Hey gang! Thanks as always to everybody who read/reviewed the last chapter. Makes me super happy to know people are enjoying this. We're nearing the end now, only three more chapters after this one. This one's good and exciting, though. Hope you like it!

Enjoy! We're finally back with Haley after a few long chapters without her, haha. Whoops.


Haley's eyes were hard as she watched Donovan pace back and forth in the underground chamber, his shadow dancing in the light of the flickering torch that hung from the back wall. He must not have thought anyone would dare defy his wishes like they apparently had, and did not seem the least bit pleased at the way things had transpired. Evidently, he had wanted to be rid of the Red Hunter more quickly, but as expected she was more difficult to pin down than he had previously believed.

But Haley knew she would come. Donovan's last message had assured that outcome. They all knew that he would make good on his threat if she didn't, and that was something no one wanted to allow to happen. Haley herself had mixed feelings about it – after all, her death had already been predicted by Sara, but none of the others knew about that yet. And further, the circumstances of the vision were still a mystery. Though the more time she spent with Donovan, the more she wanted to see him stopped – no matter the cost.

"I may have overestimated this hunter," he finally said aloud, glaring at the ground as he continued to pace. "Maybe she's less caring than the stories made her out to be."

"I tried to tell you it wouldn't work," Haley pointed out, trying to rile him. "Besides, you could never defeat her, anyway. You've heard the stories, right? Everyone's afraid of the Red Hunter. And you would be, too, if you know what's good for you."

"Silence!" Donovan snapped, turning to glare at Haley with black fire in his eyes. "Maybe I'll just kill you now and be done with it."

"Oh!" Sara squealed suddenly. "It's gonna get really loud in here in a bit! Maybe we're throwing a party!"

Donovan's expression relaxed as his gaze flitted toward the twins. "So she's coming, after all. Good." Haley shot Sara a glare, but the oracle didn't seem to notice and instead continued to watch a beetle crawl across the wall, humming absently to herself.

"Oh, look at that," Kara piped up dully from Sara's other side. "Haley's in for a big surprise. Woo-hoo."

Sara suddenly gasped, her face lighting up. "So it is a party! Whee!"

Ignoring her, Haley asked in a puzzled voice, "A good surprise?" It was Kara who'd predicted it, after all.

Kara sighed heavily. "It's the happiest you've ever been."

That stunned Haley to a degree. What could possibly happen that night that could make her that happy? Things were looking more than a little bleak at the moment, without much prospect of turning around. Even if Rose and maybe her grandfather showed up and saved her and defeated the Dark Dragon, she wasn't sure that would qualify as the 'happiest she'd ever been'.

Just then, a shrill ringing sound pierced the otherwise silent air in the chamber. Donovan reached into the pocket of his trench coat and produced a cell phone, answering the call and placing the phone against his ear. "Gregory," he said. "Is she here?" Haley couldn't hear the answer, but Donovan's evil grin was informative enough. Guess it's show time, she thought to herself. "Excellent. Kindly show her in, will you?" With that, he ended the call and replaced the phone into his pocket before rubbing his hands together in obvious anticipation. He turned once again to Haley, saying, "Do your part and behave, and you'll walk out of here unscathed. I'm a dragon of my word, after all." Haley turned away from him with a scowl.

It wasn't long before Gregory appeared at the mouth of the chamber, Rose following closely behind (garbed and hooded as the Red Hunter, a long, crimson staff in her hand). She turned toward Haley and the young dragon could easily imagine the look of concern and relief on her friend's shadowed face. "You okay?" she asked, her voice even and controlled.

"Fine," Haley replied stiffly. "Why'd you come?" She couldn't say she was surprised, but still she'd been hoping Rose would be smart enough not to turn herself in like this.

"I would've thought that was obvious," Rose answered in the same emotionless voice, obviously attempting to appear passive to the situation so as to have a better chance at possibly negotiating with the Dark Dragon. "I'm a protector of the magical world, aren't I? There's a dragon in danger, so here I am." She seemed to notice the Oracle twins and added, "So you two are here, too? Looks like three for the price of one."

"So I was not wrong about you, after all," Donovan said, clasping his hands behind his back and gazing at Rose with a strange hunger in his eyes.

"Who are you?" Rose demanded. "I was under the impression I'd be meeting with the Dark Dragon, not a pair of errand boys." She nodded her head toward Gregory, who leaned against the earthen wall and folded his arms, appearing to take no offence at the jibe. Donovan smirked in amusement and spread his arms, stepping slowly backward. Black flames engulfed his body, changing him into the towering form of the Dark Dragon. "So it's you," Rose observed, and Haley was mildly impressed at her continued lack of emotion.

"It's good to finally meet you," the Dark Dragon said, rumbling voice echoing off the chamber walls, "from one legend to another." He grinned, showing his shiny, pointed teeth.

"So I'm here, just like you wanted," Rose replied. "How 'bout letting the girls go?"

"Not until after I've finished you off," the Dark Dragon answered, shaking his head.

Rose sighed, her grip tightening on her staff. "You see, that's not exactly in my best interests," she said. "I'd hoped to do this the easy way, but if you prefer the hard way…" She twirled the staff and bent her knees, dropping into a guarded stance.

