Into Storm

by Jason Hamilton

  “What if,” Girwirt was tapping one finger on his forehead. “What if we got them to fight each other?”

  “Do you have any suggestions?” said Skellig, eyeing the little gnome. “If it could happen, then perhaps we’d have a chance. But from what we, and you especially my dear gnome, know about the mind behind the demons, we know they’re most likely after us.”

  “Yes, and that brings us to the main question.” Gabriel’s voice was gruff. “We now know that demons, at least these demons, do not act randomly as we once supposed. They have a commander, this Cain you told us of. What is his angle?”

  This time all eyes turned to Jak, some of them still eyeing her new brand, but everyone listening. She hesitated. What was Cain’s angle? Did he want them dead? If so, why were the demons waiting? They could probably destroy them all before the queen could even react. And Skellig was right, it was unlikely that the demons were here to attack the queen.

  “I don’t know,” she said at last. “Has he been spotted anywhere among the army?”

  “No,” said Skellig. “I’ve had Sightseers watching them non-stop, and they’ve reported nothing but demons.”

  “Then perhaps they’re only waiting for him to arrive,” it was a weak theory, and Jak knew it. If Cain could control the demons from a distance, which was clearly possible, then there would be no reason for him to be here at all. But Skellig seemed to accept her theory for now.

  “In any event,” said Skellig. “We must assume they will attack us sooner or later. Our only hope of surviving such an attack will be in the mountains. I cannot stress how important it is that we leave.”

  “Is everyone ready?” asked Jak.

  Skellig nodded. “We were ready to leave long before they came, thanks to the queen.”

  “And what about Naem and the people he brought?”

  Skellig hesitated. “They’ll have to come with us. Either that or leave them to the demons. You don’t suppose they have anything to do with their arrival, do you?”

  Jak shook her head. “No, I don’t. I know Naem well enough to know he’d never side with demons.” He’d side with scumbags, but he wasn’t so far gone as to support a person like Cain.

  “Very well, we’ll take them with us. We should start immediately,” Skellig said.

  “Then let’s do it. No point in wasting more time on words.”

  “It will be tight quarters,” said Seph. “Especially for the Water Fae.”

  “Skellig’s right, we have no choice right now.”

  “We’ll be fine,” said Noralim. “We gnomes and dwarves are used to confined spaces. We can lead you right through, no problem.”

  “I’ll spread the word,” said Skellig, not bothering to mince words any longer. Jak gave her a final confirming nod, and the major left the clearing.

  The group disbanded, each going back to their own people or Fae, but Jak caught up with Gabriel before he went too far, falling into step beside him.

  “I wish we had time for you to explain that brand on your forehead.” He was smiling at her.

  “It’s a long story, and I will need to tell you about it eventually,” said Jak. They would all need to hear about her encounter with the new Fae, but that seemed like less of a priority at the moment. Once they were safely away she would mention it.

  “At any rate, I am incredibly proud of you. Am I right in guessing that your block had something to do with your father?”

  “Yes, I believe it did,” said Jak. “I wish I had listened to you sooner.”

  Gabriel shrugged. “These kind of blocks are not so easily removed as all that. You have to figure it out on your own, not because an old man like me told you so.” He winked at her.

  “Have you done any more research on the Pillar of Eternity?” said Jak as they passed several soldiers hurrying to load up their wagons.

  “I have indeed, and I’m afraid I’ve found no answers. It is a powerful Relic to be sure, perhaps so powerful that our conventional methods of study are obsolete.”

  “Do you think it’s safe?”

  Gabriel hesitated, “I’m not sure about that. Its power does seem to be similar to those other Relics that created the Fae, so it’s unpredictable.”

  “Is it dangerous in any other way?” Jak probed further.

  “No, not in any way I can see. I haven’t made much progress to be completely honest. I get the distinct impression that it doesn’t like me. Or at the very least, it doesn’t see me as important.”

  “It chose me,” said Jak. “I doubt it would work for anyone else.”

  “Not even Cain? Because that would be a huge relief off my mind.”

  Jak opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. She’d thought about that too. What if Cain stole it from her? Would he suddenly be as unstoppable as she had been when wielding the staff?

  “I don’t know,” she said after they’d walked a short distance. “I’d have to imagine that someone with his power could eventually get it to work, no matter who it chose.”

  “Best not to let it fall into his hands no matter what.”

  “Which is why I need you to give it back to me.”

  Gabriel looked at her sharply. “I don’t have to explain the risks to you. If more of those things were to pop out of the ground...”

  “I know the risks,” said Jak. They stopped outside of Gabriel’s tent. People all around them were packing the last of their things, getting ready to move out. Jak paid no attention to any of them.

  “Well I certainly won’t stop you. Just understand that we are no nearer to understanding its magic than before this all started.”

  “I know.”

  “What are you going to do with it, if I may ask?”

  Jak expression was made of stone. “I’m going to pay a visit to that demon army.”

  16

  A sea of sweaty, filthy demon bodies lay before her, their stench of rotten flesh threatening to suffocate her.

