Holy shit, we're at the second to last chapter already. Can you believe it? 'Cause I can't. This story has been hanging over my head in one way or another for months, and it's hard to believe that it's finally drawing to a close. Anyway, I won't waste any time now-please have a lovely read!

Alibaba thrashed like the captive animal he was. The fangs of the dragon had clamped down onto his leg before he had been dragged underwater, and now the limb remained trapped by the steely embrace of those interlocking jaws. Though he continued to fight desperately, he knew that he had little hope of reuniting with his comrades; his ship had already disappeared from view.

In the midst of his struggles, he heard a feminine voice state, 'I'm sorry I had to do it like this.'

"What kind of sick animal apologizes to prey before eating it?!" His own voice surprised him. In his frantic desire to get away, he had not realized that he could once again breathe underwater, just as in the first time he had taken a ride with Hakuryuu.

'I'm not going to eat you,' the voice answered impatiently. 'I need you.'

He stopped his struggles. "What? Me?"

'You are the one that befriended Hakuryuu, yes?'

He immediately stiffened at the mention of the name. "How...how do you know about that?"

'I tracked my brother's scent to your ship, and since you were able to see me, I assumed that you must've been the great man who was able to see him originally.'

"Yeah...a great man," he scoffed. "Can't even lead my own crew properly."

Reptilian eyes glanced back at him. 'Why would greatness have anything to do with leadership? You can do great things without having anyone notice you ever did them-noble things. In fact, that's why I came to get you.'

"What?!"

'Before Hakuryuu went after the Great Dragon, he shared the story with me about you swallowing his eye...'

"You mean you didn't stop him from going after her?"

'I certainly tried! Everything short of holding him hostage, in fact! But listen to me...the only real way this war can end will be if you can assist him.'

He started clambering up onto the white beast's back, gripping scales as handholds. "Why me? You're a dragon, aren't you?! Can't you help Hakuryuu fight?"

The creature exhaled deeply in what seemed to be a huff. It occurred to Alibaba then that, unlike Hakuryuu, most beings of such age and might would be annoyed by such blunt speech from a human. 'Yes, I can. As it happens, if he and I were to fight together, we would stand a chance of winning.'

"Perfect! Then-"

'But I will not fight this time."

He looked at her in disbelief. Great effort was required to stay his frustration. "What...why not, then?!"

'I didn't expect you to understand at first. Listen very carefully, because otherwise you can't be of any help at all. Being a dragon isn't about vying for power with other dragons or being ambitious, like people. We must have just enough power to do what is required of us. In Hakuryuu's case, when he lost so much of his strength, he could no longer hold control over the waters that he had to patrol.'

"Yeah, he told me all that already."

'Maybe, but he might not have told you this: Helping him gain back his power will only be half the battle. He can't be allowed to kill the Great Dragon. If she dies, no one will be there to preside over the open ocean, where she has control. The world will be thrown into chaos. If we don't restore the balance-'

"How do I know you're telling me the truth? You sure you're really on Hakuryuu's side?"

She snorted. 'What other choice do you have other than to trust me?'

Alibaba paused, then asked slowly, "And you think I can do something about all this?"

'In a word, yes.'

He nodded. "I understand. Just tell me what I have to do."

The iridescent creature slowed, turning back to look at him with an expression bordering on reverence. 'You...really must be the great man that Hakuryuu told me about.'

"I can only hope so. Now how are we going to help him?"

The rain stung Alibaba as the wind blew it against his exposed flesh, but the pain only served to make his body feel more alert, more alive. He gripped one of the scales on Hakuryuu's muzzle in order to steady himself as they cut through the air.

'What the hell is wrong with you?!'

Alibaba could not have answered even if he had wanted to-the high elevation had begun to suffocate him, leaving him barely enough air to breathe. Judging by what he could see before him, however, that would soon be of no concern.

At first, he could make out nothing except the dark, nebulous forms of thunderheads before him. As they approached, what had originally appeared to be an extension of cloud began to move independently, taking on a more solid and defined shape as it emerged into view. The figure continued to emerge slowly from the cloud, as a snake creeps out from its burrow to hunt.

It was a dragon, but not anything like Hakuryuu or even like the white dragon. For even at a distance, one could see that this one was much, much bigger. Meters bigger. Leagues bigger. Miles bigger. Massive enough, it seemed, to circle the entire dome of the sky.

The leviathan's scales matched perfectly the sickly grey-green of the storm all around them, so he could pick out few distinguishing features about the creature. However, as though illuminated, the eyes of the creature shone out clearly-eyes the color of amber, and like amber, ancient and bright and hard. And they were aimed directly at him.

Alibaba knew that he should have felt fear. He did not, or if he did, the emotion quickly became lost in the flood of adrenaline that had seized his body. In his growing lightheadedness, a single intention, a single thought stood out to him, like a beacon directing him through the fog in his mind.

' When you swallowed the eye, its power was transferred to your body,' the white dragon had said. 'It is still somewhere inside you. And when you die, it will be released from you and returned to Hakuryuu. And everything will be well.'

He thought he heard Hakuryuu's voice shouting his name just as he saw the flash. He thought so, but he could not be sure. The beautiful, blinding, whiter-than-white light seemed to engulf everything in its path. It swallowed the sea, and it swallowed the sky, and it swallowed all sound, and it swallowed him. And then, it seemed, there was nothing.

When the Great Dragon's lightning bolt struck Alibaba, several things occurred.

Firstly, Hakuryuu's exhaustion instantly dissipated. But it was more than that. The pain that had plagued his muscles dissolved and transformed into strength, a tremendous amount of strength, enough to sustain him for days and days even after the terrible battle. And when he blinked, he found that, yes, his left lid now passed over a healthy round eye rather than an empty socket.

Secondly, the Great Dragon must have quickly sensed that her opponent's full power had suddenly been restored, for she and her storm quickly began to depart. Within minutes, patches of blue appeared overhead, the sky finally receiving the chance to breathe after having been stifled by cloud for so long.

And thirdly, Alibaba was gone. As much as Hakuryuu sought to convince himself otherwise, Alibaba was gone. Although he spent his newfound strength searching for endless days, seeking his savior, his golden boy, all his phenomenal powers could not change one simple fact.

Alibaba was gone.