Chapter 91: Serpent's Scales

                                    

                                          
It was late on Sunday when a fairy tapped Ben on the shoulder and told him that Faylinn had asked that he meet her with her team at archivists in the oak tree's library. Ben had passed the time while waiting by looking over the lastest weather reports for the entire kingdom to see if anything had gotten worse. There hadn't been any new sightings of the purple dragon or snake in the last few hours, but who knew when it would strike next. 
"It never hurts to be prepared." Athena said. 
He followed the fairy up the winding staircase to a massive library housed in one of the topmost branches of the oak tree. Faylinn was flying in front of a huge projection screen, buzzing quietly with her team. The room was cozy and warm, with a cracking fireplace behind a gate, and long tables with pretty intertwined leaves and branches where the fairies worked. 
"Which is where fairies are known to have comfort is to be in nature." 
Ben made a mental of that for Mal's office/ art studio and also give it Isle style.
"Ben, you're here, good," she said, flying over to him. "I think we've found something." 
"Oh yes, please tell if it's Maleficent or someone else." Akiho begged. 
She motioned to the images projected on the wall, which showed two blown-up photos of purple scales. Faylinn flew over and motioned to sharp ridges on one of the scales. 
"Look at this," she said. "The ridges on your scale are almost identical to the one on the right, even though the one on the right is almost ten times its size. The one on the left is your serpent scale, and the other one is about the size of a dragon scale." 
"And, what does that mean? Is it a match? Is it Maleficent?" Akiho asked. 
"A match, then?" he asked. 
"We think so. Either there are two different creatures, 
"Well, dragons and snakes are different despite being in the same family." 
with identical ridge patterns, or there scales are from one creature that can take two different shapes. We think it is the latter, as it would be nearly impossible to find two creatures with these specific markings," she said, buzzing between the two photographs. 
"Again, what does that mean, is it Maleficent?" 
"Where's the dragon scale from?" he asked, trying not to show how anxious he was. "Is it Maleficent?" 
"Don't worry Ben, I'm anxious to." 
"Not exactly," she said, 
"Wh-what does that mean?" Akiho practically screamed. 
coming over to fly by his shoulder. Her voice was tiny and sharp as a wind chime. 
He exhaled. "What does that mean? What's it from?" 
"Exactly Ben, what does it mean and what's it from." said Akiho. 
"The scale isn't from any creature we have in our files. As much as we tried, we couldn't find a match, actually, until Lexi Rose remembered we'd received something similar not so long ago." Faylinn clicked to the next slide. "As you know, fairies like to study aspect of nature, we ask that if anyone in Auradon discovers something new in the natural world, they send it to us so we can add it to our collection. Recently, a team of dwarfs were digging a new mine down by Faraway Cove, when they came across something unusual." 
"Which is?" 
The other fairies shifted in their seats and looked uneasy as the slide on the screen showed a group of dwarfs mugging for the camera, their wheelbarrows filled with sparkly diamonds rocks. "Look over here," she said, flying back to screen and flitting over the cavern floor. 
"What are we looking at." Emir asked, leaning forward to get a good look. 
Ben leaned forward and saw that the ground was littered with the same purple scales. 
"What?" 
"The dwarfs closed the mining operation soon after. They said they felt the tunnel was haunted even though they never saw anything, but they sensed a strange presence inside it. One of them—I think it was Doc's nephew—
"Which one?" 
noticed the purple scales and sent a few to the archive." 
"Faraway Cove's pretty close to Charmington," said Ben. 
"That it is." 
"And Camelot is directly north of it as well. The dragon must have used these mining to disappear in and out of sight, which is why Arthur's men could never catch it. I need to take a team into that mine." 
"Yes, you will Ben, because if you don't we'll....." Emir and Akiho looked at each other before saying. "We'll asked Mal what she would do if you don't."
"The dwarfs sent a map, so you should be able to find the entrance easily enough," said Faylinn. "I'll have one copied for you." 
"Thank gods." 
"Hold on, you still haven't told me—could the scales be Maleficent's?" he asked. 
"Yes, asked that Ben." 
"I'm sorry to tell you it's because we don't know. 
"Aww, come on your kidding me." Akiho said. 
As it turns out, we don't have a sample from Maleficent. Prince Phillip's sword was wiped clean after their battle thirty-one years ago. 
"Damn you Stefan and Leah." Aurora muttered. 
But if you can send one from the lizard in your library, then we could tell you for certain." 
"What a great idea, listen to it Ben." 
"Thanks. I'll have my men send over a sample as soon as I can. This has been really helpful." He shook Faylinn's tiny hand with his thumb and forefinger and waved to the rest of the fairies. 
"He will actually listen." 
"Ben, about this shapeshifting dragon... even if it isn't Maleficent, it's still incredibly dangerous. And if it is able to shift in form and size, that would mean it is capable of incredibly powerful magic. You must be prepared to fight it with similar enchantment. I know the rules of Auradon, so I don't give this advice lightly." she said, buzzing worriedly. 
"I won't go alone, don't worry. I'll tell Merlin to meet me at Faraway Cave as soon as possible. And he can bring his wand this time." Ben smiled. "I know he's been itching to use it." 
"You darn right I am." Merlin said with a smile.
"You should have said yes when he first asks you Ben." 
Faylinn nodded. "I can imagine." Seeing the somber look on his face, she buzzed comfortingly by his shoulder. "Remember, when in doubt, think of happy thoughts and you'll find your way." 
"Which is very good advice for all of us." Akiho said with a smile. 
He smiled at the tiny fairy. The happiest thought he could think of was Mal and her friends returning safe from the Isle of the Lost. He hoped it would come true. 
"Well they ran into a few complaints, but I think it's safe to assume they made it home safely." 
Ben shook his head. "You are insane."
"Thank you so much for the compliment Ben."