In Creation's Heart

by Jason Hamilton

Where in the name of the ancestors was Seph? They could really use the help of a dragon right about now.

  BOOM! A massive shock wave threw Jak off her feet and sent her careening into the soldiers behind her. Part of the wall had completely blown apart, bricks still falling from the sky.

  Jak scrambled to her feet. That had not been an accident. Based on the way the bricks had blown inward, someone had caused the explosion from the outside.

  She flew into the air to see a dark shape at the bottom of the wall, or rather, where that section of the wall had been. The figure held a black staff in one hand, and he was staring up at Jak while hordes of demons rushed past him into the void in the wall.

  Cain had arrived.

  He must have used a giant fireball on the wall, blowing it inward. Well Jak could leave the soldiers to deal with the demons. They could handle themselves. But Cain was her fight.

  She leapt off her place on the wall, angling herself to fly right at her enemy.

  But Cain, almost immediately, vanished.

  Jak’s head flew from side to side, looking for him, but it was of little use. He was using the Pillar of Time, which meant she would be hard pressed to catch up with him. Unless…

  She called on the Pillar of Space to guide her. If it could lead her to him as before, perhaps she could keep him from killing anyone else while using the Pillar of Time.

  With a tap on the ground, the Pillar sent her flying through space, to materialize...outside of the two armies. Cain almost collided with her, stopping just long enough for their eyes to meet, for her to see the exhaustion evident in the red lines of his eyes and the sweat on his brow. Then like before, he disappeared as he began running again.

  Jak stared at her surroundings. The demons and Foothold were far behind them now. Why was Cain leaving the battle? Did he know that he couldn’t fight her directly after being so worn down by using the Pillar?

  Something smelled like a trap, or a ploy to get her away from the battle. But she would never have another chance like this to take out her greatest enemy. This was her best opportunity to kill Cain once and for all. If she could do that, all the demons would die, or at the very least, lose their commander, which would be enough for her and her army to mop up what was left.

  She had no choice but to follow.

  Calling again on the Pillar of Eternity , she sent herself in pursuit of Cain. Once again, they nearly collided as she appeared right on top of him. But he quickly picked himself up and continued running, though this time Jak could see that he was even more tired than before.

  The third time it happened, Cain stopped running and simply rose into the air with Telekinesis and sped off, aided by the Pillar of Time. That would be faster, but it would also wear him down even further. How much stamina did Cain have? Jak had to admit, she would have been unconscious by now with all that effort, especially if the Pillar of Time was resisting her command.

  She kept going, traveling in an instant to wherever Cain was, the Pillar of Space sensing its companion, and bringing Jak to meet it.

  This time, Cain was waiting for her. His arm came racing to meet her face as she appeared. The impact sent her flying backward, her eyes seeing stars. Then she tripped over something she couldn’t see and fell backwards.

  But instead of hitting the ground, as she expected, she kept falling, the sound of rushing water reaching her ears.

  Where were they? Jak blinked against the stars that still swam in her face as she fell. Yes, she recognized this. This was Tradehall. And that meant that she was falling into...

  A wave of cold engulfed her as she hit the rushing water of the canal. She submerged briefly before coming back to the surface, taking a deep breath, and searching for something to hold onto before the current washed her away.

  But there was no current. The way out appeared to be blocked, and the water was rising. Someone had erected some kind of dam to keep the water flowing in, but not out.

  “You once told me that I underestimated you,” Cain said, panting from the edge, looking down on her. His face was red and he looked utterly exhausted. “And you were right. But you should also learn not to underestimate me.”

  It was the same thing Marek had told her earlier.

  With a wave of Cain’s hand, something fell on top of Jak’s head, temporarily knocking her under the water, and would have shattered her skull had she not borne all her Toughness brands.

  Cain had telekinetically brought down an enormous stone slab over this part of the canal, essentially turning the place into a giant stone box, quickly filling with water. The trap had been sprung.

  But what was Cain thinking? All she had to do was use her Telekinesis to raise the stone slab the same way he had lowered it.

  A hand wrapped itself around Jak’s wrist, and a strong force wrenched her downward. Jak didn’t even manage to get a good breath in before she was underwater.

  14

  The light was dim, but her Sightseer brand granted her a little extra help. She opened her eyes underwater and glared at her attacker.

  She wasn’t sure if she should have been surprised or not as she saw the queen next to her in the water. Queen Telma was covered in tiny Strength brands, dozens of them, perhaps hundreds. And as the woman jerked on Jak’s arm, Jak’s cry was muffled by the water and pain lanced through her bones.

  Suddenly, the danger of her current plight began to sink into her, just as she was sinking and Telma pulled at her. Yes, Jak had Healing and Toughness brands in abundance, but even people like her needed air. They had even considered a plan similar to this one to get rid of Cain, though they had eventually dropped it in favor of her secret plan.

  But drowning in water was still a very real option, and with Telma there to keep her down, the makeshift chamber could become the trap that killed her.

  Calling on her brands, she tried to propel herself with Telekinesis. But just as she began climbing, and dragging Telma with her, the woman wrapped her arms around Jak’s chest and squeezed.

