Chapter 91: A Magical Moment

Blanche moved closer almost instinctively, fascinated.

The wind gently stirred the long elegant horns framing the creature's face while its immense eyes rested on her with unsettling intelligence.

Then he lowered himself slightly to let her climb onto his back.

The moment he took flight, she felt her heart leap.

The ground vanished beneath them in a movement of terrifying smoothness. Saphir's powerful wings unfurled with a deep rumble before slicing through the frozen air with absolute ease.

And suddenly, they were no longer connected to the world.

The sensation immediately drew a smile from Blanche. Weightlessness. The immense void beneath them.

The violent wind pulling her red hair backward as they climbed higher above the snowy plains of the Otherworld.

The landscape bathed in the light of the first setting sun...

The entire horizon looked ablaze.

Shades of pale gold, icy pink, and deep orange reflected across the endless snowfields, turning the distant mountains and forests into unreal silhouettes. The second sun, still higher in the sky, continued to cast its cold light, creating that strange contrast unique to the Otherworld: half twilight, half broad daylight.

A breathtaking sight.

Even the freezing wind biting at her cheeks struggled to ruin the moment.

She would have appreciated a little warmth, but the feeling of weightlessness was divine.

Suspended above the world on the back of a gigantic drakion, Blanche suddenly had the absurd impression that nothing could truly reach her here anymore.

Not classes.

Not responsibilities.

Not fears.

Only the endless sky, the steady beat of Saphir's wings... and that dizzying freedom that made her want to laugh for no reason.

They sped southward, crossing the sky at breathtaking speed.

Below them, the landscapes passed like fragments of forgotten worlds: frost-covered forests, steep cliffs, white plains swept by the wind. Sometimes frozen rivers reflected the twin suns like shattered silver blades cutting through the snow.

Blanche clung to his scales while Saphir sliced through the air currents with sovereign ease. No abrupt movements. No hesitation. The drakion seemed to belong to the sky as much as the earth.

The icy wind burned her cheeks and whipped her cape behind her, but she regretted nothing.

Not a single second.

Within half an hour, they reached a lake surrounded by mountains.

The place looked unreal.

Immense.

Silent.

Rocky peaks encircled the dark stretch of water like the natural walls of a forgotten sanctuary. Thin layers of snow covered the heights, capturing the last light of day in pale bluish reflections.

The lake itself seemed perfectly still.

Almost black.

Only occasional ripples stirred its mirror-like surface when touched by the wind.

Saphir landed.

The impact sent a soft tremor through the ground beneath Blanche's boots while the drakion's gigantic wings slowly folded with a majestic rustle. Even after landing, he radiated that overwhelming impression of restrained power.

Not a soul on the horizon. Only them. Silence.

It was warmer here.

And the immense wilderness gave the impression that the entire world had stopped around the lake.

Saphir waited for her to climb down before diving in all at once.

Without warning.

His massive body sliced through the water with astonishing fluidity for a creature of that size. A deep rumble echoed against the mountains while sprays of cool water burst around him before his silhouette vanished entirely beneath the dark surface.

Blanche remained motionless on the shore.

Fascinated.

Then he resurfaced.

And the sight marked her forever.

Saphir burst out of the water in an explosion of foam and light, an immense blue silhouette rising from the lake like an ancient deity. Water streamed down his magnificent midnight-blue scales, sliding along every curve in thousands of shifting sparks.

Beneath the last rays of the suns, the droplets suspended around him glittered like stars.

Like a living constellation torn from the sky to breathe before her.

Every movement of his wings sent luminous sprays into the air. His colossal body seemed covered in liquid diamonds, silver reflections racing across his dark scales with almost unreal beauty.

Blanche even forgot the evening chill.

Forgot to breathe for a few seconds.

Because she suddenly understood why certain creatures became legends.

It was not only their power.

It was their ability to make the world feel larger, more beautiful, simply through their existence.

Blanche removed her boots, bag, weapons, jacket, and cape... then dove in as well, partly for pleasure and partly to level up her swimming skill. Swimming with Saphir was incredible — and dangerous: his sheer size kept dragging her underwater.

When only the glow of the last sun remained, Saphir shifted back into human form — and Blanche immediately understood why.

He was naked.

Thankfully, they were still in the water...

She tried not to look at him, but his soaked hair made the effort considerably more difficult.

"So," he asked, "how was the ride?"

"Amazing! I love this lake!" she exclaimed, finally looking away again — especially before her gaze drifted any lower.

"It belongs to you."

"Seriously..." she grumbled, remembering her conversation with Argy. "Does practically everything come from me or what?"

Saphir burst out laughing.

And she found herself looking at him again.

"I would really like to kiss you right now."

Blanche swallowed hard.

Bad idea.

Very bad idea.

And yet...

"Not here," she stammered, blushing. "Not in this world."

"Very well. And over there?"

"You can... if you want," she murmured.

"I'll remember that," he breathed.

Without warning, he transformed again, sucking Blanche onto the top of his head like a cork. She yelped. He carried her obediently back to the shore, then let her get dressed before flying back toward the barracks.

When he dropped her near the gates, she was practically trembling — from the altitude, the icy water, and the darkness of night. And he could not even apologize — being in drakion form made it difficult when transforming back literally meant becoming naked.

He disappeared with a powerful beat of his wings.

Blanche rushed straight into a burning-hot shower the moment she returned to the barracks.

Hot water immediately streamed over her skin, still chilled from the mountain air, drawing an almost painful relaxation from her exhausted muscles. Her red hair, still carrying the cold scent of the lake and mountains, clung briefly to her shoulders before the steam gently enveloped it.

She stood motionless beneath the spray for several minutes.

Just breathing.

Letting the warmth chase away the final traces of cold from that world.

The flight with Saphir had left behind that strange feeling of having experienced something too beautiful to be real. Even now, fragments of the memory kept returning to her: the midnight-blue scales covered in shimmering water, the black lake surrounded by mountains, the immense sky above them.

She shook her head slightly.

Then finally stepped out of the shower before permanently transforming into a human raisin.