Realm of Wings

A/n: To get you back into the story, here's another chapter! 💛

Jade, stepping through the portal:

After putting my first foot in the mirror of water, the rest of my body got sucked in as well. Of course, I wasn’t frightened of doing this, but it was certainly new so I was hesitant to experience it. But as soon as I got fully emerged in the magical waters, my head started to hurt immensely!

The energy that was inside of me started to burst and sizzle on top of my skin. Every single hair I had started to rise and I could feel a complete tremble all across my body. I had never felt this way, but to explain it, it would feel as if my core’s energy was being refilled by an unknown source. As if with all my hundred-sixty-three years of life, I hadn’t been living to the fullest at all!

I had my eyes closed and once I reached the other side of the portal, which I could determine as a sudden rush of air blasted against my face, I fell on the ground, squirming in pain! Every limb was stretching, urging me to do something of which I wouldn’t know what.

Cursing from I suppose Kallan and heavy questions from I believe to be Neil sounded around me but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Is this normal for a Fae? Does every Fae get through the portal like this? Am I being a pussy for feeling this kind of pain?

“Kallan! Is this the first time that she is here?” A sudden unfamiliar, female voice sounded. And I could only hear her because I was trying my utmost best to get accustomed to the pain I was feeling.

“Yes, but why-

“The magic from our world is overwhelming her.” She interrupted Kallan’s voice. “Sweetheart, you have to unleash your wings.” She said while coming near to me, trying to soothe me while rubbing my shoulders.

“I- I don’t – I don’t have wings!” I tried to say while the cramps forced me to crumble inwards now, curling me like a baby while I still had my eyes closed.

“Get me the grandmaster! We have to take her magic, or she won’t make it!” She commanded anyone in the room.

Take my magic? I’m only here for just a few minutes and there is already someone who wants to take my magic away? That is not going to happen! If this woman wants me to summon my wings, then I’m going to do everything in my power to summon my wings! My magic is my own and no one is going to take it from me!

I don’t know how to get those flappy things out of my back, but I wasn’t going to let anyone take away my magic!

While still curled up in a ball, I focused on my core energy and how I always used it to heal someone else or to empower my blades. So if I was able to push the energy out of my body like that, it should be able to create wings with too, right? At least that sounded like a solid explanation to me though…

Right now the pain was unbearable but I had been screaming a lot already and was losing my mind soon if I should continue doing that. So I shut my mouth and started to work on my idea. I could feel the energy that was being fired up inside every cranny and nook of my body and forced to push it outwards on my back.

I was determined to not losing my magic, so I just wanted to unleash the energy at the back to create myself some nice pair of wings. No matter how they would look like I tried to vision myself a pair of those from either a large bird or a dragonfly, or any combination of those two things to swirl my energy into that direction.

“What is she doing?” I heard Trixie ask now and I wanted to scream to her that I was trying to create some of those fucking, fluttering flappers! But I couldn’t reply as another surge of pain and energy started to burst out again. I was hoping that this would work and with Trixie asking what I was trying to do, it was encouraging me to continue. Maybe this was going the way I wanted, so I continued to push my energy outwards until the flow of it became stronger by the minute.

“Kallan, pick her up and take her outside! Now!” The same woman from earlier shouted.

Quickly after, I could feel his hands wrap around my body and lift me against his chest. His cologne was intoxicating my mind and actually soothing me just a bit to numb away the pain. I pulled my arms around his neck while the energy in my core was still pushing its way outwards, but with each passing moment, it felt as if something was wrong. I tried to stop the energy surges but by now I was no longer in control! I couldn’t stop it anymore, even though I wanted to!

The interval between two bursts suddenly became shorter and with each new surge, more power blasted out as well. I was a ticking time bomb, about to explode as the grand finale came closer by the second, and I guess that the female had probably thought the same.

“Fucking hell!” Kallan cursed as he was trying to keep a hold on me while I was probably hurting him with my blasts.

“I- I can’t!” I tried to say sorry in some odd way but the pain was too much to bear now.

“Don’t worry, sparky. I got you!” Kallan said while using this newfound word of endearment for me. If I hadn’t been in this kind of pain, I would have kicked his ass for calling me that, but there is no room for argument now.

Another wave of pain and a release of energy shot out from within me, and Kallan could no longer hold me in his arms. He cursed as my body fell on the gravel stones outside the building he had carried me out, and I curled back into my ball as I felt another surge coming in soon.

Kallan, looking at the ball of light, curled up on the ground:

My mother seemed to have some sort of idea as to why this was happening to Jade, as she had asked me if she had been here before. But as soon as I wanted to ask her about it, Jade’s bursts of energy became more frequent and stronger as well, indicating that she was soon out of time. I don’t know what was going to happen when she did, but I certainly didn’t want her to die because of it.

