Chapter 20 Liz
Liz
All the information the nerds who joined us gathered on my mom was wrong.
Like, dead wrong.
The execution wasn’t happening at noon, for one.
It wasn’t in Iceland, either. When we portal into the camp where I was being held. . .it’s empty.
“Uh.” I land. “So.”
Hyperion lands beside me. I’m assuming this isn’t what we expected.
“I mean, we probably should have expected it.” I sigh. “I kind of figured it would be a trap, but I should also have considered that they’d feed us false information.”
So they can trap us?
I look around. If this is a trap, it’s not a very quick-to-spring one. I take off flying around the very empty city of Reykjavik, wondering whether something might come to mind.
Blessed aren’t being held in Borgarnes.
Looks like that was also a trick. My mother’s not in Reykjavik. No one is.
“What now?” I land on the roof of the Harpa Concert Hall, according to the undamaged signage, and overlook the ocean. The waves are crashing loudly below, and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more lost.
And cold.
Without Azar by my side, it’s very, very cold.
At least, until Hyperion lands beside me, warming the air either intentionally or with his presence. You can’t wander off. Even if he’s upset, if you’re harmed, Azar will try to kill me.
“Why haven’t you bonded a human yet, Hyperion?”
He frowns.
“You better not be thinking of bonding Coral.” I lean closer. “Didn’t you hear that my swords pierce dragonhide?”
You threw one into me. I remember.
I cringe. “Forgot about that. Sorry.”
You’re not sorry.
“I’m not, no. You were about to chuck me into a volcano. You know, you really have no one to blame but yourself for the earth blessed glow-up and the needing-humans thing.”
I don’t blame you. He’s staring off at the waves, at least as forlorn as me, and for the first time, I realize that he doesn’t. He doesn’t blame me at all.
“I’ve been having dreams.” Axel and I aren’t entwined, so he can’t hear every little thing. He didn’t want me to share this, but he got just a little ticked at me and left, so he gets what he gets. “I’ve been having dreams that I’m Gullveig. I think they’re memories.”
Hyperion doesn’t even turn to face me.
“I think Freya has the heart—it’s a beautiful stone—and I was with her, as Gullveig, when we pried it out of a cave underneath the earth.”
He’s still not registering any surprise—no emotion at all. I know the blessed aren’t quite as emotive as we are, but this. . .
“Earth to Hyperion.”
I’m pleased to hear you’re gaining answers—answers we need.
I take a few steps until we’re standing right next to each other, and I ball up my fist, and then I think again. Instead of hitting him with my bare hand, I kick him as hard as I can. And then I swear under my breath, jump from foot to foot, and cry. A lot. “Why are your scales so stupidly hard?”
You know how hard they are. Why would you harm your soft foot like that?
I roll my eyes. “Humans do stupid things all the time when we’re angry or sad. I’m just not used to the blessed doing them.” I arch one eyebrow. “So why are you, stupidly, waiting around until you die?”
I expect him to argue with me.
I expect him to make up all sorts of lies.
I expect him to beg me not to tell Axel, at least.
He doesn’t.
From the time I hatched, I knew.
The doom of his people.
I can’t even imagine living with that prophecy hanging over your head. “I’m sorry—for you and for Axel. It wasn’t fair. Especially since. . .I think it was your mother who foretold that. I heard this alleged oracle was named Freya.”
If my death can spare my people the doom that prophecy foretells, I’d be evil to go on living.
“What if your death sets this doom in motion?” I shake my head.
“That’s the problem with a prophecy like that.
You can’t live with it hanging over you, and it’s pointlessly vague.
Wondering before every action whether this will be the one that dooms everyone is just tragic.
You have to let it go—make the best decisions you can at the time with the information you have. ”
You decided wrong, though. Axel’s angry—he wanted you to let Azar die.
“And I told him I’d do it again,” I say. “And I would.”
Hyperion turns back toward the ocean. There aren’t any prophecies about you, so you have the luxury of doing whatever you want.
“You’re right,” I say. “No prophecies about me at all. I mean, there’s a little stone-carved insignia that shows how many lives I have left, or whatever, and I’m getting these weird dreams that indicate I’m some warmongering woman named Gullveig, and that I’m somehow connected to all the lava demons.
But, you know, just a regular girl making regular decisions right here. ”
His lips curl upward. I suppose you might understand better than most.
“If you can tell me that you’re glad I saved Azar, I can tell you that I’m glad you were there for him. Axel told me that out of all his brothers, you were the only one who didn’t try to kill him.”
He was an irritating hatchling.
I bet he was.
He was also brave. And kind. Kindness isn’t appreciated among the blessed.
