In Creation's Heart

by Jason Hamilton

  “I love you,” she whispered under her breath, nestling herself back onto her husband’s scales, pressing her cheek against the warmth. She was sure Seph couldn’t hear her above the rushing of the air, but all the same, he roared into the sky, as they continued to fly.

  5

  When at last she and Seph returned to the camp, the sun was setting in the west. They had spent the day together, mostly playing around, even going so far as to throw fireballs at distant mountain peaks to see who had the most range and power. Seph won of course. No one could match dragon fire.

  Then they had stopped near that winding river Jak had spied earlier, and Seph changed back into his human self. They had spent the rest of the day in each other’s arms, with Seph’s warmth protecting her from the chill of the mountains.

  But the best moments could not last forever, no matter how much Jak wanted them to. Skellig seemed to instinctively know that they had returned, for she immediately met Jak in the small clearing and asked that she follow her into the cave where they were temporarily headquartered. Seph followed her and Jak inside.

  “We’ve seen some minor unrest since you left,” Skellig said, once the three of them had sat down at a stone table that had been recently erected inside.

  Jak felt a small part of her wither inside. They had only just managed to patch things up between Fae and humans since Vander’s uprising. What could be the problem now?

  “Is it the Shadow Elves?” she asked, her voice betraying the exasperation she felt.

  “Actually no, the relationship between humans and Fae have been far more reasonable than I would have expected,” said Skellig. “Especially since you returned from Tradehall with your powers intact. I think none of them plan to underestimate you again.”

  Jak’s face flushed. “So what is the problem then?” she said, trying to shift the conversation away from her.

  “Well, as per your orders, Naem has been distributing some of the passive brands to as many as are willing. Many of our human soldiers are now equipped with Healing, Toughness, Sleeplessness, and Hungerless. It’s caused quite a boon to moral, not to mention the capabilities of our armies.”

  “But…” prodded Seph. He still stood, with his arms folded, that quiet confidence still present.

  “But,” Skellig went on. “There is a group, a sizeable one, that does not want any additional brands, or any brands for that matter.”

  Jak sat back in her chair. “Well that’s fine. I never said it was mandatory, only that Naem and I would be willing to distribute the passive brands to whomever wanted it.”

  “Yes, I know,” clarified Skellig. “But unfortunately, there are many who think these ‘Brandless’ as they’re now called, are being selfish.”

  Jak narrowed her eyes in confusion. “How so?”

  “Well, everyone knows that your conflict with Cain and the demons is not over. They’re expecting a battle, and many believe that only with the help of Fae powers and extra brands, will we be able to put up a significant fight. The accusers believe the Brandless are weakening our odds in that fight, and that their choices might get someone killed.”

  Seph frowned, and Jak’s emotions inwardly mirrored his response. “We can’t exactly force anyone to take a brand,” she said after a moment.

  “I know that,” said Skellig, clearly agreeing with Jak. “I’m only telling you what has been going on around camp. I can reason with people all I want, but it’s hard to sway the opinions of seven thousand people, not to mention the Fae themselves.”

  “Don’t tell me the Fae agree that these...Brandless,” Seph rolled the word off his tongue with some effort, like it tasted foul. “Are selfish for not taking a brand.”

  “Some do, some don’t.” Skellig shrugged. “It’s become a matter of some debate in the camp. Some believe we should require branding to ensure the safety of all, while others believe that we shouldn’t force anyone to do anything.”

  Seph looked at Jak. “I would strongly advise against forcing a brand. After all, I never had one.”

  “Do you think not having a brand was necessary for your transformation?” Jak said, meeting his fiery eyes.

  He hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Most of the other Fae had brands before they transformed,” added Skellig.

  “Yes, but we can’t let our past experiences with some Fae dictate what we know about others,” said Jak, still holding Seph’s gaze.

  “Of course,” said Skellig. “I just thought you should be aware.”

  Jak turned back to the major. “I’ll talk to as many as I can, tell them that everyone deserves the right to choose whether to take a brand or not, regardless of the danger we face.”

  “And you’re sure that’s the right decision?” Skellig cocked an eyebrow at her.

  “Of course,” said Jak, though she tilted her head at Skellig. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “It’s nothing,” said Skellig, putting up her palms. “I agree we can’t force people. Though I can see the logic in making sure this army is as prepared as possible for whatever comes.”

  Jak nodded. “Let’s just hope it won’t come to all out war like that. We don’t even know where Cain is or what he’s doing.”

  “Yes,” Skellig tapped her chin with one finger. “And that’s what frightens me.”

  Jak continued, “I’ll stay here for a time, to help Naem brand as many people as want it. But there’s still work to be done back on Earth.”

  Skellig nodded, “Of course. We’ve already seen to the needs of the Water Fae you brought back with you. More victories like that will do wonders for morale.”

  It was also the right thing to be doing. Jak hoped Skellig remembered that. The woman thought too much like a tactician at times.

  “Very good,” was all she said. “And what about our other little project?”

