“How could you do that to me?” he asked angrily.
Maleficent took a step back, surprised by his response. He had never reacted to a transformation like that before. “You said…anything I need,” she replied haltingly. And he had. True, it had been many years earlier, but she didn’t think there was an expiration date.
“Not a dog!” Diaval snapped.
Maleficent shrugged. So that was what he was so upset about. That he had been furry. “It was a wolf,” she pointed out, “not a dog.”
“It’s the same thing,” Diaval replied. “They’re dirty, vicious, and they hunt birds.”
“Fine,” Maleficent said, throwing up her hands. “Next time I’ll change you into a mealy worm.”
She turned and began to make her way back to the Wall. It wouldn’t be long before the soldiers awoke and alerted King Stefan to the skirmish. She would be safer in the Moors. Diaval followed, still muttering about his earlier transformation. “I’ll be a mealy worm,” he was saying. “Gladly! Anything but a filthy, stinking…Awk!”
Looking over her shoulder, Maleficent tried not to smile as Diaval flapped angrily about. He could be so dramatic. A little transformation never hurt anybody, and it wasn’t like he had hurt a bird while he was a wolf.
Suddenly, Maleficent remembered Aurora. Looking up, she saw the princess was still floating in the air, blissfully asleep and unaware of the battle that had occurred on the ground below. She needed to wake the girl up and get her safely back to the cottage before any of Stefan’s men woke up. Yet that could take a while and she could be followed if the soldiers were good trackers. Maleficent doubted she had that long. Suddenly, she had an idea. A strange and unsettling idea, but an idea nonetheless.
“I wonder…” she mused aloud.
What if she were to take Aurora to the other side of the Wall? The men couldn’t follow them there and Aurora would be safe for the time being. Plus, Maleficent thought, I am curious to see what the girl would think of the Moors. Would she see their beauty? Or be frightened? Or overcome with the urge to take and destroy like every other human? She shook her head. Was she being foolish even to consider taking her to the Moors? Or was it the best decision given the circumstances?
Maleficent could stand there all day battling with herself. But time was precious and she needed to make a decision…soon. Lifting her staff, she pointed it at Aurora.
NIGHT HAD FALLEN ON THE MOORS. High in the sky a full moon hung and beams of light shone down, illuminating the lush ground. The air was still and silent. Most of the Moorland creatures were asleep, some tucked in the leaves on the ground, others resting in trees. Through it all, a sleeping Aurora floated. Maleficent walked a few paces behind while Diaval flew ahead. As the trio made their way along, a few curious faeries peeped out, eager to see who would dare disturb the peaceful wood at that hour.
Arriving at a small glen through which a shallow stream burbled, Maleficent lowered Aurora gently to the ground. Then she slipped into the shadows. She took a deep breath, then whispered, “Awaken.”
Maleficent waited, her heart pounding. She was beginning to regret her decision to bring the girl there. What had possessed her? It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now, as Aurora’s eyes fluttered open, Maleficent was beginning to think differently.
Slowly, Aurora sat up. She took in her surroundings calmly with her big blue eyes, as though waking up in an unfamiliar grove of trees was a common event for her. Watching Aurora take in the Moors, Maleficent felt an ache in her chest. She had never felt comfortable out of her familiar surroundings. Yet Aurora, who had lived her whole life in one cottage and knew only three people, seemed unfazed.