Married To The Last Ice Dragon-Chapter 219: Illusion

Katherine approached the door to Cyrus and Sage’s room with a worried expression.

She believed Sage’s death was unavoidable after recalling the words Sage and Ashton were exchanging earlier. Cyrus was going to kill her in either his demonic or normal state, and in order to keep his demonic state from killing her, his normal state, which was the only state capable of sealing his demonic state, had to return by any means possible... but... there were still buts.

Katherine clenched her fist and knocked on the door. "Sage, may I enter?" She asked, sighing and dropping her arm.

A minute passed with no response, prompting Katherine to narrow her eyes and ask, "Sage?" She knocked on the door again, but there was no response.

"Are you upset with me?" She then bent her hand on the door handle and pushed it open.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw two demon panthers staring at her like she was their daily meal.

Katherine screamed and slammed the door shut. She ran all the way back to the sitting room, where she met Ashton, who was staring at the fire as if he could see someone in there.

"Why are you panting?" Without looking at Katherine, Ashton inquired.

"I saw two demon panthers!"

"Oh?" Ashton finally turned to face her. "What about the nine-tailed fox?"

"I didn’t look..."

"You fled." Ashton laughed.

"Demon panthers eat flesh." Katherine scowled at him.

"Weak." Katherine’s frown widened as Ashton tsked. "You should be more afraid of that tiny vermin." He added, carressing his chin.

"I didn’t see him." Katherine sighed. "I don’t think Sage is in the bedroom either, but I will look for her." She finished and turned away.

"Or you could feel her energy because it’s higher than usual." Ashton suggested stopping Katherine’s steps and who turned to face him with a side eye.

"I continue to dislike you." She scoffed.

"Taken." Ashton laughed, and Katherine rolled her eyes at him before closing them.

Her brow furrowed slightly and she exclaimed, her eyes wide open and flashing brightly. "I can’t feel her! She is not present in the mansion!"

"What?" Ashton’s pupils constricted.

Stefan entered the room, his teeth clenched. "I can’t seem to find Sage."

"There’s no need to look; she’s not in the mansion." Ashton stated casually. "There’s also no sign of the nine-tailed fox." He added with thought.

Katherine blinked and turned away, intending to flee the room. "I will sear..."

"Don’t squander your time. Snow is clearly with her." Ashton cut her off, completely unconcerned.

"I will find her, Ashton," Katherine snarled.

"If you must know, Leimpia is teeming with ferocious monsters and a slew of proud prestigious beings who would love to have you as a plaything or, for the monsters, as food. It will not be good if you come across one of those, and if you disobey me by leaving this mansion, you will be visited by hungry demon panthers, who are far worse than any monster." Ashton threatened sternly, and Katherine froze for a moment, taken aback by the demon’s words.

"Stay here where it’s safe; we don’t want to face the wrath of Fireria’s crown prince." Stefan said calmly to Katherine and sighed heavily before glancing disapprovingly at Ashton, who appeared unbothered. "In the meantime, I’m going to find my sister." The demon smirked as he turned away and walked out of the room.

...

Sage was partially relieved that the waterfall was large and made the area bright as she stared at her reflection in the glowing water, which appeared to be the only source of light in the strange place she had appeared in.

She turned around and noticed that the trees behind her were glowing ice blue from the water’s glimmer. She had never seen such young leaves in her life, and she had never imagined herself in a place devoid of even the slightest hint of snow.

Her eyes grew wide as she recalled the nine-tailed fox. "Snow?" With a gasp, she called out and returned her attention to the water.

"Did he drown or something?" In frustration, she pushed her hair back.

She didn’t want to go into that forest, to be honest. She was in a place where there was no snow, and it was all very mysterious. She didn’t want to hurt herself because Cyrus, wherever he was, would be hurt as well.

"Where the hell am I?" She sighed and poked her cheek. "I don’t feel dead..." When she looked at her hands, raging flares burst forth, reflecting fiercely in her eyes. "My powers are still active," she said, closing her fists.

She froze when she felt something soft brush against her ankle and looked down to see the nine-tailed fox seated next to her, his eyes fixed on the waterfall, and what had actually brushed her ankle was his tail.

"Snow," she called, scooping him into her arms.

The fox looked at her unconcernedly, and she noted that he looked much better, implying that he had already recovered. Cyrus’ normal state was no longer a possibility...

"Can you tell me where we are? What exactly is this location? I don’t think we’re in Leimpia anymore, or even in the world!" Because the nine-tailed fox only blinked at her, she panicked and took a deep breath.

"Did you bring me here on purpose?" She asked, but received no response, and groaned in frustration, wishing she could read the mind of the nine-tailed fox.

But maybe she’d know if she had an eye-to-eye with him. Despite the fact that it sounded ridiculous, she wanted to give it a shot because she had seen Cyrus and the nine-tailed fox engage in the strange stare off several times.

She gently set the fox on his feet on the ground, then stood on her heels, squinting directly into his ice blue eyes. "Let’s get started." She spoke confidently, but the nine-tailed fox turned away from her, curled into a ball, and closed his eyes, leaving Sage stunned.

"Rude!" She stood up, hurt by the fox, and exclaimed harshly.

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, recalling what she had read in the book Cyrus had given her back in Empire City. She had some strong knowledge about how to evolve her powers, but it wasn’t enough.

"Perhaps we are in an illusion? I will see if I can crack it." She muttered and extended her arms towards the lake.

Snowflake’s eyes opened at her words, and he stood up, staring at her with curiosity in his eyes.

Suddenly, a fiery red force blasted out of her hands like an explosion, directly into the starless and moonless night sky.

Sage opened her eyes, expecting to see something, but the force simply vanished into the sky. Her eyes widened. She expected the force to shatter the illusion like glass, but its disappearance meant they were in the real world.

"Gods! Where exactly are we?" Sage, carrying the fox in her arms, asked in disbelief.

"Queen Sage Dragos, Anitca’s and Credia’s queen. Ugh! There are so many responsibilities." A deep voice full of mirth echoed behind her, and she stiffly turned to face the person.

His eyes were as white as snow, his long hair was ice blue, and he was tall and built. His aura, which was similar to Cyrus’, astounded her, and she was convinced she was looking at a god.