As Winter Spawns

by Jason Hamilton

  She continued shouting these words as she went down the line. Eyes opened and people began removing themselves from the blankets.

  A soft kiss on Jak’s cheek from behind told her that Seph was awake. She adjusted herself so that she was facing him. “Hey,” she said.

  “Hi,” he replied, reaching a hand out to stroke her raven hair. “I hope you slept well.”

  “Not bad, considering,” though even as she said it, she remembered the feeling of refreshment that she had enjoyed from a combination of her Strength, Healing, and Sleeplessness brands. Nothing compared to that.

  Seph must have noticed her faltering gaze because he cupped her cheek in his hand and said, “We’ll get through this, Jak. It might be hard, and I don’t know if you’ll get your powers back or not. But we will get through this. The Fae will survive.”

  Jak smiled. “I hope you’re right.”

  She kissed him deeply, or at least as deeply as she felt comfortable doing in front of everyone else. He kissed her back, moving the hand on her cheek to grasp the back of her neck. When they came apart, Jak smiled. Maybe they could enjoy some time alone together after they found a more permanent place to stay.

  “I like—” Seph glanced upward as though thinking of something to say. “—what we have going here,” he finished anticlimactically.

  “I do too,” she said. “I think I’d like this to continue.”

  He nodded, “I know I would. I hope last night didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

  She thought that through and shrugged, “At first maybe but it was nice.”

  “I promise not to do anything that would cause discomfort,” he said, his face still touched with concern. “Can we agree not to rush into anything?”

  Jak nodded. “With everything else that’s happening, I think that would be for the best.”

  “Okay, I...I think I’d like that though. Being with you I mean.”

  Everyone around them was on their feet by this point, which Jak only now realized. She pushed herself up to her knees and then to her feet, offering a hand to Seph so he could do the same.

  “Later,” she said. “Let’s focus on surviving first. Then we can talk about...the future I guess.”

  He smiled that amazing smile of his. “Well I guess that gives us some good motivation to survive.” Then he leaned in and kissed her one more time.

  Jak almost felt her knees give way, but this time it wasn’t from exhaustion. Relics, she loved this man. She held the kiss as long as she dared before breaking away and helping the others pack up what few belongings had been needed for the night. Seph joined right in beside her.

  They traveled for most of the day. The sun had finally appeared above them, looking no different than it had on Earth, though Jak was acutely aware that they were millions of miles away, on the other side of the Sun. Just the thought was going to take some getting used to.

  But almost everyone began shouting in a panic as the sky suddenly darkened. When Jak looked up, she spied something moving in front of the sun, an enormous shape. It was a moon, but one far larger than what Jak was used to seeing on Earth. She vaguely remembered creating that moon. But the momentary eclipse did not last long. The moon moved out of range, and the sun shone bright again.

  With the improved visibility, the Sky Fae began flying ahead to scout out the mountains and find caves, an overhang, or some other suitable shelter. At Vander’s request, they even carried a few of the Shadow Elves to drop them off by the mountains so they could scout along the ground, something the Sky Fae would admit they were not particularly good at doing.

  Seph and Jak stayed together, and thankfully few came up to Jak to ask for help or inspiration. News had traveled fast that she was no longer in possession of the abilities she’d used to dramatic effect. And while some still came to her with faith-filled eyes, begging her to tell them that everything would be okay, most left her alone.

  In fact, more people were coming to Seph over the course of the day. He continued giving his brief sermons every time they stopped for a break, and they tried to move forward or backward within the expedition so he could speak to a different group every time. Jak followed but never participated. And most did not look to her. Quite the opposite sometimes. Every once in a while she caught someone stealing a pained or hurtful glance in her direction.

  But not long after the sun had climbed to its peak and begun to fall back down, they drew closer to the mountain and met one of the Shadow Elf scouts there. By this time, Jak and Seph were closer to the front of the exodus, and saw the scout speak to Vander first, with Skellig joining them. Had they found something?

  With a glance at Seph, Jak began trotting forward to meet with Vander and Skellig.The scout was there too, a Shadow Elf by the name of Viona.

  “What is it?” Jak said as they pulled close enough to speak to her fellow council members.

  “We found some caves,” said Vander, though his face did not look as elated as Jak would have expected.

  “That’s great news,” said Jak.

  “There’s a problem,” said Viona, the scout.

  Skellig explained. “It’s not big enough for all of us. Which we should have expected. No caves are big enough for seven thousand.”

  “The Hollow Peaks were,” said Vander. “There used to be a lot more of us living there before many of us found death at the hands of humans and demons.”

  Seph spoke from behind Jak. “So we take shifts in the caves and send more scouts up and down the mountainside to find other suitable shelters.”

  Vander glanced at Seph, and Jak wasn’t sure she liked his expression, “I suppose you’ll want us and the other Fae to help with that?”

  “Not exclusively, no,” said Seph carefully. “I’m sure there will be plenty of the rest of us who are willing.”

  “Yes, most of whom will have no brands,” replied Vander. Jak narrowed her eyes at the Shadow Elf. What was he implying about people without brands?

