“What did my wife—argh! Annoying f**king b*st*rd…”

The Frost Dragon, eyes still locked on Izek, slowly opened its massive jaws.

Die, it almost seemed to tell him.

Ivan tensed and jumped to his feet, trying to run over there, but Ruve held him back.

“I understand what you’re thinking, but I can’t let you go like this, Ivan.”

“No! Are you—”

The sound of a strange squeak coming from above had the two men jerking their heads upwards.

An untimely and unexpected cry from a monster bird rang out again, but the Paladins didn’t have the time to care about it.

It was the Frost Dragon who had the knights all around stop dead in their tracks, the beast suddenly snapping its jaws shut and turning its gaze towards the newcomers.

Looking up at the sky side by side, beast and man all stock-still, they were greeted with a scene that was both unbelievable and ridiculously absurd.

The knights had already guessed that it would be a griffin monster judging from the cry, the sight of a lonely bird flying through the blizzard like the Holy Spirit descending on them like a dove not something worth their attention.

However, the plump Popori hanging leisurely from the griffin’s talons was what made this scene truly bizarre. In a way, this was infinitely more interesting than what the Frost Dragon had done to Elendale until now.

“What the hell kind of combo is that…?”

The faint whisper softly echoing through the air perfectly encapsulated what everyone was thinking at the moment.

Ivan, desperately trying not to show anything on his face, closed his open mouth and met Ruve’s stunned eyes. Camu and Ezekiel were exactly the same.

The memories of that day in the Frost Forest flashed before the minority elite’s eyes.

The dragon seemed to be just as fascinated as the humans, standing still and staring hard at the two monsters that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere as if it was possessed, its ears twitching and its head tilted to the side.

A quiet second passed by before the silence was broken.

The two monsters drew closer to the dragon and circled its head, the griffin chirping, the dragon growling and the Popori yapping.

The men looked on as the three monsters seemingly argued with each other. Only the Lord would know what the hell was being said.

This had to be the most outlandish sight in all of human history.

It was strange to see the dragon growl and yelp instead of simply going in for the kill, but Ivan didn’t question it and took the plunge, sneaking his way to Izek.

Of course, luck was not on his side.

As soon as Ivan neared his friend, the dragon growled menacingly, a sound very different from when it was conversing with the Popori, and turned its golden eyes towards the knight.

It glared at him with a fire that had Ivan clam up and freeze over, an ice-cold chill running down his spine. Terror overtook him.

Izek, breathing heavily and throwing up too much blood, was too pale.

“Let go of my friend, you damn lizard!”

“Po, po, po, po!”

“Stop it!”

The thin cry was small and faint, but it still rang clear.

At least it was loud enough to make the dragon falter and for everyone to whirl around.

***

It was difficult to get to our destination because there were massive boulders and cracked-open streets blocking our path everywhere. The roads were wholly encased in ice and it was chaos all over.

Because of the blood still staining my eyes, it was hard for me to see ahead. If it hadn’t been for Popo and Griffin, we never would have gotten to where the Moon Tower should have been.

The Tower was gone now.

Climbing over icicles and rocks much taller than me, trying my hardest to not slip and fall, I saw the ruins of the battlefield stretched out before me.

It was truly a sight to behold, the heart of winter coming out to greet me.

Holding on to the last bit of strength I had left, I clambered up the piles of ice and snow, awkwardly scurrying along the steps of the frozen staircase on the outer wall of the building I was nervously clawing at, unsure on whether it was the Moon Tower itself or just a house nearby, and I finally arrived at the place I had been desperate to reach.

That big dragon was standing there, and Izek was under its foot.

The familiar sight had the breath catch in my throat, the same panic as back then coursing through my veins and tremors running up and down my back.

“Stop it!” I shouted with everything in me.

Fortunately, even though my voice was hoarse and too small, the dragon hesitated. Who knew whether it was God that was helping me or whether it was the main character’s plot armor at work.

“You bad…”

I was too out of breath, my chest heaving and eyelids itching.

You bad guys. Bad, bad guys. You guys are so bad.

“Po, po, po!”

Through my blurry view, I could see as Popo waggled up to me and flapped its short arms around. I didn’t care how foolish I looked as I ran over to the little guy.

Griffin flew above me after he put Popo down, circling around us and then turning towards the Frost Dragon.

That bad guy was staring at me with its jaws hanging open, looking like a lost puppy somehow.

As soon as I let go of Popo, that huge snout closed shut.

“Get out of my way.”

“Grrrr…”

That big bad guy raised its body finally, disappointment and resentment burning in its golden eyes, but there were no other signs of hostility.

“Hurry up and get out of the way.”

My hair fluttered back with the gust of wind the dragon spewed out, my face getting hit with something disgustingly wet.

