Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 216: Unable to be of help...

Chapter 216: Unable to be of help...

Erebus advanced on Rhea, his malevolent laughter echoing in the icy air. However, Rhea shuffled backward on the snow-covered ground. She tried to summon her powers, but realized Erebus had cunningly sealed them away.

As Erebus closed in, he seized her by the hair, yanking her backwards.

"You can’t escape your fate, little one. You are bound to die the day you were chosen as El-Dezeus’ soulmate." he sneered.

Despite Rhea’s attempts to resist, he effortlessly pinned her down, restraining her with his dark powers. He then manipulated the swirling black smoke around him into a deadly weapon.

"Stop struggling and Just accept it. This is the end," he hissed.

When the weapon hovered ominously above Rhea’s chest, she shut her eyes closed, time itself seemed to halt as she waited for the pain. But a thunderous roar shattered the silence.

"What a good timing, I almost thought he wouldn’t come for you." Erebus chuckled. "El-Dezeus has come to die as well."

When Rhea dared to open her eyes, a familiar blue and silver Dragon soared through the air. Erebus laughed as he withdrew his weapon and looked up to the dragon in the sky.

Draven unleashed his icy breath, but Erebus remained untouched. With a malevolent grin, Erebus exerted his powers, forcefully bringing the majestic creature down to the ground. He was plunged down with a resounding boom that shook the earth and split the ground.

"No!" Rhea cried out, her voice trembling as she attempted to get up to her feet but her twisted ankle failed her.

Erebus turned to her with a sinister smile. "Your precious Dragon is powerless before me. How adorable for him to come here to save you when he has no powers to defeat me. But don’t worry, I will grant you the honor to watch me torture him to his death, my dear. "

Rhea crawled up to her feet and put her weight on her good leg, she witnessed her husband’s struggles as Erebus pressed him down. The Dragon roared and thrashed, its tail creating a deep crack in the frozen ground.

"Please, spare him!" Rhea pleaded. "Don’t hurt him..." Her heart twisted with fear and anguish as she watched her husband, subjected to a merciless fate in Erebus’ hands.

Ignoring her cries, Erebus gloated, "Look what a mighty Dragon has turned to. El-Dezeus is nothing without his core; he would have been as mighty as his father, but he lost that ability the moment he lost his core. Poor boy, he has the chance to take back his core, but fell in love instead."

Powerless and anguished, Rhea could only watch as Erebus reveled in the suffering he inflicted on her husband. Tears streamed down her face as she helplessly watched him suffer. Despite his struggles, Draven couldn’t overcome the dark powers that bound him to the ground. He had come here to save her despite knowing how powerless he was to this evil being.

"I will give you the core," Rhea’s voice quivered as she declared, her desperation evident in her eyes. "Just let him go, if you release him, I will give it to you."

Erebus, surprised, regarded her with amusement. "Ah, the desperate choices one makes for love. You’ve made the right choice, my dear."

However, Draven roared his defiance, "Rhea, don’t! Don’t you dare give it to him."

Rhea felt the pain in her heart as Erebus increased his powers on Draven. Unable to bear it any longer, she said, "If I don’t, he will kill you, Draven. I can’t bear that."

"He will kill me either way!" Draven cried out through his pain.

Rhea realized Draven was right. She couldn’t trust this thing. If she wanted to sacrifice herself, it was best to give the core back to Draven instead. She began to think of how to give it back him, but when she didn’t remove the core from her body as she’d said, Erebus commanded his powers to intensify on Draven. He turned back toward her, extending his hand.

"Remove it," Erebus demanded, a sinister smile playing on his lips.

Draven’s voice echoed, a desperate command, "Rhea, don’t!"

As Draven spoke, Erebus’s powers pressed down even harder. Unable to withstand the torment, Rhea tried to think, but then she found herself entangled. Erebus used his powers to strangle her neck, lifting her off her feet in midair with his sinister black smoke. She struggled in vain.

The swirling black smoke circled around her entire body, trying to strangle her to death, but in a flash, a figure intervened. With a burst of power, the person severed the dark smokes from Rhea’s body. She felt herself falling from the sky, but the person caught her before she could meet the ground, and as the person held her, she felt the familiar scent and arms that wrapped around her.

She opened her eyes and glanced upward. "Azure..." She frowned, "Why are you here?"

Azure tightened his grip around her, "Don’t worry, I will keep you safe from him," he assured, using his usual gentle and reassuring voice that he always used when rescuing her from trouble in the past.

"You insolent fool!" Erebus scolded harshly, "You betrayed me after I granted you the powers you now possess. You ruined my plans by hiding the girl from Alina for twenty years, and now, after all that, you dare to show up!"

