The Dragon King's Hated Bride
Chapter 72: Find The Core

Chapter 72: Find The Core

>>Aelin

Draegon spun around so fast it was as if lightning had struck him. He extended his arm around as a protective gesture towards me.

Ruoxy stood there, her body twisted in a grotesque yet eerily awful way, dark blood seeping from the gaping wound in her chest—but she was still smiling.

A slow, creeping, malicious smile.

Draegon’s eyes flickered down to the heart in his hand, its flesh burnt and shriveled from his grip. Without hesitation, he crushed it completely, fingers tightening until the organ turned to nothing but dust. The remains slipped between his fingers and scattered into the wind.

But Ruoxy didn’t flinch.

Didn’t waver.

Didn’t fall.

Draegon’s breath hitched for the first time since the fight had started. I saw his chest rise and fall in one sharp inhale before his fingers released the remnants of the heart, letting the ashes drift away. His eyes locked onto Ruoxy’s, his usual unwavering confidence now coated in something else. Something unnerved.

He took a step forward.

"How are you still standing?" His voice was low, controlled—but I heard the edge of something off beneath it.

Ruoxy laughed. A quiet, breathy sound that gradually grew into something wrong. And then, still grinning, she tilted her head, the bones in her neck cracking.

"Oh, Draegon," she purred. "Because you can’t kill me?"

Draegon’s frown deepened.

"I just destroyed your core," he said, a sharpness cutting through his voice. "You should be dead."

"Yes." Ruoxy’s smile widened, stretching too far, her black-stained lips curling like a chasm splitting open. "Just like you destroyed it last time."

And then she laughed even harder.

The sound twisted around us, bouncing through the trees, seeping into my skin like something rotten.

My stomach churned.

I stood frozen a few feet behind Draegon, my fists clenched at my sides as I watched them. Watched him. I had never seen Draegon react like this before.

He looked confused for a moment. But as he stood there, the realization of Ruoxy’s words settling into his bones, I could see the way his expression darkened.

The way his fingers twitched as if gripping at an invisible truth he hadn’t grasped yet.

I desperately wished I could do something.

Anything.

I had my magic, but what good would it do? I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t like him. I pressed my fingers to my chest, trying to steady my breathing, but no matter how much I tried, the dread kept building.

Draegon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The dust of the fake heart still clung to his fingers.

And then—

He exhaled slowly.

"...That wasn’t your core," he murmured and I paused. Right. That is the only thing that would make sense. That thing looked like a core but it was never her core to begin with.

That’s why she isn’t dead!

Draegon must have thought it was her core because it looked exactly like one.

Ruoxy stopped laughing. She didn’t answer. She just smiled.

And then she lunged.

Draegon moved instantly, wings spreading wide as he dodged her initial strike, but Ruoxy was fast—too fast.

They clashed in a brutal, bone-shattering collision.

I stumbled back, my feet sliding against the grass as I barely managed to stay standing.

The air around them cracked.

Draegon struck first, his claws aiming for her throat, but Ruoxy twisted her body unnaturally, dodging with an ease that sent a chill down my spine.

Draegon didn’t pause.

He pivoted, shifting his weight and driving his knee up toward her ribs, but Ruoxy caught it mid-air, grinning as she slammed him back against a tree.

The impact sent leaves trembling. Draegon barely reacted. Instead, he grabbed Ruoxy’s arm and wrenched it to the side with enough force to snap bone.

But Ruoxy—

She didn’t react. Her face didn’t even twitch as the sound of her own bones breaking filled the clearing.

And then— With that same eerie smile still on her lips— She forced her twisted arm back into place.

!!?

I felt my stomach drop.

Draegon let out a low, growling breath. He wasn’t holding back anymore. With a surge of movement, he launched himself forward, claws slicing at her abdomen, her sides, her legs—everywhere.

He was searching for something.

Her real core.

But Ruoxy took the hits without care.

Even as his claws ripped through her flesh, even as dark blood splattered against the grass—she barely seemed to feel it.

Draegon’s eyes flickered. And then Ruoxy struck back. Her claws slashed across his shoulder, and for the first time, Draegon staggered.

