"She's screaming in pain!" he hissed at his sister-in-law, the whites of his eyes a little bloodshot.
"I know! But do not worry, her life is not in danger."
"And how are you so sure about that?" Gideon almost snarled at Evie. He was just that anxious about his mate's safety.
"Just trust me, Prince Gideon. I have yet to be wrong." Evie's voice was sharp and absolute. "And Vera isn't screaming for help right now." Evie was quick to point this fact out, helping Gideon to observe and nod in agreement.
The ground beneath their feet shook and when Gideon returned his gaze to Vera's hand, he suddenly saw blood. Her blood. And it appeared as though the ice had drawn it from her palm.
Panic seized him. The blood travelled like red lightning inside the ice and spread wide, following the little cracks that ran through the whole block. It looked as though there was a network of red roots running through that ice wall.
Gideon grabbed onto Vera, wanting so bad to take her hand away from the ice. If all those red things were her blood... she would be sucked dry in no time!
Fear gripped his heart and he held onto Vera's wrist and pulled a little, but it did not budge the slightest.
"No! I'm fine Gid... don't..." Vera yelled in between her screams of pain. But Gideon did not have a plan to listen anymore. There was no way he would just sit back and watch her... watch her die again!!!
Just as his dark magic began to pulsate from his palms, the sounds of cracking ice echoed along with Vera's scream.
And faster than a blink, the ice wall exploded into millions of tiny shards, showering them all with a flurry of ice crystals.
Gideon pulled at Vera again. In the next instant, they were already several yards away. A protective barrier currently surrounding them. Shards of the ancient ice, some that were small, and a few huge ones from the later crumbling of the wall ended up hitting the barrier.
"Vera!" Gideon searched Vera's face. Fear was brimming in his eyes.
Vera looked at Gideon and nodded weakly. Her eyes were slightly dazed, and her body was weak, like her strength had been sucked out from her body. "I'm fine. Just a little exhausted." She replied in a weak voice when Evie entered Gideon's protective barrier with Gay's help.
She bent and knelt on the ground, grabbing Vera's wounded hand.
Vera's body was still very much human and none of their magic could heal her. Thankfully, she had Leon's medicine with her. She did quick work by pouring the medicine onto the wound on her palm and then bandaged her hand with a long strip of clean white cloth as the bandage.
"Don't worry." Evie told Gideon with reassurance. "It's only a little blood loss. She'll recover from it in a day or two."
Evie's words did not seem to erase Gideon's displeasure, but it certainly lessened the fear and panic in his eyes.
"Thank you, Evie." Vera said, weakly forcing a smile. "I think I did it."
"Yes, you did, Vera." Evie smiled back, looking at her as though she was extremely proud of her. They all looked at the dragons who had been released from their captivity in the ice and were now stretching out and flapping their wings as if testing them out to see if they still worked fine. Then they started shrieking. Some tried to blow out ice, some trying to fly.
Vera's smile widened as she leaned her head against Gideon's chest. Tears suddenly flowing from her eyes, as if seeing these dragons awakened was giving her so much joy. The whispers in her head were now gone.
"Maybe..." Vera spoke weakly. "Their masters made it known to them. I've been hearing whispers before the dragons were freed. Those whispers might have belonged to their masters in the past."
The dragons were now circling them like predators prepared to tear their prey to shreds.
Evie looked over at Vera. This should be the time for her to show her prowess. But she was too weak right now. Evie was not hoping that Vera will awaken her dark fae powers right at this instance. Because in her vision, Vera did not possess dark magic. She had grown physically stronger, but her powers were simply her full control over the ice dragons. She could control all her dragons all at once and utilize them all to their full potential. She was like one great and invincible war general, and her army were her dragons.
Right now, Vera was still weak and no matter how much Evie had wanted her to start training on how to control the dragons right now, it would not be possible in her current state. She was still human and was yet to start any training.
"We need to leave now." Evie said quickly and nodded at Gay and Gideon.
"But..." Vera obviously wanted to protest.
"Don't worry, we're not going back to the Great City. We will just hide for some time at a nearby place and hide from them. We will come out once you're better and you will need to have training to know how to control them, Vera. We will not return without taking at least a few of them with us." Evie said. She would have said she wanted to take all of them along, but she knew better that controlling a dragon would not be that easy, especially as Vera had no magical powers. Vera will need to take some time to control them all.
At Evie's signal, Gav used his magic and the moment they disappeared from the midst of the dragons, a shadow appeared in their wake. A man covered with a dark cloak stood there, pulsating with power and darkness, like some invisible shadow that even the dragons could not see or sense.