Married To The Last Ice Dragon-Chapter 169: Play?

"Do you want me to apologize? Do you expect me to just sit in the mansion and do nothing in the name of protecting myself? My people are in danger! Our home has been destroyed, and I cannot let us go extinct!" Sage had to scream. She stood firm in her words, but she couldn’t stop her heart from clenching when she noticed extreme worry flashing in those cold blue slit eyes.

"I.."

"Do not say anything." Sage interrupted him with a deep sigh and a bright smile. "As you can see, I am fine, but you have no idea how relieved I am that you’re concerned about me." She finished her happy words with a whisper, stood on her toes, and kissed Cyrus on the nose.

Cyrus froze and let go of her shoulders, making her giggle in delight as she took a few steps away from him, swinging her arms with ease.

Sage laughed out loud as he stood there, frozen and flustered, with no lines of worry on his brows. In his dark state, he was so strange; the way his emotions and behavior changed were like switches. He always pretended to be tough, like the shield he was, but it was clear that he had been through a lot more in his dark state than in his normal state. Sage was relieved to learn that he had fallen in love with her, and it was clear that he wasn’t concerned about her because he desired her fire core; it was real, and she could feel it.

"Cyrus." She called out and walked towards him, holding her hands.

Cyrus blinked, as if releasing his deep thoughts, despite the fact that his gaze had been fixed on her all along.

"Do you want to go back there?" Cyrus asked slowly, and Sage nodded quickly while keeping a smile on her lips.

"By the way, is Mother here?" Sage asked, her eyes widening as she looked around.

Cyrus’ brow furrowed in befuddlement. "Mother?" He was taken aback.

Sage smiled as she returned her gaze to him. "Your mother, Aurora." She told him, and Cyrus’ eyes widened.

"Oh?" He asked, blinking quickly as a subconscious smile stretched across his lips. "She went back to the mansion." He told her with a low growl.

Sage smiled as he noticed the smile on his lips. She hugged him tightly and buried her face in his chest, closing her eyes. She could hear his rapid heartbeat and smiled as she enjoyed the effect she had on him, and she felt even better when he hugged her back.

"I miss you." Sage muttered.

"I love what you did to the halfling." When she heard Cyrus say it, his voice was filled with laughter, and his hug tightened. "If you let me, I can do more to him." He unexpectedly added.

Sage gasped, not expecting him to ask for permission. Cyrus seemed to be in his normal state, acting so calm and understanding? Maybe.

"Ugh! The drama." A familiar voice groaned dramatically behind him.

Sage tried to break the hug, but Cyrus only hugged her tightly, making sure she couldn’t move.

"What are you doing here?" Cyrus sounded threatening.

"Well, you have been gone for a while, and I was worried." Ashton laughed heartily.

"Fake love." Cyrus hissed darkly, his wings burst out, and he lifted off from the ground, immediately heading back to the top, while Sage hugged him tightly, afraid to fall off, but she calmed down quickly knowing she was in Cyrus’ arms.

Finally, they landed on the ground and heard, "Sage!" From Arthur and "My queen!" From Freya and Sage was relieved that they were okay.

Cyrus’ grip on her loosened, and she immediately pulled away from him, taking a step away from him as her gaze swept over his massive dragon wings. They had white scales with sapphire edges.

"They are beautiful." Cyrus furrowed his brows as she spoke as if in a trance.

"What is funny?" He asked flatly, but he looked confused and almost embarrassed, as if she had caught him doing something embarrassing.

"No, it is nothing important; I just assumed that because you’re in your dark state, your scales would be black like your hair." At the end, she revealed herself and smiled cutely.

"Oh? It is, but you don’t want to get too close to me in that state." His words were cut short by a deep growl, and his wings vanished.

Sage narrowed her eyes at him, puzzled, and wanted to speak when Arthur and Freya arrived.

"Your Majesty," They both said it at the same time and bowed their heads at Cyrus, who was staring at them murderously.

Sage turned to face them and approached Cyrus, hugging his arm and soothing him.

"You will not deserve your life if something like this happens to her again while she is in your care." Cyrus spoke coldly to Arthur, who, like Freya, had his head bowed.

"I sincerely apologize, your Majesty; this will not happen again." Arthur expressed regret.

"It is not their fault, Cyrus," Sage felt guilty.

"I am not interested in that." Cyrus growled and turned to see her smiling.

"They are not to blame." She smiled confidently and whispered.

Arthur was relieved to learn that he was not dead. Because Sage was next to him and hugging his arm, Cyrus’ aura was calmer than expected. If she hadn’t been there, Cyrus would have killed both Arthur and Freya without thinking about their past deeds and service to him. He was enraged just thinking about what would have happened to Sage if he hadn’t been nearby, but he had to restrain himself because she was beside him, alive and without a scratch on her body.

Cyrus began to walk towards the strong magical trail that Sage had followed, sensing the magic surging on the mountain. The trees... and the path that connects them.

They all returned to the location, all staring at Cyrus, who had his gaze fixed on the empty path that led to the deep forest.

He raised his hand to the direction without saying anything, and just as he was about to touch, Sage tugged on his arm, stopping him. "What is it?" he asked as he looked at her.

"Don’t, Cyrus." Sage spoke slowly and nervously.

"Yes, your Majesty, I believe that is a force filed created by a powerful mage to prevent anyone from entering." Freya informed, confidently.

"And Katherine is that powerful mage." Cyrus hissed darkly, keeping eye contact with Sage as if to gauge her reaction, while raising his hand and grabbing the force, which became visible immediately. He grabbed it as if it were paper, but it slowly began to freeze as if it were water.

Sage’s eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat when she learned that Katherine had created the forcefield that blasted her out of the mountain. How was that even possible?

Sage turned to see the forcefield in Cyrus’ grip after hearing a crack of ice. It was freezing like water and then vanished, leaving behind a piercing glow capable of blinding an average human, but Cyrus still covered Sage’s eyes with his cold palm while Arthur and Freya winced, feeling a little pain in their eyes.

Cyrus removed his palm from Sage’s eyes as soon as the glow faded, and she still had her widened eyes on him.

"How long have you known about this?" Sage inquired, her face turning enraged and her eyes turning a fiery red.

"I do not know what you mean, arrogant parrot," Cyrus said, a sly grin on his face.

"Do you want to play this way?" Sage asked, nodding and scowling in disbelief as she let go of Cyrus’ arm.

"How?" Cyrus inquired, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"You...!" Sage was about to scream at him when she heard a ghoulish call.

"Fire mage..."

Her eyes instantly went dead, like those of a statkus mage, and she shifted her gaze to the direction of the dark path between the trees, as if hypnotized.

"Not under my watch." Cyrus growled and yanked Sage’s arm closer to him, her face buried in his chest.

His vision narrowed into the dark path, and all he saw was blood.

"The land of the sea of blood." Cyrus chewed his lower lip and whispered.

...

A/n: Al generated picture of Stefan is on the comment box