Red Door

Adrian panicked. Only a handful of events could make him panic, and anything abnormal related to Arella was on that list. 

He changed back into a human form and checked her. Fortunately, Arella's body temperature had gone down by now. It was somewhere near normal. Adrian released a breath of relief.

In his anxiousness, he did not notice his own achievement. Had any third party been present, he or she would have doubted their vision. Adrian achieved something that was deemed next to impossible for beastmen. Absolute control of the beast!

During the time, both Adrian the human and the Ice Dragon beast were in sync. Adrian transformed over and over again, without sensing any resistance from his beast. As if, he had full authority over it, which is an uncommon feat in the clan!

It is normal to feel resistance from the beast. Once transformed, the beast fights for its dominance making it harder for the human to change back. 

So, changing from human to beast and beast to human, that too, over and over again within a couple of minutes was definitely abnormal. Even the strongest found it hard to rein their beasts. And this feat was smoothly achieved by Adrian unconsciously.

Adrian's entire focus was on the unconscious girl. He swiftly took off her wet and uncomfortable clothes. He found his dry and clean clothes, used the pants to wipe her clean, and put the shirt on her.

Arella, who was deep in her consciousness, was unaware of anything going around her. When she closed her eyes, she found herself surrounded by nothing but darkness.

Such a place must have made her nervous, but fortunately, she could recognize this place at a glance. A sense of familiarity enveloped her. She could recognize it because she had been here frequently.

During the connect with the beast phase, when she tried her utmost to find the beast spirit light inside her, this was the place she ended up being trapped in for hours. 

She did what she always did after entering this place, walk. She walked and walked. With nothing but darkness around, her senses were of no use. She only knew that she was walking in a straight line. Or so she thought.

Time was skewed here. She did not know for how long she had walked in the darkness. She had no idea what was happening outside. She wanted to go back. But she could not find the exit either. Dejected, she kept on walking.

At last, when she was about to give up, a red door slowly appeared in front of her! Arella watched it in a daze. She was afraid that her mind was playing tricks on her. But at the same time, she was hopeful that it was not her hallucination.

She refused to blink, fearing that the door would disappear if she did. Staring at the red door of unknown origin, she started walking towards it. The door was giving off heat, and the red gleamed as if, it was on fire.

Arella felt comfortable near it. The heat was warm, and the reddish glow was attractive. She was unconsciously reminded of the setting sun, dyed in a red glow, giving off comfortable warmth.

Mesmerized, she kept walking, but somehow, the more she walked, the farther the door went. The distance, instead of decreasing, kept on increasing. An urgency appeared in her demeanor. 

She began running towards the door. To her comfort, the distance started decreasing. A few more steps and she would be able to reach the door. Her hands reached forward in hopes of touching the door.

But as soon as her fingers were about to touch the red door, it disappeared! Leaving Arella in the depths of darkness. Suddenly, the temperature started to drop. It was getting colder with every passing minute.

Such cold, though uncomfortable, reminded her of familiarity. It reminded her of Adrian. He was still outside. She vaguely remembered that he had asked something, and she was yet to answer. 

A frown appeared on her beautiful face. The red door had disappeared, and as far as her eyes could see, nothing but darkness filled her vision to the brim. 

No. This cannot be. A fierce determination took root in her core. She had to get out. She cannot wander here. She had a place to be. She must walk out of here! 

As she thought, the coldness started enveloping her in an embrace. At this time, she did not know that she was glowing with a reddish hue. As bright as the red door she had witnessed a few moments ago. Her temperature was rising sharply. 

The surrounding coldness groped her like a vine, tightly clinging to her limbs. Arella felt that she was being trapped. She wanted to break free. She began struggling. But the coldness kept her still, freezing her limbs. 

Her core was vibrating insanely. Fear held her hostage. Fear of being trapped here. Fear of not being able to break free. Fear of not waking up. Fear of not being able to see Adrian, ever. No. No. She could not allow it.

She wanted to move, but her legs refused to bulge. She wanted to ask for help, but no one was around her. She wanted to shout, but her throat felt like being pierced with coldness. 

The coldness was slowly seeping into her bones. A thin sheet of ice started to appear on her clothes. The ice sheet that tried to enclose on her hands was being repulsed by her internal heat. Her hands were drenched with water. Icicles had entrapped her red silky locks.

Arella could feel her head becoming heavier and heavier. She wanted to frantically fight this coldness, but her hands refused to struggle. She found herself utterly helpless. Why was she so weak? Why could she not break free? Sadness crept up her spine. 

No, she could not give up so simply! No. She had to fight. A rage was slowly consuming her. Her constitution was just like embers. It still had the glowing spark, but not enough to set her free. She wanted to do something, anything to fight the coldness. 

She focused all her energy on moving her limbs. No, it did not work. What should she do now? She could feel her limbs being trapped in solid ice. She wanted to look at her legs. She tilted her head but felt a cold sensation at her neck. Her neck had a layer of sharp icicles around it. 

Anxiousness, nervousness, and fear surrounded her form. Agitation filled her to the brim. She had hardly felt so helpless in her entire span of life! No, she could not take it! She was not this helpless! She had to do something!

"Ahhh!" A gut wrenching scream echoed in the darkness.