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  In Creation’s Heart

  Roots of Creation Book 8

  Jason Hamilton

  Story Hobby Media

  Copyright © 2019 by Jason Hamilton

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  An Argoverse Novel

  www.jasonleehamilton.com

  Story Hobby Media

  www.storyhobbymedia.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Cover art by Vanesa Garkova.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Also by Jason Hamilton

  1

  The dank hallway held nothing of its former glory, the light replaced with shadow, and the cheer replaced with despair.

  Jak walked down the passage she had once known over two years ago as part of the Queen’s Palace at Skyecliff. But like the city itself, the palace was mostly a ghost town, a shell of what it once was.

  In one hand she held a small orb of fire to light the way, in the other, she carried a Pillar of Eternity, the Pillar of Space. It was one of two, and unfortunately the other still remained with her greatest enemy, Cain. Yet there were no demons as Naem had reported. Only a pair of curious eyes, that disappeared the moment Jak turned her head to meet them, indicated that someone was still left.

  Behind her walked some of the last people she would have ever expected to be beside her a year ago. Naem, the man who had become her friend and even something more than a friend, had eventually betrayed her. But he had successfully atoned for his mistakes, and now represented her greatest asset. He, like her, was an Oren, one of the fabled individuals who could give out multiple brands.

  Beside him stood the man with no name, the Royal Priest who supposedly gave up his name when he chose to serve the holy ancestors. He had almost killed Jak once, but she had saved his life just two months prior, shown him the majesty of Illadar, and both had wrought a change on the man. Though she wasn’t certain how much she could trust him just yet.

  At least she had nothing to fear from him physically anymore. After having recently learned of her ability to give herself more of the same brand, she’d made sure her body was covered with Healing and Toughness brands. She was pretty sure she could withstand those explosives that came from the eastern countries, even if she held them in her hand when they went off.

  “Do you even think she’ll be here?” said Naem. “After everything that’s happened in Skyecliff?”

  “There’s still someone here,” said Jak, catching the hint of a door closing ahead of them. They checked the door but saw no one. Whoever it was moved fast. “That means there aren’t any demons at least. The queen could be anywhere, but I see no reason why she would have left.”

  “This place is not right,” said the Royal Priest, glancing around. “There’s a weight surrounding this place. A curse.”

  “One you and she likely brought upon yourselves,” said Naem with a slight bitterness to his voice.

  Jak put out a hand to calm Naem. “The Royal Priest helped me get my abilities back,” she said. “We shouldn’t blame him for past mistakes if he’s choosing to help now.” She glanced back at Naem as she said that. He glanced at his feet, remembering the time he had even betrayed her to the Priest.

  “I’m not sure I can do anything to fix this,” said the Royal Priest. His head still swiveling from side to side, taking in the damp walls, and the darkness that surrounded them.

  “I’m not sure anyone could,” Jak conceded. “This kingdom is in ruins, it will need to be built again from the ground up, or abandoned completely. It has fallen to Cain’s demons.”

  “So where are they?” remarked Naem.

  “I don’t know,” Jak furrowed her brow, troubled. “We haven’t seen any demons since we got here, nor any sign of Cain.”

  “He realized he was no match for you,” said the Royal Priest, a hint of something like hope in his voice.

  “He’s more than a match for me,” said Jak. “Though I’ll admit that could change soon enough.” She thought back to Marek, her old friend who had been taken by Cain and perverted, but who still fought against him in his own way. He had been the real reason why she’d regained her Pillar of Eternity from Cain at Tradehall, and why she was now able to use her brands where before it hadn’t been possible due to a Void brand. Of course, Marek had also been responsible for giving her that Void brand in the first place, but perhaps he only did it knowing she would rid herself of its power eventually.

  They reached two enormous oak doors, with elaborate carvings depicting a scene from some famous battle or other. Jak didn’t pause to take it in. Instead, she pushed against the doors with a strong burst of telekinetic magic. They swung open with a crashing sound that shook the chamber beyond.

  Jak had been here once before, when she had been brought for an audience with the queen. That had been a long time ago, at least it seemed that way. Back then she had been bathed and dressed in the most ridiculous frilly clothes one could imagine. Now she was back in loose, comfortable travel clothes. She didn’t even bother to wear armor anymore. Her Toughness brands made such things redundant.

  The queen was nowhere to be seen. The audience chamber remained as bleak and empty as the hallways they had passed to get here.

  “Her quarters are just behind this room,” said the Royal Priest, walking past Jak to take the lead. “If she is in Skyecliff, we have the best chance of finding her there.”

  Jak said nothing but followed the Royal Priest forward until he disappeared behind some dusty, tattered drapes. She and Naem followed to see the Royal Priest grab the handle of two large double doors. They weren’t nearly as large as those leading into the audience chamber, but they were equally ornate.

