I shifted into human form frequently?He arches one incredulous eyebrow.
“Well, maybe notoften, but fairly often.”
He stares at me for a moment, but then he shifts.He’s still way, way bigger than I am, especially since his upgrade, but he’s not towering over me by quite so much.As if he actually cares what I think, he drops down on the ground, his enormous head actually below mine.Happy?
Not even close, but I don’t bother saying that.“Freya asked me to choose—three times, in fact.Each time she didn’t just ask me to choose something in words.She shoved me into real scenarios, and she made me pick how to handle them.At first, I didn’t even realize I was in a scene that didn’t exist, but I figured it out.”
He looks confused, and I can’t blame him.I was confused too, and I was there.“She made me pick something pretty big at the end.”I cringe.“You had died—as Azar, and then as Axel you were being destroyed.”My voice cracks ondied, and I want to curl up and hide.“And—it was my fault both times.”
Hyperion said.
“Of course he told you.”I kick at a rock, and it goes flying, but the wind that whips by me in that moment is terribly icy, and I curl inward.
Axel’s head rises, and suddenly the air around us warms.
“You just used your flame powers in your earth form.Is that new?”
I’ve never tried before today.
Because he was hiding his abilities until now.That just reminds me that he also divulged his most dangerous secret to try to keep me safe, right before we were hurled into the volcano.
“The thing is, I felt really bad about all of it—trying to get you to stop hurting the humans and getting Azar killed.Having this weird connection with the volcano that got you chucked by your own brother into the lava.Both things were my fault, and if I’d been able to change them, I would have.I didn’t ever mean for you to be hurt.I was trying to keep the dragons and humans from fighting, and someone I trusted...”I close my eyes.Thinking about Gideon still hurts.“The person I trusted the most, before I met you, betrayed me.”
That’s why you should never trust anyone.
“I trusted you.”And Axel trusted me with his secret, but I don’t say that.He’d just say it was a weak moment—a mistake.He might not even be wrong.
Trusting me was stupid,he says.I don’t even remember you.
Not gonna lie; that one stings.Because...“That’s my fault, too.”I clench my hands.“I made a deal with Freya.She said she’d restore you—Azar would live again—and she’d strengthen the earth blessed so they’d stop being eaten.They’d be stronger, and they’d get wings.”
But...?
“I was watching as you and Gordon and Rufus were being eaten by the horned devil things.”
You made the deal for us?
“Yes, she saved the three of you by making the earth blessed like the other dragons—you can’t reproduce any more, but you’re stronger, more powerful, and you can fly.”I wince.“She didn’t mention that you wouldn’t be able to eat anymore.”
You traded the lives ofthreeof us for the future of all the blessed?
In a large red poof, he shifts into Azar, and heroars, and then seconds later, fire erupts upward.As he drops his head, still spewing flame, he melts the partially broken down rock underneath us into bright red, flowing lava.
Without a second thought, I explode upward, winging my way back and away from the destruction.I knew he’d be upset, but this is excessive.He flames the earth for long enough that the lava flow reaches the ocean.
“Sure.It’s probably a great time to blow all your power in one spot,” I say.“Since you can’t really replenish that energy by, say, eating...”
He spins around, eyes flashing.You’re a half-wit.
“That might be a little harsh.Freya clearly tricked me.”
Didn’t you know why we came here?
He has me there.I did know why they wanted the heart—that they were hoping to restore the very thing I traded away.I should come clean about all of it while he’s already this angry.I should tell him I traded his memories of me for the return of Azar, but I can’t bring myself to do it.I can’t tell him that I ignored his choice.I can’t admit that I gave up on us, even though he won’t understand or even care about it now.
It matters tome.
Which is exactly the point.It’s only hurting me.I’d probably do the same thing again, as long as it contained the misery to me.
