To World's Above: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 5)

by Jason Hamilton

  Of course, she couldn’t blame them. No one here would have ever met a Fae, and every creature that survived multiple brands turned into a demon. They had no reason to think she would be any different. But still, something about being turned away by someone she knew as a friend, that hurt.

  “I’ll leave,” she said, glancing around the room. No one had moved from where they sat or stood, but all remained tense. She took a few steps backward, reaching one hand to find the door handle. Then in a moment, she was out.

  Once outside, she took a heartbeat to lean against the door as it closed behind her. She had all but forgotten just how strange it was that she had multiple brands. Of course they would look at her that way. How had she expected anything less. Was this part of her test, to remind her of what she was, or of how others viewed her? But no, that didn’t make a lot of sense. The way people treated the Fae was enough to keep such topics on the forefront of her mind. She knew how people treated what they feared. This was nothing new.

  About four people began approaching the inn. They were dressed like warriors. Not just that. They were wearing red tunics and polished armor. These weren’t just soldiers, they were Watchers.

  Jak quickly turned aside and began walking in the opposite direction, doing her best to hide her face. She needed to find some mud or something to cover up the Telekinesis brand on her forehead. She could cover the rest with a cloak, but that particular brand stood out.

  She heard the door swing open behind her as the Watchers entered the inn. If Watchers were here, where were the others? Perhaps these were sent ahead of a large band, to arrange a place to stay.

  Almost the instant the door closed, it opened again. “Hey!” said a voice. “You, stop in the name of the queen.”

  Jak kept her face fixed on the path ahead of her, increasing her pace and lifting the Pillar of Eternity so she carried it alongside her instead of using it for a staff. Those inside the inn must have just told the Watchers about her. If they tried to apprehend her, she would either have to fight them or run. She did not feel like the former. They were only doing what they thought was best.

  “I said stop!” said the Watcher. A scuffle of boots on the wood deck suggested that more had joined the speaker. “Come back here.”

  There was nothing to do but run. Forgetting everyone watching, she sprinted forward.

  The Watcher cursed and she spared a glance to see all four of the armed men leap after her. They were in heavy armor, and likely fatigued from their journey, so she could probably outrun them. But then again, it would take time, and she had the feeling that running away from the village was not part of the test. Besides, she had a better idea.

  She darted around a small cottage and with a flash of thought, she activated the Pillar of Eternity. Time ground to a halt around her, and she slowed her gait.

  She retraced her steps, passing the Watchers that now moved at a snail's pace, heading towards her last known location. She went back to the inn, where the door had not yet swung fully shut.

  What was the point of coming here? This was obviously a point before Yewin and the others had changed to come Bright Fae, or Elves as they were now called. But if she remembered correctly, shortly after becoming Fae, the Watchers under Kuldain’s command had appeared. Maybe the four that pursued her were the first of that company. But if that were true, then the transformation would have to happen soon.

  When she had asked Yewin about his transformation, he had never responded with a satisfying answer. In all other cases, the change had been brought on by a nearby Relic. The power of that Relic somehow triggered a change in certain people, but that did not seem to be the case here. Or at least, maybe they just didn’t know about it. Perhaps this was her opportunity to find the Relic and put together that peace of the puzzle.

  Yes, that was a good idea. She would have to keep using the Pillar of Eternity to keep the Watchers from chasing her, but she could live with that. If she was quick enough, the Pillar wouldn’t drain her energy enough to cause a problem. And the two ethereal voices weren’t saying anything, so it was all she had to go on for now.

  So she spent the next little while roaming around the village, wandering in and out of the individual cottages and shops. It felt weird just letting herself into each building. Something felt wrong about the intrusion, but of course nobody could see her at the fast pace at which she was moving. Yet search as she might, she didn’t come across anything that even hinted at a Relic.

  She found herself back at the inn, gently pulling on the door to widen the space and slipping inside. Once inside she studied Yewin’s face. He was frozen in an expression of confused curiosity, staring out the door at the Watchers that, for him, would have just left.

  If Yewin said that there wasn’t a Relic, then they must not have found such a thing. So where could their transformation have come from?

  There was something off about Yewin’s expression. Yes, he looked confused but there was more to it than that. Jak took a few steps closer, gazing at his face. There was almost...some kind of pain in his face. A quick glance at the others told her that they felt something similar.

  Carefully, she willed the Pillar of Eternity to speed up time just enough to see their expressions continue to change. In slow motion, Yewin’s face contorted, he doubled over, clutching at his chest, and his eyes widened in surprise.

  Others in the room were having similar reactions, most of them bent over, some falling and clutching at nearby tables. Some were raising their hands in front of their faces. They were beginning to give off a soft glow.

  Jak brought time back to a crawl, taking her time to observe the room. This was it. They were changing right before her eyes. They were becoming Fae.

  But what had triggered it?

  “The lesson is this,” she nearly jumped as a voice reached out to her from behind. She knew if she looked, she would see no one there. “Change is necessary, and sometimes it requires an additional push.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said aloud.

