Every muscle in Elias’s body clenched.
Because so far, he’d believed Gerard to be completely honest with him. And now it seemed he’d lied to Elias.
Of course he did! What did you expect? Everyone lies. Everyone betrays. That’s what people do! Why would Gerard be different?
But could he blame Gerard? After all, how many times had Elias lied to him?
Still, he felt his heart sink in his chest all the way into his feet.
“It’s silly.” Gerard let out a shaky laugh. “But …” Then he met Elias’s gaze. “I want to show you something.” He held out his hand. “Will you come with me?”
After hesitating a second, Elias placed his hand in Gerard’s.
Unfortunately, what Gerard wanted to show Elias required Elias to fly on Gerard’s back to a valley in Draconia. And it was not a quick flight.
He held on tight, trying to calm himself and force himself to keep breathing so he wouldn’t pass out. He’d heard Onyx marvel at how wonderful it was to fly on a dragon’s back. Elias did not agree.
Thankfully, the flight finally ended.
“What is the place?” Elias glanced around at the sparse valley. They’d flown over lush green forests only moments before they’d landed. But this valley had barely any greenery at all. Actually, it was pretty barren. Just piles of boulders and rocks amongst the sand that ran along the otherwise empty valley.
He followed behind Gerard, booted feet sinking and sliding in the soft sand.
“This place is called the Valley of the Dead,” Gerard said. “We’re actually not that far from Voltaria.”
“The name sounds familiar.” But although Elias racked his brain, he couldn’t quite place it. Had he read it somewhere?
Gerard stopped walking and faced him. “Years ago, a battle was fought between Voltaria and Draconia in this valley. After the attack on Tarbas in Voltaria, which was sung about at our betrothal ball, groups of lightning sorcerers journeyed into Draconia with the plan to exact bloody revenge.”
Elias nodded. Now he knew why the name of the valley was familiar. In Voltaria they called this valley the Octavias Valley, which was what its name had originally been in Draconia before the battle.
“The whereabouts of a small cell of lightning sorcerers was pinpointed to here. So a battalion of dragons flew out to attack.”
Gerard gazed up at the sky, as if imagining dragons in the air, ready to fight. “But they had greatly underestimated the number of sorcerers that were present. And when they flew in, the many, many lightning sorcerers attacked and killed them.”
Elias tensed. Did Gerard know his secret? Did Gerard know that he was a powerful lightning sorcerer? Was this some strange way to reveal that he knew they’d fought each other on the battlefield? Like their forbearers had?
He forced himself to remain still.
“Except one of the dragons managed to survive,” Gerard said. “They escaped and reported back on what had occurred.”
Gerard started walking again. “Anyway, soon after my first shift, I was getting used to my wings and flying regularly around Draconia. For some reason, I decided to fly over this valley. I landed and walked around. And then I found something interesting.”
Elias followed Gerard, still no idea what the fuck was going on. But he no longer felt that Gerard was about to reveal that he did in fact know Elias’s secret. Still, Elias did not relax.
Gerard walked towards a large pile of rocks and boulders. He sprang up onto one. He turned to Elias and reached a hand down towards him. Elias took it. For the next few minutes, they jumped, climbed, and scrambled over rocks. They squeezed and wove between them.
“Where are we going?” Elias asked.
“You’ll see,” Gerard said.
Then, between two large boulders, lay a slender gap inthe earth. Gerard pulled two torches from his pack that he carried. He lit them both and handed one to Elias. “It’s just in here.” He ducked into the tight entrance.
“What is?”
Gerard glanced back; the firelight from the torch danced on his face. “My hoard.”
Chapter
