CryoFangs sighed as she attempted to remember as much as she could about that scroll, she seemed to remember the description with particular clarity: "'A Blood Oath is a sacred bond only undertaken by those willing to share their Lifeforce with a partner. Both must agree to Bind themselves to the other, and one must know that being Blood-Bound comes with a price...'"

As for how to Bind herself to a dragon, that was a blurry memory. But, as she coaxed it to the surface of her mind, Cryo began remembering, piece-by-piece, each instruction. I just have to pray to the Holy Ruler above that it works, she thought, this is a life-or-death situation on my shoulders... I hope I know what I'm doing.

"Eingeheiligt..." whispered that breeze of a voice inside her head, it was Shiverthorn speaking to her, "if this is what must be done to save the prince, I will temporarily lend you my consciousness, for I know how to Blood-Bind."

Is it complicated?

"No, but I will have control over your speech, you do the rest. Are you ready, Eingeheiligt?"

Yes, she thought immediately, "Eis, I need you to trust me. Ok?"

He weakly nodded and winced, "of course I trust you, milady... do what you must... I don't think I'm r-ready to die..."

As CryoFangs pressed her talons to his wounds to stop any further bleeding, Eis hissed quietly. Shiverthorn, I'm ready... let me know what I have to do. At the thought, a rush of new thoughts flooded her brain, she was momentarily disoriented before Shiverthorn slowed his thoughts, allowing her to recognize what needed to be done.

She sighed and steadied herself, a shiver ran through her body as her scales began to glow again, her words flowing from her mouth like water as she locked eyes with him. "Prince Eis, do you agree to Bind yourself to me?"

He blinked, but nodded, "yes."

"Do you trust me with your life?"

Again, he nodded, "yes."

Cryo lifted his left talon, taking her claw and slicing an X into his palm, then she sliced into her right talon, the amethyst liquid shimmering, "will our blood run as one, Eis?"

A spark of what appeared to be life flickered in his eyes, "our blood will run as one, CryoFangs..."

She pressed their bleeding palms together, and a faint glow issued forth from their talons as the final words were whispered, "so it shall be... Ich bin deine Lebensader!"

At first, nothing happened, but as a few heartbeats went by, she watched as a shimmering white-gold light rippled across Eis' body, his breaths steadied and became less labored and wet, the pain left his eyes and his body relaxed. He laid his head back, sighing with immense relief as he gave CryoFangs a tired look, "thank you..." a single tear running down his face, "we should... get out of here..."

Eis went to say more, but his eyes rolled back in his head as he fell into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling evenly. CryoFangs, in all honesty, was drained, between getting tortured by Vilethorn, using my powers, and saving Eis from death... I'm beyond tired... she yawned hugely, her vision blurred as she folded her wings against her sides, not entirely caring as she curled up next to Eis, laying her head on his chest.

The powerful drum of the prince's beating heart was what lulled her to sleep, her world fading to black, but I saved him...

The first thing that CryoFangs sensed was that she was laying on something oddly squishy, like moss. Her nose sniffing the air curiously as her half-conscious mind tried recognizing her surroundings, the squishy material smelt damp, and as her own scent hit her nose, the familiar scent of a crisp winter morning drifted into her nostrils as well. CryoFangs felt something warm brush against the back of her neck, making her shiver slightly and begin opening her eyes as someone's light breathing could be finally heard.

As she blinked to clear away the blur in her eyes, the dim light of early dawn had drifted into the room, the lighting was perfect for her eyes to adjust to, and as her eyes drifted about, she saw that she was back in her room, she was laying on her bed.

And Cryo noticed that Eis had his arm draped over her, their tails twined, she blinked and slowly turned her head towards him, finding the prince's glittering pale-violet eyes looking down at her. "Good morning, Cryo," he purred quietly, "glad to see you're awake."

"Morning, Eis," she yawned, turning her body towards him and gazing quietly up into his lovely pale eyes, he was just as quiet, curiously gazing back. She let her eyes drift up and down his figure, his wounds had mended completely, no scars were visible. Cryo subconsciously felt her right talon take his, their pulses in-sync as they lay there, that is until she broke the silence with a murmur: "where are the others?"

"Nimbus and the guards went to inform Sselvu of what happened, our friends are asleep still, I imagine... and we're here, enjoying each other's company." Eis spoke softly, nuzzling her, "I was getting impatient, waiting for you to wake up."

"Oh? Is that so?" She raised a brow and smiled, "would His Majesty have woken me up just because he was an impatient little prince?"

He blushed and scoffed quietly, "no, I would just be restless, is all..."

"Uh-huh, liar."

Eis stuck out his tongue at her, and Cryo was the one to wink, she felt his pulse quicken as he sighed lightly, his gaze locked on her still. "Fine... you win, Snowflake... aren't you curious about what happened?"

At the realization that the subject was changed, she shrugged, "that depends, what are you speaking of?"

He gently disconnected their talons as he showed her his left palm, the prominent X-shaped scar shimmered oddly as it hit the light, "this. We're Blood-Bound now, I was wondering if you were curious about what it does now?"

CryoFangs gazed at her palm, finding the X that she bore, "I guess I am very curious about it, I've never Bound myself to someone before, so this is all new to me." She could tell he was curious, too, and if she had to guess, Nimbus had probably spoken to the prince about it.

At the thought, Eis spoke, "aye, he did tell me... he also said that we can read each other's thoughts now. Lovely, right?"

"No, not really," she sighed, "having someone inside my head all the time isn't exactly a good thing..."

"There is good news, milady: I can't simply rummage around inside your head, I'm only able to read your current thought. But, I will only read your thoughts if you wish for me to do so, I won't be rude."