  “It was destiny that these men and women become Fae, that they might one day join you. Sometimes we are led to our destinies, as your mother and her companions were. Other times, destiny is brought to them.”

  Jak raised the Pillar of Eternity in one hand, staring at its length. “I did this?” she surveyed Yewin and the others. “You’re saying that I was the source of their change all along?”

  “The power is not of you, but of that which you carry. A Relic of the most powerful order.”

  “How is this possible?” said Jak.

  “You were brought here, you were destined to change these people, just as your mother was destined to find the Annals of Adam before you were born.”

  “Who brought me here?”

  “That is a far more complex question than you realize. There are forces at work beyond your control.”

  Jak frowned. “I do not want to be a pawn of some greater power.”

  “All the good that we do is part of a greater power.”

  Jak opened her mouth but had nothing to say in response to that. And she wasn’t here to argue philosophy anyway.

  “I told you she wouldn’t like that. You’ve seen how she tries to take matters into her own hands.” This time it was the second voice that spoke. The one named Harglim.

  “We all have a destiny to play,” said the other. “Not liking it does little to change that.”

  “So you’re saying that my fate is set?” Jak asked. “I can’t change anything of the future?”

  “Not at all,” said the voice of Perchel. “The future is not written yet. You always have the freedom to choose.”

  “But if that’s true, then how is my destiny set in stone?”

  “Destiny is not fate. You can choose to reject it.”

  “And if I do?”

  There was silence, the air stood completely still. Jak kept the Pillar of Eternity active, the scene of Yewin’s transformation still playing out in slow motion. />
  She was about to ask again, when the voice of Perchel came again. “There is yet another test.”

  The words brought with them a surge of power that surrounded Jak, bathing out the area around her in a burst of light. She covered her eyes as whiteness surrounded her.

  10

  When she next opened her eyes, she was standing somewhere new. The Pillar of Eternity was no longer in her hand, disappeared as it had the first time. She took a moment to survey her surroundings. She didn’t recognize anything about the place. Where the northern village had been partially familiar to her, apart from the overabundance of trees, this place was completely different.

  Enormous golden hills stretched out in all directions, coming right up to where she stood. She stared down at her feet where they met the strange substance. Wait, it wasn’t strange at all. It was sand, like what she saw on the beach. But this was different. There was so much of it here. And no ocean in sight.

  A bead of sweat ran down her forehead. It was hot here too. The sun radiated overhead, making her skin feel like she had just been tossed into a frying pan. This was not a pleasant place to be at all. She hadn’t even thought such a place existed. Where were the mountains, the grasslands, or the clouds for that matter?

  She turned on the spot, looking for a sign of anything familiar, when she caught sight of some shapes nearby. From this distance, she couldn’t make out what they were, but it was the only object around that wasn’t sand.

  She began walking, slipping in the sand as she went, and feeling the heat rise through her traveling boots. She would need to find some kind of shade if she didn’t want to burn alive. Hopefully her new Toughness brand would keep that from happening any time soon.

  As she approached, the object became clearer. It looked to be some kind of tent, though larger than those she was familiar with. This one could easily house four or five of the personal tents she was used to. It spread out along the sand, ancored with large cords and stakes that must have penetrated deep into the earth.

  The land was slightly different here. There was rock ahead, and Jak could feel the earth becoming firmer beneath her feet.

  She nearly took a step back when she spotted two strange animals standing beside the tent. They were taller than a horse, and had two enormous humps. What on Earth were those? She had never seen anything like them before. Even their faces were completely foreign to her. She didn’t even know how to describe them. They didn’t look like any other animal she had ever seen up close.

  Despite their strange appearance, a few things were beginning to fall into place. Gabriel had talked about animals such as these, though Jak had imagined them more like horses. And she had also heard of lands scorched by the sun, and possessing little plant or animal life, in the southern kingdoms. Was that where she was now?

  But despite the strange animals, she found herself distracted by the next thing she laid her eyes on. There were plants here, some of them strange, but still carrying the familiar green. There must be water nearby.

  Sure enough, as she drew even closer, she caught sight of a small lake nearby. If she hadn’t seen the tent first, she might never have seen it over the rise of the sand dunes. But now that she was here, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it earlier. What little plant life there was surrounded the small lake contrasted starkly with the golden dunes framing it.

  Jak hadn’t felt the urge to drink yet, but she was sweating freely already, and even with her Hungerless brand, she would need to fill up eventually. A good thing she had arrived where she did.

  That thought brought her back to the reason she was here. Obviously there was something that these invisible people wanted her to see, or to do. Well then, seeing as there was no one else in the area, she supposed checking the tent would be her first option.

  She made her way even closer, glancing down at the ground as she did so.

  A sound like a crack of thunder split the air, accompanied by a harsh cry, a human cry.

  Jak looked up and saw something on the other side of the tent. There was a person there, dressed in white, though she couldn’t quite see what was happening from this angle. But whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.

