Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 172: Burning down

Chapter 172: Burning down

Rhea’s breathing turned labored as she laid wounded under Oriana, who still had her sword plunged in her chest. The pain that surged through her chest as Oriana withdrew the sword was excruciating. Each inch of the blade’s retreat tore at her very soul, and Rhea’s world seemed to blur in a haze of searing agony. She tried to struggle with the last bit of strength left in her, but Oriana wouldn’t allow it.

Oriana’s malevolent grin grew wider as she witnessed Rhea’s suffering, her eyes gleaming with the sinister delight of a cruel victory. She had finally had the chance to kill the cause of her misfortune, and today, she would make sure she finished the job. In that twisted moment, Oriana raised the sword once more, she wanted to finish the stupid girl up. The blade descended with relentless force, aiming for Rhea’s right side chest.

Rhea knew she wouldn’t be able to fight it, so she closed her eyes as the sword descended on her. As the sword pierced her chest for the third time, it struck the unexpected, concealed Core nestled within her chest. The Core, dormant until now, was awakened by the threat to its guardian.

Oriana, caught off guard, was instantly flung away by the force of the core. The force propelled her backward with incredible strength. She was sent hurtling through the air, crashing into a nearby wall that was already burning from her earlier flames with a resounding thud.

Rhea took the opportunity and pulled her hands away from the whips, gasping and wounded. She looked down at her bleeding chest and the light radianting from the core in astonishment. However, she could barely keep herself on her feet, but she needed to end this once and for all. She had promised to get Draven’s scales, and she would before she let herself die in her enemy’s hand.

Oriana, who lay crumpled on the floor, pushed herself back to her feet with so much difficulty. But when her eyes fell on Rhea’s glowing chest, she frowned, "What is in your body?!" She demanded.

The room was already burning down with smoke clouding everywhere, the fire had spread through the entire house, but yet Oriana didn’t care about what was happening in the background, all she wanted was to get rid of Rhea and whatever was in her body.

Rhea clutched to her bleeding chest, she had hesitated to kill Oriana earlier, but now she had even more reasons to kill her. Oriana must not know of the core. Rhea pulled out the dagger in her waist when she saw Oriana had summoned her sword again.

"Fine, don’t tell me what is in your body, I will find it out myself after I kill you!" Oriana shouted angrily as she sprinted back towards Rhea, intending to stab her once again. However, Rhea reacted swiftly, dropping to her knees just as Oriana approached, and forcefully drove her dagger into Oriana’s chest.

Oriana’s eyes widened in disbelief as she looked down at the dagger embedded in her chest. Blood gushed from the wound, trickling down the blade and dripping onto the floor.

"You wretched..." Oriana struggled to speak but choked on her own blood. She coughed, expelling the blood from her mouth, and glared at Rhea in fury. "How dare you stab me..."

"Yes, I dare," Rhea responded through clenched teeth. With a moist sound, she slowly withdrew the dagger from Oriana’s chest. Weakened as well, Rhea staggered backwards, almost losing her balance. However, she managed to regain control, clutching her bleeding chest and coughing due to the thick smoke filling the room.

Despite being stabbed, Oriana refused to give up. If she was destined to die, she would ensure that Rhea joined her in the depths of hell!

Summoning every last ounce of strength, Oriana raised her sword, preparing to attack Rhea. But in that very moment, the roof of the room suddenly collapsed, crashing down onto Oriana, who toppled onto Rhea. Both women were buried beneath the rubble, obscured from view. The house was soon engulfed in flames, crumbling into ruins.

**

Draven continued to fight with the fire controllers, who wouldn’t stop rushing to attack him even though he had killed a lot of them. He had moved away from the mansion where Rhea was so none of them would go inside to stop her. He knew Rhea was smart enough to avoid Oriana in that big mansion. And he hoped Oriana wouldn’t find her until he could go to Rhea.

But then, what if Oriana found her before he was done? Those thoughts made Draven fight harder as he suddenly felt uneasy.

Amidst the heated battle, a thunderous noise echoed, causing him and everyone of the fire controllers to halt in their tracks. Draven turned to witness the mansion engulfed in flames, its walls collapsing in broad daylight. His heart pounded, a rare fear gripping him. His eyes trembled slightly as he realized it was the mansion Rhea was in. He had never felt the kind of fear that gripped him as he thought of Rhea’s safety.

Rhea! he silently cried out, repeating her name in his mind. Panic consumed him as the fire raged and he waited to see if Rhea would come running out of the burning down mansion, but he saw no sign of her escaping the inferno. He abandoned the fight, leaving his weapon behind, and sprinted towards the blazing building. In that moment, nothing else mattered but finding Rhea and ensuring her safety.

The fire controllers all watched in disbelief as Alina’s mansion burned down and the Dragon that was running towards it.

Draven tried to track down the core and Rhea, but her presence was so faint he could barely sense them in the burning mansion. He knew she had a strong-minded temper, and since she had promised to get his scales, she would no matter what. But at this moment, Draven didn’t give a damn about the scales, he wanted Rhea alive and fine.

Once again he had failed to protect her, once again he had put her life in danger. He shouldn’t have brought her with him, he should have left her to stay behind while he come alone, but he was too selfish to stay away from her even for a moment, and now she was in a burning building...

