The Corn Maiden, Chapter 1, part 2
Distance muffled the sound, so Dindi tilted her head to listen. Definitely a woman’s scream, coming from far away and further up, in the wild hills above Lost Swan Clan’s territory. A faery clan, extinct now, had once lived near Swan Rock. Their vengeful hexes haunted many caves and cliffs. More recently, Dindi’s grandmother, Mad Maba, had danced herself to death in those same hills. A cursed region indeed – which made it the perfect place for Dindi to dance with the fae in secret. She was the only one imprudent enough to go there. At least, she had been up until now. The woman screamed again, in pain now. Dindi ran uphill toward the sound. I hope I can reach her in time to help, whoever she is. Cultivated fields gave way to wild slopes of aspen and pine. Here one found no footpaths, only deer trails. In places, she had to avoid tangles of thorny brush, precipitous ditches, or bald patches of scree. She reached Swan Rock, an odd boulder as big as a house. The rock seemed to stretch...