Duality

part eighteen

Mila had the entire walk back to collect her thoughts before facing Anna, but she hadn't made any progress by the time she reached the pond. Passing her favorite spot up, she wandered into the woods, where they'd made the pit.

Even if he had her powers, the water would be his downfall. Mila regretted not teaching him how to swim in the week they spent together.

Moving anything now would risk Anna stumbling right into the pit. Knowing that, Mila still moved one row of the boulders into the water. At his height, he might be able to stand on them, even with the water level displacing. If he couldn't, he might be able to reach the free spot in the ledge, now.

In the hut, Anna stirred. Mila's senses were hyperaware of her now, a combination of the cuts and Ashton's story.

She held her ground as Anna approached, probably hearing the shifting boulders. "Be careful," Mila called out when she was close enough. "There's a gap."

"He must have found out."

Mila let the absent Ashton take the fall for her handiwork.

"Speaking of, where is he?" Mila turned to take in Anna, standing with her legs splayed and her arms crossed, looking like she owned the place. "Did you not manage to get him back?"

"He must have known," Mila shrugged.

Anna's hair fell into her eyes. "You were gone for a while."

Last time Anna had noticed how long Mila had been gone, she'd ranted about Mila's impurity. To end that topic before it began, Mila offered, "He told me everything." Knowing how Anna would puff up, Mila added, "You were right."

Genuine glee spread over Anna's face, even partially obscured by her hair. She swept the strands away, smiling as she came closer to Mila. "Of course I was. What did he say?"

"We can only really die when there's a full moon exactly at the middle of the sky." Mila struggled to remember everything else he'd come up with. "We have to be kept on dirt without a hint of foliage. Then, all of our blood has to spill into the earth."

"There's no incantation?" Anna asked.

Mila couldn't tell if she joked or not, so she made something up. "You have to bask in the moonlight and ask it for the powers to flow into your body." After a moment, Mila said, "I guess in my case it would be the sun."

Nodding, Anna said, "That sounds about right." Her smile grew wider, if possible. "I can't believe the day's finally come."

She reached for Mila's shoulders in excitement. If she'd forgotten the damage she'd dealt to Mila, she remembered the second her hand landed on smooth skin. Mila knew because the pads of her fingers skimmed in a circle, searching. "What's this?"

"I healed myself after," Mila lied.

"You've gotten stronger." There was an edge to Anna's voice that Mila couldn't quite place. "How did he get away from you?"

Trying to think of an easy story, Mila said, "I wasn't healed in time. He ran, and I couldn't chase." She tried to speak as neutrally as Ashton had when discussing Anna, but a part of her hoped enough bitterness leaked through that Anna might apologize.

Of course, she didn't. "That gives us time to fix the pit, at least," Anna said, pulling away from Mila to rub her hands together. "Then we'll cut you up a little and send you back out."

"What?"

Mila had known it was a possibility if Anna thought it the best way, but she thought Ashton escaping from her weakened state might change something. Or that maybe Anna would understand Mila didn't enjoy getting cut up every day.