Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 42: Bound together

Chapter 42: Bound together

"Worry not, little girl. I have no intentions of taking it back or taking your life. However, if you still refuse to accompany me to my journey, I will be left with no choice but to take it back."

Upon hearing his words, Rhea’s expression grew even paler. "So, you’re now threatening me to assist you in opposing Alina? Are you aware of how formidable that woman is? And who knows where she’s hiding your dragon form and abilities."

"It will be simple to locate them, as I will sense anything that belongs to me, much like my essence. However, to break through the barriers, I will require my core powers or the blood. Unfortunately, they currently reside within your body, so only you can undo the spells."

Alina had planned to seal Draven’s powers away forever, as she was aware he was nothing without any of his abilities or his core. Hence, she had left him alive to live a miserable life of a human. But now that his core had grown along with Rhea’s blood, only she could do it for him.

Rhea glared at Draven, "You are such a heartless dragon. Your core chose to reside in my body without my permission, it made my life miserable, and now you’re also planning to ruin me completely by threatening me to agree on helping you." Rhea scoffed, "I can’t help you, take time to look for another way out or use your essence to break the barrier."

"There’s no other way and i don’t have much time left now. After breaking the fire barrier at the cave, there is no way Alina wouldn’t know about it by now, she must have started preparing. And without my dragon form or my powers...I’m no match for her flames. If I get discovered by the shadow stalkers, then, she will reduce me to nothing again." He said with a grim expression.

Rhea swallowed hard. He was right, he would be in grave trouble if the shadow stalkers detect him, but then again, helping him would be going against Birhhan and the fire controllers. Furthermore, Draven was not just an outcast, but a dragon who was planning on going against Alina, an idol in the capital city. If Rhea were to be discovered as the ice dragon king’s accomplice, she would also be burned alive on sight!

No freaking way! Draven’s stupid core had brought bad luck to her life, and now he was threatening her to take another step into his bad luck and more danger that could cost her life?

A joke!

Rhea firmly shook her head, "No. I am not suicidal to dare agree on going against Birhhan nor the fire leader."

"..." Draven stared at her and quietly waited for her to continue.

Rhea laughed nervously, "I’m not ready to leave this world. You see, I’m already seen as the useless rebellious daughter of the Villden household, I don’t want to upgrade my already ruined reputation to a traitor and a wanted criminal. I will forget that your core had brought me bad luck, and forgive you for gifting it to me without my knowledge, but..." she paused briefly, then added,

"I apologise, I can’t go against Birhhan, not because I’m supportive of what that witch, Alina had done to you years ago, but because I have a life to live and a dream to achieve. In this current state, all dragons are considered enemies to humans. Helping you will be helping an enemy. I will be killed or banished from Birhhan, and your realm would also not accept me, then I will be a stray person with no place to live."

Draven just indifferently listened to her rambling without interrupting.

"Right now, I don’t want to be seen with you, and I think it would be best you let go of the core in my body and let’s part ways so I can return to living my miserable life and you can go do your own thing." Rhea tried to negotiate with the dragon, however the look on his face showed he wasn’t getting any of her words. She then said,

"I know with that look on your face, it means you won’t let me go, but no worries. I will easily strike you down with my spikes if you try to stop me." Rhea began to roll up her sleeves, she twirled her fingers in a beckoning motion,

"Come at me if you dare, I will permanently destroy your crotch for you."

Draven sighed deeply as he stared at Rhea with a blank expression for a good long minutes without attempting to move, he then said,

"With the fact that you’re mannerless and shameless, I like it better when you’re drunk. Your words were adorable in your drunken state."

Rhea grinned, "I will take that as a compliment." She then said seriously, "But now, I will never drink with you again. Your damn core has ruined my entire life. Now come here and let us fight."

Rhea saw that Draven wasn’t really making any attempt to move from his spot to fight her, thus she dropped her fighting stance, with hands on her waist she said, "I’m not going to help you, and I don’t care anymore if you divorce me or not, but I’m no longer staying around you. I have to return to the capital to investigate the culprit who dared hurt Rinus. So if you may please excuse this humble little girl."

