They ate mostly in silence, partly because no one had anything to say, but also partly because they were all thinking about the demon threat. Or at least, that’s what Jak was thinking about. She didn’t know what troubled the others. Seph and Karlona both had lines in their foreheads, clearly worried about something. Only Marek seemed perfectly at ease with their situation. He roasted one of Seph’s rabbits on a stick, then eagerly bit into it once it was done.
“I’ll take the watch,” said Jak, once they were nearly finished eating.
No one argued with her on this. She was the only one with Sleeplessness, and her new Sightseer brand made her ideal for a nightwatch, though Karlona could give even her a run for her money when it came to seeing in the dark.
But after her earlier vision, and waking up on the side of the mountain, she did feel tired. She would need an hour or so at least. Perhaps she could wake Karlona after a few hours and let her take the watch instead. But for now, she could stay up all night and give the others some much-needed rest.
She kept the fire going as long as she could, and even left for a time to find some nearby brush to keep it burning just a little longer. But it didn’t take long for the flames to die completely.
She shivered in the cold, hugging her knees to her body. Despite not needing sleep, she could admit that having to wait for the others to wake was a definite drawback. Right now it was just her and her thoughts.
After a while, she heard something. But it wasn’t coming from below them, it was coming from right next to her. Seph was shivering under his blanket. His breath came in sharp intakes and came out again in puffs of misty air that stood out starkly in the light of the moon.
She inched herself a little closer, picking up a stone that they had used to frame the fire. “You still glad you came?” she said, passing the stone to Seph, who accepted it gratefully. It had lost most of the heat from the fire, but it was still warmer than the rest of their environment.
Seph buried the stone under his blankets, and sighed in mild relief. “I told you, Jak, something makes me think that I needed to be on this one with you.”
“Did your mysterious lady in white tell you that?”
“No,” he breathed out. “Sometimes I get ideas though, thoughts that eventually lead somewhere. It’s how I met you that day in the library.”
Jak smiled, thinking back to that day. She had fallen asleep in the library, only to wake up to see Seph taking a peek at what she had been reading. Those were simpler days.
Seph continued to shiver, to the point that it began to worry Jak. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll...be fine.” he said through clenched teeth. “Might not get a solid night’s sleep though.”
“Well, I told you that there would be problems if you came.”
He grinned at her, despite his discomfort. “Going to tell me you told me so?”
“I did tell you so, but that doesn’t matter. I’m actually kind of glad you’re here,” she winked, “if only for selfish reasons.”
“I’ll take that,” he said, adjusting his body to a more comfortable position.
“I know what you’ve said before, but I still think you should get a brand or two,” said Jak.
“I appreciate the thought, I really do, but I’ll be fine.” His statement was undermined by an involuntary shiver.
Frowning, she drew a little closer, reaching out a hand to touch his face. It was freezing. He was going to need something more than a warm rock.
“Give me your canteen,” she told him.
He hesitated, and Jak couldn’t quite make out his expression in the dark. But a moment later he reached in his sack for the animal skin canteen and handed it to her.
She grabbed it and opened the top, sticking a finger inside till it touched the water.
“Hey now,” said Seph as she dipped her hand into his drinking water.
“Hush,” she said, concentrating. Her Flamedancer brand flared briefly to life as she imbued the water with enough heat to bring it just short of a boil. Steam rushed out of the canteen, and Jak handed it back to Seph. “Drink what you can. The heat should help warm you from the inside.” She also retrieved his rock, reheated it with a bit of magic, and returned it to him.
Seph accepted the rock, and the canteen. A pleasing shiver ran up his spine as he took a long gulp, “Oh, that feels good. Thank you.” He took another gulp and then brought the warm container and rock back under the covers to keep its heat from escaping.
“You’re welcome,” said Jak. Next, she took her own blankets off her shoulders and placed them on Seph. She wasn’t immune to cold, but she could deal with it for now. Seph needed it more.
“I should try and count the number of times I would be dead without you,” he said. His voice was growing weary, lowering in volume. “I’ll bet it’s...a lot.”
Jak knew most of those occasions had been saving him from a mess she had created in the first place. But she didn’t bother to mention that.
She watched him under his covers, no longer quivering like before. The tendrils of his hair waved slightly in the nighttime breeze, and his eyes closed. He seemed content, far more content than she felt, even though she didn’t have to deal with the elements in the same way that he did. She wished she could borrow that from him, his confidence, his assuredness that everything would work out.
For a moment, she considered climbing under the covers next to him. It would keep them both warm, and perhaps she would find a measure of comfort in lying next to him, feeling his breathing.
But Seph was already asleep, his chest rising and falling under the blankets. He would be fine now that he had the warm water and extra blanket. She would leave him be.
Instead, she went back to hugging her knees to her chest, doing her best to conserve every ounce of heat she possessed. But in the end, she had to get up and walk around, lighting a small flame in her hand, which she kept close to her chest. Keeping a sustained flame alight like that would take its toll on her strength eventually, but she could handle it with the help of all her other brands.
