Xale
“My Lords!” Tomin yells as Dad, and I walk through the halls of Belvore Palace.
Belvore is Dad’s realm, and as Blaze said, this is Dragon heaven. This place was built around my mother and her vision of heaven. A small town surrounded by greenery and water, trees, and flowers as far as the eye can see. Dad says that before he found Mum, this place was dull and lifeless, a place he stayed merely to keep himself hidden from the world. Mum came along and brightened up his world. He would give her anything her heart desired, so Belvore became a place of beauty and light.
I grew up in this palace with my mother and father. Nothing was ever out of my reach because my parents gave me everything. Though I was trained from an early age how to be the ruler of Dragons. Dad was strict when it came to me learning all I needed to know. Some children would resent their fathers for being tough, but I loved mine because I knew he had my best interests at heart. “Tomin, is Xale’s room ready?”
I didn’t expect I’d be staying, but apparently, I am. I thought we’d come here, get the children, and leave. I do not like being away from Lia for too long. Right now, she’s hurting because her youngest child has gone AWOL. I want to bring Levi home to his mother; then, we can deal with this obsession he has with Aurora.
“Yes, my Lord.” Tomin bows to Dad, who then waves him off.
“Were they expecting us?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure Levi came here, Dad?”
Every Dragon related to Leviathan can enter Belvore with ease. This place is our safe haven when things get tough. I may live in another realm now, but this will always be my home. “Because your mother contacted me to let me know Levi had turned up.”
As if he’d conjured her, Mother walks towards us, looking like an angel as always, with a beautiful smile on her face. Mum’s long blonde hair is half up and half down and hanging down her back. Her long green dress hits the floor as always, and her smile is bright. Mum is a happy woman, and I don’t recall ever seeing her sad. Of course, she must have been sad sometimes, but she never let me see it.
“Xale, my sweet baby boy.” I playfully roll my eyes at the way she still speaks to me after all this time. Mum wraps her arms around me, and I lean down to hug her. Mum isn’t short, she’s six foot, but I’m over seven foot, so I still have to lean down some. “Charming.” Dad grumbles, making me chuckle. It’s always the same, Mum hugs me first, and Dad complains about it playfully.
“Oh, hush, you know I love you.” Mum laughs and walks into Dad’s arms. “I’ve missed you, my Dragon.”
“I’ve missed you, too, my beautiful Elf.”
My mother met my father many thousands and thousands of years ago. They met after Dad was sent to Edrana, the Elven Kingdom, to aid them in fighting Demons. Dad hadn’t wanted to go, but the other deities had their reasons for sending him, and that reason was so he could find Sorella, my mother, though Dad calls her Ella.
Mum and Dad had only one child, me, Xaleius, or Xale, as everyone calls me. My parents were never upset with having just one child. It was written many years ago that Leviathan would never procreate. But Dad proved every deity wrong, even if he had just one son. Where my parents had one child, Lia, and I had eighteen, much to Dad’s shock. Some say we’re crazy, but we didn’t have our children one after the other. Our children are spread out over the nine thousand years Lia, and I have been together, many years between each child. Levi was a massive surprise after having Zenon six hundred years before him. We had believed Zenon was our last, but then Levi came along. Levi…
“Mum, where’s Levi?”
“In his room. But listen to me, Xale. Levi is not himself.”
I furrow my brow. “What do you mean?”
Mum pulls away from Dad and takes my hand. “Levi has somehow tapped into both his Dragon and Elvish powers.”
My eyes widen this time. “But that’s not possible until we’re one hundred. Levi is three years old.”
“It’s unusual, not impossible, Xale. Levi is my descendant, after all. What is Levi using his powers for, Ella?”
“To keep everyone from touching the baby. He has a dome shield around himself and the baby, and his Elvish light shines in his eyes. Anyone who tries to enter the dome shield gets burned, and that’s not easy when we’re talking about Dragons. “I called you home, Leviathan, because you and I are the only ones able to bring the dome shield down. I know you’re strong, Xale, but this is beyond even you.”
I nod because I understand that.
“Mum, the baby needs feeding. She’s not even wearing any clothes. Aurora should be at her mother’s breast, not locked away with Levi. This is crazy! We have to get her back to her parents.”
