Upon hearing those words, horror flashed across Gavrael's eyes. The face of his wife? Evie's face?!!
It took his mind a while to process everything Gideon was telling him, much less even accept it point blank. How could he even accept this? Him? He was fated to be the king of darkness and Evie was... she was the queen of light destined to end him?
He shook his head, stepping back from Gideon.
"There must be a mis -"
"There is no mistake Gavrael. I am telling you everything that I know now." Gideon's voice was low and melancholic. He could not imagine what Gav must be feeling right now.
"Because... because you are not going to push through your initial plan anymore."
"Yes." Gideon said decisively, but Gay could see the turmoil in his eyes. "I am sorry, but I can't bear to leave her... that's why I... I am revealing everything to you now. I also realized after listening to Vera's vision, that this plan of mine might have failed terribly. Therefore, I deduced that I must have died. Perhaps during the very moment that I went to face the darkness and yet the darkness didn't end. Worse is that I might have sacrificed myself for nothing or the darkness might have swallowed me whole."
The atmosphere between them became tensed as they both stewed in their own thoughts. And it was now that Gav's darkness started to leak out of him again.
"We still have time, Gavrael. I believe we can still do something to change the trajectory of the way this war ends.... To change the ending of our future. My plan might not be enough, so we'll need to go with another plan. I believe your wife is already on it. And I have a hunch that Evielyn must have seen it too... that one day you will..." Gideon paused when Gavrael tore his gaze away from him and desperately looked at his wife who was walking and happily chatting with Vera ahead of them.
Gavrael did not even know what to feel at the moment. Gavriel had told him about his hunch. That Evie must have seen him dead. And it was then that everything made sense. That explained all her attitudes and desperation ever since she had woken up from that vision. She had opened her eyes desperate and screaming for him. They knew something must have terrified her greatly for her to behave that way. But none of them would ever have thought that... his life had ended in her hands.
He clenched his fists so tight that his knuckles turned white and cracked. If all of these was true, was there even a way to escape fate at all? Would any of their plans even work? Could they really change the future? Suddenly he felt that they were somehow fighting a losing battle.
Something dark and hopeless rose within Gavrael but out of the blue, he was reminded that once upon a time, he had once lost Evie. After he turned back time, things had changed into a completely different future. And right now, his Evie was still here. Very much alive and more powerful than ever.
The suffocating darkness was shattered in an instant. That was right, they can surely find a way. He had done this once before. So what was stopping him from doing it again? And Gideon was right, Evie was already on her way to change the future and defy fate. She was not one who would give up and leave things up to fate.
His grip loosened and a much more dangerous light shone within his eyes as he stared at his beloved Evie standing there, brimming with confidence and hope. She was the queen of light. She was his queen, his light... his hope!
'Right. There is no way I will allow it. I am always ready to defy everything, even fate itself if it dares take me away from her. Nothing can separate us again, I swear, not even death.' Gavrael swore on that in his mind without taking his gaze away from Evie.
...
Several steps ahead of them, Evie and Vera kept glancing back, making sure that the two brothers who were obviously in a very serious talk right now can still see them and keep their eyes on them. When Gideon and Gav halted, they paused as well when suddenly, the bluish mist that was at first tranquil, now came rushing at them like a blizzard.
Evie immediately wondered if this was akin to the blizzards on the surface. She was forced to use magic to shield Vera from the combination of wind, snow and tiny crystals shards that were pelting at them like strong waves.
Gav and Gideon appeared before them not a moment later to help shield them from the barrage of tiny crystals.
Gideon quickly grabbed onto Vera and Gav held Evie closely to his side. The four of them then suddenly disappeared and materialized past the blizzard.
Are you alright?" Gideon asked Vera worriedly, checking her from head to toe. She was the only one among them who had no powers of her own.
"I am fine. Evie quickly shielded me before a single snowflake could even touch me." Vera grinned cheerfully at Gideon. Seeing that she was in good spirits and the sudden attack had not dampened it, Gideon released a relieved sigh.
A long sigh escaped Gideon's lips as well when Evie's voice echoed out excitedly.
"We're here!" she exclaimed with her eyes bright and shining. She pointed up ahead and everyone looked towards the majestic blue spikey mountains. The view was breathtaking and at the same time haunting as well. The mountain was so transparent they could clearly see the ice dragons trapped in their cold solitude within the crystal-clear ice. And there were... clearly a whole lot of them. Probably more than five dozen ice dragons were encased in the ice!
Evie looked at Vera and saw how her pale blue eyes seemed to be mesmerized by the majestic sight before her. The connection and attraction between her and the dragons were very clear in those bluish orbs of hers.
"All these dragons will soon be under your control Vera." Evie told her friend softly, causing her to swallow hard. Anticipation, fear, worry, and thrill were all dancing in a complex mix within Vera's eyes all at once.
"Now let's go." Evie's smile was confident and extremely thrilled as the four of them flew over to reach the very peak of that ice dragon's mountain.