  Jak stood, with the Pillar of Eternity grasped firmly in one hand, her father’s spear in the other, both with the butt of their shafts fixed in the ground.

  Time seemed to stretch around her, just as the shadows of the demons stretched as the sun went down in the west behind her.

  These had once been people. So many people corrupted by bad branding, or possibly worse. How had Cain managed to bring so many demons? Where did he get all those people?

  Jak drew a little closer, so that the nearest demon was close enough that she could have reached out and touched him with the tip of her staff. The demon snarled at her, snapping its jaws and staring at her with those wild, all-too-human eyes. Demon eyes were among the most disconcerting things she had ever seen. They always appeared wide and bloodshot. Terrified.

  And yet the demon did not attack, did not even move a muscle. Only its head moved, gnashing its teeth at her.

  “Where are you, Cain!” she called out. Her voice echoed across the horde of formerly human bodies. Yet no sound greeted her in return, other than the collective snarls of the demons. More of them were beginning to notice her now, and that only increased the snarls they sent her way.

  “I’m here for you! I have the Pillar of Eternity,” she called again. “Are you so scared of its power that you will not face me?”

  No reaction. The demons remained in place, and she could see no change in their behavior.

  She raised her arm with the spear in it, calling on a new well of power within her, one that had been begging to be used since she obtained it.

  The nearest demon rose into the air, held by the power of Telekinesis, the power that her father had once mastered, the power she now held.

  The beast’s head swivelled in confusion, aware at some level of what was happening to it, but unable to do anything in response.

  “Find me, Cain! Or I will destroy your army.”

  She could do it too. She felt the power inside of her, and contained in the Pillar of Eternity. She was a match for thousands, perhaps h
undreds of thousands of demons. What had she to fear from them?

  Her grip on her spear tightened and in her mind she reached out to the demon she held in the air. The air around it condensed, and she squeezed with all her mental ability.

  The demon’s gnashing turned to soft cries, and those cries turned to human screams as the air around it closed in. With a soft crunch, its screams ceased abruptly.

  A part of Jak might have hesitated at hearing those screams, knowing she was the cause. But demons were not like Fae. They did not belong, and for all intents and purposes, were already dead. She was performing a merciful act.

  Perhaps the queen thought of the Fae in the same way, that exterminating them here was more of a mercy than not. Certainly anyone who believed that the Fae were no better than demons would think as much. But what would everyone think when they finally exposed the truth? They had to show these people that they were enemies of the demons as much as anyone. Indeed, the queen’s biggest mistake had to be that of placing the blame on Jak and the Fae, when the real enemy was Cain and his demon hordes.

  She had to be the one to set things right.

  Telekinesis was one thing, but it was nothing compared to the power of the Pillar of Eternity. Silently, she called the power of time to her grasp.

  All the world froze around her.

  None of the demons moved, nor did they make a sound. They stood like sightless statues, as helpless now as they were in life.

  With the power of time guiding her movements, she walked to the first demon, and stabbed it through the heart. Her spear emerged on the other side of its form, covered in black blood. She wrenched the spear out of the demon, its eyes still wide. Not enough time had passed for it to realize what had happened. Black drops of blood flew from the tip of the spear, hanging suspended in the air once they disconnected from the weapon.

  Jak surveyed the damage, a hollow feeling of sorrow clenching her stomach. She didn’t like it, but that did not mean it wasn’t necessary. Just like it would be necessary to stop the queen, and appoint someone else in her stead. Someone who would understand the Fae, and help create a peaceful harmony between them and the rest of humankind. Yes, some things were necessary.

  She stabbed the demon next to the first, then the next, and the next. One by one, she moved down the line, taking out demon after demon. This was almost too easy.

  Though she had to be careful. The magic of the Pillar would wear on her eventually, and she might not be able to kill all five thousand of them before that happened. But she could cut down their numbers significantly, enough to prove to the queen’s army that they were not in league with the demons, as the queen would no doubt claim.

  But a darkness gathered around her mind, growing stronger with each demon she killed. Curse Cain for everything he had done in creating these creatures, in shaping them into his mindless pawns. He was the real villain here, not her. He had already killed these poor beings. Jak was just ensuring that they did no more harm before that reality caught up to them.

  A wave of nausea coursed through her, suddenly and without warning. She choked and gagged, though nothing escaped her stomach. She hadn’t eaten anything in days thanks to her new Hungerless brand. But that didn’t stop her body from trying to heave up whatever was left. And for a moment, she lost control of the Pillar’s magic.

  Time rushed forward in an instant, but only for an instant as Jak regained control a second later. Time paused once again, and she let out a breath.

  In that single second of passed time, all of the demons’ heads had turned and were looking right at her.

  Cain was watching.

  She swallowed. What had just happened? Was it the fatigue from using the Pillar? That couldn’t be it, because she’d used it for far longer before, and she didn’t yet feel tired at all. Was Cain somehow behind it? From the way the demons were looking at her, she was sure that she had finally piqued his interest. He was seeing through their eyes as she worked the magic of the staff. Was he toying with her somehow?

