After Hel had calmed down, the Trix had escorted her to an empty bedroom which used to belong to one of the professors before Valtor marked them all. With all the ladies gone, Valtor could finally gather his thoughts in the peaceful silence; however, something was very much disturbing him.

All those years, he had partly blamed Hel for their imprisonment in the Omega Dimension since she had disappeared when he needed her the most. Her incredibly high arrogance had been the reason why the Company of Light had managed to defeat Hel pitifully easily considering she had been one of the most powerful witches to roam the magical universe –at least that was what Valtor had believed before Hel told him what Mandragora had done.

He knew very well that every one of Mandragora's actions were being controlled by the Ancestral Witches, which meant that they had ordered Mandragora to steal Hel's ring. They had wanted Hel to be captured.

This is too odd, Valtor thought while he stood in front of the massive window inside the headmistress's office as his grey eyes thoughtfully gazed upon the dark, night sky. Why would the Ancestral Witches want to get rid of her? During the time we worked for them, they had no complaints about her –in fact, they were greatly pleased with her progress. Unless…

Unless they thought she was becoming a… distraction.

Back then, when they were working together, Valtor had taken a fancy to Hel. Being the fierce and tough woman she was, Hel had played quite hard to get; however, Valtor had always liked a good challenge. The harder the challenge, the sweeter the victory.

The attraction between the two of them had been undeniable and it would have taken a will of titanium not to fall for Valtor's charms, hence Hel had eventually given into her heart's deepest desires. Of course, it hadn't been easy for her to admit that she had been falling for Valtor; even though they had been partners in crime, she had always seen Valtor as a rival.

After all, only one could be the most powerful sorcerer in the magical dimension.

Still, her ambitions hadn't been powerful enough to keep Hel away from Valtor. The more time they had spent together, the weaker her walls had become and at the end she had been the one to pull Valtor inside her arms.

Upon recalling the nights they had spent together, the edge of Valtor's lip curled upwards.

Hel had always been a rather physical person; even before the attraction between the two begun to form, she would never miss an opportunity to put her hands on him –the light touch on the shoulder while passing by, the faint contact of the knees under the table… So it had been no surprise when they had found out that they simply weren't able to keep their hands to themselves at night.

She had a strong effect on him, she had always had, just like a drug and unfortunately, Hel knew how to use this to her advantage. And this is exactly why the Ancestral Witches decided to finish her off, Valtor thought as he shook himself and headed to the desk. Because I let myself get so unnecessarily distracted by her.

Seems like nothing has changed –despite all those years we've spent apart and despite all the blame I've put on her, she is still magnetic.

Clearing his head, Valtor pushed every single thought about Hel away from his mind and continued reading Cloud Tower's spell books from where he had left off until his peace was disturbed by a presence lurking inside the shadows. The sorcerer's grey eyes didn't even leave the book between his hand as he spoke.

"I thought you wanted to get a beauty sleep, not a two-hour-nap." Valtor said, he was sitting on the chair with his legs crossed on the desk, as always. Upon hearing his voice, Hel stepped out of the shadows behind the bookcase. She had her usual sleepwear on her: a silver-coloured, silk set consisting of a tank top and shorts.

"The voices of the dead don't allow me to rest, unfortunately." she responded and yawned while she was walking towards the desk "Some serious chaos took over the Underworld during my absence."

Valtor eyed the dark haired woman for a moment before speaking "Do they know you're back?"

Hel shook her head "No but some of them has begun to feel my presence and they are trying to reach their queen." she said and grimaced "Do you have any idea how annoying it is to hear countless different voices in your head while you're in the middle of a pleasant dream?"

"I can only imagine," Valtor responded as he put down the book he was holding onto the desk, his eyes following Hel's movements as she walked past the desk and stood in front of the window, her back facing him "But I suppose it would have been better for you to deal with the problems of the Underworld in person instead of complaining about them to me."

Hel rolled her eyes in annoyance "I am not going anywhere before you explain," she said and turned to look at Valtor with her arms crossed over her chest "Why the fuck you've left me in the Omega Dimension."

She's hurt, Valtor thought as he analysed Hel's tone and gestures. Because she wouldn't have left me behind if she had been the first one to escape the ice.

Taking a deep breath, Valtor let his legs down and stood up from the chair "Would you wake a potential rival from their eternal sleep, Hel?" he asked while he took slow steps towards her.

The dark haired woman let out a cold, scornful laughter "Perhaps I've forgot what a huge self-seeker you are," she spat out the words as if they were venom "But what was I expecting from a man whose mothers are directly responsible for my time in the ice?"

With that, Hel sent Valtor a last, furious look and walked past him, her shoulder forcefully hitting his arm "Hel, wait," Valtor said and held her from her right wrist "What Mandragora did has nothing to do with me."

Hel looked at Valtor over her shoulder as she freed her wrist from his hold "Do I look like a fool to you?" she asked with an angry tone and once again tried to walk away from him, only to be caught by Valtor once again. The sorcerer pulled her against his chest and placed his right hand around her waist so that she wouldn't be able to step back. His left hand was still holding Hel from her right wrist "Let me go!"

