Wait, they weren’t worried about the trolls. They had remembered what Jak had momentarily forgotten. The demon army on their rear.
Forgetting her recent fall, she rose into the air one last time, this time looking behind their group to see what the demons were up to. Surely they realized that their group was no longer moving? Would they attack now that their group was beset from both sides?
There they stood, not far off, standing still for now. That was a relief. But as Jak squinted, something did not look quite right. Many of the demons were not even turned in their direction, they were facing away north. Towards...
“Skellig, hold the line here,” she said, and zoomed through the air towards the back of their procession. It was a little difficult to fly like this, but it was faster than running. If it didn’t require so much of her concentration this would be a great way to get around.
She made it to the back, finding Elva and a group of others who stood guarding their rear flank. Jak surveyed the demons who still lay several hundred yards away. There was no doubt about it. They were facing away from them now.
“Which of you is a Sightseer,” said Jak as she landed. Elva didn’t speak, wide-eyed at seeing her hero fly in like that.
One of the young Watchers raised his hand, tentatively. “I am….whoa!”
Jak grabbed him with Telekinesis and raised him into the air. He struggled but eventually realized what was going on. “What do you see?” Jak asked him, making sure he was facing the right direction. “What are the demons looking at?”
The Sightseer peered in the distance. After a moment, he swore under his breath.
“What is it?” said Jak, though she had a suspicion.
“The queen’s army is advancing,” said the Sightseer. “They’re moving fast. At this rate they will reach us within the hour.”
19
“Skellig!” Jak flew back to the front of the line. The gnomes, together with the Flamedancers and Water Fae had managed to build up a small barrier, keeping those of the trolls that they had not captured away from the rest of their army.
The major was there at the forefront, but she turned when Jak called to her.
“The queen is attacking,” Jak said as she landed. “She probably realized that we’re temporarily trapped.”
“Broken brands,” Skellig snarled. “So they’ll attack the demons first, and then…”
“And then us. You know she has enough troops to make short work of those demons. And probably us too.”
“What about the Pillar of Eternity?” said Skellig, pausing to raise a spout of flaming rock to cover up a portion of their barrier that a troll was trying to cross.
“I can’t use it to kill anyone,” said Jak. “I tried that, and it wouldn’t even let me kill demons. And I can’t use it indefinitely. I can hold them back for a short time, but that’s about it.”
“Jak, I know what you’re going to say.”
“We have to help them, Skellig. Fighting the demons without our help will result in more casualties. And perhaps it will convince them that we’re on their side.”
“We know the queen won’t see it that way. She’ll find a way to spin it. She’ll say we were just trying to deceive them further.”
“But that doesn’t mean we should let the demons kill more of them, when we are in a position to help.”
“Jak, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re not exactly free to help at the moment. I need people here.”
“Let me take everyone but the gnomes and Flamedancers then. The demons aren’t even looking this way. Cain isn’t expecting us to attack.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because it’s not what he would do. He would let the queen’s army die fighting the demons.”
Skellig sighed. “You’ll have to lead. I’m needed here.”
Jak nodded. “Very well.”
She turned, and faced everyone behind her. A plethora of eyes stared back at her, of all shapes and sizes. There were the glowing green of the Shadow Fae, the bright yellow of the Bright Fae, the earthy brown of the dwarves, and of course many eyes that belonged to humans. There were frightened eyes, courageous eyes, angry eyes.
“I need everyone except the gnomes, Water Fae, and Flamedancers to follow me. The queen will soon be here, and we need to prove to her that the demons are not on our side. We need to prove to them that we will fight for their needs as well as ours.”
She saw a few heads nod to this, though some still looked troubled. Well, she wasn’t exactly one for speeches.
“Skellig will remain here with the rest and hold off this attack. Now I know it can feel intimidating, with these trolls on one side, and demons on the other. But if we play our cards right, we can make an ally of the queen’s army.”
She had to convince them of that much, even if Jak wasn’t so sure herself. She had to convince them that the queen wouldn’t attack them too if they helped eliminate the demons.
Without waiting to see if everyone agreed with her, she rose into the air once more. Yeah, using her powers this way wasn’t practical, but it sure made a visual impression.
“Forward!” she shouted, and zoomed back to the rear of their army. As she flew, she summoned her spear to her hand, the Pillar of Eternity still clutched in the other. Perhaps the magic wouldn’t let her kill demons using its power, but she could still kill them without it.
She flew right past where Elva and the Sightseers stood, and the wind rushed through her face and hair, blowing it back behind her.
The tip of her spear met the first unfortunate demon as Jak let go of her magic and fell, this time gracefully, to the ground. In a move that would have made Naem proud, she wrenched the spear out in one fluid motion and readied it for the next demon.
By now the demons were noticing what was happening. Collectively, those nearest Jak turned to face her. No, they were looking behind her.
The entire company of the Fae and humans were sprinting at the demons with weapons raised. They were following her lead.
Somewhere, perhaps not far, but perhaps on the other side of the world, Cain must have given an order to his army. They attacked.
