Disclaimer: I own Rachel and Erica. All 'Dragonheart' characters belongs to Universal Studios and the script/books author Charles Edward Pogue.

Low warbles of songbirds and the sensation of a breeze sending her hair into her face tugged Rachel back into consciousness. Blinking dazedly, she rose a hand to rub at her face, then groaned and sat up, wincing at the ache in her back. The campfire had died overnight, the cold ashes stirred up a little by the wind. A quick glance upwards and a mental tally of the suns position made her guess that it was a few hours after sunrise.

She spared a glance at Erica while she picked grass and leaves out of her hair. "'Rica? 'Rica, c'mon. Get up."

When her answer came in the form of a low grumble, Rachel rolled her eyes and reached out to nudge her friend in the shoulder. "Rise and shine!"

Erica groaned, stretched out an arm, and patted her hand across the ground before her questing fingers latched onto the spellbook. With another grumble, she yanked the book over her head, using it to block the sun's light. "I'll rise, but I refuse to shine. What time is it?"

"Early."

"Ugh. You think there's coffee here?"

"Seriously doubt it," Rachel sighed, gazing over at her friend. "You look stupid with that book balancing on your head."

"The sun needs a dimmer switch."

Rache gave a non-commital hum and grabbed a stick to poke at the ashes, making sure the fire was truly dead. "I think there's a village nearby."

The other teen opened her eyes and rolled over. "How do you know that?"

"I... I'm not sure." She scowled at the ashes. "I've been starting to sense things. The land nearby... it feels lived on."

"You're weird."

"Yeah. I know."

Erica winced at the melancoly tone of Rachel's voice. "Sorry."

"No. I am weird. I'm a freak, 'Rica. I'm sitting here, and if I concentrate, I can feel how big this forest is. I can hear at least ten species of birds, sense the small herd of deer that are feasting on the apples from that tree we passed last night..." She shivered and hid her face in her hands. "Oh, I can't believe I dragged you into this mess! Why the hell do you even hang out with me, 'Rica? You've got a normal life, decent parents..."

"Parents that don't even know that I'm an X-Men fangirl, or that I've beaten Halo 3 on Xbox, like, a hundred times. They don't have the slightest clue that I collect comicbooks, or that I prefer the guitar over the - bleh -" she paused and shuddered, "violin. Mom's always at work. Dad's out trading money on the stock exchange and cavorting around with his mistress - even though I'm not supposed to know about that tart. I was raised by the family dog and the freaking maid,Rache! And then they send me to some preppy, over-priced school for snobs... Gods, Rache, you're the only real family I have!"

When Rachel didn't say anything, Erica frowned and moved to sit next to her. "Okay, you wanna talk weird? Fine. When I was six, my best-friend was a ghost that haunted our house. She had died in the late eighteen-hundreds from tuberculosis. Her name was Sally McPhearson. She taught me how to knit. We knew each other for two years before I moved. Then when I was eight, I somehow managed to get lost on a class trip to a National Park. Spent a week wandering through the wilderness, and the only reason I survived was because a mated pair of ravens took care of me and guided me home. At eleven, fifty miles from where I lived when I was eight, those ravens tracked me down to see how I was doing and decided to nest in the big tree in the backyard. Twelve, I healed a young bird with a broken wing. Thirteen, some black shadow with glowing yellow eyes attacked me and the only reason I survived is because my Grandmother was visiting and she turned out to be a closet Wiccan. Things just get weirder the older I get. So, yeah. You wanna compare freakosity, I can sit here alllllll day."

Rachel's shoulders slumped as she glanced over at her friend. "That was a long-winded way of telling me to shut up, wasn't it?"

"It was mostly to remind you that you're not the only freak here. And to, y'know, quit moping."

Hazel eyes locked with blue for a long minute before Rachel's lips quirked up into a smirk. "Your pep talks need work."

Erica snickered. "Bitch."

"Nag."

A pause. "Can we go buy some food now?"

"Yeah. C'mon. It's not too far."

An hour later found the two heading to the village's stables, where their newly purchased horses were waiting. Their more 'modern' clothes were hidden away in the saddlebags each was carrying. It had been Erica's idea to buy new clothes, to 'better blend in'. Rachel privately thought that her friend was just a shopping fiend, but hadn't really put up much of a fight.

They had each purchased a pair of soft, dark brown leather pants, matching boots, and two clean tunics apiece. Erica had been drawn to a cream long-sleeved top, and a pale grey one, while Rachel had taken two short sleeved tunics, one in green, the other a pale blue. Each had been able to purchase hooded cloaks to ward off the elements, green for Erica, and a dark brown for herself.

