Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

11. Lake Lyn

As detailed as I tired to make my explanation, I could only tell Jace so much. My own understanding of my newfound ability, along with the Angel song I had heard, was minimal at best.
Jace sat on the stretch of rock in front of me, resting back on his hands with his long legs extended before him. His blue eyes stayed on me as I spoke and as I did so, gradually our clothes and hair began to dry.
He absorbed my story better than I thought he would. But that still didn't mean he had all the answers.

"I can't believe you actually were able to make a Portal," he said for what seemed like the millionth time. I smiled and rolled my eyes.
"You've said that already."
"Cara, it took even Warlocks hundreds of years-"
"I know, Jace. I know how long it took the Warlocks to be able to use that kind of magic."
"So why aren't you freaking out right now? You just improvised one out of nowhere!"
"I sort of am freaking out! I don't know what any of this means and I don't know how I can do it, let alone if this is bad or good. And what if the Clave finds out? What if Valentine finds out?"

"Hey, hey," Jace reached over and grabbed my wrist, making me look at him. His blue eyes were steady and unwavering. "You're going to be just fine. If the Angels truly have given you this power, the Angels will protect it." He rose from the rock, pulling me with him.
The sun had barely moved through my short explanation and despite my warnings, we had a few hours of daylight on our hands.

"We should get going," Jace said. "We should make it before it gets dark but we don't want to get stuck out here when it does. This forest is home to quite a few packs of notoriously feral werewolves."
We crossed the rocky bank of Lake Lyn and started into Brocelind Forest. I breathed out a humorless laugh and ducked under a tree branch.
"Valentine certainly has funny ideas about what's kid-friendly."
"No, even he didn't let me anywhere near the lake."
"Oh, so you don't really know where we are?" I gave Jace a playful smile when he glanced at me over his shoulder. He turned back with a mutter of something that sounded like, "Watch your mouth, Freerose."

The trees weren't growing so close together that the sun couldn't get through and, once we had started moving and warmed up a little, the forest was actually quite pleasant. It was late October so the sun did little to pierce the cold but it wasn't anything I hadn't gone through before.
We had been walking steadily for close to ten minutes when the first wave hit me.
A sickly warm breath of air rushed over me and it enough to make me stumble into a nearby tree. The ground tipped and I clutched the bark to steady myself. For a quick moment the trees around me appeared to be alive and breathing.

"Cara? Are you alright?"
Just like that, it was over. The cold was back and the ground was perfectly horizontal. The trees were motionless save for the occasional breeze that swayed their thin, dead branches.
Jace's hand was on my back. He repeated his question when I failed to give an answer.
"Yeah, I'm alright," I told him. "Just...dizzy."
Strange. I never get dizzy.

"You know, an iratze might be able to help you out with that." Jace eased me away from the tree and resumed walking. He held aside a particularly low hanging branch for me to duck under.
My hand reached for my stele on my weapons belt but it came up empty. I made a frustrated sound in the back of my throat and tried my pockets. Dammit, I was always loosing that stupid thing...
"I must have dropped my stele when I fell into Lake Lyn," I told Jace. "I don't have it anymore."
I looked at him with expectant eyes. Mundane girls would refer to this look as when your boyfriend specifically tells you to bring a coat because it's cold but you decide not to and now you're cold and want his coat.
Jace gave me the same look back but with sarcasm etched deep into his eyes. He gestured broadly as if to say, 'what did you expect?'
"Don't look at me," he said. "I left mine in New York. A small Shadowhunter pushed me through a Portal before I could get it."
I rolled my eyes, not in the least bit surprised. I supposed it was my fault in a sense.