Page 32 of The Dragon Shifters' Enemy
“One that had nuclear weapons,” Valerius said softly.“When everything else they had sent against the Dragon Shifters had failed, they thought of nuclear power.”
“Holy shit.”Caden stared at him, his steps slowing.“They said it was considered and put to the side! But from the tone of your voice--”
“They were going to use it.This base.The place where this base was, was going to be Ground Zero of their attack.”Valerius gestured to the ground below them.
They had entered the garden.Heady white blooms bobbed in the sweet breeze.Valerius drew in deep breaths of their scent.The moss path that wound within the flowers was cool beneath their feet. Caden had paled though as he thought of the nuclear weapon.
“It was their final, desperate act of violence. Letting them launch the weapons would have been disastrous.So I had the earth swallow the entire base and then I brought the mountains forth,” he said quietly.
“My god,” Caden breathed.“You candothat?”
Those bright blue eyes were on his face, filled with awe and a little, not fear, but a new understanding of him.Valerius merely nodded.
“So the war ended because you took the nuclear warheads away?”Caden shook his head.
“I showed them that the only people they would be hurting would be themselves,” Valerius answered.
“You are totally going to beat the hell out of the Behemoth,” Caden laughed softly.
Raziel and Iolaire were now both asleep, curled around one another, so Valerius did not have to worry about Raziel’s ego when he spoke.
“Raziel has hidden depths of power that I don't even know,” Valerius sighed.“But even it needed the other Dragon Shifters to defeat the Behemoth.And, the truth is, that theydidn’tdefeat it. The Behemoth has at least seven of our kind bound to it.What powers that give it I can only imagine.”
“You don’t think that there’s a Dragon bigger than Raziel in there, do you?”Caden’s eyebrows lifted.
But Valerius shook his head.“No, I know there is not.I cannot explain it, but despite what comes across as arrogant bluster at times, I know that when Raziel says it is the king of kings it’s true.”
Caden nodded.“I feel that, too.So the press don’t come here because they fear there’s nuclear fallout?”
“The press do not come here because it is holy ground, in a way,” Valerius explained.“This was the spot where humanity realized it was beaten and had to accept Shifters.This was the spot where we, Shifters, decided to livewithhumanity instead of destroying them.”
They had just reached the beginning of the spacious deck that surrounded and connected the different parts of the main house, the gazebos and other covered bridges.The wood was smooth and painted a soft gray.The sound of the waterfall came from directly ahead of them.Plants and flowers overflowed the railings and draped over the tops of the roofs of the walkway and crawled up the trellises on the home itself.Caden’s head moved all around them as he took in the beauty of the sight.
“I can’t get over this.I love our quarters in High Reach--I love Reach--but this is…” Caden just shook his head as if at a loss for words.
Valerius lowered his head as he murmured, “Truthfully, you, of all people, will appreciate why I created this. To turn something ugly into something beautiful, but more than that.”
Caden smiled up at him.“I’m all ears.”
Valerius grinned.“You are correct that I based this home on Rivendell, but I call it Valinor.”
At first, Caden’s forehead remained furrowed, but then he clapped his hands together.“That’s where the elves went after they left Middle Earth!So you named this place after where the elveswent.”
“The elves took magic from the world when they left.I thought of the Shifters as bringing it back,” Valerius said with a grimace. “Turning a military base into a mountain range felt pure.”
He couldn’t quite meet Caden’s eyes.The young man was silent for long moments, which had him shifting from foot to foot more.But then Caden hugged him rather fiercely.
“That--that is awesome,” Caden breathed into his left ear and kissed his cheek.
“Humans First would say otherwise.”
“Humans First are idiots.They don’t realize how things could have been!And… they don’t see the good things,” Caden said.“When I was born, Shifters were already out and about.I’ve never known a world where there haven’t been people who could become animals.There’s always been Dragons since I was alive. But Mom and Dad told me what it was like to find out that Shifters were real.”
“Your father has seemingly fallen out of love with us if he ever felt that way,” Valerius said dryly, but he respected Grant’s determination not to be blinded by love of Shifters.
“Oh, he was a big fantasy fan growing up.DevouredLord of the Rings,The Wheel of Time seriesand so many more,” Caden told him.“The moment he found out thatDragons, not just Shifters, were real, he said that the whole world became better.”
“For a little while,” Valerius murmured.