"Tell me, Hel, when have I lied to you?" Valtor asked with a low and calm voice, which caused Hel to stop trying to push him away "Think logically, losing you bore nothing in my advantage –on the contrary, it is one of the reasons why I also ended up in the Omega Dimension."

For a moment, both of them just looked at each other in pure silence: They were standing so close to each other so that Hel was able to feel the warmth radiating off his body –because of the dragon fire within him, Valtor had always been warm. And once again, after sixteen long years, Hel was feeling the familiar realisation of how small she was compared to Valtor, whose huge frame was towering over her. Being inside his arms had always made her feel that way –it made her feel both safe and small.

"You really are cold," Valtor spoke with a lower voice this time, he wasn't wearing his gloves, hence he could feel Hel's skin under his palm. Slowly, he moved his left hand, which was holding Hel's wrist, along her right arm "Almost frozen."

Upon feeling his hand tracing her skin, Hel shivered, which caused a small smirk to form on Valtor's lips. She has missed my touch; this makes everything more interesting. Seems like it takes more than sixteen years in ice to snuff out some flames.

Quickly, Hel wore her usual, reckless expression –she simply couldn't stand the idea of showing Valtor how much she had actually missed him. No, she would rather burn in the flames of her yearning than to give Valtor the satisfaction of seeing that she still wasn't able to resist him.

Either he admits it first, Hel thought as her grey eyes wandered on Valtor's strong facial features. Or the chase begins all over again.

"Well, darling, not all of us carry the breath of the dragon under our skin." she said and slowly stepped back when she felt Valtor's hold loosening. Then, she walked left to the desk, eyeing all the books piled up on it "Seeking to acquire every single piece of magical knowledge in the magical universe, hmm? Just like old times." Pushing away some books, Hel sat on the desk "Which dimension do these books belong to?"

Valtor snapped his fingers and the books began to re-organise themselves "These are from the spell vault of the Cloud Tower." he responded and sat on the chair, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

Hel licked her lower lip "Oh, I've tried everything to get my claws on some of these back then when I was a student here, in the Cloud Tower." she muttered "Are there any books for my taste?"

The sorcerer pursed his lips "I haven't come across anything about necromancy or shadow magic, yet." he said, then pointed at the books with his head "But I'm sure they are simply hiding somewhere in those pages."

Hel sent him a fake smile "Then inform me when you find them, will you?" she said, which caused Valtor to let out a soft chuckle "So, whom are you fighting this time?" she asked as she began to draw circles on the desk with the index finger of her right hand "I suppose the Company of Light is not really in the game anymore."

Valtor shrugged recklessly "Well, there aren't many people who dare stand against the mighty Valtor," he spoke with an arrogant tone "Except for the remnants of the Company of Light and a bunch of fairies."

"A bunch of fairies?" Hel repeated him and threw her head back as she let out a long, loud laughter "This is hilarious –and you haven't got rid of them yet? In front of the mighty Valtor, fairies should be no different than flies."

However, a frown appeared on Hel's face when she couldn't get the expected reaction from Valtor –instead of mockery, a serious look fell into his grey eyes "Hey, what's wrong?" Hel asked with a rather soft voice, which had been an instinctual shift, and reached forwards to place her right hand under Valtor's chin. With slow movements, she lifted his head so that they were making eye contact "Talk to me."

"The keeper of the dragon fire is alive." Valtor said coolly "And she is one of those fairies."

Hel withdrew her right hand as a shocked expression appeared on her face "What? The heir to the throne of Domino? Oritel and Marion's daughter?" she asked "How is that possible?!"

The sorcerer crossed his arms over his chest "Apparently, her older sister has managed to save her from the attack on Domino." he said with an obvious annoyance in his voice.

"And she poses a threat for you since the essence of her powers is pure dragon fire," Hel spoke while she ran her right hand through her dark hair "Which is the only thing that can actually harm you –so your plan is to simply get rid of her, then end the Company of Light for good, and eventually spread your reign across the universe?"

Valtor nodded while he slowly stood up from the chair "That is pretty much the deal," he said and smirked "And now that you're by my side once again, nothing will stand in my way."

Hel clicked her tongue as she moved her right index finger in front of Valtor in a disapproving manner "No, darling, that is not my fight anymore." she said, which caused Valtor to raise a sceptic brow at her "The dragon fire is no longer an interest of mine –as you see, I do not serve the Ancestral Witches any longer."

After taking two wide steps towards her, Valtor stood in front of Hel and placed his hands on the desk, on either side of her sitting figure "What are you planning to do, then?" he asked, his eyebrow still arched. Just as Hel was about to answer, two ravens flying in front of the window croaked loudly "Looks like the word of your return is spreading quite fast."

The two ravens Daudi and Skadi (meaning death and shadow in Old Norse, respectively) could be considered as Hel's pets –apart from the time she spent in the Underworld, the ravens would never leave Hel's side.

