The first thing Emma noticed when she stepped through the portal was the sight of pixie flowers. She looked at the forest around them, covered, almost smothered in pixie flowers. They covered the ground, hung from the vines in the trees, raced up the ancient trunks and completely replaced the leaves. She could feel the magic in the air that accompanied the sweet aroma of the flowers. It left a tingling sensation on her skin.

Maleficent growled softly. Her pupils were dilated and her breathing was loud in the unnatural silence that surrounded them. "This is strange." She said, scanning the perimeter.

"What is?" Emma asked.

"You can't feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"Look up." Mal instructed, going to inspect more parts of the forest. Emma looked up to see clouds racing across the sky.

"What is that?"

"Mal?" Rose went to the dragon's side as she bent down next to a creek and examined it. "What is it?" She crouched next to her and did a double take. The water was rushing, white and foaming, where it should've been stagnant.

"This is her world. She has the power to manipulate everything around her. Even time."

"How fast is it going?" Grace asked.

"It's difficult to tell." Mal stood up and conjured a fireball in her hand. The flames flickered rapidly and it made Emma think of when people put fireplaces on a tv when they don't have a real one, except this one was being fast forwarded. "It looks like hours are going by in minutes, maybe more. It'll be dark within the hour." She extinguished the flame. "We need to get our bearings and find her castle."

"That's what you all were afraid of." Alexander said. Regina and Mal exchanged looks, but they seemed to know what he was talking about without it being explicitly said. "As soon as you knew that-"

"We knew it was a possibility." Regina said. "And an excellent strategy."

"What is?" Emma asked.

"Days could've passed here." Grace answered. "Weeks, months. Nala and Myra wouldn't have known."

"They could believe we didn't come for them." Regina said softly. "They could hate us."

"But we know time is passing like this." Snow said.

"Only because we're new here. And Zelena's suit could be negating some of the effects of Fiona's magic." Regina moved on, her face expressionless, but her eyes gave away her fears. "We have to find them."

"Too late for that." Rose whispered. Mal looked at her, but the blonde was already moving away. "Take cover." All of them quickly took position behind the trees. Xander and Grace drew their rifles and Snow nocked an arrow in her bow. David drew his sword. Mal pushed Rose into cover and remained in the open while Regina and Emma hid as well.

"What does it sound like, Rose?" Mal asked.

"You mean you can't hear it?" Regina frowned.

Mal gave her a dismissive wave and focused on the horizon. "Rose."

"Running. Something's coming fast. From the north."

Mal pivoted to face that direction and began drawing on the magic of the pixie flowers around them, turning them black as the life was pulled out of them. The sky began to darken and no stars or moon appeared to provide any light. "Regina, they need light." A dark suit of armor replaced her grey suit. Regina sent flames shooting across the ground all around them, illuminating as much as she could.

"Behind us!" Rose called out, whipping out the pistols she'd brought. She fired twice, hitting her mark as one of Fiona's men popped out from behind a tree. Everyone else spun to face the new enemy and a massive firefight broke out. Bullets flew back and forth, ripping through the trees. Emma was glad she'd decided to bring her parents now. Grace, Alexander and Rose moved like a well oiled machine, hitting nearly every shot and steadily moving forward. Snow guarded their right flank, dropping every man who dared to try and take a shot at them. Emma and Regina took the left. "David, brace yourself!"

"What?!" David looked at the blonde in confusion before spinning around. It was only then that he caught sight of the massive lioness sprinting towards him, moving like a shadow in the darkness. He dodged the claws aimed for his head and lashed out with his sword. The lioness actually ducked and his sword only ended up slicing through a tree, tearing out strips of bark. He knew immediately that this was no ordinary lioness. She circled him, looking for a weakness and he pivoted with her, keeping his sword between them. The lioness charged and he flipped the sword, cracking the cat across the head with the flat of the blade. It landed hard on its side and rolled back to its paws, taking off into the darkness. "Snow?!"

"I'm good!" His wife called, nailing another soldier in the chest with an arrow.

