Chapter 15: Seconds From Breaking

The box hit the table harder than Jax intended.

The sound of Mira shouting snapped him back.

What the hell was that?

His thoughts warped for a fraction of a second before being put back into place.

"Jax what the heck are these things?" she asked, fidgeting with the metal tool in the box. "Why'd you buy me junk?"

"That's not junk Mira. Look closer," Jax said defensively, his voice shaking slightly. "I got those because you keep falling. I figured if you had more grab your foot wouldn't slip."

As soon as those words left his mouth the girl lit up. Her face shifted rapidly from confusion, to realization, to pure happiness. At the same time the temperature in the room began to drop.

With a very loud thank you, Mira spread ice across the floorboards and bolted toward the window. She kicked it open and jumped straight out.

"Jax I have to test these!" she screamed, her voice cracking mid word.

Jax covered his face and let out a deep sigh.

That damn girl.

"Well at least she isn't mad anymore. Sherley is not going to be happy though."

He tried to clean the room as best he could, frost clinging stubbornly to the furniture, before heading back down to the common area. He found Sherley and Takeo deep in conversation, both of them locked on each other with serious expressions.

"Sherley, Mira kind of made a mess upstairs," he said woefully. "We have shards to pay for it. I'm sorry you have to deal with it."

Sherley and Takeo finished their chat and looked at Jax, both immediately noting how anxious he was.

"What happened?" Sherley asked, haste in her voice. "We heard a crash, figured it was just one of the locals drunk upstairs. I know she was mad, but what did you give her for her to react like that?"

"Footwear designed to hold traction on ice. Takeo didn't tell you?" he asked. "She thought it was junk at first."

"JUNK?" Takeo interjected with a loud growl, like someone had personally attacked his wife.

"Calm down. I explained what it was," Jax replied, slightly distraught. "As soon as she heard what they were she basically exploded out our window. Her ice was everywhere."

"So she likes them," Takeo asked. "Do they fit right? Not too heavy are they?" His eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Takeo was not only this town's shop owner. He was an eccentric weapons maker obsessed with refinement. Most nights if you walked past Takeo's Wears and Tears, you could hear hammering echoing through the street long after midnight.

"She disappeared before she even tried them on," Jax replied. "Always moving first then thinking. She's going to get seriously hurt one of these days."

"That's why you're there, isn't it?" Sherley asked, sternness and concern in her voice this time. "If she's got you who can hurt her?"

He took those words to heart like a lightning bolt meeting the sky. His body flooded with direction. The yearning to be near Mira expanded inside his chest. His pulse rose and his face turned red again.

"I need to find Mira quick don't I," he said heading for the door. "If I'm not there who's going to help her? Takeo, you got any pointers on how to use that gear?" he asked, hand already on the handle.

"Tell her to dig in hard with her toes before she tries to launch," Takeo said quickly. "With practice it should boost her to new heights. Hurry though. It has a heavy learning curve."

Hearing that he stopped hesitating and ran out the door. His mind racing.

Please don't get hurt.

Outside he could see a clear trail of frost and ice heading toward the city walls. The air grew sharper with every step.

He followed it immediately, Mira's image running through his mind at a constant rate.

The frost thickened the farther he went. The temperature dropped again. He knew he was close.

At that moment he heard a scream.

"Gods damnit why won't these things work. I need to have these mastered before Jax shows up."

Jax followed the voice but stopped short of entering the clearing. He hid behind the edge of a building, watching her. He did not want to spoil her surprise.

"If I push harder I can get it," she muttered to herself, her breath heavy and producing massive clouds of fog. "This should be easy."

He watched as she slung herself from one side to the other with haste. She accelerated at a blinding pace and then came to a sharp stop.

"That's still not right. I'm not going any faster than normal. I'm slipping less but the power isn't there. Let's try this."

Her body became enshrouded in fog. Ice spread outward from her boots, riddling the nearby walls in frost and fracturing the stone path.

Mira ducked her head down, formed a single ice spike ahead of her, and ran toward it. Her foot found purchase.

She launched herself forward in a blink. The frost behind her left a faint afterimage, a soft light blue hue left in its place.

"Shit!" Mira yelled as she tried to stop. The buildings were closing in fast and she could not slow herself. Her propulsion was far more than her legs could handle.

I have to help.

"Stone Shield!" a voice screamed at the top of his lungs.

A massive wall of earth surged up behind Mira. It moved with her, grinding against the ground and bleeding off momentum. The shield cracked but held long enough to slow her completely before she collided with the wall ahead.

She staggered forward, hunched over, her legs shaking like a skyscraper in an earthquake.

"Thank the gods you're here," Mira said between breaths. "I thought I was going to go splat."

She leaned up and moved her hair out of her face.

There it was.

That simple movement.

The frustrated look on her face as she moved those strands aside.

"Why would you do that?" Jax shouted, anxiety tearing through his voice. His hands were shaking. Tears were already forming. "You could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Pushing yourself past your limits while you're already exhausted is stupid," Jax shouted. "What if I had to do the next dive solo because you got hurt?"

"Who are you calling stupid?" Mira replied lightly, trying to ease the tension.

"I'm not calling you stupid," he snapped back, voice cracking. "I'm saying you scared me. That shield almost gave out. If I hadn't been here you would have hit that wall full force."

Tears slipped down his face despite his effort to hold them back.

"Why would you push that hard without someone watching you?" he asked quietly.

Mira's stomach dropped.

"Jax, I'm so sorry," she said, stepping closer. "This whole week I've been crying about you staying with me. And here I am running off and pushing myself harder than ever."

She looked at the cracked earth shield behind her and then back at him.

"I didn't think."

"I'm just happy you aren't hurt," Jax said, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "That shield almost failed."

"No way," she cut in, closing the space between them with a grin slowly returning. "Your shields won't break. Not when they're protecting me. I truly believe that, Jax."

He swallowed hard.

"Is Sherley mad?" she asked. "I may have overreacted."

"They were worried about you," Jax replied.

"They?" Mira asked, confusion returning. "Who's out and about this late?"

"Takeo was there. He told me to give you some advice," Jax said, explaining the toe dig and launch timing.

Her eyes lit up again.

"Can I try it before we head back?" she asked, energy returning to her voice.

Jax let out a shaky breath.

"Go for it," he said. "I'll be here.

"If you fall, I'll catch you."