But that wasn’t the only brand at her disposal.
With a thought, Jak summoned the fire from the Royal Priest’s torch, which he still held in his hand. The flame whisked in her direction, catching Wilva squarely in the back. Wilva spun, and Jak could see a glowing spot in the armor covering her back. She felt the force holding her lessen a little.
Jak seized the moment and pushed with all her might. Wilva, distracted as she was trying to pull her hot armor off her, couldn’t keep her focus. The barrier burst and Jak fell several inches to the ground, catching herself with one knee and one hand to the ground.
Wilva lashed out with her spear, a practiced and precise move. Only her years of training with her father, and later with Naem, saved her as she sidestepped the move and caught the spear with one hand. Wilva tried to pull it back, but Jak was too strong for her. Placing her other hand on the spear, she brought it down hard onto her knee.
The wood snapped in two and Wilva fell backward in a heap. Reaching out a hand, Wilva attempted to use her telekinesis once again. But as Jak felt the invisible walls closing in on her again, she felt her strength well within her. Wilva was distracted, unused to the kind of magic that Jak wielded. With considerable effort, Jak pushed and once again broke the hold on her.
She didn’t wait for Wilva to regain her composure again. Jak leaped forward and with a swift strike, landed a Strength-enhanced punch to Wilva’s head. The woman crumpled in a heap.
Jak took one look at the Royal Priest. Would he reveal himself now? Would he turn and fight her?
She was surprised to see the fear in the Priest’s eyes. The moment Jak locked gazes with him, he turned and fled. The crowd, many of whom had paused to watch Jak battle their general, made way for the Priest almost as they had for Jak.
Jak took a moment to scan her surroundings. Almost all of the Watchers were engaged fighting a Shadow Fae, and members of the crowd were scattering in all directions to avoid the fights. Jak’s battle with Wilva had felt like forever but had probably been only moments. Most of the crowd hadn’t even had time to flee the square, though they were certainly trying as fast as they could. Most were screaming of demons and monsters as they laid eyes on the Shadow Fae.
She watched the Priest go and took a step forward to go after him. But no, she had a duty to perform. The reason for her being here.
Turning, she met the eyes of her friends. Amelia was beaming and probably would have been dancing up and down on her feet had she not possessed a giant fin. Gabriel looked almost confused but pleased with what was happening. And Seph flashed her that smile of his. She felt warmth rise to her face, and it wasn’t from her fight.
She bent to pick up the head of Wilva’s broken spear and began to cut her friends loose, starting with Amelia.
Jak cut the bonds behind her friend, and the girl threw her arms around her. With no feet, Amelia’s full weight fell onto Jak once the ropes were cut, but Jak didn’t mind. She hugged Amelia back with everything she had. Well...not everything exactly. With her Strength brand, she could have snapped Amelia in two.
“I knew you would come.” Amelia sobbed into Jak’s ear. “I knew it. The others doubted me, except for Seph. I think he also trusted you to save us.”
“I’m sorry I left it to the last minute,” Jak cried into Amelia’s hair.
“You’ll just have to make up for it. I’m counting on you to find the warmest, cleanest, most perfect lake for me to live in,” Amelia said.
Jak laughed through her tears and gently set Amelia down so she could release the others. Within moments, everyone was cut loose.
Seph rubbed his wrists, and his eyes sparkled at Jak.
“Where’s the queen?” Jak asked before Seph could say anything.
“She was watching from above.” Seph glanced at the palace that loomed over them from behind. “I imagine she’s rallying her personal guard by now.”
Jak glanced in the same direction and saw no one on the palace balcony. But she did see one figure climbing the winding path to reach the palace. The dark robes gave him away as the Royal Priest.
Her eyes narrowed, and she grits her teeth. She wasn’t about to let that snake escape. He would do more damage if left free.
“My people have freed the other humans outside the gates,” Jak turned to see Karlona walking to meet her. A quick glance told Jak that most of the other Shadow Fae had succeeded in taking down the remaining Watchers.
