Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best e ink reader for manga .txt) 📕

the one where she had first seen Aslaug, it too had an altar in the center of it.

She stepped out of the stream and up the stairs where water poured down the steps. Eivor stood in the center, staring down at what looked like tiles carefully placed in the pattern of gold flowers on the stone steps.

Water bubbled out of the center of the altar. Bubbling and sending more steam in the air as it was released.

“What is this place?” she asked, her voice suddenly quiet and deadened in the strange air.

“An old, forgotten place. We used to come here often.” Eivor pointed up at one of the stone pillars. It had the semblance of a carving left. Had they been snakes? She couldn’t quite tell, although the one next to it was scaled as well, with the hint of a…wing.

Sigrid sucked in a deep breath. “Dragons?”

“The home of so many people like you. They all hid here when the world was falling apart after they’d created it.”

“Created it?” Sigrid shook her head. “Aslaug told me a few of the things that had happened. It was a group of Beastkin.”

“And it was the dragons who carved the land into two pieces. They were the ones who dug out Wildewyn, fist by fist, creating a mountaintop for Bymere to remain on for all time. They were the ones who destroyed the world just to ensure that they were safe.” Eivor reached out and touched a hand to the stone. “They were capable of more things than the Beastkin give them credit for.”

“How do you know this?”

“When I was little, I used to come here to rest. There was another Beastkin who lived here. A dragon, like you. She was very old, and very tired. Locked in her beast form, she couldn’t really talk much other than a few grumbles. Before she died, she turned back into a woman and told me all she knew because she had seen it happen before.”

Sigrid swallowed. “Seen what happen?”

“A war between Beastkin. A war between men and Beastkin. It’s nothing new. Time doesn’t heal itself, and people don’t learn from past mistakes. It’s easier to forget the things we did wrong.” Eivor turned to her then, pointing to the water bubbling out of the altar. “The dragons didn’t want to fight. They knew they were too powerful and that the war would end in their favor no matter who they fought for.

“They discovered choosing that side was too hard. They had to decide between their people, those who loved them and had given them life, and those who were their chosen families. The humans, the other Beastkin who wanted to live with the humans. It’s not fair to make a person a god.”

The words rang far too true. The Bymerian Beastkin wanted to call her a god. They said she was the most powerful thing to ever exist in their lifetime, and that because of that, she was more than just a woman. More than just Sigrid.

“I don’t want to be a god,” she whispered.

“That’s what Aslaug wants. It’s what your ancestor was. All the dragons become gods in their lifetime. They’re so much more than a person. They’re the last of their kind. Saying you don’t want to become a god is like… saying you don’t want to breathe anymore.”

Was that the solution? Had Eivor brought her all this way to explain there was only one path out of this journey?

Sigrid didn’t want to see everything end. This had been a struggle to even get here. But if the fight wasn’t worth the end goal then… why would she remain? If all she was going to do was see her people fall steadily into ruin and distrust…

Eivor must have seen the way her thoughts had turned, because the medicine woman let out a sound of sadness. “No. No, little dragoness, you misunderstand me.”

“Do I? This has happened before. Every step of my journey has been walked by another person, perhaps many. Those who have seen the writings on the wall of how the Beastkin will steadily decline into nothing. That’s why the ancients are here. Do you think Aslaug doesn’t see what I do? Do you think she isn't understanding that she’s chosen to lead her people into oblivion?”

The wooden mask tilted to the side. “I see that Aslaug assumes we will all die off someday. That she won’t fight for a world where Beastkin can grow and prosper.”

“And why is that?”

“She believes the same as you. That Beastkin were not made to be controlled. That they will eventually destroy themselves and she is comfortable allowing them to live out their lives here. Where at least the few generations left will be accepted by their own people.”

Sigrid blew out a breath. Who was she to question the knowledge of someone like Aslaug? A woman who knew her history so thoroughly that she didn’t have to wonder who she was or where she came from.

She shook her head. “Then we’ve already lost this battle, Eivor. Those who know more than us must be respected. The elders walk this path for a reason.”

“The elders look directly ahead of them and follow the footsteps of thousands.” Eivor stepped forward, wringing her hands nervously and her voice pitched low. “I’m asking you to turn your head and look for prints elsewhere.”

“I don’t know where else to look.”

“Then you’re looking for the wrong prints. Stop putting your feet in shoe prints. Start looking for animals.”

Sigrid didn’t understand why Eivor was so vehemently arguing this. The medicine woman seemed to be happy in her life. She’d lived here for… well, forever. There wasn’t any reason why she would argue it unless she wasn’t happy. Unless there was something else going on that Sigrid didn’t know.

Hesitantly, Sigrid lifted her hands to the sides of Eivor’s mask. “In my homeland, masks are not worn in front of family.”

“You are not my family. I don’t have family.” But Eivor’s words were shaking with