“You’re a little young to be my mother, aren’t you?”
“Thanks for noticing.” She winks. “But really, I enjoy your mind. Your—let’s call it innocence. Your heart. I enjoy who you are behind the mask. A mask you have begun to remove.”
“Only begun?” I ask with a grin.
She splashes water into my face.
“Cocky. Like your mother.”
“But not cocky enough to call myself a Volva.”
“You are on the path.”
I sigh.
“I don’t even think I could enchant a mosquito to drink my blood.”
Ylvin laughs, throwing her head back.
“I know someone you’ve enchanted who wants to drink from your cup.”
“What?” I raise an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean,” says Ylvin with a grin.
“Stop, I don’t think Ari wants?—”
“In any case,” says Ylvin louder than me, holding up a hand to interrupt me. “I think you are ready to enchant.”
She dips under the water and pulls up a rock, dropping it in my hand. It’s almost round, with a smooth surface worn down by the river’s flow over years and years.
“Let this be your first,” she says as she wipes water from her face. “It’s fitting.”
“How can I?—”
“Stop thinking, start doing. This rock has been in the river longer than we have lived. The same river that almost ended your life.”
“How do you… How do you know?”
“No matter. Focus, girl.” She brushes my question off with a lazy wave of her hand. “Last night, you were cold. The river is cold against your skin now. You know that.”
“I do, but?—”
“Stop thinking. Feel the cold, then transfer it to this rock. End of story.”
“That’s just silly. How can I?—”
“End of fucking story, Kilda. Stop arguing and do it.”
She flashes her teeth. I’m unsure if it’s a smile or a threat.
Last night, I almost died. The cold swept over me. Thrashed me. Now, I live. I feel wisps of currents, cooling my skin, in a constant battle with my body’s heat.
Inside and outside. I know that. My skin tingles. My hand vibrates. I close my eyes. Darkness. Streaks of light bounce around. Pulsating in and out of a nonexistent space.
The stone grows cold in my hand. It’s happening. The smooth pebble becomes so cold it creates a burning sensation against my palm. A wave washes down my neck.
“It’s working!” I shout with a massive grin.