"Wait..." Draven exclaimed immediately Rhea turned to leave. Although his voice was the same as before, his expression had turned colder than ice. For all these years, he had lived with a corruption growing in his heart because of his lack of dragon blood, he had to endure the pain of suppressing the craving for intense blood.

He had been stuck living a life of a mortal, a life worst than being dead. He was a ruler of creatures known for their pride and powers, but he had been reduced to a human whose life could seize with just a mere sword thrust to the flesh. He had lived his life hopelessly enduring an endless humiliation, remorse, and the pain of suppressing a corruption eating away his soul.

He hadn’t given up on his life despite all of this, he could only cut off all means of retreat and press on until he found his pride again, his dragon form. Then he would finally complete his goal.

To kill Alina and make her life miserable.

All these years, his hate for her had been fueling him, yet it had also been ripping him apart. Because his hate was so powerful, it was practically the only reason he hadn’t ended his own life, and at the same time, there was no way for him to vent his hatred apart from suppressing it down. Because he was no match for his opponent.

For all these years, he had no slightest sliver of hope that he’d ever be able to get back his dragon form or find the person or thing possessing his core. For decades, he lived between hope and despair, until she finally walked into his life.

Rhea.

She brought hope to his life, like a ray of light to a prisoner who had been locked for years in darkness. The hope to be able to finally vent his hatred.

Rhea had unexpectedly came to his life as the wife of Jurian. No one could imagine how large of a shock he got when he realized she possessed his core. And now, she was his only hope to the path of his revenge.

Furthermore, the smell of his core in her body was like a soothing remedy to his corrupting heart. Her closeness was his safe haven. Every inch of her body smelled like his former self. Everytime she was close to him, she made him feel more like a dragon than a human he was now. She gave him an unknown strength to get back what was once his from Alina.

Yet, she wanted to leave him? If she would leave him like this after retrieving his essence and giving him hope, then why did the heavens allow her to walk into his life in the first place?

However, now that she had already walked into his life, he couldn’t let her go. No matter what.

He glanced at Rhea, who had turned around to look at him. He then said, "You can’t leave. I heard that Alina had let her lover’s soul reincarnate as a human years ago after destroying me. And she’d found him now that he has grown into an adult."

Rhea frowned. "So, how is that any of my concern?" She deadpanned.

However, Rhea could remember clearly about the news of Alina getting engaged to a young man, she had only seen the man once in Alina’s engagement posters in the capital city, but judging from what Draven said, the young man could only be Alina’s former lover.

"It’s your concern because she’s still hell-bent on finding the core to make her lover an immortal. And that same core resides within your body now. You will be her next prey the moment she discoveres you possess the core."

Rhea’s eyes widened in terror. It was true that she’d be Alina’s next target if the woman found out about the core in her body!

"...Do you plan to give me away to her if I refuse to help you?" She asked.

Draven smirked and casually commented, "I never mentioned anything about surrendering you to Alina." He swiftly closed the gap between them in just three steps, stating, "We are now bound together. You possess my dragon core, meaning that if I am injured, you will experience the pain, and if I perish, you will perish alongside me. If I were to give you away, it would be akin to giving away a part of myself. We are connected by an indissoluble bond, my dear. I am obligated to safeguard you just as much as you are to me."

Seeing the look of shock and disbelief in Rhea’s eyes, Draven added with a sneer, "My pains are now yours. Dragging you along to share my misfortune wouldn’t be all too bad."

Rhea gritted her teeth with fury. Her fingers curled into a fist as she attempted to speak, but then didn’t, as if momentarily losing her ability to speak in her enraged state. Finally, after a prolonged silence, she forcefully uttered,

"You know what? It doesn’t matter to me anymore! Feel free to hand me over to your former lover, and go ahead and get hurt so I can experience the pain as well. You can even go as far as to perish, so we can die together. I DON’T CARE!!" With those words, she spun around in anger, disregarding him entirely, storming past him.

Draven sighed deeply. He knew this little girl was impulsive, she had no brain to think properly like ordinary humans, hence he had anticipated this outcome would occur.

But did she think she could get away from him just like that?

Impossible.

’You are my other half, no matter what, you can’t get away from me, Rheanna.’