“I want to draw that creature after all,” Erdrodr said, her slate already out. Charcoal crumbled in her fingers as she sketched the form of the flying moose. “But go ahead. I will catch up.”

It turned out that she could manage this without much difficulty, with a stride twice as long as Alice’s. Erdrodr more than made up for her advantage in speed, though, with distractions. She wanted to draw everything, every animal and bug that was willing to hold still, and quite a few of the more interesting plants. Alice and Flicker started grinning at each other every time they saw something new, waiting for the startled “Oh!” and the scrape of charcoal on paper.

“She’s certainly . . . enthusiastic,” Flicker said as they strolled ahead of the ice giant girl. They’d passed through one belt of trees and emerged onto another grassy stretch, climbing up the side of a shallow hill. When they crested it, they saw the glitter of a stream winding its way into the middle distance, lined with scraggly bushes. “Though I hope she doesn’t stumble into anything dangerous.”

“Is there anything dangerous to stumble into?” Alice said. So far, all they’d seen in terms of animal life was the moose, several brilliantly colored birds, and a few beetles. They’d all been a rainbow of colors. Everything but the vegetation here seemed to have sprung from the saturated canvas of some mad painter.

“I . . . remember a few. The bluechills, but they live in the mountains. Some kind of big cat, I think? It’s a bit fuzzy.” He shrugged, glancing down at the stream with distaste. “I can see why my great-grandspark left this place behind.”

As far as Alice was concerned, after freezing in the dark, the gentle sunlight and meadow of soft grass were the next best thing to paradise. But if there’s a stream, it must rain here. That probably made it less than an ideal habitat for creatures like the fire-sprites.

After reaching the top of the hill and starting down the other side in silence, Flicker looked at Alice out of the corner of his eye.

“What?” Alice said.

“I have to ask,” the fire-sprite said. “Could you really have fought your way through Helga and the ice giants, if you had to?”

“I don’t know,” Alice said. “That’s part of the reason I didn’t try.”

“Part of the reason?”

“I told you. I don’t hurt people if I don’t have to.” Being a Reader isn’t always about hurting people. She thought of Geryon. Just people who deserve it.

“You are different,” Flicker said after another moment of silence. He stared ahead, not meeting her eyes. “You’re trying to be, at least.”

“I’m still figuring out what I’m trying to be.”

“Are there others like you? Other Readers, I mean?”