The nearest demon snarled as its hind legs shot out, hurtling towards Jak. She watched it come for her, as if in slow motion. Its gray skin glistened in the night, and its broken brands flickered as they tried to work properly, but failed. It was that failed branding that turned this human into the demon it was. Though in fact, it wasn’t a failed branding. It was an intentional failure. One designed to create demons. So many demons.
Jak brought her spear up to meet the creature, and it impaled itself on its tip. But the next demon was not far behind. This was the main strategy of demons. Overwhelm.
Just in time, Jak brought her spear to bear on the second demon, then the third. But they were all closing in on her now. Summoning her Flamedancer magic, she sent a wave of it rushing into the demons on all sides. Human screams reached her ears as the demons’ flesh caught fire. With that, she summoned a different magic. Her Flamedancer brand winked out and the Telekinesis brand on her forehead blazed to life. She pushed and the burning demons around her flew backwards into their comrades. More yelps and screams surrounded her as the flames brushed up against other demons.
Cheers and yells sounded just behind her as her army finally caught up. The clink of armor and weapons heralded their arrival, but Jak did not turn to look. She focused on the demons in front of her, and sent more fire hurtling their way.
She still held the Pillar of Eternity in her hand, using it as a club when needed, but ignoring its power for now. It would resist her attempts to use it for killing. That was not what it was built for. Would it resent the killing she was doing now, even without its power? Or did it understand that sometimes killing was necessary, just as she had learned since leaving Riverbrook? Did it understand that demons, in almost every sense, were already dead?
Well it wasn’t stopping her now, as her spear and m
agic sent dozens, no, hundreds of demons to their final fate. Flames coursed out of both arms, down the shafts of her spear and the Pillar of Eternity, and into the onslaught of wretched humans-turned-demons.
They screamed and did their best to leap out of the way, but many were not so fortunate. The scraps of clothing that they still wore caught fire. And there was nothing most of them could do about it.
She pushed forward. She had to stay at the forefront of the battle, or she would risk harming her fellow soldiers with her flames. If that happened, she’d have to resort to more conventional means of battle.
Just then a demon caught her off guard as it barreled into her from behind. She fell to the ground, spinning as she did so, bringing the Pillar of Eternity to bear.
The demon’s jaws caught on the polished black surface of the Pillar. Its teeth did nothing to harm it, though it tried, biting and gnashing its teeth. Jak grabbed it with Telekinesis and was about to fling it away when more demons, sensing their moment, crowded in on her. Fire shot out of her fingertips and engulfed them, but their momentum carried them forward anyway.
She had to get away.
Summoning as much strength as possible, both her own and that of her Strength brand, she activated Telekinesis, getting ready to push.
A demon bit her shoulder.
Jak lost all control over her magic in that instant, crying out as pain shot through her.
The demons moved in for the kill.
A spear cut through two of the demons nearest Jak, not her own spear. A form threw itself at the creatures, wrenching many of them away from Jak, and giving her just a moment more to live.
It was all the time Jak needed. Ignoring the white-hot burning in her shoulder, she pushed at the demons around her. They went flying in every direction, giving Jak time to see who it was that had saved her.
Elva struggled against the demons. She was holding one off with her spear, but more were snapping at her, getting ready to lunge. Elva was no warrior, not like Naem or the Watchers. But the woman was not holding back. She swung her spear at the demons, trying to keep them from getting too close. It wouldn’t work for long.
Then more arrived. Shadow Fae were there, their black knifes held fast in each hand. Spinning and slashing, they cut through the demons one by one. Yewin also pushed forward, and as demons moved in to attack, he would grab each one and their eyes would burn out before they collapsed to the ground. The effect was almost like Blood-burning, but the process was likely different somehow. There was still so much they didn’t know about Fae abilities.
But even with all of that, it was not enough. Despite Jak’s prowess and that of the Shadow Fae, they were only several hundred, and the demons numbered in the thousands. They could not keep this up forever.
Lightning flashed overhead. Jak looked up, momentarily distracted. Thick, angry clouds rolled overhead. The storm had moved in extremely fast. Or had they been fighting for longer than Jak remembered? Time did seem to have no meaning in battle. A few droplets of rain landed on her nose. Hopefully the rain wouldn’t make it harder to fight.
A cry sounded not far from her, and Jak spun as one Shadow Fae went down, overwhelmed by demons. Cursing herself, she raised her spear. She couldn’t worry about the weather now. One by one, the demons would pick them off until none were left. They had to do something more, something dramatic.
Yet one question nagged the back of her mind. After all this excitement, what was the queen doing?
Pausing, she activated Telekinesis and rose several feet to get a good look. It was hard to see in the dark, though another flash of lightning illuminated the distant army. It was still afar off. Did they know they had been the cause of all this? That in forming up for attack they had forced Jak’s hand, and that of the Fae? Hopefully the queen would see what they were doing and be open to the idea that…
A massive hand grabbed her leg and pulled it down. Startled, her magic faded and she fell, hard.