She sighed with relief, "anything else I should know?"

Eis hummed quietly, "since a little bit of you runs through me, I possess a sliver of the LichtSeele inside of myself, and you contain a sliver of my TraumSeele, so you can enter my dreams even if I'm not dreaming of you."

CryoFangs chuckled and blushed, "shut up," she breathed, "but, if it's true, then maybe I should teach you what I have learned so far..."

Eis hugged her close to him, resting his head on hers as he smiled, "you haven't got to do anything right now except enjoy my affection, mmk?" He murmured, "no thinking about chasing down the SchattenSeele who stole your bread, think about now and enjoy yourself..."

CryoFangs couldn't stop blushing as she snuggled closer to him, a quiet giggle leaving her, a moment of silence falling between them as she breathed in his scent, they both were enjoying this moment between them. The prince, after a few long minutes, slowly unwrapped himself from around her as he sat up, getting to his feet and trudging towards the table, she watched as he picked up the scroll and brought it to her. "What is this?" He asked curiously, sitting back down beside her.

In all honesty, she believed that he had read the scroll already, and upon relaying her belief to him, he blinked and shook his head, "most certainly not!" He said, "I truly don't know what's written in here, I was wondering if you'd tell me."

Well, here goes nothing, she thought to herself, opening the scroll, I guess it's time to tell him.

She cleared her throat and watched as Eis's ears swiveled forward, his face attentive, Cryo silently found his face to be quite adorable when he was at attention. She gazed upon her writing and spoke:

"Before my eyes, I saw violet looking into blue,
As I crashed and burned, you spoke what rang true:
"I'll keep you happy and safe, I promise you."
It's not been that long, but I don't care,
We both possess a pain we share,

Broken souls, you and I,
I've broken down and started to cry,
When you touch me, I don't feel blue,
Rather I smile, and say I adore you,
When you held me close, I knew,
I can't believe I'd say this, but- Eis: I love you..."

CryoFangs couldn't deny that she was nervous, her talons sweating with anxiety and her twitching wings said everything. Did he like it? Did I say something wrong?

Eis had a blank face, and Cryo was just about to blurt a thousand apologies before she watched him smile. A great big, stupid grin slid over the royal's face. "I love you too, CryoFangs."

Hearing those words directed at her, it took a moment, but a wave of ecstasy washed over her as she began to cry, her heart drumming rapidly as a wide smile overtook her face. "Y-You do?"

He nodded truthfully, honestly, he shifted closer to her, his talons wiping away her happy tears as his snout touched hers, "of course I do, my dear. I love you with all of my heart, CryoFangs, there's not a thing in this world I wouldn't do for a beautiful soul such as you."

As Cryo battled back another round of happy crying, she sniffled and smiled, her heart felt ready to explode, "and there's not a thing I wouldn't do for you, my King."

Eis blushed, chuckling cutely, "it appears I have a new title, yes? I need one for you, as well."

"Isn't "my dear" a new one?"

"Well yes, but I mean a title that only you and I use... hmmm... if I've become your King... then you, CryoFangs, are my Queen."

CryoFangs suddenly felt very shy as she looked away from him, her face on fire and very purple as her blush only intensified. He raised his brow, only receiving a coy smile and a sideways glance in return. She pretended to ignore his claw gently tapping her shoulder as her tail gently grazed the side of his face, making him shiver slightly. "What are you doing?" He questioned, she shifted closer to him and rested her head under his chin, grasping hold of his talons.

"Eis..." she began, her heart she tried to calm down, but his words kept replaying. "May I ask you something?"

"Most certainly, my dear. What is it?"

She felt the words on her tongue, and as she shifted to look at him, she asked quietly, "c-can we make our relationship o-official?"

Eis nodded, turning his body to face her as he gently squeezed her talons, he sighed and steadied himself, his ears twitching, "CryoFangs... will you be my girlfriend?"

CryoFangs finally felt her tail wag, her heart drumming wildly against her ribs, "absolutely," she breathed. A fire seemed to ignite in the prince's eyes as he gently lifted her chin, the sun had climbed high enough into the sky, golden rays of heat beaming into the room from above. Eis slipped his arm around her neck, the other cupped the side of her face, and as the two leaned in, she could feel his chilled breath on her snout, I can't believe this is happening!

Closer... closer... the two HallowFrosts were mere centimeters from one another, they were just about to lock lips–

Knock knock!

CryoFangs jumped at the noise, Eis tried to relax, but a low growl left his mouth as he got up and strode towards the door. "What in Novembus' name do you want?" He huffed, clearly annoyed that their moment had been wrecked. 'I was so close!' He thought.

"Uh, excuse me? It's Thorne," said a muffled voice, "the Queen is requesting your presence. Both of you."

Eis opened the door for him, and as the Wyrmwood peeked his head in, Cryo got to her feet, what could she possibly want this time? Thought she, seeing Eis shrug slightly in confusion as they walked out the door, and despite CryoFangs wanting to turn back and ignore Sselvu's request, she had a feeling that wasn't possible.

The three dragons didn't walk to the Throne room, instead, Thorne suggested that they fly there, and so they did. As they swept through the hallway and down the stairs, she couldn't help but feel apprehension settle within her as the pine stairs zipped by.

Upon entering the massive Throne room, she gasped. The room was aglow in dazzling blue light, their friends were gathered around Nimbus, who had opened the Book of Bloodlines, which was the source of the light. Any guards normally present were gone, and Sselvu was the only other royal in the room.

"Well, well, well, look who actually showed up!" Sselvu exclaimed, "I have some... interesting things I'd like to tell you, Hallowed One."