Minutes later, Adea had finally shown up, dressed in her favorite leather-hide jacket and ready to go. Before they mounted Hazel and left, Lyda reminded her of the promise she made the last time, that she would speak nothing of this night to anybody. Adea hastily agreed, anxious to leave and get this mess over with. With that, the two sisters mounted the horse and rode west into the mountains. Just like old times, Lyda mused to herself.
A little over two hours later, they came upon an eerily familiar sight. As anticipated, Hazel halted on her own in the exact same spot as last time, and the two were on foot from there. Lyda was relieved when she saw that the rhododendron clusters were towering over them, indicating that the Crossing, in all its mysterious properties, had not disappeared. The atmosphere was just as heavy as before, but to Lyda, it felt more welcoming to her than she remembered. To Adea, it
1879Adea wished she could say that she was back to where she was the first time the two of them snuck out to perform that revolting ritual. What happened when she was only 8-years-old, as far as she was concerned, paled in comparison to the way it made her feel this time around. Looking back, Adea remembered being just a frightened little girl desperate to put an end to her nightmares, and despite the terrible things she had to witness to achieve that, she had been ironically thankful for the sister who had gone to such dark places to help her.This time was much different. Lyda told her that she was merely doing it to help her cleanse her dreams all over again, but she quickly proved her motives to be entirely selfish. Adea did not even want to think about it. Everything Lyda did that night she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life. She had regained total control over her dre
The cottage had been so quiet that evening, inside and out. Lost in their own company, neither Adea nor Eran noticed Lyda emerge from the cellar. She made her way to the kitchen, looking around as if to make sure that she would not run into anyone. As usual, she was not in the mood to interact with anybody. After pouring a small cup of milk for herself, she headed back down the foyer, but before she could turn the corner to retreat back down into the cellar, something caught her eye.Lyda looked up, stopping in her tracks when she spotted Adea and Eran through the glass window of the front door. It was dark outside, but she could clearly see her sister standing there, locked in Eran’s arms and kissing him.There were no thoughts going through her head as she watched, only instincts; shameless instincts of roiling jealousy at the sight of her sister,
“By the Moon, you’re out here early!”Adea looked up from the garden to see her mother emerging from the cottage. The sun was just barely cresting over the mountains. Alyra was normally up long before Adea, and would often have to wake her to join her in the garden, but this morning, Adea had beaten her outside.“I woke up a little early,” Adea responded, “so I thought I’d get a little head start.”“Oh really? Why’s that?”Adea lowered her head, smiling in playful shame. “Well, our trip to the Valley is coming up, and I just thought if we finished harvesting early that Eran and I could go a day or two in advance. At least, if that would be alright with you.”
The atmosphere was cheery as ever when they made their way down the mountainside and into the village. As often as they came here, Adea never got used to the excitement of the village market plaza, lined up and down the road with kiosks and pavilions purveying everything from produce to various trinkets, from the mountains and from the Outside as well. It was not often that the Valley received goods from the Outside, and it always fascinated Adea to learn of the cultures beyond their borders.“Look at what women wear in the Outside,” Adea said as she approached a small pavilion displaying old colonial gowns, corsets, shoes, and other feminine attire not at all like anything she and Lyda had in their wardrobes.“Ugh,” Jay muttered in disgust. “None of that looks comfortable at all. I guess that means Lyda would like it.” Every
They stayed in the Valley for two days before Lyda and Adea's parents made it themselves, but for the first night, Adea was kept in the village's healing ward, where she endured the most uncomfortable night she had ever been through. She had never been treated for physical injuries before, but she was still amazed by how skillful the healers were, and it made her question how her own sister could ever consider hurting anyone, or anything.The healers were much cheerier than she expected, constantly telling her how tough she was, which made Adea smile amidst her pain. However, she soon realized that they were only trying to keep her calm when they finally told her that her rib bone had suffered a clean break but fortunately did not appear to have punctured her lungs or heart. They said that the best she could do was take it easy and wait for the bones to heal.
Eventually, Iris managed to convince Lyda to walk with her around the mountains just outside the Valley for a few hours, just the two of them. Before they left, Iris went back to the campsite her family had set up to collect a small bag of food as well as supplies she always took with her into the wilderness. Her husband and son were not there, and she guessed that they must have still been out in the plaza, but she shrugged it off, assuring Lyda that it wouldn't be a big deal if she disappeared for a while. With that, they made their way back up the mountain path and out of the Valley.For much of the first hour, Iris tried to ease the tension in Lyda's system by simply asking her what she had been up to since the last time they had seen each other. This only fueled Lyda's stress even more as she finally confessed that she had not felt like herself in years. This caught Iris' attention as she asked when L
Lyda walked over to Iris’ side, her eyes on the chamomile patch when a rattlesnake no more than 24 inches long slithered out. Iris pushed away from the patch as the snake disappeared into the grass."I didn't even hear it rattle," she uttered in shock. "That's unusual." Looking at the bite on the back of her hand, she realized that the snake's venom was undoubtedly in her bloodstream. "I have to hurry," she said as she removed the knapsack from around her waist in which she was carrying her supplies. She was surprised for a second to see that it was partially open. Curious, she thought. She must have forgotten to secure it properly. "Luckily, I always carry with me a draught to counter the effects of venom. I should only need a small dose." She ran her hands through the contents of her bag but began to panic when she couldn't find what she was looking for.
What was meant to be a fun trip to the Valley turned into a nightmare in one day. Adea was more than shaken by her sister’s actions. Manipulating her into doing her bidding or inflicting terrifying dreams upon her in her sleep was one thing, but Adea never thought she would have the capacity to cause her such physical harm.Adea spent the next two days recovering from her injury. By the time her parents arrived at the Valley, she was well enough to leave the campsite, but they could see that something was wrong with her. Still, something in Adea’s mind was keeping her from spilling exactly what Lyda did to her. Fear? Pity? She did not know, but when they pressed her to tell them what happened, all she could say was that it was an accident.Nobody had seen Lyda again until later that day. Adea was apprehensive at first, but like every time some