Gabriel shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Nothing that would help you. But that is the best lead we have on a Pillar of Eternity. If it’s not in that mountain, it was either destroyed or stolen.”
“Is it even possible to destroy a Relic like the Pillars?” Jak knew even minor Relics were hard to break.
“Perhaps… but you’re right, it is unlikely. Still, with the queen’s men swarming that mountain, you’d think they might have found it by now. Perhaps we’re all looking in the wrong place.” He met her eyes once more, seeing the resolve there. At least he didn’t try to talk her out of where she was going.
“Thank you, Gabriel,” Jak said, adjusting the pack on her back. “I won’t forget what you’ve done for me. And I hope I’ll see you again.”
“I’d be more surprised if we didn’t.” Gabriel seemed somber. “Goodbye, child. Best of luck on your journey.”
“Tell Seph and my mother that I mean the best. For everyone. I fear they won’t understand.”
“I’ll be sure to mention it. One last thing.” He fished in a chest next to his bed and pulled out an old book. As he brought it closer, Jak recognized the inscription on the cover. It was the Book of Illadar. “My own personal copy,” he explained. “I’m afraid we couldn’t stop them taking the one you had. Or anything else they took. You’re going to need it, I think.” He stretched out his hand, holding the book in front of her.
Jak accepted the book with some trepidation. But he was right. There was valuable information here, and she never had quite finished it.
Jak left Gabriel’s room then, avoiding the gaze of several students on her way out. She knew word would get around quickly that she was leaving. Hopefully, she could get out before running into someone like Seph, or…
She groaned as she approached the exit to the college and saw who was standing there, talking to Semwei. It was Naem, in full armor and a spear in hand. Of all the people she least wanted to see, Naem topped the list. As Jak entered, Semwei inclined her head and pointed. It seemed Naem had arrived to talk to her. He turned, saw her, and began walking her way. She did not stop. Clutching the straps of her pack, she increased her pace towards the college exit. But Naem quickly intercepted.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“None of your business.” Jak shot back. She had no patience for him right now and moved past him.
“Wherever it is, I want to go with you.” He took a few quick steps to catch up with her, then kept pace.
Jak couldn’t help but laugh, bitterly. “After everything you’ve done?”
“I was under duress, Jak. They forced me to betray you like that.”
They were outside the college now, climbing the hill that led to the western gate. But at Naem’s last words, she stopped in her tracks and spun to face him.
“I know that, Naem. That’s not the problem.”
“What then?” he seemed genuinely confused. Really? How did he not get this?
“Because you lied to me, Naem. You made me think you were on my side. I trusted you! More than I’ve trusted anyone since my father died. Do you know what it’s like to trust someone like that then realize you were wrong?”
“I told you I was under…”
“We could have figured it out together!” Jak was nearly shouting now. People were starting to stare, but Jak didn’t care in the slightest. “They weren’t watching your every move, were they? You could have told me, and we could have kept you safe!”
“They were watching my every move. Of course, they were! You have no idea how long it took me to shake off the spies that night when we broke into the palace. The General was furious!” Naem countered. “Besides, I knew you could handle it.”
“I almost died!” Jak shouted.
“But you didn’t did you?” Naem shot back, his own voice much louder than Jak had ever heard before. “You branded yourself, you proved my point!”
This was pointless. Without another word, Jak turned on her heel and marched back towards the gate. Naem didn’t follow at first, but a few seconds later, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Listen, Jak, just let me come with you, and we can work this…”
Jak grabbed the hand that held her shoulder and spun. With a Strength-enhanced heave, she pushed his hand and arm down and swept his leg. Naem’s Grace almost saved him, but surprise and Jak’s Strength got the better of him, and he tumbled to the ground. The spear he held clattered as it fell out of his hands. Jak summoned a flame in one hand and held it over him. He didn’t get back up, but his eyes moved from the flame to Jak’s face and back again.
“Don’t you ever touch me again!” Jak spit. “Or you will lose the hand that does.”
“Jak... I-”
“We’re done. Do you hear me? You can go to Riverbrook if you want, or you can stay here. I don’t care. But you and me, that isn’t happening ever again. Do you understand?”
He looked at her flaming hand again, then finally closed his eyes and nodded. Was that a tear on his face? Good, she hoped he cried his eyes out.
Then she noticed the pattern on his spear. It wasn’t his, after all, it was hers. The Healing and Toughness brands were plainly visible. Had he meant to give it to her?
Picking up the spear, she left him on the street while she marched to the city limits. Onlookers made way as she passed, perhaps afraid that she might attack them too. Jak ignored them all. Only once she passed the city gate and was several miles away, did she finally take several deep breaths, and let them out with great, heaving sobs.
