"Levi, I'm tired. Can we rest here?" Dorea complained while trying to catch her breath. She scanned the surrounding scenery for fear of Leviashivae's sharp gaze.
The dragon eyed the girl carefully, then moved to observe the area around them. Now, they are in the middle of the forest, a foreign place even for him. Luckily, wild animals weren't around, although they were among tall trees. But still, it's dangerous for a human child to rest there.
The dragon begins to realize that he cares about the princess's well-being. Right now, he can't help but worry about her safety.
Dorea's face looked a little red. Her breath was short while a sweat oozed from his temples. The small body leans slightly against the trunk.
"All right, let's some rest," Leviashivae said as he felt guilty for the girl. His eyes darted to the sun that was already at its peak.
With ease, he uses simple magic to clean the fallen tree that had dried. They sat silently with the awkwardness between them. No one seemed to know how to open a conversation - Dorea is still a child, and he isn't good at communicating.
Moments later, Leviashivae hesitantly gave the girl a chunk of ice that he made from his magic.
"You already finished the water in the canteen, so here are some ice cubes." Leviashivae stretched out an ice in his hand. He ignored how tense the girl was when she eyed his hand, knowing it was a normal reaction he got after his action. Other times, he wondered where the hate in her eyes had gone for a while.
"Thank you." Whispered Dorea with a bit of gratitude. She tried to ignore the cold when their hands touched each other. For a moment, she felt a twinge in her heart as she recalls the death of her parents.
"Did you know magic?" he asked carefully. He was afraid the girl would make rash actions.
"Yeah, my servants use them every day," she said, but something in her voice sounded sad. If she started to cry, he wouldn't blame her for that cause he understood the feeling well. He even shed tears when he lost his friend.
"I am glad that they use magic wisely. That was my intention for teaching magic to humans. But some humans use magic to fight wars." He said solemnly. This time, he managed to capture the girl's attention. Dorea looks like a child eager to listen to his part of the story. At least that was better than the sad expression on her face.
"When I came to earth a hundred years ago, I met someone. She-." He stopped his story so abruptly with nostalgic eyes. The event that happened hundreds of years ago felt fresh in his mind. He wouldn't forget that just because he made new memories.
Dorea tilts her head with confusion. She doesn't know why he stops mid-sentence and patiently waits for the dragon to continue his story.
"At that time, I only had one friend. She is the village leader's only daughter. She was so beautiful with the blue eyes of her. Her kindness was unparalleled. Then, I started to take an interest in humans. She welcomed me to her village and introduced me to her people." Levi told her with a somber tone in his voice. The bitter feeling still lingered upon his heart.
He was a young dragon who rebelled against the laws of heaven when he decided to descend from the sky and stay on the surface. He was fascinated with other living creatures, humans without exception.
Until this time, he curses his ignorance of this world. Seeing humans as all good was a mistake because he made Rana's action as an example. Then, he witnessed his best friend get killed by her people because of jealousy, which was his eye-opener time.
"I taught them magic, maybe not the fire one because I'm bad at it. Humans are fascinating creatures, you know. They make their type of fire magic and modify it for their own. Then when-"
"Why you can't use fire magic? You are a strong dragon, Levi. Papa said the dragons were powerful and dangerous, so we should kill them so they did not hurt us anymore." Cut Dorea in the middle of the sentence with a tone of puzzlement.
He doesn't even feel angry with this child's attitude. An action like this means that Dorea starts to stop her discomfort with him.
"Because while we are powerful, we have shortcomings. That happened because I am an ice dragon. Mastery of ice element, but ice cannot be together with the fire. Overheated ice will make it melt. So I don't do fire magic because that is against my nature." Levi gives his long explanation to Dorea.
"Okey. I think I get it." She nodded her head as she tried to absorb all of the information.
"Really?" He asked dubiously and tried to figure her out. He seriously didn't know how this child's mind worked and doubted that this girl understood what he was trying to explain.
Dorea shrugged her shoulder and waited for Levi to continue his story.
She feels rather hungry right now, but sometimes, she is still afraid to ask him for food. The last rabbit was the worst meal Dorea got in weeks. There was a foul smell, and the meat had no flavor, and as a princess, she thought that food was unacceptable. To prevent hunger, Dorea put another cube of ice into her mouth.
