He hadn't meant for the words to spill out of his mouth in such a manner — full of desperation and anger and sorrow.

There was nothing to indicate he could even trust her besides the humming underneath his skin when she lessened the distance between them, standing before him in an arm length's away. As if her mere presence was enough for him to unload his thoughts onto her and receive care. It was peculiar. She was constantly on his mind from the moment he had met her and she was still breathtakingly magical when he did see her.

Her cyan eyes scanned his face, and for one dreadful moment, Aryzath considered drowning himself into the lake just so he could contemplate what he had done.

Wishing to never be a Dragonkind was a betrayal to his own people — to his own species.

Yet, he couldn't deny how right it felt to want to shed this skin of his. Like a noose on his neck, every second he was forced to live in this life that others sowed for him, the tightening grip on his body increased.

Until he was helpless.

Just like right now.

Ilayda remained quiet. Her silence was deafening.

"Sorry," Aryzath said. "I didn't mean to blurt that out."

"You certainly made an impression," she said. "And you broke through my concealment again."

This time, he was quick to defend himself. "You probably should strengthen your wards then. They're not very strong if I can end up in here even with minimal thought."

Just as before, her face contorted and scrunched up; the skin at the bridge of her nose bunched, her eyebrows furrowed and a deep frown settled on her lips. It was almost amusing; the picture she made. His lips quirked upwards and just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared when she rolled her eyes and sighed, the look of annoyance morphed into a blank expression.

Ilayda's wings fluttered from behind her, catching his attention. They were translucent now that he was able to witness them move under the sun. But even with the slight transparency, their colours shimmered and morphed into one another with every slightest move. His fingers twitched — a sudden urge overcame him to touch them.

To glide his hand down the edge of her wings and watch them try and move away from him or maybe lean in closer.

Would she even feel that? Would she like that?

"You're staring again," she said, snapping him out of his reverie with a burning face. "You do that a lot, don't you, Dragonkind?"

Aryzath glanced away, curling his fingers into fists but mindful of his claws that could potentially slice his palms open. As tough as his scales were, he was still half human with the front of his hands covered in thin layer of skin. He flitted his gaze at her before he looked away, deciding to focus his attention to a grass patch near his feet.

Not that they were any interesting but it was better than entertaining his thoughts that were becoming odder the longer he was in her presence.

"I apologise," he said, clearing his throat.

"You apologise," she said, parroting him almost. After a beat, she added, "You have wings too, you know. Why is mine such a fascination to you?"

He snapped his head up, looking at her in the eyes. His face was probably as hot as the surface of the sun if one were to touch him now. Flustered, he opened his mouth and then closed it when he couldn't find the right words to say.

How would one even begin to explain that her wings were special?

That they seemed softer and far more malleable than what he had and he would like to touch them to confirm or deny his assumptions?

They sounded creepy even in his own head and judging by how little she liked when he had called her a little creature before, he doubted she would find amusement in his thoughts now. He bit his inner cheek momentarily, furrowing his eyebrows. She tilted her head to one side slightly, raising an eyebrow and giving him a certain look that had him wanting to challenge her right back with a staring contest.

Ilayda sparked the competitiveness in him, it seemed.

"I also would like to apologise of the thing I had called you the last time I was here," Aryzath said. Her eyes widened and her facial expression shifted into a surprised one. He almost took pride that he had taken her off guard if not for the fact that his heart skipped a beat when her lips quirked upwards a second later, her cyan eyes twinkled in a shade lighter than before. "It wasn't very nice of me to have called you that."

"No, no it wasn't," she said, taking a step closer to him. If she had noticed he deflected from answering her about the wings, she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she clasped her arms behind her back and leaned forward just a tad. "Tell me, Dragonkind, you must've been called odd growing up, didn't you?"

Aryzath hummed before he shook his head. "I've been called charming, not odd, no. That's a first."

"I suppose there's a first for everything," she said, nodding. "A Dragonkind apologising to a lesser species such as myself. Twice at that! I must be blessed."

Unable to hold back his mirth, he chuckled. "Do you always poke fun of others who trespass your territory?"

She leaned back and shrugged. "Your reactions interest me."