Hel shrugged "Don't mind those two, they're simply overmuch excited to have me back, that's all." she said "What I'm planning is, of course, revenge –you didn't think you were the only one to plot their revenge during their time in the ice, did you?"

Seeing Hel's dark side had always turned Valtor on in an indescribable way –no physical contact would be needed at that point. Simply feeling the dark, wicked aura surrounding her and radiating off her body would be enough for Valtor to lose every bit of self-control he had on himself.

It seemed like Hel got quite carried away while telling her plan, hence she didn't notice that Valtor's eyes were getting darker with lust every passing moment "First, I have to regain my strength and establish the order in the Underworld to rebuilt my army of the dead. Of course, there's also one little sunny problem, too, that needs to be fixed –I'm never living the life of a bat once again. Then," she said and playfully poked Valtor from his chest with her index finger "I'll go after your mothers and their little minion Mandragora, only to send them into Oblivion for an eternity –one should get a taste of their own weapon, don't you think so?"

For a moment, Hel stopped talking and slowly moved her right hand to Valtor's face. Seeing that he wasn't pushing her hand away, she began to trace his features with a faint touch "Until then," she continued to speak "I might just stick around here for a while, y'know, just for the fun of it." Her grey eyes were following the trail her fingers were leaving on his face. She was giving it all not to meet Valtor's gaze for she could feel his intense looks on herself and she knew she'd melt the moment she saw the yearning within his piercing, grey eyes "Maybe I could visit some familiar worlds to take back the powers which once belonged to me."

As Hel pulled her right hand back, a smirk spread onto Valtor's lips. With incredibly slow movements, he leaned into Hel and pushed back the right part of her dark hair behind her right shoulder so that her ear wasn't covered by the hair anymore. After placing his left hand on the right side of her waist, Valtor brought his lips on a level with Hel's ear and whispered "So it'll be like the old times, hmm?"

He still smells the same, Hel thought while she shivered once again –feeling Valtor's warm breath licking her neck had always made her feel dizzy. Leather and cologne.

Valtor waited for a few second; however, upon seeing that Hel wasn't making any moves, he slightly pulled away so that he was looking at her face once again. No matter how much she wants me to touch her, she is still the same old Hel –refusing to be the first one to drop the indifferent façade with every single piece of her will.

Well, love, the years we've spent apart didn't blur my memory –I am still perfectly capable of bringing you to your knees.

"I could use the element of surprise against my enemies," Valtor said while his right hand rested on Hel's left upper-leg and once again, he was struck by the coldness of her skin. It was for a fact that Hel had always been colder compared to any other human because of her connection with the dead; however, she had never felt this cold against his skin "After all, the Company of Light has no idea that you're back and I doubt the fairies know about you at all."

Hel raised an eyebrow "I have no idea how long I'll have to stay in the Underworld, Valtor –if I were you, I'd make my plans without taking the element of surprise into account." she said and then took a deep breath upon feeling Valtor's hand slowly caressing her inner thigh "So, which worlds have you conquered so far?" she asked, trying to maintain the indifferent face. Her efforts were only causing the smirk on Valtor's lips to grow "Solaria, as I see, has been once again the first on the list."

Slowly, Hel placed her hands against Valtor's chest but because of the purple vest and the white ruffled shirt, she wasn't able to feel much of him under her palms. At least he wasn't wearing his long, maroon jacket –one layer less.

"Well, you know how much my dragon fire likes to feel the presence of the sun." he responded "The two just have some kind of… chemistry."

The edge of Hel's lip curled upwards as she tilted her head to the side "And that's why you used to sleep with the Witch of Shadows, hmm?" she spoke with a challenging tone as some little shadows circled around her head for a few seconds.

Valtor playfully rolled his eyes at her words "Her shadows didn't use to burn me back then." he said while his right hand left Hel's leg and cupped her face.

"You should've known better than to leave me behind, Valtor." Hel muttered under her breath but she silently gasped when his left hand, which had been resting on her waist, slowly slid under the hem of her tank top and held her bare waist.

"Hmm," Valtor spoke with a deep and husky tone "Her skin didn't use to feel as cold as ice, too."

Well, two can play this game, darling, Hel thought as her hands, which were on Valtor's chest, held him from his vest and pulled him down into her so that there was very little distance left between their lips "Maybe you could pass her some heat," Hel whispered against Valtor's lips with a seductive voice, her eyes were trying to capture his; however, Valtor's gaze was lingering on her lips "She still recalls the fire burning under your skin."

Under her hands, Hel could feel how fast Valtor's heart was beating, which brought a victory smirk to her lips. After Hel's hold on him loosened, Valtor licked his lower lip and withdrew his upper body a little bit back while placing his right hand on Hel's waist under her top as well. Slowly, he leaned into her ear once again "If that's your wish, love," he whispered and then placed his lips on Hel's neck.

Gosh the tension in this chapter was INTENSE, wasn't it?? I hope you've enjoyed it, don't forget to leave a review!!!