Joining the spellbook and their jeans and tee-shirts in the saddlebags was enough food to last them for three days. There hadn't been enough money for any decent weapons, just enough for a dagger each, but Rachel was certain that, with their combined magickal abilities, they'd find a way to manage.

"I still can't believe you stole that Knight's money," Erica giggled as they neared the stables. "I wonder if he even noticed that you took it?"

"I honestly do not care. I just wanna get out of here. The locals keep staring at us like we're interesting bugs or something."

"So, it's not just me that's thinking that?" Erica pulled her cloak a bit tighter around herself, casting another glance around them before following her best friend into the stables. They were commanding a lot of attention. Enough that it was even starting to make her edgy, and she wasn't usually bothered by large crowds.

By the time she and Rachel had walked their chestnut mares out of the stables, Erica was certain that if people didn't stop staring at them that she was going to scream. A small part of her mind informed her that in these times, women probably weren't often seen gallivanting around the countryside, but it did little to calm her rising annoyance. Sighing, Erica gently patted her mare's flank before putting her foot in the stirrup and lithely pulling herself up into the saddle. The sight of Rachel struggling to do the same made her chuckle softly, earning herself a rather nasty glare from her friend once the other teen had managed to seat herself.

"I was six the last time I rode a horse, okay? I'm... just a little rusty," Rachel muttered defensively, wiggling a little to get comfortable on the saddle.

"Uh huh."

"Shut. Up."

"Heh."

Ignoring her friend's knowing grin, Rachel paused to yank her cloak off, then gently urged her mare forward, intent on getting out of the village as soon as humanly possible.

"DRAGON!"

"Huh?" Erica twisted in the saddle at the cry echoed across the surrounding fields, her mare nervously dancing in place as she watched the nearest field burst into flames. "Oh, lovely."

"Sarcasm becomes you," her auburn haired friend smirked as she looked from her friend to the dragon that swooped by overhead, his wings making whorls in the rising smoke as he swooped towards the grainery. "Hey! That's the same one as yesterday! What the hell's he doing here?"

"Blowing things up."

Rachel glared at her. "Thank you, Miss Obvious."

"You asked," 'Rica snarked back, eyeing the people that were running around them warily. She gave a shriek of fright moments later, when the grainery exploded, clouds of flour spreading a film of white over everything nearby. "Um... Can we go before the natives get restless?"

"The natives are on fire, I don't see how much more restless they can get." Still, her friend had a good point. Reining in her horse, Rachel urged the mare forward, passing through a cloud of burnt flour before spotting the nearby lake.

Erica grimaced and rose a hand to cover her mouth in a vain attempt to filter out some of the smoke, squinting into the fog. "I can't see anything!"

"Just follow me!" Rachel coughed. "Head for the lake! It's upwind of this mess! We can put some distance between us and this fire!"

"Wait for me!" Erica yelled, urging her horse after the other teen when Rachel goaded her mare into a full gallop. They bolted past three other riders that were heading into the village, and she grimaced when she saw that they were all heavily armed. But she held her tongue. The last thing she wanted was to attract any unwanted attention onto them, especially armed attention. "Crap."

Rachel glanced back at her. "What?"

"Nothing. Keep going."

They were a few miles outside of the village when they stopped to let the horses rest and drink. They were well away from the outskirts of the grain fields that surrounded the village, far enough away that both teens hoped that it would spare them from having to deal with anyone. Clouds of smoke continued to billow upwards as the fields continued to burn. It was sheer luck that the shifting winds continued to push the smoke away from their location.

Groaning, Rachel slid from the saddle and dropped to the ground, stumbling a little before regaining her balance. "Ow."

"Not used to horseback riding?" Erica asked as she dismounted with a grace that made Rachel growl at her before leading both horses to the water's edge.

"My ass is killing me."

The red-head laughed softly before shaking flour from her short hair. "You'll get used to it. Really."

"Ugh. Why aren't you in pain?"

"My folks enrolled me in riding classes, remember?"

"Oh. Right." Rachel let out an annoyed sigh and joined Erica, lightly brushing a film of flour and grime from her horse's arched neck as the mare drank. "So, what spooked you back there?"

"Those three riders we passed? They were armed to the teeth," 'Rica told her, blinking at the baffled look her friend gave her. "We don't have anything to defend ourselves with, remember?"