“Good,” Jak said, looking up again at the fleeing Priest. “There’s something I have to deal with if you could get the Water Fae down to the coast.” She met her mother’s eyes, who nodded.
“We’ll make sure they’re safe.”
Jak nodded, then began running towards the path that led to the palace. With an enormous Strength-enhanced leap, she scaled the first switchback and landed nearly twenty feet above the square. With a second leap, she scaled the next switchback, drawing her ever closer to the fleeing Priest. It was time to end this.
24
Jak closed the distance with a speed that surprised even her. The Royal Priest barely had time to turn and look back before she was on him. He screamed and redoubled his pace. He was certainly putting on a good act, but Jak would change that. She would expose him if it were the last thing she did.
With another bound, she scaled the last switchback and barrelled into the Priest. He flew forward by several feet with Jak tumbling on top of him. In an instant, she was back on her feet, raising one arm and activating her Flamedancer brand to light a fire in one hand. She had to be careful though. Best to keep her distance when dealing with someone with a Void brand.
But the Royal Priest looked no more a threat than a Water Fae did. He was scrambling back up the path, his eyes never leaving the flame in Jak’s hand. Why did he look so scared? Why didn’t he transform and attack her?
“Show yourself,” she said to him, letting the flame in her hand grow brighter. “I know what you are.”
“I... I don’t know what you mean,” he stammered.
Jak shot a flame at him close enough to singe his eyebrows. He yelped and scrambled backward again on the stone.
“Come on!” Jak shouted. “Your charade isn’t worth your life. Attack me!”
“You’re insane!” was the only response she got. “You’ll be the death of all of us, all thanks to you and your Fae.” He spits on the ground.
“You still blame me!” Jak had had enough. She leaped at the man and struck him in the face with a Strength-enhanced fist. His head jerked back violently, but he remained conscious.
Desperately, he reached a hand to grab hers, activating his brand as she swung again, connecting with his ribs this time. She heard a crack, and the man screamed! The light from his brand faded.
“Turn!” she commanded. “Turn and show everyone the filthy demon you are!”
She hit him again, in the face. Blood spurted from his nose, and his eyes glazed over. Why wasn’t he turning? He was clearly a servant of darkness, the mysterious dark force that took the shape of the blacksmith had even said so. Why wasn’t he fighting back?
She hit him again, and again. Soon, his body had grown limp. Something or someone grabbed Jak from behind. She resisted, and with her brand of Strength, the assailant could do nothing to stop her. She spun on the culprit, a fist raised, ready to take out anyone who opposed her.
Gabriel raised a hand to ward off her blow. What... what was he doing here? Barely managing to stop her raised fist from connecting, she finally noticed the blood coating it.
“You were killing him,” Gabriel said.
Jak glanced back at the Royal Priest, finally seeing what she had blocked out in her rage. The nameless priest lay limp and unconscious, his face a bloody mess. She looked up and found others running up to them, behind Gabriel. Seph was among them. He looked from the Priest, to Jak, and back again. His face expressed... horror.
No, this wasn’t right. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Why hadn’t the Priest tu
rned!?
“I... I thought he was a demon.” The words sounded hollow as she spoke them. She had no excuse for this.
“Not every bad person is a demon, Jak.” Gabriel held his hands at his sides, calm but sober as he looked directly into Jak’s eyes. “Sometimes people are just... bad.”
“But the things he’s said, the people he’s hurt. He’s done nothing but work against us.”
“One does not have to be in league with the forces of darkness to serve them.”
He continued to say something, but suddenly, something pierced her head. Pain stabbed at her head in a splitting headache. But unlike an ordinary headache, this one was accompanied by an emotion. Someone somewhere was furious.
“RELEASE!” a voice pounded in her ears.
Someone grabbed her, it was Gabriel, holding her upright, and a new look of concern on his face. Others among the group that had joined them took steps forward to help. Jak regained her footing and waved them away.
“Did you hear that?” she turned to Gabriel. “The voice?”
Gabriel looked at her with a concerned look. “We heard nothing, Jak. Are you okay?”
