Through the Ashes- The Complete Series, page 36
part #1 of Through the Ashes Series
Jaekob snarled, “That doesn’t make me feel very confident.”
She heard them move their mattress around, and when the scuffling sounds stopped, she closed her eyes and began to talk to the plants, murmuring under her breath. For half a minute, nothing happened, though she could sense the plants’ irritation and discomfort.
Frustrated, she focused on pouring as much magic as she could into the seedlings, even holding out her hands to point at both seeds, helping to channel her energy more efficiently. All she could do then was wait as the seconds ticked by.
As Bells waited, practically holding her breath to see whether her plan would work, she saw a bright, neon-blue orb of light shoot from between the bars of another cell farther down. It zipped through the air to a big silver box mounted on the ceiling to the left of the other door.
“Oh no, a pixie,” she moaned as she realized what it was and where it was going. The thing had flown up through the other vent, the one that sucked the cool air from the room into the rest of the building. She hadn’t known the pixie was there. They didn’t show up to fae senses, because they weren’t natural creatures but made entirely of magic, at least until they fell in love with a mortal. They went to great lengths not to fall in love with mortals. By Creation, she should have checked the other cells. She cursed herself for being so foolish.
“We don’t have much time,” she said, her voice pitched too loudly, and she realized she was about to panic. She stopped and took deep breaths.
“Then you’d better get going on your plan, hadn’t you?” She could hear the grimace in Dawning’s voice.
“Can’t you help her with whatever she’s doing with those seeds?” Jaekob asked.
Dawning grunted, his voice muffled behind the mattress. “No, only one at a time without a ceremony, and we don’t have time for that.”
“Be silent,” Bells snapped. With the room silent, Bells pushed all other thoughts from her mind and focused on channeling her magic into the seeds. They were struggling to grow, but baby trees didn’t do well shoving up iron bars. Her magic could help, however. She imagined the seedlings, pictured them growing hard as ironwood and shooting up into the sky.
The two pine trees hardened and grew even faster. Still the gates were too tough for them. As the seedlings became saplings, they bent around the gates rather than the other way around, but when their tips poked out into the corridor from beneath the cell doors, they grew upward again, as though reaching for the sky—which, in a manner of speaking, they were.
And the bigger they got, the stronger, thicker, and harder they became. The bottom edge of the cell doors became embedded within them, but still the trees grew. She heard a metallic groaning sound. It was working, but too slowly. Guards would be there before she was done. She thought about taking cover, but then she wouldn’t be able to keep feeding the saplings her energy. She pushed thoughts of the coming guards aside and kept focusing.
She jumped when the door crashed open. An elf stood silhouetted in the doorway, backlit by the brighter corridor light beyond. He carried a sword, and for a brief instant, Bells panicked at the thought that it might be the Sword of Fire.
She quickly realized how silly that thought was. A simple prison guard wouldn’t be carrying that artifact. That still left her with the problem of an armed elf stepping through the doorway into the room. Then, two more elves came in behind him and stood to either side.
The lead elf said, “Bells, how nice of you to join us. I thought you had more sense.”
“How do you know my name? Who are you?”
“It’s the White King’s business to know the identity of the strange new fae woman the dragon prince suddenly kept company with.” He turned and sneered at Jaekob, “I see what you saw in this one. She is a pretty little thing, isn’t she? Still, I expected better from the prince. A simple farm girl… You really couldn’t do any better than that? She’s more our type.”
The way he said it made Bells shiver. Danger…
From behind a mattress came Jaekob’s muffled voice, “No one could do any better than Bells, fool. You think I care about petty politics when I will rule the world someday? I prefer her company to a hundred of you telling me all the things I’d want to hear. You elves are good for nothing but backbiting and licking boots.”
The three guards laughed as if he’d told a hilarious joke. The lead guard shook his head and said, “That’s the reason you dragons don’t deserve to rule this world. The White King has a better appreciation for the proper social order. When he rules, these arrogant, uppity fae will be taught their place.” He turned to Bells. “Too bad you won’t be there to see that. Guards, kill her.”
