Meadowpeak

Levi glanced around at the trees to his right, a cave to his left, and an ocean in front of him. He turned around and gave Maleficent a puzzled look. "You lead us through that secret corridor to get outside?"

Maleficent leaned against a bolder, her staff still gripped firmly in her hand. "Would you rather unleash your dragon inside?" She scanned up and down his body. "You're not a small lad, my prince, and neither will your dragon be."

"But won't someone see us?" Elyssa sat on the grass with her legs crossed.

"This place is hidden by powerful magic," Maleficent reassured. "There is no cause for alarm." She nodded her head toward him. "I want you to sit on the sand with your legs crossed and relax. Try to picture the dragon in your mind."

Levi sighed as he flopped down on the sand in the position she suggested. He cleared his throat, and closed his eyes. What was he supposed to be picturing? A dragon? What dragon? He didn't know what his own dragon looked like. How was this supposed to help him? He grunted. "I don't think it's working."

"You haven't given it enough time."

He huffed as his eyes shot open, and he stared out into the sea. But what if this wasn't what he wanted? He was once thrilled by the thought of being a dragon, but now, awaken him didn't sound like something he was interested in. Maybe the dragon being dormant wasn't a bad thing.

"You are tense." Sir Lancelot pressed down on his shoulders. "Relax your body. Let him come to you."

He rolled his eyes. "I bet it wasn't this hard for you." He flung his arm toward his best friend who gave him a shrug.

"I was so young when it happened," she said. "I wouldn't remember."

"Yeah, about that." He twisted his body to face Maleficent. "Why didn't mine come out when I was young? Why wait until now?"

Maleficent gave a soft smile. "It is different for everyone. Some find it easy while others can take years."

Again he grunted as he flew himself back into the sand looking up at the clouds. "I don't have years," he said gently. "Snow is destroying the kingdom."

"Then you must keep trying."

He felt an unseen force slowly raise him back into his sitting position. He shrugged it off figuring it was Maleficent. He heaved a heavy sigh and closed his eyes as he relaxed his shoulders.

Still with his eyes closed, his nose wrinkled as an odd thought occurred. Something he had been curious about since the moment he laid eyes on Queen Maleficent. "My lady, forgive me for being so blunt, but..." He paused trying to figure out the words to say. "What's with the horns? They surprised me when we first met."

"They are a resemblance of who I am," came her gently reply.

He twisted his torso around once more to look her in the face. "You mean Stilomae? Won't that be obvious? Make you one of the dragon hunter's target?"

She snorted. "I am already their target, but no. Not the dragon half of me, but the fairy half."

"What?" He twisted all the way around to face her completely.

"You don't have to be half human to be half dragon," Maleficent continued. "In fact, you'll find there are many Rutha's out there of different specious."

Levi's brow furrowed. "Rutha's?"

"The word for half dragon and half another creature," Elyssa whispered to him.

"And you never told me this?" he whispered back.

She shrugged. "Didn't think it was important. I didn't want you only ever calling me that."

He turned his attention back toward the queen with a skeptical glance. "If you're a fairy, where are your wings? I've only heard stories of such creatures, but I've never seen one before. And you're certainly not what I pictured."

She lowered her head looking down at the grass. "When I arrived at the castle and was made Queen of Moors, someone who I once called friend became very aggressive towards me." Her eyes ventured toward him as she remained looking down. "Queen Aurora and her men captured me one evening while I was away. She found out I was a Rutha and tortured me, tried to get me to tell her where I was hiding the others. She burned off my wings with iron because I wouldn't give her the information that she desired." She fully raised her head with her chin up. "Return to your stance, and try again."

He swirled himself back around and tried to do as she said. He couldn't image the pain she must've felt when that happened to her. Her friend? Torturing her? Burning off her wings? How could a friend do that?

He was growing impatient as the minutes ticked by. Would his dragon ever come out? He threw his hands into the air. "This will never work!" He slid a hand down his face as he jumped to his feet and faced Maleficent. "I'll never learn how to unleash him!"

She lunged to her feet, her hand squeezing her staff as she gave him a cold stare and raised her voice, "You won't learn or you don't want to learn?"

Levi took a step backwards as he bit his bottom lip. He lowered his head as his shoulders sagged. She was right. He didn't want to learn. He didn't want to risk losing his life to the beast inside. He didn't want to be trapped in his mind forever while the dragon took control.

"Perhaps we should take a break." Sir Lancelot placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can teach you the ways of the sword if you'd like. So you're not helpless when your dragon needs rest."

Levi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that didn't go so well last time, and I don't know if my shoulders up to holding anything heavy yet."

