What can they do?
Liz shakes her head.“I’m not sure.I wasn’t there long.But I was there as like, a planted weapon for the æsir, like a kamikaze or something.”
A what?
“In human history, the Japanese culture would sometimes send warriors in planes to attack their enemies...and they’d know they were going to die.But they would kill more of the enemy that way, and they were trained and willing to do that.”
The person who you saw in your dream was sent to die?
“I was sent to bond this Freja, who was the daughter of the vanir’s leader Bjorn, and I’m supposed to kill myself when the æsir have a chance to attack Freja.They think if they can take her down—” Liz freezes, her wings beating slowly in place.“It’s actually almost the same thing Gideon did.They wanted a human who was bonded to a vanir to die in order to weaken them at the right moment—so they could defeat the vanir.”
Surely you didn’t think your miserable friend was terribly clever?I’m sure that’s been a common theme throughout the existence of this bond.But knowing the weakness, why would this strong vanir bond anyone?Especially a human who had come from the enemy.
“I’m not sure, but Freja had lost her prior bonded, and it seemed like she had to bond another at some point, like without them...”Liz begins flying again, her brow furrowed.“What if theyhadto bond them for the same reason that you do?”She spins around to face me.
I nearly run into her.In order to eat, you mean?
“It makes sense.”She’s nodding.“Look, the humans are earth children, right?And the blessed or vanir or whatever, they’re sky children.What if they needed that bond with the earth children, or they couldn’t process sustenance from earth?What if—” She slows down even more, her hands clenching at her side.
Then your decision in the volcano didn’t cause this change for us—it simply restored a situation that was already in existence before.
“The other dragons couldn’t consume earth food before, right?You could just eat the earth dragons, and the reason that wouldn’t work in the long run is because the earth dragons couldn’t reproduce anymore...”She frowns.“So it is kind of still my fault, but I think we’re missing something important.”
Let’s focus on finding humans today.At least that’s something we can control.
I watch Liz carefully as we reach the top of the mountain where Hyperion had us gather before leaving.Euphrasia’s here, but she looks exhausted.We need to find her a human to bond soon.
Some of you are here because you’re not doing well,Hyperion says.But most of you are here because we’ve now spent two days purloining humans from various places, and we expect that very soon, they’ll be waiting for us to attack.You willnot hesitateto attack, to defend, or to bond humans if that becomes necessary.Hyperion turns to glare at me.Liz is not your leader.She’s not evenbondedto your leader.You will not listen to her.You’ll listen only to the Recovery Leader.
“After that rousing pep talk, I’m sure you’re all excited to get started,” Liz says.“Thank you so much, Hyperion.”
I think she enjoys making him angry.
“Now, if you’ll all listen clearly, we can get those of you who are struggling a bond right away.With the bond to a human, you’ll be able to process food for yourself here.”She smiles.“And even though I’m not your leader, I have been coordinating the effort to find humans who are willing to work with you.If you’ll listen to me today, I think you’ll find this to be an enjoyable process all around.”She snorts.“Don’t forget, kids.Onlyyoucan prevent forest fires.”
Hyperion looks as lost as I am, so I’m guessing it’s not something I’ve just forgotten.What?
“Never mind,” Liz says.“That’s just a phrase from another useless pep talk they used to give us when we were kids.”She waves.“Go ahead and open the portal.We’ll hope for the best and expect the worst.”
We travel to a place called Oregon first today, a park just outside a small town called Grants Pass.There aren’t as many brights as usual, but we still manage to find fifty-four.
“Euphrasia.”Now that Liz has done her presentation for the humans, ensuring they’re all okay with leaving their homes and families and they’re coming of their own volition, she waves down my old nanny.“Can we talk?”
Euphrasia seems to like her.She’s smiling, which is rare for all the blessed, but especially for my old guardian.She wasn’t friendly to most of the other blessed.
“Azar tells me you were alive before the blessed left Earth the first time.”
She nods.
I can’t help sliding a bit closer, hoping neither of them notice.I really want to know what Liz asks, but I also want to hear what Euphrasia says about the time before.When I asked, she clammed up every time, but Liz saying that she asked Freya bad questions has me wondering whether I might have done the same.
“I’ve been having some strange dreams, and I’d like to ask you some questions, but I’m hoping you can keep the things I ask to yourself.”
I’m quite good with secrets.
“Yes, I know you are, which is the reason I’m comfortable asking you.”Liz glances my way.“Can you make sure no one else is close enough to hear us?”
I incline my head slightly.My presence alone is usually more than sufficient, but I’m more than capable of glaring them farther away.
