After the construction of space and time, galaxies and worlds, and of rational creatures, a particular kind of being—a serpent, as it were—belonging to no world in particular, was overcome by the desire to bring all worlds under its power. In one world–the most childlike and innocent–the serpent spent its time whispering into the ears of the various inhabitants. But these creatures were harder to tempt than those it had encountered in other worlds. So it mated with a female dragon from this innocent world. Though the dragon was not sapient, the serpent was and so were his offspring. The serpent’s children grew hungry with greed; and they, with the help of their father, found a village that would provide for them all that they desired. And the serpent continued to whisper to the inhabitants of this world; and eventually, some began to listen.
The Huldu stand silently. Their lungs fill with the fresh air they have longed for, yet with it comes traces of dragon blood. Some of the Huldu are stunned into silence by surprising emotional pain that accompanies their long-awaited freedom; like blood to a waking limb. Most of the Huldu, however, stand silently simply because they are unsure of what to do.
Edna has visions of how such victories might look. She has seen plenty of movies that portray great cheer and celebration after such a triumph. But for the Huldu the celebration will piece itself together slowly and quietly, in their hearts. And, though they are happy for their freedom, having to kill for it is a distressing circumstance that will take time to heal from.
Loud moaning breaks the silence; Cellu is writhing on the ground in pain. The dreadful condition of the pathetic creature stirs pity from the Huldu. He is crying, cursing, and begging for help; muttering, it seems, to some invisible companion.
Gargana comes near to Cellu to observe his wounds. “You poor thing,” she says, looking into his eyes. Cellu sees his reflection in her pupils and whimpers at the sight of his beautiful body, now bloodied and burnt.
“Just leave me here to die,” he says. “I don’t need your pity. I don’t need any of your pity.”
“All you ever did was lie to us,” Edna says, walking towards Cellu.
“Well, look at me now. Gloat.” he says with a pained smile. “Go ahead, it feels good.”
“No,” Edna says.
It’s hard to have anything but pity for Cellu in this moment, even though the pity is unwelcome. She does feel that they all deserves answers though and cannot keep from questioning.
“We trusted you,” she says. “Why would you turn on friends?”
“Friends? Were you all really my friends? That’s nice. Thank you for being my friends.”
“Let’s just give him some space,” one of the Huldu says to Edna, “he is in pain right now, even though it is his fault.”
Gargana feels a strong urgency to nurse Cellu to health; not just for his own sake and out of compassion, but also for the sake of something else, something much more important. It is the same intuition that made her a firm believer in the prophecy. She asks some of the Huldu if a secure enclosure can be built for Cellu. They are happy to have a project and immediately get to work. This gets the rest of the Huldu in motion. Those not working on the cage dig large holes near the tree line to dispose of the dragon corpses.
Gargana collects the softest down bedding from the caves to make a bed for Cellu so he can rest with the least amount of pressure to his blistered skin. After seeing to his comfort, she gathers herbs and oils to make a salve for his wounds.
After disposing of carcasses and building Cellu’s cage, the Huldu bathe; scrubbing their feathery skin vigorously, as though it holds all memory of the dragons. Next, they explore the dwelling places that lie within the flowery hills. Before the dragons came, these hills had housed the Huldu’s possessions and bedding, and were only used as living spaces when the weather was uninviting. The costly cave furnishings are new to the Huldu, though the gold and jewels came from the Huldu, themselves. They decide the homes are too beautiful to change so they dispose of only those items that are too reminiscent of the dragons.
A few days pass in this way. Edna’s traveling companions do their best to help the Huldu assess their town and dispose of anything that brings pain. Gargana continues to care for Cellu, and Edna rests, taking plenty of naps in the fresh open air. Sometimes she is alone with her thoughts as she rests, and sometimes Kadiatu is by her side, and they have nice long chats.
Edna wants to find a new place to take a nap, so Heldina shows her a spot near the tree-line, under one of the many majestic trees. It was Heldina’s favorite place to relax; long ago. Heldina lays out some soft blankets on a nice flat bit of ground, and helps Edna lay down. Edna smiles as a cool breeze tousles her hair. She is looking up at the emerald foliage and feathered bits of sky, one hand under her head, the other resting on her chest, still wrapped in linens, still healing, and she falls asleep listening to the sound of a nearby creek.
Gargana stops by Cellu’s cage to check on him. He is sleeping, but he is saying bizarre things.
“No,” he seems to be telling someone, “they’re trying to help me.” Then he quiets, quickly, like he is listening, then begins to laugh. “You have not left me,” his conversation continues. “I know. You’re my friend, you’ll make me powerful.” A moment of silence passes. Then Cellu says, “they are my friends, too, though. They didn’t leave me to rot. Or maybe it’s a trick! And that’s why you’re sending me help; you’re sending me help right now, aren’t you?” More laughter.
Gargana shivers. This is not just the painful rumblings of illness and sleep, she thinks. Cellu’s eyes open and he looks directly at her. Her heart jumps but she stays at the cage.
“Cellu,” she says, “are you ok?”
“It’s only she who has helped me? You’re right! The others are doing what she tells them because she has authority. She’s helping me because she wants to rule with me. She sees my power. She wants my power.” There is another moment of quiet, then Cellu continues, “you’re giving her to me as my queen? We’ll rule together? This is good, very good. A king must have his queen.” More laughter.
Gargana does not want to be there alone with Cellu any longer, so she leaves to find Gargan. He is across a flowery field watching the tree line; his palm above his head, shielding the sun from his eyes.
“Honey,” Gargana says, “Cellu…” She lets her words trail off. When Gargan looks at her, his face is tight.
“I don’t like the air, something isn’t right. Look at the trees,” he points, “does something seem strange?”
“They’re dark,”
“Yes, unnaturally dark for this time of day. What were you saying?”
“I was just at Cellu’s cage, and he was sleeping, but saying some strange things. He seems to be of two minds: that we’re his friends because we’re taking care of him, and that some other person is his friend and that that person is sending help. He was mumbling and laughing and… it was so…it felt so real, like he was having a real conversation. Then he said something about making someone his queen, and I think he was talking about me.”
She expects Gargan to react, though she always does when she tells him things that her own intuitions are alarmed by and is always surprised at his calm responses. He does not immediately say anything, but his eyes do betray concern.
“It’s as if…” Gargan starts to say, scratching the hairless spot behind his ear, but he cannot find words to finish his thought.
“Why was he saying that his friend is sending help?” Gargana asks.
“I don’t know. Is it possible that he is having a real conversation, and something is sending him help?”
Gargana shivers and reaches for Gargans’s hand; he, too, instinctively reaches for hers, and their knuckles crash together, but their hands clasp tightly even as their knuckles throb from the contact.
At the caves the giants talk with the Huldu about the odd darkness of the trees and Cellu’s strange talk. They decide that all should come together for a meeting. The giants leave to gather Edna, Kadiatu, Pixie, and Twynne, and find all except for Edna, so the meeting begins with a search. Hildina leads Twynne and Pixie to the spot where Edna had taken her nap, but there is nothing there: no blankets, no pillow, no Edna.
“Are you sure this is where she went?” Twynne asks.
“Yes,” says Hildina. “This used to be my favorite place to nap because of the creek; that’s why I took her here.”
“Well then, we need to figure out what’s happened to her,” Pixie says.
They wander around the tree line calling for Edna; hoping that she has simply decided to explore, and for some reason has taken all of the heavy and difficult to carry bedding with her.
Renee Rushing 
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