“Levi allowed me to feed the child, though he sealed the room so I couldn’t escape. I couldn’t even use my powers because Levi somehow blocked them. He did allow me to dress the child; then he shoved me out of the room with a flick of his finger.” “What the?”
We are powerful beings; there is no denying that. But at three years old, Levi should not be able to do such things.
“It’s the mate bond.”
“Dad?”
“What happened to Levi, finding out Aurora was his mate while still in the womb, is rare, Xale. The last time something like that happened was thirteen thousand years ago.”
I fold my arms across my chest and wait for Dad to continue. I’m not familiar with what he’s about to tell me, though I’m sure I’ve heard the story a long time ago.
“Kadmus was the son of a Dragon Lord, five years old and more intelligent than most his age back then. Lord Vandon encountered a Dragoness in a small village, pregnant with her first child, a daughter.
“From his seat in the carriage, Kadums heard the soul of the unborn call to him. Kadmus refused to leave the pregnant woman until the baby was born. Lord Vandon had no choice but to leave his son with the woman and her mate.
“As soon as the little girl was born, Kadums held her in his arms and disappeared with the child. He left devastation in his wake, and for twenty years, no sign was ever found of Kadums and the girl.
“The child’s mother died from her grief, killing herself by tearing out her own heart. The child’s father went mad with his grief and locked himself away in a mountain, never to be seen again.
“Then, like strangers in the night, Kadmus and the girl he named Marinda walked hand in hand to the once prosperous village. Finding her parents no longer around, Kadums took Marinda back to his home. It turned out Kadmus wanted to protect his mate from an up-and-coming war, which lasted twenty years. Only when Kadmus felt the earth shift did he know it was safe to return home. Though they returned to a changed world.”
I stare at my father and shake my head. “I’m meant to believe a five-year-old clothed and fed a newborn and raised her to be his mate?”
“Don’t be a fool, boy. Of course, Kadmus didn’t do that alone. Kadmus took Marinda to Zandirin, and there, he manipulated the Witch Queen, Zelena, into helping him raise Marinda and himself.
“The point I’m trying to make is that these kinds of mateships can be dangerous. The male will become obsessed with keeping his mate safe. Right now, Levis is scared that Aurora will be taken by the Fairy King, and it kicked his Dargon and Elf side into acting fast. Levi is doing the only thing he knows to keep Aurora with him.”
“So you’re saying there’s no way to bring Aurora back to her parents until Astro is dealt with?”
“I wish I could tell you differently,” Dad sighs. “But I can’t.”
“But you promised Thane!”
“I will take his daughter back to him, Xale. It just won’t be yet.”
Fu.ck this!
I storm away from my father and up the stairs. I cannot believe he’s doing this! I can’t let this go on, and I will do all I can to take Aurora back to her parents. But perhaps I need to help Thane destroy Astro. With my help, they can’t fail.
I open my son’s bedroom door and gasp. He’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, Aurora across his knees, asleep. Levi’s eyes are shining white, and his hair is blowing in the wind caused by his powers.
My boy is more powerful than I ever anticipated. Aurora will be safe with Levi from now until they leave this world. But that doesn’t make what he’s doing right. As soon as all this sh.it is over; I’ll put my son to sleep for a while. It’s the only way to calm him until I can teach him how to control the urge to be near Aurora.
I can’t walk further into the room; as Mother said, Levi is blocking me. I can’t get past the shield, and I’m starting to worry.
“Levi?”
“Minar vostura ec mein van.” Levi speaks in Drakon, Dragon language, telling me to leave.
“I can’t leave, Levi. You took Aurora from her mother, and she needs to go home.”
Light shoots from my son’s eyes, hitting me in the chest and slamming me against the wall. “No one will take Aurora from me. She is mine to protect. Destroy the threat, and I will return Aurora to Lykos.” Levi’s voice is not his own, his Dragon spoke with him, and it sent chills down my spine.
Destroy the threat. That is what I have to do if I wish to send Aurora home. Dragons do not get involved in wars not caused by themselves. However, I made a promise to Thane that I would be there when the time came. But maybe I need to draw Astro out; then, finally, we can all put this behind us.
“Levi, will you not let Aurora’s mother see her for a few moments?”
“Daminotavista!”
“Fu.ck!”