She ignores my question and asks me another.“What do you need from me to find Pleasant Grove, Utah?”
It takes some time for the humans who are with the blessed to locate the things we need—images and geographical coordinates.They spend a lot of time complaining that we don’t have something calledinternet.Apparently the other humans have disabled it somehow, but Iceland has some basic library resources, and we finally locate the information.Most of the strike and water blessed disperse, bored of waiting to hear our decisions.
Unfortunately, quite a few earth blessed have gathered.
Some are standing around, but many are practicing their flying skills, and it’s a little distracting, being surrounded by dozens and dozens of blessed, all dipping, diving, and pivoting.Some are even racing above us.
Liz watches all of it with a strange expression, her lips compressed, but her eyes almost smiling.
When Agrippa beats Lars, she claps and cheers.“Brilliant!”
Why are you all here?I push the question to all my earth blessed.
Every single earth blessed freezes and turns until they can see me.No one answers, though.
Why haven’t you dispersed like the others?
We want to come.Lars lands near Liz, and he turns to look at her.Can we?
Why are you asking her?I gnash my teeth.I’m your leader, not her.
Every single one of them duck their heads in respect, butstill,none of them leave.
Elizabeth Chadwick wishes to find a peaceful way for us to bond humans,Agrippa says.But we have seen her own people treat her badly.
They tried to kill her,Phileas says.He’s lying down behind Liz like some kind of pet.
And you would risk your life to save hers?
Yes,Phileas says.
She risked her life to save ours,Agrippa says.And she has risked it to save yours as well.She liked you as Axel, and she never betrayed you to bond Azar.It was always you, either way.
And she kept your secret,Lars says.
You may be our leader,Phileas says, but we serve her by choice.
Have the earth blessed always been so irritating?Now that they’re strong, now that they’re fierce, they’re still desperate to serve?She can’t protect you.She can’t even protect herself.
That’s why we want to come,Agrippa says.She’s trying to protect us even when she hasn’t the strength.
No, she’s trying to keepherpeople safe,hersiblings,I say.
And in so doing, she means to avoid further angering the many, many humans who are already trying to kill us,Phileas says.You agreed to give her a chance.Let us help.
Liz walks toward me.“We don’t want the humans to notice when we travel to this small town, if we can avoid it.”She turns toward the earth blessed.“I really appreciate all of you being willing to help.”
They’re watching her, listening.
“But we shouldn’t take more than three or four of you—it’ll keep us from being noticed.Even with the mountains, more than four would be pushing it.”
But four can’t keep you safe,Agrippa says.
I’m all the protection she needs.I straighten.I’ll take one earth blessed to test whether the bonding will work.Phileas.
He has the worst personality,Agrippa says.At least take someone who knows how to be pleasant while meeting a human.
“Can they both come?”Liz asks.“If we land where I showed you, behind the main mountain, before the sun rises, it should be fine.”