Sir Lancelot grinned. "I'll be gentle on you."

Levi tilted his head to the side while staring at the Knight. "Why can't either of you just transform into your own dragons, and get them to wake mine up?"

Sir Lancelot shook his head. "It is not that simple."

A grin tugged at Levi's lips. "Oh, come on. Surely Tathuna can do something."

Sir Lancelot lowered his head for a brief second before giving him a smile. He folded his hands behind his back. "I need to step away for a couple minutes." He turned around and walked off into the woods to the left.

Levi watched him walk away feeling guilt tug at his chest. He looked up at Maleficent sheepishly. "Did I say something?"

She leaned back against the boulder she had been previously on. "The night I was taken, Lancelot and a few of the other Rutha's that still believed in the Dragon King came to rescue me. We lost some knight's that night, and Aurora used some sort of magic on Lancelot. Tathuna has never been able to come out since then, and very rarely does Tathuna ever talk to Lancelot anymore. That is why when Tathuna trusted you, I listened."

Levi looked down at his feet as they sunk into the sand. He had no idea. He felt awful for what he had said. Here he was hoping that his dragon would never come out when all Lancelot wanted was to see his again. How could he be so selfish?

"Your dragons have different names." He turned his head toward Elyssa. "Why doesn't mine have a name?"

"When the time is right, your dragon will tell you her name." Maleficent looked back at him. "Again."

His heart sank knowing what she meant. He couldn't do it anymore; couldn't keep trying. He didn't want to. Maybe if he changed the subject she would let it go for now. "You called Elyssa's dragon a she, and mine a he. Do you ever get a dragon who is of the opposite gender?"

Maleficent chuckled. "No, my prince. A male will have a male dragon and same goes for a female." Her face stiffened. "Go again."

He rolled his eyes as he faced back toward the water. He watched as the waves moved slowly along the waters, and the current gently making its way to shore. It was so peaceful. The waters hardly made a sound, but the smell of salt was strong.

He had always loved the smell of the ocean. It was the one and only memory that still remained of his father. He could remember being taken to beach every day as he and his father played in the waters. Father many times would drag Mother in, and all though she never liked it, the sound of her laughter was still strong in his memory. He would do anything to have that time back. Before his father left them. Back when his parents showed true love and compassion for one another. Everything was different now.

He lowered his head and closed his eyes as he felt tears weld up. He couldn't cry now. Not now. He was trying to unleash a ferocious dragon. He couldn't appear weak in front of the women.

He sniffed and sucked in a deep breath. He swiftly wiped a finger under his eye to catch a tear as it escaped. He rubbed his hand on his pants and stood to his feet. "This isn't going to work. I'm sorry." He jogged into the forest wanting to get away from the others while hoping he wouldn't run into Lancelot.

"Levi, wait!"

He heard Elyssa's voice, but he didn't want to stop and face her. He just wanted to keep on running, but he found himself slowing to a quick pace instead.

Elyssa gripped his wrist and pulled on his arm to get him to face her. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he blinked back tears.

"Hey." She gripped his hands tenderly, and rubbed her thumbs over his knuckles. "What's going on?"

He sighed as he looked down at her hands. "I feel like such a failure."

"Don't say that," she said softly. "I'm sure all kinds of people have trouble."

Again he sniffed as he shook his head. "It's not just that I'm struggling to unleash him. I'm worrying what will happen when I do. Will he hate me? Will he try to take control over me? What if we can't bond? What if he's one of these bad dragon's that want to work for Rokoda? What if—"

"Hey," Elyssa interrupted. She placed a finger under his chin and tipped his head upward a tad to meet her eyes. "You're not the only one who struggles, Levi. Maleficent can help. She's probably faced many people who have the same doubts in their mind as you." She gripped his hands even tighter. "Try not to stress about them. You don't know what he's going to be like, but I can assure you that he will love you. There's never been a recording of a dragon and their human not bonding."

He rolled his eyes. "There's a first time for everything."

She chuckled. "No. Not with this. Just trust me. Please."

He heaved a sigh as he once again swallowed and sniffed. He pursed his lips as he nodded. "Alright. I trust you, Elyssa." He gave her hands a good squeeze before letting her go. "Just give me some time alone."

She gave a weak smile and nodded. "Maleficent wanted me to warn you that the magic doesn't reach this far. She wants you to be careful."

A tiny grin tugged at his lips for a second before it fell away. "Don't worry about me. I'll be okay." He gestured with his head. "You better go. Stay with the queen."

She tipped her head in a gentle nod before turning her back and walking away.