Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
It’s him! He is the dragon I attacked. Prince Gerard, the dragon warrior prince, is the dragon I almost killed.
Until about two seconds ago, Elias had thought he’d actually killed him. Now he couldn’t stop staring.
Scars wove across the right side of Prince Gerard’s face. Their spidery, fern-like design raised and lightened his dark skin. It looked like a lightning strike.
I did that. But how is he alive?
Elias had hit him. Twice. Directly.
Once in the chest. Once in the face. Prince Gerard should be dead! Elias had killed dragons with less. Yet here the dragon warrior stood.
He lives up to his title. He is strong. He is a survivor. Like me.
Elias had seen the dragon cry out, flying and spiralling before smashing into the cliff face above him. After that Elias hadn’t seen what had occurred to the dragon.
He’d been a little distracted.
Rocks had tumbled down towards him from where the dragon had hit. Blood pumping, Elias had flung himself into the tunnel where he’d been just before he’d emerged to attack the dragon.
The rocks had smashed down behind him. But Elias hadn’t fully entered the tunnel in time. Boulders and rocks had crushed his left leg, pinning him to the ground and pulverizing bone and flesh. If he hadn’t been travelling with an earth elemental and a healer, he’d have died there.
Still, it had been a bitch to recover from. But he’d survived.
So too had Prince Gerard, it seemed. Against the odds, they’d both lived. Now they bore the scars from that exchange. But unlike Prince Gerard’s, Elias’s scars remained hidden beneath his clothes.
The moment he had properly looked at the right side of Prince Gerard’s face, Elias had known it had been his doing. Like he could feel his own magic calling to him from Prince Gerard’s flesh.
He’d been so taken aback that he’d pointed and asked about the wound. He couldn’t stop himself. He’d been so shocked that he’d survived.
The scars spread across the majority of the right side of Prince Gerard’s face. They travelled up beneath the hairline of his short dark hair and meandered down his neck and beneath the collar of his coat. An eye patch covered his right eye. Elias’s strike must have damaged that eye beyond repair.
He pressed his lips together. They’d been at war. It was his job to kill and bring down dragons! Still … he did not like to think he’d robbed the man of half his sight.
His own wound from Prince Gerard had no lasting effects, except for the obvious scarring. Although, when a lightning storm approached, Elias could feel it in the reknitted bones of his leg. But he’d already been able to sense that with his magic. So it was a useless skill.
When the news of peace had reached Elias, he had packed away his mask and blue robes in a secret compartment at the bottom of his trunk. The trunk always travelled with him. But he’d not worn the mask or robes since then.
Elias forced himself to turn his head away from Prince Gerard and listen to the grand monk.
“We of course have designed many elements of the upper monastery with our guests’ backgrounds, cultures, and powers in mind.” The grand monk smiled at his father. “We have the courtyard for those from Draconia where they can land in their dragon form.”
And as the grand monk continued to speak, Elias found his gaze and thoughts drifting back to the dragon warrior.
Elias’s heart rate picked up as he gazed upon those strong brows and jaw-line. He found himself watching those full lips, which the scars touched. Elias thought the scarring made him appear more distinguished and tougher. They showed his strength.
But perhaps that was just Elias’s ego. After all, the man’s face had been touched by Elias’s magic. And Elias loved his magic and its strength.
I still cannot believe he stands!
Elias was part of the small number of lightning archmages. As such, unlike other sorcerers, he worked alone. Most sorcerers had to work in a cell so they could combine their powers. Most sorcerers also lacked proper control of their magic. So they wore inscribed bracers to control it.
Elias lifted his chin. But he did not need to work in a cell or wear inscribed jewellery. He’d killed dragons completely on his own. He also cast far faster than a typical lightning sorcerer.
He’d been twelve when he’d been tested and told the extent of his powers.
His great-uncle on his mother’s side had been adamant that he should be the one to test Elias.
At the time, Elias had no clue why he’d pushed so hard.
But since then, he’d learnt that his mother’s family had produced quite a few lightning archmages.
A truly powerful lightning sorcerer was worth thirty normal sorcerers. Not only because they were stronger, but because they could travel more easily and attack the enemy unexpectedly. Which was what he’d been doing when he’d faced Prince Gerard.
But being a lightning archmage also made you a target.
A century ago, during one of the many times when Voltaria and Zephyrias were at war, Zephyrian assassins had killed seven lightning archmages in one night. That was half the archmages Voltaria had.
Since then they hid their identities. And they created rumours. Like that lightning archmages trained far from civilisation. In forests and caves and other unpleasant, dirty, damp places.
In reality, an older sorcerer took on and trained a younger one.
Like he was doing with Colette. They trained wherever they went.
It was true that some lightning sorcerers had such weak powers that they were practically useless and could not be placed in cells.
But Elias was not one of those individuals.
Yet that narrative was the perfect cover to hide his true power. Honestly, Elias kind of liked playing everyone for a fool. He liked walking around, knowing how much more power he had than everyone around him. And no one had any clue.
Prince Gerard exhaled. For a second, it seemed as if he was about to turn towards Prince Elias and look at him. Instead he took a sip of wine from his goblet.
Elias lifted his left foot from the ground. The leg that had been pinned and smashed. He circled his ankle. For some reason, he wanted to touch his leg. He wanted to show Prince Gerard his scars.
Because beneath his hose and shoes, Prince Gerard had marked Elias. Just like Elias had marked the dragon warrior prince.