Chapter 6 Liz
Liz
All I need to do is borrow a cell phone.
Once I’ve looked up the number for Blakfyre Games, we’ll be fine. I can have Norm come meet me anywhere, I bet.
But how am I supposed to get a phone, looking like this? I’m exhausted. I’m scared for my siblings. I’m terrified all the dragons will die, and it’ll be my fault.
And I’m even more scared that I’ll fail in finding humans and they’ll basically attack, only it’ll be all over the world, ensuring humans die by the millions and blessed too. The stakes are so high, and it feels like they have been for months, now. I want to cry.
But I also really, really don’t want to cry in front of Axel. I remember him being so frustrated by the weak and whiny humans, but here I am, bawling all the time. I can’t seem to help it.
I do the best thing I can think of and wrap my oversized white wings around myself like a feathered curtain and try to be as quiet as I can while I have my mental breakdown.
What do we do? Phileas asks. Is she broken?
They could at least ask on a private channel where I can’t hear them.
I’m not sure, Agrippa says. Maybe she’s hungry.
“I’m not hungry.” I clench my jaw, wipe my tears, and force my panicked hysteria down where it belongs, deep inside my gut, motivating me.
I wipe my face on my white tunic. “Freya, you idiot. If you can hear me, shame on you. What kind of woman sends another warrior out into the world in a white tunic?” Even looking down at myself, I can see that it’s already covered with grime.
I must look like a homeless, junkie angel wannabe.
That’s when it hits me.
Dragons have invaded Earth, so I’m sure that the general public is on slightly higher alert than they normally would be, but there have been absolutely zero reports of winged humans.
There have been no Valkyries I’ve even heard of other than me.
Humans out here, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, won’t have even seen a dragon other than the ones on the television.
To them, it must feel mostly surreal, even now.
I bet the preppers have hidden in their bunkers, and the rest of the world’s starting to wonder whether it’s all a conspiracy and the government’s just making it up. That kind of skepticism is just human nature.
Which means, if they see a dingy angel wannabe out here, the most obvious assumption would be that I’m a lunatic, not that I’m connected to the dragon invasion.
I’ve somehow crafted the heaviest, most elaborate wings anyone has ever made for cosplay—that’s all.
As long as they don’t, like, see me flying or something, no one will assume they actually work.
As long as I can avoid some kind of forced inpatient situation, I’ll be fine.
I stand.
You’re done leaking? Azar asks.
I sigh. “For now, anyway.” It’s still so embarrassing, but I square my shoulders and start marching toward civilization.
It takes me about a quarter mile to remember that we’re literally in the middle of the closest mountains and it would take me hours to hike down to Pleasant Grove.
Luckily, Azar has been following me with the stealth of a woodchipper. I’m assuming they all have.
“Hey, you can give me a ride while it’s still dark,” I say, “right?”
Of course, Azar says.
I snort. “Not you. You’re the size of a cruise ship. I’m talking about Agrippa. She’s more travel-sized.”
I’m not letting you go wandering around by yourself.
“Are you worried I’ll alert the local militia and you’ll get attacked?”
Of course not, Azar says. We have your siblings.
And the last time she was with the humans, she attacked them and freed us, Agrippa says. She’s trying to find brights to stave off a war. I trust her.
She’s still too important to risk, Azar says. What if the humans recognize you and attack you? With your fluffy wings and tiny swords, they could kill you easily.
“Not a single human here will be a threat,” I say. “Trust me.”
I don’t trust your judgment on this matter.
“It was so much easier when you could shift into a human form,” I say.
I’m not concerned about making things easy for you.
I can’t tell whether Azar’s making a joke. It would have been a joke, before he lost his memory, but I think he’s being serious. “Do you want me to have a real chance with this? Or not?”
Azar frowns.
“I won’t be going that far.” I point at the slight light over the other side of the mountains.
“Hikers come up here around dawn, or I’d let you fly me over, but I can’t risk them noticing you and calling the cavalry.
You’re bright red and massive, and it’s hard to miss your magnificence.
” A little flattery never hurts, but even spreading it on thick, it takes me five more minutes to convince him to stay put.
“Could you at least switch to Axel? He’s less recognizable.”
He doesn’t even argue that point.
I can sense him better when he’s Axel, too, Agrippa says. When we finally head out, we’re not even flying. Axel insists it’s less visible and safer for us to slither through the mountainside.
