The Reborn Witch had a nice 'Tea Time' with the Dragon Queen today-Chapter 20: Trails Of Fire And Ice - Signs Of Disasters Behind Laughters (1)

A trip to admire the rising dawn is...refreshing, as if wearing a new pants in a brand new year's coming. The witch remarked, her gaze lingering on the hand now clasped by the dragon's, the tender sunlight playing across their clutched intimacy, as she lowered her hat to hide her locks, as if the blush on her ears would not give her away.

The dragon gazed forward, a knowing smirk creeping up as her fingers felt the witch's loosening grip. They have slept for a while as the dawn came, exhaustion coming late after emotional baggages were lifted from fulfilled endings for both past and present. Now, a future of unknowns awaited, a vow of great feats sealed behind the witch's acceptance of their relationship, as they finally, finally emerged from the forests, revealing unto them a road on a valley.

The vast grassland of greens hitched a grasp in the witch's throat, butterflies and bees flying near the forest's entrance, welcoming the newly sweets' pair of travellors. The road was worn, torn but steady with rock walls and trees as companions to either side. The dragon's tail glid over the mud with a glean of pride, a pride that this road is safe with the hero's protection.

Noticing the dragon's weird display of achievement, a mocking chuckle came from the witch under her breath. "What, peacekeeper? Care to elaborate how toucued you feel?"

The mockery sounded of soft, loving nectars in the dragon's ears, as Adrei glanced at the bees wobbling near the witch, before hurrying to dart away upon her frosty feet, with the dragon alone standing by her side, a intimidating guardian as if to protect her child from harm.

"Well, the Merchant Guild could not have this convenient luxury if not for my efforts to prevent my kins burning down their builders and hoarding their gold." The dragon smiled back, her finger playing circle inside the witch's palm, as she observed how her wife's neck twitched in response. "So, where are we headed? You spoke of an old friend to visit, didn't you?"

Demond narrowed her eyes, as her hand entrapped the dragon's tickly fingers, the honeyed sensation crawling to her heart. "We are...heading to the Town of Rouen. The leading acolyte is a friend of mine there, and we would have her blessings before we entered the capital."

"Oh, blessings for our marriage, perhaps?" Adrei suggested playfully, her golden eyes reflecting the rising sun's glow. "I must say I'm not against the idea. Your daughter would like a married couple than lovers for a one-night's stand."

"Alright alright, enough with this boring joke. This old man matures faster than you think, you know?" The witch pouted, as she held up their joined hands and pointed at the bonded closeness that was confirmed last night. It was more a quiet acceptance, not even a 'I love you' statement has been explicitly confessed, yet no longer was there any embarrassment or exhausted sigh when topics related to their 'barely consented love' has come up.

The dragon only smirked, her eyes lowering to their intertwined hands, the warmth of their union palpable in the cold morning air. "Ah, so you're serious about the divine's blessings. Seems we're particular about details for this old man-dragon relationship of ours."

"Absolutely." The witch puffed out her chest, as the dragon's heated gaze dangled just as the chests bobbed up and down. It wasn't much, but the gesture was enough to make the dragon's unclasped claw digging deep into her thigh, the sudden greed for a 'pillow' fight flashed through her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced at the witch's innocent eyes as they distanced onto the road, before she took a breath again. Their time is eternalised now, in front of the fateful dawn that announced a new beginning, and she would not have her...wanton desires spoil it. No, they must be left aside for now, just as the possessiveness of the tyrant parted cleanly from her blood.

Of course, she would not falter on her activeness though, as her hand let go of the witch's. Taking amusement in her lover's confusion, she snaked her arm across the witch's shoulder, pulling her into a side hug that was gentle, yet firm. "Then let us hurry to the ceremony, shall we?"

The witch's ears perked up at the strange comfort of the dragon's embrace, the breath that hit her cheek so potently soothing her eyes closed in pleasure. The morning breeze was nothing to them now, their hearts drumming together as the leaves rustled with symphony to the lovers' manas of fire and ice, duality mixed perfectly in a tango of destinies.

Sighing, and with difficulty, Demond struggled out of the dragon's embrace, as a slight grudge tinged in her glare. "How are we supposed supposed to walk with you crushing me like that?"

A heartfelt laughter was sung from the dragon's throat, as she stepped aside, giving the witch room to breathe, yet her arm clinging to the witch's, a promise of protection for a grumbling wife. They descended from the forest, their shadows stretching like two lovers holding hands, and their silhouettes stood side by side for the arriving of a new Chapter.