  “We already have what few Gifters we have branding those who want one,” said Skellig. “With priority to Flamedancers and Hungerless.”

  Jak turned to Skellig. She hadn’t known that. There weren’t many Gifters in their camp. Probably only two or three besides Gabriel. But they should be able to brand at least a hundred people per day between them. That was a good start. Perhaps she could help…

  Then she remembered, and her excitement sunk into the void in her gut. She couldn’t help with the branding. Not ever again. Not unless she could find a way to remove the Void brand, and the chances of that happening were looking slimmer and slimmer.

  “Well, if we Fae are some of your greatest assets,” Vander continued. “Perhaps we should get priority in those caves. There is enough room for all of the Fae together. And the Water Fae won’t survive long in the open.”

  Skellig narrowed her eyes at Vander. “That would hardly be fair.”

  “We would allow certain of the humans to come as well, those who were least expendable like your Gifters.”

  Now Jak narrowed her eyes as well. “We would allow?” What had prompted Vander to say that? It sounded as if he intended to take over the caves and not let anyone else in.

  “We will take turns in the caves until we can find additional dwellings, and that’s final,” said Skellig. “We will not indulge in conversations about who deserves what. Everyone gets an equal opportunity.”

  Vander scowled. “We found the caves for you. You owe us.”

  Skellig took a step toward the Shadow Elf. “We all work together on this or everything falls apart. Is that understood?”

  Vander met Skellig’s eyes, stare for stare. They were of equal height, and that only added to the tension. Jak rubbed her arms trying to appease the chill running down her spine. It wasn’t a chill brought on by the cold. Viona looked equally uncomfortable.

  “Perhaps we should decide once we get there?” Jak suggested. Both Skellig and Vander turned their heads to face her. She stopped herself from tak
ing one step back at the sour looks on their faces. “I mean, we still have time before we arrive. Perhaps we’ll find more shelter along the way.”

  “You mean, we’ll find more shelter,” said Vander, clearly emphasizing himself and the other Fae.

  “I think it’s a good idea,” said Viona. “It didn’t take us long to find these caves. We might find more in the meantime.”

  Vander hesitated, but nodded in the end. “I can agree to that. And we can rotate enough people through the caves for a while at least. Until we can find something more suitable, assuming we do.”

  Jak refrained from asking him what he would do if they didn’t find something more suitable. She didn’t want to antagonize him further. He was understandably stressed. He hadn’t even been in charge of the Shadow Elves until Karlona, Jak’s mother, had died. That had only happened a few days ago, though already it felt like a lifetime to Jak. So much had happened since then, yet the pain was still fresh.

  Skellig brought Jak out of her thoughts by speaking again to Vander. “We understand that we’re placing a lot of the responsibility for our survival on the Fae. I apologize for that. We’ll send out some human scouts as well, and make sure the Flamedancers take the load off of the gnomes as much as possible.”

  Vander grunted an acknowledgement. Well that was something at least.

  But Viona continued to look uncomfortable, and Jak could understand. Despite his agreement, Vander bore an expression that suggested he had other things in mind.

  4

  Skellig followed up on her words, sending out a team of scouts led by Bretton, one of the Triad leaders.

  “I’m used to cold survival situations,” Bretton said to Skellig, with a wink at Jak who stood behind her. Jak smiled. It was a bit of a long story, but when she’d gone back in time as part of her test to gain a Pillar of Eternity, she’d met Bretton as a young boy, nearly frozen to death in some northern forest.

  “I’ll make sure you have at least one Flamedancer with you,” said Skellig. “Only one though. Most are needed here.”

  “Understood,” said Bretton. “How many men do you need?”

  “As many as you can spare. I’d like you to go along the mountains to our left, easy I guess, and search there. I’ll have others searching the base of the mountains to the right.”

  Bretton gave a crisp salute and began walking off. However, he paused as if considering saying something else. Then he turned and faced Jak. “I just want you to know that those of my clan have not given up faith in you.”

  Jak blinked. She hadn’t expected anyone to say something like that to her. “Uh...thank you”

  “If there’s anything my life has taught me, it’s that hardship breeds strength. We, my people, have learned to welcome it. I have no doubt that we will come out of this alive and stronger than ever.”

  That would be nice, but Jak wasn’t sure how it applied to her. After all, there was no denying that she had been stronger with her brands. Literally. Her Strength brand had made her far stronger than she was now. Sure, hardship helped you to grow. She’d experienced that during the time after the death of her father. But when that hardship involved losing all of the power that you needed to save multiple races...she wasn’t sure how she, or the rest of them for that matter, were going to survive in the long term.

  But instead of voicing her doubts, she merely said. “Thank you, Bretton.” Bretton returned her thanks with a slight bow before heading off to collect his men.

  Jak watched as the man left, and Skellig began giving orders to keep moving. Soon they were traveling once again towards the mountains and the caves they harboured. This time Jak stayed with Skellig near the front. She no longer led, but at least she would be among the first to know if the scouts found anything else.

