Notes
Soundtrack suggestions:
The conversation:
- The Seduction – Alan Silvestri, The Legend of Beowulf.
- Koba Dependent – Michael Giacchino, War for the Planet of the Apes (starting from 02:03).
- Come Home - Nitin Sawhney, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
- Anduril - Flame of the West – Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (complete recordings) (From 00:40 to 01:55).
- Echoes of an old life — Bear McCreary, God of War (Starting from 01:52).
- The Broken Line and Broken Silence – Bear McCreary, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season One, Episode Eight: Alloyed) (From 03:29 to 07:00).
Claire finds the gear and take it:
- Atlantean Sword – Basil Poledouris, Conan the Barbarian.
Claire returns to Angrboda and leaves the cave:
- Anduril - Flame of the West – Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (complete recordings) (From 02:50 to the end).
- The Power of Prophecy – Ramin Djawadi, House of the Dragon: Season 1.
- Kyne's Peace — Jeremy Soule, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
- Both our Bloodlines – Bear McCreary, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season One, Episode Three: Adar) (From 01:16 to 02:29).
She walks through the moor:
- Shadow of War theme – Garry Schyman et Nathan Grigg, Middle Earth: Shadow of War.
- Into the Late Permian – Dominik Scherrer, Primeval.
- Prologue - Bear McCreary, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season One, Episode One: A Shadow of the Past) (From 02:15 to 04:16).
- She must rule – Bear McCreary, See: Season 1.
-o-
The day before they left Costa Rica, Claire had another dream inhabited by Angrboda.
Torch in hand, she was moving through a cave gallery, walking slowly in order to not trip over her dress. Not only was she still barefoot, but the rock was wet, and thus a little slippery, and it was with great caution that she climbed some sort of small staircase carved out by erosion. Arriving at the top of it, she let out a sigh of relief and entered a fairly large cavern. Advancing towards its heart, she saw a large figure lying on a rocky platform nearby, and the end of a scaled tail could be made out in the flames' glow. After taking a deep breath, Claire walked over to the figure. Unlike Náströnd, the Corpse Shore from the dream she had the night they were arrested, there didn't seem to be any bodies and the place didn't particularly stink. Coming into sight of the base of the platform, Claire stopped and Angrboda's snout emerged from the darkness.
"We're going home tomorrow," the first announced.
"Alright. What do you plan to do once back in the United States?" Angrboda asked her.
"Reunite with my son. And think of a way to stop InGen's plans for the Indoraptor."
"How? Do you have any ideas?"
"I could inform the authorities. Tell them what I said to Santagar."
A booming laugh came from the monster's mouth.
"Do you seriously think they give a damn about the potential harm of InGen's projects? Their country invented chemical pesticides, the atomic bomb, junk food, Twitter, NFTs, extremist wokism and a thousand other crap! Let me also remind you that its government was among the first interested in InGen's hybrids! If it ever acts against InGen, it will only be for its own benefit or that of their little friends at Biosyn, Mantah or any other rival company. Do you really expect something from the United States as a society, that plutocracy of hypocrites who worship the almighty god Dollar and who's dragging the world to its ruin in their decadence?! Come on, mother. I know you're not that naive."
Angrboda stood up.
"Those in possession of the Indoraptor and its associated research will go unpunished while you will be convicted of crimes you didn't even commit," she added. "In your world, justice only benefits the powerful. The people, or fallen elites like you, can only pray as they are crushed. Will you allow yourself to be dishonoured, crushed, thrown in prison or even executed without a fight?"
Having reached the bottom of her platform, she had begun to describe circles around Claire. She lowered her head towards her.
"I see your hesitation. You want revenge more than anything but you are afraid of what some people will think of your actions? Don't bother about them, they're apathetic sheep! Leave them in their cowardice and servitude. You are not a thrall and you should never again be one! You are proud, you value your dignity, and you will do anything to defend it. It is a quality, not a flaw. The adage which says that violence is the last refuge of incompetence is true, but in other circumstances, and it doesn't apply to your current situation. You don't have a choice. They threatened your life and that of the man you love, and tomorrow, they could threaten your son's. Even in a world of savage beasts, a mother will do anything for her young. What do you choose to be? A she-wolf or a ewe?"
Claire became silent for a moment, looking pensive.
"A she-wolf…" she finally said in a rather weak and hesitant voice.
"I didn't hear," Angrboda said. "Louder!"
"A she-wolf!"
Angrboda stopped and looked up.
"A she-wolf?" She repeated. "You could be more than a wolf, you could be a dragon... But one step at a time..."
"What should I do?"
"Listen to your instincts."
"But still?!" Claire asked impatiently. "You're not helping me, you know! How should I respond to those who want me dead? Even if I manage to have Susan Lynton arrested…or killed, someone else will replace her and nothing will change."
"Then kill him or her, as well as the next one if they also tries to harm you, and the next one if necessary..."
"But that's like trying to kill a hydra!"
"And how did Heracles defeat the Hydra of Lerna in Greek mythology? By burning the heads as they regrow."
