The Parallels
TWENTY-TWO

My mind is breaking. I’ve backed myself into the corner of the cell hoping she can’t sneak up on me, but it’s no use. She’s wearing me down, and I am growing tired. From outside the tiny window that rests high up on the wall, I hear the reverberation of sword raging against sword and the rallying cries of Herrings and mages alike. Lanel is tearing itself apart out there while I sit useless in a cell trying not to be torn apart. I’d come to Fairvale hoping to save my kin from battle, but I’d failed and led them right into one.

I’ve never heard anyone sound so pathetic. She sits opposite me shrouded in darkness. Just give up already, and we’ll spare their lives. The grumble of Herring footsteps shakes the ground above us.

“Leave me alone,” I say, drawing my knees to my chest.

If only it were that easy. She sighs. Do you think I like being bound to the blood tie of my enemy? I’ve been stuck with you for centuries, but you’re strong, aren’t you? Stronger than we expected.

“Who are you?” I yell.

I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out by now. When she crawls into the light, she’s still just a shadow. But I suppose your kin’s magic is still protecting you somehow. The Farens were always strong which is why we’re still stuck together. And your magic, well that’s something else entirely now isn’t it?

I look up; she’s said something that catches my attention - my magic. I’d assumed that my ability to cleave was because of her, but now I’m not so sure.

“What do you mean, my magic?” I ask suspiciously

Powerful but not too bright. She laughs to herself before slinking back into the corner once again.

I probe my memories of the last few weeks and then it comes to me. The only time I’d felt as if another part of me was in control was when fire broke free from my chest and I revelled in its destruction. I’d spent this whole time thinking I was defenseless, but she was right, my bloodline was strong and so was my magic. If I genuinely had half of her soul, and thereby half of her magic flowing through me, then all I had to do was cleave it from her. I close my eyes and search for her in the shade.

What are you doing? Panic laces her words.

“I am Juliane Faren.” I latch onto the tendrils of her inside of me. “Daughter of Sunna Faren.” She thrashes out against my stronghold. “Niece of Lilian Faren.” I will her magic into my own, weaving it like a tapestry into my blood. “Loved by Levain and Silas Marner.” She weakens inside of me. “And you are not welcome here.” I open my eyes and let her magic soar.

The cell door melts off its hinges, and I run through it, not knowing just how long I can keep her at bay. I follow the small torches that illuminate the hallway up through a flight of stairs that lead to a series of closed doors. Everything is shrouded in darkness making it nearly impossible to know where exactly I am. My cassiterite blade returns to me knowing that she’s gone for now and we at least have a chance to get out of here. The Blackthorne estate is more extensive than I imagined, and I quickly replace myself in a sealed off part of the main building.

Every door is locked until I finally come to a red door at the end of a long, dimly lit hallway. Two Herrings round the corner just as I turn its handle and step inside. I wait until the Herrings pass by before turning around and stifling the scream that nearly rips through my lips.

Hundreds of bodies hover in mid-air, suspended there by some unknown force. Their faces are waxen and expressionless as if they’re merely asleep. I shake in terror as I approach the nearest one and when I reach out to her, my fingers hit an invisible wall. I try to touch her again, and again, my hand passes no closer than a few inches from her body. It’s only when I recognize a familiar face further down the line of bodies that I realize who these people are – mages.

“Elder Merrin?” I run to his suspended body. He floats idly near a few other mages dressed in similar colors. No one knew what Blackthorne was doing with mages and as I look up at Elder Merrin’s placid face, I still don’t understand.

You’ll learn soon enough. She’s already pushing her way back to the surface.

I can’t let her return or else I’ll never finish what I’ve come here to do. I take one last look at Elder Merrin, send him my light and promise them all that I’ll return before I dash toward the red door once again. I check the hallway before running to where the Herrings came from and sigh in relief as a large door leading outside to a courtyard appears on my right. I’m nearly through the door when my body feels as though it’s being torn apart.

No! She screams from within me. I’m not leaving him again, not ever again. Do you hear me Faren?

She fights for power and I am pulled in both directions. I brace myself on the frame of the entryway as my other half pulls at the air inside the estate, grasping at nothing and hoping for everything.

