Finally, she faced the fields that separated their army from that of Queen Telma. Sure enough, two lumbering figures could be seen in the distance, heading right for them.
7
“Telekinetics at the ready!” Skellig shouted as the two lumbering figures grew closer. Jak saw a small handful of men, most of whom had previously been Watchers, step forward. They didn’t have many Telekinetics. But Skellig was right to call on them. They had the best chance of taking down these...whatever they were. At least they could hold them down while the rest of them figured out how to take one out.
Should they even be trying to kill these things? Jak thought back to the fear she had seen in its eyes. Was it just defending itself? Though if that were true, why had it continued to follow Skellig and herself back to their camp. Why not just run off?
If they were doing the wrong thing by killing them, Jak could only hope that they scared them off first. But right now, she couldn’t think about that. Right now they were under attack by a strange creature, and self-preservation had to take priority. Even she could understand that. She supposed, in a way, the queen was right. If a strange creature threatened you, defending yourself was a logical course of action. But of course, this was different. The queen was striking out of a perceived fear, not out of provocation.
Or at least, she had. What would the queen think now that more of these creatures were tearing through her ranks?
“Archers!” Skellig called as the enormous monsters grew closer. The archers nocked arrows and raised their bows high. Would arrows do anything to the monsters?
“Loose!” said Skellig. The archers obeyed and the arrow shafts flew through the air. Many missed, but several pinged off the rocky skin of the approaching beasts. No good. They would have to find another tactic.
Skellig seemed to be expecting this, as she waved the Telekinetics forward. Putting forth their hands, they waited for the creatures to come into range. Running ahead as if they hadn’t noticed the arrows at all, the twin giants quickened their pace. When they were about a hundred yards outside of their army, Skellig shouted, “Now!”
Light shone out of the left hand of each Telekinetic as they activated their brands. The two beasts stopped in their tracks, held in place by an invisible force, the power of a Telekinetic. Jak smiled. This was good. Perhaps they had a chance.
One of the creatures took a single step forward.
Jak’s smile faded, and she glanced at the Telekinetics to see sweat beading down their faces, which were red with effort. They had at least six Telekinetics, surely three for each of these giants was enough to stop them, right?
But apparently they only just managed to hold them back. And it was not getting any easier. The monsters took another step forward, and then another.
“Strongarms!” Skellig roared. “See if you can tear them apart why they’re still immobile.” Several other Watchers rushed to do as commanded. Jak hesitated. Technically she was a Strongarm as well. Should she help? She took a step forward.
Skellig’s arm shot out to stop her. “Not you,” she said in a quiet tone. “You’re too valuable to risk right now.”
Jak wanted to say that everyone was too valuable to lose, but she also knew to trust Skellig, so she stayed in place. But Skellig was once again turning her attention to the battle.
“Does anyone have Thunder?” she asked, scanning the crowd of soldiers.
Thunder? What good would that do? It wasn’t as powerful as Flamedancing, and Jak had already proven that the flames did absolutely nothing against these enemies. Why would Skellig…
A hand shot up. “I am, sir!” said a young man, the one Jak had seen before.
“Come.” Skellig waved him over. “We may have need of you.”
The young man stepped forward, but Jak’s attention suddenly shifted as one of the Telekinetics cried out and swayed on the spot. His face was completely red from the strain.
His hold must have broken because one of the giants began moving faster in their direction. More shouts came from the others, and their holds must have broken without the help of their comrade, because the beast darted forward even quicker now.
Just as the Strongarms arrived.
A massive, stony arm swung at the approaching warriors. With the crunch of bones that Jak could hear from where she stood, the beast swatted the Strongarms aside. Screams reached the rest of them as they flew across the field, some landing back among their ranks, having flown nearly a hundred yards through the air.
Jak watched, horrified, as the bloodied mess of a Strongarm landed nearby and did not get up. Yet, even as the first monster spread carnage, several Strongarms dodged out of the way and laid hold on the second beast, which was still held mostly in place by the remaining Telekinetics. With a surge, they collectively heaved at the beast’s arm and with a sound like rocks falling down a mountain, it tore loose.
The beast bellowed louder than ever before, and Jak couldn’t help but wince. These creatures could feel pain. The Telekinetics cried out as they lost their hold on the second beast as well. Its remaining arm swung and sent more of the Strongarms flying.
Skellig cursed. “Bright Fae, see if you can hold them off,” she yelled and turned to face the young man with the Thunder brand.
Yewin stepped forward, accompanied by about a half-dozen of the Bright Fae. There weren’t many of them left, but they were still powerful. “Shield your eyes!” Yewin shouted. Jak obeyed without question, as did the others.
Even with her eyes closed, the flash of light that emanated from the Bright Fae was enough to leave an afterimage. Two rocky shouts came from the direction of the creatures. Jak opened her eyes to see them clutching at their heads. Good, so those strange eyes of theirs still worked the same as the rest of them.
Skellig had a hand on the young man’s back, the one with Thunder, encouraging him to take a few steps in front of her. He swallowed as he moved in front of the main line, passing the Telekinetics that were still straining with the effort of holding the creatures back, as well as the remaining Strongarms that had run back to the main group. What did Skellig have in mind?
