Heart Asunder (Dear Dahlia Season 2)

Chapter 8

"Are we near the Sikurzoi?" Dahlia asked.
"You've said that for the past few days now," Saida groaned. Dahlia felt her collarbone where her necklace used to sit, then dropped her hand.

"I just want to know so we can get clear of the First Army once and for all."
Saida sighed. Dahlia didn't glance at her like she'd asked, but as the moments wore on, she wished she'd had, if only to check if Saida was alright.

"I don't think Mal would be against grisha. Since Alina is now."
Saida shook her head. "She must have suppressed her powers. Or cheated on the test."
"Or maybe she just thought she was otkazat'sya," Dahlia shrugged. "We thought that you were too, before..." she trailed off, then shook her head. She didn't want to think about the incident that had caused her ten years of loneliness right now. "How did she cheat?"
"Must have hid," Saida replied.

Dahlia frowned. Saida glanced at her. "You've gone all quiet."
"That's it! Our parents, they...they hid." Dahlia turned to her sister. "That's how they avoided the test."
"What did you think they did, mutilate themselves?" Saida asked.
"Maybe." Dahlia paused. "But no, hiding...hiding would have worked well for Papa. So they probably did that."

Dahlia tried to scramble together a thought. Her hand had gone funny again, so she started to repeatedly force it into a fist and uncurl it. Saida took out the compass. Dahlia wanted to demand that she give it to her, but with her lack of spatial awareness, she was sure they'd get lost, so she decided against it.

They lapsed into silence again. Dahlia glanced around. Her eyes landed on an unfamiliar figure to her right.

"Get behind-" Dahlia started, but Saida grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, making her stumble. "Keep walking," the heartrender muttered. But Dahlia was frozen.

It all came back now. She was eight years old again, seeing Saida raise her hand, feeling the locking of her limbs, only hearing her jagged breathing.

"Dahlia? Dahlia?" Saida called.

Dahlia's mind raced. Think of anything. The inn, she thought desperately. The Shadow Girl.

It didn't work. Dahlia could only remember the sensation of falling backwards, unable to stop it.

"Dahlia!"

Saida was looking at her, hands on her arms, concern written over her face. Dahlia pushed Saida away from her. Her sister stumbled back. "Stay away from me," she gasped. 

"Huh," a voice said. Dahlia looked up, eyes wide, at the Ravkan soldier she'd spotted before. "Am I interrupting something? She hurt you?" he asked Dahlia, nodding to Saida. Saida tensed. Dahlia straightening up, adopting a casual stance. "No, no." Dahlia picked up a branch and a twig, and started rubbing them together. "Just random stuff." The tip of the branch caught fire. "Um..." With that, Dahlia lobbed the branch at the soldier, who didn't have time to jump out of the way. The now fiery tip caught his shoe, and he screamed.

"Saints!" Saida gasped.
"Go, go!" Dahlia pushed Saida forward. The two sisters sprinted away and rounded a corner just as other First Army soldiers arrived to the man's aid.

"What were you thinking?" Saida hissed. "You could have set the whole forest on fire!"
"Oh. I did not think of that," Dahlia admitted.
Saida sighed. "Whatever. At least they'll think twice before hurting grisha now." Dahlia saw Saida look at her. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I...I'm fine. It's fine. Sorry about earlier."

Dahlia saw Saida was about to speak, so she turned around and began to walk briskly, pushing the event from her mind. "I miss that inn," she muttered. If Saida had heard her, she chose not to reply. And for once, Dahlia didn't mind the silence.