  The Royal Priest pulled, and the doors opened. Jak stepped through to see another room much like the others, dark and damp, but illuminated somewhat by the light of the moon that streamed through large windows at the far end. Jak forgot just how little light the moon provided here. Illadar had two moons, both of which were brighter than Earth’s.

  However, what immediately caught her attention was a huddled form on an enormous bed in the center of the room. It could only be the queen.

  Jak stepped forward, “Queen Telma?” she said as she drew closer. The woman was whimpering, as if frightened, but also seemingly unaware that they had entered the room. “We want to talk.”

  She reached out a hand to touch the queen’s shoulder. The woman still wasn’t facing her.

  At her touch, the queen whirled around in the bed, her eyes wide and her face pale. Jak almost took a startled step back, but controlled herself.

  “Relic wonders, ancestors behold us, they see us in our chambers, they ravage us,” the queen wasn’t maki
ng any sense. She was rambling. “You bring their eye, the hundred eyes, the eyes that bore. The songs of eyes!” She turned back away from them continuing to murmur to herself.

  “What has happened to her?” said the Royal Priest in a whisper.

  Jak reached for the queen’s nearest arm, though the queen immediately tried to pull away at her touch. “It’s okay,” said Jak, holding the woman’s arm firmly in her Strength-enhanced grip. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Sing the songs, sing the eyes,” the queen rambled as Jak checked her body. Sure enough, a second brand lay on her arm, just above her first brand. It was one Jak recognized, though she had never performed it herself. Cain had once used the brand against her, though it had been branded on a metal shackle she had worn, a sort of mind-control brand. Cain had mentioned that when branded on flesh, it had a tendency to drive the victim mad.

  Jak sighed, closing her eyes. “She is beyond saving,” she said at last. She pointed at the new brand on Telma’s arm. “This is a mind control brand, it has overrun her mind. She’s little more than a demon right now.”

  “She doesn’t look like a demon,” said Naem, his eyes still on the queen.

  Jak glanced back at the ruined woman. “No, not a demon, but she isn’t likely to be able to help us.”

  “Should we kill her?” said Naem, his voice grave.

  “No!” said the Royal Priest, moving instinctively to place himself between Naem and the queen.

  Jak kept her eyes on the queen as she continued to mutter nonsense. They could kill her, and they probably should. Despite her madness, Cain had ultimate control over the woman with that brand. He could use her for ill. But what more could she do here? The city was already in ruins, and after today, no one would be left to suffer at her hands or Cain’s.

  “No,” she said. “It may be cruel to let her live in this misery, but we cannot kill her like this.”

  Naem nodded, not bothering to protest. “So what’s our next move?”

  Jak stood straight. “Well with the queen out of the picture we do what we came here for.”

  2

  They hurried to the queen’s bath chambers, a large room at the other end of the palace, with openings that overlooked the city. Jak had been there once before, when the large pools were full of hot, steaming water. But when they arrived, none of that was the same. Part of the wall was partially blown in. Jak had been partially responsible for that, from the last time she had infiltrated the palace to rescue some friends. Now they were here to do the same thing, only this time no one appeared to stop them.

  “There are people here,” said Naem, glancing around at the closed doors. “Someone is taking care of the queen. Why would they stay?”

  Jak didn’t answer, but stepped through the rubble of the wall that had never been fully cleared, to get a good look at the bathhouse.

  Several eyes stared back at her, peering over the edges of the pools of water. Jak caught glimpses of large fish-like tails making small splashes behind them. They had found the Water Fae.

  “All of you,” Jak said, raising her voice slightly. “I’m here to get you out. My name is Jak.”

  Some of them raised themselves a little higher at that. They had heard of her, even cooped up in the palace like prisoners. They knew who led the Fae.

  The nearest of the bunch raised himself onto the edge of the bath with his arms. “How will you get us out?”

  “That’s not the problem here,” said Jak, fingering the Pillar of space. “How have all of you survived so far? Who is keeping you alive?”

  “There is a girl,” said another of the Water Fae, a woman. “She comes here with scraps. There hasn’t been much recently.”

  Jak could imagine that. Even if someone was taking it upon themselves to care for the Fae, there weren’t any stores entering the city. They would run out eventually.

  “Where is this girl now?”

  Something between a whimper and a squeak sounded behind her. She turned her head to see the girl in question peeking around the door. She wasn’t a “girl” really. She was probably about Jak’s age, though far skinnier and weak. She looked like she was scared to death.

  “I know you,” said Jak, turning around completely. “Were you there to help me change for an audience with the queen.”