Not pausing for an instant, she spun to see a massive shape behind her, so dark Jak could not get a good look. But two eyes, the same color of the lightning that flashed overhead, stared back at her, and tiny flashes of the same energy seemed to leap from parts of its body to the other. It was one of the trolls, the new type of Fae. Had Skellig failed to hold them off at the pass?
But the troll made no move to hurt her, and something about it seemed different. It was large, larger than most of the others she’d seen, except…
“You’re the one from Riverbrook!” she exclaimed, her voice lost in the chaos of battle.
It said nothing, but stood resolute like a stone. Jak stood, just as a demon came flying at them. The troll reached out one rocky arm, and swatted the demon like a fly. It soared through the air, landing nearly thirty feet away, and did not get back up.
Though most were still preoccupied with the demon onslaught, some of the Shadow Fae, Watchers, and Bright Fae were facing the newcomer. They readied their weapons.
“Stop!” Jak yelled over the noise. “He’s here to help.”
That would have to be enough for everyone, because more demons were closing in on them, and Jak saw a Watcher near the front line go down. Elva was there, still miraculously alive, taking out as many demons as she could reach.
Placing her back to the troll, Jak readied herself to charge at the demons once more. She took one step forward.
The rocky hand of the troll grabbed her by the shoulder. A stab of pain shot through where the demon bit her. What was the troll doing?
She struggled, but another hand closed on her other shoulder and arm, locking her in place so that she could not break free.
“Stop!” she shouted. Was the troll really going to betray her like this? After all they had seen and done together in Riverbrook. After the sheep, and the removal of her block, and…
Something rushed into her, faster than the fastest river, and brighter than the strongest flash of lightning. It was all consuming, all surrounding, and it was filling her till she thought she might burst.
It was power, raw, overwhelming strength. This was something on a level she had never before experienced. Though a distant part of her recognized it.
The troll was linking with her.
20
Even without the power of the Pillar of Eternity, time slowed around her. While this link did not contain the same sort of awareness that she’d felt while linking to Yewin, or to the gnomes and dwarves, it did bear some similarities. She couldn’t understand truth as she could when linked to Yewin, and she did not have the same connection to the Earth that she’d had with the gnomes and dwarves, but energy crackled around her. She saw the power contained in people, beings of light. Especially the troll, who shone like a beacon of power behind her. Nothing else compared to him.
Except perhaps the storm. Angry clouds churned out rain above them, but lightning flashed in frequent, irregular intervals. What struck Jak then was the realization that the power she felt in the heavens was the same power infused in living beings, though at a much greater degree. It was like the storm itself was alive. This was what the trolls embodied, their element. It was the power innate in nature and all living things.
The cry of a fallen Watcher brought her back to reality. If she didn’t do something about their immediate situation, people would die, and their energy would return to the earth itself. She had to stop that from happening.
Feeling the massive well of power guiding her, she raised both hands high, pointing her spear and the Pillar of Eternity at the wall of demons. Flames erupted from her hands, down the shafts in her hands, and directly at the monstrosities. These flames could not be compared to the puny sparks she had conjured before. Her magic had been a candle in comparison to what she now wielded. The power coursed through her, threatening to consume her, yet leaving her untouched at the same time. It shot from her fists, burning the demons to a crisp in an instant.
One of the Shadow Fae ventured too close to her flames. Though the fire di
d not touch him, the searing heat of her enhanced flames was enough. His tunic caught fire and he yelped as his skin seared.
Instantly, Jak let the flames die. Flamedancing would not be effective here, and she couldn’t get to the front of the line. Too many of her soldiers and Fae were already among them. She had to find another way. But what could she do? Flamedancing was her best offensive brand against demons. Perhaps she could flatten the demons with Telekinesis, but at that scale she wouldn’t be able to distinguish between friend and foe. She might kill someone on her side. Perhaps if she had some other form of branding, she could...
“Yewin!” she shouted on a sudden burst of inspiration. “I need you.” The Bright Fae was not far from her. He turned at her call, black demon blood staining his face.
Yewin hesitated only a moment, before running to her side, twisting to avoid a pair of demons that leapt at him. Jak eliminated both of those demons with a white-hot bar of fire that she shot out of one finger. This kind of power was definitely something she could get used to.
“What is it, Jak,” he panted as he neared. “Do you need help?” He glanced sideways at the enormous troll that still held Jak in its grip.
“No, he’s fine, he’s helping. I need you to link with me.”
Yewin met her eyes. He knew the dangers of linking. It had nearly killed him twice before. But he also knew that she knew these dangers too. Jak could see it in his eyes. He knew she wouldn’t ask it of him if it weren’t important.
Reaching out, he grasped her hand.
And a whole new world of awareness rushed into her.
She welcomed the familiar embrace of truth. In moments like these, everything made sense, and she was at peace. Her destiny lay before her, and it was good. There was no hesitation, no self-doubt. Though there was still sorrow. If only she could hang onto this vast well of truth and light, but every time after ending the link, the knowledge would leave as well. But she could not worry about that now.
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