A few of the onlookers took a few steps away from her now. All save Gabriel and Seph. Did they think she was somehow touched now that she had multiple brands? Did they think she would turn into a demon? She wouldn’t blame them. After all, she had just beat their religious leader senseless. But she didn’t have time to worry about what they thought. Something worse was coming, she knew.
As if confirming her thoughts, several terrifying shrieks sounded from below. Everyone whirled about and stared. The very thing Jak had feared began to play out before her eyes.
Demons were entering via the main gate, which was open and relatively unguarded thanks to the commotion that Jak had started. To her horror, Jak saw them fall upon innocent civilians the moment they entered. Shouting, Watchers and other city guards scrambled to close the main gate and fight the oncoming wave of demons. But it was already too late. Demons poured in through the gate so fast that no one could get close.
Jak’s jaw hung slack. Had this been the plan all along? Had whatever controlled these demons simply been waiting for them to weaken the city’s defenses in their rescue attempt? Or had the Royal Priest been controlling them and somehow lost control when Jak knocked him unconscious. She spared a glance back at the battered priest. No, something else had happened. Jak had somehow witnessed the order given to the demons. Someone was behind this, but it wasn’t the Royal Priest. Even now, staring at the man’s unconscious form on the ground, she still struggled to believe that he was not behind all of this. Could he really be just an ordinary man with such bias?
Seph’s brought her out of her thoughts. “We have to get down there.”
Jak’s eyes widened. What had she been waiting for? Ignoring everyone else who stood around her, she sped down the path in the direction of the fighting. It was already her fault that the Watchers and city guards were scattered. She had to make up for that fact by killing as many demons as she could.
The first demon to reach her met its end in a blaze of fire that shot from Jak’s hands. Jak leapt over its screaming form to meet the next demon. Now in the market square, she was able to get a good look at the situation. Dozens of people lay dead in the streets, and the rest were either running away or engaging the demons head-on. Jak winced as she saw not just humans on the ground, but Shadow Fae as well. She looked around for her mother but did not see her.
Just then, another demon came at her, snarling out of its all-too-human face. Picking up a spear from a fallen Watcher, she hurled it at the demon, using the javelin throwing techniques that Naem had taught her months earlier. She banished the thought of Naem from her mind. None of this would have gone wrong if it hadn’t been for him.
She pulled the spear out of the dead demon’s corpse and went looking for her next victim. One by one, demons died at her hand. She was a whirlwind of fire and spear tip. Every attack met its mark. Dozens, hundreds of demons met their end that night.
Jak heard a familiar shout and turned to see Naem enter the battle. He ran at the demons from the direction of the Watcher High Command, wielding his own spear and taking out as many demons as came his way. Biting her lip, Jak barely pushed away from the impulse to attack Naem herself, but no, he was fighting demons. For now, at least, they were on the same side. But she would have words to say later.
More screams sounded around Jak, and she realized that for all the demons she’d killed, dozens more kept pouring through the gate. Civilians and others were helpless against them. If they were going to save any of them, she was going to have to change up her strategy. They could try to close the main gate, but that might not do any good. There were several other gates into the city, and she couldn’t guarantee that they weren’t all overrun by now. They’d have to close all of them. But perhaps there was another way.
“Follow me,” she yelled for anyone who could hear her. “There’s a secondary gate that leads to the ocean. Help me get everyone to safety.”
Shadow Fae, Watchers and guardsmen alike looked to her. She repeated her command, and many took up the call. Naem, she saw, took a moment to meet her eyes, then he started to repeat her words, killing demons as he went, but herding the nearest villagers to the second gate.
But so many could not make it, as gray-skinned, formally human monstrosities leaped on their retreating backs. Jak caught one as it was about to bite down on a woman’s neck from behind. The woman turned to face Jak. She had a spear in one hand, a branded spear. It was Elva! The commotion around them stirred up too much noise for Jak to say anything to Seph’s follower, but they both nodded at each other, a silent ‘thank you,’ and ‘you’re welcome’ passing between them. Then they both continued, killing demons as they rushed to the lower gate.