It’s kind of nice to lie on something—I won’t lie.
I even close my eyes for a minute.
It’s less that I’m exhausted, though I am, and more that for the first time since being locked in that hanging cage, I’m away from Axel.
I couldn’t have done this on her before—with her wings, she’s far easier to grip.
Snake-form-earth dragons are usually the hardest to ride, like Gordon, but with wings, I have a joint to hold.
Her movements are smooth and fast, and we make good time.
The trip over the mountain’s actually pretty nice.
It’s cold, though. I’m lucky we’re not buried in snow.
Mount Timpanogos is as pretty as Norm always said it was, but it’s colder than I imagined.
I crouch as closely to Agrippa as I can.
I have no idea how the dragons stay so warm, but I’m grateful for it.
When we reach Grove Creek, I direct her to follow it until we reach the reservoir.
The sun’s barely starting to be visible over the horizon now, and I’m forced to stifle a yawn.
You’re tired. You need to sleep.
I shake my head. “No time. I have to get to my friend as early as I can. We can’t waste a second.”
Why do you believe your friend will help us?
It’s an interesting question. Why do I?
“Norm’s kind of a dork,” I say. “Which means nothing to you, but the way I met him was. . .he was super into something called Live Action Roleplay Games—LARP for short.”
I have no idea what that is.
“It’s a game where humans dress up and pretend they live in a world that’s not ours.”
I’m still confused.
“So am I, believe me.” I can’t help my smile. “Anyway, Norm wanted to learn how to fight with a wooden sword on his quests. He tried a few places, but eventually, they referred him to the gym I was training at.”
For what?
“Norm was a little. . .” How would the dragons describe it? “A little fluffy. He never felt like he fit in with the other humans in the games.”
He ate too much. This, I’ve seen.
“It’s not just that—the other guys he played these games with thought he was kind of a joke.
He wanted to be a cleric, which is like a religious priest or something, but they were supposed to be warriors too, and Norm wasn’t much of a warrior.
He worked all day at a job he hated—he was a plumber, and it paid well.
So one day, he took the money he’d saved and took a vacation where he came out to Houston to learn to use a sword properly.
He wanted to show them he wasn’t someone to laugh at. ”
He wanted to become a warrior.
“Yes.” I should have led with that. The blessed love their warriors. “Exactly.”
And did you teach him to be a warrior?
“I was like twelve years old,” I say.
How many years are you now?
“Almost twenty-three,” I say.
You haven’t seen this friend in a long time?
“He came out for a week of vacation almost every year after that,” I say.
“That’s how I know the name of his gaming store.
After he figured out how to handle those wooden swords, I guess he became kind of like the warrior-cleric of the nerds, and Pleasant Grove is chock full of dorky people like him. ”
I don’t understand ‘nerds.’
“Me either, sister.”
We’re at the reservoir, and I can’t help looking around and taking it in as the sun rises behind us. It’s serene and beautiful in a way not many things have been for me in months.
“I need to leave you here,” I say. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
You want me to wait?
It pains me to say this, because it’ll take me forever to get back to her where Axel and Phileas are, but she can’t wait here. As the sun comes up more fully and people start percolating, someone will spot her for sure. “You need to go back to Axel. I’ll find you soon.”
How?
“I’ll get back to where we landed. You stay there, hidden in the curve of the mountain.”
Agrippa looks at me for a moment, her eyes studying mine. Be safe, warrior friend.
“I’m sorry about Gaia,” I say. “I can’t believe she’s gone. I’m really, really sad about it. I liked her a great deal.”
She was a beautiful blessed.
“She was,” I say. “And I mean to make sure we don’t lose any more.”
I believe you, she says. Don’t let us down.
No pressure at all.
As I walk away, I can’t help checking over my shoulder.
The sun’s rising quickly now, and Agrippa’s still watching me.
But when I walk another dozen or so paces and turn again, she’s finally gone.
I square my shoulders and continue onward, almost grateful for the miserable cold biting at my exposed skin. It’s keeping me awake and alert.
Which is why, when the truck screeches to a stop on a small residential street, I’m ready to deal with the driver.
“You okay?” The man rubs his eyes. “You look. . .cold.”
He doesn’t even mention my wings. Off to a good start.
“Uh, I went for a hike,” I say. “But I got in a fight with my boyfriend, and I told him to go away.” I shrug. “He listened, and then I realized that was stupid.”