Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 832: Break Him ()

The wind was coarse and chilly as Jian soared over the white dunes, it bit at the skin of Neveah’s cheeks, but even the freezing wind paled in comparison to the chill Xenon exuded.

He felt cold to touch. Deathly cold.

Neveah held him close to her chest, cradling his head, her palm was splayed by the side of his face. Hoping to offer warmth she didn’t feel.

She could still feel the slow rise and fall of his chest, a pace that was twice slower than the rapid beating of her own heart against her rib cage. But if she didn’t feel that at least, she would have feared the worst.

Even now... the fear curled in the pit of her stomach, twisting into a knot that grew larger with each passing moment.

She could feel it with each breath, like a dagger twisting deeper into her gut. Every heart beat was painful, every sign that reminded her of a life she still held onto when Xenon’s had suddenly been placed in jeopardy.

’Stop... Veah. Do not entertain those thoughts. We’re not losing him.’ Jian’s voice in her head was meant to offer comfort.

It didn’t. Not when his own tone was laced in uncertainty.

They were headed to seek out Verothrax on a whim, but would he even have the answers? It was still difficult to believe that Verothrax would do anything to harm Xenon, especially something as depraved and outlawed as utilising the shared mental communication ties of dragon lords to bleed into Xenon’s mind.

Decades of the wild haze had stripped Xenon of the mental walls most dragon lords spent half their life building, walls that protected them from any form of magical influence on their mind.

Xenon was susceptible. He always had been. But he had still won over the haze. He suppressed it. He was well on his way to a full recovery. He was becoming better and more present in reality with each passing day,

He was becoming the man she didn’t even feel worthy of. He had sacrificed so much to get here...faced so much...

Neveah hadn’t imagined something like this would happen again. She hadn’t imagined she would ever wake up to find the man she loved cold, and near death.

And there had been signs. Gods! There had been signs right from that night in Keep Skies...how had she let herself overlook it? Why did she let herself believe everything would naturally resolve itself like the wild haze had?

’We’re here. Brace.’ Jian alerted Neveah to their impending landing.

She held on, as much as she could cradling Xenon as Jian dove for the landing platform of Dune City.

Home... she was home. But she wasn’t here in any way she hoped to be.

She was here with a dying Xenon, fighting back the tears stinging her eyes.

And she was failing.

The landing was hard and the platform trembled beneath them. Neveah jolted forwards, but held on. It was uncharacteristic of Jian but was there anything going the way it was meant to?

"Father!" She screamed, her voice cracked from the sobs she had been holding in.

"Everon!"

Kaideon was first through the doors, Jian had sent word ahead. He dashed out with wide eyes. His eyes found Neveah’s and then moved to Xenon cradled in her arms. He asked no questions, said no words but crossed the platform swiftly, helping an unconscious Xenon dismount.

He swung his arm over his shoulder, steadying his weight with an arm around him while Neveah dismounted.

When they were safely on solid ground, Jian took off again, wings beating against the wind.

In search of Verothrax, Neveah knew.

Everon had also come out and assisted Xenon on the other side, taking him into the castle.

Neveah followed behind them, biting her lip against the nausea creeping up her throat.

Everon and Kaideon rushed Xenon to the infirmary, where they laid him on the bed that had been prepared.

Rodvan, Coran and Tara were already waiting. And on sighting Neveah, Tara rushed over, pulling her into a hug.

Neveah stood stiffly. She couldn’t move her limbs if she tried. She still couldn’t understand what exactly was happening. Nothing made sense anymore.

Her eyes were still fixed on Xenon as Everon swiftly examined him, his expression grim.

Kaideon stood to the side, watching Neveah with pained eyes, his posture was tense. Fists clenched so tightly, his knuckles had turned white and blood dripped slowly.

"He’ll be fine." Tara reassured, rubbing her back in a gesture that must have been meant to soothe.

It didn’t.

Neveah slowly lifted a hand to Tara’s back and she broke down instantly, sobbing into Neveah’s shoulders.

Numb as she felt, her heart constricted. It hadn’t even been a few weeks since they lost Orin... the atmosphere in Dune castle was one of gloom, and mourning.

She should have come to be strong for them. To hold Tara and Isa and assure them every dragon lord in the stronghold would stand for them, and fight for Orin’s honor...to the last man.

She should have held Orin’s little heir, and whispered words of comfort to him. Tell him what a great man his father had been, like she had vowed to do for the rest of her life.

But instead, here she was... dissociating from her own emotions, because this pain... this terror, this uncertainty, it was torment.

And she had learnt to handle her emotions better. But all the lessons of the past years seemed to have been carried away on the wind in the flight to the Dunes.

Her body didn’t feel like hers. Like she was watching through someone else’s eyes as her world crashed even further than it already had since the breaking.

"What happened?" Everon finally asked after his assessment. Lifting his gaze to Neveah.

"I..." She swallowed. A hard, painful lump that didn’t go away. "I don’t know..."

She didn’t. Jian didn’t. She was certain even Xenon had no idea what was happening to him, or that it would turn out this way.

"He... started acting strangely. Was in his head a lot more. Lost in thoughts often, mistaken me for someone else..." She trailed off.

"Then the night terrors began." She continued, forcing the words out through her swollen, aching throat. "They were never about anything in particular. But he would wake up scared, gasping for breath... his heart beating out of control..."

"We believed it was the wild haze relapsing. He said he was fine and didn’t feel any discomfort other than the nightmares."

"He said they would go away once we return to Dragon Keep. And I... I shouldn’t have believed him... I should have known better..." Her voice cracked and Tara held on tighter.

"And then...we woke up, and he wouldn’t."

"He just... didn’t wake up anymore."

Everon pursed his lips. "There is something more?" He questioned knowingly.

Neveah nodded slowly. "I dream walked..." She began,

"Veah... I told you how dangerous that was!" Kaideon exclaimed. "I didn’t give you two the pendant to have you prancing through the dream world! There are things in that plane no one understands! You could get hurt!"

Things no one understood... like a dead Asrig, alive and well and haunting her dreams.

She knew... she did know.

"I had to! He was stuck somewhere!" Neveah exclaimed, the tears flowed faster now.

"Somewhere... underneath ice! A black desert... I don’t even know what I saw, or what I heard. But the only thing I was certain of was that, Verothrax’s void magic was there."

"It was... I felt it."

Everon exchanged a look with Kaideon. "Dante and Estelle flew out to watch Verothrax. They haven’t returned or reported back...we were about to go in search of them."

"I’ll go." Kaideon stated. Turning to leave.

Neveah’s hands clenched into tight fists. "I’ll go with you..."

"Veah..." Kaideon began to argue.

"No!" Neveah said firmly. "Verothrax’s void magic is too strong, even without the Fae magic ability. Neither you nor Jian can withstand him...not without me."

Her eyes narrowed. "I let myself care for him. Jian thinks him a son and I hoped we could grow a bond."

"But if he hurt Xenon, Dante or Estelle...if he has a hand in this, I will break him... like he broke the world."

She stormed out, eyes flashing with wrath.