Wow, who else is surprised by how quickly I am updating it?

I don't own OUaT or it's characters.

I hope you will like it!

CHAPTER 11

Regina swallows and stands up, trying to let Maleficent know that she has nothing to worry about, the she will deal with it. - "Captain Mtembo" - she greets him while walking closer to block him from seeing Maleficent, with a lot of luck he may not notice she is a Dragon.

"Regina, guards let us know you left town to search for us" - he approaches her and has serious face - "you know it was against orders, you were supposed to wait in Tsoka." - he seems to be calm but it's just a facade, Regina knows very well that he is buzzing inside with anger, disappointment or maybe both - "We can't have a newbie Slayer, without completed rituals outside, alone, when there is a Dragon in the area!" - last words were shouted and that was unexpected, she was startled by it and even jumped a little, normal human wouldn't be able to notice it. But he isn't normal human. He exhaled and rubbed back of his head - "I'm sorry for shouting, but we are an army, the orders are holy. Why you left?"

She tries to control her breathing, what is she supposed to say? That she left Tsoka and disobeyed an order because she promised a Dragon Knight that she will find and free a Dragon, does he even know that Knights exist? Should she say that apparently she is a Knight too, at least according to Sili and that strange man about who she doesn't have time to think right now. Or maybe how she fought a Dragon who tried to kill another Dragon, the same she just bandaged and is currently trying to protect from Mtembo. He wouldn't kill her, she is wounded and defenseless, but she is still a Dragon and they are Slayers, he would insist to take her in and thought about Maleficent imprisoned again makes her stomach clench. She doesn't know why, she shouldn't feel like this, she is a Slayer. After so many years of training, she finally became one and first thing she does is disregarding an order and siding with enemy. She doesn't know what she is doing, this situation is weird and uncomfortable. - 'Maybe Sili cast a spell on me after all?' - she thinks, trying to relax herself with a joke.

"Regina?" - Mtembo says, trying to catch her attention. She must have lost herself in her thoughts.

"Sorry, sir. I've just been thinking." - Regina wets her lips and rests hand on grip of the sword - "To answer your question Captain, I just followed my instincts." - her answer seems to anger him again.

"You followed your instincts?! You-" - he sighs deeply and pinches bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. She uses this moment and quickly glances at Maleficent, she is still seated under the tree, watching their exchange closely. Bandage luckily didn't soak up with blood, yet, so they have more time. - "What happened to your cheek?"

She looks at him, not knowing what he means, but after a while she starts feeling pain and touches left cheek. Her touch stings so she quickly withdraws hand, fingers are covered with blood. Now she remembers, but it's not like she can tell him the truth, half-truth would have to be enough. - "I fell."

"You... fell. - the unbelieving tone, which can be heard in his voice, points to conclusion that he knows she's not telling the whole truth - "and were that blood came from?" - saying that he steps closer to her, pointing at blood covering her armor. Regina swallows nervously when he enters the zone in which copper in blood can be smelled, one meter long radius from the source. His eyes widen significantly and he looks her over, again, then his eyes land on place behind Regina's shoulder, at Maleficent. She curses in thoughts. - "A Dragon?" - he says, ask, bypassing her.

"Captain. I can explain..." - she starts, but knows well that she really can't explain this situation or she will be accused of treason.

"She is wounded, you hurt her." - he continues, completely ignoring her saying anything. Moving mechanically, trying to process this situation, because how is it possible that one young Slayer, without passing all rituals, had wounded and almost killed a Dragon. - "This is amazing Regina, you've done a great job!" - he pauses and turns to her - "Why haven't you said anything? Her being wounded and you being after your first fight against Dragon, which you've won is a truly joyful moment. One you will remember and look back to." - he is praising her, Regina knows that and he is right, at least about one thing. She will always remember that fight, the one against black Dragon and everything that happened before and after it, for more than one reason.

She shifts her weight to second leg and bites bottom lip, preparing to give an answer, when Mtembo speaks again.

"Maybe you will get an officer rank when we come back." - he pauses and looks at Maleficent again - "Of course, you will have to kill her first."

Regina can't believe in what she just heard, kill her? Kill Maleficent, now? When she just said they are helping each other? What is he talking about? - "Sorry, sir, you said I would have to-"

"Kill her, yes." - when he turns to Regina, he is serious, it causes her heart to miss a beat or two.

She looks at Maleficent, who straightened her back, pressing it against the tree, trying to look bigger. Just as any hurt and scared animal would do. But her eyes, which, for whatever magical reason Regina is able to see clearly from that distance, her eyes are a cacophony of various feelings. She can extract defeat, sadness, anger, tiredness, but also will to fight, reconciliation with what's to come and something that surprises her, it's betrayal. - 'But how can she feel betrayed if she never trusted me?' - thinks Regina, clenching her fist. - "Maybe we shouldn't kill her Captain. She could be a very good source of information, once we get her to our fortress." - Regina says that, praying he would agree. With this happening she would have a bigger chance to free Maleficent, it doesn't matter if they would transport her to fortress or somewhere along the way. She just hopes Maleficent knows that this is her motivation to say those words, that she doesn't take it literally.

"No, transporting her to fortress would be too dangerous. She might be badly injured now, but it would heal in no time during the trip. She could free herself and kill us all." - he shakes his head - "No, she has to die now."

Regina stiffens at that and looks at boots. What is she supposed to do? It's an impossible situation, it should have never happened. How is she supposed to choose between Slayers and Maleficent? Being loyal to her, well... whole world and killing Maleficent, or siding with Maleficent and... what? He won't just let her go, with Regina or without. He'd rather kill them. Somehow thought of killing Maleficent, of her dying is more painful than betraying the Order. Decision made, she looks up to see Mtembo walking toward Maleficent.