  No, something was familiar about this. She had felt a similar overwhelming and sudden nausea once before, when the Royal Priest had used one of the Holy Relics in some sort of pleasure ritual back in Skyecliff. She hadn’t thought much of it since then, but perhaps there was a connection.

  She stared down at the polished black staff in her hand. It was the only Relic nearby that could have done such a thing. Was it somehow responsible?

  The black surface and silver runes on the Pillar of Eternity did nothing to answer her question. It had spoken to her when she first obtained the thing. Was it trying to tell her something now?

  A few minutes passed while she regained her breath. Well, there was nothing to do but continue with what she had been doing. She turned back to the horde of demons, all of them eerily staring directly at her.

  She stepped to the nearest one, and was halfway to the point of thrusting her spear into its chest, when the nausea hit again. She doubled over and retched, yet nothing came out. Once again, she nearly lost control of the magic. Or was it trying to escape her?

  She stood still for a long moment, considering the Pillar of Eternity in her hand. That had to be the source of the problem. Either that or Cain was somehow more powerful than she had guessed. That couldn’t be what was happening here.

  The Pillar of Eternity did not want her to kill these demons.

  “But why?” she said aloud. “They can’t be redeemed. They will destroy us if we do not destroy them first.”

  The Pillar said nothing to her in response. Its touch remained cold in her hand.

  Resisting the urge to throw it to the ground, she grunted and began marching away from the demons, towards her camp. Only when she was a safe distance away did she let the magic drop and stared back at the demons.

  They remained where they were, completely ignoring the bodies of their comrades she had killed. Their eyes continued to follow her, an almost curious expression on their faces. She could almost see Cain’s eyes reflected in theirs. Yes, he was watching her. What was he planning?

  Without another word she returned to the camp, where people were already on the move. Skellig, mounted on one of their few horses, galloped closer to Jak as she approached.

  “Did you learn anything?” she asked, marking the direction Jak was coming from.

  “Nothing,” Jak said. “They gave no indication of what Cain plans. I even killed some of them.”

  “How many?”

  “A few dozen maybe, not enough to make a difference. Something...held me back. I can’t explain it.”

  Skellig narrowed her eyes at Jak. She probably thought Jak’s compassion was what held her back, not an actual force from the Pillar of Eternity. She would let her think that. Until Jak knew more about the Pillar of Eternity, she would not speculate when they needed to move.

  “Well, just as long as you don’t hold back if and when they attack,” Skellig said, spurring her horse along. She pulled ahead but called back as she did so. “See if you can make your way to the front of the procession. If anyone should be leading us, it should be you.”

  Then she galloped off ahead of Jak. She sighed and began moving at a trot towards the front. At least Skellig could have offered her a ride. She probably thought she could move faster with the Pillar of Eternity, which normally would be true. But given her recent experience, perhaps overusing the Relic wasn’t a good idea.

  She stared back at the demon army, surprised at the lack of visibility facing east. The sun had mostly set in the west, and they were left to travel in near darkness. Add to that the fact that the air was growing heavy around them.

  Jak turned to glance northward, where she could barely see hints of the queen’s army in the distance. Were they watching what was happening? Were they aware that all they wanted to do was to get away from the demons instead of work with them?

  Something did not feel right about this whole situation. That much was crystal clear to Jak. She faced forward once ag
ain and continued her trot towards the front of their diverse yet minuscule army.

  17

  “The demons are following!” Elva came riding up on a horse, pulling it alongside Jak and Skellig at the front of the exodus. The entire group of several hundred Fae and humans followed in their wake, many of whom were now staring at Elva, shocked at the words that she had so foolishly blurted out.

  Skellig cursed, both at the new information and probably at the way Elva delivered it. “I was afraid they would make a move.”

  “What do you mean, following?” asked Jak, keeping her voice lower as Elva swung herself off her horse.

  “They’re not attacking,” said Elva, matching Jak’s tone. “Just keeping roughly the same distance that they had before, but they are definitely moving, staying with us.”

  “And the queen’s army?” interjected Skellig, “What are they doing?” “The Sightseers haven’t reported anything, major.” said Elva. “From what we can tell they’re holding back.”

  “Hm, probably hoping the demons do their dirty work for them,” said Skellig, nodding. “Thank you, Elva. Keep us informed.”

  Elva nodded and swung herself up on the horse again, riding back towards the rear.

  “I should be back there,” said Jak, regretting her decision to come to the front. “If the demons attack I’ll be needed there.”

  “If the demons attack we’ll all have more things to worry about,” said Skellig. “Right now we need you to lead. The others will feel more confident if you’re the one at the front, rather than just me.”

  “But you’re a much better leader than I am,” Jak protested. “You have more experience.”

  “Experience is important, but it is not the only quality in a leader. Let’s not forget your incredible abilities. No one has seen that before, and it’s inspiring.”

  Jak looked down at the road ahead, putting one foot in front of the other. “All circumstantial. I didn’t ask for any of that.”