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As her bare feet sank into the steep mudrock, the witch's crystalline eyes narrowed at their linked arms, then to the...'honest' trembling of the dragon queen's gaze. It has only been an hour since they left the forest, wild sheeps and cows heard from the side as their cautious eyes examined the couple, one trailing a frosty path, the other blazing a fiery struggle...

The growing silence between them is now a stifle cage against the sunlight's heatful prodding, their arms clunking together like old couples' flirting beyond their age, and the witch's eyes only kept narrowing. The dragon's eyes only danced around to the field, as if remarking herbivores' grassy eatings will stifle her cannivorous appetite.

Demond, however, is not an idiot. Well, partly not an idiot since she allowed the marriage with the dragon with an ease that would make Alice scream in rage. But she knew how to protect herself, against a predator whose mind is as defiling as her eyes, along with her arm that kept bumping into...certain part.

"Ah, the weather has gotten hot, hasn't it, Adrei?" The witch's eyes, now shutting into a slit, burrowed into the dragon's head, gauging the...misunderstanding that she may have had in her mind.

"...why the sudden change in mood, I wonder?" The dragon shrugged, her elbow 'coincidentally' hitting a 'fullness' of a lifetime. Herbivorous habitats could not satiated a cannivore's hunger after all, so the sight of her 'meal' brought a sigh of relief and a smirk that could melt any witch's heart, beside her ridiculed wife.

"It would seem playing dumb is now a husband's trait." The witch's voice was a blend of sarcasm and cuteness, her grip on Adrei's arm tightening ever so slightly. The dragon's cheeks broadened to reveal a an emerald sea, her eyes meeting the witch's skeptical gaze.

"Just say you want to grope me or something, this old man is embarrassed you're acting like a child when you were so confident earlier." The witch's tone was playful but had a hint of annoyance that the dragon could feel.

Adrei sighed before smiling to the witch, the sheep's chipping away at the grass also chipped away at her sanity, the head containing mischievous thoughts that would make a succubus blush like a maiden.

"So Demond." Adrei gave in a little, as she carefully wrapped around the witch's waist, as Demond leaned in without a hint of blush, expecting such a selfishness from the Dragon a long time ago.

"If we're serious about the marriage, it is time we also faced a matter that has long since been put off." The dragon's tone grew serious as they strolled through the valley, their shadows now stretching into two as the sun atop glanced over at the drama that will be occurring.

"What is it? If it is about...oh." The witch frowned, before her brows relaxed into an arching understanding, the frosty path beneath her feet now thickening with mist, mist that was similarly plaguing her mind to escape this topic. The blush that did not come with the casual intimacy was now creeping back, like an age-old, cunning goblin's ambush.

Crunch. The grass was bitten beside them again, as the sheeps now observed at their sudden closeness, at the witch's periled snap of her rationality.

"So, how do you plan on telling your friend...that we got married?" Adrei's question was as light as the sheep fur falling upon the vast grassy field, a drop of pebbles into the vastness of the witch's icy mana. Demond gritted her teeth, struggled in Aldrei's embrace, failed, then glanced away.

"I-don't-know!" The witch exclaimed with a whirl of frustration, her eyes darting from the sheep to the cows' innocent eyes, then to the smirking dragon who was clearly enjoying her discomfort. The air grew thick with the anticipation of a storm brewing in her heart.

"Oh, so why the panic?" Adrei's smile grew wider, her finger tickling the witch's neck. "The aged wisdom of an eighty-year-old sage, now useless facing a love matter that was below his supposed intellect."

"If we're talking age, we have you who keep playing with my 'chest'!" Demond snapped back, the icy trail's crystal now shot out of the muddy road, as the sheeps and cows ran away from the wraith of the ice witch's immature outrage.

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"Ah, I would fully admit I am a pervert, for it is the dragon's nature to spread their bloodline and hoard...treasures, you are no different, my love." The dragon's eyes gleamed with humor, her hand now caressing the witch's waist with a gentle fondness that sent shivers down Demond's spine.

"Gck...sexual harassment, I tell you what this is. You're so lucky this old man is lenient..." Demond grumbled, her cheeks redder than the dawn's kiss upon the dragon's scales. Despite her words, she didn't move away from Adrei's embrace, instead shaking with the trembling touch slightly.

"I would not forget this honour. So," the dragon's hand grew bold, as it now circled to the witch's stomach, pressing gently. "Your friend? How do we plan to speak with her?"

