Chapter 10

Remy walked through the forest, leaves crunching beneath his feet as his memories wandered back to the dreams that have been plaguing him. He could feel Ororo, somewhere in the tangle of trees and brush that covered the territory between Elden and the Outlands. He didn't know where, but he walked where it felt right and the feeling of her being became stronger.

It was puzzling that he hadn't been able to feel her presence for so many years. However, with how much magical upheaval was in the world at present, it made sense. Though it seemed humans were oblivious it, even the non magical animals in the world were restless. Remy himself couldn't sit out and stare at the night sky without catching glimpses of magical build up whipping through the air.

"Nur, what are you up to?" He pushed a branch forward and immediately doubled over in pain. His hunger was getting worse. He lay curled up on the ground for several minutes before he could gather his wits and mentally force the pain away.

"Mon dieu…" he seethed. This was a hunger that no forest creature could satiate. He couldn't catch up to Ororo like this or she was likely to be devoured by his dark side. For her sake, he had to stop at the Cathedral of Muir first.

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The sun was setting as Katya slowly made her way up the slope of Mt. Anrier, 4 miles west of Elden. She had told the council she was going in search of a rare plant they were low in stock of in the medicine storage. Security was very tight at Elden at the moment, especially with the Queen out for diplomatic and war reasons. Every elf leaving Elden was required to carry full identification papers and a document stamped sealed by the council stating the purpose of the departure and the expected time of return. The seal also acted as a beacon so that if the elf truly wasn't where they claimed they were, the council would immediately become aware. Katya was just relieved they weren't reading minds yet, then again, with Jean out with Ororo, it severely limited the councils' abilities.

At last, she reached her destination: a ledge higher than Elden Wood's tallest tree with a cave that led into the mountain itself. She turned to scan the forest below her. Miles of expansive foliage spread out endlessly, nothing of Elden's tallest structure, the palace, even visible from this great height.

As she breathed in deeply of the clean mountain air, behind her, something stirred in the cave. A pair of yellow eyes began to glow larger as the creature approached her. Out of the shadows emerged a green and gold dragon, towering in height, at least 6 meters from its feet to its shoulders. As each of its powerful claws silently tread the ground, its scales, each about the size of a child's hand, glistened in the failing sunlight. It snaked out its long neck and puffed a bit of smoke from it's nostrils on the back of her neck.

Katya jumped then giggled, as she turned and patted the dragon playfully. "Lockheed, don't you ever get tired of that?"

The dragon snorted in reply. Katya had long given up on the possibility of the dragon being able to communicate with her verbally or mentally, as the dragon of the same name in a favorite childhood fairy tale had been able to. However, he understood her speech perfectly and his body language always spoke volumes.

She recalled the day she had discovered him, almost 80 years ago. She had gotten lost for the first time ever in Elden Wood. Seeing the mountain, she decided to climb it to try and search for Elden City. Upon reaching this same ledge, she scanned the horizon only to see endless forest. She collapsed to the ground, weeping uncontrollably in exhaustion, fear, and anger. She didn't notice the cave nor its habitant. A slight moan jerked her from her pity party and she turned in time to see the enormous dragon charging at her excitedly. Terrified, she jumped up to escape and in her haste tripped and teetered backwards on the edge of the cliff.

In a split second that seemed like an eternity, she fell backwards towards the earth below, arms flailing for something to grab but only reaching air. Before she could embrace her fate, the behemoth let out an ear piercing screech and dove off the mountain after her, jaws open. As if it were even possible, fear wrenched her gut tighter as she thought the dragon meant to snatch her out of the air like a cat with a bird. However, it soared past her and cushioned her fall on it's back before swooping back up and flying above the trees. It took Katya a moment to realize that she was not dead and that the dragon had saved her. Tears streamed down her face as she slowly began to laugh nervously, releasing the tension that had built up. She reached down and held tightly to the dragon's smooth scales and whispered, "Thank you." The dragon snorted in reply as it headed back to the ledge.

Once back to the dragon's home and on solid ground, Katya was still cautious of this new creature. In her study's, it was always impressed upon a young elf that if you saw a dragon, you ran the other direction as fast as you could. They were cold, calculating, ruthless creatures and nothing could keep them from what they wanted. However, it seemed that this particular dragon defied the logic of her teachings. Warily, she approached him with a shaky hand oustretched and he readily moved his head towards her and she jumped back. He tilted his head questioningly.

"I only want to… touch your… head." Her voice was quivering. "To thank you."

The dragon bowed his head and moved it forward to her outstretched hand once more. This time Katya was able to appreciate the feel of his golden scales. They appeared smooth as polished armor but were actually rough in texture. His head and body were covered in these golden scales that made it appear he was decorated with coins. Vibrant green fins with red tips adorned his head down to where his wings emerged from his back. Even his tail had green fins. His wings were a slightly darker green with red boning inside to help him unfurl them. Expansive as they were, they sat compact against sides when not in use. "Gorgeous." She breathed.

The dragon tilted his head to his feet to feign bashfulness. Puzzled, she realized the dragon had been responding to her speech the entire time. "Can you understand me?" He perked up and snorted. "Can you speak?" His brow furrowed and he lowered his head in shame. "Oh. Well, that's ok. My name is Katya. I'm an elf."

She asked him a steady stream of yes/no questions, sometimes having to guess answers to more complicated questions to give him a yes or not option. It felt a bit silly at first but slowly, she began to understand his body language and they communicated well.

When asking about Elden, the dragon was even able to gesture in the direction she needed to reach her city and was willing to fly her there but she decided against it, knowing how Elves and any living being felt about dragons. Curious, she ventured to ask if he had a name, anticipating a long guesswork session again. Again, the dragon made the shameful expression. "Would you like for me to give you a name?" The dragon almost immediately lit up, and began stamping excitedly.

"Calm down!" she giggled and thought long and hard. Out of nowhere, a child hood story came to mind that her Nanna had always told her to get her to sleep. It was an adventure story about several races coming together to save the world from an evil shadow monster that ate dreams. A magical talking dragon befriended the group and gave it's life to save them from one of the monster's shadow demons. "How about Lockheed?"

The dragon lifted it's head to the sky and it's eyes went back in thought before it brought it's head back down and bobbed it's head up and down several times. "Ok, Lockheed you are!"

How Katya longed for the simpler days back then. For now, she was older and wiser and knew that somehow, Lockheed was going to be necessary for victory over Hades. It sickened her to know it but she was excited to know he was so important. She just prayed they would both survive the coming tribulation.

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Author's Note: I felt this chapter was lacking so I added to it recently to make it more relevant and in depth. 2-28-06