Sorry for the long wait.
In other news, I am getting my writing mojo back. I'm not up to how I used to be. But I am trying to achieve at least one update every other day and so far it's been going pretty well.
Check out my other stories if you haven't already.
Laterz! ;)

CHAPTER 2

"Are you sure that you're okay with being left alone for a while?" Ursula asked for the tenth time.

Mal frowned. Ursula's worry was palpable. She above everyone else knew the risks. A baby dragon was priceless in a world of magic. There would be people clamoring from all sides to get to Lilianna. And she still barely had any magic left.

Her body was still recovering from the horrible aftereffects of being pregnant. Pregnancy in dragons was something that was supposed to be shared. Instead, she'd gone it alone. Without Regina to help fuel their baby, Lily had taken twice as much out of Mal. And she was still bearing the consequences of it all.

She was as weak as a kitten even though Lily was now 2 days old. Her strength had still not returned. Add breastfeeding an insatiable dragling and she was still almost completely tapped out. She only had the strength to hold her as she fed. She would be completely useless if someone did try and defend attack.

But there were other considerations. Cruella had a bloodlust that knew no bounds. Her sociopathic tendencies were manageable but you did have to take it into consideration when dealing with the woman at all. She personally would've preferred not to at all. But Ursula seemed to love to be around her. And so she had to make a choice.

She had already seen the way that Cruella's eyes tended to light on her baby more often. The only way to deal with her was to allow her to 'hunt' for other prey. That's why Ursula had suggested the two step out for a while.

Mal and Ursula shared a frown as Cruella's eyes stayed trained on her baby while she licked her lips. Mal's anxiety increased yet she nodded. She had placed quite a few wards around her place when she'd begun to lose her strength. And she could feel that they were still holding strong. So for now, she felt as safe as could be in the circumstances.

Her place was an opulent castle hidden inside a mountain. The high elevation made it difficult to be a place to stumble upon. One would have to really be looking for it to find it. And they would've had to have worked hard to get there at all. With her hyper dragon senses she would be able to hear and smell there long before she saw them. That would at least buy her some time to help protect them.

"I'll do one more patrol around. Then we'll leave you and the li'l Misses to it," Ursula used a tentacle to scratch lightly at the thick thatch of dark hair Lily had inherited from her brunette Mother.

Mal smiled her thanks. Ursula had been a great friend. She would have never have been able to make it without her. She watched sadly as the two took their leave. Even if it was only for a few hours, it was still more time than she was happy about in her current situation.

Lily stretched and yawned in her sleep on the little nest of furs that Mal had collected for her. Mal was instantly mesmerized as she watched her dragling.

Every minute that passed, Mal fell more in love with how much their daughter was a miniature version of her other Mother. She had her thick, dark hair with loose curls, large expressive, doe eyes, and definitely her temperament. It tickled her to no end to hear her scream at the top of her lungs the indignity of having to wait a few minutes to eat, be held, or anything else she was demanding at the time no matter how fast Mal moved. She clearly had the Mistress of all Evil wrapped around her pinky.

For her part, Mal was still so torn over the situation with Regina. She had wanted to tell Regina right away and share the joys, fears, and worries with her. But Regina had made it clear that she would allow nothing to stand in the way of her Dark Curse. And not even the love that Mal knew she held in her heart for her, could dissuade her.

And so Mal gave her what she knew she wanted most. The freedom to cast her curse without being hampered by anything or anyone. She'd kept the knowledge of their daughter to herself and shouldered the burden of a pregnancy that almost killed her all alone.

Because of the magics that had created their daughter and herself her pregnancy had been unpredictable. There were no precedents that she knew of – and she had been around to see the dawn of man – that would've let her know what mating with a human would do to her. When the sickness had left her too weak to fend for herself, she had called upon her old friend Ursula to help her through it.

Ursula had been a trusted ally and confidante for many years. And right now Mal had no choice but to put her life and the life of her baby in her hands.

She smiled as Lily smacked her lips before falling back into deep slumber. "Alright my love," Mal lovingly stroked her hand along her cheek. "I say we both take a little nap."

