AN: A belated christmas present for my dear readers!

Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to work two part-time jobs since the last update so no more energy to write inbetween, oof. But it still gave me time to think and make the story even better ;D

Hope you enjoy this one :3


Chapter 16 - Scent

From the lack of reaction to her wandering the halls of the castle, Levy concluded, that she must have been indeed invisible to other people, even though the sound of her heart trying to escape her ribcage should have alerted everyone she passed. She wished she could have developed a floating spell, so she would be able to move faster, without fearing for any creaking planks, rustles or stumbles to give her away. She'd already almost bumped into a maid rustling around a corner, but managed to keep quiet and step out of the way in time. Another problem that she hadn't anticipated was that the castle proved to be a labyrinth of similar-looking hallways, doors and staircases. She'd run into too many dead ends to keep count and was now desperately looking for a staircase to at least get to another floor. She found a small, steep one and followed it down until she arrived at an open doorway that led into a wide hallway. The hallway turned out to be the main entrance, when she spotted two enormous doors. Unfortunately, they were flanked by four guards, so there would be neither opening them, nor writing another portal. She'd need to either wait until sunrise when they might get opened for visitors or search for another door. Not wanting to risk waiting until then, she turned to the right in search for a new way. Why does every door out of this castle need to be guarded?

After walking through multiple hallways and down quite a few stairs, Levy noticed that her surroundings began to change. While still surrounded by stone walls, they were becoming darker and sometimes damp. The floor changed from hardwood to stone as well, now lacking the carpet that had softened the sound of her steps before. Windows became sparse and far apart in the narrowing halls. Some doors weren't guarded, but Levy didn't dare open any of them for fear of someone on the other side noticing her. After reaching another dead end, Levy decided to take a break to calm her nerves. Being outside of her room wasn't bad at all, but her escape plan was starting to crumble before her very eyes. After daybreak she'd have to hide out or find a way to leave during the day. Her disappearance would be noticed during breakfast time or even right after sunrise and she didn't know what magic the king or his underlings could use to find her, so she'd like to at least have somewhat of a head start. Luckily for her, they weren't the only ones able to utilize magic in this way. She walked around in the lower hallways until she found a secluded corner with some moonlight shining in through a small window. The next stationary guards were a few doors and corners away, but to be sure she waited for a few minutes, looking out for any guards that might use the pathway outside of her alcove for patrol. After assuring herself of her safety, she opened her bag and took the notebook out, careful to keep it beneath her coat, she started quietly flipping through it to find the right runes for her intended spell. After making sure that the spell would work she scribbled the runes onto a piece of parchment. Passage, reversed vision, pathway followed by detection and an upright vision. It should show her any pathways with even a sneeze of magic on them and thus, maybe a lead to the outside. After tucking the book and writing equipment back into her bag she held the piece of paper in front of her eyes and activated her magic. After looking around for a while with no result she was about to give up, but a faint white glow appeared in her vision. A concealed portal door might not have been her first choice, but as of right now it was her only one. The runes should only show her doorways, not portals that led to an entirely different location, so at least she wouldn't land somewhere completely unexpected. She did wonder, however what a portal door was doing in the furthest corner of the entire castle, with nothing seemingly important in sight. Dispelling the magic again, she made sure to leave some concentrated in the invisibility spell and started making her way towards the portal door.

Levy hesitated. Five minutes had passed since she found the door and started pondering on whether to step through it or not. From walking the hallways around the suspiciously empty wall it had become clear that there had to be something behind it, but what would happen if it was some sort of prison cell or secret laboratory and she wouldn't be able to return? Suddenly a thought struck her. What does it matter? I have an arsenal of spells at hand and nothing to lose. I could just destruction rune my way right through the wall if I wanted. Come on Levy, focus on your goal. You know what awaits at the end. Picturing ruby eyes, white fur and shimmering little fish, she took a deep breath and activated the door.

