"Are you sure Souki? You know we're not supposed to go past the river."

"There's nothing left for us, our home is gone. We don't have a choice Tristan. Let's go! We have to move faster."

Souki was always the leader, naturally being the oldest sister. Tristen always listened to his big sisters, Souki and Shasi. It had been just the three of them for as long as he could remember, until the last Long Sun when Shasi crossed the river and never came back. She said she had to gp and begged us to go with her. She said that mother was calling her. Tristan knew better than to think they had a mom, and that she was calling for Shasi to cross the Edge River. That was forbidden. Shasi had been unwell. Nightmares plagued her even while she was awake. The other people in our village only thought less of the three children because of this. And in some ways their lives had become easier with Shasi gone. But Tristan tried not to think like that. He missed his sister, but mostly he missed who she was before the Long Sun with nightmares.

"Okay Tristen, I see light ahead. There! Past the trees, there's a valley. Do you see it?" Souki kneeled down on a boulder overlooking the forest ahead. Tristan stood a few steps behind her, he had been looking back towards the village. "What is it? Souki asked.

"I'm tired. I want to go back home." tears began to well up in Tristan's eyes.

Souki walked over to Tristan and set her hands on his shoulders. "Look at me. There is nothing back at the village for us. We can't go back."

"Why?" Tristan was confused and frustrated with Souki. He wondered why she was leading them so far away from home and why they crossed the Edge River.

"Listen." Souki lowered down to meet his eyes. "The people there.. they.. they don't want us to live there anymore. We need to go somewhere they won't find us. They'll never cross the river. But now that we have crossed, we can't stop. We have to find somewhere to rest, something to eat. Do you understand?"

Tristan nodded his head and wiped his tears onto his sleeves.

"Okay, we should keep going. Do you see the light down below past the trees in the valley there?"

Tristan kneeled down on the boulder with Souki, her hand still rested on his back. She knew she had to be strong enough for both if them. "Okay buddy, let's see what's down there."

Souki lead the was through the trees. They had been walking for what felt like hours. Strangely they hadn't seen any animals since before they crossed the Edge River. It was a new feeling for her not to know what to expect. She always had a plan. Right now, they only plan she had was to keep them alive, to keep Tristan alive. She couldn't bare losing her little brother after what happened with Shasi.

There was a small part of Souki that wondered what would have happened if they had all crossed together. Legend said only death awaited those who crossed the Edge River. That no one who crossed had even been able to come back. Legend said that they were never seen again. Souki and Shasi knew this to be true. There mother had crossed when the two girls were around eight years years old. Tristan was just a baby. That was nearly 10 years ago. The villagers said their mother was mad and driven by grief. She had visions of her husband, Souki's father. The villagers said she crossed the river to join him in death.

After Shasi crossed last Long Sun, the villagers began to be more hostile around Souki and Tristan. Some would say that their family was cursed, and that they would bring darkness over the village. Souki knew it was time to leave. Because Souki was also starting to dream while she was awake.

They were nearing the flickering lights beyond the trees, when suddenly the floating bugs of light started to surround them and light the way. No, wait there were they not bugs, they were fairies. Tristan smiled, they were friendly and seemed to have a calming effect on the air around them. Almost a trance like effect. And then they swarmed together into a silhouette of a person. This fairy person reached out with their hand and beckoned for Souki and Tristan to join them.

A humming and melodic voice sounded from the swarm of fairies as they began to speak in unison "My children, you've finally made it. We have been waiting for you"