I can see that, too. “But you protected him. He told me you did.”
Maybe more than he knows. Our older brothers—Odin had a wife before he married Freya. Her name was Frigg, and I’m not sure whether you know this, but—
“Freya’s brother, Freyr, killed Frigg.”
He freezes, turning slowly. Did Azar tell you that? He hated talking about it.
“I dreamed it,” I say. “I was there when it happened.”
As Gullveig? Hyperion sighs. Perhaps your dreams are real. I hope they are. But for us, as hatchlings of Odin and Freya, it was hard.
“Hard?”
To keep things simple, I’ll just say that inasmuch as the flame blessed sons of Odin fought, we banded together for one thing—defending against Odin’s children with Frigg. They hated us for our connection to their mother’s murderer.
Wow. Azar never mentioned it. “You were in danger too, as the oldest?”
Only the oldest of Freya and Odin—the first hatched after our departure. And yes, we were all in danger. Always.
“Let’s make a deal,” I say. “You promise me to bond a human as soon as we get back—the second we reach Australia. And I’ll promise that the moment I know enough, I’ll go back into that volcano and face Freya. I think she has the heart, and I think we can get it back.”
You’re trying to motivate me to live by inspiring me that I might be part of the success, not the initiator of their doom.
“I’m not inspiring you, dummy. I’m promising you.” I ball up my fist. “Don’t make me punch y—”
Hurt your poor soft body again?
“Exactly,” I say. “Because if you do, I’ll tattle to Azar.”
We found them, Azar says. It’s happening now, live. They’re definitely hoping we’ll come. Your mom’s in Killeen, Texas, at a place called Fort Cavazos. Jean’s on the phone with Norm.
They’ll have what Hyperion needs to portal.
“Alright,” I say. “We have a new location. Round up the troops. We’re headed for Texas again. At least it’s warm.” I pause by Hyperion. “They’ll have ice spears.”
He laughs. He actually laughs.
Where are you going? I ask Azar. Where did they put the blessed?
We’re not sure, Azar says. Possibly the same place. We’re coming, too.
You are? I can’t disguise my happiness. I hate when he’s somewhere I’m not. Maybe he’s coming because he’s not mad anymore.
Wanting you to be safe isn’t the same as forgiving you.
I sigh and stand. Norm and Phileas are winging their way toward us, along with a dozen other dragons. “Where do you think all the humans who were living in Iceland went?”
Hyperion shrugs. The difference between you and me, Liz, is that I don’t care.
“Baby steps, you big jerk.” I slap his leg, but that hurts too.
You don’t learn from your mistakes.
“Shut up.”
As directed, we portal into the far east side of the base.
“Killeen’s the largest military base the United States has, geographically,” Norm says. He’s disgustingly excited about this.
“You haven’t forgotten that they’re about to kill my mom?” I arch one eyebrow.
“I’m sorry.” His shoulders droop. “I’m not trying to be a ghoul, but it’s my very first real, live quest.”
I wish it could be my last. I’m beyond tired of it all.
Liz?
I freeze in place, my wings only moving enough to keep me from falling. Mom?
You should leave. It’s a trap. They’re going to kill me the moment you reach my side.
I wish she was calling me to her side. Then I’d feel no qualms leaving. But if she’s warning me off? If she’s being a mom to me, which is exactly what she did when she helped me escape, then I feel compelled to find her.
Can you tell where she is? Hyperion asks.
Our plan, now that Azar can come as well, is basically a shell and pea game. Two red dragons. Lots of portals. Eventually we find my mom, and then we portal out.
Stick to the plan, I tell everyone.
I can sense Azar. He’s flying-distance away now. Mom, tell me where you are.
They have the other dragons here too. They’re going to kill them and me to upset you. Just leave. Keep the kids safe.
I can already imagine what she’ll say when she hears Sammy and Jade have bonded dragons. But if today goes well, she’ll get to yell at me for years to come.
We’re by the ropes course, I tell Azar. Are you ready?
Yes, start.
I hear it—his roar. He’s calling the soldiers there and warning the people who are nearby to leave. Not sixty seconds later, he torches the ammunitions warehouse. I hope the people were all evacuated—please, please let them all have gotten out.
It’s a military base, Hyperion says. They chose this.
I hear what he’s saying. I do. It still hurts. We’re up.
I swoop down first, careful to stay inside Hyperion’s red bubble shield. It’s not as big or as thick as Azar’s, which is likely because he’s exhausted. I’m totally going to tattle about his plan to Azar the second this is over.
Ropes course is clear, Hyperion says. Advancing to location two.
“At least call it the Air Cavalry Obstacle Course,” Norm says. “Ropes course sounds. . .lame.”