“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.”