“You’re spitting on me, silly!” Rubbing my gross cheeks and trying not to gag, I rushed in recklessly. “Iz!”

He was lying in a pool of dark red blood, white snow covering him faintly. His eyes were closed and I couldn’t see his chest rising or falling.

He was ashen, the only color on him the red line running down his throat from his mouth.

As soon as I put my trembling hand on his cheek, my heart sank to my stomach.

He’s so cold.

“Iz… Iz! Please, please, honey…”

The thought of him really dying here seemed absurd. He was the main character, it couldn’t end like this. Not like this.

I haven’t even told him yet…

I didn’t want to think it, but he really was not moving. Maybe I couldn’t see it through the tears, but his chest really was not rising. There were no puffs of air coming from his slightly open mouth. The blood around and on him was too much, almost like he was drowning in it.

On my knees and shivering helplessly, my shoulders quaking and the tears falling down my cheeks and onto Izek’s white and still face, I bent over him, holding him.

It’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true.

I pushed his head closer to my breast, hoping, praying for any miracle to come, begging God to not take him away like this. Crying silently and refusing to believe it, I didn’t know what to do anymore.

It was then that I felt something move, a few fingers twitching and small breaths blowing against my throat. I stiffened and froze, exhaling shakily and pulling away a little, my heart pounding in my ears as I dared to hope.

Izek’s beautiful scarlet eyes were looking right at me.

“H-Honey… Are you… all right?” My voice cracked as my chin trembled. I was barely holding it together. “D-Don’t stare at me like that. I couldn’t help myself… I was scared that… that…”

He was hardly breathing and I was shaking, but I couldn’t stop vomiting words.

“Don’t, hic, don’t get angry! If you get angry now, then, hic, your blood pressure will rise and… and you might really die! Really! How can I live if you die? Tell me… How… How am I supposed to live without you…You’re, hic, the first person that made me want to… live! To be with you! I don’t want to be without you… I don’t want to live without you! For the first time in my life, I wanted something! I really did! I want you! You’re the only one!”

I didn’t even know what I was saying. Maybe I had finally gone insane.

My husband, panting and spitting out the blood in his mouth, finally moved his lips. “You foolish girl. What took you so long?”

I was dumbstruck for a moment.

Suddenly, out of the blue, a laugh burst out. It was me. I was laughing and crying at the same time, wrapping my arms around my husband and clutching him to me tightly.

Then, the dragon, having no conscience obviously, growled low, interrupting this moment.

Magic was in the air as pieces of debris floated upwards, the ground vibrating and trembling, as if this place didn’t look like a shipwreck already.

Popo hit the beast’s legs and recoiled, jumping away before the dragon could sweep him away and Griffin quickly caught him in his talons, turning towards me and flying this way, triumph lighting up his little face.

“Stop it, silly!”

The roaring, which had been terrorizing the people of Elendale enough already, stopped.

The Frost Dragon now stared straight into my eyes, breathing out steam and looking like it wanted to slaughter everyone present.

I wasn’t so confident anymore, but with Izek in my arms, I held my ground and faced the monster head-on. “I wanted to go see you guys, too.”

Maybe I should not have spoken to a dragon whilst everyone was watching me.

“But if I went to see you and came to your hiding place, you could’ve been in danger. It’s not his fault. That’s why I didn’t seek you out. I… I was going to visit you after the festival. Really.”

I didn’t know if it understood me or not, but I still spoke the truth.

The Frost Dragon huffed a few times, stomping its feet and swishing its large tail to and fro, as if it was hard for it to accept. Then, it yelped while flapping one wing, trying to show me something.

“Ah, you’re hurt? I apologize, I promise it won’t happen next time. But you can’t hurt these people anymore either, okay?”

Grumbling and letting out a sound that suspiciously sounded like a purr, the dragon folded its wings again and slowly lowered its body, fully sitting on the floor. Then, it let out a last blast of air from its snout and jerked its head to the other side, like a disgruntled dog.

For some strange reason, it looked like it was embarrassed.

The silence that followed reverberated in my ears, strangely enough.

Glancing in the direction of the Paladins I shared secrets with, I saw that they were tense, seemingly frozen on the spot.

The same could be said for all the other knights gathered around us.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of faces Ellenia and her father were making right now.

Cold and rough hands clasped my arms, so I turned my head.

My eyes met his.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay, so don’t worry.”

What are you even saying? You should be worrying about yourself, not me…

“Don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,” I whispered, my voice lost to the wind.

The weak grasp he had on me moved to my cheek and he gently brushed my face with his palm, his touch barely there.

I let it all go, trusting him and leaning on his chest.

His body was covered in blood and broken armor, but it didn’t matter. I closed my eyes as he held me.

I heard footsteps approaching from behind.

Darkness came at the end of it.