  For the first time, Jak inhaled some water. The pain in her chest was unbearable as ribs enhanced by Toughness cracked under the strain and tried to heal even as Telma crushed them further. Her Telekinesis winked out as her concentration wavered.

  There was water in her lungs now, causing an involuntary cough, which only made things worse. And where was the Pillar of Space? She’d had it when she fell into the chamber. Cain wouldn’t be able to grab it while the chamber was sealed. He probably hoped she would die and he could take it off her cold body once the deed was done.

  She had only one other choice. With the last of her strength, she called on her Flamedancer brand to heat the water around her. Almost instantly, she felt her skin protest as the water began to boil. Telma protested as well, pulling Jak down further and tightening her already vice-like grip on her chest.

  Jak’s vision began to waver, and not just because she was underwater. She was losing oxygen, and her Healing brands could not keep up with Telma’s crushing and her lack of air.

  Pouring every last ounce of strength into her branding, she increased the amount of heat and flames around them, trapped them in a ball of Telekinesis, and let it explode.

  If she didn’t have her Healing brands, the force would have stripped every shred of flesh from her bones, and probably pulverized those as well. As it was, the stone chamber Cain had built exploded outward in a rush of rubble and spray.

  The force propelled Jak forward, so that she landed just outside of the trap Cain had sprung on her. Her ears rang, but she could feel the shuddering thunder as giant pieces of stone rained down around her.

  Bending violently towards the ground she hurled a lung-full of water out of her mouth. She coughed and coughed for what seemed like ages, though it was probably only half a minute. When she finished with the worst of it, the white gleam of the Pillar of Space brought her back to reality.

  She scrambled forward to pick it up from where it lay several meters away. She was still coughi
ng but managed to stare around her. The structures around the canal were now in ruins, and Jak knew instinctively that Queen Telma was gone. No one could have survived that blast without multiple Healing brands, and Jak had seen none on the queen’s body. The woman had been a last pawn in Cain’s hands, her last act that of a suicide attacker.

  Cain, she saw nowhere. Clearly he had left to let Telma finish the job. If he was still here when Jak triggered the blast he would have left by now, knowing he would be unable to take the Pillar from her while she was still alive. He had done all he could and now would need to rest. But the demons would likely continue to fight, which meant she had to get back to Foothold as fast as possible.

  It was only then that Jak realized she had not a shred of clothing on. All of it had disintegrated in the blast. For once, she was grateful that Tradehall was a ghost city.

  She quickly investigated the grand hall at the center of the city, the only building not previously destroyed by Cain, and it didn’t take long to find another set of clothing that fit. She wasn’t sure who it had belonged to in the past, a noblewoman probably, but one with some curious hobbies. The clothes were dark and made of stained and polished leather. Armbands fit snugly on Jak’s forearms and it even included a mud guard around her waist and legs that Jak rather liked.

  Soon, she was ready to head back to Foothold.

  When the Pillar of Space took her there, she found the place still erupting in chaos. From where she landed on top of the fortresses tower, she could see that the demons’ numbers were down by maybe half, a huge number. But too few of her own soldiers and Fae were still fighting. They were maybe down by a thousand, and with tens of thousands more demons to go, that loss might be ultimately fatal.

  What could she do? If she joined the fight she would be only one among thousands of fighters. Sure, she could probably kill far more than the rest, but it would still take hours to take out enough to matter. Many more would continue to die, maybe all of them.

  Despite all that, she chided herself for thinking too hard. There was a battle to be won here, and more would die the longer she dawdled.

  Leaping from the tower, she landed with an enormous thud that threw back demons unlucky enough to be close to her point of impact.

  Doing nothing but raising her hands, fire and lightning began pouring out of them, taking demon after demon. She still held the Pillar of Space, but for now it lay dormant in her hand, acting only as a guide for her fire as she sent it hurdling into the nearest demons.

  Dozens died around her, but there were still thousands more. At this rate, she would kill all of them in several days’ time. Even with the help of her army, this would be a close battle, and she could not afford to lose so many.

  A piercing roar cracked the air around them. For a moment, it seemed as though every head turned in the direction of the sky, plunging the fortress into silence. Even the demons paused for a split second.

  A winged dragon swooped in from the side of the mountain, fire gushing from its mouth and enveloping a group of demons just outside the walls. The demons immediately crumpled into ash as the dragon flew by them.

  Cheers began erupting all around Jak, and a smile dawned on her dirt-covered face. Seph was here, he was finally here!

  Seph, now in the form of a dragon, raced along the edge of the battle, catching all of the demons that still stood near the back, where he was not at risk of harming the soldiers. None of the demons that met that fire survived.

  A low rumble sounded to the east. Jak turned to look, confused. That wasn’t coming from any of the demons, or from Seph. There was something else out there.

  Curious, she flew into the air towards the fortress wall, peering into the long shadows.

