The Gemini Age: Book One

[18-4] Gemini Soul - Part Four

    Life passed in a flood. The strings of blazing chaos that encircled the Old Town dwindled into dying candlelight, each spark bowing to the will of a single Tempered marshal. Once their glow expired, the frenzy flooding through the streets would ease to let the lasting damage of the day breach the city's surface. Some of the properties would be too wrecked to repair even with magic, some costs too high to bear, some wounds too severe to heal.

    Jade leaned back on the rooftop she sat on, one of the last structures standing in the area, and surveyed the scarred skyline. Private vehicles squirmed their way around emergency barricades and road closures as they darted across the city. Flashing headlamps exposed the real extent of the damage, highlighting the slightest chips in tired walls alongside the unmissable bulk of battered buildings crumbling into the roads. As the thick smoke cleared away, the tangible layer of stone dust that burst forth from broken bricks swept in to take its place.

    The city had changed tonight. Jade did not need to look down at the new wellspring to know that.

    "There you are, little bird." The sound of flapping clothes whispered past Jade's ear, and she turned in time to see Wilfred float down from an air-powered height. From the deep heaving of his breaths, the magic had taken a heavy toll. "I'd started to think I'd never find you."

    "Uncle Wilf!" Jade bounced her heels off the lip of the rooftop as she raced to her feet, yet the dull pain did nothing to slow her dash to embrace Wilfred when he landed. He grunted with surprise at the tightness of her arms around his sides, and Jade eased her hold with a nervous laugh. "I didn't forget about you, I promise! I was coming to get you!"

    Wilfred raised a hand. "I never doubted it. What matters now is that you're okay."

    Away from the constant churn outside the wellspring, the cut and bruises that flecked Jade's skin were more visible, as were the streaks of powdered dirt trailing across her clothes. More subtle, though far from invisible, were the aches that wrapped around her back and shoulders and flared up whenever she tried to move or stretch. "I'm fine. I just need a shower and a nap, and I'll be good as new!" Her smile was weak.

    "I don't just mean physically, Jade." Stepping back, Wilfred stood taller and raised his voice. His face, however, remained tender with concern. "I found your friends before I came up here. You've been through...a lot."

    "We've all had it rough. The whole city has."

    "Perhaps, but I'm asking about you."

    Jade sighed and reached for the loose lock of hair by her eye. Down below, the liquid light of the wellspring trickled across the barren ground. Her fingers fell from her face to her necklace and looped the rope around her thumb. "I..." she began as she followed the luminous stream to the surface of the wellspring, its light too flawless to ignore. "I'm scared, Uncle."

    Though his eyebrows raised in response, Wilfred did not seem taken aback in the least. "I don't believe I've heard you say that for many years now. Even if it's been true."

    "Well, I'm saying it now." Jade stared at her hands and wondered how many small bruises and marks she would find under her sleeves if she removed them, or how many cuts she would come across in the shower later. "I try to fix things, but everything I do just makes them worse. I thought I could bring you and Mum closer together again, but I've only made certain she'll never let me see you again. I wanted to help Marcus and Lloyd get away from the gangs, but I dragged them into more danger. And now, I tried to save the Chambers, and all I did was blow it up faster!"

    Wilfred stroked at his beard. "That wasn't all you did. You also prevented a city-wide coup and secured the capture of one of its leaders, not to mention freeing dozens of prisoners from confinement. Buildings can be relocated, but lives are far more precious."