"I can't."

Hearing that, he again turns to her - "What do you mean you can't? She is a Dragon, killing them is main reason of our existence. You can't just say you can't do it. It's your duty, the reason we exist!"

She shakes her head - "No, no I won't do that."

Sighing he puts hands on her shoulders - "I can understand that you might be overwhelmed after everything that happened today and in last weeks, but you can't say things like that. As I said, I can understand that, but not all of our companions are so forgiving." - he speaks to her like to petulant child who doesn't want to eat their vegetables - "This is something that has to happen today." - he pauses and glances at Maleficent again, taking his hands off Regina's shoulders, straightening spine and looking back at her once more - "If you won't do it, I will."

"What? But she's defenseless, she can do nothing to try to protect herself. This is going to be an execution!" - she is becoming desperate, he has to understand that either of them can't kill Maleficent. She won't let that happen.

"This is part of our job Regina." - he is angry and speaks through gritted teeth - "Sometimes we kill Dragons after glorious battles, sometimes we lure them into trap and then kill them, or sometimes we execute them. It's all normal." - he breathes deeply several times - "But you know that, you have been taught those things, why are you surprised? Why you act like that?"

Regina says nothing for long minutes, once again he speaks the truth, during her training teachers told them about many hunting techniques. In all of them Dragons fought back, it was never like... THIS.

Apparently he takes her silence as agreement because there are retreading steps and sound of sword being pulled out of it's scabbard. Regina rises her head at that and with wide opened eyes looks at the scene before her. Mtembo, slowly, with sword in right hand approaches Maleficent, who, it seems, is even paler than she was when Regina glanced at her previously. With determined look at her face Regina starts marching toward Captain, fast. Once she catches up with him, he turns slightly to the left, the side she stands on and opens mouth to say something when she interrupts him.

"I can't let you do this sir." - she says and then punches him in the face. It's not something he expected, so the surprise and power of the punch combined, make him lose balance and fall to the ground.

He spits blood and Regina assumes he bit his tongue while falling. Then, gripping sword's hilt tightly, he asks - "What the hell are you doing Regina?!" - he is furious, but she really can't blame him. She just punched an officer in order to protect an enemy. But even now she stays silent. He stands up and looks at her, then at Maleficent and back at Regina, addressing her - "She cast a spell on you." - Mtembo sighs, resigned - "That's why I told you to stay in Tsoka. Without last ritual you aren't fully resilient to Dragon's magic."

Regina swallows, ready to pull out her sword if needed, after all it's now or never - "She haven't cast a spell on me, everything I do or say is my decision."

"Are you aware what are you saying?"

"Yes" - she confirms - "and I won't let you kill or hurt her."

He is surprised by her words, but collects himself quickly - "Then you are a traitor and will be treated as one." - with that he charges at her.

But too slowly, thanks to what Regina has the chance to unsheathe sword and block his attack. The swings he makes are stronger than the ones Biir was making, but it never was a secret that his is better swordsman than her old teacher.

He attacks her right side horizontally but she blocks it and turning by the left arm, she passes him to position herself behind him, then swings at his back, at the height of shoulder blades, hard. It is not enough to crack the armor and injure him, but it's enough to hurt him, most probably leave a massive bruise. After all she doesn't want to kill him, only to make him retreat. - "Give up sir, no one of us has to die."

He turns around quickly, attacking her - "I shouldn't have been so surprised by your treason, it's not the first time after all." - that diffused her and gave him a chance to punch her in the left side of chest, bending armor in this place, making it harder for her to breathe. Then he makes her lose balance but cutting off her legs, so she falls to the ground, still not knowing about what previous treason he talks about. - "You thought I could be fooled by that? Just a normal wolf?" - she widens her eyes, now she knows - "You thought I didn't know you let that werewolf go? You think I am that stupid?" - he uses magic to create vines that surround her and rise her up in the air, more or less forty centimeters above ground. Closing his fist slowly, he tightens vine's hold on her, squeezing her more and more. - "I let that go, she was your friend after all and I can understand wanting to help friend." - fist closes more - "But Dragon? No, it's too much. You both have to die. And I will start with you, then I'll kill her." - by now she can't breathe anymore, but before he has the chance to close his fist completely, quite literally squeezing the life out of her, his feet is entwined by small vine that pulls and makes him fall to ground. Because of that the spell holding her up ends and she too falls to the ground, again, coughing and gasping for air.

He in the meantime got up and is stomping towards Maleficent - "You! You think your pathetic excuse of magic can stop me? I will tell you something, it can't. You only managed to prolong inevitable and now you will die first, for everything that your race did to the world, in the name of the long dead king and for what you have done to Regina." - he rises his sword to make the final blow. Then short moment later there is a sword pierced through flesh.

Regina stands with her eyes widened, stiff, not believing in what just happened, the blood is on the sword, ground, armor, it's everywhere. She pulls out her sword from Mtembo's body, pushing it aside, while it falls down. Sheathing sword, she looks around but there is no one else, just trees, then at Maleficent, she too is covered in his blood and luckily only his blood. Crouching she looks closer at the bandage, it's considerably clean and is doing it's job, satisfied with it for now she takes Maleficent's hand and wraps it around her shoulders, helping her with standing up. Then puts her second hand on Maleficent's waist, supporting her - "We have to keep moving, there are at least two other Slayers in the area and we are not in shape to fight, we need to rest." - she glances at Maleficent - "Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes."

For a while I wanted to end this chapter without telling you who got stabbed, but that would be evil, especially if I would made you wait 2 months for it. And despite what some people say (you know who you are) I am not that big tease.

Usually ;)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, tell me what you think and see you next time!