Meadowpeak

    Levi's eyes slowly began to flutter open. He felt himself lying on some short of soft material. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, but someone gently placed a hand on his right shoulder.

    "Don't try to move, Levi. You need your strength."

    He smiled recognizing the voice. He turned his head to the right to see his best friend smiling back at him, the rays from the sun bouncing off her golden hair. "You're okay," his voice sounded raspy.

    Elyssa nodded her head. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't gotten me out of there, I probably wouldn't be." Her smile turned to a frown. "And neither would you."

    He turned his head to see that his left shoulder had been bandaged. He breathed a sigh as he let his head sink into the pillow. "Do you know what happened?" He shook his head. "Last thing I remember are the knights coming to our rescue."

    She nodded her head. "That was three days ago." His eyes popped open. "You've been unconscious since then. The physician said you had a nasty infection, and had lost much blood. He will be surprised that you're even awake now."

    "And you?" he asked, wanting to make sure his friend was okay.

    She grinned. "Still sore, and by no means do I feel like lying down, but I'm doing okay. The physician says my wounds are healing nicely." She gestured to her clothing. "Even gave me a new outfit since my old tunic was torn. At least I'll be less noticeable in black and blue."

    He felt water begin to prick the corners of his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should've been there for you. Should've protected you. You never should've had to experience pain like that." His tongue caught in his throat. "And I'm going to make sure that you don't."

    He watched as tears danced in Elyssa's eyes. She reached forward, and intertwined her fingers with his. "I'm just glad you're okay," her voice sounded like she could burst out crying in any moment. "The physician gave you some close calls a few times because of the infection." She shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I don't know what I would've done if I had lost you too."

    Levi's heart ached for her. He didn't know what she could possibly be going through or how she could be feeling. To lose your parents and best friend would be a tragedy.

    He gripped her hand tighter. "But I'm not dead," he whispered. He felt a single tear trickle down his temple. "I will always be here for you. You can't get rid of me that easily."

    Elyssa laughed. She sniffed as she stood to her feet. "I'm going to go get the physician. Maybe he can clear you to get out of bed."

    He snickered. "Oh, please. No physician's going to tell me what to do." He threw off the covers, and rolled himself upward.

    He glanced around the room looking at all the books on the shelves in the rounded room. They must've been in one of the turrets.

    He swung his legs to the side of the bed, gritting from the sting in his arm, and reached for his boots that rested against the side of the wall. He looked down realizing that he was bare chested. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and he quickly reached for the white tunic laying on a stool beside him. He swiftly put it on, taking much caution to avoid his injured arm, and glanced at Elyssa sheepishly. Thankfully, she was too busy glancing through the books on the shelves.

    He looked over at his wounded arm realizing that there was no blood or hole on the tunic. This wasn't his, but it was his size. Someone must've brought it for him in exchange for his dirty one.

    He slipped his boots on, and stood to his feet. He bent over, and caught himself on the edge of the bed as a dizzy spell washed through.

    "Levi!" Within seconds, Elyssa was by his side holding onto his good arm.

    He shooed her away. "I'm good, Elyssa. Just stood up too fast." Once the dizziness had gone, he stood up straight, carrying his wounded arm with his good one. He turned and eyed Elyssa before gesturing with his head toward the door. "Let's go meet the owner of the castle, shall we?"

    He shuffled down the hall, not feeling his strength had fully returned yet, with Elyssa close by his side. She was closer then normal. Maybe she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to fall again.

    As they turned a corner, a knight came into view. Levi held his breath as the man stopped in front of them. "Good to see you awake."

    Levi glanced back at Elyssa before returning his attention to the Knight. He cocked his head. "You look familiar."

    The Knight smiled. "Ah, yes. I'm the man who caught you as you fell when you first arrived at the castle. You can call me Lancelot."

    Levi nodded his head in gratitude, but didn't speak up. His legs shook slightly indicating that they were already tiring out.

    Sir Lancelot grabbed Elyssa's arm gently, and pulled her along. "Come on. The queen's going to want to meet you both."

    Levi followed behind Sir Lancelot and Elyssa down long hallways until they finally arrived in front of two wooden doors. Was this the throne room? He expected the door to be a bit more elegant like in his own castle.

    Two knights standing on each side of the doors opened them as they approached. Levi gulped as cautiously stepped inside. He hoped whoever was queen here wasn't a friend of Snow White's. The last thing he needed right now was to try and escape somewhere else. He needed some rest if he was ever going to get better.

    He glanced around the small chamber where a long table with multiple chairs sat in the center of the room. He could tell this wasn't the throne room.

