Rookie

He couldn't believe Winter managed to stop that attack with ease, provoking his ego. Winter wasn't his enemy, but it wouldn't hurt to try his strength a bit for once, right? Besides, how could he stand proud if a rookie kept disrespecting him like that?

"Hey…" Jarak glared imposingly up at Winter through his brows, baring his sharp teeth. The darkened aura coating this entire body radiated with energy, his killing intent shifting from Blaze to Winter. "Get your hand off my tail," he growled. "I'm warning you-"

A surge of chilling cold aura of a deep blue flared from Winter's body as his right-sided tattoos spread to his left as well, cutting off Jarak's angry words with a start.

He stiffened, veins bulging under his skin. Jarak tried his hardest to force his tail from Winter's hand, but again, it didn't budge. How could it be? He was being dominated by Winter's sheer aura! He tried to make this arrogant bastard submit, but in the end, had his own card reversed back to him.

'It- it's not a fluke?!' he thought, legs trembling from intimidation, shocked by the amount of pressure he released. Compared to Winter, he accessed a much higher stage, but instead of the way it should be, Winter was overpowering him in a contest of strength and sheer aura way over a mile. How was that possible? In his entire life, he'd only met one person who could compare to such pressure, and that one was Jargus Nightwood, on the day he forced Jarak to join Death Reaper. It was a law-breaking strength that disregarded the cultivation stages of Dragon's Will. And in the face of such immeasurable strength, he could do nothing but reluctantly submit.

Trying to fight him now would be suicide…

Winter remained his unyielding gaze, showing no sign of backing down. A wry, tight-lipped smile stretched across his mouth as he noticed the look of bewilderment on Jarak's face. He glanced down at his hand on Jarak's tail. "Of course, Senior," he smirked, emphasizing the title of 'Senior' with mockery. "But let your junior handle this from here if you want to avoid our leader's fury. Say…he's been waiting for quite a while now. I just don't want my senior to get in trouble for taking too long retrieving the quindragon's body…"

Winter glanced back at the mother dragon's lifeless body, leading Jarak to do the same, and he finally remembered their main purpose coming to this dungeon. He shivered, low-key frightened of their leader's- Jargus' short temper.

Jarak let out a maddened sigh as his appearance reverted back to normal, his tail retracting into nonexistence. Unable to retort Winter's words, he hastily proceeded on the process to retrieve the Quindragon's body.

And as Jarak began running towards his task, Winter finally turned his attention to Blaze.

Despite being stuck in her dying state, she still looked gorgeous, face flushed pink. It could've been because of her heated battle against Jarak…or it could've been because she was flustered upon laying eyes on the man who she hadn't seen since that tragic night. This man, Winter Ashkin, was the means of catharsis for her.

Winter and Jarak were simply talking, but seeing Winter's cold and serious look on his face turned her on, so much that she was beginning to think that she had to see a Shaman for random arousal problems. She definitely had to see one, because right now, she could feel it dripping…

No, she just wanted to pee, right? It wasn't because of seeing Winter, but because she was just at death's door earlier… But why did it feel different?

She had many questions she wanted to ask, but right now, nothing came to mind. She just wanted to keep looking at his face, etched with lines of worry. Why would she not? She thought she wouldn't be able to see him again. Besides, look at him, anyone would understand if they saw him with their own eyes…

He was slim and tall, toned muscles visible under the lining of his strange clothes, shoulders broad. His oval-shaped face attractively symmetrical, jet-black, disheveled hair breathtaking without even trying. His features were simply out of this world, no other person was able to compare.

Blaze's eyes shifted from Winter's lips to his forehead. But…where did he get two short, pointy horns sticking out from his mess of hair? Are they real? But no matter. Real or not, the horns only amplified his already god-like handsomeness.

Besides, she was dying, and she knew.

'…If I were to die, might as well die looking at a handsome face.'

~

'What did you do to force Jarak to attack in his Awakened Stage, Blaze?' Winter wondered; concern was written all over his face. His brows knitted as he observed Blaze, whose eyes were glued on him.

'What is she thinking right now, to look at me like a hungry predator? Don't tell me… Hell, she can't be thinking about that right now, right?' Winter tried to convince himself, but the look in Blaze's bewitching eyes said otherwise, leaving him dumbfounded. He didn't know how long she had been giving him the 'look', but it must've been long before he even saw.

'Is she insane? Should…I kiss her?' With her personality, he expected her to be asking him questions, but her tempting gaze was confusing him and making things quite awkward.

Regardless, he was deeply grateful, relieved that she had managed to survive this long on her own against Jarak, even without a dragon's will in her arsenal. He thought he knew her powers quite well, but it seems that she must've been hiding more abilities that he didn't know about.

He thought he had enough time to get here since Jarak tended to play with his victims first before actually annihilating them, but he realized now that, if he had arrived just a fraction of a second later, he would've lost Blaze forever, just as he lost Blake.

He took in a deep breath and knelt down, gently lifting her body and pulling her into an embrace, silently thanking her for surviving on her own without him. This was the first time they met each other after the tragedy of their tribe… She had endured a lot on her own, and he felt deeply sorry for her, his feelings reflecting on his actions. He held her close, his power seeping through his fingers as he let the frost numb her body from the physical pain. How he wished he could also relieve her of her emotional suffering as well…

Instead of feeling cold, Blaze felt warmth, welcoming Winter's affection towards her. And after observing him absently-mindedly for a while, she finally managed to voice out, "Winter, I…miss you."

"Quiet," he whispered, "…let's stay like this for a while."