He wasn't sure what to say to that. Instead, he let the words sink in his mind, no doubt would become a material for him to ponder about before bed. Just the thought of his castle brought reality crashing back around him and his mood dampened. Following that was the slight awe that merely talking to her had him forgetting about the troubles that plagued his mind for a while.

His fingers itched to touch her again.

"I don't know how I got here," Aryzath said, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "I didn't mean to come here. Not again."

Ilayda clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "I suppose I'll believe you. I didn't even notice you came through which means the enchantment hadn't been broken." She frowned, tilting her head to one side as she scanned him from the tip of his head to his boots. "You were let in by my magic and I'm not sure why."

That was definitely something he hadn't expected to hear from her. "What do you mean?"

"You really have no clue about Tünders, do you?" she said but she didn't give him a chance to explain when she brought her hand in front of him and formed a sphere of water. "Touch it."

"Sorry?" Aryzath furrowed his eyebrows. He glanced at her face and she simply tilted her chin downwards once as if to signal him to get on with it. Her eyes were glowing a little too, cyan and beautiful as it had been when he first saw it. With his sudden dry throat, he looked back at the water ball. "Is it safe to touch?"

"Don't be a coward, Dragonkind," she said. "You seem like a strong creature so this won't even hurt you. Hurry, I must prove a point."

"What point?" He grumbled, irritated at the impatience colouring her words. He reached a hand towards the water and pointed at it with a claw.

It was water and it wet his finger. Unsure of what else to do, he was about to open his mouth to question when Ilayda groaned underneath her breath. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer to the ball of water until his finger sunk into the sphere. His breath hitched in his throat, the sensation of something in it immediately travelled up his arm and the humming underneath his skin became stronger.

He immediately yanked his hand away, taking a large step back and cradled his arm against his chest.

His heart raced and the sensation immediately died away.

Their gazes held for a while before she released a breath, shaky. The sphere burst into nothingness and only a small pool of water on her palm remained of its once existence.

"Well, my magic definitely let you in," she said. "I don't know why."

"It felt weird," he said, croaking almost. "Like a sharp sensation travelling underneath my skin."

Ilayda hummed, giving him a one-shoulder shrug. "I don't know what happened or why this is happening." She brought a hand to her chin and rubbed it. "I would need to consult the Elders. Maybe they'll know. Perhaps my magic isn't as strong as I thought it was after all."

"It seems like you're blaming me for that," he said, dropping his hand to his sides. When he was given a look, he huffed a breath. "I'm not responsible for this. If anything, perhaps you should've chosen a place that isn't so close to the pathway I take to explore the woods."

"You're close to the Tünders' territory, Dragonkind," she said, her eyes narrowed. "Don't act as if you didn't do anything wrong."

"It isn't my fault—"

"You should've had an idea if only you paid more attention to other species and their territories for once instead of your own kind," she said, her words cutting deep in his chest.

He glared back at her, anger coursed through his veins as the previous frustrations crashed in him akin to a thunderstorm. Raging within him and to find a way out before he exploded. If he could change himself, he would've.

But she didn't understand that because all she saw him was his species.

All she saw was the skin he was forced to be in.

"I would if your species even divulged where you were," Aryzath hissed, his pronunciation on his consonants lengthening. His fangs were definitely making their presence known. "Because if you creatures were less secretive about it all, I promise you, we would've long known about your kind and taken over your lands."

Silence washed into the scene the very moment his words left his mouth.

"Right," she said, her lips thinned. "Yes, of course, I apologise for my people being so afraid to come out of their shadows because of your kingdom's cruel intentions. I apologise for not trusting the very species that wanted us gone."

"You don't know me," Aryzath argued. "You're the one who keeps throwing harsh words at me without even listening to me. My kind is not as evil as you make them out to be."

She only twisted a corner of her lips upwards but they didn't resemble anything warm. In fact, even under the sun, her words were as cold as a blizzard. "Yeah? Makes sense why you no longer want to be a Dragonkind if they're such a saint, isn't it?"

Aryzath couldn't argue with that.

Not even a little.

And from how her smirk died on her face and her eyes softened at the blow she had delivered at him, he could tell she knew that too.