Ghost gasped when she received her father's message. Grabbing Firesong by the arm, she pulled him away from the others. "It's a dragon." She hissed.

Firesong gaped at his young student. "A dragon? You mean a drake? But...drakes can't fly." Firesong waved his hand in the air, trying to make his point, "Some of them can glide, but not fly. Are you sure he said dragon?"

Ghost rolled her eyes, "Daddy said dragon." Ghost reached out, but her father's mind was quiet. "I can't hear him, we have to do something."

Firesong nodded, "I'll scry, see if you can get Xander back."

Ghost settled on the floor, easily dropping into a light trace, while Firesong filled a black glass basin with clean water. Firesong cleared his mind, then reached out, pushing through the water and pulling Xander's image to him. The picture that formed in the basin made the Healing Adept turn white with shock. He'd heard the stories, read the old legends, but he'd never actually believed, not until now.

The form racing through the air towards Xander was the epitome of all the old legends. A long, narrow head filled with teeth, huge wings, long barbed tail, and glittering scales. And huge, easily surpassing any creature Firesong had ever seen, including the one queen cold drake he'd fought years before. Firesong tightened his gaze, looking for any weakness, even the smallest gap in the large scales covering the dragon's chest. There, a faint glitter. Firesong pushed more power into the scrying basin, focusing in on that tiny light.

Firesong decided at that point that he must be getting old. He just didn't handle shocks as easily as he used to. He shot out of his chair, knocking the basin over in the process. He fell to his knees next to Ghost and touched her on the head. 'Ghost. You must reach Xander. He can not attack the dragon. Do you hear me?'

Ghost didn't open her eyes, but Firesong felt her acceptance. Firesong staggered to his feet and raced to the center of the Vale, he had to find Darkwind.

*****

Xander tucked both wings in tight, falling like a stone, then snapped them open and rolled. The maneuver, while painfully tugging on his muscles, put him well out of the dragon's reach, or so he thought.

The dragon turned on it's own tail, seeming to dance in mid-air, and Xander found himself well within striking distance. Just when he thought those huge clawed hands would take his head off, the dragon bowed it's head and spoke.

"Guardian, I bring greetings from my creator."

Xander's mouth fell open, "Uh, hi." he stammered. "Nice to meet you."

Jade grinned, then quickly closed his mouth when the Guardian's already pale face went white. "I mean no harm to you or yours, Guardian. My creator has heard of the illness afflicting the Gryphons, he has sent me with information to aid you."

While Xander was still trying to process that information, he felt Ghost literally banging on his mind. 'Daddy! Firesong said not to attack! Do you hear me?'

'Yeah, Ghost, I hear you. Tell Firesong to meet us down by the pond.'

*****

Firesong almost bowled Darkwind over as he came barrelling into the center of the Vale. His mate caught him at the last second, barely preventing them both from crashing into the Heartstone. "Firesong! What's going..."

The crystals braided into Firesong's long white hair tinkled as he shook his head emphatically. "No time." He gasped. "He's wearing the mark! We have to..." Firesong laughed almost hysterically, "I have no idea what we have to do."

Darkwind was trying to decide between slapping his mate or knocking him unconscious. Firesong was dangerous when he lost control, as he had proven in the past. Luckily, Ghost's arrival preventing Darkwind from having to make that decision. "Daddy said to meet them by the pond. They're heading there now."

Darkwind growled, "Meet who?"

Firesong actually giggled, "The dragon. He's wearing Urtho's clan mark. The stories are true."

Darkwind darted out of the clearing, Firesong and Ghost hot on his heels, and all the while Ghost was screeching, "Stories? What stories? And who in the blazes is Urtho?"

*****

Dawn slowly sipped the hot broth, feeling it's heat seep into her bones. It was just Cup o' Soup, but it tasted wonderful. Especially since they hadn't had much time to stop and eat during the last week.

Spike had kept them moving constantly. During the day, Spike took them into the sewers and tunnels under the city. At night they stuck to the streets, only stopping for a few hours here and there. Dawn shuddered, she'd seen more rats in the last few days than she'd ever imagined, they ought to change the name of this place to Los Raticus.

But, despite the fact she was cold, tired and hungry, Dawn felt safe for the first time since her mother had died. Spike would make sure nothing happened to her, she was sure of that.

*****

Spike snuffed out his cigarette and settled his duster squarely on his shoulders. He knew this was going to get ugly, but they needed help. The poof might be a bastard, but he wouldn't leave Dawn out on the streets. Spike just had to convince him to leave the Slayer out of the loop. "Oi. This ought to be fun," he said to himself as he opened the door.

Spike hadn't even made it all the way down the steps when Angel was on him, literally. Spike growled and felt his fangs drop down. "Get off me, ya wanker!" Spike yelled as he managed to get one leg against Angel's chest and shoved him off. Angel rolled with the blow and landed on his feet, but Spike had enough time to scramble up and get his back to the wall. "Hold on now, Peaches. Is that any way to treat a guest?"

Angel growled, "You weren't invited, Spike. What are you doing here? Looking for jewelry again?"

Spike shook his head, "No jewels. I need your help." He said quietly.

Angel started laughing, "What? Did you say you needed my help? Why in the Hell would I ever help you?" Angel started forwarded, determined to get Spike out of his life once and for all, but something on his childe's face made him stop. "Spike? You're not joking, are you?"

Spike shook his head and sighed, "No, I'm not joking. Listen, I don't like coming to you for anything, you know that. But it's not for me, it's for Dawn."

"Dawn? What's wrong with Dawn? Dammit, Spike, where's Buffy? Does she need my help?"

Spike growled when he heard the Slayer's name. "Buffy." He said flatly. "She's the reason Dawn needs help. Your fucking Slayer has gone around the bend. She had the nibblet locked up in some institution. I broke her out a few days ago."

Angel held up his hand, "Wait. Come in and sit down, then start at the top and tell me everything."

Spike almost sagged in relief, he knew his Sire would help. "I need to get Dawn first. I don't like leaving her alone for long."

Angel nodded and pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Come on. We'll take my car."

Angel followed Spike's directions, frowning when they neared the waterfront. "You left her here? Have you lost your mind, Spike?"

Spike just shook his head, "Pull over here."

Angel stopped the car and looked up at the sign over the doors. "Myer's Fish House?"

Spike jumped out of the car, wrinkling up his nose at the smell. "Yeah. Heard about this place from a bloke I used to play poker with." Spike threw a smirk at his sire, "She's locked in a vault. Good circulation, bloody big door, and let's face it, this smell covers everything."

Spike slid through the doors, Angel following close behind, trying to avoid slipping in the puddles of water dotting the floor. They eventually reached the vault and Spike knocked on the door three times, waited a second and then knocked four more times. Angel could hear tumblers moving and the door slowly cracked open. "Spike?"

Spike opened the door wider and pull Dawn out of the room. "Yeah, Pet. I got him."

Dawn nodded and looked at Angel, giving him a wavering smile. "Hi, Angel."

Angel could hear Dawn's heart pounding and smelled the fear coming off the girl in waves. "Hello, Dawn. It's nice to see you again. Come on. We'll head back to my place and talk."

Angel watched as his childe carefully led the girl through the warehouse, not really all that surprised by the care Spike was taking with his charge. Once back in the car, Dawn sitting between them in the front seat, Angel said, "I don't know what happened, but I'll do everything I can to help."

*****

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