Chapter 79 - Frostmaw

  As the gossip spread like wildfire through the crowd, the sea of people parted to make way for a diminutive yet anding figure. It was the vilge elder, his face a map of wriched deep by time and wisdom. Despite his small stature, he carried himself with an air of authority that anded respect.

  The elder approached Luxana and Cillian, his keeaking in every detail of the se. His gaze lingered on the bloodied sword in Cillian's hand before settling on Luxana's face.

  "Your Majesty," he addressed her, his voice carrying clearly despite its gravelly tone. "What is the meaning of this? Why are you here, in our humble forest, surrounded by such death aru?" His eyes narrowed as he looked at Cillian. "And who is this man beside you, wielding a bloodied sword as casually as one might hold a walking stick?"

  Luxana's heart raced, pounding so hard she feared it might burst from her chest. Her mind reeled as she sought an expnation that would satisfy the elder and calm the increasingly agitated crowd. Then, drawing upon a well of strength she didn't know she possessed, Luxana straightened her spine and lifted her . When she spoke, her voice rang out with regal authority:

  "Calm yourselves, good people of the forest. There is no cause for arm or further ." She gestured gracefully towards the corpses littering the ground. "These men were kidnappers, vile criminals who sought to abduct me from the safety of the pace." Her gaze softened as it fell upon Cillian. "And this man beside me," she paused, allowing the tension to build before delivering her shog revetion, "is my husband. He came to my rescue, as aed spouse would do."

  A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, the sound like a gust of wind through autumn leaves. Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and a new wave of furious whispers broke out among the vilgers.

  Cillian's eyes widened in shock at Luxana's bold cim, but the surprise quickly gave way to a smirk of admiratiohought to himself, "Dang man, she really didn't hesitate to admit it." His grip on his sword rexed slightly as he watched Luxana and the attention of the crowd.

  The vilge elder's brow furrowed deeply, creating new valleys in his already weathered face. "Your... husband, Your Majesty?" he repeated, his tone a mixture of fusion and skepticism. "We had not heard of a royal wedding. Surely suews would have reached even our humble vilge."

  Luxana stood firm, her voiwavering as she tinued her improvised expnation. "Our union was... unventional, to say the least. We have pleted the sacred rituals, though we have yet to annou formally to the kingdom."

  As Luxana spoke, a hush fell over the crowd. In Elmir, marriages were uhose in other nds. It was a five-day celebration, ri tradition and symbolism. The true moment of wedlock, the instant when two souls were bound as one, occurred when the groom bestowed a bite mark upon his bride. This bite mark was a sacred symbol of marriage, a tradition dating back turies to the kingdom's founding.

  Luxana's hand unsciously moved to her neck, where Cillian's mark y hiddeh her colr. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the keener observers in the crowd.

  The vilgers exged gnces, some nodding in uanding while others still looked skeptical. While it was unusual for a queen to marry i, it was irely unheard of in their long and colorful history. Tales of destine royal unions peppered Elmir's past, ofteo times of political upheaval or romantitrigue.

  As the implications of Luxana's words sank in, a new wave of whispers rippled through the gathering. The night, already full of surprises, had just delivered another shog revetion.

  -After Leaving the Forest, in Helia Pace; Luxana's Room; 1:48 AM-

  The air in Luxana’s room was heavy with the st of pine and damp earth, remnants of their hasty departure from the forest. As they stepped inside, Luxana quickly moved to ighe bed mps, casting a warm, golden gloushed back the encroag shadows. The firepce, thankfully, still crackled merrily, warding off the chill of the night.

  “HAAAH!” Cillian excimed, his voice eg slightly in the quiet room. Without any regard for formality, he plopped onto Luxana’s bed, his body sprawling across the silk covers. His limbs stretched out in every dire, taking up the vast majority of the sleeping space.

  "BRO!" Luxana excimed, her voice ced with exasperation. "SLEEP ON THE COUCH!!" She gestured emphatically towards a velvet chaise lounge led against the far wall. It was hardly as fortable as the bed, but it was certainly preferable to sharing her sleeping space with the infuriating man who now occupied it.

  Cillian’s eyes remained shut, his voice cool aached. “I ain’t your bro.”