    His attention was drawn to a door to the right of the chamber opening. A woman stepped threw wearing a long, elegant, black dress with a train that flowed inches behind, but something really stood out about her. Something he had never seen before except on Beast back in Belle's castle. The woman had a pair of black horns that peaked out from the top of her waist-length, curled, brown hair. He blinked twice. Never had he seen someone so beautiful, yet horrifying at the same time.

    He was startled when Sir Lancelot shouted, "All kneel before Queen Maleficent!"

    The small crowd around him dropped to one knee as did Elyssa. He was embarrassed seeing how he was the last one standing. He carefully bent his knee, though it felt like it would collapse on him anyway, as he tried to lower himself to the floor.

    Maleficent must've seen his struggle because she yelled out to him before he reached the marble. "There's no need, young man. I can see you're in much pain."

    Levi felt his cheeks grow hot as he slowly shifted his gaze upward to meet hers. She smiled at him as he climbed back to his feet.

    Maleficent gestured toward one of the chairs at the table. "Please. Have a seat. You and the girl." Her voice rose with her next sentence. "The rest of you can leave us."

    None of the men said a word as they stood to their feet and exited the chamber.

    Levi graciously accepted the invite to sit. He didn't know how much longer his legs would hold him up, and he wasn't about to let Elyssa run her mouth about him needing to be in bed. He sat down in the chair to the left of the seat at the head of the table, and Elyssa sat across from him.

    Once they were seated, Maleficent took a seat in the chair between them. "Now tell me." She eyed him as she spoke. "Is there a reason you chose my castle to run to away from Cinderella or are you here for a purpose?"

    He lowered his head. He wasn't sure what to say. He looked down at his hand seeing that it no longer glowed. Not white, not blue, nothing. The magic Rumplestiltskin had placed inside him had left. Did they fail? Was this not the right place?

    "The people in the few villages I reign over are usually taught to speak when spoken to," Maleficent said.

    He turned his gaze back up to meet her cold stare. He swallowed before speaking. "I'm sorry, my lady." He cleared his throat. He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No. We needed a place that would help us. Hide us from Cinderella. We saw your castle peaking the trees so we ran here."

    "Levi." He looked across the table to see Elyssa's astonished face. "That's not the only reason we've come. We wanted to—"

    "I'm sure Queen Maleficent is too busy to deal with our problems," he interrupted. He couldn't tell the Queen why they were there. He couldn't trust anyone. He didn't even know if this was the right place anymore. Perhaps he had been hallucinating this whole time.

    He stood up, the chair screeching on the marble. "Come on, Elyssa. We should get out of here." He turned to the side and started heading for the door.

    He heard another chair screech along with Elyssa's voice. "Not before I get some answers!" She was clearly upset by her tone. "I want to know about the dragon trainer."

    Levi flung himself around on his heels, dread mixing into his emotions. Were his ears mistaken? Had she just asked what he had been wanting to hide?

    Maleficent smiled. "Dragon trainer?" She shook her head as she stood. "Dragon's have been dead for a long time now. If there was a dragon trainer, I'm sure they're gone by now."

    "No you don't understand," Elyssa pleaded. "Rumplestiltskin's magic lead us here!" She turned and eyed him. "Tell her, Levi. Show her your hand."

    He looked down at his hand as he slowly raised it to their view. "Uh..." He trailed off not knowing what to say. Just that whatever magic was once there was now gone.

    "Where'd it go?" Elyssa asked, shocked.

    "This is ridiculous." Maleficent thrust a finger toward the door. "You both need to get out now."

    "No!" Elyssa gripped the edges of the table. "You have to believe us!"

    "Enough!" Maleficent banged her fist onto the table in rage. "Get out of my castle! Now! And if anyone ever hears that you two are looking for a dragon trainer they'll have your heads."

    "That's not anything knew," he said below his breath. He sharp pain jolted through his shoulder causing him to drop to one knee as he tried so desperately not to grip his bad arm.

    He felt Elyssa's warm hands on his good shoulder. "Please don't kick us out. My friend isn't well enough to travel without the physician's attention yet."

    Maleficent huffed. "Very well. Lancelot!" The knight came in, and bowed. "Take these two back to the physicians chamber, and see that they're gone the moment he clears them."

    "Yes, my lady." Sir Lancelot helped Levi back to his feet, and guided them out of the chamber.

    Levi's heart quickened as he stared at the floor, his breathing a little more rapid then normal. They had failed. They had made it all the way to the blue light, or so he thought, and there was no dragon trainer. Was this all another one of Rumple's tricks? 

    What was going to happen now? What were they supposed to do? Find his mother and keep running for the rest of their lives? That wasn't living! Without a dragon trainer, he may never know how to tap into his dragon and free his kingdom.