“You’re not Bloodbonded to us,” I tell her firmly but with compassion, because I know how much she wants to donate her power to help us and keep her brother safe. “We need you as the outside woman. We need you to watch out for our physical bodies while we’re in a trance. Because we can’t do that. And if anything comes calling while we’re in there—we’re toast. In some ways, your position guarding us is the most important of all.”
Lærke says nothing, only crosses her arms as she sets her pretty lips hard. I know she’ll do as I’ve asked, however; though defiance glitters in her lovely lavender eyes, understanding does also, that we’d be goners if anything accosted us while we’re far out in the Void during our Bloodwalking trance.
“Do you know how all this is going to go?” Ström asks me as he massages Lærke’s shoulder, and she gradually thaws.
“We prepare the proper sigil-container, we donate blood, then we fuck,” I say succinctly, before glancing at Baldur. “Once we’re into the Bloodwalking proper, we first break the veil around me in the Void, if we can. Then we use my power to locate memories of the Black Dragon Five from those who knew them in life. Then Baldur collects those memories with his power, imbuing them into the Soulstone via his sigilwright ability, to collect a full imprint of each of the Five’s souls.”
“The Five can only be completely severed from the Black Dragon by us making a precise sigil to ritually entrap their souls away from the creature,” Baldur adds as he glances around my drakes. “We can only draw them out of their wight-bones into the stone if we have that soul-signatureexactlycorrect in the runes I will imbue into the object. Which is what our Bloodwalking ceremony is for.”
“Once the Bloodwalking is finished, we recuperate if we need to, and then we travel around and find each wight, and fight them,” Bjorn says as he crosses his arms, pure gold flashing in his battle-ready eyes. “We weaken them enough that each soul of the Five feels Baldur’s Soulstone is a stronger home for them—and they transfer into the stone. Or we kill each wight… whichever comes first.”
“Easier said than done,” Ström scoffs as he looks at Bjorn. “Or have you forgotten that the last time we came up against those wights atUnhaemmerten, we couldn’t do shit to them?”
“One problem at a time,” I assure Ström as I reach out, taking his hand.
“Once we’ve trapped the souls of the Five,” Baldur continues, “we finally shatter the Soulstone during a special Bloodwalking ceremony to release the Five’s souls back to the Void of Ancestors. Where they will remain, their tether to this world broken—their souls no longer available to return to the Black Dragon. Weakening it tremendously, with its Five original creators gone, unable to return to it.”
“And maybe giving us some hope of bringing it down,” Mikkel says finally, finishing up our plan with a wry snort.
“It’s one in a million, what we’re doing here tonight, and in the coming days,” I agree as I take Baldur’s hand. I feel him pour his deep calm through our group as I look at each of my drakes, plus Lærke. “I couldn’t hope for a more valiant group of drakainas and drakes to be doing this with, though. I’m beyond grateful for each of you. I hope you know that. Whatever happens… I’m here for it. I will not let you down. And I want you each to know… that I love you, all. To the depths of my soul and back.”
As I bare my deepest heart to each of my drakes, and Lærke, I feel my love go out to them. It floods along the paths of our bonds, even intoLærke; as each of my drakes draws a deep breath, I feel their love flood back into me, as well.
Because we all know it’s do or die time; we may never get another chance to sayI love youto each other, if something goes wrong with our extremely high-level Bloodwalking right now and one or more of us don’t make it back.
It’s a risk we have to take, however, to bring down the insane behemoth we’re up against. Each of us knows that, as we prepare for what might very well be the biggest ceremony of our lives.
And might mean our deaths, if anything goes amiss.
I don’t want to think about the sheer number of thoseanythings, as I gaze around my drakes and give them each a smile now. Because the truth is, those incalculable risks are just too great. We’re flying by the roots of our wings, and we have to stay agile to make it through even the tiniest part of this.
“I am a leaf on the wind...” Ström quotes the movieSerenitynow, based on the sci-fi showFirefly.It’s sad and makes my heart grip, even as it makes me smile. Because like the character Wash who gave that quote, we might not be coming back from everything we’re taking on next.
None of us.
As we all take deep breaths now, we know the time has come. Everything is set for the ritual; we will not get a better moment to begin, and delaying for our own comfort might just mean the decimation of our people, as the Black Dragon rampages.
Blood Dragons are not strangers to death, however; I feel all my drakes and Lærke steel ourselves now, accepting that final endpoint, which is just the counterpoint to life. Because if we die now, we all go to the Void of Ancestors, where we all came from, and to which we all return.
Only, if we’re devoured by the Black Dragon, we don’t get that chance.
To be with each other beyond death—in the place of our beloved family, Ancestors, and friends.
“Time to get going,” Bjorn says like a war-general now as he surveys us. We all know the drill; as each of us moves to the food table, getting a few last bites to fortify us, plus water, I feel how each of my drakes eats only the best delicacies, their favorites.
It’s like a last meal before the gallows as I pop a few dates in my mouth and chew. Then it’s time to begin, as Lærke embraces her brother and takes up her position by the food as our lookout.
Everyone else migrating to the bed.
Baldur brings theeternalluriumstone to the bed with us, so it can be ready when the ceremony begins. As for the bed, it’s the biggest one we could find in the underground citadel, and the most intact.
A gargantuan beast ofsilberskraewith four towering posts carved with dragons, it looks like something fit for an emperor with its wealth of black silk sheets, a dark plum duvet, and embroidered pillows slung all over it, thanks to Mikkel.
We’ve set it up in the middle of the cavern, over the gargantuan sigil. The bed had to be positioned right over the crack, to be in the exact center of the space as Baldur instructed; I feel that dark doom energy curl around me now, shivering over my skin as my drakes and I assemble by the bedside to get this party started.
I can’t focus on that now, however; forcing myself to come back to the present, I hold our agenda of hope in my heart now, as I stare into the eyes of each of my drakes. Bjorn has brought a small ceremonial silver and gold stylus with him, plus a matching bowl. He moves around as we stand by the bedside, sticking each of my drakes with the little silver-gold pin.
Catching their donation of blood in the small bowl.