  Luxana’s huff of frustration filled the room. "I want you on the couch by the time I get out of the bathroom," she decred, her ruby eyes fshing with annoyance. With a swift turn, she marched towards the en-suite bathroom, eager to rid herself of the grime and blood of the evening and, perhaps, to find a moment of pead quiet.

  -Helia Pace; Luxana's Bathroom; 2:08 AM-

  The sound of running water filled the bathroom, followed by the soft k of gss as Luxarieved a bottle of sted soap. The warm water cascaded over her skin, washing away the physical reminders of her near abdu. Yet, no matter how hard she scrubbed, she couldn't seem to erase the lingering images of the fallen kidnappers or the ulingly calm expression on Cillian's face as he dispatched them.

  -Helia Pace; Luxana's Room; 2:28 AM-

  Twenty mier, Luxana emerged from the bathroom, a full-length white nightgown that covered her from o toe. Her wet hair was loosely gathered at the nape of her neck, and her face was scrubbed of makeup. She was no longer a queen, but a woman seeking fort a.

  But her hope for a peaceful night was quickly dashed. Cillian still sprawled across her bed, seemingly oblivious to her return. A frustrated look crossed Luxana's face as she walked purposefully towards the bed. "GO TO THE COUCH!!!!" she shouted, her voice filled with the authority only a queen could muster.

  "NAH," he replied, his voice muffled by the pillows. With a zy roll, he turo his side, presenting his back to her as if invitio leave him undisturbed.

  A sigh escaped Luxana's lips. She had tried reasoning, shouting, and now only physical persuasion remained. With a determined glint in her eyes, she walked closer to the bed and grabbed his right hand with both of hers. Her small hands ed tightly around his rger one, and she began to pull.

  But her efforts were in vain. Cillian remaiubbornly fixed to the bed, unmoved by her attempts to dislodge him. His arm stretched taut, but his body refused to budge. Seeing her efforts were futile, Cillia back to his inal position, ying on his back with a hint of amusement dang in his aquamarine eyes.

  Luxana stopped pulling, thinking that perhaps he would now get off the bed out of his own volition. But moments passed, and he remaiill. Impatient, Luxana turned her ba him, only to find herself suddenly yanked back.

  *PULL*

  With a single, swift motion, Cillian tightened his grip and pulled her forward. She stumbled, losing her bance as he rose up and ed an arm around her ining waist, falling to his side and drawing her down with him. Luxana nded with a soft thud, finding herself lying right o him on the bed.

  Luxana was taken aback by the suddenness of his as. She looked up into his face, her eyes wide with surprise and a hint of something else she couldn't quite name. His aquamarine eyes sparkled with mischief as they met hers, and a beautiful smile tugged at the ers of his lips.

  His free hand reached for her hair, his fingers gently threading through the damp strands. "I liked them better when they were e," he murmured, his voice soft and intimate.

  "Then I'll keep it bck forever," Luxana replied, her tone indifferee the flutter in her chest caused by his closeness. With a surge of determination, she pushed herself up, attempting to put some distaween them. "GET OFF THE BED NOW!" she shouted once more, her voice ced with a mixture of anger and vulnerability.

  "What'd I even do to deserve this?" He questioned, his voice dripping with melodrama as he rose up on the bed too.

  He turned his head to Luxana, his eyes searg hers. The mischief had vanished, repced by an iy that made her breath cat her throat. "OUT," Luxana spat, her expression expressionless, as if trying to hide aion she might be feeling.

  Cillian with swift and rapid movement, he grabbed Luxana's head with his hands, and bumped their faces close together.

  His aquamarine eyes b into her ruby red eyes—a gaze so inte felt as if it could slice past her flesh and bone and uhe very fabric of her soul. The world seemed to fall away, as though her very being was id bare beh the weight of that gaze.

  The wind howled like a baearing at Cillian’s tailored bck attire as he stood amidst the frozeion. Jagged peaks of ice scraped against the sky, their obsidian surfaces refleg the dim, spectral light that filtered through the swirling snow. The air itself seemed to vibrate with cold, each breath crystallizing into a cloud of icy vapor that stung his lungs. He was a solitary figure against a vas of unfiving, frozen majesty, the biting cold a stark reminder of his mortality in this supernatural realm.