"Uh, hello? Magick?" Rachel reminded her, wiggling her fingers in Erica's direction. "You know enough to defend yourself."

"Think about it. We're in what is probably the Middle Ages, with Knights, and dragons. What do you think these people's opinions of witches are, hmm? Do the Salem Witch Trials ring a disturbing bell?" Erica folded her arms across her chest, nodding when understanding flickered to life in her friend's eyes. "Exactly."

"I didn't think of that," Rachel admitted with a frown. Mildly unnerved, she moved to crouch at the lake's edge, hiding her unease by cupping her hands in the water and drinking her fill before using her wet hands to comb dirt out of her shoulder-length hair. "It'll have to be a last resort thing then."

"Gonna have to be. I know you're not good at subtlety," Erica ignored it when her friend stuck her tongue out at her, "but we're going to have to lay low until we figure out what's going on."

"Yes, mother." Lightening the comment with a smile, Rache straightened and dried her hands on her pants. Movement on the horizon drew her attention, making her raise a hand to sheild her eyes from the sun as she squinted into the sky. "Hey! Look! It's him!"

Erica followed her friend's pointing finger and blinked at the dragon that was soaring across the horizon. "Wow. Talk about your frequent flier miles. He sure gets around. Wait, when did we decide that he's a 'he'?"

"Sounds better than 'it'," Rachel replied distractedly as she watched the dragon wing his way across the lake, heading back towards the village and it's burning fields.

A strangled cry escaped her moments later when a ballista sliced through the air, slamming into the dragon's chest. Horrified, she could do nothing but watch as he dropped from the sky, plummeting into the lake and vanishing into it's depths.

"Oh god..." Erica whispered, hands rising to her mouth. "Oh god, no."

Rachel stared at the waves the dragon's impact with the water had created, the cold horror that had settled in the pit of her stomach suddenly turning into a churning mass of boiling rage. Teeth bared in a snarl, she spun and vaulted onto her mare's saddle, roughly swinging the horse's head around before urging it into a full gallop.

"Rache, wait! Dammit, Rachel, wait for me!" Erica yelled, scrambling up into her own saddle before rushing after her friend. "What're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna have words with whoever shot that dragon!"

Erica shivered at the barely restrained anger in her friends voice, falling silent for a moment before nodding. "I'm with you."

Surprised, she shot a glance back at her companion. "Really?"

"Yup. All for one and one for all, remember?"

"This isn't a Disney movie."

"Good. Cuz if someone starts randomly singing they're gonna get a world of hurt."

Rachel blinked, then chuckled, shaking her head in wonder. "Thanks."

"No prob. Now c'mon!"

Nodding, the teen spurred her horse onwards, shooting another surprised glance towards Erica as she did so. Looks like I'm a bad influence on her, Rachel mused as she led the way back towards the village, smirking a little. Good. Maybe she'll stand up to her folks when we get home. Get them to let her drop those violin classes for some guitar lessons.

"...twenty eight... twenty nine... This is the best take I've gotten so far!" the Knight mused as he counted his new earnings, holding a gold coin up so it reflected the sunlight while his horse obediantly kept strolling along the lakeside. "Especially since I lost my savings."

The thought pulled an annoyed sight from him. Twenty hard earned gold coins didn't just get up and walk away, no matter how odd his life had become. A dragonslayer in league with a dragon, how much weirder could things get?

The sound of galloping hoofbeats yanked him out of his thoughts, hands automatically tucking his new earnings into his belt before turning to frown at his unwanted visitor. If it was Felton come to strong-arm him into giving back the gold, the foppish idiot had another thing coming to him.

But what registered to his gaze wasn't Felton come to reclaim his gold. Instead, he stared right into furious hazel eyes, blinking stupidly as the auburn-haired girl loosed a scream and once again tackled him off his horse.

"You bastard!" Rachel growled as they tumbled to the ground, kneeing him in the crotch when she landed on top of him. Before the Knight managed to shake off the pain of her first hit, she had grabbed his shirt, lifted him a bit off the ground, and headbutted him. "What did he ever do to you?"

Erica winced as she reached them, watching as Rachel landed a particularly strong punch to the Knight's face. True, she shared Rachel's hatred that the Knight was a killer for hire, but she didn't have the same reasons behind it that Rache did. Granted, that didn't stop her from urging her friend onwards while she hopped off her horse and went to watch the fight.