She walked in circles for a while, finally taking a moment to retreat back down the mountain and look for more wood to use. If they needed to build another fire later, they would need to carry something with them.
She tried circling down and around towards an area they hadn’t passed through on their way up. Sure enough, a small pine tree clung to life not far away, protected from the elements by a small cliff face.
She used her Telekinetic abilities to wrench the entire thing out of the ground before snapping its individual branches and trunk into pieces.
The wind whipped around her, her hair flying into her face as she worked. When she was done, she did what she could to bundle it all together and began lifting it back to camp using Telekinesis.
A foul stench reached her nostrils. A smell of something dying.
The wood fell to the ground as she immediately recognized the smell. It could just be a dying creature, its decomposing odor carried on the wind. But there was another option that, given the circumstances, seemed far more likely.
Demons were nearby.
Forgetting all about the wood, she raced back to the camp. How had she been so stupid? She couldn’t leave the others when there were demons about, even if she hadn’t heard anything. There were no howls, no signs of any impending danger, but if that smell was what she thought it was…
She sprinted the rest of the distance, finally coming back to the path. Their camp was just ahead, further up the mountain. But she couldn’t yet see well enough to know if her companions were safe.
As she ran, something caught her eye beneath her in the moonlight, and she slowed to get a good look. Their footprints in the snow, left earlier that day, were completely gone. They were replaced with multiple tracks, barefoot human tracks, with claws. Demon tracks.
No, no, no! If they were dead and it was her fault, she would never forgive herself. How had the demons gotten past her with
out her realizing it. Demons were loud, and she hadn’t been far. She could have easily heard a demon at this range. Sometimes you could hear them from miles away.
Unless these demons were being specifically directed by Cain to be silent.
Redoubling her pace, she threw herself up the hill, coming to rest just at the crest. “Seph!” she cried. “Mother. Are you there?”
Karlona, Seph, and Marek were all rising out of their blankets, confusion and alarm evident in the way they stumbled around, trying simultaneously to reach for weapons and rise to their feet.
But they were alive.
Jak gasped in relief, running the rest of the way.
“What is it?” said her mother. “Demons?”
“I thought so,” said Jak coming to rest near them and resisting the urge to throw her arms around Seph. If he had died… “I thought I smelled them, and there were tracks.”
Karlona’s eyes immediately fell to the ground, scanning the area around them. She gasped and put one hand to her mouth. “There are tracks. Look.”
Jak lit a flame in one hand so they could all see better. Sure enough, demon tracks were all around them, but they made a circle around the camp, as if specifically avoided them. Why hadn’t they attacked? They had been helpless, easy prey.
Unless.
Jak’s eyes snapped upward to view the cliff face ahead of them. Just as she did so, she caught sight of something hauling itself up and over the rock wall.
Without pausing to speak, she ran to the side of the cliff and jumped. In mid-air, she activated her Telekinetic brand, and propelled herself upward until she reached the top. She landed, crouched and staring straight ahead of her. From up here, she could easily see the tip of the mountain. There was still a lot of progress to be made, but as far as she could tell, there were no more cliffs or significant obstacles in their path, just a narrow ridge leading forward, with a sharp drop on both sides. Somewhere ahead of her, lay the second Pillar of Eternity.
And the demons were going to get there first.
She could see them now, not far in the distance, running on all fours. They were making a beeline for the top of the mountain, paying little attention to their own safety. One even slipped on the snow, sliding down a long slope on one side, struggling to recover its footing, but eventually falling off the edge and tumbling to its death.
They weren’t trying to attack them. They were trying to get to the Pillar of Eternity before Jak and her company did. This was Cain’s doing. He knew that the demons alone were no match for her, not without a healthy amount of luck. So he was choosing instead to lead the demons away, to recover his prize before she could get her hands on it.
She scanned the area, around and below. If the Pillar was so important to Cain why wasn’t he here to take it himself? Was he on his way now, and sent his demons ahead to get the job done before he could get there?
“Break camp,” she yelled down to the others. “We need to move now!”
Her companions did not hesitate to obey. They didn’t have much to move, so they were ready to go within seconds. The sky was beginning to brighten in the east, which was much more visible from up here. Already they must have climbed higher than most of their surrounding mountains. She could see for miles in every direction. But there was only one direction that she cared about.
One by one, she levitated Seph, Marek, and Karlona into the air, carrying them up the cliff face with her Telekinetic brand.
Once they were all up, they set out once again. But it was too late. They couldn’t move at the rate the demons maintained, not without risking a deathly fall off the ridge. But what more could they do? She couldn’t use the Pillar to get to them any faster. Doing so would wear her out, and she would leave the others stranded.
They could only hope that once the demons reached the top of the mountain, that they would be unable to retrieve the Pillar of Eternity until they could get there.
