Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 135: Shielded From a Downpour ()

"N...eveah..."

That familiar, slow drawl reached Neveah’s hearing and her eyes fluttered open,

Glancing up, her gaze immediately met those pitch black orbs that was so familiar to her.

Neveah glanced over at Mount Edar before she let her gaze wander around the courtyard,

All movements had stopped and the harsh and scornful voices Neveah had been blocking out had also disappeared.

The attendants and other nobles that passed by continuously just to get a glimpse of Neveah’s pathetic condition were nowhere to be seen either.

Neveah raised a single brow, in the presence of the black fiend, it seemed the keep had returned to it’s usual calm which had been overturned by Neveah’s punishment.

"Xenon... what are you doing down here?" Neveah asked when her gaze moved back to Xenon again.

The expression of the black dragon was calm, yet there was a look of displeasure in his eyes as he regarded Neveah quietly.

"See... you." Xenon replied in a matter of fact tone as though there was no need for Neveah to ask such a silly question in the first place.

"But you do not like coming out here to the keep...you do not like seeing the terror of the residents at the sight of you, you also do not want to hurt anyone...so why come out here?" Neveah asked.

Neveah knew she was being silly by recalling all the reasons Xenon never visited the keep except when he flew straight up to King Jian’s highest level.

But at this point, she just wanted to know...or perhaps she just wanted to hear Xenon speak.

To hear Xenon’s deep baritone that brought with it a foreign sense of comfort, to know if truly she could be assured that there was at least Xenon who was on her side in the Dragon Keep.

"You... I like... you." Came Xenon’s response, a simple, honest statement that served as a response to all Neveah’s questioning.

A statement that conveyed that for the one person he valued, all his dislikes did not matter anymore.

The honesty in Xenon’s tone left Neveah speechless and she could only stare at him as he ascended the final step of the platform and walked over to Neveah.

Xenon crouched down so he and Neveah were on eye level and he tilted his head to the side, just staring at Neveah as though she was the most interesting thing in the world.

Xenon’s hand reached out to Neveah, he did not have his gloves on and so his claws were on full display but Neveah did not find them unsettling.

Neveah remained still even as Xenon’s palm rested against her cheek, his thumb rubbing a soothing circle,

Xenon was careful, extremely careful so his claws did not graze Neveah’s skin, and his free hand lifted to caress Neveah’s neck, before he took hold of the silver cuff.

"Xenon... I don’t think..." Neveah began to protest but the words died on her tongue when Xenon lifted a stern glare to her.

"Hush..." Xenon drawled as his grip tightened on the silver cuff till it broke in two and fell away from Neveah’s neck.

Moving from her neck to her wrists, the cuffs fell away too, with the silver gone, Neveah could finally breathe properly and she sucked in a shuddering breath.

Xenon’s brows twitched as he gently turned Neveah’s head to the side and examined the level of damage done, his thumb trailing gently over her charred neck.

Neveah was not sure why, but this tender gesture from Xenon that was so unlike his personality and the look of deep concern in his eyes crumbled her defences.

A choked sob escaped Neveah’s lips and she shook her head quickly, tilting her head back to hold back the tears.

Xenon’s thumb caught the only drop of tear that slid down Neveah’s cheek and he frowned slightly.

"Jian...un... grateful bast...ard..." Xenon mumbled beneath his breath.

Despite the situation, Neveah could not help the quiet laughter that slipped out of her.

"You shouldn’t speak about your king in such a manner..." Neveah said quietly and Xenon scoffed.

"Coming to my side like this and taking off the cuffs, it is an act of defying your king, Xenon." Neveah continued in a more serious tone.

"You are...hurt." Xenon replied, giving no further defence for his actions.

"And you will be, if you take my side." Neveah reminded.

"You...are... Xenon’s respon...sibility." Xenon said again and Neveah lowered her gaze, uncertain what she could say in response to that.

"What do you plan to do?" Neveah asked after a moment of quiet.

"Battle...defy..." Xenon replied in an unfazed tone.

Neveah’s eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, she could not let herself be the reason Xenon battled King Jian.

Neveah knew how dear King Jian was to Xenon, he would never be able to hurt King Jian...in the end, Xenon was the one who would get hurt.

"I hear when you battle... your wild haze returns. You have been sober for so long, I want you to remain this way."

"I did nothing wrong, the truth will prevail..." Neveah assured Xenon in a shaky tone.

Xenon stared down at Neveah with a raised brow, his gaze asked Neveah if she truly believed in what she had just said. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Neveah did not... she did not think there was truth in this world. There was only the strong and the weak, and here in Dragon Keep, Neveah was the weak.

"If I must be here, I will have to grow strong, won’t I?" Neveah asked with a sigh.

Xenon just watched Neveah quietly without saying anything in response, perhaps he did not understand her words.

’But Xenon... I do not want to be strong. I let go of it all... the hate, the rage, I just want to be free... and you cannot give me that...’ Neveah thought the rest of her statement to herself.

"Do not worry for me, I have my own way to protect my life. I do not want you involved." Neveah said with a sigh.

It was for the same reason Neveah was unwilling to receive help from Menarx,

These two dragons treated her different from the rest, Lord Everon too. But she could not afford to owe her gratitude to a dragon.

If she felt indebted, it would be far too difficult to leave when that time came.

As Neveah spoke, there was a clap of thunder high in the sky and in the next moment, rain drops pelted down from the sky.

"The rain comes, you should leave." Neveah said to Xenon.

Xenon frowned at Neveah’s words before he rose to his feet and stepped back.

Just when Neveah believed he was truly going to leave, the rain pelting down on her stopped completely and Neveah glanced up,

Over her head was a massive black wing that blocked off the pouring rain and Neveah glanced over her shoulder to find Xenon still staring down at her.

But this time, it was not those handsome features but the imposing and fierce amber orbs of the mighty black dragon.

"This... must you make things so difficult for me?" Neveah whispered as she lowered her head and let the tears fall,

Because she knew clearly that with each unintentional gesture of tenderness from this wild black dragon,

Her resolve weakened and those walls she had built around herself cracked.

_________________

"What are your orders? My Liege?" Decaron asked from where he stood behind King Jian.

The dune dragons had just taken their leave, descending to the royal archives with Kirgan and Cassian guiding them.

Standing in King Jian’s study were Menarx and Decaron, whilst Lord Everon and Lord Imagor had returned to keep watch by Lady Kaliana’s side.

The heavy downpour had finally stopped and down below, the form of a massive black dragon was precisely where King Jian’s gaze was fixed.

It was only when the black dragon folded his wings that a small figure kneeling on the platform became visible.

"Lord Xenon shielded the wolf princess till the rain came to a stop, and even then, he stayed by her side till she drifted off to sleep."

"No one dares move through the courtyard since noon and it does not seem as though Lord Xenon has any plans to leave soon." Lord Decaron reported.

"This is his Keep as much as it is mine. Leave? Who dares ask that of him?" King Jian murmured in a low tone as he placed a hand on the rail,

He gripped it tightly before he leaped off it, tumbling down to the earth far below.

In a flash, a massive dragon of golden scales could be seen in King Jian’s place and he only reverted back to his human form when he hovered above the platform.

King Jian passed a glance to the wolf princess, she still knelt as instructed but was somehow sound asleep even in that position.

Xenon’s large dragon head lifted from where he rested it beside the sleeping wolf and his amber orbs settled on King Jian.

"I said not to...you ignore my words. Are you at ease now?" King Jian asked in a calm tone,

His gaze narrowed when the massive black dragon moved slightly so his form shielded the sleeping princess from King Jian’s view.