Johi was anticipating his final meeting with this Zieg guy. It was a long time coming and Johi wanted to help them in their efforts to win this war. Johi knew there was so much more for him in their ranks than in his training.

Rose didn't like having to take him there. She admitted that she had lost and that she would live up to their deal. She seemed nervous about something but Johi couldn't place it. She knew he wasn't going to turn them in or destroy them.

When they arrived at the dragoon headquarters it was awe-inspiring. Such a massive bowl shaped structure and yet he didn't see anyone. "Rose, where is everybody? I thought that you said I'd get to meet them."

"They'll be arriving shortly." Rose was starting to sweat. What did she have to worry about? They were all her friends weren't they? She had nothing to fear from them and Johi wasn't a threat either. So what was she afraid of?

Johi saw the dragoons land one by one into the arena. Rose was strangely silent as they did so. Johi recognized one of them as Shirley. He waved to her but, just like Rose, her mind seemed elsewhere. When the final one came in Johi knew who it was. Zieg, was his first and only thought about him.

The red armored dragoon in front of him just glared in Johi's direction. He said, "You will have to pass three tests. If you can successfully pass them you can fight beside us," he seemed to have a casual tone at this, "but if you fail," he said basking in the moment, "you die!" The amount of bloodlust he sensed in the air was amazing.

Johi said "I can handle anything you can throw at me." He was almost positive that they were going to throw a whole bunch of third rate challenges at him that he could do blindfolded and he'd be in. He realized that when he accepted the challenges both Rose and Shirley seemed to get extra nervous.

"I respect your spunk but I don't think you understand, young dragon." Zieg responded. "All of your challenges will be against me. The entire thing will be a one on one sparring match, best of three. If you win then you're in but if you lose I'll kill you. You get one hour to prepare. I choose the conditions of the first round."

Johi was surprised that he gets to fight Zieg so soon but Johi was up for the challenge. "You better choose well because I'm not planning on losing to you." Zieg would be a real challenge. Johi was glad that he was getting that hour to prepare, he'd need it.

While he was cleaning Talon just outside the entrance of the arena, Shirley walked up to him and sat next to him. She broke the silence and said "Zieg isn't going to go easy on you, you know. He's a lot more powerful then I think you're giving him credit for."

"I know. I can't hold back at all. If I lose this then you guys have to kill me and if I win I get what I've been hoping for since I first started training. This is an all or nothing gambit and you know how I get when I'm put in these situations. I don't think either of us have it easy. I wouldn't have any idea who to bet on."

"You know I hope you win but I'm not sure what the final results will be."

Johi got up as he said "The first round is beginning so I'd better go."

When he stepped into the outer ring he saw Zieg waiting for him in the center of the arena in his normal form. Johi was impressed by the amount of tenacity that Zieg was showing. It looked like he wanted to face Johi just as much as he wanted to fight Zieg.

When Johi hopped down into the arena Shirley followed him and said "I'll be the referee. What match do you call Zieg?"

"I call no spells but dragoon spirits will be allowed."

"Alright, the cast has been set. Time limit is five minutes. Fight!"

When the match started both of them immediately ran up to each other and linked their blades. Afterward they both transformed. Johi and Zieg were on the same wavelength.

As the two weapons struck each other an echoing clash was heard. The two weapons, though inanimate, seemed to be fighting amongst themselves. Neither one was even coming close to snapping though a normal weapon would have.

They broke the link and each carried on an offensive stance. Johi closed the distance on Zieg while Zieg charged his attack. When Zieg loosed such power it left a massive crater in the ground, with Johi in the middle. When the smoke from the explosion cleared Johi was holding back Zieg's aerial attack with flames surrounding him.

Johi asked, "Didn't you say no spells? I don't look kindly on cheaters." Rose had put him through temperature training and now he understood why. He would have to go from the extreme heat of Zieg's attack to the chill of high altitude. He was now glad for what seemed to him to be a waste of time.

Zieg seemed shocked for only a split second, and then he retorted, "That wasn't a spell. That was called using my element to its full potential." Johi was slightly upset with that response but he could easily fix his dissatisfaction.

He used the speed endowed by his dragoon spirit to get behind Zieg and use the force of his own blow against him. It worked splendidly, by the time Zieg pulled his face out of the ground Johi had already setup for a follow up blow. Talon was mere inches away from Zieg when the warrior managed to escape at the last second.

Zieg was faster than Johi gave him credit for. Johi figured that would have put him away for sure but sadly it wasn't meant to be. Zieg attacked first this time.

When he charged forward he had his sword pointing forward so as to stab Johi. This was tricky situation. Johi could handle if he struck from the sides or above but he would have a hard time blocking this. Straight forward had so little sword to block that if he screwed up he'd get skewered.

Wait! He didn't have to block it. When the Zieg's blow arrived near him he knocked the blade aside and spun around hitting Zieg with the backside of the shaft. As Zieg went flying ten feet down the arena they both returned to their original forms.

As this happened Shirley called "The time limit is up. Because both of you can still fight it's a tie. Johi, it's your turn to call the match. What will the rules be?"

Johi smiled, now the time had come for his favorite type of match. "I call no weapons or dragoon spirits. Just me, Zieg, and our fists."

"The cast is set. Time limit will be ten minutes. Ready, fight!" Shirley screamed.

To be continued…