  It felt good to be moving, but Jak couldn’t help but think about Cain and what he might be doing back on Earth. He had the Pillars of Eternity now, and while she didn’t think they would respond to him at first, she had no doubt he would find a way. Then what would happen? Would he simply snuff them out of the sky? Did it even matter that they try to survive, if only to die later? And what about Naem and all those he recruited, still left on Earth? What would happen to them? She had originally planned on going back and forth between the two worlds, taking as many as would come. But now all of that was out of the question.

  Seph stayed beside her, occasionally putting his hand in hers as they walked. That was nice. He was the only comfort during this whole fiasco. Though if Cain managed to get the Pillars to work, it wouldn’t matter anyway. They’d both be dead.

  Even at their slow pace, it only took a few more hours before Jak could see some of the Shadow Elves gathered at the base of the nearest mountain foothills. Though it was all covered in white snow, Jak could still make out a cleft in the rock, like a small canyon between two of the foothills. She couldn’t see where it led, as the path turned sharply, but this had to be the entrance. It was incredible that even the sharp eyes of the Shadow or Sky Fae had managed to find it.

  A chorus of relieved and tired moans echoed behind her as more people saw what must be the entrance to the caves. More mutters continued as word spread back through their large exodus. The end of their long journey was finally coming to a close.

  Vander strode forward to meet with the others of his race, then waved Skellig over. Jak followed, curious to overhear. Just because she was no longer in charge didn’t mean she couldn’t be privy to such important conversations.

  “My comrades estimate there’s enough room in there to hold about a thousand people.” said Vander as soon as they caught up to him.

  “Good,” said Skellig. “I had hoped for more, but that is still enough to ensure everyone gets at least one day in seven.”

  “Somewhat less than that, I would think,” said Vander.

  “What do you mean?” said Skellig, a hint of warning in her voice. She had not forgotten their little disagreement earlier.

  “Well, some will need to live there more permanently,” said Vander. “The Water Fae for instance. We can’t keep the water in their wagons from freezing over unless they’re inside. Most of the gnomes will need to be inside as well, to keep the place warm. And any returning scouts should get priority, among others.”

  “Very well,” said Skellig, though she said it slowly, as if she were trying to think of other options. “We will do what we can to rotate everyone else through. But we can start with the Water Fae and gnomes as you suggest.”

  Vander gave a satisfied nod and gave a brief order to the rest of the Shadow Elves who followed him. They retreated through the cleft, around the corner and, presumably, into the caves.

  Jak narrowed her eyes at Vander as he walked away. Why was he leading the Shadow Elves into the caves? Shouldn’t they be helping? Though she could agree that scouts should get some priority in the caves, and Vander’s team had been scouting for them.

  Skellig paused to consider this as well, but in the end she must have decided to ignore it for now. Instead, she began barking orders to set up camp outside the caves, and to send for the wagons with the Water Fae, so they could be brought in first.

  Gnomes and Flamedancers began drying out the area as they once had, heating up the ground and spewing fire at the snow. Jak watched the rock slowly reveal itself from underneath the snow. There was nothing there but bare stone. No plants, nothing to indicate life had ever existed on this world. Until now.

  When they went inside, Jak was surprised at how much of a difference it made to be out of the elements. Even though there was no natural heating source, already the icy sting on her cheeks began to relax.

  It wasn’t a large cavern inside, not like the one she had seen under Mt. Harafast. But it was dry, and it looked like the tunnels continued on for a little while, though the ceiling became more and more narrow as it went deeper.

  Skellig merely surveyed the area quickly before giving a brief nod and retreating outside. Vander followed not far behind. J
ak stayed a while longer, not eager to return to the cold so quickly.

  “Not a bad place,” said Seph putting one arm around her as they enjoyed being out of the weather. “If only it could be bigger.”

  “If there’s one cave, there are probably more,” Jak replied. “The scouts will find them.”

  “I hope so,” replied Seph. “The Sky Fae still haven’t reported anything.”

  Jak nodded. It was too early for Bretton and his scouts to be back yet, but they hadn’t heard anything from any of the previous scouts either. The Sky Fae were particularly good at covering a lot of distance, but they had reported nothing so far. Hopefully that meant their altitude simply made it harder to spot things like a cave, rather than the idea that this cave was all there was.

  The wagons with the Water Fae came in first, with Shadow and Bright Elves pushing them along towards the back of the caves. Jak thought she caught sight of Amelia, her friend from the college of Skyecliff, in one of them. Jak winced. It couldn’t be enjoyable for the Water Fae to be confined like they were. They needed to find a more permanent solution soon.

  Others followed. Next came Girwirt and Noralim leading most of the gnomes and dwarves inside. A few Sky Fae fluttered through as well.

  “That’s a lot of Fae,” said Seph, observing everyone who entered.

  It was true. Most of those entering the cave were Fae. What about all the humans? Jak frowned and retreated back through the cave entrance and along the cleft. What she saw was not what she wanted to see.

  Skellig and Vander were once again staring each other down. Others, mostly Fae, had gathered around and were watching them argue.

  “We can’t give preference to any one side,” said Skellig.

  “You want us to be practical?” retorted Vander. “Well the gnomes, dwarves, and Sky Fae all take up less space. There aren’t many of us that are large, apart from the trolls and they seem to be unphased by the cold.”