Chapter 2: Castle of the Dragon Knights.

"Would you like anything else, your highness?" Elsa shook her head to the kind elderly, round women who had placed a hot plate of food in front of her. With a cheeky grin, she gave a small bow and left the princess to her meal. Looking down the long table it was only her, her mother and father at one end of the table while the rest of the table was empty. She wondered where all of the Dragon people were, but if she strained her ears hard enough she could just barely make out the faint sounds of animalistic noises coming from the mountains.

"So how did you sleep, Elsa?"

The young princess smiled at her mother, "I slept wonderfully. My bed was very big and really soft."

Her mother gave a warm smile back, "So was ours. They really know how to take care of their guests here don't they?" Elsa eagerly agreed and began to eat her breakfast. As soon as the meat hit her tongue she was bombarded with a various orchistra of flavor she had never remembered tasting before. A different mixture of sweet and warm textures. She was wondering if she was eating meat at all since she never remember it tasting this amazing. She went for some of the other items on her plate and each item was as amazing as the next. The fruit was sweet and tangy, the bread was crumbly and warm, and even the juice was absolutely amazing.

"I see your enjoying your meal?" The elderly woman was back refilling her glass. Elsa nodded in excitement, but fought the urge to speak with her mouth full.

"Everything is incredible." Gerda mentioned.

"Everything is grown right here on the mountain's soil." She told them.

"Including the meat?" Elsa's father asked.

"Including the meat." she gave a small bow before excusing herself again.

Gerda scowled at her husband. "You can be a bit nicer. They have shown us great kindess and comfort while we've been here."

"I know they have, and I'm thankful, but we came here for a reason, and it wasn't to be pampered." Gerda scowled again, harder, but also as a reminder that their daughter was in earshot, even if she was lost in her food.

He leaned closer to his wife, "I just want this to be over."

Before she could speak their hostess returned, "Master Tharog would like to meet with you in about an hour. Just the two of you," She motioned to the king and queen.

"But what about Elsa?" Vernon asked.

She looked down to the young girl whose curious stare asked the same thing. "I'm sure she can find some form of entertainment." Once again she gave Elsa a kind smile that warmed her heart.

The king and queen of Arendelle found themselves in the study of the dragon master, Tharog. Their daughter was left inside of her guest bedroom, even though they were reassured that she was free to explore and would be perfectly safe, but her father was adament about staying in place. Tharog was seated at the large stone desk at the front of the study with Gerda in an armchair. Her husband was pacing about the study.

They were already halfway into their meeting and Tharog had given them the news that Vernon hadn't wanted to hear.

"What do you mean it's not possible?" He almost growled, "You know everything there is to know about magic."

Tharog shrugged a shoulder, "At least in this dimension."

"I'm sorry. This dimension?" Gerda eyes were a bit wider at the statement.

Tharog chuckled, "Oh yes your highness. Their are many worlds out their, each with those more knowledgeable about the mystic arts then I am. The High Priestess of Azarath, Azar, for example."

"Fascinating," Vernon's sarcastic tone was not lost on the Dragon Master, "But we're talking to you right now-"

"-And unfortuneately, even if you were to seek out another one with my level of knowledge about magic and the like, they would tell you the same thing." Of course it wasn't completely true, but for their sake, it was. In a huff, the king of Arendelle placed his head into his hands, running his hands through his hair, but Tharog was taking notice of how calm his wife seemed to be. "What I can do, is offer to teach your daughter about her powers, and how to best control them-"

"-We don't want her to control them," Vernon spoke, "We want them gone!"

Tharog sat back in his chair calmly, "You've made that abundantly clear, but I have made MYSELF clear when I say that it is impossible." Tharog then turned his attention to Gerda, who had remained silent. Her ankles crossed and hands in lap telling him that she was calm, portraying the usual elegance of a queen. "And what of you, your highness? What are your wishes for your daughter?"

Her head was held high, and spoke as if her husbands scrutinizing gaze wasn't boring into her. "I want my daughter to be happy. To not live a life of fear," Tharog noticed a small break in her facade, "There was a time when she was happy. Her and Anna would run and play, and sing and dance, and . . . I just want her to be happy again?"

Tharog slowly moved his head in a nod, "Do you believe that can be accomplished with her gifts?" Tharog's gaze turned to Vernon when he heard a minute snort brush against his whiskers, but chose to ignore it.

Gerda schooled her feelings, straightening her back and lifting her head again, once again igoring her husbands stare. "Yes."

Tharog heard him huff again. "I see. Then I guess it's time I sat down with your daughter then."

Elsa glanced at the walls to her right as she meandured under the porticos that surrounded the courtyard. She was told to stay in her room, but her curiosity pushed her out of her room into this new world, and she didn't regret it in the slightest.

The walls were decorated in a mosaic fashion depicting battle scenes between the dragon knights in both their human forms and their mighty fire breathing rembodiments. She stared with large blue eyes, her small delicate fingers caressing the smooth tiled walls, fortunately she was in such a state of calm that her power over ice and snow didn't stretch over the beautiful walls. One of the scenes shown was of men with wings like doves, battling along with the dragon knights against hideous creatures without eyes and long teeth and fangs. She shuddered at the sight, but that last piece was of a large sword being used against the foul creatures. She continued on, looking over the artwork depicted on the walls, which weren't all battles either.

