The Journey Begins

Chapter 14: Face to Face

By SheRa-ver

A/N: Do you remember Akal aka Dragon? It's been a while since we've seen him, huh...

Face to Face

The sun beat down on Caradoc's army as they ventured up the mountain. Jane wiped sweat from her brow, and glanced behind her. All the other knights were sweating profusely as well.

Hopefully, they would reach the top before nightfall. Jane, along with everyone else, was more than ready to finish the war, and be done with it.

Akal awoke in a large nest to find servant-dragons waiting on his every move.

The hustle and bustle of his kingdom was only finally starting to get to him after the two months he had spent with there. He pushed away a plate of meat one of the servants offered him, and told them to leave.

Once his cave was empty, he sighed. After the long while he had spent back with the dragons, he was only now starting to reminisce about his other home.

Caradoc's Kingdom.

Thinking of that place made Akal remember Jane and all her short-life friends. He felt a smile come to his face.

That carrot-haired woman had been his closest companion. Akal would give anything at the moment to see her again.

A sharp, sudden sound interrupted Akal from his thoughts. He exited his cave, and covered his eyes from the sunlight. Many guard-dragons rushed and made a shield around him.

"What's going on?" Akal asked. A guard craned their neck to look at him.

"A group of about a hundred humans wandered into the kingdom. They are being detained right now, Prince Akal."

Akal only needed to hear the word 'humans' before he pushed his way through the guards. He didn't know how, or why, but he was going to find these humans.

Jane hadn't seen them coming, so when the five orange dragons appeared in front of her, she couldn't help but scream in fear.

Each dragon was suspended in the air with large wings, and used their massive, clawed hands to grab a portion of Jane's army off their horses.

Jane and Gunther were one of he last people to get snatched. Jane felt fingers as big as her body squeezing her until she could hardly breath.

She swatted and kicked at their hands aimlessly, and choked out, "Let...me...see... Dragon!"

The dragon holding her smirked and said something in Dragon Talk. Jane deciphered it, and realized it had said, "Dragon? We're all dragons."

One more squeeze from the dragon, and Jane was sure she'd faint. She started seeing flashing lights in her eyes, and looked past the dragon holding her, and gasped at what she saw.

She wasn't sure if it was the Dragon she knew, but a big, green creature was making it's way towards her.

It began to eyes, but Jane didn't hear the rest. The dragon holding her squeezed slightly, and everything went black.

Jane groaned, and opened her heavy lids. Darkness met her eyes, and she blinked her tiredness away.

She tried to sit up, but her abdomen ached. Jane patted her belly, but pushed herself up anyway. She squinted around the room, and figured out she was lying in a nest.

"How-"

"Oh, good! You're awake."

Jane whipped around and stared at a large, green dragon. She immediately reached for her sword, but frowned when she found it wasn't there.

"Where have you put my sword?" she asked, getting to her feet. Her stomach ached.

The green dragon blew a steady stream of fire from its mouth, and lit torches that lined the walls. Jane stared up at the creature, and memories of being squeezed half to death came back to her.

She took several steps backward, in fear, but stopped when the green dragon spoke.

"Have you forgotten me already, Jane?"

The voice was familiar. Too familiar. Jane got closer, and examined the dragon. She gasped.

"D-Dragon?"

Akal nodded, and Jane stared. She hadn't really considered how to react once she had met him.

"Well they call me Akal here in my kingdom..." Jane furrowed her brow at her old companion. "There's a lot we need to discuss, Jane. Why don't you sit."

Jane had been away from her friend for so long, she didn't know if she could trust him or not. Akal seemed to sense this, and frowns visibly.

"I saved you from the wrath of my people. You should trust me off that alone. I just want to talk, Jane."

Jane slowly sat back down in the nest and listened. She learned that Dragon's new name was Akal, and many other things about his race. Jane felt her heart stop many times as Akal told her of his journey, but she allowed herself to laugh at other times.

"So, you were a prince left in the cave by our kingdom?" Jane asked, wanting to make sure.

Akal nodded. "It's crazy, I know, but at least I know the truth. Speaking of truth, is there anything you need to tell me?"

Jane swallowed and diverted her eyes. She rubbed her aching belly, and dared to meet Akal's gaze.

"I was sent here to eradicate your race, Akal."

Akal didn't seem surprised, which was very surprising to Jane. "Well, will you do it?"

Jane dropped her head in her hands. This question had gone unanswered for more than a month. At times e answer would be yes, but other times it would be a definite no.

Akal - no, Dragon - was her friend. One couldn't simply kill their friend and their friend's family.

But it was her duty. She had to, and if she didn't, she would be committing treason against King Caradoc. Jane could be executed for that act alone.

"Ah, so you don't know." Akal had came to that conclusion after Jane had gone over two minutes without answering.

"I understand you," sympathized Akal. "If you kill us, you betray me. If you don't, you betray your kingdom."

"Exactly. Duty and preference."

Akal chuckled, lightly, and Jane looked up at him. "Well, the I think there's one way to solve the problem permanently."

"And that is...?"

A/N: We are FINALLY reaching the end if this fanfic! There' so only one more chapter to go!

Thanks for reading, reviewing, and I'd appreciate it so much if you told me what you think.

And if you guys have been waiting on more Gunther and Jane moments, they'll be back next chap.

Bye for now.