Sooner or later someone will take notice, someone not as understanding as Major Skellig.”
Jak nodded and motioned for Naem to accompany her. Together they moved off to the left, towards the snowbank that Skellig had indicated, taking the Major’s shield with them.
“I won’t forget this, Marek!” she said as they left.
Marek only nodded and raised one hand in farewell. Then he spoke to Estel and the two of them continued on with the rest of the Watchers. Estel still looked stone faced, an unusual look for her.
Naem was beginning to stumble as they lost sight of the Watcher band. Jak put one of his arms over her shoulders to help him walk. Her only focus now was to find help for Naem before his injury killed him.
17
It didn’t take long for Jak to realize that they might have been better off with the Watchers. They had nothing to help with Naem’s wound, and Jak was not sure they could outpace the Watchers to Foothold, even when taking the shortcut that Skellig suggested.
“You know,” Naem mumbled, “I always wanted to sled down a snowbank. Never thought I’d do so under these circumstances however.” He stumbled and Jak nearly fell under the shift in weight. How was it that men were so heavy? Plus there was the added weight of Skellig’s full-body shield to carry. Jak wasn’t exactly built like an ox, so it didn’t take long before she was taking big deep breaths.
They passed tree after tree for what felt like hours. At this rate they would never get to Foothold ahead of the others. Jak could only hope that they’d make up the time later. But Naem concerned her. He kept stumbling and leaning on her more, which further slowed them down. But finally, they got clear of the trees and could see nothing but snow for miles.
Jak swallowed. It was a very long way down. But, ignoring her anxiety, she unshouldered Skellig’s shield. It was long, made of wood, and meant to cover one’s whole body. When a group of these shields were placed together they made a wall that was almost impossible to penetrate. It proved very effective against demons. But now they were using it as a sled, and they had yet to see whether it would work.
Setting Naem down first, Jak set the shield down on its side, and sat down towards the back end. She almost screamed as it slipped forward and she had to catch herself before the sled took her down and away from Naem. She held the sled in place while Naem crawled in front of her.
“This isn’t exactly how I imagined us getting to know each other better,” he said as he sat in front of her, her arms wrapping around him for good measure.
“Oh shut up, now’s not the time,” she said with exasperation. “We’re about to hurtle down this mountain faster than a horse can run, and we’ll probably hit something and be thrown into the air at breakneck speeds into a tree or a rock, breaking every bone in our bodies. We’ll have little or no control over where this sled goes and if the direction isn’t perfect, we’ll probably end up falling over a cliff on one side, or into the trees on the other.”
Naem blinked. “Well, I’m certainly glad you’re remaining optimistic about everything. You left out the part about how, with my leg being what it is, even if we do make it to the bottom, I probably won’t be able to walk from there to Foothold.”
“Yeah.” Jak was beginning to breathe in and out with increasing speed. “That part.”
She waited a moment longer, steeling herself. She could do this. Yes, she could probably do this. Naem filled the temporary silence, “But you also know that the longer we wait here, the less likely I am to survive, right?”
“Right...okay. Well, here goes nothing.” Placing both hands on either side of them, Jak gave them both a push. As they started inching forward and slowly picking up speed, her last words were, “Remember, whatever happens don’t let go of the SHIIIIIIELD!”
Before she had finished speaking they
were already moving with more speed than Jak had ever experienced. This...this was no fun at all! They hurtled down the mountain side, thankfully in the right direction. Jak wanted desperately to close her eyes and wait for it to be over, but she simply could not stop staring at the path in front of her. Naem was saying nothing, but she could feel his body tense in front of her.
They had only been travelling for a minute, but it felt like hours to Jak, before the unthinkable happened and the shield began to spin to one side and then turn around completely. Jak almost fell backwards off the shield, but instead held as tight as she could to its edges. But the imbalance of weight caused the makeshift sled to topple end over end, sending Jak and Naem flying.
Don’t let go, don’t let go! was all Jak could think. When she had finished tumbling and came to a stop, she was almost shocked to see one hand still attached to the shield. She almost cried with relief. If they lost that shield, they would never make it down the mountain.
Knee deep in snow, Jak looked around to find Naem. He had come to rest some ten feet away.
“Naem, are you alright, Naem!” Jak staggered to her feet and felt cold clutch her heart as she started to make her way over to him, and it wasn’t the cold of the mountain. Naem’s chest was rising and falling rapidly like he was coughing or his body convulsing. “Naem! Talk to me!”
“That,” Naem said, “was easily the most fun I’ve had in years.”
Jak stopped in place. He hadn’t been convulsing, he had been laughing!
Feeling foolish, Jak arranged them back on the sled to try again. She said nothing to Naem about how worried she had just been for him. He didn’t need to know that. Instead, she took a moment to look around and picture how far they had come.
She was surprised to see that they had travelled quite a long way in a matter of minutes. The peak of the mountain near where they had started now stood far off, and she could barely make out the river below. Even better, she could see Foothold from here!
Encouraged, they started again, and Jak braced herself for the break-neck speeds they were experiencing. Naem was having a grand old time, but Jak could not see how anyone could enjoy this.
They fell twice more on the way down, both times Jak managed to keep hold of the shield, and both times Naem seemed to thoroughly enjoy the fall. Men were odd.
Finally, blessedly, they reached the base of the snowbank where temperatures had increased enough for the snow to melt. Jak managed to stop the momentum of the shield as she noticed a line of trees growing larger and larger. Then the sled stopped altogether. Jak could only sit for a moment, and it took a while for her to realize that they were not dead. Only when Naem, groaning, tried to roll off the sled, did she come back to her senses.
“That was amazing,” Naem said. “I’ll bet we just made up at least a day’s march in just a few minutes. Perhaps we can make it to Foothold before the others.”
