“You can’t bond two,” I say, then I catch myself.“Andyou guyscan’t bondany.”
“Oh my gosh,” Coral says.“You’ve said that already, like ten times.Now let’s go.”
“I call dibs on getting a ride with Liz,” Jade says.
“That’s okay,” Sammy says.“I’ll ride with Gordon.And Coral, you can ride with Rufus.”
It’s so cute when he says Cowal, wide, and Wufus.Maybe I’m the only one who thinks that.And really, he’s missed speech therapy since all this started, so I hope I’m not permanently dooming his speech by keeping him here, but every time he misses an r, it makes me smile.
Some things are still normal, small issues.
It makes me...hopeful for some reason.
Life is weird and scary and dangerous, but it’s also beautiful.Sammy’s beautiful.Gordon bobs intentionally up and down a dozen times or more on the way over, and each time Sammy squeals with joy.It heals my heart.
That’s what we need to somehow show the humans—the good in human-dragon relations.
When we reach the pavilion, there are far more than six hundred blessed present.So much for my appeal that each type of dragon should only send their two hundred weakest.I wish Azar would have supported me.They listen to him.
I’m the only one who doesn’t.
And even though he and I are not what we were, I think I’m making progress.He seems to tolerate more from me now, and he even understands some of my humor, I think.
It’s not enough.
Not even close.
But it’s better than when I thought he was dead.
Until I think about the Axel I cared about—then my heart still aches.I’m sure that will fade in time, especially when I see him bond someone else or mate with Asteria.
Or when he sends me into the volcano himself, instead of fighting his brother to keep me safe.At least I’ll go into the flames with the knowledge I did everything I could to fix the parts of his life I wrecked.Could two individuals with less in common have found one another anywhere in the universe?
Maybe Jörð and Veralden Radian, and look at the mess they made.
A tiny part of me has hoped that, somehow, Axel and I might work things out, but if my dream is true, the two who started all of this never did, and they were gods.Jörð loved Veralden, and then he just left.Her children and his have been at odds ever since.
Their love wrecked the entire world.
Which is why I can’t obsess over Axel or Azar or any of it.I can’t causemoreproblems because I won’t let go of what’s already lost.That’s not what warriors do, and it’s not what sisters do, and it’s not what I’d do if I really cared about him.Losing him has made that clearer than it was when I was by his side—I love Axel.I still love Azar.I feel it in every part of my body and soul.
I land with Jade in the center of the dais, and I notice that the dragons might be as excited as we are.They’re milling around, and their thoughts are flying—mental conversations that are, in some ways, more confusing in large groups than audible ones.Just like our voices, some of them are louder than others, and I can hear a few of them from across the river.That’s an impressive reach.
But what I’m hearing is more impressive.
-that I can find one who likes to watch fish under the water with me.
I just want one who likes to sing.Did you hear Klyde’s ensnared?She sings like a bird.
—haven’t had anything to eat my entire life, other than an earth blessed.I hate it.I’ll put up with a lot from a human for making it possible for me to eat something else—anything else.
I want one who wants to fly.Odara has been doing tricks with hers.He leaps off her back and she spins around before catching him.She said it’s great fun.
The blessed aren’t the only ones who are excited—the humans are practically giddy.Most of them are watching the sky, the water, or the ground in front of us with rapt attention.That’s what gives me the idea of how to get this done in an effective way with more likelihood of the teams finding a good match.
“Welcome to the blessed encampment at Selfoss, Iceland,” I say.“I think I speak for all the blessed when I say how excited we are to have found humans who want to help us.As you already know, we have three types of blessed here with us who are in need of bonds with humans.”
The blessed and the humans quiet down, all of them more than ready to get started.