The Thunderdancer raised one arm and Jak felt her hair rise as a crackling energy surged through the young man.
Recovering from the flash of bright light, the two creatures howled and ran forward once more. This time it looked like the work of the Telekinetics had almost no effect. Towering above everyone, the monsters came.
A bolt of lightning flashed out of the Thunderdancer’s finger, hanging in the air only for an instant and leaving a sharp afterglow in Jak’s eyes.
The bolt hit the lead monster directly in the chest, and to Jak’s surprise, it stopped in its tracks.
For a second, Jak thought it had turned to stone once more. But no, it was still moving. Jak squinted to see more. It was trembling, every part of its body quivering like it was having some kind of seizure.
Another bolt came out of the young man’s finger and hit the second beast. It too stopped in its tracks.
“Keep it up!” Skellig encouraged the Thunderdancer.
A burning smell stung Jak’s nostrils as bolt after bold erupted from the young man’s fingers. The sky was completely clear, not a storm in sight, so the man’s powers were not very strong.
Regardless, what he was able to summon appeared to be enough. As more bolts struck the two creatures, their limbs began to shake wildly and both fell to their knees. Jak took a hopeful step forward. Was this actually going to work? The rest of the army stared in amazement as the Thunderdancer single-handedly held off the two beasts.
But it was not that easy. From what Jak knew, Thunder could take its toll. A glance at the young man confirmed this. Sweat streamed down his face, and he began leaning on Skellig for support. Hopefully it would be enough.
One of the creatures collapsed to the ground, completely still but for occasional jolt as another bolt of lightning touched it. The other with the stump of an arm wasn’t faring any better.
It was also on its knees, holding itself up by its one good arm.
The bolts of lightning coming out of the Thunderdancer’s hands flickered and died as the young man collapsed. Skellig caught him and did her best to hold him up, because he could not do so on his own. Jak took a deep breath, looking back at the giant that still moved. The other one might be dead, but this one wasn’t. Slowly, it pushed itself up on its good arm. And there was nothing more the Thunderdancer could do about it.
8
“Is there anyone else with Thunder?” Jak called out to the other soldiers. No one answered. It appeared they only had the one, or at least only one within earshot.
A few of the men, women, and Fae took a collective step back, not looking at Jak. She followed their gaze to see that the creature was once again on its feet. But this time it did not rush forward as before. Those strange eyes considered them, as if looking at them with new understanding.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, it turned and began to run away to the east, away from both armies. Its heavy footfalls reverberated through the ground, growing fainter and fainter until they disappeared entirely. Jak ran forward, past the edge of their army, to see where it had gone. She could still make it out in the distance, turning slightly to the south towards the mountains once it was far away from their camp, seeking protection in the rocky outcroppings that appeared so much like its own body.
Satisfied that it showed no signs of returning any time soon, Jak returned at a slow jog back to Skellig. She was selecting several of the Fae to help with the cleanup of dead and wounded. The Strongarms were the only ones seriously hurt, though the Telekinetics and Thunderdancer did not look much better. They would need some rest. Perhaps they could do with a Sleeplessness brand? She would have to reconsider how freely she gave out those brands. If it could help anyone avoid situations like these, perhaps it would be worth the risk. But she didn’t have time to worry about that yet.
“Everyone else stay ready,” Jak called out as she returned to the front lines. “There are more of those things in the queen’s camp. We can’t guarantee that they won’t come here at some point.”
Skellig nodded, “Sightseers, I want every one of you watching the enemy camp like hawks. If anything changes you must let me know immediately. I will be at the council clearing with the Lady Jak, discussing our next moves.”
Jak hadn’t thought about calling the council for yet another meeting, the second in one day, but Skellig was right. If anything, they had even more to discuss now. For starters, trying to figure out what these creatures really were.
“Have that thing brought to the clearing. I’m sure Gabriel and Yewin will want to examine it.” Skellig pointed at the body of the creature that had collapsed. Jak hoped it was dead. It certainly looked like that was the case. It lay immovable, and parts of it were even smoking from the barrage of lightning.
With that, Skellig met Jak’s eyes and nodded with her head in the direction of the council clearing. Jak agreed and began walking in that direction, following Skellig’s lead.
“How did you know to use a Thunderdancer?” said Jak as they walked.
“It was just a hunch. You noticed the light of its eyes and in its joints?”
Jak nodded. She had noticed that light, something that seemed to hold the rock together as a body somehow. Now that she was thinking of it, she realized the connection that Skellig had made. “You thought it was the same as lightning?”
“Lightning is an interesting substance,” said Skellig. “We still know very little about it. But we know it has conductive properties of some sort. I thought if it was somehow powering their bodies, perhaps more of the stuff might overwhelm them.”
Jak thought that through. She hadn’t even thought of lightning being connected to the strange monsters. But she supposed it made sense. And Skellig did know a lot more about combat brands than she did, having been a leader in the Watcher army.