"The story continued when my friend passed away. There was chaos in the village. They blamed each other for their fault. I was at a loss." Levi remember he cried that day when suddenly a blizzard struck the village. He did not mean to attack them. Unfortunately, after the incident, the villagers became divided.
The first group still saw him as a miracle they should be thankful for. The second group saw him as a curse that must killed because the dragon brought them to condemnation.
Levi watched them fight each other to prove their right point. He knew the first group was the one that killed Rana because of their jealousy. But then, what can a young-naive dragon do? He can't return the peace to them. He doesn't know how.
He was young, naive, and apparently a coward too. But then he learns a great lesson at the time of being hunted by humans. He knows now that humans are driven by their own emotions. Every action they take happens to fulfill the empty feelings in their heart. Some actions were good, and some were evil even sometimes age doesn't matter anymore.
"I couldn't do anything other than watch them fire magic to their own family. They hurt each other without thinking of the consequences to the other while using my teaching knowledge to fight the same race. So that they felt superior to the other after they managed to kill their brothers and sisters." If he had never taught them magic, maybe he could have prevented that from happening. If he were strong, he could have protected Rana from their people.
"That's a sad story." Said Dorea with some bewilderment. Actually, in her ten-year-old body, the story from Leviashivae seems like a tale that she hears whenever she is about to sleep.
"Yeah, we dragon never wish war fell upon humans. But then again, they were never a peaceful race to begin with," said Levi.
A frown appeared on Dorea's face while she contemplated the words with seriousness. She doubted the dragon's words now cause she knew her family was peaceful. They never hurt other people and attack dragons because they are dangerous.
"You lied!" She voiced her thoughts with accusation. He knew that she would not stand on the same page as him.
"Which part do I lie to you?" Leviashivae asked coldly. His face remained neutral, but anger built slowly in his heart.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath cause he was talking to an innocent girl who was ignorant of the word and never went out beyond the wall of the palace.
"My parents are good people!" She protested and tried to contradict him. She held the tears and glared at the dragon. "They gave me new clothes and told me a bedtime story. Then you came and took them from me!"
"I am sorry that I hurt you." His hand moved to reach the girl, but she stepped back and tried to get away. He retreaded his hand back when the tears flowed down from her eyes.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
"I already told you the answer, didn't I?" Leviashivae sighed. Anger and hatred for the Kingdom of Novacora made him commit that reckless act. The crime by the royal family has made the dragon sick. One thing he might regret is that there are innocent victims among them who also died. Loyalty to their leader seemed to have been able to blind their hearts.
The wind blows made the small branches of the plant move, producing the sound of the leaves rubbing. The trees can be seen dancing right and left, followed by the melody song from the dryad. One by one, the trunk of the tree displays a face. Their faces are full of perfection, as their facial sculptures form very precisely and beautifully. There is no human being who does not acknowledge the charm of the dryad.
"Lord Leviashivae." A harmonious voice greets him with respect and compassion. Beautiful faces sneer with distaste, and they become ugly in an instant. Her eyes land on the little girl beside him. "Human," She said with a disgusted voice. Roots suddenly emerge from the ground, breaking the surface and preparing to attack Dorea.
"Stop." Commanded Levi. He doesn't need to raise his voice to make the dryad following his demand. "Nana-Roi, save your roots for yourself or else..."
Slowly, the roots moved back to the ground. The dryad gives the dragon a small bow to show her obedience. From her face can be seen that the threat really irritated her.
"This is Dorea Novaline, princess of Novacora kingdom," Levi saw the hate flash in Nana-Roi's eyes. "You give her the respect she deserves then, tell her the reason of asked me to attack her home."
The dryad faces the dragon with disbelief. "Your Highness, but she is human! She is blind if she doesn't know their crime." She almost screams at Levi but then remembers to whom she speaks.
"She is but a child who doesn't know anything her parents did," Leviashivae explains to her patiently. He sees her at war with her feelings while weighing the request. His gaze fell on Dorea, who had curled up and unconsciously moved to approach him. Dorea's brown hair was almost within the reach of the dragon's hand when the dryad voiced her answer. He retreat his hand back and looked at the tree nymphs.
"...Fine," Nana-Roi said after some time passed.