One piece was of a giant jade colored stone with a long crack along the side of it making it look like a dragons eye. Next to it was artwork of a man with firey red hair seated in a lotus position with his eyes closed, a gold colored stone glowing on the center of his forehead. Behind him was a enormous golden colored dragon standing protectively over the red haired man. Elsa wondered if this was the first dragon knight.

Deciding she was done with walking the portico, the princess stepped into the stone path that led her into the courtyard. Large hedges fenced her in, keeping her from getting to patches of green grass that kept trees that were providing a generous amount of shade over the X-like path. In the center of the "X" was a huge stone fountain with two stone serpents carved out of some kind of glittering stone, dancing around each other, their horns and spines shooting water into the fountain below.

Once again, she was in amazement at the beautiful architecture, the dazzling blue scales shimming in the sunlight, the crystal clear water, and in the fountain were large beautiful swimming coyfish. She took a closer look, a smile coming to her face as she did so.

SNAP! "YAaAaAa!" CRASH!

Elsa screamed turning around to see a branch had fallen off a tree, and rolling on the ground next to the fallen branch was the boy she met the other night. Well not "meet" per say, he served them tea and cookies.

Once she calmed herself she stared oddly at the boy who was groaning while holding his sides. What was his name again? Drake? "Are you okay?" she asked.

Quickly he got to his feet, trying to shake the dizzy feeling out of his sore head. "Uh, princess-" he gave a short bow to the visiting royalty, "I didn't-mean-" She looked at the strange boy as he stammered about his words and took him a while to formulate an full sentance. "I was . . . trimming the trees."

Elsa looked up at the tree, then the ground. "Where are the tree clippers?"

Drake went pale seeing as he was caught in his lie. "They're, uh . . " She kept her eyes on him as, a small laugh forming in her throat, but the feeling of cold by her hand caught her attention.

She turned to the fountain and gasped. "OH NO!" she screamed.

As if on impulse, Drake was by her side. "What-what is it? Are you hurt?" he asked.

Elsa just stared into the fountain, her hands over her mouth. "The fish . . . " Drake looked into the fountain and saw what Elsa was upset about. The water had frozen solid and the poor fish were now trapped.

He looked at the princess, noticing the moisture welling in her ice blue eyes. "He-hey I-it's okay. I-I can fix it."

She looked at him through eyes blurred with tears that would freeze as soon as they hit her cheeks. "H-How."

Drake nervously looked around. He was told NOT to use his powers until he could be trained better, but she was upset . . . and he wanted to impre-help her. When he didn't see his father, uncle or any other knights around, he leaned over the edge of the fountain and placed the palm of his hand on top of the flat icy surface. Elsa had stopped her sniffling and was now more interested in what he was doing. Drake took a couple of deep breaths, trying to remember the basics. Breathe. Center yourself. Find the fire inside you. Feel the fire. Then . . . . release. Drake had his eyes closed as he focused his power, and after a moment he heard the princess gasp. To his amazement he had melted the ice, the large coyfish swimming about as if nothing had happened.

"Oh wow you did it!" Elsa clapped and bounced excitedly, but NO ONE was more shocked then Drake. Elsa stopped her excited clapping and with a clear of her thoat fixed her posture clasping her hands together and placing them in her lap. "I mean, uh, that was, um, impressive."

He was just amazed that it worked. "I know right-" now it was his turn to compose himself. "I mean, thank you princess."

She tilted her head to the side scrunching her face. "I, uh, don't like being called princess. You can call me Elsa."

Drake went red, even if he couldn't feel it, he new he was blushing in front of the cute princess. "Well y-you can call me . . . Drake, uh, I guess."

She giggled then looked back to the water. "So how did you do that?"

"Well I'm technically not supposed to, but my uncle taught me some basics." he shuffled nervously looking into the water. "I-I can t-teach you if you want?"

Her smile faded and she got nervous and uncomfortable. "Um . . . I'm not supposed to use my powers either."

"Oh. . . . " Come on say something! "Well thats fine, I don't start my training until I turn fourteen. What about you? When do you start your training?"

She tilted her head. "Training?"

"Well I don't know how it is for a sorceress or anything, but isn't that why your here? To get trained on how to use your powers?"

She still looked confused, and nervously she pulled her shoulders over her head like a turtle trying to hide in it's shell. "I-I'm not here to learn how to use my powers. I'm here to hopefully . . . get rid of them . . ."

Drake's eyes went wide with his jaw on the ground, but he quickly remembered he was speaking to a princess and quickly gathered himself. "I-I'm s-sorry El-princess, it's just that . . . why would you want to get rid of your powers-"

She stood up, flustered and slightly angry. "It's none of your business alright. I don't have powers that help people like YOU do. So . . . jus-leave me alone." She stormed off back to the castle leaving the young dragon knight to watch her walk away, wondering what he had done wrong.