"So your advice is fire and blood? And how do I do that with only a few thousand dollars in my bank account and one loyal man, whom I refuse to send to death? I wait to receive three dragon eggs as a gift, I hatch them, raise them and use them to take control of lands and armies before I attack Palo Alto and burn it to the ground, not without slaughtering a million people on the way? I know that I'm also being called the Queen of the Ashes but you got the wrong woman my dear."
Angrboda let out a gravelly chuckle.
"You don't need dragons or armies," she replied. "People underestimate you, just as a walker underestimates the viper on which he is about to step in his carefree walk. Use that against them and strike while they have their guard down. Strikes as fast as the viper!"
"Then I must learn how to be a viper."
"First, let's get rid of that slough…"
Angrboda passed the claw of her index finger into the neckline of Claire's dress, curled it so as not to scratch her skin, and gently leaned against the neckline, beginning to rip the dress in half. The fallen park director shuddered at the creature's touch.
"Claire Dearing, the suburban, daughter of a pharmaceutical company executive and a department manager in a furniture store," she began. "Claire Dearing, the marketing and communication student; Claire Dearing, the white-collar…"
Reaching the end of the dress, Angrboda withdrew her claw and the torn garment slipped from Claire's body, falling to the ground.
"…Claire Dearing, Simon Masrani's vizier and director of Jurassic World; Claire Dearing, the slave of capitalism… died in the fall of Isla Nublar," Angrboda added. "You and I both killed her. She was weak and stupid."
The fallen park director, now as naked as Venus in Sandro Botticelli's famous painting, was shivering, as the cavern was rather cool. She looked down, looking at her dress, now soiled and ragged. Once stark white, it was the kind of expensive dress Claire might have worn on certain occasions before the Fall. Symbol of her bygone status, it suddenly burst into flames before disappearing in smoke.
"And a broken woman woke up in Nicoya," she said, looking up. "A ghost. A dead walker."
"Yes, but what is broken… can be reforged… and changed from its original state, improved even. This process has already started. You can rebuild yourself, become the Claire who should have ruled Isla Nublar, become someone your ancestors and your gods could be proud of, someone who will inspire love in her followers… and the most terrible dread among her enemies."
With her claws, Angrboda then removed a stone in front of Claire, revealing a key.
"Put on your new slough."
Claire grabbed the key and as if guided by an instinct worthy of a treasure hunter, she began to explore the cave, looking for the lock associated with the item that had just been given to her. Eventually, she found a large wooden chest in a corner and opened it with the key. She lifted the lid and found inside a package wrapped in a sort of sheet. She took it, put it down on the ground not far away, wedged her torch between two rocks and uncovered the package. There were a pair of boots, brown pants, a reddish tunic, a brownish cape with dark zigzag patterns which mimicked those sported by some vipers, leather gloves, a belt and a sword's scabbard. The sword was there too and Claire knelt down to look at it for a long time by the light of the torch and touch it gently with her fingertips. About ninety centimetres long, it was double-edged and had a round hilt. The latter, the handle and the pommel showed engravings depicting snakes and on its black blade, runes had been engraved. Already sheathed and attached to the belt, there was also a second weapon, a dagger whose curved blade evoked a venomous snake's fang.
Claire first put on the pants and the tunic, then the belt around her waist, the boots on her feet, the gloves on her hands, the cape on her back, and put the sword back in its sheath.
Ready, she returned to Angrboda.
"Now go to your next ordeals...," she said, pointing to an area lit by daylight further. "Storm clouds are already gathering..."
Claire joined said area, located below a slope overhung by the cave's exit. She looked at the scree for a moment, then climbed it.
She emerged shortly after from the cave and stopped just outside of its opening to contemplate the landscape. Although the sun had begun its descent, the scene was still very sunny and the skies were clear. The entrance to the cave being located high up on the side of a mountain, Claire could see very far. Ahead of her, the ground sloped gently, joining the banks of a river or a sound several kilometres away, which itself joined the ocean even further. Between the ocean and the mountain, a mosaic of lush woods and flowery moors stretched. Butterflies and bees fluttered from flower to flower, birds sang and coming from some dell hidden in the woods, deep bellows reached Claire's ears, but she did not know if they were made by deer, dinosaurs or other creatures.
Turning her head sideways, Claire saw a large eagle with dark brown plumage was perched on top of a rock only a few meters away from her. Surprised, she slightly stepped back, but that's when her gaze met that of the bird. In his eyes, she saw a familiar gleam which reassured her and she knew she could trust him. She stretched out her arm and the eagle darted from the rock, spreading his broad wings for a moment before landing on the arm, taking care to not dig his talons into her flesh. Once he was stabilized, he turned his head towards her face and gently rubbed his neck against Claire's. In response, she stroked his plumage.
"Glad you're here too honey…" she said.
Looking straight ahead toward the mouth of the river, she noticed tumultuous clouds rumbling over the ocean far to the north.
"We have much to do ...," she said, looking at the storm.
Extending her arm, she let the eagle take off and fly over the area while she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. When he returned to fly over her, she was descending the heather-covered slopes, walking towards the storm while Angrboda watched her from the cave entrance.