~Skai
Jack's legs were a dark, reflective metal. The wind parted for them. Jack was turning to steel.
The boy who had told us to use steel to keep the wind at bay rounded the corner. But where was Jack?
Was his turning to steel at all like my people dying from ingesting too much of it? Was it too much to hope for there to be one cure? Either way, I had to get Jack and the information about vicissim to a Juxtaposition hospital.
"Where's Jack? He's supposed to be with you!"
"That depends. Who are you?"
I'd stopped here to wait for him. He was turning to metal. I needed to get him home.
"I'm Skai," I said, too worried to be irritable. "How'd you know to use steel?"
The kid grinned. "The wind was some wispy natural magic. Steel's the purest form of industrial magic. So. . ." he shrugged nonchalantly.
"The two types of magic, they. . . they can't stand each other. Can they?" I asked slowly. Marrianna had said (well, sung) something similar.
The boy put his hands in his pockets. "You two really don't know much about magic, do you?"
I opened my mouth to answer, when, "Ow!!!"
The kid jerked his hand out of his pocket as if something had bitten him, only his mouth hadn't moved.
"Oops. Sorry Tom."
"Tom THUM," answered the same high pitched voice.
"Right."
And then a tiny head popped out of the pocket.
I screamed.
"My apologies, fair maiden, for starling you. But it was stifling in there!"
I nodded briskly, pulling my tunic down self consciously. "Right. Well, as soon as Jack gets here we can leave. I don't suppose either of you knows a way out?" I didn't have any real hope, but I had to make sure.
"Of course," the kid scoffed. "I could show you a dozen different ways out."
I brightened. "Finally. Where were you when I was stuck following a giant black creature?"
"A giant. . ." he cocked his brow, then took in my City garb. "You mean the bird?"
"Oh!" So that's what a bird was. Nope, definitely not a brand of shoes. I understood now why Jack had been so offended. Birds could fly.
The kid shook his head pityingly, but I barely noticed; I was checking my watch. It was getting late. If we wanted to be let in before the after-work rush, we'd have to hurry. Though it was probably already impossible anyway.
What was Jack doing? Why wasn't he here?
I turned to the Trader kid. "I'm going back for-"
I breathed a sigh of relief as Jack rounded the corner. "Hurry!" he yelled.
The trek through gray stone hallway after gray stone hallway was uneventful. The most surprising part was when the kid made a door disappear.
"Why are we running?" I asked Jack.
He opened his mouth and for half a second I thought he was going to burst into laughter and reply that it was fun to watch us run when he could glide forward effortlessly.
"Just thought we should," was all he actually said.
Did he never have a straightforward answer? I shook my head. Whatever. It didn't matter. We needed to get to Juxtaposition, and the extra speed really couldn't hurt.
Why? a voice in my head asked. At first I thought the Hoshaldrian must have gone into my head again, but after mentally replaying it, I realized it was my own voice.
For Jack. So he doesn't die. The rest was too complicated. I'd deal with what happened in regards to me and Juxtaposition when we came to it.
But there was one accusation the magician had made that I couldn't push aside so easily. Jack wouldn't betray you. You know that. But did I? Hadn't he already proven he was willing to lie and break promises for magic?
"Look yonder!" Tom Thum yelled from atop Colton's shoulder.
Colton glanced back. "We've got company!"
"Pitchforks," Jack said beside me. And we both looked back.
Chasing us were creatures that looked mostly like horses. I say "mostly" because as they ran, their skin shimmered iridescently. It seemed to be green most of the time.
"So," I asked conversationally as we all increased our pace. "What are these monsters called?"
Jack grinned, then shrugged. "Chameleon horses?"
"Aren't chameleons supposed to blend in?" the kid asked.
Jack shrugged again. "You got a better name?"
The kid thought for a moment. "The scales kind of remind me of rainbow stones."
Jack looked at me. "Rainbow stones are basically dark gray pebbles. But if you get them wet, they'll shimmer dully."
I nodded. "And scales are those flaky things that make up their skin?"
Jack grinned. "You know, you're becoming quite the monster expert."
I smiled too. "Idiot."
"City Girl," he countered, with only half a smirk.
"Uh, guys?" the kid said. I looked back. The horses were gaining.
"How much farther?" I yelled over the furious stampede of hoofbeats.
"Not much!" he yelled back. "I just don't want to have to see you two kiss!"
At that I jerked to a halt and Jack started stammering a protest. I ran to catch up and then joined in.
"We weren't. . . we wouldn't-"
"That's not it at all-"
"Why would you even think-"
Our protests cut off when we reached a dead end. We watched in silence as the Trader stepped up to the gray stone wall and touched it.
I turned around to watch the majestic creatures behind us. Not that touching a wall wasn't interesting or anything. The scaly green horses charged forward, long, graceful necks thrust before them, muscles rippling.
As I watched, green leather unfolded from the lead horse's back, and with a sound like leaves rustling in the wind magnified tenfold, green wings unfolded from the other horses.
"Skai! Let's go!"
I snapped out of my trance and raced under the now visible archway to join the others.
Wind brushed against my face and filled me with breath. It tasted dimly of rain. I turned, but froze halfway around. We were in empty air. Even worse, the brass platform we stood on really wasn't wide enough for all of us.
I turned back to face the archway, swaying. Suddenly, I didn't feel so good.
"Come on, come on," muttered the kid, frantically touching the wall in different sections. "Where is it?"
"Any day now!"
Green horses began tucking their wings back in. The lead horse lowered its head and charged through the archway, right into the furiously searching kid. He slammed into me and my breath left in a rush of air. My whole body ached as we slammed into Jack ( the horse was still galloping) and soon I lost all sense of what was up and what was down. We were falling.
"Hang on!" Jack yelled, and I slowed. I felt his arm wrapped around my waist, but we were still hurtling toward the ground faster than I'd have liked. He dropped me a foot or two from the ground and I scrambled to get my feet under me.
"Jack Peterson!" I yelled, fists on hips. "Stop doing that!"
"Oh, sorry. I forgot you Juxtaposes were so soft."
"Why'd you drop us?" asked the kid.
I turned on him. "Why'd you lead us to that platform? I thought you knew where you were going!"
"Well," he said. "There were stairs. They were just inside the wall still."
I shook my head and turned back to Jack, who was digging around inside his duffel. "What are you looking for? Now's really not the time."
"Oh, nothing. Just a little something I found." But apparently it really wasn't that important, because first he pulled out his old shirt from back in the Farmlands. It was a faded brown riddled with holes and stains. Cheap fabric. Uneven cuts. After he put it back on, he unrolled his pants.
"Jack. We need to go. Now." I could already hear wingbeats in the wind.
"Calm down. It'll just take another few minutes." His voice was the epitome of calm.
"Few minutes?!?" I yelled.
"What's wrong with you?" the kid asked.
Jack glanced at the chameleon horses, eyes calculating, then looked back down at his duffel. "Ah." And he picked up a hazy white sphere as if it were only another ratty shirt.
The kid drew in a breath. "You stole Archibald's Sphere?!? And shrank it?"
Jack grinned. He was enjoying this. "Hold tight."
"What do you. . ." I started, but it quickly became obvious.
Jack lifted the glass ball over his head and brought it down with all his strength. The bottom bit of the ball shattered, and with it, so did the glass we were standing on.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Comment below: what did you like? Dislike? I'd love to hear from you!