David took stock of the battlefield, finding Regina firing fireballs at a rapid pace with one hand and protecting Emma with a shield using the other while she fired with a pistol. Regina's flames were spreading through the trees and it was because of that, he was able to see the lioness charging once again. He readied his sword.

Despite the chaos behind her, Mal didn't move. She growled at not being able to hear above the gunfire, but she could feel something coming and she knew she wouldn't be able to stop it. Tensed and prepared but not knowing why, she waited, trusting that the Swans could take care of the soldiers at her back. Whatever was coming for her was no simple soldier. She conjured her staff and pulled the purple orb off the top of it and threw the rest of it away. She crushed the orb, sending purple essence shooting through the air. "Come on then. Give me a good fight." It was a woman, running far faster than any person should. Mal couldn't see her face for she wore a dark hood over an all black outfit. Blue magic glowed in her hands and she left a black trail of death in her wake, stealing the magic from every pixie flower she passed. Mal braced herself for the impact and as expected, the woman met her head on. Summoning all of her magic, Mal chose to redirect the blow. The blast of magic that erupted incinerated everything in its path, tearing through trees, rocks and scarring the earth with deep trenches. It rocked the earth beneath their feet and caused cracks to surface.

Maleficent took a shaky step back and deflected another swing of the woman's magic fuelled fist. It was like a brick wall was trying to punch her. She knew that if she attempted to meet this woman head on she could win, but not without sustaining significant damage and she couldn't have that with Rose nearby and in danger. She had to stay in fighting condition to protect her...and the others too she supposed. Rather than use her strength, she continued to deflect and dodge, searching for an opening. The woman was a loose cannon, swinging wildly with magic glowing behind every punch with the potential to shatter bones if Mal wasn't fast enough. She took a quick breath and caught the woman's left fist and headbutted her hard, knocking her to the ground. Before she could recover, Mal was on her. She grabbed the same arm and pulled her up in a better position to lock her arms around her neck and her legs around her stomach. The woman struggled but Mal was locked in tight. She felt ribs crack between her legs and the woman cried out in pain. With all of the fighting, Mal didn't hear the lioness until she was upon her and had her jaws locked in Mal's arm, pulling her off of her companion.

It was chaos but luckily, Regina noticed the dragon go down. An explosion of magic followed suit as Mal activated the absorbed magic from Zelena's suit, but it did nothing to remove the threat. That was when Regina saw the flames in the mysterious woman's hand. Mal screamed and Regina couldn't move fast enough to try and help her friend. Talking at this point was pointless so she grabbed the button in Emma's pocket and opened it and pressed it. She didn't even wait to see what happened before she took off for Mal. Bullets bounced off of Zelena's shields, each one stung and burned, but they never made it to her skin. She didn't even make it to Maleficent before she was overtaken by Zelena's creation. The box had turned into a flying monkey the size of an elephant. It was a great, hulking creature with wings as large as Mal's and teeth as long as Regina's forearm. The monkey ran at Mal, grabbing the woman and the lioness with both hands. A thunderous roar erupted from its maw before it spun and threw the woman across the barren field like she weighed nothing. Regina couldn't even see where she landed. The lioness snarled and tried to fight back, but the monkey was having none of it. It reared up onto its hind legs and furiously, repeatedly slammed the giant cat against the ground until it stopped moving and hung limply from its grip, only to be dropped with a heavy thud. Regina came to Mal's side as the monkey took off back to the gunfire, running straight through the bullets to grab any enemy soldier it saw, throwing them around and sending them crashing into trees.

"Mal, you okay? Can you hear me?" Regina said, inspecting the dragon's wounds. She covered her mouth at the smell of burned flesh. Zelena's suit had been broken and claw marks cut through Mal's armor, shredding the soft flesh beneath. She wasn't too worried about that. What truly made Regina freeze were the ugly burns that continued to sizzle and steam. "Don't move."

"She burned me." Mal growled, trying to sit up. "That bitch burned me!"