  What she saw caused her eyes to widen. It wasn’t another sea of demons, though someone without the aid of Sightseeing might have thought so. From a distance they looked like a dark sea of massive creatures, and that’s exactly what they were. But they were not demons. They were animals. Large animals, small animals, even birds. Bears, wolves, eagles, horses, stags, both predators and herbivores were moving at top speed towards their little fortress.

  Though several years ago she would have been frightened of such a sight, for some reason she felt strangely calm. Others who stood beside her on the wall certainly reacted in fear, gasping and running towards the tower, the only bastion of safety they had left.

  “Hold,” Jak shouted to all that could hear her. “They’re not here for us.”

  The eagles and hawks arrived first. With breathtaking speed, they hurtled downward at the demons, their claws bared, and their cries echoing around the fortress. Demon cries soon joined them as talons tore through their faces and eyes.

  The horses came next, followed closely by the wolves and bears. They barreled into the demons like they were nothing, tramping them underfoot, and occasionally, in the case of the predators, opening their jaws to finish a demon off. They did nothing to Jak’s soldiers, most of whom were running for their lives at this point.

  Jak’s eyes found Seph, who was circling the fortress at this point. Most of the demons were gone, at least those that he could burn without hurting a soldier or an animal in the crossfire. Had this been what Seph had left to do? Gather as many of these beasts as he could, to bring another army to their aid?

  The dragon circled around the Pillar. Flapping its wings and landing with a crunch that shook the structure to its core. Jak smiled and flew to meet her husband.

  When she arrived on the top of the tower, Seph had changed back to his human form. His face was practically alight with energy and his eyes flashed when he saw her. She ran to him, and he ran to meet her. They met and clung to each other, kissing hungrily.

  When they broke, Jak grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him closer. “You could have told me that was your plan.”

  “I wasn’t sure if it would work,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’ve always had a way with animals, but I wasn’t sure I could actually communicate well enough to bring so many to our aid. And I knew you would rather have me around than run the risk of a battle without me.”

  Jak sneered, “and don’t tell me I would have been wrong. We could have used you from the beginning. You could have taken out most of that army before they ever reached the walls.”

  “I won’t argue with that,” he said. “But I needed to gather them for other reasons. They want what I have. Did you bring the Brandless with you?”

  Jak shook her head. “We didn’t have room for everybody, and they seemed like the logical choice to leave behind.”

  “They are far more valuable than you know, Jak,” he said with a hint of worry on his face. “We have to bring them soon, or take the animals to see them on Illadar. Perhaps that would be better, as we don’t really have any animals on the planet yet.”

  “You think the Brandless are meant to become shifters like you?”

  Seph shook his head. “Perhaps not all of them, and I don’t expect all of these animals to find a compatible person either. But they need to be given that chance, Jak.”

  “And what if the Brandless don’t want to be Fae either?” Jak added. “We never talked about how it’s okay for people to turn into Fae without choosing, but somehow it isn’t okay to receive a brand they don’t want.”

  “The change into a Fae is not voluntary because that is the way it should be.” Seph said, waving a hand. “Almost everyone who becomes one would agree with me that they don’t regret it, that it feels natural.”

  “I know,” said Jak, having heard as much from her mother, Amelia, and many others.

  They both turned to look at the battle raging on below. Emboldened by the arrival of the animals, and after realizing that they were not about to become lunch, the soldiers rejoined the battle, fighting alongside carnivores and beasts of burden to eradicate demon after demon. There were literally hills created out of nothing but demon bodies.

  But they were winning. For the first time since Jak had see
n the demons on their doorstep, she no longer had any doubt as to the victor.

  Both she and Seph joined back in the battle, but neither had much more work to do. The battle was all but won, and Jak’s abilities served only to mop up the remaining stragglers. Soon, there was nothing but the sound of cheers as it dawned on everyone there that they were victorious.

  Yet the battle was not without cost. As Jak had guessed, nearly a thousand remained unaccounted for in the hours following the battle. For the next two days, they spent their time piling up demon bodies outside of the fortress, where Seph would envelop them in dragon fire, almost instantly vaporizing them into dust, blowing east in the wind.

  Jak helped where she could, but she couldn’t help but wonder what Cain was up to, or what he was thinking. They had essentially eradicated all of his armies in one blow. It would take decades for Cain to raise such an army again, and that was time he likely did not have.

  It took everything she had not to simply rush into his hideout and fight him then and there. The man didn’t know that she had been to his home. She could take him by surprise before he had a chance to recover from their last encounter.

  But both Seph and Skellig told her to be patient. Cain would know that his armies were gone, that only he and Marek remained. If they fought him now, he would act erratically, like a cornered animal, and that could be dangerous. No, they needed to bide their time, to meet Cain on their own terms.

  Jak wasn’t so sure. For her, the longer they waited, the more time they gave Cain to prepare for their next battle. Who knew what more he had under his sleeves. He had already managed to create a trap for her in Tradehall, and it almost worked too. What would he plan for her next?

  Perhaps the better reason for staying was the fact that Seph was back with her. They spent much of their time together, some of it going over their strategies, but other moments simply lying in each other’s arms, feeling the comfort of their mutual presence.

  15