The Crown and The Rose
Chapter 59: Die Quickly

Chapter 59: Die Quickly

The Crown

Everything simply...stops.

For some unfathomable reason, Everything is slow, so painfully slow that I feel like it will be an eternity before I finally hit the ground. The harsh raindrops are slamming against my face so hard that they sting, but the pain is also registering in my system too slowly.

But my mind is oddly clear at this moment...or rather, blank. I can think nothing, remember no one. I just have these eight letters and three words in my mind. I am dying.

Is this some kind of torture? Not letting me die quickly? Maybe the God of death is giving me some time before I die to reflect on the sins I committed. And this is unnerving because to his information I am not giving him the pleasure to see me suffer before I die.

Can’t I just die quickly?

No, You can’t, dumbass.

I blink. And I hit a hard surface. I groan as my back goes numb from the pain, but it isn’t the ground. Everything around me is moving, no, I am

moving. The furious wind slaps my body and whirls my hair as it takes a moment to register in my mind.

I quickly sit up and I almost fall but don’t as shackles made of dark magic keep me seated in a place. I am riding a dragon. A big ass DRAGON! He spirals around the castle and moves high up in the sky at a breathtaking speed. His huge white wings cut through the storm and dominate it like he is the Stormbringer. And it must obey him.

"Hold your seat, Your Highness." So devastatingly familiar voice... I look around to find the owner, hoping to see the ruby eyes I long for and I see it. The dragon is looking over his shoulder, his red eyes scanning me. And I miss my lungs. "Hold your seat, Lush." It repeats, my name.

I am flying, I am falling, I am drowning, I am everything. I take a moment to process then slowly blurt out, "My Lord?"

"Your Highness?" He returns. His mouth doesn’t move, but I can hear him clearly in the chaos of the storm. It is undeniably...hot. "This is the third time I am telling you to hold your seat. You will fall otherwise, and I will take my time to catch you next time."

Okay. Now I am sure it’s Vermilion.

I gulp down the cry in my throat and quickly sit properly, grabbing the two high scales on his back and stationing my thighs over two pristine scales. "I-Is this okay now?" I murmur so quietly that I, myself can’t hear what I am saying.

But Vermilion can hear me, "I am hoping so."

And he speeds up. He flies so effortlessly in the storm that it is almost...hot, but I am suffering. The way the wind hits me makes me want to scream. Tears flood my vision, but I am forced to keep my eyes open. My heartbeat is so loud that I can hear it in my eardrums. My lungs are shrinking tight. I can’t breathe properly.

Vermilion comes to a halt, making me realize that we are high up in the sky, facing directly Nix, who is captured. Tree roots are squeezing Erick’s body so tightly that it might snap. And I see Edward. He looks so enraged like, I have never seen him before.

A water dragon and a phoenix are flying beside us and I have no problem recognizing the phoenix. But who is this water dragon? Don’t tell me...Typhon?!

"Phillip, can you pull him out of Erick’s body?" Vermilion asks.

"Certainly, My Lord." He gets to his job before he can even finish the acknowledgment.

Phillip forms some hand seals and some patterns that I recognize. They are the seals of light magic. But... a little different. He is doing them in reverse. Everything is blurry as the sky lets all its grief and frustration out.

I spot some black smoke coming out of Erick’s mouth, nostrils, and ear, and my eyes narrow in indignation. I still can’t shake off the kiss from earlier. It was something so unpleasant that every time I remember it, I feel my stomach flip and whatever meal I had taken last time threatens to reappear.

As Nix leaves Erick’s ghastly pale body, it goes limp in Edward’s roots where it is trapped.

"Curse you, Vermilion." Nix roars, "You do know what you are doing, don’t you?" I feel like a thousand eyes are watching me. A shiver jolts down my spine.

"If I were you, Nix, I would be wise and keep my mouth sealed." Vermilion’s voice is cold and authorizing. And hot. "It would only be near my death."

I am out of my mind. Why am I finding everything about this man so dangerously delicious and terrifyingly attractive at a moment like this? What did Cupid do to me?!

"I will die anyway!" Nix bellows, so loud that my ears hurt, "So let me have the pleasure to curse you before I perish!"

"I am already cursed." The smoke bursts into hundreds and thousands of flames, which are instantly swept away by the storm.

Vermilion turns his head toward Seraphina slowly. Seraphina is screeching and flapping her wings furiously. "He was being so fucking noisy."

"Next time, ask me before you do something like this." Vermilion just speaks and the environment turns to ice.

Nobody dares to interrupt the environment. But I do.

"W-Where is Zhen Xin?" I look around, my eyes switching between everyone. This question is for everyone.

"He is alright," Typhon replies. There is no hint of seriousness in his voice; rather, he looks rather happy. He is immortal. He can survive these kinds of falls once or twice. He just needs a little rest."

A weak, yet genuine smile spreads across my face and I drop to Vermilion’s back, my eyelids drooping as relief washes over me. This is my limit without my magic. "Good..." I manage to blurt out.

So tired...

And everything goes black and still.