The path grew narrower as they approached the lower levels of the city. This both solved and created more problems. On the one hand, the narrower opening made it easier for Jak and the Shadow Fae to protect the city dwellers from approaching demons. They only had to worry about protecting one side, the back. On the other hand, it also meant everyone moved more slowly.
Jak brandished her spear as more demons hurtled at her, the Fae, and a few other Watchers and guards that stood with her. Just moments before those warriors had fought to kill her and the Shadow Fae, not to mention Seph, Gabriel, and her Water Fae friends. Now they were united against a clear enemy. There had been far too many deaths tonight. But at least something good might come of it. Yet the price left a bitter taste in Jak’s mouth.
Naem stood a few feet away from Jak, holding his spear forward in a stance he had taught Jak several months earlier. Relics, it felt so much longer now. They had been far more innocent then. She was grateful for Naem’s help. He was, after all, the most powerful human alive besides Jak herself, considering the three brands he held. Yet his aid did little to comfort her. If he hadn’t betrayed Jak, perhaps all of this might have ended differently. But no time to think about that now. The demons were funneling themselves down the narrower streets, coming at them with spittle flying from their snarling fangs, and terror in their human eyes.
Jak slashed at one, taking it down with a swift jab of her spear that might have left her feeling proud of her skills if the situation hadn’t been so ominous. Others of the Fae and the Watchers held the line, though, with the massive oncoming force of the demons, not everyone managed to stay alive. The civilians behind them kept screaming and pushing forward towards the lower gate faster than before, yet slower than Jak liked.
“Back up,” Jak yelled to the warriors around her.
They obliged, not daring to question her authority at the moment, not even the Watchers or city guards. Killing demons as they went, they each took careful steps backward, staying as close to the crowds as they could. Jak said a silent prayer of thanks to the fathers that demons still showed little strategy in battle. It was the only thing saving them at that moment.<
br />
Suddenly, she looked up to see the great archway of a stone gate. They had made it! Now to close it behind them. With one last burst of magic, she sent a giant flame spewing at the demons, who shielded their eyes and cowered in fear. Then she ran at one of the enormous doors and pulled. A Watcher, probably with a brand of Strength, grabbed the other door, and together they began to pull them shut.
But the demons recovered quickly from her flaming onslaught. Seeing the two of them exposed, they scrambled forward, their teeth gnashing as though preparing to gnaw on flesh. They never made it to Jak and the other Watcher, however. With a roar, half a dozen Shadow Fae intercepted, protecting Jak as she heaved the doors closed. The great iron-banded doors shut with a heavy crunch. Thankfully all of the Fae made it inside before it shut. Only a handful of demons made it inside, and the remaining warriors made short work of them. This gate had spikes along the top and the opposite side of the door, just like the walls of Skyecliff. The demons weren’t scaling it anytime soon. And they were close to the shore now, so perhaps they could find a way to get out along the coast.
Dull thuds sounded on the other side of the gate. A lot of them. The demons were throwing themselves on the spikes! More thuds sounded, and loud human-like cries accompanied them as the demons died on the spikes. Jak backed away with the rest of the onlookers as they listened. Were the death cries coming from higher up the gate now?
This wasn’t good, Jak finally realized what must be happening. The demons were climbing on the backs of other dead demons. They were creating their own cushion against the spikes using their own dead bodies. As if confirming her thoughts, a demon crested the top of the wall and quickly impaled itself on the top spikes. Civilians screamed and fled further down the path, but Jak knew it was too late. The demons had already scaled the supposedly demon proof walls in a matter of minutes. These defenses were never meant to hold back so many demons. They almost never attacked in groups this large. How was anyone to know? Discouragement washed over Jak, and her spear hung loosely at her side as more demons crested the gate, the first of them dying on the spikes, but the rest jumping over the corpses of their dead companions and landing on the other side of the gate.
Growing Ripples: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 2) Page 21