Jade Goldlight's Arc

Chapter 12 of 20

Jade walked home with Raihan at her side, the cheers fading behind the cherry blossom treehouse's pink branches. She climbed the wooden steps and shut the door on the noise. The promise she made at the statue still pressed against her ribs. Tonight, she would start small. Tonight, she would make something with her own hands. She sat at her table and laid out silver wire, a tiny compass face, and four blue stones. Raihan watched from the floor, purple eyes steady. Jade bent the wire slow and careful. By lamplight, a bracelet took shape — a silver compass on a band sized for her wrist. She fastened it on and turned her hand. The needle swung north. She had built it. No one else. A knock came at the door. The mayor stood on the platform with a rolled parchment and an ink pot. He smiled and held it out. The agreement let her keep the treehouse, her place as the village's sorceress, and any gold from jobs ahead. Jade read every line. Then she signed. The mayor bowed and left her in quiet. Jade rolled the parchment tight and tucked it into a drawer beside her bed. Outside, she hung a small wooden sign she had carved that afternoon — her own mark, not the village's flag. The wind turned it once. It held. She climbed into the emerald bed and pulled the white blanket to her chin. Raihan jumped up and curled at her feet, smoke fading soft into the sheets. The compass on her wrist ticked gentle against the pillow. "Tomorrow," she whispered. He huffed once in answer. Jade closed her eyes. The home was hers. The job was hers. The bracelet was hers. Whatever walked into Blue Moon Hallow next, she would meet it first — and Raihan would follow.