A flush crept on Princess Sheana’s face once they landed to safely in a nearby hill.

"What?" Aenyra quizzed, sensing the shift in Sheana’s gaze. The softness in those fiery eyes made her skin uncomfortable. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Princess Sheana could barely contain the beating of her heart. She’d just thought about Aenyra as she watched the hunt, thought of winning her over, and when danger struck, her icy dragoness reached for her without a second thought and flew her to safety.

Her delusional brain awakened. Reasons to explain why Aenyra acted so started forming in her brain, all of which revolved around suppressed feelings and love.

"You are already in love with me, aren’t you?" She smiled like after that moment, she’d never smile again.

"Do you want me to punch you in the face?" Aenyra threatened, her voice icy and her stance even colder.

Sheana drew a deep breath. She pouted. "What am I to think with all the mixed messages coming from you?"

Aenyra inhaled deeply. Regret washing over her for her impulse decision to save Sheana in the time of danger.

"Stop talking."

"Why?"

"Every time you open your mouth... I feel like killing you," she added.

"Then why did you save me?"

Aenyra avoided her questioning look and pulled out a palm-size hourglass. Unlike normal hourglass, hers had black sand, and the black sand glowed with eerie feeling.

Princess Sheana inhaled sharply and stepped back. The feeling she got from the hourglass was similar to the feeling of being close to death every time her father poisoned her.

"What is that?"

"The solution to our problem," Aenyra looked down at the hourglass with heavy eyes.

She never thought she’d ever get to use that forbidden artefact, but the situation called for it.

"I don’t like it," Sheana spoke honestly, no drama, no theatrics, just plain opinion. "It doesn’t look like a good thing to have Aenyra."

"I didn’t save you to get lectured, I need your help to wake Nytherael up and stop him from losing control."

Princess Sheana found her beating heart coming to a slow halt. She turned to her icy dragoness, eyes burning with disbelief. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Did you save me just for this?"

"Why else would I have pulled you out of there. Do I look like I have the habit of flying beasts around?"

"..."

Princess Sheana was rendered speechless. Aenyra’s lack of subtleties and her bluntness really cut through to her heart. Expecting feeling from the ice dragoness was like wishing for the world to stop spinning.

Even the little acts that she did thar might seem like she cares were all thought out actions thar move her missions along. It wasn’t personal, and the minute a beast took it personally, she’d mercilessly bring them down to earth with her sharp remarks.

"Now I understand why you are still unwed. You’re impossible to understand!" Sheana retorted.

"Last I checked," Aenyra spoke without looking up as she arranged the design on the dark enery hourglass. "You are unwed and single too. If a lack of understanding me is the reason for my situation, what’s yours?"

"I stay single by choice."

"Is it?" Aenyra asked like she didn’t believe that for a single minute. "It’s not because of your seductive nature and wandering eyes that repel beasts and make them aware that you are impossible to love?" She fired.

She hit the nail right on the head. Sheana lost her temper and raised her hands to Aenyra’s neck, intending to put herself out of her misery by killing the annoying dragoness.

"Touch me..." Aenyra lifted her darkened eyes. "And this spot will become your graveyard," her icy darker tone chilled Sheana more than the devilish hourglass on her hand.

"Tsk," she clicked her tongue and backed away.

"And why are you throwing a tantrum for?"

"Life keeps leaving alone with an annoying dragoness that keeps tempting my limits!"

Aenyra smiled. Her icy face looked a bit warmer. Her whitened teeth flashed cleanly and exposed the dimples on her cheeks.

Princess Sheana, who had been looking at her, was caught in a trance. The icy dragon had her charm and appeals, but Sheana had yet to catch the dragon smiling blissfully, and now that she had, it was better than every other version of the dragoness

The way her molten amber-gold eyes with vertical slit pupils lit up was like someone had plucked the sun from the sky and divided it into two pools, and placed them in Aenyra’s sockets.

Her cheeks lifted slightly, and the small mounts had flushed a tinge pinkish and gave her the youthful aura of a young beautiful beastmaiden that was yet to be corrupted by the stains of the world.

Her pale gold skin shone in that moment, the faint obsidian scales on her looking temptingly delicious. Sheana’s thoughts ran wild.

Aenyra raised her head when she didn’t hear the bickering of the phoenix. Her soft eyes hardened immediately at the hungry look in Sheana’s eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like I’m food and you’re starving?"

"I..." the words caught in her throat.

"Mind you, I don’t have any snacks on me," Aenyra hurried to say.

’You are the snack I yearn for,’ Sheana thought. She didn’t dare let her thoughts in the open lest she gets rejected again.

"And I saw you eating at the booth in the arena. You can’t tell me that you.. you are hungry," she continued.

Cough... cough.... cough... Sheana cleared her throat. "You have an answer for everything."

"I work in the beast court. What do you expect?" Aenyra argued back.

She looked at the expanding range of Nytherael’s powers and frowned. ’Even though you made a big mistake that hurt my family... you are also still family. I won’t let you suffer or stand by and watch you continue to make more mistakes.’ She thought.

"Don’t you ever find yourself tongue-tied?"

"Are you ready?"

"Huh?"

"Once I start the hourglass, time will reverse to a few minutes before Nytherael’s powers went out of control," she said.

"What?" Sheana grew weary, she stepped back again, feeling fearful of the device in Aenyra’s hand.

"I need you to snap Nytherael out of his thoughts and prevent this subconscious attack from happening. Do you understand?"

Sheana had questions. ’Why me? And where in the devil’s name did you get that device?’