Rhea heard Erebus’s words and looked up at Azure’s pale face. Azure had not only protected her from Alina, but also from Erebus. He had been the reason she had survived until this moment, as he had promised to protect her and was fulfilling that promise.

Azure pulled Rhea away and positioned himself in front of Draven, using his own powers to free Draven from his restraints. Draven transformed back into his human form, but he was badly injured. Rhea went to support his body while looking at Azure, who stood protectively in front of them, facing Erebus.

Azure faced Erebus with determination in his eyes, despite his powers not anywhere close to Erebus. As they clashed, Azure summoned all the strength he could muster and fought with Erebus.

Erebus, amused, unleashed a torrent of dark energy, laughing mockingly as he cut into Azure’s stomach. "Idiot! Betraying me after all I’ve granted you. Your interference will cost you dearly this time." His sinister laughter echoed through the night.

Rhea supported Draven while she anxiously watched as Azure endured the pain. She felt a mix of fear and admiration for the man who had saved her countless times. Though, she hadn’t openly told him she’d forgiven him on the day he walked her to her husband, and she hadn’t expected to ever see him again, but he came back to protect her from Erebus.

Erebus, reveling in his moment of triumph, dug his clawed hands deeper into Azure. "You think you can defy me? Pathetic."

Rhea’s heart sank as she witnessed Azure’s blood staining the snow ground. Despite the pain, Azure looked at Draven and managed to murmur, "Go... I’ll hold him off."

Despite the pain, Azure summoned his last reserves of strength. In a desperate move, he reached into Erebus’s chest and pulled out his deformed heart.

Erebus eyes widened, but then he dug his clawed hands deeper into Azure’s stomach. "Pulling out my heart cannot kill me. I shall return after I cultivate my heart. See you until then, El-Dezeus!"

With a last goodbye, Azure teleported away with Erebus, leaving Rhea and Draven behind, with Erebus’s haunting last words lingering in the air.

Rhea was immobilized as she blankly stared at Azure’s blood on the snow ground. He had sacrificed himself to save them...

***

Draven’s steps were heavy as he carried Rhea through the doors of their house, the weight of their recent battle etched on both their faces. And when he saw the maids and Prince Ethan pacing around the Halls of the house, Draven told them that everything was alright and everyone should go back to their rooms. He wasn’t in a slightest mood to deal with drama, he was more concerned about the woman in his arms, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet ever since he’d forced her away from the place where Azure had sacrificed himself.

Rhea now laid limp in his arms, she hadn’t cried nor said a word after he’d told her that Azure wouldn’t survive such injuries. He hadn’t meant to tell her that, but she had insisted on going to Birhhan to see for herself if he was alright. And when he carried her by force, she had remained quiet.

As he entered their room, the room, once a sanctuary, felt haunted by the ghost of their ordeal.

Gently placing Rhea on their bed, he observed her motionless form. Her dark eyes, windows to a shattered soul, stared into emptiness. The lines of her broken expression revealed a depth of pain that words couldn’t capture. She didn’t even look at him and kept staring into space. The silence between them echoed so loudly, Draven thought his heart would rip apart from her lack of staying emotions.

She must hate him for being a weakling, she must despise him for not being able to protect her like Azure had done. Draven thought bitterly, he wouldn’t blame her if she hated him now, because he despised himself so much he felt he didn’t deserve her at all.

Quietly, Draven swallowed his bitterness and walked to the other side of the room, he opened a drawer, retrieving a small box of medicine oils. As he knelt before her, his fingers worked gently, removing her shoes with a tenderness that belied the storm raging within him. He saw her twisted ankle and rested it on his lap, and he began the delicate task of tending to her wounds.

His thoughts echoed the turmoil of his heart. The milky chandelier light cast shadows on his anguished face as he worked on her ankle. He had failed her, he thought, the weight of guilt settling in his chest. He couldn’t protect her when she needed him the most. She would have died right in front of him if Azure hadn’t stepped in, she would have died for him, yet he hadn’t been able to do anything.

For someone who had been the most powerful creature on earth, this was such a huge blow to him. It was his fault that Rhea had been in such a mess, her life was now in danger. Erebus wouldn’t give up until he got what he wanted, he would be back, and when he returned, he would be well prepared. And then he still wouldn’t be able to do anything for her just like he hadn’t been able to do anything tonight.

As he carefully angled her twisted ankle back into place, Rhea winced, but her gaze remained fixed in the distance. Draven’s hands trembled, not from the physical task, but from the emotional storm within him. He despised his own weakness, the sense of powerlessness that had almost cost him the woman he loved. He wished he had never known Rheanna, in that way, she would be safe from all of this mess.

Applying the medicine with measured strokes, Draven battled his own demons. He saw himself as a useless husband, unworthy of the strong and resilient woman before him. The scent of the oils filled the room, a bittersweet reminder of their shared pain.