Duality

part two

Mila felt the eyes on her back as clearly as she felt the moonlight.

The moon shone full above her, reflecting on the surface of the pond she stood in the middle of. Water lapped around her waist, drowning out any sound of approaching footsteps. In-between the ripples, Mila caught glimpses of the woods behind her; even with the illumination of the moon, she couldn't find the lurking creature.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Mila turned in a leisurely circle.

Anything could be out in the woods. Having grown up in the woods, Mila was no stranger to the normal signs of life: rustling foliage, buzzing insects, prowling animals. With the land around the earthen hut she called home always densely overgrown from Mila's powers, she'd seen her fair share of wildlife.

When animals grazed around her, though, she normally didn't feel watched like this.

She'd felt the watchful eyes a few nights ago. With each passing night, they got closer. Another turn in the water, relying on all her senses, and Mila still couldn't detect what watched her. It could be a lost hunter, or one of the many men Anna, her guardian, had introduced Mila to in the past few days.

From her earliest memories, Mila knew two things: one, Anna lived to guide and train Mila to best handle her immortality and powers. Two, one day a man would come to kill Mila, and she had to get to him first. The two were closely related, with all of Anna's actions working toward keeping Mila alive.

Speaking of Anna... Mila could shout. Anna would be in the woods somewhere, probably foraging.

Mila opted for silence. Calling her human guardian felt cowardly.

If she could draw the moon into the sky and make plants grow, surely she could confront something in the woods. Most likely one of the men from the nearby town had gotten lost. Drawing from what she'd been practicing the past few days, Mila called out, "Hello?"

When she met men at the edge of the woods, they usually didn't answer back, too afraid. Then they'd ask a round of predetermined questions, meant to try and seduce her into letting her guard down. She answered no—every single time, no matter the question—just like Anna wanted. Because in Anna's mind, the man that would come for her would try to charm her with his mysterious air, and then slaughter her.

No one responded to her call.

Sinking deeper into the water, Mila whistled low.

Hoof beats sounded not a moment later, one of her white horses nodding into view. This one, Doll, stopped at the edge of the pond, giant neck bending to nibble at Mila's hair. She allowed it, and moved closer to whisper, "Do you sense anything?"

Knowing Doll couldn't verbally respond, Mila watched her ears. They perked in response to Mila's voice, facing forward. And then one swiveled to the left.

Gaze following, Mila stared down a patch of bushes. "There?" she asked. Sinking until the water reached just under her nose, Mila drifted to the other end of the pond, for a closer look. Doll nickered, and Mila silenced her with a look.

"Mila!" Anna, on the other hand, could not be silenced so easily. Mostly because she was blind—meaning looks were lost on her—and also because she was one of the most determined people Mila knew. Not that Mila knew many people—

"Mila!" Anna repeated, making Doll flinch and Mila pop out of the water. Mila's heart raced, and she realized if someone waited for her in the bush, this would be a great time to ambush her.

She waited.

Like the other nights, nothing moved. Whatever watched her was biding its time.

With a sigh, Mila climbed out of the pond and dripped her way to Anna, who struck her usual pose on the rocks: legs spread, arms crossed, face unimpressed. The only thing missing from the look was the intensity of Anna's gaze, which had settled somewhere past Mila. "What were you doing?" she asked when she heard Mila approach.