Ancestral Dragon

Chapter 30

Jak weaved through the underbrush of the pine forest as he ran, fueled by his anger, in the direction of his friends.

Friend, he corrected himself.

Zachario had come on this mission simply to help find answers while Rory only came because she was ordered. The only thing that interested her about Jak was his training. After the trouble they had with Von Chiemer, Jak had not questioned it. Now, Jak didn't trust anything after finding out that the old couple was alive and being kept in the king's dungeons.

Attempting to reason why Rory would withhold that information only inflamed his anger. The old couple had taken Jak in when he was vulnerable and lost. They were the first people he'd met in this world and they only wanted to protect him. Jak met their kindness with anger and impatience, which they never deserved.

"Stop right there!" Jak yelled as Rory came into view.

Not thinking clearly, he unsheathed the sword from his back and raised it. Within seconds of the surprise attack, Rory calmly responded by unsheathing the swords from behind her and twisted them apart. She crossed them in front of her body, catching Jak's wild attack. Then, Rory leaned forward and rotated her blades so that Jak was forced to drop his weapon. While he tried to pick up his sword, Rory crouched and swiped her leg through his weak stance. He fell onto his back and immediately tried to lift up but her blades crossed at his throat.

"What the chaos do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Zachario's mouth dropped with wide eyes as he watched the events unfold. He unsheathed the blade from his waist regardless and held it at Rory.

"Let him up," Zachario ordered.

"Put that thing away," Rory said, not even lifting her eyes from Jak.

Zachario swung his blade at Rory's back. She parried it with the curved blade in her left hand and came at him with her other sword. He parried her attack and backed away. Rory stepped forward and they exchanged multiple blows. Jak stood back up and joined Zachario after grabbing his weapon.

Rory backed away from both of them holding her blades in front so neither had a clear strike. Jak rotated around to her backside. She pivoted her body to make sure that he couldn't sneak up on her.

"What are you two doing?" she yelled.

"Um... uh..." Zachario fumbled over what to say at first. "I don't know but you drew blood first!"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Jak yelled at Rory. "They're alive. Were you ever going to say something to me?!"

Rory hung her head as she slid the swords into their sheath on her back. Zachario followed suit but Jak stood trembling with his sword aimed at Rory still. He couldn't bring himself to attack but he was still overwhelmed with anger and frustration. The old couple had sacrificed themselves so that he would be free from the king's dark will. It was his fault that they suffered in the dungeon.

"This is why we didn't tell you," Rory said as she raised her head. "When I returned, you bonded with the ancestral dragon and with that bond comes extraordinary power. Viktor and I both thought that you might do something foolish like try to rescue them. We did it to protect you until we could do something about their situation."

Jak lowered his blade and then raised it to slide into the sheathe on his back. Rory was right whether he wanted to admit it or not. He may be powerful but he was not skilled enough to rescue them. If he knew where John and Agatha had been held, he would have tried a rescue mission alone. But now he had comrades here near the capital with him.