Eva reached her hand out, wanting to see if it was as thick as it looked.
"Do not."
Eva paused, taking a look at the girl.
Mist's face was calm, but there was a wariness as she stared into the mist like it was alive and might decide to eat them.
Mist's eyes focused on Eva. "It would be unwise to tempt it."
Eva withdrew her hand, giving the wall a look of newfound respect. If Mist thought it was dangerous, it probably was.
Mist was different. Special. Like Shea—and Eva.
The Trateri referred to people like them asmyein. Loosely translated, it meant special.
Different, was what Eva called it.
Their abilities differed, but the one thing they all held in common was the way those skills set them apart from other humans.
Mist's talents were a little more unusual than most. She was what Eva privately called a dreamwalker, able to visit another's dream. She'd done it once before when Eva was in trouble.
The thought spurred Eva into awareness. Something was wrong. Everything about this was off.
"Why are you in my dream?" Eva murmured to herself.
She stared unseeing into the white. It wasn't until right this second that she realized how lost she'd been.
Nearly taken by a nebulous summons she could still feel pounding beneath her skin. Its hum could easily disorient her again if she let herself fall too deeply into its sound, stealing her thoughts as she became an empty shell of herself.
Why, was the question. To disorient her? Confuse her?
It had done both before Mist's arrival. That begged the question of how long Eva had been standing there. And what was happening to her body outside of this place.
Eva's face was grave as she looked down at the girl. "It seems I owe you a thank you."
Mist slipped her small hand into Eva's, the touch banishing the panic that had been bubbling.
Eva gave her a threadbare smile. "Mist in front of the mist. Appropriate."
Mist's adult-like expression eased, the child she really was making an appearance. "I wonder if my parents had any inkling of my future and whose daughter I'd end up being."
"It almost makes one believe in fate," Eva said.
There was a certain poetry about a pathfinder who had a talent for navigating the mysterious and sometimes deadly mist, ending up adopting a girl with the same name.
"Or an unseen hand manipulating the board." Mist raised an eyebrow at Eva's startled glance. "You don't believe that?"
Eva didn't know what she believed. Whether she thought there were higher powers above or below, gods for lack of a better word, with an invested stake in this world. Eva had always been too busy surviving to care about such things.
"Why are you here?" Eva found herself asking.
"You were lost."
Fair enough.
Mist reached up to touch Eva's cheek with a tiny hand, her expression serious. "You must be careful from here on out. Your gifts are a strength, but they are also an avenue from which to attack."
Fear threatened to suck Eva under. She'd always considered her mind sacrosanct. She could feel others pain or joy, hear their thoughts, but she'd always been aware of where the barrier ended.
