The Valley of Lies (Lightkeepers #1)

Chapter TWENTY-SIX: Liss

The forest outside Squallside was dense with underbrush. Liss' cloak was quickly becoming riddled with holes from snagging on broken branches and thorny vines. Zan led the way through the tangle with a long stick, knocking a path clear ahead of them and turning around every so often to make sure Liss hadn't fallen behind.

"How are you faring?"

He pulled back his hood and Liss found herself staring again. She couldn't help it, she had never encountered anyone so startlingly different, including the humans in the village they'd just left. Even the changeling bird, with its roost of black feathers and sinister voice, had worn a familiar face. Zan's face reflected the legacy of his ancestors, but unlike humans and the Darkbane, his ancestors had shared space with the great magical beasts of the world. The whorled horns on top of his head were fascinating proof, but they no longer drew her gaze as immediately as his shocking amber eyes. She'd thought they were like a cat's, but now she knew better. There was something primal and wild in the depths of those bright orbs, as if he were on the brink of some great discovery– or calamity– and would not hesitate to throw himself wholly into the fray.

Liss wondered if it was his dragon blood that made it hard to look away from him. All she knew of dragons were the stories she'd read from Before, and she was beginning to think they might not have been historically accurate. None of them had mentioned the Yansu or dragon elves, or the fact that some elves could transform into dragons! Zan hadn't told her if he possessed a dragon form like his half-sister, but she supposed he would have mentioned it if he did. Overthrowing the witches would be a lot easier with dragon fire.

Which begged the question, what sort of magic did he have? Zan was supposed to teach her to use magic, so she assumed he had some of his own, but he'd yet to talk about it.

"Is something wrong?" He turned in a tight circle, scanning the gnarled path surrounding them. "I know this is a lot to take in, and we hardly know one another, but I assure you–"

"I'm fine," Liss interrupted, waving a hand in dismissal.

She was pretty sure he'd taken note of her prolonged stare and was avoiding eye contact to alleviate the tension. An apology would have been the polite response, but Liss decided against drawing further attention to her tactlessness.

He shrugged. "If you say so. Let me know if you start to feel fatigued or your hand bothers you."

He set off again without pressing the issue.

Liss was grateful he left his hood down. It would take time getting used to the look of him, and she preferred doing so without having to hold a close range conversation. However rude it was to harbor such feelings, they were involuntary and inescapable. It wasn't that Zan was hideous or frightening; on the contrary, his otherworldly appearance flustered her. His very existence was like the answer to a prayer she'd been whispering her entire life.

"How far away is Blackpool?" she asked some distance later, when the initial exhilaration of their journey had worn out and the first twinges of discomfort stiffened the soles of her feet. But she would sooner walk until she got blisters than complain so early in the day and appear helpless.

Dev and Mell and all the rest of the Darkbane were counting on her. They just didn't know it yet.

"Blackwater. It used to be called Stillwater, when your clan lived there. It's about two days' journey from here, but if I'm to teach you magic it will be a bit slow going." One of his horns lifted higher, his head cocked to the side as though in thought. Unless he was hearing something she didn't. But she doubted it. Her ears were longer and pivoted more easily. "I might find a way to get us there faster. It will depend on how your training goes."