"Now that I realise it...she's also not as mana-sensitive as Leona was..." the witch sighed, her own palm hovered over Adrei's, hesitated, before slapping it away from her midsection with a playful growl. "The old hag may not care much about purity and such, but even her sight has dwindled under the years. If she's truly alive, she'd probably think I've been bewitched by your charms, or something equally absurd as a dragon playing with this old man's stomach."

Adrei chuckled, the sheeps and cows now back as the frosty trails grew dimmer, and the icy mist glowed thinner, the dragon's genuine burst of lovingness now seep into the grumbling witch's mood, as her heart fluttered a little despite the utter closeness she absolutely, definitely did not ask for.

"But your current look is the problem, isn't it?" Adrei's eyes sparkled with mischief as she glanced down at the witch's disheveled attire. Demond rolled her eyes, extended her arm, as the dragon puffed in defeat. The queen's scale conjured a lit cigarette again, with the witch fiddling it away without a word.

"Absolutely. It is apparently enough to attract a dragon's...unwanted attention." Demond bit down on the cigarette, a buddy's true companion in this frustrating mess as the nicotine drew in her calmness.

"That is troubling...the unwanted attention is only for me and you, so your old friend may not recognise the extend of our union, and the attractiveness of a supposed old man." Adrei's voice took on a teasing tone, earning a sigh full of ashes in response. Nicotine's taste is truly a blessing, isn't it? Adrei's eyes gleamed with thrill at the witch's 'entrance' of the sanctuary that housed the pleasure of last night.

"Lucky for you, at least I heard from Alice that apparently, you are famous as the peacekeeper between humans and dragons, unlike me." The witch played with the cigarette now resting between her weary finger, trying to distract herself from another 'unwanted' flirting. "In a way, it is not hard to convince the old hag with your fame and...my sudden good looks, thanks to your help."

"Then I suppose that's it then." Adrei's voice grew more playful as she leaned in closer to the witch, her breath fanning against Demond's reddened ear. "So, what about Alice?"

"..."

The witch, on instinct, flicked away the cigarette coated in a stormy frost, as it hit a bystander grass a sheep was enjoying in bliss. A pong of regretful frost stumped the food out of existence, and the sheep moaned in pain with her loss.

Feeling a weird satisfaction, the witch turned to face her dragon husband, her eyes sharp as her fingers was raised and clamped down on the dragon's cheek, as a stuttering chuckle came from such a 'cheeky' gesture. "What about Alice, Adrei?"

The dragon spread her arms wide in submission, her teasing has gone a little, a tiny bit, too far. She did not ask for her next 'meal' to be snuffed out by a stormy cigarette, and she certainly wished for no such future for their loved life.

The witch sighed, her grip on the dragon's arm tightening slightly. "Alice will have to know eventually. She's a sharp girl. She'll accept anything from this old man. Just...well, to say she'll only laugh is an...uh, understatement."

"Hm? So, you think she'll strongly reject our love?" A seriousness took root in the dragon's growl, she bore no ill will towards her ally in the war against demon and dragons' aggressions, but she would not allow even a hero to impede their vows for each other.

"No, but imagine this. Unlike the old Leona who is prideful but full of aged patience, Alice is also prideful but full of...uh, youthful enthusiasm." The witch's cheeks remained flushed, her eyes dodging the dragon's gaze as the sheeps continued to graze away at the charred remains of the grass, the guilt of the lost meal weighing on the witch's heart.

"So if we straight up told her, you murdered me and turned me into your bride against my will, expect some serious, and I mean serious, 'teasing'." The witch's voice held a tint of resignation, her cheek now rubbing the dragon's arm to hide her fear.

"But on the other hand, she'll be thrilled to have a dragon auntie to boast about to her friends. The girl's got a flair for the dramatic, after all." Adrei chuckled nervously, trying to ease the tension that had built in her chest. The thought of facing Alice with their secret marriage was a daunting one, but she knew their allegiance would ease the conversation.

After all, when diplomatic peace between the Dragon's Council and the human's kingdom lies partly on this marriage, even a hero has to take cautious step around her mentor's love life...right?

"Ah, I feel like a flag has just been set up." Demond gazed up at the slightly flustered Dragon, now fully aware of the gravity of her words. Adrei only glanced away again, now it is not her wife but the sheeps' innocent, black eyes burrowing into her mind, asking if it is her who ruined their meals, asking if things really, really will turn out well as she thought.