Chapter 9: Pride (1)
"Demond, I've been meaning to ask, but..."
"...ah, you mean this?" The witch lifted her bare feet, coated with glitters of frost and coldness of a morning dew, as the grass below crunched with snowflakes. "I fridged my feet. Or more accurately, I simply stuck my ice mana on them. This old man's fragile toes used to stubb in those straps, so I'm more comfortable this way."
"I see. It seems I've misunderstood." The dragon chuckled, playful glint in her eyes as they traced downwards. "But you should know, showing a witch's... uniqueness so openly in court might cause a stir, dear."
"...you're speaking for yourself, aren't you?" The witch huffed, before walking with haste in the forest, her steps tracing a path of an early winter. The dragon admired in wonders, before following the misty feet of her irritated 'wife'.
The night forest was serene and silent, only occasionally pierced by the distant hoot of an owl. The light from Adrei's blue flame, floating obediently beside her, illuminated their path as they walked among the shades. Fireflies danced around them, as the moonlit trees whispered secrets to the gentle breeze, welcoming the era of co-existence and normality that had long been absent from the kingdom.
A comforting silence fuelled between the couple's steps. The dragon, her scales shimmering with a soft metallic glow in the graceful moonlight, felt a sense of belonging she hadn't felt in centuries. Her tail swished idly, brushing aside the frosty leaves with eases and swishes, before she asked a question that has been dangling in her mind.
"So why do we not fly to the peace banquet, my wife?" Amused by the shutters of the Witch's shoulder as she cringed at her title, the dragon queen continued, "if you're worried for the wind pressure, your current mana should be sufficient to shield you for the three days of flights needed."
"Tch, youngsters these days...always results before process." The former old mage bobbed her staff up and down, unaware a dragon observing closely at the rising sleeves to her robe that revealed her...tasteful waistline. "I'm not used to this body's mana just yet, and there're a few places I would like to revisit before attending the peace banquet, my-hus-band."
The dragon chuckled as she ignored the witch's groaning. "Well, my wife should have a timely schedule to ensure her daughter recieved her newlywed parents with arms, should you not?"
"Grr..." Result for today's battle: Demond's defeat, as her steps quickened to leave the dragon's teasing words behind. "Yes, of course. This old man planned to visit the Cave for the Resting Wolves first, before heading to another town for an old friend."
"The Cave...?" The dragon mused as she followed the flustered witch. "Ah, the one which housed your summon, the Wolf Queen.