Yes im sorry i killed jade, no i cldnt save her and just kill the king and queen, Jade needs her sister's power for this 2 work. I ahev no idea where this story is going so dont ask that lol...i have written the last chapter though...i dnt think you will like it lol, now how to get to that ending is a totally different matter...heeheehee. Im proud of this chapter, it give a bit of insight into the power Jade has inherited and a bit of Archer, who i happen to like 2 heeheehee
Chapter 12
Jade lay on one of the beds in the room, Denya lay on the other. At the end of each bed Melissa and Archer stood guard. Jade stirred, whimpering in pain. Archer stepped quickly over next to Melissa. As Jade subsided back into silence, Melissa shook her head and Archer went back to Denya's bed. The night slowly crept through the windows, but they didn't move. As the sun's light reached the door, Denya stirred, this time coming fully awake.
"What happened? Jade! Is she…is she alright?" He tried to get up as both Archer and Melissa ran to keep him from doing that very thing.
"Denya, Denya! Calm down. Jade is in the next bed. We don't know what happened…and we don't know how she is exactly. She is alive, but how well we don't know. The…so called healer I found said she would be fine…" Archer kept a restraining hand on his friend's shoulder, but allowed his to sit up enough to see that Jade was truly in the bed next to him. He turned to the side and spent a long minute reassuring himself that she was indeed there. He had dreamed, in-between periods of semi-consciousness, that she was being pulled out of reach by a group of swift moving shadows. He had thrown out his arms, stretching them to their limits to try and grab her before she disappeared. His fingers brushing hers before he was too pulled away by shadows, these in the shape of wolves, snarling and snapping. He called out to her, but no sound emerged from his mouth. He could see her open mouth, yelling to him but couldn't hear anything but the wolf shadows. Just as the shadows blocked off his last view of Jade light shone around him and the darkness fled from it.
He turned back from looking at Jade to see Archer and Melissa still watching him anxiously. He tried to smile at them, but even that hurt. When he really though about it everything hurt, his fingers especially where he had held onto Jade.
"Um, wow. That was a…different experience. Remind me never to do it again." Denya's face was drawn with pain, but he had to reassure Archer and Melissa that he was all right. Melissa managed a shaky smile but Archer grinned, glad to see that his friend hadn't lost his sense of humour. Melissa stepped back over to Jade's bed to take up her vigil again.
"Has Jade woken up yet? When can I get up? I have to find who did this. The mirror should help…it was made for that purpose, but it was hoped that it would never be used." Denya struggled to rise even as he spoke. Archer pressed him back down.
"Now listen you flip (A/N yes I know this may not have been colloquial but still it sounded good : P). You can't get up for a couple of days. And no Jade hasn't woken yet. About that mirror, I have never seen anything like it. Since your going to be lying down for a while, you can explain how it works. And before you ask about my work, Milord James has given me as much time as I need to watch out for you. He isn't busy at the moment anyway. I have finished most of my studies and he doesn't think it's such a bad idea for me to have a break." Archer successfully made Denya shut his mouth without voicing protest, no easy feat.
"Oh fine then." He grumbled. "The mirror was made the night they arrived, when they were crowned Princesses of Tortall. It already had the two representing the King and the Queen in it, I just had to add the two for Jade and…Jazz. Jazz is gone, isn't she? I…I had hoped the mirror was wrong but if it was then Jade wouldn't have had all that magic in her. I felt it you know. I felt the tides and the winds. I felt the heat of the earth, the cool of the sky. Everything…I can't imagine how it must be for you Archer. That small touch was thrilling, freeing, exhilarating…but at the same time it was terrifying, binding…I felt so small, small and alone." Denya lapsed into silence, thinking about the faint touch of everything that was the world they lived in. He could remember it so well; it was something he would, couldn't forget, even if he had wanted to. Archer watched the shadows of memory flicker across his friend's face. He knew exactly what Denya had meant. He had, for a brief moment, been apart of everything that was weather. He has been the tides, sweeping in to eat at the land, he has been the lava that created new land, he has been the winds that brushed along the earth. To only touch it for a second was both a blessing and a curse. He will never know what it feels like to be pulled under by a vicious current but he will never know what it feels like to fly on the back of the wind. Both wondrous things. Did Jazz feel any of them? She was only sixteen…why was she taken? Why did they want her life?
It was now Denya's turn to study his friend's face. It started out understanding, he must know how Denya felt. Then it changed, his eyes unfocused, and his whole face grew dark. A shutter outside the windows banged, a strong wind pushing it back against the stone wall. Thunder started to rumble, clouds overshadowing the once clear sky. Sheet lightning cracked beneath them, even louder thunder following it. It grew dark in the room, each lightning strike showing up Archer's features. His black eyes mirroring the lightning outside, his inky hair swirling around him in a wind that had come from no where. Flames started to circle his hands, twining around them. Melissa looked up from Jade's bed and started to open her mouth to yell at him to stop.
"Why did they take her!" His voice was loud, it crackled with energy borrowed from the storm outside. He stepped back from Denya's bed and threw his had towards the window, the wind that had been ruffling his hair flew to it, throwing it open. He took a running leap and threw himself out of it. Huge gusts of wind bore him upwards, carrying him as if he weighed nothing at all. He reached the height of the tallest tower. He remained at that height, the winds supporting him. The clouds centred over him, bringing the lightning with it. Melissa ran after him, only to stop short at the window. Her face was upturned to the sky as she hung half out of the window. Denya struggled out of his bed, his muscles and bones screaming their protest. He went to the window beside Melissa and leaned out. The sight of his friend miles above his head was enough to making him forget about his aching bones. Archer screamed his anger to the winds, they carried it all over the city. He began to sob, his whole body shaking with grief. His anguished sobs were heard by all in the city, intermixing with their own sorrow, fresh from the news of their beloved King and Queen. Their daughter had yet to find a place in their hearts, but they cried for her all the same. All looked to find the source of such misery, they found the solitary figure in the sky, tears began to run down their faces. Archer slowly began to sink back to the ground, his arms crushed to his chest, trying to give a physical reason for the pain he felt inside. The lightning and thunder gave way to rain. He reached the courtyard stones and sank to his knees. Denya ran to the door, calling back over his shoulder for Melissa to stay with Jade. He flew down the stairs, taking them three at a time, through the arch and out to the courtyard. Archer's sobs shook him to his heart, such misery and anguish came with them. He walked slowly towards him. Archer still sat, huddled in the rain. Denya put his hand down and touched his shoulder. Archer looked up into his friend's brown eyes, full of compassion. Denya crouched and put his arm around his shoulders. The two friends sat in the rain, it ran down their hair, down their arms, but they still sat there. A bell of time later Melissa called Esther from her room across the hall to watch over Jade. She went down stairs and into the courtyard where the two boys sat huddled together. Ignoring the blackened ground, scorched by the flames that had consumed her gods-daughter and friends, she crouched next to them and gathered them to her. They turned into her comforting hold, tears beginning to form again. Melissa let them cry she knew it would take a long time for them to be as they were yesterday. Finally she pulled back and stood. Pulling them up with her, she kept an arm around each and led them back up to the twin's room.