"I hate people like you!" Rachel snapped, glaring down at the Knight venomously. He had scored a hit to her temple, and while her vision did do a momentary wobble, she didn't need to see properly to rain hits down on him. "What, do you go around murdering creatures just for the fun of it? For money?" She punched him again, ignoring the growing pain in her knuckles as she did so. "For pleasure? You. Make. Me. Sick!" Her last four words were punctuated with four more hits, the last one breaking his nose with an audible crack.

"What's going on here?"

Rachel froze in mid-punch, her fist inches away from the Knight's already broken nose as Erica let out a gasp of shock from behind her. Slowly, as if in a dream, she rose her head and blinked up into a pair of golden orange eyes. She stared, her hair lifting from her shoulders as the dragon's wings beat strongly a final time, slowing his descent before he landed heavily and folded the great vanes against his back.

Sunlight shimmered off of gold and bronze scales, accenting the earth-toned hues of the dragon's colouring as he stepped towards her. Muscles rippled as he walked forward, his large wings folded tightly against his sides to allow maximum mobility on the ground.

Erica couldn't help but gasp in awe at the beauty and grace of the being that presented itself to them. The curious, yet wary, gaze of the creature came to rest on her for a moment before moving to her fellow teen, and she found herself stunned at the intelligence she had seen in those reptilian-like eyes.

Rachel couldn't breathe for a moment, afraid that if she did, that any sound she made would shatter the scene in front of her. It's a dragon. A real dragon... He's magnificent. A sharp tap on her right shoulder startled her, and she gasped as she glanced back at an amused Erica.

"You'd look mighty stupid if you passed out from lack of air," her friend pointed out with a smirk.

She blinked and turned her gaze back to the dragon - who apparently wasn't a figment of her over-active imagination - then shook herself, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. "Y-you're alive!"

The dragon frowned. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"The ballista shot-!"

Erica cut her off by walking over and trying to get her off the Knight. "Rachel, I don't think that guy can breathe while you're sitting on his chest and digging your nails into his throat."

Hazel eyes glanced from Erica to the man who was pinned under her. "Your point?"

"My point, is that if the dragon's alive then you really don't have a reason to keep tenderizing this guy's face!" Erica retorted as she grabbed her friend's arm and literally dragged the teen off of him.

"Fine," Rache muttered, trying to shake feeling back into her right hand. "My hand hurts like hell anyway."

"Wait! Wait." The dragon's gaze darted from the two women, to the Knight, then back to the teens, staring at them in obvious shock. "You attacked him... because you thought he had killed me?"

"That was the reason behind Rachel's whole, 'I'm gonna pulverize the Knight' thing, yes," Erica answered as she used a torn strip of cloth to wrap up Rachel's right hand, worried at her friend's bruised and bleeding knuckles. "There. How's that feel?"

"Like I broke my hand on the idjits forehead. But, other than that, I'm peachy. Thanks," the other teen smirked, wincing as she gingerly flexed her fingers. Once she was sure that everything, while hurting, was still working, she sighed and looked up at the dragon, meeting his slightly stunned gaze. "I take it this doesn't happen very often around here, huh?"

The dragon glanced at the semi-coherant Knight, then shook his head. "Truthfully? No. It's been a very, very, long time since a human defended a dragon." He returned his gaze to the Knight, trying hard to hide a smirk as the man groaned and sat up. "Are you alright?"

"She bwoke my nose!"

Rachel, unable to help herself, grinned down at him. "I can break something else if you'd like."

"Rache, that seems a bit mean... Even if he does deserve it," Erica added, sending a glare in the Knight's direction.

"Who de hell awe you pweople?" the Knight mumbled as he tried to get to his feet, growling when the red-haired teen pushed him back onto the ground.

"You probably have a concussion, you idiot. So, sit your ass down before I sic Rachel on you again."

"Oh, how kind. What am I, an attack dog?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Erica grinned.

Rachel huffed and merely glared in response, refusing to answer. Instead, she sighed and ran her left hand through her hair, forcing herself to calm down as she looked over at the dragon, who was watching them in a mix of amusement and curiousity. "So, what's the deal? He tried to kill you, didn't he? So why the hell do you care about what happens to him? What, is this, like, some psychotically weird plan to... swindle... Oh."

A smile tugged at the dragon's muzzle. "Oh, indeed. It's a... a way to pass the time, I suppose. Though we didn't harm anyone. Well, nothing except the Lordship's purse."

"Can I ged up now?"