  The sound echoed across the dunes, once again accompanied by the outcry. Someone was in trouble.

  She nearly slipped on the sand as she struggled to move faster. Then hard rock was underneath her feet and she ran around the tent to see what was going on.

  A tall man, clothed all in white, towered over another. The second man knelt in a fetal position on the ground. He had no clothes on his back, and his skin was a dark color, something Jak had only seen once or twice in Skyecliff. Only the merchants from the southern kingdoms had skin that color.

  The man in white raised a hand, and Jak saw a whip uncoil then come hurtling down and striking the back of the other. The man cried out, and the whip left a large, red welt where it hit, one of many.

  Jak felt the blood drain from her face. What was the man doing to that other man? He wasn’t a demon, so why would he do such a thing?

  “Stop!” she yelled.

  Instantly the man in white whipped his head around to see who had shouted. His face was covered in a white scarf, but his exposed eyes narrowed upon seeing her.

  He shouted something at her in a language she did not understand. But he didn’t sound friendly. He reached for something at his waist, a short sword by the look of it.

  She put out her hands. “I’m not here to harm you,” she said. “Why are you hurting that man?”

  The man in white paused. But after a moment, he shouted something else at her, still using words she didn’t recognize.

  “I can’t understand you,” she said, but pointed at herself. “I’m Jak. I’m from a kingdom to the north of here, I think. Do you understand me?”

  The man on the ground looked up from his fetal position. He was breathing heavily, obviously in a lot of pain, but there was something else in his eyes that Jak recognized. Hope.

  The man in white did not seem pleased with her arrival. He continued to shout at her, taking several aggressive steps forward and reaching again for the sword on his belt.

  Jak reached for her own weapon before realizing that she did not have any. Her spear and the Pillar of Eternity had been taken from her somehow, probably as part of the test.

  But that did not leave her defenseless.

  She activated her Telekinesis brand. She watched with some satisfaction as the man in white stopped in his tracks, staring at the light streaming out of her forehead. Then she reached forth one hand and took hold of the man with her mind.

  He began yelling as his body was yanked into the air by some invisible force. He pushed against her barrier, but his strength was nothing she couldn’t handle. She tightened her hold on him, and he squealed as the invisible barrier closed in. The other man, who had been whipped, began to get to his feet, stumbling at first but staring in fascination at his oppressor.

  “I can’t speak your language,” said Jak, coming closer and facing the man in white. His struggling died down and he met her eyes. There was fear there, and anger. “But I’m going to put you down now. Do not try to attack me again.”

  She knew he couldn’t understand her, but hopefully her actions would speak louder than words. Using her Telekinetic abilities, she gently placed him back down on the ground.

  When she let her brand deactivate, he lay there, staring up at her. He said nothing, speechless for some time.

  “Now then,” she said. “Perhaps we can start over and come to…”

  With a snarl, he lunged for his sword again, picked it up, and hurled it at Jak before she had time to react. Just in time, she threw up a Telekinetic barrier to stop the sword from coming in contact with her head. It bounced off her barrier and fell to the stony ground with a clatter.

  Before he could scramble for his fallen weapon, Jak wrapped him up in another cocoon of Telekinetic energy. “That was not a good plan,” she said, annoy
ed. “Let me reiterate.”

  But just as she was pondering what to do with the man, his eyes widened and he gasped, or more like choked. A red patch began to stain the front of the man’s white clothing.

  The dark man, previously the victim, stood behind the man in white with a dagger in hand. It was embedded to the hilt in his oppressor’s back.

  Jak let her magic die, and the man in white collapsed to the ground, his eyes already staring sightlessly at the sky.

  Jak prepared her magic again, getting ready to restrain the other man as well. Why had he done that? Well, that wasn’t exactly a mystery. The man in white had beaten him after all. But Jak wasn’t sure that made it better.

  “He would not have listened to you,” said the man, splaying his hands so she could see he held no other weapons.

  “You speak my language?” Jak kept her magic at bay for now, letting the man talk.

  He nodded, “My previous master was a merchant. We made several trips to your country.”

  Jak frowned, “Your master? What do you mean by that?”

  The man frowned back at her. “Is it not obvious? I am a slave.”

  “A slave? You mean this man forces you to work?”

  The man looked down at his dead master, “This one was worse than most. I was the latest among many slaves. Most of the others died in his fits of anger. He would have done the same to me and you if given the chance. So I made sure he did not get that chance.”

  “But slavery is horrible. Someone should put a stop to it. Don’t you have a queen or king to keep that from happening?”

  He cocked his head at her. “You know nothing of our ways, do you? How did you come here?”

  “It’s a long story,” said Jak.

  “I will believe it.” He pointed at the corpse of his former master. “He was wrong to attack you, I am sorry his death was necessary. He clearly did not recognize your gifts for what they are.”

  “Brands are not common here?”

  “Some have them, those among the very wealthy with strong trade ties to your land.”