Chapter 11

Jake stared out at the council room as he waited for the trial to start, still another two hours left before the sentencing of Dark Dragon's apprentice was to officially commence. So far no other dragons had shown up, but from what he heard whispered from one of the many private council meetings it was supposed to be a packed event, everyone in the magical world eager to hear the fate of the infamous Lian.

Apparently, everyone but him knew about her in the magical world, the girl who just suddenly appeared out of the clutches of the underworld with the heartbreaking tale of being a prisoner of the Dark Dragon himself, for a few hours hero of the magical world until her own dark and awesome powers were unleashed. Her cover blown, it was rumored by some that she defeated the entire council to escape, others simply explaining that she had somehow found a hidden escape route in the council dungeons and maneuvered her way out; lesser than her had accomplished the same. Still, no one had inspired the man hunt that she had, with the magical world on high alert for a full year before the council suddenly just stopped talking about it all together, everyone assuming she had either been captured or neutralized and thus moved on to other worries, though never quite forgetting the panic the Dark Dragon's apprentice had thrown them into.

She had been smart, cunning, and so incredibly charming that her pleas were almost believable, but everyone knew that someone that powerful with the dark side was always just plotting their next move, ready to strike on the next unlucky sucker.

And because he had been unaware, kept in the dark by his grandfather on so many important matters like this, the American Dragon had now found himself that very next unlucky sucker, the laughingstock of the entire magical world for how stupid he'd been.

He'd felt stupid for a few hours, sure, but then he'd just gotten angry, the fire of rage growing deeper and deeper in him until he finally just went silent with cold rage, scaring everyone a little bit with how calm and quiet he suddenly went and the pissed look on his face.

He wanted revenge, he wanted answers, he wanted to swallow his memories and pretend he had never talked to her or started to care about her.

Most of all, he just wanted to talk to her and hear her side of the story, not all the rumors and little musings about her character but the real her, Lian the apprentice, so then he could tell her off and just wipe his hands clean of it all.

Hearing the council door open again, Jake looked to see Trixie and Spud coming out of the meeting room with the dragon council members, the two teens looking exhausted as they came and sat down beside him.

"Man!" Trixie exasperated as she plopped down, "Those guys really asked us every question they could think of! What happened then, why do you think that happened, what happened at the exact time, what did it look like-I mean there's being through and then there's being extra, and that was extra!"

"Yeah, I agree with Trixie, all of that has made my brain feel very tired," Spud sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, "But what about you Jake, how are you feeling, dude?"

"I wanna talk to her."

Spud lifted up his head and opened his eyes as Trixie stared at him as well the dragon council and Grampa, stepping up with an especially distraught look on his face.

"No, Jake, no! it is too dangerous-"

"Yes, she will just fool the boy again with her charming ways!" Councilor Kukulkhan agreed.

"Maybe it could be useful," Councilor Kulde spoke up. The group looked at him in surprise, the man clearing his throat before explaining further.

"After all, she has not yet made a confession, and it is our custom to give prisoner the right to confess their crimes for verification."

"Bah, we don't need a confession! We already have plenty of crimes to pin to her as is!"

"But a confession could properly identify her power and influence as well, so that we hand down a proper sentence," Councilor Ominda agreed with Kulde, "she has been eager to see him too, the young dragon may help u achieve a better outcome."

"No one is going to talk to the prisoner," Councilor Andam spoke up as well, "you are already too close as it is, she would just manipulate you again."

"No, she won't." Jake stood up, looking the councilors straight in the eyes, "I'm not falling for her tricks again, I just want answers. Please, let me talk to her alone for a few minutes. I can get you the confession you need." The group looked at him concerned for a few tense moments, Councilor Andam sighing as he nodded.

"Very well."

"No!" Grampa shot up, rushing over to his grandson and pleading with him, "Jake please! This is too dangerous, you can't-"

"Stop it!" Jake snapped at him, feeling himself getting that same anger again like in the shop, "I need to do this, and I need to do this alone!" Lao Shi looked upset, but he still backed off, Jake standing up and following the rest of the council down to the prison to talk.

Hi mind racing the whole way down to the cell, Jake tried to remain calm and focus on what he wanted to ask the girl who had betrayed everyone so deeply. Why had she done this? Why him-but of course he knew that answer, to manipulate him because he was too trusting.

And if she wasn't here to protect him, then what was she here to do?

