SPELLBOUND

Evie was biting her lower lip in frustration as she and Zanya landed on the bridge. Another fail!

All could see that her eyes were red rimmed, and she was trying to control her tears from spilling over.

"What am I doing wrong?" she said, looking on the ground. "Why are they not listening to me? Was it because they think I am not worthy? Crimson listened to me, but why are all these male ones not doing the same?" she complained, trying not to burst out in frustration. She had realized now that the only dragon she had managed to control was the only female one for now, Crimson.

She also remembered now that the dragon she controlled back in Dacria also had a reddish coloured hue on its chest, meaning, it was a female dragon. Does this mean she was only capable of controlling the female ones? Or do the male dragons only listen to a male summoner? But that cannot be right for the dragon summoned by her possessed father was female too!

Also, that was not the case as well when she remembered Onyx. Onyx was a male dragon, but the last Queen of Middle Land was accepted as his master. Then why? What was she doing wrong? Is it just her that was the problem?!

"Princess," Zanya's voice was soft, "male dragons have always been harder to control. Female dragons learn much faster than them and are easier to control. The female ones were also easier to form a strong bond with. And that was why back in the days, most faeries loved the female ones than the male dragons. Very few actually managed to control the male ones. I remember it was the late queen who was the only one so fond of the male dragons. I remembered she once told me that the male dragons were more challenging. But the challenge was very worth it."

Evie looked at Zanya, curious what she meant by 'worth it'.

Understanding the question in Evie's eyes, Zanya continued. "The late queen told me male dragons are more powerful and more destructive. They are definitely harder to tame but once one manages to tame it, it will give its full loyalty to you. That's why back then, a faery must be able to control a male dragon for them to be considered as one of the strongest fae. And that was why I also gave it a try."

"Did you managed to control one?" Evie's eyes widened.

Zanya shyly shook her head. "I've tried for a few days but before I could succeed, the war had started then. We didn't have much time to train and spent our magic so we opted for the dragons that we can already control well. My dragon was a female too. In fact, almost all of the dragon summoners had female dragons." Zanya's face became sullen. "That's why it was the female dragon population that were eradicated first throughout the very long war. As the war was nearing its end, it was the male dragons that had become one of the biggest threats to Crescia as the dark faeries used dark magic to possess the male dragons. And that just made things worse. Most female dragons were already killed off and the males were controlled by the dark faeries. That just pushed the dragons further into extinction. That is why there are so few of them left."

Evie was silenced as she listened to Zanya's story.

"That's why you must not get discouraged Princess, please believe me when I say you are already doing very great that the male dragons are responding to your summons at the very first try. Back then, despite being a noble, it took me days to even manage to call a male dragon without draining almost all of my magic." Zanya smiled softly at her and somehow, Evie felt better.

"Thank you, Zanya." Evie could only utter her gratitude. It seems she must quit thinking that she could force everything to work out just because she wanted it to and did not have much time to lose. She cannot deny her feelings of disappointment but perhaps, the reason why it was not working as smoothly as it should was because she was rushing. These male dragons must have felt her desperation to control them and perhaps that was why they were rejecting her?

"I think it's alright for you to take it easy, Princess." Zolan spoke as he brought over the bottle of water Elias had prepared for her. "Since they are already responding to your summons, I guess you can always call them and train with them wherever you are. Isn't that right?"

Evie and Zanya looked at him.

"I mean, since we don't have much time to stay here, and since you have already mastered summoning them, you can now practice your control over them as we continue on our travels out of this land." Zolan explained and Evie's face immediately lit up. That was right! Why did she not think of that?

"That's a very good suggestion, Princess." Zanya agreed.

"But will it be alright for me to train with them wherever I am? Even outside of the Middle Land?" Evie asked and Zolan responded.

"I guess it's alright Princess, since the enemy already knows that you are able to control a dragon. So, it's not something that we need to bother to hide. However, I think we must hide the fact that you can call so many of them or the fact that you are fine and aren't affected even after summoning so many of them."

"You're right," Evie nodded. "So, I'll just call on them one at a time."

And with that, Evie finally relaxed. She had realized she was too tensed from the pressure of needing to control them as soon as possible. And now that she had found out she still had time to tame them, she was utterly relieved.

"Thank you, Zolan." She had said. And that night, Evie and her men had another feast. Last night, they could not quite enjoy as much due to their princess being in a bad mood because of what she had thought to be her failures. But tonight, her mood was better, and she was enjoying her food so all of them were able to enjoy too.