Jak wasn’t so sure. Yes, they had made good time, but the hard part was about to begin. Naem still couldn’t walk very well on his leg, and they had a lot of walking to do before reaching the river. And then, Jak really had no idea how they would push forward from there. They had no boat, no rope to make a raft. They couldn’t just wade into the freezing water, as the cold would probably kill them both.
Choosing not to think about that right now, she helped Naem get to his feet, picked up the shield, and they began to walk.
By the time they made it to the river, both of them were almost ready to collapse. Naem’s bandages needed changing, and Jak had nothing. It didn’t help that he put almost all of his weight on her when they tried to walk. Jak could still see no possible solution to their problem now. They couldn’t walk down the rest of the mountain, not with Naem’s leg being what it was. And she could see no way for them to get in the water. What could they do?
She didn’t realize she had spoken aloud until Naem responded, “Well, if we only had a good way to chop one of those trees down, and hollow it out in a few hours, perhaps we could make a sort of boat. I don’t know how we would do that though, but with the right tools it would be quicker than building a raft.”
Hollow out one of the large trees and use it as a boat? She could make a fire with her brands, could she somehow find a way to topple one of the larger trees? There were plenty to choose from.
Well, she had little else to go on, so she started looking for any sharp rocks in the area. Perhaps if she could embed one in the base of a tree, then use her brand to make it explode, then maybe she could bring a tree down.
After a few minutes of searching she found several sharp-looking rocks. Using a much larger rock as a hammer, she set about embedding them into a nearby oak. It took far longer to properly insert the rock, but eventually she had placed the rock about half its length into the tree. Now to see if any of this could work.
Jak focused on the Flamedancer brand just as she had before, willing it to become a part of the sharp rock. Once the brand had taken, she ran to gain a safe distance. She thought she heard a slight whine coming from the rock, then it began to glow and a moment later it exploded, violently. Much more violently than before. Perhaps that was due to being partially contained by the tree.
As Jak peered at the tree, she felt a rush of elation. The tree now had a gaping hole on one side. And she could almost see the strain as the remaining portion of the tree’s trunk tried to hold up the tall oak.
Hurriedly, she embedded another rock on the other side of the tree, and repeated the process. This time, she was satisfied with a large crack, and the oak toppled with a massive noise.
Jak yelled with delight and went to examine the fallen tree. It only took her a few minutes longer to repeat the process further along the trunk, cutting it off and making it just long enough for a boat that could fit two people. Then she set about making a fire.
This part took much longer, especially given the fact that Jak did not have the strength to lift the large log on her own. She had to hollow it out first. So she started by embedding more rocks into one side of the trunk, then proceeding to blow each one up. Each explosion tore a new hole in the side of the trunk. Then she started the fire by using her brand on a large piece of wood. It was long work, but eventually, with enough flames going, she was able to carve out certain portions of the log.
While she worked, she busied her mind by running through the events of the past few day. So much had happened. She had found her mother, the very thing that had started her on this quest in the first place. If only it could have ended there. But the complication of her mother being a Fae, and Kuldain’s insistence that the Fae were dangerous, despite what Jak had experienced. For the briefest moment, Jak wondered if Kuldain could be right. After all, she had only just met the Fae. Could she be trusting them just because her mother was among them? But no, that didn’t feel right at all. She couldn’t second guess this.
She paused only to check up on Naem, who was still lying near the water’s edge, trying very hard not to fall asleep. Once or twice, Jak had to rouse him. They didn’t want him falling asleep in his condition. He might not wake up. But she couldn’t dwell on that thought.
Even though they had escaped from the Watcher camp before the sun was up, the day was almost over by the time Jak had a workable boat ready. It had taken a lot of burning and scraping of the tree, but she finally had something she could work with. With all her might, she dragged the hollowed-out oak to the edge of the water. It was still very heavy.
When she stepped into the river, she almost stepped right back out again. The water was frigid and she felt needles pricking her feet. Her discomfort quickly turned into delight as she saw her crude boat actually float on the water. She was so excited that she almost let it float away. Quickly, she grabbed the boat and brought it back to shore before it could go any further.
She had to slap Naem’s face a bit to get his attention. “Naem, get up! The boat is ready...I think.”
Naem only mumbled, but with Jak’s help, got to his fe
et. This wasn’t good. Sooner or later he wouldn’t be able to stand at all, and Jak wouldn’t be able to hold him up. They had to find help and fast.
She helped him into the boat. Slowly and carefully she pushed it away from the river’s edge and used a long, fallen branch to guide it. This was it. If they couldn’t get to help now, they never would.
The river was rough in places, and it was often hard for Jak to keep the boat steady. She had paddled along their own river near Riverbrook, but those waters were far calmer in comparison. This one was still going downhill and it often resulted in white rapids and other really violent sections of the river. There were no waterfalls, thankfully. They were far enough down the mountainside for that. But Jak only barely managed to keep them afloat at times. She kept no track of time. All her attention was spent on the boat.
Naem was concerning her. He kept dozing off and she had to bring him back with light conversation. She talked to him about her time in Riverbrook, asked him about his own experience with the Watchers, fantasized about all the good food and rest they would get in Foothold. That part seemed to cheer Naem up, though he didn’t say much anymore. His leg was continuing to fester, the infection spreading. The time it took to make a boat had not been kind to him. The urgency only caused Jak to move the boat faster. She had already lost too many people and was not about to lose Naem too.
By the time the sun was setting, the river was beginning to level out, and Jak could see the tall tower of Foothold in the distance. They were almost there.
“Naem,” she said, “I can see Foothold!”
Naem raised himself on his arms a bit. “Never seen something that beautiful before in my life…” his mumbling trailed off, but Jak caught a few more words, “cept you...of course.”
Out of Shadow: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 1) Page 14