Jaekob screamed and ran from the back of the cell, slamming into his cell bars. He reached one arm out and desperately tried to grab one of the elves. He was out of reach, though. Jaekob’s desperate attempt to get to them, to protect Bells, only made them laugh, mocking him. It didn’t stop them from striding toward Bells with their weapons ready.
The elf said, “You’re out of time, fae,” as he raised his sword, and Bells closed her eyes. So much for fulfilling the Sword’s destiny.
She heard a wet, sucking thump, and then gurgling. When she opened her eyes, they went wide in surprise; one of the tree branches had impaled the elf, who looked down at the wood sticking through him with surprise. He looked up at Bells for a second before his whole body slumped.
Why had the elf impaled itself on a branch? It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t make a branch grow fast enough to do that, and she hadn’t tried, so there was no other explanation.
“Bells,” Jaekob cried, snapping her from her daze, “Hurry up!”
The other two elves cried out in anger and rushed toward her with swords held over their heads. She kept funneling her energy into the trees, siphoning it from the stone and earth surrounding them in that dungeon. It was slow going, the siphoning, because cut stone was practically inert and the dirt below and behind the cut stones wasn’t healthy, but every little bit helped.
The two elves were right in front of her, charging. Six feet. Four feet.
The cell doors’ magical hardening only made them require more pressure before breaking. When they finally broke, that pressure was released all at once and the doors exploded outward, flying across the room like missiles. The elf closest to her didn’t even have time to cry out before a door struck him, not slowing down until it buried itself into a wall. What happened to the elf it had blown away with it was pretty gruesome.
The second elf stopped in his tracks, mouth open in a horrified “O” shape. He glanced at Bells, then at the tree with its impaled elf ornament—and turned to run.
As he turned around, Jaekob leaped forward, landing behind the elf with his claws extended through his fingers. It must have been agony for Jaekob, as always, but not as much agony as it was for the elf when he ran into those claws belly first.
Jaekob grinned savagely and tore his claws out in an arc. The elf collapsed, sliding down the dragon prince to the floor, where he lay motionless.
Bells let out a deep breath, then ran toward the air chute. It was time to go. But go where? She struggled to think clearly through the images of those elves dying.
One problem at a time, she reminded herself.
Jaekob
Jaekob squatted with his fingers interlaced in front of him, helping Dawning get into the chute by letting the fae step on his hands and lifting. The vines growing up the chute, thanks to Bells, made the climb possible and soon Dawning was out of sight.
Bells said, “Your turn.”
“Not a chance. You can argue here or go first so we get out of here.” He grinned, eyes locked with hers. He hadn’t noticed before, but her eyes were a mix of blue-green and hazel, wide set, something between almond-shaped and round. High cheekbones drew the gaze toward her eyes. They were stunning.
“What?” Bells looked back at him, cheeks reddening. She wore a quirky half-smile, one side rising up slightly on her mouth, which was a touch too small for her face, but it worked for her somehow. The fullness of her lips not only compensated for it but made her smile even prettier.
“Just waiting for you, little fae.” He hoped she hurried and they got out of there before some trolls came by.
Thankfully, she only paused a second before stepping onto his hands and scurrying up the chute. He watched her climb—she was nimble, that one. With the vines to help, she was out of view disappointingly fast.
Last of them, Jaekob jumped up, channeling energy into his legs to get high enough, and grabbed the vines at the bottom of the chute. Legs dangling, hand over hand he climbed until he got his feet in the chute, too. From there, he used feet and hands alike to press himself against the chute walls and scurry up, neatly avoiding Bells’ worry about whether the vines would hold him.
A few seconds later, Dawning and Bells helped him through the opening and into the outside world again. Hawking was there, too, surprisingly. But where to go? Anywhere Jaekob knew to go, the White King probably had people watching. Bells was an outsider and didn’t know the city. He looked at Dawning and Hawking and raised an eyebrow.