Draven tried to walk into the burning building, for a moment he had completely forgotten he could use his ice to stop the fire, as the panic in his heart had made his thoughts not function properly. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he felt a burn on his arms and immediately realized. He quickly extended his hands toward the flames.

As his icy magic met the raging fire, the flames, once fierce and all-consuming, started to weaken and retreat when they touched his freezing energy. It was as if fire and ice were locked in a battle.

The mansion, once engulfed in flames, now stood frozen and charred. The fire had been snuffed out by Draven’s icy abilities, leaving the building with a frosty, preserved appearance.

The fire controllers around the grounds gazed at Draven in wonderment. "What is the Dragon doing?" one of them inquired.

"It doesn’t matter what he’s doing, kill him!"

Upon hearing these words, the fire controllers began to rush towards Draven once again. However, Draven didn’t even bother to look at them as he issued a chilling warning, "I swear to the Heavens, if any of you attempt to stop me, I will freeze you to death!" He flicked his fingers and the ground started to freeze. The ice rapidly spread, causing the fire controllers to retreat. Those who failed to retreat in time found themselves frozen in place.

The fire controllers quickly realized that the Dragon was not joking and hastily made their way back, avoiding the spreading ice.

"Retreat! We must inform Lady Credan about the formidable Dragon!" shouted one of the fire controllers.

Draven’s eyes grew dangerously dark upon hearing this. His anger intensified, and his voice took on a menacing tone as he declared, "Tell Alina," he directed his words at the retreating fire controllers, "that the debt she owes Draven El-Dezeus from years ago will be collected!"

The fire controllers trembled at the sound of his voice as they hurriedly left the mansion grounds. Once they were all gone, the atmosphere became quiet, and Draven proceeded to search for Rhea. Using his powers, he effortlessly lifted the fallen walls out of his path as he made his way into the ruins.

As Draven walked deeper into the ruins, he finally caught the whiff of blood and used his powers to move away the broken down walls that had crumbled on the ground. That was when he realized it was Rhea’s blood.

Draven was a bit relieved to find her whereabouts, but his heart tightened at the scent of her blood in the air. There was no time for him to think about anything, he quickly began to move away the rocks and ashes from the ground until he could see clothes underneath.

But what Draven saw was Oriana on top of Rhea’s body, crushing her to the ground. When he saw this, his vision went dark in anger. He had hoped that Oriana didn’t find Rhea, and that the fire was due to the fire controller’s recklessness, and that Rhea was hiding away somewhere in the burning building for him to come. But now he realized the fire had started because of this stupid woman.

This meant Rhea had suffered so much before the fire...

Draven felt a jab to his chest at those thoughts. He didn’t even want to touch Oriana’s body, he used his powers to rise her off Rhea and then tossed her through the broken down window, she went down like a discarded rag doll and fell to the ground with a crushing sound.

Finally he saw Rhea, who had been buried underneath Oriana. But the sight of her condition made a huge lump rise to his throat that made it difficult for him to swallow. He felt like there were countless needles piercing at his heart. He was overwhelmed by countless emotions; relief, anger, anxiety, and disbelief.

Rhea looked almost dead, her breathing was faint, and blood was still flowing out of her wounded chest. She was covered in blood, Draven could barely tell where she was injured.

With trembling hands, Draven covered Rhea’s wounded chest with his hand to stop the bleeding with his powers. He could feel her faint heart beat and the chilliness of the core on his palm. He was relieved to know that the core was still keeping her alive but not healing the wound.

Gently, Draven cradled Rhea’s head in his lap after removing his hand from her chest. Although he had managed to stop the bleeding, the wound was not one that could be healed by his abilities. He used his clothes to wipe away the dirt and blood from her face. With a pained expression, he spoke, "Rheanna..."

As if responding to his voice, she opened her eyes slowly and gazed up at him. Her eyes were misty at first, but cleared up when she saw his face. She coughed out the smoke that had choked her earlier and mustered a smile. "Draven... I found your scales, look..." She pointed to the robe, which appeared clean despite the earlier fire.

However, Draven paid no attention to the robe; his focus was on Rhea. Emotions welled up inside him. "I don’t care about the scales, Rhea. You scared me half to death again. You frightened me."

Rhea smiled weakly, her eyes crinkling. Despite the bloodstained corner of her mouth and her dirty face, her radiant and beautiful smile remained untarnished. "Soon, you will be whole again. Your pain and suffering will be gone. I promised to help you, and I have..."

Draven could no longer hold back, he picked up Rhea from the pile of ruins, and held her head closer to his heart and hugged her. He cradled her body to his and held her tightly, "I am sorry for causing you pain, Rheanna." He said pressing his lips on the top of her head, his lips lingered there as he hugged her even tighter.

Rhea closed her eyes, "You shouldn’t be..."

Tears welled up in his blue eyes, and his lips remained pressed on her head. His lips trembling with the overwhelming relief that coursed through his veins. He held her tighter against his chest, the fear of losing her still fresh in his mind. For the first time, he realized the depth of his feelings, how he had never cared for anyone as he did for Rhea.

Draven’s voice quivered as he whispered, "I should be sorry for everything I put you through, I should be." His tears of relief mingled with a bittersweet realization of how much she meant to him.