Prince Eis

He had done it. He had killed the monster who destroyed CryoFangs's life. 'She can rest easy now, I've avenged them,' he thought with a sigh, feeling as the raw power inside of him began to die down, it had come over him so suddenly...

'Is that how it must feel for her when she wields it? Like you could destroy everything in your wake?' He wondered; he knew it wasn't meant for destruction, but the thought of destroying something as vile as a dark entity with a holy power made him... giddy? Nervous?

'Am I afraid of my own power?'

He stored the thought away in the back of his mind as his eyes drifted to where he had put CryoFangs, but the female HallowFrost was unmoving, silent.

Fear curled in his gut as he raced for her body, his injured leg screaming with pain. As he crouched down beside her and put a talon to her chest, he sighed with relief, feeling her chest rise and fall and her heart throbbing.

"She took... quite a beating," he said to himself as he examined her, seeing the hideous gash in her head, her multiple bruises, and the puncture wounds in her sides, "she couldn't stand me trying to protect her..."

'I... I honestly think that I'd be dead if it wasn't for her turning around to take him on...' he realized, 'my powers wouldn't have manifested if not for her... thank you, milady CryoFangs.'

He hoisted her into his arms, and, according to his memory, they were only a mile and a half from the cave they'd sought shelter in during the storm. Eis whirled around at the sound of footsteps behind him, finding Cryo's companion, Nimbus, standing there.

"You don't have to carry her," he said simply, snapping his claws and the two watched as CryoFangs levitated before them. "I've got her."

Eis nodded slightly, thankful that he wouldn't have to; CryoFangs wasn't very heavy, but his leg was in quite a bit of pain from where the spear had gored him. "Hey, Nimbus, can't we just use a Healing spell and fix her right here?"

The little dragon shook his head, "Healing spells not only drain the caster, but rapidly healing these types of wounds, especially those to the head, can cause... side effects."

"Like what?"

"I'd... rather not say." He said under his breath, and, with a clap of his talons, he had CryoFangs' body floating beside him as he flew off towards the cave, the prince followed him.

"Hey, Eis?" Asked EmberWrath's rumbling voice, the burly, mud-brown PyreWing flew up beside him, a spark of worry in his amber-orange eyes. "How bad is her condition?"

"See for yourself," the prince nodded towards her floating body, whilst fighting the urge to comment harshly: "why do you care?"

The three males flew in silence, occasionally sparing a glance at one another and CryoFangs, there was no other contact between them, each was in their own mind. Eis mostly kept worrying over his friend, but a few thoughts were scattered across random things inside his head, pertaining to his powers and the SchattenSeele.

'Shiverthorn said that he gave me the power to see the dreams of a LichtSeele, but I don't know how that works... do I have to speak a specific set of words for it to work, like what Cryo and I can do? Was what I did a one-time thing because I don't possess a full LichtSeele like she does?

'...the SchattenSeele are crazy... how badly would you hate in order to become a soulless monster like that? How many would die to your talons in order for your wrath to be put to rest? Who would throw away their lives just to be thrown into a world of hellish misery?

'I will never fully understand what Shiverthorn went through with his powers, I may never unlock my full potential as the future King of the HallowFrosts... this power is something I have yet to understand, and CryoFangs seems more worthy than I to possess this power...

'She has given me a purpose, after all this time... but what if I slip up and break my promise? What if... what if she doesn't like me back?'

He instantly knew what he was doing when he thought it, and Eis hated what he was doing to himself. Talking himself down and believing his sacred powers weren't meant for him. If he wasn't meant to have them, then why did Shiverthorn bestow his gift onto him in the first place? Why else would CryoFangs have come into his life if he wasn't worthy of a relationship?

Eis shook himself and snorted, "how undignified of me!" He sniffed, feeling his "Pompous Royal" side coming to life as he sighed. "I need to stop doing that..." he saw Nimbus was slowing down up ahead, and so he landed at the miserable little cave's entrance. Slipstream came up from within the cave and, upon noticing the injured dragon, she gasped softly. "What happened?"

"SchattenSeele attack..." Eis breathed, "we need to get her into the cave."

Slipstream nodded and let him go into the cave, Nimbus right behind him as the little dragon moved CryoFangs into the cave, lowering her down onto the cave floor and ending the spell on her. "Ok, Prince Eis, what now?"

Eis thought it over a bit, "I don't have fire, but my breath could close her head injury. Nimbus, could you please try to mend the wounds on her sides? I'll work on fixing my wounds later..."

