In one of the many caves buried under the mighty Undying mountains in the Undying Realm, Xueyao lay still in one of them. The unusual golden energy with faint inscriptions of heavenly writing still pulsated beside her unconscious form at the mouth of a large, ring-like opening. The energy kept trying to bring her back to consciousness without rest, healing all her injuries and sealing the wound in her left arm while she slept.
After a while, the young immortal's eyes fluttered open as her vision was weakened only for a few seconds before it became sharper. The floating ball of energy beside her pulled back a bit when she slowly began to rise into a sitting position. Her lovely, soft features were covered in dirty and a few healing bruises as she sat at the mouth of this dark opening that led somewhere she wasn't interested in venturing.
She remembered everything that happened to her and the painful realization of being deceived by her three nightmares to come to this forbidden place opened new scars in her heart. She sniffed as tears rolled down her cheeks.
''I will never forgive them…''
The floating ball of energy heard her say as her voice echoed around them. It watched her slowly rise to her feet at the mouth of the opening, dusting her hands of the dirt and her dress as well.
''I will make them pay for what they did to Sheng Chong and me…'' Her big, brown eyes observed where she was and she wondered if she broke through the barrier or if she was trapped somewhere in the Undying Realm to rot and die. She wouldn't be too surprised if it was another wicked scheme of her three nightmares.
''It doesn't matter,'' she whispered to herself. ''Now, that I know where Sheng Chong is, I will just find my way out of this place and reunite with him as soon as possible.''
The energy floating behind her heard her plans to leave and grew a bit restless.
Xueyao wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and turned to leave. The floating ball of energy opposed by releasing vertical lines of golden energy, gently tipping her off the edge and had her falling straight into the abyss.
Xueyao's scream echoed as she kept falling at an incredible speed down the chasm. She tried to find her balance but it felt like there was an external force pulling her further down that she couldn't control. She released some of her powers to stop her fall, but it only brought her more pain and frustration.
The first contact and dive into an oily, film-like barrier suspended her movements a bit and the space around her felt eerily calm. Her body turned to see what lay beneath and Xueyao gasped at the sight further down.
It was fire.
Boiling hot volcanic fire at the early stages of eruption.
Her eyes widened further when the inside of the place began to move and shift like the inside of a rubik's cube. The circular walls trapping her spitting out gases that clouded her vision a bit.
''No…no…no…'' She screamed when that invisible force began to pull her further down and towards that boiling mess at another incredible speed. She did all she could to fight against the force but all in vain.
Xueyao closed her eyes and braced for impact as she neared the roiling surface of the lava. But astonishingly, she dived through and slid out of it like a drop of water sliding through a block of ice and fell through the other end of the circular pit.
Time slowed, literally, as she fell into a larger underground cave. She closed her eyes not wanting to see how she was going to land and die.
Sheng Chong…
She got closer to a kneeling figure bound in silver chains underneath where she was falling to.
…I am going to miss you a lot.
Gravity then grew stronger against the pace of time and she fell harder and crashed right on top of the back of the bound figure.
The chains rattled on impact and the silence after was the most intense. It was eased when the bound sleeping figure's eyes slowly opened.
☆
His beautiful gaze weakly fluttered close as he bore the burden of her weight behind him. Debris of rocks and sand fell at different angles of the partly dark cave. The long twin chains that held his arms apart continued their restless movements as he felt how its small arms tightened around his neck, almost restricting his airflow. But he endured until the thing that landed on him was ready to get off.
Xueyoa peeked through her left eye before slowly opening both of them and raising her head up a bit. She stared down at the impressive silky black hair that shined beautifully even in the dark. She jumped off and moved back in fright. While stepping back, she fell off the small raised stone platform to which the mysterious figure was bound and rolled several feet on the hard ground.
The figure's flawless face furrowed a bit at the small sound of discomfort she made on the ground.
Xueyoa thought probably today was meant for her to feel the worst kind of pain and torture. She slowly pulled herself back on her feet, turned around to observe what had been bound before her in those long silver chains. At first glance, she thought she was hallucinating. Maybe the effect of falling so hard her brain started to make perfect images of things.
She blinked to confirm if what was bound before her was real or her wild imaginations.
Beautiful was not the word to describe him.
Otherworldly wasn't even close.
She gazed at his bound figure like she was caught in a trance, her lips slightly apart at his majestic view even while in those ugly silver chains.
Xueyoa took a small step closer and he halted her movements with one quick reveal of his ethereal gaze. They were this rare mix of gold and deep brown. Clear, dark, mysterious and beautiful. It complemented perfectly the primordial golden god mark carved stunningly at the sides of his forehead. Xueyoa's captivated gaze ran over the unique paleness and whiteness of his clear skin, his masculine and feminine beauty, the cold and dominating aura it holds, the delicate carvings of what looked like heavenly writings or inscriptions on the curve of a side of his neck. They were done with so much care with golden, glowing ink on him.
Xueyao had never been more awed about anything like this in her life. And they all thought nothing could match the forbidden beauty the two white dragons possessed to their faces. His full red lips positioned slightly in a deep frown as his gaze burned daggers deep into the depths of her poor soul.
All Xueyao could do was to stare dumbly at him, her heart racing wildly in her chest at this enigma.
Who or what on earth could this be?
She doubts if he was just an ordinary immortal like them. He looks like something much bigger than her imagination and she had disturbed his eternal slumber by accident.