Epilogue
Queen Telma was a sensible woman. She knew when a battle was lost. After the Royal Priest had reentered the palace, looking like the definition of death, and claiming that there were demons in the city, she had ordered the palace locked down. With their stores of food and nearly air-tight defenses, it would take an army to break in, especially after she’d found and sealed that annoying back passage that Seph and that girl had used to get in. A useful find that probably built many generations ago as a way of getting people out of the palace during a siege. Though she didn’t like that the secret had been lost to her.
She stood now with the Royal Priest in his lab, a bleak room with tools that did who knows what hanging on the walls. But she had to admit that the Priest often got results. It had been several days since his... failure. His nose was broken, his ribs cracked, and his face was bruised and swollen almost beyond recognition. But that fire in his eyes was still there, mixed with a hate that was stronger than ever.
“It would appear some of the people are leaving the city,” he said, giving her the report from his spy network. “Your step-son Seph is leading them to Riverbrook.”
Seph, perhaps the biggest disappointment in her life. A shame. He had been such a beautiful boy, so full of promise. But Riverbrook? Now that was interesting. That was where the troublesome girl was from.
She almost found herself disbelieving some of the reports about that girl, even from the Priest, who had been an eye-witness. She had to learn how this girl did what she did. Giving or receiving multiple brands was unheard of, and completely impossible according to her best scholars. Yet the Royal Priest insisted that she had at least Flamedancing and Strength. The mangle of bruises on his face would certainly confirm the latter. No ordinary girl possessed that kind of strength.
“Should we stop them?” The Priest asked as she kept her silence.
“No, I think not. Let them gather wherever they wish. That will only make it easier to wipe them all out in one blow.”
“And if they form an army?”
She waved a hand dismissively. “We still have many who will fight for us. And our assets to the south will give us the advantage.”
The Royal Priest nodded in understanding. “Then what of this?”
He indicated the table in front of the queen, where a lone figure squirmed under the ropes that tied her to the table and tried to scream through a cloth gag covering her mouth.
“This one won’t give us any trouble anymore. We can spread the word that she died in the battle with the young girl. It might even help rally more Watchers to our cause.”
The woman on the table, well not really a woman anymore, was Wilva, formally the General of the queen’s Watchers. Members of the Watchers had brought her to the palace after her defeat at the hands of that girl. Upon nearing the palace bathhouses, where the strange Relic now hung again, something had changed in the General, turning her into one of those monstrous Fae mutations.
The former General thrashed about on the table, her long, heretical tail waving about. The Royal Priest grinned the way he did when he was about to work.
“Find out everything you can from her.” The queen lifted her skirts and exited the lab. “I want to know why some turn and others do not.”
She heard Wilva’s muffled screams intensify as the Royal Priest began to cut into her. The screams followed Queen Telma as she walked away.
Read the prequel!
Heroes are never born...
Before Jak became a hero, a horrible secret surrounded her birth. Witness the beginning of that secret as we follow her father while he searches for his wife, and finds more than he could possibly imagine.
Now he's faced with a choice. Follow orders, or turn against his comrades. What will he do when his wife's safety is on the line?
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Author’s Note
Wow! So not only have you read the first book, but you’ve gone and read the second one as well! Seriously, thank you so much. It is a delight to know that you love these crazy ideas coming out of my head enough to read more.
And there is a lot more to come, believe me. Following this book is Through Fire, a book where Jak finally confronts that mysterious blacksmith, and we learn just how powerful he is. But I’ll refrain from saying more on that front. You’ll just have to read it to find out.
Growing Ripples was extremely fun to write. I looked at it as Jak’s Harry Potter years, but condensed into a single volume. She learned a lot in this one, and she’s now a pretty formidable warrior in her own right. But believe me, that’s nothing compared to where she’s going. I love this character, and I hope you love her as much as I do. I look forward to taking her in bold directions as she becomes one of the most legendary characters in my little shared universe.
This book introduced the “Water Fae” or as they’re more commonly known in modern times: mer-people. They are the third major race to form in this universe, but they will not be the last. You might be able to see what I’m doing with these races so far: essentially creating an origin story for all the mythical beings we see in traditional fantasy.
Once again, thank you for reading, and I look forward to seeing you in the next book, Roots of Creation Book 3: Through Fire.
About the Author
Jason Hamilton is an unapologetic nerd of all things science fiction and fantasy. He is the author of the Roots of Creation and Alice: The Last Founder series, and many other forthcoming novels.
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www.argoforce.com
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www.jasonleehamilton.com
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Also by Jason Hamilton
Roots of Creation
A New Light (short story)
Out of Shadow
Growing Ripples
Through Fire
Into Storm
To World’s Above
As Winter Spawns
Seeds of Hope
In Creation’s Heart
Alice: The Last Founder
Year One
Ghosts of Greenfield
Taking the Fight
Growing Ripples: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 2) Page 23