The dragon nodded and set to calling up his magic, the prince, on the other hand, set himself near CryoFangs and tilted her head towards him, his snout lowered to her forehead and he felt the blizzard within him begin forming.

"Just make sure you don't breathe too much of your breath on one spot," Nimbus implied, "I'm sure you know why, yes?"

Eis nodded and slowly, carefully breathed his frozen breath onto her wound, he heard Cryo hiss at the sudden feeling and he stopped altogether, watching as her eyes cracked open slightly.

"Hmmm? Eis...?" She rasped, "what are you doing?"

Eis hurriedly backed away and helped her sit up slowly, she gingerly put a talon to the gash in her head and sighed through her nose, "you were trying to close this up, I take it?" He nodded. "Well, fine... do what you must, this hurts a lot and it'd be nice to numb this with your breath."

Eis beckoned her to lean closer, as she did so he gently took her head in his talons, he felt her shiver at the contact as she sighed again. He wasted no time in taking in a deep breath and breathing onto her wound again, the pale-blue frost slid over her exposed flesh as he continued his work, being cautious about how much of his breath he exhaled onto one spot.

He let go of CryoFangs and she shifted away from him, a grateful shimmer in her blue eyes as she faintly smiled, Eis felt his heart swell with pride, knowing he did something good for her.

"Thanks, I don't feel anything there now," she said, "only thing left is my sides... although they really don't hurt too much, to be honest." She spared a glance at the gashes in her flanks, cringing slightly at the sight of crusted purple blood on her scales.

Nimbus chirped, "I will take care of that, Mistress, just relax. Eis... you can do what you need to now, I've got her."

The prince nodded thoughtfully, turning around and exiting the cave even as his leg shot pain through him. Once outside, he sighed heavily and felt his talons tingle with the magic flowing through him, he wrapped his talons around the injury and tried to visualize the wound closing up at his touch.

The mental image was blurry, but it worked nonetheless as the pain was replaced with a gentle pulsing warmth, he felt his flesh mend itself and a sigh of relief leave him. Eis wasn't exactly great at Healing spells, so this was a small triumph for him as he smiled at his healed leg. 'Hmmm... what to do...'

. . .

The Book of Bloodlines was quite confusing to read, whether it be stumbling across a few unknown Runes or Nimbus pointing out the not-so-obvious, Eis wasn't exactly in the best mood after about four hours of deciphering Shiverthorn's legend alongside the rest of the group.

EmberWrath was constantly whining about Slipstream's jade wings brushing his, Slipstream hissed under her breath about him, Nimbus was lecturing on about various images and Runes in the book, and Eis was slowly losing whatever cool he had.

CryoFangs was oddly silent throughout the slow hours they had been reading, sometimes she'd sigh whenever Ember complained too loudly, other times she'd grab Eis's talon as if she were nervous about something.

Something told him she was becoming just as irritated as him, it wasn't exactly easy to block out the noise of three talking dragons, two of which bickered like a married couple.

"Will you two shut up?" Nimbus barked at the two dragons, EmberWrath scoffed at him, earning a fierce glare from CryoFangs. "EmberWrath, you're gonna live. Slipstream, stop plotting his murder under your breath! Geez..."

"But Nimbus-"

SLAP!

EmberWrath was taken aback at the sudden jolt of pain across his face, CryoFangs had slapped the PyreWing, hard. "Enough," she growled, not caring that the male looked more irate than anything. "Nimbus told you to shut up."

"Look who's talking, low-life!" He snapped, CryoFangs hissed and narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps your little friend here should hush you up!"

"Excuse me? You are no better than I, Ember! And Nimbus doesn't have to do what you say!"

"I come from a kingdom ruled by a mafia, I truly think I deserve more respect!" He got up in her face as his voice rose, smoke trickling from his nostrils as he snarled, Cryo was shaking in anger now.

Eis wasn't letting the PyreWing get away with that, "EmberWrath, cease speaking and get away from her... now!"

"No, you're not my ruler, Eis!"

'Oh, that's it-'

Eis slammed into EmberWrath, pinning the brute to the floor as he wrapped his talons around his snout, despite the cave being quite small, it seemed like he had the advantage...

Then he felt someone ripping him away from the dragon, he whipped his head around to find CryoFangs giving him a steely stare. 'I shouldn't have lashed out,' he thought, letting her drag him away, 'good going, Eis.'

"This has gone too far," she huffed, "EmberWrath, keep your rude comments to yourself next time. Nimbus, keep Slipstream from murdering him. Eis... come with me."