Once they reached the council clearing next to the river, they found Amelia, Cerai, and all of the other Water Fae perched on the edge of the river. When they saw Skellig and Jak, Amelia rose on a column of water and moved closer. “What happened? Are you okay? Well you look okay, that’s good. We heard shouting and then the sound of a battle, but not with a big army. Fill us in please?”
Several of the other council members had gathered by that time. Yewin and Gabriel, as well as Karlona and Seph. Jak didn’t see Girwirt and Noralim yet, but that was probably because the gnomes and dwarves had not been at the forefront of the battle, so they probably didn’t know they were needed yet.
“Remember what I said about the earth swallowing those assassins whole?” Jak explained to Amelia. “Well there were these giant—” Jak didn’t know how to explain it. “—creatures that somehow rose out of the mounds that were left, and attacked us. From what we can tell the same thing was happening at the queen’s camp.”
Amelia blinked at her. “Say all of that again?”
“I know, I had trouble believing it too. But I saw it happen. Don’t ask me how.”
“Yet I’m afraid that is exactly the question we should be asking ourselves,” said Gabriel. “Where did these beasts come from, and what can we do to stop them.”
“We only appear to have one Thunderdancer in the entire group,” said Skellig. “And he’s already exhausted from dealing with just two of them. We can’t rely on that tactic to take out the rest.”
“Thunderdancer?” Amelia asked, confused.
“It was the only way to stop them,” Jak said in a hurry. “I’ll explain later.
“Well I, for one, think the answer is obvious,” said Seph. All heads turned to look at him.
Seph considered them all as if they were missing something right in front of their faces. “They’re Fae. Just like the others.”
Jak and Gabriel frowned, but Skellig let out a small laugh. “So far the Fae have retained the mental capacity of humans. They still have that humanity inside them. These creatures were nothing more than animals or demons.”
Jak wasn’t so sure, now that she was thinking about it. Demons and animals acted out of instinct. She had seen some form of intelligence in the eyes of these creatures, even if their actions had been hostile.
Seph was pulling out a book, his personal copy of the Book of Illadar. Jak would have to find out more about where he got that book one of these days.
“The book speaks of twelve races, including humans,” he said, flipping through the pages to find what he was looking for. “We’ve already seen five of these emerge. We still have six more to go.” Finally he found what he was looking for and began to read. “And another race shall rise from the dust, formed of what gives life to all. They shall trample their enemies and give life to Illadar.”
“Well they certainly came from the dust.” said Gabriel. “And they seem to be doing a good job of trampling their enemies. But does the book say anything about us being the enemy? So far we’ve operated under the assumption that the Fae would work together.”
Seph didn’t seem to have an answer for that. “All I know is that the passage fits, and if it’s true that the Pillar of Eternity is what caused them to change, then they fit the pattern as well, changing thanks to their proximity to a Relic’s power.”
“Well, perhaps, but we have to assume they are hostile for the moment,” said Skellig.
“I advise caution,” said Seph. “If this passage in the book is correct, than they may have a pivotal role to play in the formation of Illadar. That can’t be said of all the races cited in this book. Some are there for its birth, but others come after.”
That was news to Jak, who admittedly hadn’t studied the book like she should have. She really would have to read it through in its entirety soon. The next break she got, she promised herself, she would start at the beginning and read it cover to cover. She trusted that Seph and the book were not frauds like many others in Skyecliff had believed. Too much had come true for it to be fabricated. Though even Seph admi
tted he did not know exactly what Illadar was, other than a place of peace for Fae and humans alike.
Just then, a group of the remaining Strongarms brought the corpse of the large beast into the clearing. Amelia let out a soft ‘oh’ and her column of water retreated a few feet back towards the river. The large creature still looked like it was made of rock, especially now that the dancing light in its eyes had faded. If Jak hadn’t known better, she would have thought it was nothing more than a pile of stones.
Gabriel and Yewin predictably wandered next to the dead beast and began poking around. Skellig merely spared a glance before speaking again. “We must talk solutions. Let’s assume that more of these things are coming, and that our one Thunderdancer will not be cable of handling more than one. We’ve learned that fire is useless, we don’t have enough Telekinetics, and while Strongarms could be effective, it’s too risky to get that close and expect results without casualties. What are some other ways we can deal with them?”
“We could use the river to...I don’t know, drown them somehow?” said Cerai.
Skellig nodded. “A possibility, though we don’t yet know if they respond to water like the rest of us. Assuming they breathe, I’d guess that suffocation is the only way water will be effective.”
“My warriors could cloud their vision, possibly lead them away in confusion.” said Karlona, her arms crossed.
Again, Skellig nodded. “Another good possibility, and it would serve in the short run, but it’s also not sustainable. We can’t guarantee that once led away they won’t come back. We have to find a way to eliminate them.”
“Listen to yourselves!” Jak said, aghast. All eyes turned to face her. Jak couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and mere hours after the queen had said very much the same things about Jak and the Fae.
Realizing that everyone expected her to speak further, she swallowed and opened her mouth. “The queen marched here specifically because she saw us as a threat, one that had to be eliminated before it threatened her.”
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