Kingdoms Unknown: The Kingdom of Life

Chapter 3: Past to Present

Melody and Jace were climbing up the walls of the tunnel. They were nearing the exit at last. "Why have you started moving faster?!" Melody shouts.
"Something tells me something is wrong with Merlinda. I have to get out of here." He responds as he continues to climb.
Melody continues to follow him.

"I have a question for you." Jace says midways up.
"What is it?" Melody asked.
"You don't like dragons in general, do you? Why?"
"That's two questions." Melody raised her voice.
Jace was about to respond, "but, I'll answer them." Melody spoke.

"It's not like you, and others did anything wrong. I just...we just...had a bad past with a dragon. Don't mention this story Merlinda, got it?!"
Jace nods.
"We all were around ten years. That time, Merlinda and Nathan were dating. Nathan was always protective of her, and he almost never let her out if his site. There was another friend of ours, too. His name was Roland. Merlinda and Roland were close friends. Closer than I and Ash were with her. His parents served hers, so they would always play together. One day, they were hanging out, and Nathan just so happened to be in the area he saw them laughing together, and became jealous. That night, I was late night hunting with my dad. That's when a large shadowy figure flew across the sky. It charged straight at Roland's house, and...Merlinda saw it all. As she screamed out, the creature came towards her. My dad rushed over, and got in between them...he was..." Melody began to tear up. "the creature threw him to the wall. I came over. His last words were 'Promise to never leave your friends, Melody.' I took Merlinda, and together we ran to the castle. That's when Merlinda's parents used a bright light to chase the creature away. After Merlinda was safe with Ash, I went to investigate. The creature landed in the near end of the village. I hid, and that's when I saw the dragon turn into Nathan. However, I didn't know she followed me. Merlinda walked right up to him. 'How could you?' she said before she slapped him. 'I never want to see your face again.' She ran off with tears. She was completely heart broken. Ash and I decided to change her memory soon after, so she wouldn't remember the dragon part. I never wanted her to have that feeling again."
"Do you think I'm going to be like him?"
Melody didn't look up.
"Just so you know, I'm not the jealous type. Plus, do I honestly look like a killer?" Jace thought about it. "You know what, scratch that. Basically, I'm just trying to say that I'm not Nathan. I already know the three of you share a close bond, so instead of being against it, I understand it."
Melody smiles, but still doesn't look up.

'I was back in Shinera. Roland- a spiky brown hair boy with red eyes, wearing a green top, khaki pants, and black shoes- sat next to me. We were laughing. Then, he got up. "I'll catch you later, okay?"
My eyes widened. "Wait!"
He waved.
"No, stop!"
The second he entered his house, the building caught fire. It was dark, now. "ROLAND!" I screamed. Then, a shadowy dragon appeared before me. It turned into Nathan. "He got what he deserved." He said' I woke up, completely frightened."Roland." I mumbled.

"You liked him a lot, didn't you?" A girl walked into the room.
I hadn't noticed I was in a different area. I looked around, and found that I was in a large bedroom with a huge window that took up the room on my left. The floor was blue marble, and the walls were a darker blue from the floor. A clear chandelier hung in the center. To my left was a girl with burned orange hair and green eyes. She wore a sleeveless dress that was dark green at the top, and light green at the bottom. There were also flower prints on the bottom.
"I know what you're going to say, and don't worry about it. You're safe, and that's all that matters."
I was about to ask about my friends, when..."Your friends are just fine. Ash is downstairs, and the others are just finishing up with the tunnel."
"How do you-"
"Know about that? Well, we were the ones who made it."
My eyes widen.
"I know you're upset about this, but listen. We were trying to save you from Queen Nava's attack, but unfortunately, my brother got the wrong girl. Boys, am I right? Anyway, let me introduce myself. I am Terra, Princess of Forestia, and we have some talking to do, Princess Merlinda of Shinera."

The two were now nearly at the top. "Alright, I answered two questions." Melody said. "Now I want you to answer this one."
Jace looks down.
"Why did you transform when you first met Merlinda?"
Jace smiles. "I should've seen that coming."
"Just answer it."
"Well," Jace continues climbing. "The truth is, I saw Merlinda when she first entered Flamis(flaim-is)."
"You didn't tell her?"
"Now, now, I didn't interrupt your backstory with questions, did I?"
Melody zipped her mouth in annoyance.
"Good. Anyway, I was wandering in the village. I stopped in between a couple of buildings. That's when I saw her walk through. She was asking about you guys, since you were all separated at the time. I wanted to I talk with her, but the guards had me go back to the castle. My father, King Magnus, was desperate to get me married. He had an arrange marriage set up for me, but I wanted Merlinda. I told him 'no.' The next day, he brought the girl over, and forced her on me. He was making me uncomfortable, then angry. I ended up transforming from that anger, and losing control of myself. That's when I went on a rampage. My father called the signal, but Merlinda was new to it, so she didn't hear. Everything was a blur to me, but Merlinda was the only thing I did see, and you know the rest from there."
"Love at first site, huh?"
"Your tone is unsettling to me."
"Uh no, don't go all rampage on me just because." She says sarcastically.
"You'll understand went you have it."
"Pfft, as if. Love at first site is a bunch of malarkey."
Jace smiles. He feels the top of the hole. "Hey, we're here."