Rachel frowned and looked from the dragon to the Knight, quirking a brow at the disgruntled look the man was giving Erica. When her fellow teen reluctantly stepped back to give the Knight room to stand, she arched a brow and watched as he got to his feet, the glare he turned on her making her smirk. "Am I supposed to be afraid?"

Erica rolled her eyes. "Rachel, you just bought that tunic. Blood will ruin it."

"Whatever." She shoved the Knight away from her before the urge to hit him again became too strong. "Back off. You're standing in my aura."

Sending the dragon an apologetic look, Erica walked back to their horses and climbed up onto her mare's saddle. "C'mon, Rache. We came, you hit someone, and the dragon's alive and well. Can we go now? Preferably before you get us killed?"

"Nag," Rachel teased, oblidgingly returning to her own horse and murmuring soft reassurances to the animal when it gave a nervous whiney and tossed it's head, eyes fixated on the nearby dragon.

Still surprised at what he had seen, the dragon continued to gaze at the two women in badly veiled awe. Two complete strangers, obviously not of this land, had taken on a Knight of the realm... for him. It simply amazed him that there were still souls such as theirs roaming the world. Only the Celts had such feelings for his kind. Even then, very few would have dared to attack an armed dragonslayer.

"Wait," slipped out of him before he could stop himself. He couldn't let them go. Not without finding out who they were. It couldn't be a coincidence that their paths had crossed. Not on the first day in years that he dared to venture out from the shadows. "Where will you go?"

"That way," Rachel announced, pointing east.

"Oh, a big help you are," Erica snickered as she leaned forward to pat her horses neck when the mare danced a little, nervous at being so close to a huge carnivore. "Seriously though. We're, uh... We're not from around here. So we're just basically wandering."

"Bess make sure you don' addack anyone else," the Knight mumbled sourly as he prodded his broken nose, trying to nudge it back into place. "I sure as hell won' come to you' wescue."

"We are not delicate waifs in need of saving," Rachel snapped. She smiled gleefully moments later as she walked over, grasped the Knight's nose between two fingers, then roughly snapped it back into place.

The Knight's howl made sent birds, for a mile around, into the air, and made the dragon visibly wince.

"Well, we know his lungs work," Erica muttered as his pained yell finally died out

Rachel eyed him as he whimpered and clutched at his face. "Wuss."

"Rache, not everyone has your high tolerance for pain."

"...Oops?"

"Yeah, right."

"Damned wenches."

Both teens looked at the Knight as the man lowered his hands and glaredat them, his face purpling when they merely rolled their eyes at him, unimpressed.

While Rachel returned the man's dirty looks with an irritated glare, Erica turned to smirk up at the watching dragon. "Is he always so cheerful?"

A soft chuckle rumbled out of the dragon. "I think his ego is a little battered at the moment." He paused, then sighed. "Though I suppose he'll get worse as the pain sets in."

"Oy! I resent that!"

"Wow. You almost managed to look indignant," Erica smiled, ignoring his angry expression. "Be nice. At least you're don't sound like a lisping duck anymore."

"Okay, okay. Enough of this. It's too easy and starting to get rather pitiful," Rachel said to Erica as she hauled herself up onto her mare's back. "Besides, the dragon's going to end up killing himself trying not to laugh."

"Point."

How long has it been since I've laughed? Over a decade? Taking a breath, the dragon got himself under control and shot an apologetic glance in the Knight's direction before looking over at the two teenagers. Ten minutes with these two and I feel lighter than I have in years.

"We should get going," Rachel sighed, glancing over at the dragon a final time before coaxing her horse to turn towards the east, blinking when Erica leaned over and lay a hand on her left arm.

"You sure?" her friend murmured, frowning slightly.

She nodded. If I don't leave now, I'm liable to attach myself to the dragon and never let go. "Yeah."

"No!"

They paused, exchanging glances before turning to look at the Knight who had his fists on his hips while he glared up at the dragon.

"No way!"

"You don't even know what I was going to suggest!" the dragon protested, annoyed.

"I am not travelling with those two! They're insane! She broke my nose!"

"We're never going to hear the end of that," Erica whispered to Rachel, who snickered.

"Which? The insanity, or the breaking of his nose?"

"Both."

Rachel chuckled, looking over at the mismatched pair that were now nearing a full fledged screaming match. "Should we?"

"Probably," Erica shrugged, noticing the smoke rising from the dragon's nostrils. "Only we can prevent forest fires."

"That's horrible, 'Rica."

"Sorry."

tbc