The room behind the portal was dark and extremely damp as far as she could tell from the smell and occasional dripping sounds. The faint glow of the portal illuminated a torch before going dark. Levy played with the thought of using the torch, but decided against it, as to not alert possible pursuers to her presence. Instead she used her fingers to draw the light rune onto her hand, shining the light around the room by moving her hand. It was narrow, with a low ceiling and made of rough stone instead of the usual stone bricks. An equally narrow stairway led downwards, further into what could only be the mountain. Levy shivered, but knowing that she had to keep going started to descend the stairs carefully, holding out her hand in front of her to make sure she wouldn't slip on anything. After a while, the corridor opened up and she found herself standing in open space. There were no walls next to her, no ceiling, only cold stone beneath her feet. She lifted her hand, but her light wouldn't reach anything, so the ceiling of the room she was now standing in must have been quite high. The smell of earth, wet stone and something she couldn't quite put her finger on lingered in the air. It was stuffy and would have been almost oppressive to her in any other situation but she welcomed the smells of nature after so many days inside the small room. She started walking forward aimlessly, but felt her heart freeze in icy cold fear when a deep, gravelly voice echoed around her.

"Do not take another step."

Her entire body turned to stone, all of her instincts screaming at her as they fought over whether to flee or just give up right there. Her heart started beating again, twice as fast as before, it felt as if it already decided on fleeing and was about to jump out of her chest and run without her. Every gear in her mind started turning as she desperately tried to make sense of the situation but drew a complete blank, pure adrenaline was all that her brain was currently focusing on.

"I know you think I Hrrrrr can't see you. It doesn't matterr. You won't be alive forrr long Rrrrrrrr" The voice now had a rumbling, angry undertone, reminding her of the deep growling of the lions and other beasts that lived in the steppes of Chrate. A sound that spelled danger. To Levy's dismay, it seemed to move closer, together with rustling and the sound of footsteps. Very big footsteps.

In her panic, Levy had dispelled her magic, causing the light spell to disappear, so she had been standing in complete darkness. To make light, she would have to write the rune again, but her body refused to move. Taking a few breaths, she forced her hands to move and concentrated on drawing the rune. She closed her eyes before lifting her hand and slowly opened them again after waiting for an attack. In that very moment, she wished nothing more than to be able to faint, like some of the ladies in Rhyacus liked to do. If she could do that, she wouldn't have to feel the immeasurable, mind-numbing, primal fear that gripped her at the sight she was now confronted with.

Two bright blue orbs, almost as large as her head were glowing at her from beneath two massive golden horns and an almost helmet-like equally golden structure. Two additional horns curved down from there towards a muzzle packed with sharp teeth and fangs as long as her arm. White scales reflected the light from her hand and two enormous nostrils blew warm air into her face with every breath the dragon took. His teeth were illuminated by a light inside his mouth that emitted magical power she had never felt before.

"Well?" the beast growled and bared his teeth in a snarl.

"I…I..I'm not a…a thr-threat," Levy stuttered, her body shaking in fear and anticipation of her sure death.

"Hades sent you, hrrrrh that makes you a thrreat."

"No! H-h-hades is…he..he is my enemy!"

"LIARRR! HRRRR. That's all that you can come up with for your defense? Die."

"No, please don't kill me! I will help you dress your wound!"

The dragon growled again, making Levy jump and start shaking uncontrollably once more, now convinced that he made up his mind after all, but to her surprise, the light in his mouth extinguished.

"How do you know about that? I kept it a secret from your master." Is that…curiosity I hear?

"I will tell you if you don't kill me. I promise, Hades is not my master."

"HAH. A promise from a human is worth naught but disappointment. But I will entertain you, in hopes of entertaining myself."

He turned away from her, revealing the rest of his body. If she wasn't in such a state of despair just seconds ago, Levy might have marveled at the white scales and gold horn-like extrusions that ornamented his body, as well as the large wings and swishing, curved tail. The dragon walked to a corner of a cave, where he laid down and looked at her suspiciously.

"If you come too close, I hrrr will kill you, now start talking before I change my mind," he growled and bared his fangs.

Levy just dropped to her knees, now that the very immediate threat of death was gone, the adrenaline left her abruptly, making her head swim with dizziness and her body too weak to stand. Nonetheless, the dragon seemed rather impatient, so she explained herself:

"I'm a Mritharian and our guardian deity, Jhuvaia of the seas holds control of all water. When we receive their gift of magic, we feel more connected to any water or magical fluids that originate from water. I could sense your blood and the magic in it being out of place. The wound was a guess on my part."

The dragon had laid his massive head onto a stone in front of him, folding his wings over his back and his tail had stopped swaying, instead resting next to him. But when she finished telling him, he moved and actually laughed, a great bellowing sound, causing her to jump in surprise, as his breathing had been the only noise for a while.

"You actually bet your life on nothing but a lucky guess. You humans are reckless, I have to give you that."