As the descent continued, the walls began to narrow and darken so that soon the council couldn't follow, instructing him to simply question her on a list of crimes and nothing else, for she was too slippery of a liar to believe anything else.

"She's very well secured this time, so you'll be perfectly safe," Councilor Ominda told him as she slipped him the scroll of crimes, "Do not inflict more damage than is necessary on her, though, for her trial is only a few-"

"I won't," Jake said, taking the list and quickly beginning to walk further down, "Bye."

As he walked further, the closeness of the walls and the darkness began to almost engulf him, Jake feeling skivvy and on edge as he had to scale along the walls just to get through and wondering if this didn't make people go mad to be down here. Finally he reached the door of Lian's cell, a huge rolling stone with a strange blue energy coming off of it, doing as he had been earlier told and sticking his claw into the tiny hole so that the magic recognized him and tumbled away, the stone rolling away slowly to let him in.

Lian was chained up against the wall with unicorn horn and sphinx hair so strong they made Jake immediately weak, his dragon form quickly falling away in the face of them as he stepped into the center of the room. Lian gasped in surprise as she looked at him, then cooled, pulling at the chains with greater vigor as the other dragon glared at her.

"Jake, you have to help me out of here-"

"No." Jake told her, his eyes cold as he glared at her in angry disbelief that she could still try to manipulate him, "I don't have to do anything."

"What?" Lian looked shocked, hurt, stopping her struggles to look at him in disbelief, and just for a moment Jake could see why she had gotten to him. She was cunning enough to be strong but then lapse into that innocent damsel in distress mode when she felt it convenient, only this time it wasn't going to work on him as he steeled his emotions.

"I don't have to do anything you tell- manipulate me into doing anymore, Lian!"

"I didn't do anything wrong-"

"You lied to me, Lian!"

"I did not-"

"You endangered my family, my friends, sent us on a wild goose chase for what?!"

"I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth!" Lian insisted, her face pleading with him just as Grampa's had, which disturbed him, "The Dark Dragon is coming back today for you, not your Grampa, and that terrifies you doesn't it-"At the mention of the name, hi blood ran cold, turning his back to her to try to shield this reaction.

"You don't know anything-" he began to mutter bitterly.

"I know what it is to be afraid of him, because I'm scared too, terrified," Lian pleaded with him, trying to appeal to him with a sincerity that indeed almost worked, "There's nothing I could've done but warn you and then get as far away as possible, because there is no stopping him this time! He will destroy everything if we stay! If you don't help me leave then Rose is in danger-"

At the mention of Rose's name Jake snapped, breaking his promise to the council as he flew at her and pinned her back against the wall, the sphinx hair making him weak but still strong enough to squeeze her throat dangerously close to breaking it.

Lian's eyes steeled too, the identical cold look she had given him when they first attacked each other, her voice low as she scoffed at his angry lashout.

"You're no killer, Jake," she warned him, her voice so chilly it sent a shiver down his spine, "You're a good little dragon, doing exactly what they tell you and never questioning anything even when it doesn't make any sense!" then she bucked forward, still powerful enough to buck him off a good foot from her, glaring almost cruelly at him as her voice went even lower, to almost a whisper, as she spoke.

"You wanna be bad Jake, take a walk in my shoes, then you'll know what darkness really feels like."

"So you're exactly who they say you are," Jake scoffed back, shaking his head at himself for even believing her in the first place, "You're evil, you're manipulative, a murderer, a convincing liar-"

"I lied to you?!" Lian snapped at him, pulling at the chains again, her anger potent this time, "Why don't you go ask Luong Lao Shi what he really knows, and then we'll see who's the liar?" The words stung Jake, because he didn't have any response, still himself unsure of exactly what his grandfather's motive were these days. Silenced, he simply looked at her, gripping the scroll in his hand as he waited for her to continue.

"Think about it for a moment," she asked him gently again, just as before, "I warned you of the danger. I protected you. I haven't told you one lie, even when it would've been convenient. And just like you, I want to keep everyone safe. Us leaving, disappearing into the human world forever, that's what's going to keep everyone safe. Think about it. Do you trust me?"

"No." The answer was immediate, shaking his head at Lian's shocked and poled face, his anger faded to just sadness and pity at her as he walked away towards the door.

"Jake please!" Lian's desperate begging hit at his back, Jake tempted to turn around but keeping firm as he griped the door and began to open it.

"No, Lian. We're done."