Eis turned his snout up at EmberWrath as he crawled out of the cave, CryoFangs quietly following him as they found themselves washed in moonlight. He looked up to find that both of the two moons were partially full, they looked like curved moonstone claws suspended in the Heavens. The stars glittered in the inky night sky, adding to the beauty of the night.

CryoFangs went still beside him as she gazed at the curved moons, smiling slightly at the light they let off as she sighed lightly. "I wonder how they're doing, up there..."

He shrugged, knowing what she was talking about. "I'm not sure, Cryo. What do you think?" He wondered, looking at her expectantly.

"I think they're doing well... but who knows, maybe they're looking down from the Heavens and asking the same question about me..." she turned to face him, "what do you think your parents are doing up there?"

Eis shrugged again, blinking slowly, "my dad's probably criticizing me, my mother... I don't know... do you want to take a walk?"

She nodded, and thus the two dragons found themselves wandering away from the cave. CryoFangs was quietly humming to herself as she slightly stepped closer to Eis, the faint breeze carrying her scent into his nostrils. He breathed in deeply, she smelt of the earth, the grass below their feet, and, of course, Shivermint was the dominant odor in his nose. 'Still as lovely as ever... I wonder what I smell like to her?' He glanced at her, she was looking about, she was mindlessly rolling her talons in slow circles as she soon landed her eyes on him, blinking slowly as her ears flicked.

Soon, she went quiet as they walked, silence settling between them; and yet, the silence wasn't all that awkward. As they walked, he took in the noise: his light breathing, the two's footsteps, the grass snapping under their feet, insects of the night chirped and buzzed quietly, and the faint breeze. It was a peaceful night, it was almost like nothing could destroy the atmosphere around them; and even after the small fight in the cave, Eis was quickly finding himself calming down.

And with him being around his favorite dragon, Eis was almost elated. 'I never thought I'd find myself feeling like this!'

"CryoFangs?" He asked softly, she turned to face him with glittering eyes. "Yes?"

"May I ask you... what you think about me?"

She stopped walking and strode over to a somewhat flat boulder, sitting on it and gazing at Eis from where she sat, he sat a little ways away from her, his tail brushing hers.

As they turned to face each other, she hummed quietly, "I think you're an incredible dragon. You're kind, sweet, funny, selfless, handsome, brave... I like that you're different than the other royals I've read about in stories. You've got a heart, you enjoy my company even though you've probably broken about a thousand rules to do so, and..." she trailed off, trying to find more to say about the prince.

"And I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't met you."

Eis felt a smile creep across his face, seeing as the heat crawled into her face as she blushed slightly, ducking her head and looking up at him, "what about me, Prince Eis? What do you think of me?"

'I have way too many things to say about you,' he thought quietly, lifting her chin gently as he gazed deep into her blue eyes. "You're strong, smart, a good fighter, beautiful, talented, selfless... among many other things. I could care less about the social distance between us, I'll treat you as my equal no matter what; you earned my respect when we first met and you've also earned my loyalty, I'll help you triumph over whatever you may be struggling through, milady."

CryoFangs smiled as her blush grew stronger, and as he ran his thumb over her warm cheek, she sighed lightly, "you're bluffing, right?" Asked she, he shook his head and felt as he gently touched his forehead to hers, "no, I would never lie about that, milady." He murmured, "I bet you wish I was lying, yes?"

CryoFangs giggled quietly, Eis was feeling a blizzard of emotions roar inside of him as he realized just how physically close they were, those twinkling eyes gazing into his were already alluring enough.

He took her talons in his, he felt her flustered pulse and, as he gently squeezed her talons, their pulses slowly fell into sync, she twined her tail around his. Eis was ignoring the majority of his raging emotions, he did not wish to ruin this moment between them; things would happen over time, and Eis wasn't going to rush her into doing anything she didn't want to happen just yet.

He slowly pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her as he felt her head rest on his shoulder. CryoFangs hugged him tightly, as if afraid he'd disappear forevermore.

He couldn't do that. He would never find it within himself to leave her.

"I like you, Eis," she murmured softly into his ear, he smiled, "I like you too, Cryo... what now?"

She shrugged slowly, "I haven't a clue... can we just... stay like this? Please, for a little longer?"

He nodded and hummed softly, rubbing her back with his talon as CryoFangs yawned, a very quiet purr could be heard from within her throat as he continued.

Eis had no words for how wonderful he felt, and absolutely nothing could– or would– take this moment away from him.