Chapter 8: Venus and Ares

Sage clutched her gown, running without turning back. The large coat was making it hard for her to run faster. She arrived at the castle's gate, heavily bumping into someone or something. "What is going on?" She could hear displeasure in his deep voice. Moving away, she looked at his cold expression. "I do not want dragons to serve me." "Your highness!" The maids called in unison as they arrived at the scene. "Leave," Cyrus said to him, maintaining a cold tone. They bowed their heads and walked away. Looking back at Sage, his eyes turned into silverreptile-likee eyes, narrowing at her. "There are no humans or mages here to serve you, parro." He cocked his head, and the side of his lips pulled u, seeing Sage looking furious. "You are married to me, a dragon, and I do not like associating with foolish humans and mages. You are in my home, where only dragons are. I will not care if you serve yourself." Sage's eyes twitched at how rude he was. He looked like an ice de; il he was a devil. "Firstly, do not call me a parrot, secondly, you have no right to talk to me like that, thirdly, I will serve myself. It is not a hard thing to do, Your Highness, it is my body, not anyone's." She said, not caring that her words would enrage him. "Unfortunately, my wife is nothing but a peasant," Cyrus said nonchalantly while Sage gasped at his words. "And you are nothing but evil!" She yelled and threw herself at him, but he quickly sidestepped her and reappeared behind her, grabbing her by the coat. "What!" She exclaimed in surprise as she took off her coat and turned to face him, enraged. "Calling me evil doesn't hurt, parrot; your useless use of words can never affect me." As he spoke, he flung the coat in her direction. Sage let the coat fall to the ground rather than catching it. She couldn't believe she married such an obnoxious man, whose comments cut her no matter how much she tried to cover them up. "I do not want your coat." Her teeth were clenched. She was really cold, but she was also extremely angry. "You can say you do not want to live in the castle then," He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I do not like stubbornness. Just obey, and you won't die earlier than you are supposed to." "You married me to kill me?!" Sage was stunned. She remembered that he had dodged her attack at the wedding, but just like she had an agenda, he also had his. "And you?" He asked and shook his head. "You are weaker than I expected. It will be very easy to take your life source, and about killing me, I do not understand why you foolishly agreed to marry me. The decision to save your people from those fire-breathing snakes." Sage's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I will kill you and take away this eternal winter." She whispered, and Cyrus's eyes glimmered with amusement. "You think killing me will take away this winter?" He asked, voice lighter than usual. Sage stared at him intensely. "Do not underestimate me." She growled. "I do not engage myself with the fire dragons. The fire dragons who are here with me in Antica are the ones who have been loyal to my family since the beginning of time. They follow me and are under my protection. Esteban is weak, just mouth full, and the fly is following the dragon king." He paused, shook his head, and ran his hands through his hair. "I was born, I brought the eternal winter. If it were easy, parrot, I would have been dead a long time ago, and the seasons would be in harmony." "Then I will make that easy," Sage said confidently. "Then you will be a fly in my life, and I was bothered that you army wife." He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. Sage clenched her fist. Her muscles were freezing. She was starting to regret why she had removed the coat. "I shall not comment." She whispered with a shiver. "Now you're becoming smart, Parrot," He said with a low yet lazy groan. "You said something about taking my life force, which is why you married me," Sage said calmly, her voice smaller than usual because of the cold that relaxed on her bare shoulders. Noticing the girl was too proud to pick up the coat and wear it because of the cold, Cyrus couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You are a fire mage and your life source, the fire core. I want it." He stated without thinking. Sage immediately screamed and ran away from him. "You are a monster!" She yelled and ran away into the forest without looking back. Cyrus stared at her back until she disappeared behind the trees. "How foolish, Venus and Ares are in there. A free meal then," He spoke flatly and turned away, walking back into the castle's grounds. In Anitca, the cold was more oppressive than it had been in Credia. Sage didn't want to return because she had gotten herself into such a pickle by marrying the devil. Tears filled her eyes as she sat on the ground and stretched her legs because the cold was making her muscles weak, and she realised it was already nighttime. He wanted to kill her because he needed her life source, and she wanted to kill him to protect her home from a fire-breathing dragon. Although she felt so foolish, she was aware that there was no going back. She was scared of him? No! She was scared of his words. He spoke so coldly, and he was so straightforward. She clenched her fist, which burst out weak flames of fire. "I am going to kill him!" She yelled in anger, then pouted and hugged herself to keep herself warm. It had been several hours since she had left the castle; she was already lost, but she was relieved to be far from it. Her powers were also weak because of how she felt. Being the home of the ice dragon, Antica experienced extreme cold. She sighed and began to feel a little more at ease until she heard growls and snarls that caused her spine to become numb. She hardly got to her feet when she heard approaching snarls behind her. She could hear something behind her, so she shut her eyes and turned slowly to see what she would escape from. She whimpered as she noticed two black demon panthers glaring at her with hunger. Suddenly, she turned and fled, screaming hysterically. Her muscles were stiff from the cold, and she pondered how demon panthers could endure such a harsh climate. She collapsed to the ground while screaming in anguish as her leg suddenly began to spasm severely. She closed her eyes,w himpering as she noticed the black demon panthers in front of her moving slowly in her direction as she had become their prey. "I will not let you kill me! Please don't kill me, I haven't killed the ice dragon yet. You can kill me after I kill him. Come to think of it, it's better you two kill me than for me to get killed by him." She blabbered, knowing that it was out of fear. "Taking my life force, then I am going to rip out his head!" She shouted dramatically. She was no longer hearing the snarls and growls. When she opened her eyes, she screamed even louder when she saw a hungry-looking black demon panther face quite close to her. Just as the second panther was ready to attack her, she heard, "Venus, don't." Cyrus was behind him, read the Panthers backed away from him, glaring atRuss, who gave them a cold glare. "Go back to the café, both of you; the room is warm, and no dinner tonight." The panthers growled at him before turning back and disappearing behind the trees. Sage's eyes twitched, and when en looked at Cyrus, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You are a real airhead." "Says the rude ice dragon," "You have a wonderful mouth, parro. Can you put that to good use?" "I can!" Sage shouted and pouted angrily while Cyrus narrowed his eyes at her like she resembled a rock. "Stand up." Sage grunted and stood up; her legs felt frozen, and she fell back on the ground. "Ouch!" Cyrus looked extremely displeased, and Sage frowned. "Help me!" She shouted dramatically. "Just like how I did at the lake?" He suddenly asked. "Why did you save,e, though?" Sage asked curiously. "To marry you, take your life force, and kill you." He replied like they were normal words to say. "You are pathetic!" Sage huffed. "Yo,u too, you do not even know how I saved you. You are supposed to be dead." His last sentence came with a de, ep sinister whis, per causing Sage to swallow hard. "How did you save me?" She asked curiously. Cyrus stood on his heels in front of her and leaned his face extremely close to hers, causing her eyes to grow wide. "Touching your chest would lead me to touch your bosoms. I didn't want to be disrespectful, so I took your lips."