"Stay down, Mal." Regina commanded, removing a piece of the dragon's armor from her shoulder. The burns continued over her arm and collar. "This is bad, isn't it? You shouldn't be able to burn a fire drake." She'd seen Mal forge weapons in fire with her bare hands, swim in lava and bathe her scales in molten gold. She commanded fire, breathed fire, was fire. Fire made flesh. It shouldn't be possible.

"Did you bring the cuff?" Mal asked.

"Yes."

"Then forget me. Find her and cuff her. She is too powerful to fight but we could take her alive."

"But-"

"Do it!" Her command rang throughout the forest that was now crushed by an unnatural silence. The Swans were already making their way over. "Go. We have to move quickly before she wakes up or reinforcements arrive. Go."

Regina nodded and stood up. The flying monkey made his way over and sat down, having disposed of the rest of Fiona's men. Rose was the first of the Swans to reach them and instantly dropped to her knees next to Mal. "Get her somewhere safe." Regina said. The monkey stood back up and carefully picked up Mal.

"Heads up." Emma touched her back and she spun around. The hooded woman was awake and barreling towards them again. "I'll take point."

Regina nodded. "Let's see if those magic lessons had an effect. Dodge, don't block."

Emma took the lead and she could see why Regina chose such a strategy. The woman put all of her strength behind every strike, using magic to hit harder and move faster. Emma ducked and dodged, getting in a quick shot every now and then while Regina constantly distracted the woman with fireballs and shields. She was extremely powerful but she clearly struggled when facing more than one enemy. She swung with a right hook and Emma rammed her shoulder into her stomach. She swung again and Emma dodged to the side, the woman's fist slamming into a shield Regina raised at the last second. She struck out with a kick and Emma leaped over it, landing a hard kidney shot. Grace and Snow released a shot, each bullet and arrow hitting the woman in each shoulder.

The woman let out a piercing scream of frustration and the earth began to rumble. Vines sprang up from the ground as it split apart. One wrapped around Emma's neck, yanking her off her feet. Two more wrenched Grace's gun out of her hands and another grabbed hold of Snow's leg, pulling her to the ground. The flying monkey took to the skies, attempting to escape. The ground began to erode, huge chunks falling away into an empty chasm as thick vines sprang from the depths, coiling around the monkey like a snake. It dragged the poor creature down, screaming and howling with Mal clutched in its fist. Regina fired her magic at the ground, trying to stop the quaking. Alexander and David cried out as the earth fell away beneath them and they disappeared into the chasm below.

Mal shifted into dragon form and was immediately caught as more vines wrapped around her wing, snapping the fragile appendage and rounding her. The dragon queen flailed violently as the vines encased her neck. She spat fire and her tail smacked the ground as she fought to free herself. In the semi darkness Regina could see the line of missing scales and scarred flesh from her burns. She scowled and looked at the woman, who was watching her from under her hood.

"You cannot win, Evil Queen. Not you, not the Dragon Queen, not the Savior."

"Stop. Stop this, we didn't come here for you. We came to get our children."

"Any children brought here are Fiona's."

"That's a lie. Is that what happened to you?" Regina asked, carefully taking a step forward. "You proved you can beat us with pixie dust. Why don't you fight me without it?"

"Why would I do that?" She held out her hand towards Mal and Regina heard another snap. She whipped around when the dragon failed to continue her desperate escape. Maleficent fell still, her neck slightly bent at an odd angle. The earth fell away, swallowing her up and leaving a massive trench behind. Carnage ripped through the land from the fight and it looked nothing like it did only minutes before. She could barely see the rest of her family trying to hack themselves out of the magical vines. Regina scowled and without warning lashed out at the woman with a blinding stream of light magic. The bright light lit up the area with a light that only Regina could see through. As soon as the hooded woman recoiled to cover her eyes, she threw herself at her, tackling her to the ground. Both women hit the dirt but Regina had the upper hand. She conjured a dagger in one hand and hid a pin in the other. A specific pin coated with Mal's modified sleeping curse. It was meant to be a last resort to take Fiona alive, but she figured now was as good as any. Besides, once this enemy was weak, she was going to gut her. She raised the dagger and struck down, but the woman brought her hands up to block it. The dagger hovered in their battle of wills, the point grazing her neck.