  Skellig nodded, glancing up at the cave walls. “I’ve had the gnomes and dwarves working on it. Naem has helped too, though we will need your help if your idea is to work.”

  Jak followed Skellig’s gaze to see a few sheets of metal lining the cave walls. Hopefully they would serve Jak as she intended. She looked back at Skellig. “Make sure no one else knows the specifics of what we’re doing. I’m sure some will figure it out, but I don’t want any chance of word getting out, not when we don’t know what Cain is up to, or who he’s in contact with.”

  Skellig gave her a curt nod. “Of course.”

  With that, Jak stood. “I will help Naem give out more brands then. And I’ll make sure to talk to each person about these so-called Brandless.”

  “I would appreciate that,” said Skellig, also standing.

  With a brief look at Seph, and grabbing his hand to pull him along with her, Jak exited the cave back into the clearing. Jak marveled at the sunset as she emerged. The view was stunning, with a giant lake on their left, and a towering forest on their right. The place looked nothing like it had when they first arrived. Back then, it had been nothing but rock and snow. What a difference the Fae had made, especially once the Nature Fae appeared and began cultivating the plant life here.

  She glanced at Seph. What kind of a difference would his kind make? Would these woods be full of animal life, or Fae shifters, in the near future?

  “I don’t like this talk of Brandless,” said Seph, mistaking her questioning look for concern.

  “I don’t either,” she responded. “But Skellig said it was just a bit of unrest. I’ll try to talk people down. Besides, the number of people who don't want a brand can’t be that large of a group. Surely people won’t care if only a handful refuse a brand.”

  6

  But it wasn’t only a handful. Over the next few days, Jak learned that nearly a thousand of their original seven thousand were refusing brands. Most of them were part of the Triad’s company, those from the southern, northern, and eastern kingdoms back on Earth. Those cultures had not grown up with brands like Jak’s had, many of them not even knowing about
the magic until recently. Though there were a few others who had once been part of Seph’s original congregation in Skyecliff, and they were following their leader’s initiative. They seemed to think not taking a brand was some kind of noble thing to do, that it would lead to becoming a Shifter as had happened to Seph.

  Jak spent most of her hours giving out brands with Naem. They had several Gifters among the company who helped with those receiving their first brand, but since only Orens could give out second or third brands, it fell to Jak and Naem to brand everyone else. At least they had help with those first brands. Jak didn’t want to think about how tired she would be if she had an additional six thousand brands to perform.

  As it was, the process was slow. And for that reason, no one did more than grumble about the Brandless, since everyone was still waiting to receive their own. Jak and Naem could only get through five or six hundred in a day before becoming too tired to continue on. Jak found herself sleeping every night, even with the assistance of her Sleeplessness brand. Sure, it only took three or four hours to fully refresh herself, after which she could go back to branding. But it was long work.

  Seph was the talk of the camp, and when he wasn’t spending time with her, he was flying around the area, usually at the request of someone who wanted to see his transformation. Jak didn’t mind this. It was the greatest reminder that maybe taking a brand wasn’t the right thing to do. It provided hope for the Brandless, and evidence to their critics that good things could come from not taking a brand. At least, that’s what they thought. It was still unclear if Seph’s transformation would or would not have been possible had he been wearing a brand.

  Regardless, she used it as her primary example whenever she got the chance. Thankfully, many agreed with her, though many others didn’t.

  “I don’t see the point,” said Nolan, a Watcher who had come with them from Skyecliff. “I mean, why wouldn’t you want to have extra brands. To not have to sleep and eat as often, or worry about an infection.” The man was holding out his arm for Jak to brand with Healing. The Watcher’s original brand was Strength, a common brand for soldiers.

  Jak activated her Gifter brand as she responded. “It doesn’t have to make sense. The point is they don’t want to, and it’s not our place to force them.”

  “Well then someone should talk some sense into them,” replied Nolan. “Or they’re going to get themselves and maybe their friends killed. I’m sure with the proper convincing, they’ll come around.”

  “Perhaps so,” said Jak, knowing her arguments were not going to work on this man, though he did seem somewhat more nonchalant about it compared to some of the others. She’d met some that adamantly refused to believe that anything other than branding the Brandless was a solution. At least Nolan thought talking to them was an option.

  “Good luck with that,” said Naem. Her friend stood several paces away, holding the arm of another man, this one with dark skin characteristic of those from the southern nations. From what Jak could tell, Naem was also handing out a Healing brand. “The more we brand, the more people realize how great it is to have this many brands.” He held up his own arm as an example. It now held several brands, though not as many as Jak had, including a recent Gifter brand which had just faded from blazing white to black as he finished giving out the Healing brand.

  “We can’t exactly ask someone to do something they have chosen not to do.” Jak retorted. “That goes against everything Illadar stands for. We came here for peace, to get away from culture-driven mandates, not to create our own.”

  “And yet, some rules must be in place, for our own safety.” Naem shot back. “You know, to prevent things like killing, or stealing.”

