Chapter 14

I was dimly aware of Zaden throwing a fireball at Kaden, the bright orange clashing with the icy blue, but it barely made an impact. Kaden staggered to his feet, the darkness receding from his eyes as the flames danced around us, but I was already losing control.

The cold fire consumed me, and I felt my strength draining away. The explosion had taken everything I had. I swayed on my feet, my vision narrowing as the last of my energy faded away.

The last thing I saw before everything went black was Kaden’s horrified expression as he rushed towards me, his voice calling my name, but I was already falling into darkness.
Everything went cold and silent as I collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the blue flames flickering out as the world faded away.


( Kaden )


When I came to, a sharp pain shot through my left shoulder, the agony almost unbearable. My shoulder was dislocated, and I knew what I had to do. With one swift motion, I forced it back into the socket, grunting as the pain shot through me. The world around me was a haze of frost and blue flames, shards of ice pinning me to the ground. As I yanked them free, I noticed the frost-covered garden was littered with these strange, glowing ice shards, and my heart began to pound.

Meara!

Her name screamed in my mind as I frantically searched the garden. My eyes locked onto her small form, surrounded by a circle of frost and flames, on her knees in the middle of the chaos. The blue flames were coming from her, flickering weakly as if tied to the very breath she struggled to draw.

I stumbled toward her, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, my fear spurring me forward. I reached her just as she collapsed, catching her limp body in my arms. She was cold, so cold, and her skin was pale, almost as if the life had been drained from her. The flames around her flickered, and I could feel the cold intensity emanating from them.

“ Meara, stay with me,” I whispered, my voice rough with desperation, but she was unresponsive. Her breathing was shallow, her pulse weak.

I didn’t waste another second. Scooping her up, I sprinted through the castle halls toward the infirmary, ignoring the concerned looks from everyone we passed. All that mattered was getting her help.

Bursting through the infirmary doors, I barked at the healers to assist her immediately. “ She’s unconscious—she used her powers, and it’s drained her completely. Help her!”
The healers quickly took her from my arms, laying her gently on a bed and assessing her condition. I stood by, my heart pounding, fear and guilt warring within me. The darkness had consumed me again, and this time, it nearly cost Meara her life.

“ Your Highness, we need you to leave.” The head healer argued.

“ You need to give the healers their space to do their work, please.”

Reluctantly, I went outside to wait.

Deon came in moments after the healers asked me to leave.

" Thank Goddess you’re here! Please tell me what happened out there?"

" Don’t you remember?" Deon asked, confused.

" Remember what? Last thing I knew, we were eating, and then I was on the grass." Deon pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily.

" Fuck sakes, Deon, tell me what happened," I insisted.

" You crossed over to the dark side again. Meara wanted to go to the Archives to continue her research, but you stopped her. At first, we thought you were just playing around, but when Meara called out in pain..."

" Fuck... Please... Tell me I didn’t hurt her?" By the look on his face, I knew I was wrong.

" I’m sorry, Kaden. You had her by the throat, and that’s when Zaden threw a fireball at you, but it didn’t even scratch you." My legs went numb. Hearing that I, Kaden, the strongest elemental in the kingdom, had physically hurt my own mate, I slumped to the ground, my legs giving way. It didn’t sound like me. I don’t tolerate such actions in my kingdom, but Deon saw it with his own eyes, so it must be true. My poor mate. Deon placed a hand on my shoulder.

" Kaden, don’t be hard on yourself. It is not your fault. You couldn’t control it.”

“ That is just the fucking thing. It was my fault! I was the one who kept her here. I was the one who forced her to stay when she wanted to return back home. This would never have happened if I let her go back to the human realm.”

“ But how could you have let her go? There is much at stake here.”

“ If she didn’t manage to release her powers today, we would have been doomed anyway. She would have been dead, and we all would be fucked!” I growled, frustrated. Deon removed his hand from my shoulder, now grasping that what I said is actually true. If I only had let Meara go back home, there might have still been a chance for me to win her over and accept our bond. The safety of my kingdom does not rely on her, and I can’t expect her to give her life up to me and my kingdom.

“ Your majesty, we have managed to revive her.” One of the healers notifies me.

“ Where is she? I want to see her now,” I commanded.

“ I will take his majesty to her, but she is still very weak. She is stable, but not out of danger yet. Her entire body froze up from the amount of ice she released. The amount of power she released was enough to kill anyone in most cases, but not her. Somehow her body managed to build a fire barrier around her heart, keeping it from freezing over. But there is a chance that she still might not make it. Her body temperature is still very low and can drop even more if we can’t get it to go back to normal.”

I followed the healer as she explained Meara’s situation to me. The healers were all stunned by Meara’s unique powers, how Fire and Ice managed to combine as one and work together as equals, creating Frost-Fire.

With weak legs, I approached Meara as she lay lifeless in my bed, looking like a true Sleeping Beauty, my sleeping beauty! I sat in the chair next to her, touching her hand with my fingers.
Electric sparks erupted inside me. My power was mad and ready to destroy both of us at any moment. But this soothing coolness reached me. She is the only person in the world who can do that to me.

My powers calmed down and went away quickly. I took away my hand. If she still has magic left in her, I don’t want to drain it out of her.

An older healer returned with a few bottles of different potions, giving instructions to a younger nurse healer in training.

“ This one is for the mornings after breakfast, and this one is for the evenings, this one for after every meal, for at least three times a day,” she said to the nurse as she gave me an angry glare.

“ What are you doing here?” she said gruffly.

“ If I am not mistaken, this is my sleeping chamber, and she is my mate, so I have every right to be in here.”

“ You are going to kill her.” She looked at me with hatred in her eyes.

“ I know you care for her, but you have to let her go before it is too late, and you will regret it for the rest of your life. She is weak and not from this world. She doesn’t know our customs, and you don’t know the cause of your darkness. Just let her go until you have figured out what it is that is consuming your soul.”

“ On the contrary,” I said coldly. “ Meara is the strongest person I have ever met! She is a fighter.” I said proudly to the head healer, but I didn’t admit to her that she was right, even when deep down I knew that the healer was telling the truth, which is why I must let Meara go. Even if it breaks my heart and makes me surrender to the dark side.