The Lunaris moths and Stone’s lips on hers.
The unexpected warmth of Stone’s jacket on her and chimes.
Then she was here. How was she here? A sharp pain erupted behind her eyes then a trickle of warmth ran down to her lips. She wiped the blood from her nose.
Blood.
The boy.
The Strix.
“Aesira,” a voice called, one she knew she recognized but couldn’t quite place. She scanned the meadow, keeping her feet planted in the cold dirt. “Aesira,” the same voice called. “It’s time to come home, Aesira.”
Home.
No. She couldn’t be home, when the last place she stood was the ridge.
“We live in a land of monsters.”Stone’s voice washed over her.
“This is a dream.” A breeze lifted the ends of her hair and a bright, purple moth drifted past. “This is a dream,” she said louder now. Convincing herself and anyone–anything–else that might be lurking.
A few loose leaves rustled up from the ground. Then a distantdrip, drip, drip.
The sound filled her with memories of her childhood. Of Kamari and Eldrin. A life that was now so far away.
Drip, drip, drip.
Blood, from the Strix. From the boy.
Drip, drip, drip.
Piscis Spring. The sound was Piscis Spring.
Drip, drip, drip.
The voice, the voice was–
“Come home, Aesira.”
Eldrin.
Another jolt of pain burst behind her eyes, white and blinding. All of the memories she’d suppressed, all of the moments of her childhood she hid away crashed through her like a hammer through glass, the jagged edges cutting and slicing and letting out all the things she did not want to remember.
Her brother and the Strix and the way he fell down, down, down.
She snapped her eyes open and watched the water ripple over a few large rocks in the spring. She needed to move. Find a way out. Find the others.
Her dress dragged behind her as she climbed down the hill, grounding herself in the grit of the rocks and sound of the water lapping the shore. It splashed against her bare feet, cool and bitter. She stared out at the horizon.
A flurry of blue pulled her attention as another Lunaris moth fluttered by.
“Only a dream,” she said again.
There wouldn’t be moths here. I wouldn’t hear Eldrin’s voice. This is only a dream.
“Now how do I wake up?” She took a tentative step into the water and the bright sunlight grayed out, flashes of teeth andblood coming from every angle. She tumbled backwards, out of the water, and the sun returned, the faint sound of birdsong, the meadow, untouched. Breathing heavily, Aesira stood and dusted off her dress.
“Aesira.” The same voice from before called to her. She closed her eyes, teeth biting into her tongue.Only a dream.