Gethin. She calls out to him, and I know it’s too late.

The tether that binds them together as twinsouls is too powerful for me to fight. My fingers slip from the frame and my feet run back into the hallway. I’m about to turn the corner when I slam into evergreens and winter mornings. Darius throws his arms around me. My magic recognizes him in an instant.

Darius hugs me fiercely. “I’m sorry, Jules.” He pulls back and brings my face into his hands. “I’m so sorry.”

I do the only thing I can, fearing that I may not get the chance to again - I kiss him. Every part of my being that is Juliane Faren ricochets into him. Magic unfurls around us in streams of gold and silver, but this time I don’t pull away. I let it wrap around every inch of space between us, filling the void with its gentle vibrations. The markings on my wrist sing with magic’s melody as the tether between Darius and I pulls us closer. It’s only when a low, gravelly growl punctures the air that I stop kissing Darius and spin around to replace Gethin watching us with murderous intent.

“Release her,” he snarls. The radiance around us disappears as my cassiterite blade forms in my hand, and I step in front of Darius to shield him from Gethin.

“Stay back!” I draw the blade to my throat.

Darius freezes behind me. “Jules,” he says. “What are you doing?”

Don’t be a fool. She prods at the back of my mind, eager to be set free. I step forward and draw upon some of her magic, casting a line of fire between Darius and myself.

“You too, Darius. Stay back.” The hurt in his eyes is unimaginable, but I couldn’t have him stop me now, not when I am so close to finishing what I started.

“How touching,” Gethin purrs. When I look back to him, he’s smiling like a maniac. She reels inside of me needing to be with him, but I push her down. “Caught between two twinsouls.” I hear Darius gasp behind me. “Surely you told him?” Gethin searches my face. “No, of course not. Your soul at least remembered to spare him that much this time.”

How many times had we done this before? Gethin seemed to know my every move before I did. But he’s right, I’d guessed what the identical markings on our wrist had meant since the first-time magic weaved its way through Darius and me. Though I’d only become certain of the marking’s meaning when she emerged and touched Gethin after my veil had slipped away. I was as much as privy to her feelings as she was to mine, something she was discovering now as I forced the wall of fire between Darius and me to grow higher.

You wouldn’t dare. She doubts my strength and I feel as if she’s doubted it before.

“Let him go, Gethin,” I demand.

It’s the first time I’ve said his name aloud, and it’s as if the echoes of the dead curse his name. He edges nearer, and I press the blade deeper into my neck, drawing the smallest bit of blood.

“It’s only her that I want,” Gethin says. “The veiler means nothing to me.”

Everyone has a tell, every a five-hundred-year-old mage. Unfortunately for Gethin, his tell inhabits my body and by the way she snarls at the mention of Darius, I know he’s important to Gethin in some way or another. I draw upon the last of Xavier’s magic and let an electrical current spiral out to where Gethin stands. With a wave of his hands, he creates a shield between himself and the current, laughing in delight as if this were all a game.

“Predictable, daughter of Faren.” He takes yet another step closer. “Try again.”

His thirst for power was unquenchable, that much I had gleaned from the memories he’d shown me. But what he didn’t count on was the solution I’d discovered when I saw those memories. Half of the stranger’s soul was with me, and half of it was still in the Fade, along with half of her magic. We’d forever be bound so long as my soul and my magic found a new vessel in each new life. If magic allowed them to splice my soul, then magic surely would set it free.

Don’t do this Julianne, you have no idea about the magic you’re playing with. This time her words hold none of their previous threats. She’s scared and so am I. Yet beyond my fear, was the certainty that only I could end this nightmare for Lanel and for my kin.

I launch a stream of fire toward Gethin, and while he’s distracted, I summon the last of Aunt Lillian’s magic and cast it out over Darius, yielding him invisible just as I was on the day that I changed history forever. With Darius protected, Miriam’s words come to me once again.

When the time comes, remember the root of magic and all will be clear.

I didn’t know what those words meant before, but I do now. I turn to where Darius stands and send him my light before I drain every drop of my magic from my soul into the air around us.

“It’s love,” I say as I plunge the cassiterite blade straight into my heart.