3 The Call

During the night, Akai awoke to a roar in the air. A calling. The ancient dragons were calling from the top of Mt. Geolith. As the roar faded, another voice reverberated through the air. A frequency that only dragons would be able to hear. No human would be able to understand what the ancient dragons were saying.

"We call upon Akai" the voice said.

"Me?" he asked aloud to himself while laid on the ground. He got himself up and wondered why he had been called to go up there. Even if he has acted too much like a human, the ancient dragons never bothered him about it in the past 200 or so years. He removed his cloak and then his pieces of armor. He then proceeded to remove his undergarments. His skin had black scales on his arms, back of his hands, and is lower body. The rest of him still looked like a human, but that was the limit of how much he can look like one. The magical ring that he kept hides his scales and ears making him look exactly like an average person. He placed his belongings next to the tree he laid by.

He hoped that nobody would steal his stuff, but he didn't want to keep the council waiting.

He walked further away from his belongings. Black wings started to form on his back and a tail started to grow out. His body was increasing in size and his legs and arms morphed. His face grew out transforming it into the face of a lizard. His entire body grew to the size of two elephants. As his wings were forming, he began to flap them. His tail touched the dirt. He walked on all fours. He ran on all fours. As he ran, his wings flapped faster and harder. Soon, he wasn't even touching the ground. He flew up through the canopies of the forest. His body and wings breaking branches with each swing. He flew higher and higher and went up past the tallest tree into the starry night sky. A black dragon. His black scales reflected itself upon the full moon. His yellow eyes glowed brighter than that of any star. He flew higher through small clouds and beyond that. Above the clouds, he stopped flying any higher. He flapped his wings and looked around.

He said to himself in his dragon form "Which way was Mt. Geolith?" and in a couple of seconds he remembered and started flying in the direction towards the tallest mountain in Shieldrake.

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As he approached the snowy top of the mountain, he noticed three of the ancient dragons already waiting for him. The top of the mountain was a plateau large enough to carry some dragons. The three ancient dragons waiting for him were named Azor, Aquis, and Kytlmyne. Ruler of the skies, seas, and forest, respectively. There was a fourth ancient dragon, as well, who wasn't present. His name was Jezeboyah, ruler of the volcanoes. They were self proclaimed rulers, but they were strong and respected enough by the other dragons to keep their title. The ancient dragons were older, wiser, and stronger than any other dragon. They survived many trials and wars to get to where they were, and Akai respected that.

Akai landed in the middle of the mountain, while the other three ancient dragons were already perched on the corners.

He hoped that he didn't make them wait too long.

Azor was the first to speak. "Thank you for attending the call. We have an urgent task for you"

Akai listened attentively. He may like to be with humans, but he also wanted to prove himself to be a dragon just as worthy as any other. Kytlmyne said "As you can see, we are missing a member. Jezeboyah. He has been surrounded by dragonslayer and is unable to escape"

"Captured!?" Akai thought to himself in surprise. Jezeboyah being pushed back by some humans. He didn't even believe that any specialized dragonslayer would be able to accomplish that. Akai looked surprised and worried in a second, but threw his fears away.

Aquis said "He has been surrounded inside Troll's cave. We have called for you specifically, as you are more experienced using your human form than any other dragon, including us. The entrance to the cave is only big enough for a human, but inside there is plenty of space for a dragon to reside in. "

Akai pondered on this. He asked "How did Jezeboyah get into that situation? He would have had to transform himself into a human to get inside the cave."

"We are unsure of what happened, but it matters not. All you need to do is to safely rescue him." Kytlmyne replied.

"Do you accept this task?" Azor asked.

Akai nodded. "Good. Call upon us here when you have completed your task." Azor said as he started to fly away from the mountain. Aquis and Kytlmyne began to fly away, as well. Akai bowed his head to the three. When they had left, Akai began flapping his wings to make him fly upwards. He then flew back to where he has gone. This is a mission that requires me to be human, he thought as he flapped his wings away from the mountain. Akai was excited to have a task given by the ancient dragons, themselves, but worried about failure. He erased the thought of failure from his mind. He wouldn't fail Jezeboyah.

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He arrived at sunrise back to the forest where he left from. He landed near the spot in which he left his belongings. They were all there. He transformed back into his human form and put on his armor and clothes. He made sure that he had everything and then put on his illusive ring. His scales disappeared and his ears turned in a regular human's ears. He began walking towards the town hoping to rent some wagon that he could use to travel to Troll's cave.