Hawking straightened his half-tucked shirt and ran fingers through his short hair. “I suspect we need a place to hide, and fast. I have a place, but you can never speak of it to anyone. Only I know where it is.”
“Deal.” Jaekob moved his hand in a circle, like pedaling a bike. Hurry it up, mister.
Dawning shook his head. “Not me. I have to go. The Society must be warned, our people activated.”
Bells started to object, but Hawking stepped up and gripped the other fae’s arm. “I know, friend. Be safe, and Creation guide you.”
“You as well.” Dawning fled north, vanishing at the first shadow he reached.
Hawking’s voice grabbed Jaekob back into the moment. “Very well,” he said. “Follow me.”
Hawking led them south to the tree line, then deeper into the greenbelt growing outside the makeshift prison. When Jaekob could no longer see through the trees to the prison and the field outside it, Hawking stopped and faced two trees growing about six feet apart.
“You have a hidden entrance or something?” Bells asked, looking around. Jaekob wondered at that, too, but kept silent as he stood by, alert for anyone following them.
“You’ll see.” Hawking held out his hands and grabbed a white ring on his right ring finger, rotating it so the polished wooden centerpiece faced down instead of up.
Then he moved his hands in intricate patterns. Light trailed his hands. As he repeated the pattern three times, the trail grew brighter and more complete. When he finished the third repetition, a glowing red glyph hung in the air between the trees. The symbol seemed to explode, but in silent slow motion, and a dark spot formed where the symbol had been. As the explosion’s edges expanded, so did the dark spot. After a moment, it stretched from tree to tree, a swirling, ominous-looking black and purple vortex as flat as a mirror.
“Follow,” he said and walked into the vortex, vanishing.
Bells followed next without a word and, Jaekob noticed, without hesitating. A brave one, that girl. Well, if she could do it, he could. He held his breath as he stepped through—
—and found himself somewhere else. Bells and Hawking were there, too. Jaekob looked around and saw they were in an ordinary house. There were no windows, though it was well lit. The walls themselves seemed to be glowing.
“Where are we?” Jaekob asked.
“In my bolt hole, where I can bolt if I have to go on the lam.”
“On the lamb?” Bells said. “What lamb?”
“No, ‘lam.’ I read it in an old human book. It means to be on the run. Like now. In my line of work, you never know when a competing merchant or Crown of Pures goons will come to take everything I worked for.”
Jaekob frowned. That was practically treasonous. “The Crown of Pures doesn’t take from Pures without a reason, Hawking. What are you trading?”
“Actually, my friend, they do—if someone pays them a big enough bribe. I’ve seen it happen to others. I’ve paid them, too. Paying them off so they don’t do that to me is simply part of doing business in Philadelphia, but you never know when a competitor might pay a high enough price. Or if you just irritate some low-level officer and he destroys you with one report.”
No way. That couldn’t be. No doubt the merchant was trading in something illegal or helping the poor humans. There was no other reason to fear the Crown, not unless one was deep in politics—as the First Councilor and his heir were. Still, the fae had opened up his hideout to them, and that was kind.
“Well, thank you for taking us here. I will say nothing to anyone, as I promised, but I’ll hear no more treason.”
Hawking nodded and shrugged. “I will speak no more truth on the matter, then.”
Bells interrupted hastily, probably to defuse the situation. “Well, I’m exhausted. Can I sit down?”
Hawking shrugged. “Sure, wherever you like. My house is yours, for now.”
She gave him a grateful nod and sat on the couch. Hawking then sat on a love seat—sitting right in the middle—and smiled.
Could he have been more obvious? Jaekob sat beside Bells and let out a satisfied groan. It really felt good to be off his feet and sitting on something more comfortable than a stone prison floor.