  “Well, yes, but…” Jak hesitated. She knew certain laws were necessary but only now had it become apparent to her that they were essentially starting a new nation here on Illadar, a new government. And currently there were no official mandates for the things Naem mentioned. No way to discern between right and wrong, legally at least. But people could get by on common sense for now, right?

  Nolan shifted his feet, looking from Jak to Naem. Jak wiped away her hesitation with a quick breath, and stood a little straighter. It wouldn’t do for the soldiers to see her waver. She had to put on an air of strength and stability, something they could count on until this whole business with Cain was over, assuming they all survived to tell about it. Yes, once Cain was defeated, then she could think of laws and courts, and everything that went with that. Or at least she could let people like Skellig and Yewin come up with things like that. She was no ruler after all.

  “You’re all set to go,” said Jak, giving Nolan a slight slap on the area where the new brand lay. Nolan winced, as the site of a fresh brand was usually somewhat tender. But it was a Healing brand so he would get over it soon. “Come back after your rotation and we can give you more.”

  They had set up a pretty effective system to go about the branding. The first rule was that each person could only receive one brand at a time before returning to the back of the queue. This ensured that as many as possible received at least one brand before acquiring more.

  The other Gifters of their camp gave the first brand, then they were sent to either Jak or Naem. Together they managed a lot, though it was tiring work. Jak had been at it for several hours already today, and she was already growing weary. Perhaps now would be a good chance to rest.

  She walked by one of the Bright Fae who kept the records on who was receiving each brand, and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to take a small break. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “A break?” Naem called after her. “You already had one of those today.”

  “I have a few things to take care of.”

  “Alright, but if you ask me it looks like you’re just trying to get more rest than me.”

  “No one is stopping you from taking breaks too, Naem.” Jak called back, stepping away from their station and not looking back.

  “Uh yeah, other than all these people asking for brands.”

  Jak smiled and shook her head slightly. Judging by his tone, Naem wasn’t really upset. He would get over it. Besides, she really did have a few things to do before returning to continue her work.

  She proceeded around beyond the camp on the west side, heading around a large foothill until she came to a stop just beyond. There, several cheery dwarf faces, and a few gnomes as well, beamed back at her.

  “Mistress Jak,” said a voice. It was Noralim, the current leader of the dwarves. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “What have you got for me, Noralim?”

  “We’re nearly finished,” he said, waving her over to observe his handywork. “We have several metal sheets here ready for your inspection and branding.”

  Jak followed Noralim past a few of the others until she reached the metal sheets he spoke of. They lay on the ground in front of her, in perfect rectangles.

  She picked one up, audibly remarking on how light it felt. They were beautifully crafted, long and thin sheets of the purest copper, a lucky find in this part of the mountain. So far, only she and the council knew what she was doing with them, although maybe some of the gnome and dwarf workers could have figured it out by now.

  “Do you have enough metal to finish the job?” she asked Noralim and she hefted the metal sheet in her hands.

  “More than enough, Mistress Jak. There’s plenty of copper, and we can sense more deeper within the mountain.”

  “Very good,” said Jak. “I’ll take these and brand them. Then I’ll leave them in the cave for you to finish your work.”

  “Yes, Mistress Jak.”

  Jak hoisted what sheets she could carry and proceeded back towards the camp, specifically to the cave where she could brand the metal in relative secrecy. She didn’t want too many people to know her plans. They were a long shot, and she didn’t need anyone getting their hopes up, or somehow leaking the word out to Cain, even though that was unlikely at this point, at leas
t while they remained here on Illadar. But she couldn’t afford the slightest chance of her plan failing, if it was going to work at all.

  When she arrived back at the cave, she set the metal sheets down. Light as they were, and given her Strength brands, she had no trouble getting them there. Though had she lacked her Strength brands, she would probably be in rough shape right now.

  Next, she set to work branding the metal sheets, and further branding herself. She let the cavern remain dark, trusting on what little light trickled through the entrance to give her just the amount she needed to work. That should help keep any stray onlookers from figuring out what she was doing, or what brands she was using.

  When she was done, she carefully set the metal sheets in a corner. Girwirt and his gnomes would pick them up later, to perform the next step.

  She returned to rejoin Naem in continuing to give out brands. Unfortunately, her “rest” had not exactly been all that restful, so she found herself as tired as Naem looked. They could only continue branding for about another hour before both of them lost the energy to continue further. Once again Jak felt the pull of sleep. Perhaps she could do with more Sleeplessness brands, though Yewin had warned her that sleep was still an important thing, even if someone with Sleeplessness needed less of it.

  So she settled down for the night, returning to a makeshift house made from stone near the cave. It was one of the largest, and even though Jak had protested taking such a generous space, the people, particularly the Shadow Elves, had insisted she take it.

  Seph was already there, sitting on a stone stool in the corner, reading the Book of Illadar again.

  “Do you ever read anything else?” she asked, tossing off her cloak as she entered the room.

  Seph snapped the book shut and shot to his feet. “It’s not like we have very many options,” he said in a jubilant voice. Setting the book down, he took two large steps to close the distance between them, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into a long kiss.