/

Everything from the neck down ached. Maleficent slowly raised a paw and pressed it to her chest. Mend what has been broken. She closed her eyes and concentrated, sending what was left of her magical reserves throughout her body, healing her broken neck and broken wing. She disregarded any minor bruises and scrapes. Once the broken and fractured bones had been fused together again, she changed back into human form and pooled her magic to heal her burns. It took everything she had to fix the unnatural wound. Dragons, especially a Fire Drake such as herself, could not be burned. Fire could not harm a dragon. And yet she could feel the echoes of the burns, a memory forever seared in her mind. It was the first time she'd even felt hot from fire, felt the harsh kiss from flames and it made her angry. She wanted to rip that bitch apart!

While her magic worked she took in her surroundings. She was below ground in some kind of cavern. Dust and dirt fell from above, no doubt from the woman who had burned her. This woman was dangerous, too powerful for Regina to fight alone. Powerful and reckless. She had the magical strength of someone twice Mal's age, but her fighting style reflected someone who was much younger, much more arrogant. There was no telling how Fiona trained her or what she'd done to her to get her to be so powerful.

"Maleficent?" The dragon turned her head at the sound of her name and finally spotted the lioness laying nearby, half submerged in a small pool of water. Alexander and David stumbled and limped out of the darkness, coming to Mal's side, surviving the fall only by the power of Zelena suit. She made a mental note to kiss Zelena the next time she saw her. Both of the men noticed the lioness' presence and moved in front of her.

"Relax." Mal said. "She is defeated. Her back looks to be broken. We need to find a way back up. Rose could be hurt."

"Everyone else too." David reminded her.

"Yes, of course."

"Maleficent."

"Stop saying my name."

"It wasn't us."

They turned to the lioness again and found a girl in its place. She wore little clothing beyond a black vest and baggy gray pants that didn't even look like they fit. Her feet were bare and her hair was long and unkempt. She was covered in dirt and Mal was sure they didn't look much better. The dragon walked forward and crouched next to her. She was crying and shaking, tears staining the dirt on her cheeks. "Do I know you?" She reached forward and pushed the girl's hair aside. She couldn't have been more than 25 at the most. The scars on her face and arms. Her hands were covered in them, as if someone had taken a belt to her. The scars were old, but just the fact that they were there enraged the dragon.

"It's me. Nala." Came the weak whisper.

Mal touched her back and healed it. "Nala?"

Nala burst into fresh tears and threw her arms around Mal's neck. "I knew it. I knew you all would come."

Mal touched the back of Nala's head, invading her memories. Barely a day had passed for them, but years had passed for Nala and Myra and Fiona had begun her manipulations right away, trying to force the girls to accept the fact that Regina and Emma would never come for them and as the days passed, they began to believe it. Myra was her target and Nala an afterthought, but she was subjected to the same punishments. She saw Fiona tying them down and injecting the girls with pixie dust that had been synthesized into a serum. Nala didn't take to it, but Myra did. She saw them being trained, forced to fight, forced to kill. When they refused, Fiona told them to hold out their hands… Mal pulled out of her memories and wrapped Nala tightly in her arms.

"Of course we came. We'd never leave you to Fiona."

"Myra told me. She said you would come and Fiona...Fiona wouldn't stop. Myra got it worse than me. She changed me into a lion so I couldn't speak, but I paid attention to her lessons."

"Hush, it's okay." Mal stood up, lifting Nala as well. She looked at the men. "We need to get up there now. That woman is Myra." She placed Nala on her feet and Xander was quick to pull his trembling granddaughter into a hug. Mal stepped back and changed into dragon form, throwing herself into the air. She had to stop the fight before Regina and Emma killed their own daughter...or Myra killed her mothers.

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