SPELLBOUND

Chapter 631: Azure

Vera stayed there, kneeling on the ground, and just staring ahead. Those unseeing eyes were full of quiet tears that kept flowing down her face profusely and unchecked and falling to the ground. Because who else was there to stop her from doing so? Her mate was no longer with her. The one who would wipe away her tears, who would console and comfort her, was no more there.

After some time, she let out a high pitch scream. She was not prepared for this. Not yet. Not now. Her Gideon already leaving her this soon was just too much for her. This was not fair. Why did the events unfold like this?

Her agonizing and drawn-out scream seemed to have pulled at the dragons’ attention. They all turned their heads to where Vera was.

Then the biggest and bluest one of them which was at the very peak of the dragon mountain spread open his wings and took off into the skies. This was the dragon that Vera had wanted to connect with most since the very beginning. She even already named him even though he never responded to her call even once. In fact, the very first time Vera named him and called for him, she could have sworn that he had slanted his lizard-like gaze at her and scoffed. Yes. A dragon scoffed at her. She – who was supposed to be the dragon guardian. However, Vera was thankful for little blessings as the only ones who listened to her call were the smaller and younger ones.

Azure arrived and circled above Vera, before landing before her. Its massive wings covered her as though wanting to protect her.

Shocked, Vera looked up and she met those pale, icy, large blue eyes. Looking at him up closely, she realized she had the very same eye colour as the dragon. The other dragons’ eyes had a darker shade of blue.

Wiping her tears with the back of her hands, Vera rose from her knees. The dragon’s presence right next to her was too overwhelming for her to ignore. His entire body was oozing with white smoke, like the smoke-like particles coming from a block of ice. Azure was like a massive, breathtaking artwork made of ice.

“Az… Azure…” she called out his name, hoping that he would accept the name that she had given to him. Though her heart and entire being was still bleeding and beaten up right now due to the leaving of Gideon, she knew she did not have the time to weep or fall into a pit of self-pity at the moment.

She was scared to death about this separation with her mate. Scared that she might never see Gideon ever again. Scared that he would not be able to fulfil his end of their promise ultimately. But the moment she looked into those large pale eyes of Azure, Vera saw her own reflection in them, and Gideon’s voice echoed firmly and comfortingly in her mind. ‘Be strong for me… join the war and destroy the monsters… wait for me… I will return to you…’

Somehow, this time when she ‘heard’ him say those words, they sounded more encouraging and full of assurance instead of being a promise of doom.

A shaky breath was drawn out from her lips as she clenched her fists tightly in her sleeves. Something was surging within her chest, burning, and turning her eyes gleam like the sharpest ice.

The shrieks of the dragons pulled her attention to Azure’s eyes and when she looked up, her eyes widened at the sight of all the dozens of dragons circling the sky right above her.

One after another, they landed around her, creating a circle of dragon-wall. It was as if every single one of those dragons had felt her hopelessness and agony. And they had all come and were showing her a new hope. Showing her what powers she held in her hands right now.

Her mouth was agape as she looked around. All these dragons who had ignored her calls these past few days were now here. All of them, not even one was missing – even the littlest of them – they all came to her without her even calling for them. The wonder and disbelief in her heart surged like a tidal wave.

Suddenly, she felt a chill. And an image formed before her, like a spirit made of thin ice.

“They have been… waiting for you, dearest Ozerizh.” The woman said. She recognized this voice. This was one of the voices she had heard when she was about to touch the ice crystals that trapped all the ice dragons. “Don’t be afraid or overwhelmed. Do not cry and lose hope. You are powerful. You have nothing to be afraid. The ice dragons will aid you, help you and protect you with their lives. Not because you freed them but because you are the last of our kind. They failed to protect us in the past. So they had vowed to protect you. This time, they will not fail. This time, they will gain the victory! Take a good look around you, our dearest…” the fluttery thin voice prompted her, and Vera lifted her eyes to behold a heart-stirring view.

Looking at the dragons again, Vera’s heartbeat began drumming within her ribcage.

“From now on, these dragons will be with you. They will be your arms and legs. Their powers are your powers.” the woman continued, then she reached out and touched Vera’s face. She felt like an ice sheet graced over the skin of her cheeks. And yet she did not feel the cold cut of the chill this time. “So lift your head up and fight with pride. You are not alone.”

After those words, she saw the woman smiling at her. Then slowly, she disappeared into nothingness.

Vera touched her cheek where the ice sheet was. “Ozerizh…” she repeated. It was a foreign word she had never heard before. But again, she understood it. It means ‘daughter of the ice dragons’.

She looked at Azure again and before she knew it, she hugged its snout and cried for the last time. She told herself this would be the last that she would cry. After this, she promised herself, she would stand up and will not shed any tears of agony again. She would be brave and fight on proudly with her dragons!