He was suddenly very aware of Bells, beside him. Where her leg brushed against his, it was like electricity flowing into him, making his skin tingle. Although her leg was a lot shorter than his long, muscular one, he could see how toned she was even through her jeans, which hugged every curve…
He shook his head to clear the thoughts and looked at the ceiling. What was wrong with him? Then the thought struck him—what was wrong with him not to have seen her before? Really seen her. Not only was she beautiful—she always had been, but a lot of people were—she was also braver than a fae had any right to be, given what he’d seen of how her people were treated. He believed her now about that, and frowned. He’d refused to help the fae, before, and what kind of leader did that make him? Yet she’d still helped him, despite himself. It was irritating that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Irritating, and rather pleasant.
“Jaekob.” Bells’ voice cut through as she shook his shoulder, snapping him back to reality.
“What? Sorry.” He saw that Hawking was standing on the other side of the room, hands held up with palms out, fingers curled into claws. His whole body was so rigid that he was shaking a little bit.
“Someone is trying to come through the door,” she explained. “Hawking says he can’t hold them out much longer.”
“I didn’t hear him say that. There’s a door?”
“Yes, for Creation’s sake, listen. Get ready.” Bells stood and walked to face where Hawking was facing but off to one side, and slid her hand into her seed pouch.
Jaekob hopped up and landed in a crouch, claws out. He ignored the pain of dragon claws growing through his finger bones and skin.
Hawking groaned and sank to his knees. He was drained, and nothing stood between them and whoever was outside. Jaekob slid his feet until he stood between Hawking and the wall he’d been facing.
The wall slid open and a dragon stood in the doorway, a tunnel behind her, and Jaekob began to leap—until he saw the woman wore the colors of Mikah’s household. Catching himself made him stagger.
“Who are you and why are you here?” he commanded.
The dragon woman knelt and brought her fist to her forehead. “My Prince, I am here because your father, Mikah, sent me to warn you—”
“Warn me about what? If this is a ploy, I promise, you’ll wish you hadn’t come here.”
She stood, putting her hands by her side. “I already wish I hadn’t, but it is my duty. I’d rather be out there with the First Councilor, Rising at his side.”
Rising? Mikah? Jaekob felt a tingle run from his scalp to his calves, the hair rising on his arms. What had he missed? “It seems I’ve been out of the loop. I don’t know what you mean. What Rising?”
Hawking rose to his feet, unsteady, and said, “How did you find this place? I’m the only one still alive who knows of it.” He looked at Jaekob and added, “Don’t trust her. The First Councilor would have no cause to even look for this place, and no one strong enough to find it.”
The messenger snorted. “I didn’t find your hideout, fae. I found Jaekob. His bandoleer has a hair of his mother woven into it, and it was this that we were able to trace using a rejoining spell and another of her hairs.”
Jaekob looked down at his bandoleer. Of course. His father had a way to track him this entire time if the need were urgent enough. Apparently, it wasn’t urgent enough when he’d been captured, nor when he’d been outside the Wards and at risk from the infection. What could be more urgent than that? “What’s the message?” he asked, more than curious.
The messenger sneered at Bells for a moment before looking back, and her face became expressionless again. Jaekob felt a puff of smoke from his nose rolling up the sides of his face before being whisked away in the air.
“My Prince, I do have a message for you from your father. The dragons are indeed finally Rising. He is leading them. But before they can strike out at the White King and the Black Court and their allies, you are ordered to find Shmsharatsh, the Sword of Fire. Only after you have either retrieved it or destroyed it can the dragons fly to war. Getting it back is preferred, of course, and will be a mark in your favor. Destroy it only as a last resort.”
Jaekob almost took a step back in surprise. His lips curled into a snarl on their own and the room took on a red glare as his eyes lit up. He had to keep his hands curled into fists to avoid summoning his claws. “Ordered to? Listen, I don’t have any intention of flying to war with him. I wanted war against the elves when it was the right thing to do, and he said no. Now he wants to fight both elven people? Why we fight matters. What cause could he have now that he didn’t have already?”