I let out a sharp inhale, my chest squeezing as I watched.

I wanted to help.

I needed to help.

But I was frozen.

I had never felt so useless.

Draegon grit his teeth, ignoring the blood seeping down his arm. His wings flared again, and he pushed forward, forcing Ruoxy into another deadlock.

Their movements were almost too fast to follow now, a whirlwind of attacks and counters, each one sending shockwaves through the clearing.

But even with every hit Draegon landed—she wasn’t stopping.

Her body was breaking. Splitting. But reforming.

How the hell is she doing that?!? Just how?!? How is that even possible?!

It was like she was something else entirely.

Draegon growled lowly, his frustration visible in the way his strikes became more ruthless, more calculated.

I could see it in his eyes. He was determined. Determined to find it and end it.

The fight raged on, an endless storm of claws, fire, and blood. Draegon and Ruoxy clashed again and again, neither giving the other an inch. The air crackled with heat, the ground scorched beneath their feet.

I stood further back, my breath caught in my throat, my fists clenched at my sides. I should have been used to this by now. Should have known this was a fight I couldn’t step into. But I hated just standing there, doing nothing while Draegon bled, while Ruoxy barely reacted to his attacks.

I needed to do something.

And then—

Cold.

There was this cold sensation creeping onto me.

!?!?

A shadow darker than night itself moved. Before I could even blink, something wrapped around my torso—arms? Hands—and I was yanked backward with such force that my breath was knocked out of my lungs.

My entire body froze.

It happened so fast.

One moment, I was watching Draegon fight. The next, my feet had left the ground, and I was being taken.

What the-!?!?

A figure—completely black, an absence of light rather than a solid form—had its arms wrapped around me, dragging me away without a single sound.

I tried to scream, but it choked in my throat.

But he noticed somehow. Draegon’s head snapped toward me instantly.

His entire body stilled for half a heartbeat.

And then—

Everything in him changed.

He twisted on his heel, wings flaring, his purple eyes burning like molten jewels as his focus snapped away from Ruoxy and locked onto me.

"AELIN!" His roar shook the ground beneath us.

The black figure moved faster.

I thrashed, trying to break free, but its grip was like ice, solid and unrelenting. It had no features, no face, no eyes—just a solid, shifting mass of darkness that wrapped around me and dragged me further away.

I didn’t know what it was.

I didn’t care.

All I knew was that Draegon was getting farther and farther away.

"No—NO!" I struggled harder, panic clawing at my chest. I saw Draegon move, saw the raw fury in his face as he prepared to lunge toward me—

And then Ruoxy struck. She had been waiting. The moment Draegon’s focus left her, she took advantage.

Her claws—blackened, gleaming—pierced into his side, deep. Draegon gasped, his entire body jerking as blood sprayed from the fresh wound.

And then—she didn’t stop.

She slashed.

Again.

And again.

Claws tearing through his side, his shoulder, his wings.

Draegon stumbled back, his arms dropping slightly, his breath ragged as dark crimson poured from him.

My heart stopped.

"No—NO!" I screamed, trying to tear myself from the shadow’s grip.

But it held tight, dragging me back step by step as I watched Draegon get torn apart. He used his scales, trying to harden his skin where she was attacking but some of it was working while some of it wasn’t.

Ruoxy’s grin widened.

She was enjoying this. I felt my chest tighten—my vision blur with rage and panic. Draegon tried to fight back. Even with his wounds, even as his blood stained the ground, he forced himself to move—forced himself to strike.

But Ruoxy dodged, again and again, slashing at his body like she was toying with him.

And I—

I was helpless.

Frustration, pure fury, bubbled up in me, hot and unrelenting. I couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand watching him bleed for me while I was dragged away by this faceless thing.

I needed to help.

I needed to break free.

I needed to get to him. An arm of mine broke free from the shadow as tears welled in my eyes.

I reached out—toward Draegon, toward him.

Toward the only thing that mattered.

"Draegon—!" His name tore from my lips, raw and desperate.

And then—

A glow.

A thin, golden string flickered into existence, stretching from my outstretched palm—

And it shot toward Ruoxy.