Through all the little time that we had spent together, and all the contradicting emotions that I had within me, torn between being a King-to-be and her husband-to-be, even though she didn’t know about that part yet, I had actually grown quite fond of her.

I would be lying to myself if I hadn’t found her the most beautiful creature in existence, even with all her scars and snappy comments. And while she is hurting now, possibly being on the brink of death as well, I had suddenly let go of the persistent urge to keep the unknown things about her as a barrier. There was no longer fear, no longer anger and no longer the restraint to make her mine.

All I wanted was for her to be safe, to be able to walk and fly with me, to get to know her and maybe even love and cherish… Shit… I can’t lose her! I reached forward, trying to get closer to her, even though the blasts were coming every few seconds now.

Another blast pushed me back a few feet.

I rushed towards her, flapping my wings to get close to her as fast as I could.

Another blast, stronger this time, pushing me backwards several more feet.

It hurt like hell but I had to get to her! I had to hold her in my arms!

Another blast, even stronger than the one before, knocking me back once more against the palace walls, nullifying any progress I had made to reach for her.

Jade was arching her back, screaming while she endlessly tried to grab hold of anything around her. Holding the pebbles of the path that lead towards the side entrance of the palace, deep within the clutch of her fingers, trying to feel anything different than the pain she was going through right now.

Another blast, just a second after the last, creating a bubble around her, pushing away the last remaining pieces of the once well-taken-care off bushes, that were meticulously planted along the paths in this garden.

A few more waves came, following each other quickly, forcing me to stay right where I sat, unable to move. While holding my arms in front of my face, shielding my eyes from the light and power, it suddenly went quiet. An eerie silence took over and I opened my eyes to see what had happened.

“Please be alive.” I begged inside my mind.

The path was destroyed, the bushes were gone, I had found myself to be covered in dirt and a few stray pebbles as well, but a solid, steady bubble had remained. A golden globe of energy had Jade surrounded in a sort of glass-like container, filled with swirling sparks of energy. It almost looked like a snow-globe that had been turned upside-down a few moments ago, if it weren’t for the fact that Jade was laying lifeless in the middle of it.

I hurried towards the ball and without a single thought put my hands on the side of it. Immediately, I fell back again as the energy spiked at the spot where I had touched it. I got up and stood close to the wall of energy, to touch it carefully with just one finger.

Another jolt came close and pushed my hand away, while Jade remained in the orb, laying on the ground. I focused on her body and a rush of relief washed over me when I saw her chest heave up and down in the tiniest movement possible. She is still alive!

“Hold on! Stay alive!” I begged once more.

“Jade!” I yelled, trying to get some form of reaction out of her. But she remained asleep.

“JADE!” I yelled louder, hoping that I was able to get through to her now. But no, it was futile.

I became frustrated, endlessly banging on the orb, not caring about the pain that surged through me each time I touched it.

“Son, stop!” My father suddenly pulled me back to keep me from hurting myself.

“No! I have to get her out of it!” I wriggled myself free from my father’s hold and turned my body black to grant me more protection from the energy surges of the orb. I slammed my fist hard on the surface and kept doing so until I was forced back again by my father.

“Kallan, stop!” He said again and forced me to stay within his grasp.

“I will never stop, dad! I can’t!”

“I know what you are feeling, but you have to stop!” He yelled while trying to keep a hold of me.

“No, you don’t know! How could you know?” I screamed while still trying to free myself from my father’s arms.

“Because she is the one for you, isn’t she?” He asked and I stopped squirming the moment he said that.

“What?” I asked dumbfounded when he let me go and I turned around to look up at him. His face changed and a smile appeared as soon as he saw me confused.

“When I met your mother, she was in trouble as well, and you just acted exactly the same as I did. She looks beautiful, son, and strong too. So whatever this is, that she has just created, we will find it out together. We will find a way to set her free, alright?” He said and I wanted to argue with him over the fact that he just mentioned her to be the one.

“The one, could she really be the one?”

Am I ready to admit this already? I only met her two days ago and all we did was argue, fight and bitch towards each other. I even caged her and was determined to make her my prisoner! I continuously called out to her that she was lying and didn’t want to listen to her explanations.

But who am I kidding?

If I didn’t want her to be mine, I wouldn’t have cared for her safety the moment she stepped through the portal or rather fell through it.

If I didn’t want her to be mine, I wouldn’t have bashed my fists to bleed upon this freaking gold orb.

If I didn’t want her to be mine, then why was I fighting my dad to be able to get myself to free her?

I looked towards her sleeping body and knew what I had known before. I had already fallen for her, without me even properly realising.