  The girl said nothing, but nodded. Jak took a step forward, but stopped when the girl seemed to retreat a bit. “What’s your name?” she asked.

  “N...Nessa?”

  “And you’ve been keeping all these Fae alive?”

  Nessa nodded, “And the queen too. She...she doesn’t eat on her own.”

  “We’ve seen the queen,” said Jak, profoundly grateful that they hadn’t killed the insane woman now. “She is beyond saving.”

  “I’ve been trying,” said Nessa in a whimper, tears coming to her eyes.

  “We cannot thank you enough for that,” said Jak, putting one hand on the girl’s shoulder. “And for keeping these Fae alive. Not everyone would have done that.”

  The girl nodded, and wiped at her nose.

  “Though I am curious, why didn’t you take them outside, to the ocean.”

  Nessa’s eyes quivered. “There are demons out there.”

  “Not anymore,” said Naem. “We checked. There isn’t a demon for miles around Skyecliff.”

  “Really?” said Nessa, the first glimmer of hope lighting her eyes.

  “Really. And we’re here to help,” said Jak, straightening. “You don’t have to worry about your next meal anymore. If you’ll come with me, we’ll take you to Illadar. It’s a place far away from here, but there’s plenty of food, and the demons can’t get to you there. Are you here alone?”

  Nessa nodded, “All the others decided to leave, or they...or they got eaten by demons.” Her eyes seemed to grow wider at the memory. “But...the queen was still here, and the Water Fae. I couldn’t leave them.” “You’ve done a good thing, Nessa,” said Jak.

  The girl looked between the three of them, before pointing to the Royal Priest. “Are you with them?”

  “I…” the Priest looked at Jak and Naem. “I suppose I am, though a lot has changed since I was here last.”

  “He isn’t here to cause trouble,” said Jak, measuring the skeptical look on Nessa’s face. Chances were, she didn’t trust the Royal Priest, and who could blame her.

  “He hurt us,” said one of the Water Fae. The voice was bitter. Yes, they would remember the Priest and everything he had done to them. The man had been vile, experimenting on the Water Fae and producing horrors that Jak didn’t want to think about, especially when she kept the man around as a companion now. Not a companion she fully trusted, but not an enemy either.

  “Perhaps,” the Priest began slowly. “Perhaps it would be better if I stayed here instead of going back with you.”

  Jak met the man’s eyes. “You realize that might be a death sentence.”

  He nodded. “Maybe, but not everyone will go with you, and someone has to stay behind to put the city back in order, make contact with the surrounding farms, and...and at least stick around to care for Telma.”

  Jak pressed her lips together. “Are you sure? I don’t necessarily know when we’ll be back.”

  “Illadar is not my blessing,” said the Royal Priest, his face carved from marble. “I do not deserve it. The least I can do is try to repair some of the damage that I’ve done.”

  For a moment, Jak just stared at the man. But he seemed serious. And he was right. Someone would have to stay behind if they wanted the city to live on in any way. Jak doubted many would stay behind, but for those who did, they needed something to live for.

  “Very well,” she said, and reached out to clasp the man’s hand. “We will take all who wish to come with us, and leave you be.”

  The Royal Priest nodded. “I think I will return to the queen, as I am less welcome here,” he said, with a glance around the room. His face didn’t look betrayed or vengeful. Instead, his eyebrows
were upturned in an expression of regret. Then he turned and proceeded back the way they had come.

  Jak watched him go before he disappeared around the corner. Despite what he had done, she wished him the best in his attempts to rebuild. It would not be an easy task, especially not with the queen in the condition she was in.

  She turned back to Nessa and the Water Fae. “I assume all of you would like to join me?” A chorus of nods answered her question. “Very well, I am first going to take you to the shores beneath the city, to join with as many others as wish to travel with us.”

  “How are you going to take us there?” said one of the Water Fae.

  Jak cracked a smile. “Let’s just say you’ve missed a lot being cooped up here for so long.”

  She walked to the Fae who had spoken, reached out to him, and in the same moment, activated the Pillar of Eternity.

  The Water Fae in front of her winked out of existence. The action was accompanied by gasps and even a few yells around the bath houses. “It’s okay, he’s fine.” said Jak, holding aloft the Pillar of Space. “This is a Pillar of Eternity, it grants me the power to move any person from one place to another. I have sent him to the nearby ocean.”

  After everyone quieted down, Jak faced Nessa. “Would you like to go next?”

  For once, the girl did not look scared anymore. Her eyes shone with eagerness. “Yes, please.”

  Jak smiled and reached out a hand to touch the girl’s shoulder. In a flash, she was gone too.

  One by one, Jak went to each of the Water Fae, sending them through space to instantly appear not too far away in the nearby ocean.