Page 150 of Blood of Ancients

She looked to the floor, still pacing, and I wondered about all this insider talk—what it meant, and if there was any relevance other than completing an age-old myth in Lady Elayina’s mind.

She barked another laugh, making us all recoil in surprise, and clapped. “And the other part? The Lightbearer will beboth and neither.Look at it now! You arebothelf and human, yetneitherat the same time, because there is dragonblood inside you. It had nothing to do with being a half-blood! I fear we’ve misinterpreted the prophecy all along. This will set us back generations of historical learning.” Tutting, she shook her head, drowning deeper in the semantics of her tale.

“Elayina!” I called out, ripping her out of her dazed headspace. When she looked up with wide eyes, apparently shocked we were still standing there, I said, “What does this mean for thepresent? For all parties involved? I’m the Lightbearer? Great. What does it mean?”

The woman had the audacity toshrug. “My foresight never gets that far, child, because I’ve never seen the Lightbearer before in my mind. Otherwise this entire mission would have been much easier.”

Corym took over, sighing. He had always been skeptical of the legends and the “serpent’s shadow” prophecy, but now it was hard to deny at leastsomeof it, when I was standing here like a gods-damned half-dragon legend.

“The scripture speaks of the Lightbearer bringing the people together—Ljosalfar and humans; light and dark elves. It talks of unity being the strength that tethers us.” Casting a sidelong glance at Elayina, he added, “It’s notoriously undetailed abouthowthat is to happen, however.”

I nodded slowly, mulling over his words. In a low voice, I said, “That’s . . . been my mission all along. Unification.”

“Now you’ve been presented with the means to do it,” Elayina said with a smile. “At least symbolically.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to fight off another bout of overwhelm. I figured the best way to do that was to change the subject. So I asked another question. “How did you know it would work? Lifting the glass. How did you know it would change orrevealme, or confirm your theory?”

“Because there was a part I left out in my history lesson.” She waddled away from the dais. “The man I mentioned, Azerot the Wrathseeker, who mated with Syndriel and birthed your ancestor Solzena.Hewas dragonkin.”

I gawked.

“I wanted to see if his blood still ran within your veins. If it did, it would prove you are truly the last dragonkin. Or at least that you’re related to him in some form.”

Never mind the fact Elayina hadleft outthat incredibly important tidbit about him being dragonkin before showing me the Runesphere’s power.

It tasted a bit like betrayal, yet I also understood it: Tell me my ancestor was a dragon, and I might’ve run away in disbelief. Tell meafterand, well, it was hard to deny now.

“Why was Azerot called the Wrathseeker?” I asked.

“Because Azerot is the man who slew King Dannon, child. For revenge against killing Lord Talasin and betraying the Ljosalfar.”

Behind me, my Vikingrune Academy mates gasped in horror. Everything they’d been taught—that a mysterious illness had felled our “glorious” King Who Saw, was unraveling before their eyes.

I nearly forgot Grim, Sven, and Arne had not been able to hear that part of Elayina’s story, so it was news to them.Well, maybe Sven heard it, with his damned wolfish hearing.

“That checks out,” I said in a droll tone.

Azerot and Syndriel, dragonkin and half-elf. Lovers, fighters. One was a vengeance-seeker, the other was born from a human king and elven queen. Three races, all melded together, eventually leading to my father and . . . me. The last dragonkin.

The Last Valkyrie.

I blinked, staring down at the shorter seer. “What now, Lady Elayina? What comes next?”

She smiled sadly at me, a twinkle in her eye, yet spoke without reluctance, fear, or emotion in her voice.

“Well,Ser’karioth, now I die.”

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