She again checked around with her magic and felt nothing around her castle that would give her worry. But she was tired. So very, very tired. Before she knew it, her eyes had shut and she had drifted off too.

MOE

Mal awoke with a start. She had no idea what but she could feel her heart hammering away in her chest. Then, she looked to her left where Lily's nest lay. What she saw practically made her heart stop. It was empty!

She stumbled upright on shaky legs that had a hard time carrying her. She searched around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. She sniffed the air. She caught a scent!

She began to follow it, as she pulled herself along on her hands and knees. She could pick out Lily. But there was something else. Two something else's.

She made it out the door of her castle. She looked around. There – she saw them! The Charmings. They were scampering away down the mountain with her baby!

"NOOOOOOO!" she screamed out as her heart began to break.

DQ

Regina sat upon her throne lazily sipping at a celebratory glass of her own homemade apple cider. The dark purple smoke continued billowing from her balcony and out into the atmosphere as her curse began to take hold.

She wanted to dance and rejoice. But her Mother's lessons forged through years of pain and torment were never forgotten. She was a Queen. And a Queen never takes time off.

She had thought that she was done for after being captured by those two nitwits. And she had accepted her fate gracefully. Her head had literally been on the chopping block before Idiot number 1 stepped in.

Yet Snow had let her go. She had thought her exile would be a much harsher punishment. Regina just smirked as she carried on about how she hoped her act of goodness would repay the debt that Regina seemed to hold her accountable for.

But the quest for revenge still burned through Regina's veins. So she had moved heaven and earth to gather the ingredients for her curse. And now, her revenge was at hand.

Her lips curled up as she surveyed the magic making its way across the lands. She entertained herself with thoughts of how her life would go in this new land she was preparing.

Alea iacta est (The die is cast)

A guard burst through the doors. They were members of her army who had remained loyal to their Queen. "My Queen!"

Regina frowned at the unwelcome intrusion. She rose in all her regal glory, "how dare you! I said I was not to be disturbed."

The guard stopped short. His fear had won out over whatever stupidity that led him to believe he could burst in on her without paying consequences for such an intrusion, "But – but – Your Majesty - ," he stuttered.

Before he could finish his stuttering and sputtering the doors burst open behind him once again. Regina raised her hand and readied a fire ball in preparation for taking out whoever the insolent party was. But her hand shook as she hesitated when she took in the entire scene.

Maleficent was clinging to Ursula and Cruella. They seemed to be all that was holding her upright.

Regina hadn't seen her dragon in a very long time. And she hadn't seen her look this bad since their first meeting. Her was an uncombed mess upon her head. She wore a simple gown that looked more like something suited for bedtime. She was breathing heavily and appeared thinner and paler than ever before. She looked like she'd been held captive in the dark somewhere for years.

She had been broken after her battle with Briar Rose. But with Regina's help she had regained her fire. Now she appeared broken once again.

Once they were near enough to be heard Mal looked up and locked eyes with Regina. What she saw there nearly knocked her off her feet. It was a pain that mirrored her own much too much.

"They took her!" she managed to pant out.

"What?! Who took who?!" Regina wasn't sure what was going on. But it was obviously something that couldn't be ignored.

Mal took a deep breath. She used all of her strength to push off of Cruella and Ursula's shoulders and stand on her own feet. She locked eyes with Regina once again. She kept becoming a blur as the tears began to cloud her vision and fall down her face. "Lilliana," she said in a broken tear thickened voice. At Regina's confusion she clarified, "Our daughter."

Now it was Regina's turn to need help to stand. Her heartbeat sped up and her breathing became labored as she stumbled forward, the fire ball in her hand long forgotten. As she came closer she raised her eyes to Mal's. "What did you just say?!"

"Our daughter Regina. Our Lily," Mal whispered as she wrapped her arms around her love. "The Charmings. They took our daughter!"

As Regina reeled in shock the room began to dim as the dark purple fog of the curse began to engulf them all. Then it was fade to black.