13
They spent the majority of the day continuing along the ridge. But progress was slow. Every once in a while the path became so narrow that they had to cling to the rock face to keep from falling. In some areas, Jak had to melt away the ice to make it safe to climb.
And all the while an icy wind beat at them, howling around the mountain. Or were those demons howls?
“Jak,” said Seph from behind her. She turned to see him with his hands stuck under his armpits, and his face pale. They had brought extra clothing, but none of them were fully equipped with winter wear. It was beginning to take a toll. “I think you should go on ahead. You can move much faster with your brands.”
“No,” said Jak immediately, raising her voice to be heard over the wind that whipped at her hair. “The rest of you might lose your footing and I wouldn’t be here to keep you from falling.”
“We can stay put, wait for you to return.”
Jak shook her head. “I’m not leaving you, and that’s that.”
“And I’m not leaving her,” said Karlona. “We have no idea what is waiting for us up there, and I’m not letting her walk into it alone.”
“And I’m the only one who knows the way,” added Marek. “We need to stick together.”
“Don’t we all know the way by now?” said Seph. “It’s up.”
“The path to get there is not always intuitive, but I know the way. That is one advantage we have over the demons.”
Jak pressed her lips together. She was glad they had that advantage, but she didn’t understand it. Marek was still a bit of an oddity. He clearly had Marek’s memories, but something had definitely changed about him. He was more like Seph, with talk about spiritual journeys and such. But so far his guidance had led them in the right direction, finding the easiest way to scale the mountain. Or at least she assumed it was the easiest. It certainly wasn’t easy.
“We stick together,” she said with finality. Seph nodded, and went back to staring at the ground again, taking one shaky step after another.
Jak couldn’t blame him. She was starting to feel the effects of the weather as well. It was exhausting work, continuing to climb through the snow and rock with nothing but each other and the freezing wind to keep them company. And with the demons ahead of them, they were pushing themselves harder than ever before. If she was starting to feel fatigued, she could only imagine what the others were feeling.
Something fluttered around the corner of her vision. Her eyes shot in that direction and thought she saw something with white wings fly around the nearest rock. Probably just a bird of prey of some kind. Though she wasn’t aware of any birds of prey with white wings. Maybe it was just a chunk of snow kicked up by the wind. She put it out of her mind.
Some time later, Karlona tensed. “Did you see something?” she said, pointing ahead of them. They were approaching a small outcrop of rock that they would probably have to scale, which meant Jak would need to use her Telekinetic abilities.
“What did you see?” she asked her mother. They stopped walking, and both Marek and Seph stopped behind them. The latter was continuing to rub some life into his fingers.
“Something like a large bird, but different,” said Karlona. “It disappeared ahead of us.”
“I saw something like that too, earlier. What do you mean ‘different’?”
“It’s hard to say at this distance,” Karlona admitted. “But I could have sworn it had a face.”
That was something Jak hadn’t expected to hear. “Like a human face?” she asked.
“Yes, exactly. I’m sure I imagined that though.”
“You did not imagine it,” said a soft voice.
Jak was so startled that she nearly fell backwards, sending her and everyone behind her tumbling down the mountain. She swayed but managed to keep her footing. Karlona had her daggers out.
Floating to their right was a person. But not a normal human being. He was smaller, about the size of Girwirt and the gnomes, and he had on a loose tunic of white cloth, tied together with a brown strip, and his
hair was a bright blonde color. If he had stood next to Jak, he would have barely come up to her thighs. But he wasn’t standing. He was flying with two great, beating wings that extended out of his back.
“You have no need to fear me,” he said. Jak recognized that voice.
“You’re Perchel,” she said. “You were there with me in the vision.”
The small person smiled and gave a small bow in midair. “At your service.”
“I had no idea you were…” she trailed off. What exactly was Perchel?
“I believe you would call us Sky Fae,” said Perchel. “We have lived in these mountains for a long time.”
“Of course you’re Fae,” she exclaimed, her face brightening. Everything was starting to make sense.
“We don’t have much time. The enemy has forced our hand. We need to get you to your second test.”
So she was right. There was another test coming. Jak glanced around at her companions, all of whom were gazing at the small Fae in awe. They’d seen Fae before, hadn’t they? This variety wasn’t any stranger. Though she had to admit there was something mesmerizing about the way Perchel’s wings beat, keeping him hanging in the air.
“By enemy, you mean the demons?” asked Karlona. “We’ve been pursuing them, they passed us in the night.”
“Yes, we did not anticipate this,” said the little man. “While there is an appointed process to claiming the item you seek, we fear that their leader is capable of taking it himself if he wants to.”
Jak nodded. “Cain is powerful.”
“Then come. We will take you to our Aerie. Your companions can find shelter and warmth there.”
As if on cue, seven more of the Sky Fae hovered into their vision. Before anyone could protest they laid hold on all four of them, two per person, and lifted them into the air.
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