  A tremor ran through the grouh his feet, a deep, resonant vibration that spoke of immense power awakening. Cracks spiderwebbed across the frozen ground, their bck liark against the pristine white. The air grew heavy, charged with an unseen energy that made the hairs on Cillian’s neck stand on end. A guttural roar shattered the oppressive silence, a sound that echoed through the icy yons like the death knell of the world.

  Emerging from the depths of a yawning chasm was the Frostmaw, a creature ripped from the nightmares of a gods. It was a t behemoth of id fury, standing easily teall and seemingly as wide as a carriage. Its hide was a mosaic of jagged spikes and thick ptes of gcial ice, each shard as sharp as a honed bde. From its maw spilled a cloud id breath that solidified into razor-sharp icicles that cttered on the frozen ground. Two eyes, glowing with an inner inferno, fixed on Cillian with a predatory hunger.

  Cillian’s hand moved with practiced speed, drawing his sword from its scabbard. The polished steel reflected the pale light, a slender bea of defiance against the monstrous shadow looming before him. His face remained impassive, betraying none of the dread that cwed at his gut. He was a warrior, a tool, and fear had no p his heart. He tered himself, his mind narrowing to a razor's edge, focused solely on the deadly task before him. He was a small figure against an immense beast, but his determination was absolute.

  The Frostmaw charged, its massive limbs pounding against the frozen ground, creating tremors that threateo topple Cillian from his feet. The wind screamed as the beast’s massive cws tore through the air, each swipe capable of cleaving a man in two. Cillian moved with impossible speed, darting to the side just as a cw grazed his arm, tearing his sleeve and drawing a line of stinging pain across his flesh.

  He retaliated, moving with a speed that belied the icy ground, darting in close and sshing at the Frostmaw’s thick legs. His bde bit into the icy flesh, drawing a guttural roar of pain from the beast. ks of ice shattered ao the ground, revealing raw, bleeding muscle beh. But his attacks were like pinpricks against a mountain of ice, barely slowing the Frostmaw’s advance.

  He leaped and dodged, his b a blur against the blinding white of the ndscape. His breath grew ragged, and beads of sweat trickled down his temples, freezing instantly in the frigid air. He was tiring, his muscles screaming in protest with each acrobatieuver.

  As the Frostmaw lunged again, its icy breath frosting his eyeshes, Cillian knew he had to act. He closed his eyes, drawing upon the dark power that y dormant within him. Demoniergy surged through his veirifying his senses and filling him with a savage, exhirating strength.

  Bck lightning crackled around his body, illuminating the battlefield with an eerie, otherworldly glow. His silver hair whipped around his face like living serpents, and his aquamarine eyes burned with a hellish light. The air crackled and popped with dark energy, the st of ozone filling his nostrils.

  With a deafening roar, Cillian unleashed his demonic power. A bolt of pure darkness erupted from his outstretched hand, striking the Frostmaw squarely in the chest. The beast staggered back, its massive form vulsing as the bck lightning arced across its icy hide. Trails of bed, smoking flesh appeared on the beast's frosty hide.

  The Frostmaw filed, its massive limbs thrashing wildly as it lost its footing on the icy ground. It crashed to its knees, its guttural roars of pain eg through the desote ndscape. Cillian seized his opportunity, leaping onto the beast’s back, his boots digging into its thick hide for purchase.

  The Frostmaw writhed, its massive muscles trag as it tried to dislodge Cillian, its body trembled violently. It bucked and twisted, trying to throw Cillian off its back, but the nimble swordsman held on tight.

  Cillian grabbed onto the beast’s spiked head, and raised his bde. Finally the swords was stabbed right through the skull.

  The Frostmaw roared o time, a sound filled with agony a. Then, with a final shudder, its massive body colpsed, crashing onto the icy ground with earth-shattering force.

  The beast’s head was filled with bck lightning, the only color that could be seen was from the dark demon inside. As Cillian stood triumphant upon the fallen monster, his face streaked with blood and sweat. His breath was shallow and ragged, and his body trembled with exhaustion. Still, in his eyes was the steely glint of victory. He had faced a beast of legend, and he had emerged the victor. His bck clothing turned red where he was cut from the sharp cws of the deadly ice beast.

  His gaze sweeping over the fallen corpse of the Frostmaw.

  To be tinued...