"I felt it was my last choice, I was sure you'd kill me," Levy stuttered, causing the dragon to huff, whirling up quite a dust cloud and once again reminding the petite woman just how large the beast was.

"I dislike killing other beings, but my current situation has put me on high alert and very much focused on self-preservation."

"If you don't mind me asking, what actually caused you to be imprisoned here? It should be impossible for any human to even try to compete with the power of a dragon." The question seemed to agitate the dragon, his tail started swishing, like that of an angry cat and he started growling again.

"HHHHRGH, indeed. But Alas, even we have our weaknesses. Not that I would tell you, without any proof that you are not a spy."

"Is there actually a way I could give you that proof? I think we could very well help each other, my enemies enemy is my friend, you know." Levy hoped to form some sort of alliance with the dragon. Apart from him obviously being able to help her and hopefully putting a dent in Hades' plan by freeing him, she also genuinely wanted to help him.

"Did you know that a dragon can smell a fish in the sea, even from the other side of the ocean? Your scent can tell me what life you have lived and who you are."

"Why didn't you smell me from the start then?"

"The stench of strong emotions, such as fear is very…overwhelming. You have to be calm for me to be able to read you properly." With that he stretched his head forward and puffed one last breath of air into Levys face, making her hair whirl upwards before inhaling deeply. His breath actually smelled very clear, like fresh snow, or a spring breeze, helping Levy relax more.

"MMMh…salt of the great ocean…huff.. horses…the first strong bonds, I think you humans call it family…ink and paper…desert lilies…ah, another bond, to…oh, the shimmering stars of the night, very interesting…mmh, what a strong, clear will…very much an explorer, I see…oh, there is a newer bond, that…what…no…that can't be right…but it's such a distinct smell, if rather faint…how is that possible? Human!" Levy jumped at that sudden change in tone, he'd spoken rather quietly until then. Well, at least what one could call quiet in relation to his size.

"Yes?"

"You…you carry the smell of another dragon with you. Explain yourself."

"That is impossible. I don't know if you're aware of it, but dragons have been extinct for centuries by now."

"I am well aware about the demise of my kin, but my nose does not lie, nor is it ever wrong. You, one of your bonds has the faint smell of a dragon." Levy was puzzled, but decided to mull what he said over in her head, when something suddenly clicked.

"No…that can't be true. Maybe he was right? No, but…he would have told me…he…he wouldn't lie to me…maybe he planned to tell me then? It would explain the rumors, but I haven't noticed anything else…surely he can't hide it that well.."

"Would you stop muttering nonsense!"

Levy shook her head, slapping her cheeks to help her focus on her thoughts.

"The…bond you were talking about. I think you meant my beloved, or mate," she corrected herself when she noticed the confused look the dragon gave her.

"Are you trying to tell me you are mated to a dragon?" clearly in disbelief, the dragon emphasized the last part of his sentence, now getting more agitated.

"No, no, of course not. It's just the only thing that would be possible, although I'm not very happy with the thought. See, my bel- mate is the ruler of the kingdom Hades is planning to attack, so he tried to get me to tell him about any weaknesses. During the interrogation he mentioned a rumor to me, a rumor that my mate is supposed to be half-dragon, something that I had thought to be complete nonsense. Until now that is."

"hmmmmm…it does sound like nonsense, at least it would to someone who wouldn't know of the conjunction. But a king from an old bloodline, having his powers rage out of control because his mate is in danger. It makes a lot of sense. What an…intriguing turn of events."

"Now you are the one muttering. Would you mind explaining your thoughts to me, please?"

"I – oh no." Levy almost didn't believe her ears when she heard a trace of fear, mixed with anger and concern in the dragon's voice. He was suddenly next to her, much faster and quieter than she would have ever anticipated and folded one of his wings over her, pressing her tightly against his side. She was about to ask what was happening when she heard a voice she knew all too well by now.

"Reyvar! Glad to see that you are awake!"

"HADES!"

Reyvar's roar of fury was all Levy could hear over the blood pumping in her ears.


/

Uuuh, a new character! You can look forward to his role ;D

rao hyuga 18: hope your curiosity is satisfied ;)

Dragonfly2311: There's gonna be lots of fun, I promise :D

Guest reviewer: It's also the most fun to write bc I get to be so creative since she's such a smart cookie ;3

Have nice holidays and I will see you next year :)