The Dark Dragon laughed, his voice booming. "You plan to fight me alone?" he scoffed, stretching his claws. Kara's prophecy, Haley reminded herself, worry and fear for her friend suddenly rising. She'll be fine. She has to be.

To Haley's surprise, Rose answered, "Who said I was alone? I was just the advance party." She righted her staff and struck the end against the ground, eliciting an odd ringing sound that reminded Haley of a gong. Rose pulled down her hood and stood straight, one hand on her hip and a satisfied smirk on her face. Everyone was silent as for a long moment, nothing happened. What's she doing? Haley wondered, starting to grow frantic. If she thinks she can trick him…

"In here!" a voice suddenly called from down the passage to Haley's left. Was that… Spud? she thought incredulously, recognizing the voice. What's he doing here? Who all did Rose bring? Despite the uncertainty, a feeling of relief was starting to swell inside Haley. If Spud was here, that meant her grandfather and Trixie were probably there as well. And if she were free, maybe they could all take on the Dark Dragon together.

Seconds after Spud's voice sounded, a large, crimson blur sped into the chamber, rustling Rose's hood and hair as it passed her. "What?" snarled the Dark Dragon as the blur slammed into him with full force, throwing him against the back wall with a resounding boom. Then a familiar voice laughed haughtily and Haley could have sworn her heart stopped as the red dragon landed on his feet on the dirt.

It can't be… Haley thought, wide eyes fixed on the form of the dragon she knew very well but hadn't ever expected to see again. I'm imagining things. He's dead. This is just someone who looks like him. That's all.

"What-up, Tall-Dark-and-Ugly?" the dragon taunted with a smirk as the Dark Dragon rose to his feet, scowling angrily. "Long time, no beat-down!"

Oh, my God… Haley was dangerously close to hyperventilating now. "J-Jake?" she stuttered, nearly choking on her words. "I-Is that you?"

He punched a fist into his hand as orange flames sprang up around him, fading seconds later to reveal the living, human form of her only brother (though clearly older than the last time she'd seen him). He turned his head and shot her a confident grin. "Hang tight, Haley," he told her. "We'll have you out of here in no time."

Haley could feel a wide, ecstatic grin spread across her face. All this time, her brother was alive! She realized instantly that this must have been the 'surprise' Kara had predicted for her, and understood at once what the twin had meant by her words. In her excitement, she hadn't noticed Lao Shi, Fu Dog, Trixie, and Spud had all entered the chamber as well and had gathered beside Rose, who glanced over at Haley and smiled reassuringly.

"You," the Dark Dragon was saying, his eyes dark and piercing as he glared at Jake. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Back at'cha," Jake replied at once, unfazed. "Didn't the Dragon Council take away your powers after the last time I kicked your tail? What gives?"

The Dark Dragon scoffed coldly, clearly not amused by this turn of events. "I found a sympathizer," he explained simply, holding a hand toward Gregory. Haley hadn't noticed, but Gregory appeared to now be bracing himself against the wall rather than leaning on it lazily like he had been, and was staring at Jake with wide, venomous eyes. The Dark Dragon smirked and added, "In fact, this should be interesting. He may hate you even more than I do."

"What?" Jake asked, clearly confused. "Why? I don't even know this guy."

"Oh—Jake!" Haley called, remembering with a jolt her conversation with Gregory the other day. "That's Gregory Gray—Ebony's father!"

"What?" Jake repeated, looking horror-stricken as some of the others gasped audibly or proclaimed their surprise.

"You…" Gregory said, his voice low and dangerous as he stepped slowly toward Jake, who took a step back reflexively. "You killed my daughter."

Jake held up his arms defensively. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he replied carefully. "But do you know how many people she killed? She tried to kill me. And she would have if I hadn't fought back."

"It doesn't matter how you justify it," Gregory argued. "What matters is that she was the only one I had left, and you didn't even give her a chance."

"But he did give her a chance!" Rose interrupted, sounding frustrated and coming to stand beside Jake. "He didn't want to kill her, but she didn't leave him a choice. What happened was her own fault, and no one—"

"Enough!" the Dark Dragon roared over the argument. "It's in the past. What matters is now." He turned to glare at Jake, who returned the expression. "You've saved me the trouble of hunting you down. Now I can eliminate you and the Red Hunter together." He drew back his head and shot a jet of black flame toward them. Gregory stepped calmly out of the way as Rose flipped to the side and Jake changed to his dragon form and leapt safely into the air.

As Jake shot toward the Dark Dragon and Rose braced her staff to strike, Spud suddenly appeared at Haley's side. "Let's get you out of this," he said, pulling out a short, glowing knife with which he quickly sliced through the chains binding Haley to the chamber wall. Once free, she felt instantly invigorated and shifted immediately to her dragon form.

"Thanks," she said to Spud, shooting him a toothy grin. "Get the twins – I'm gonna help Jake and Rose." As he saluted her and jogged toward the Oracle sisters, a brief flash of the girls' visions regarding the battle crossed Haley's mind, but she shook it away and set her sights on the fight that had broken out around her. Trixie and Fu Dog had moved to detain Gregory, who was making no effort to escape them, while Jake, Lao Shi, and Rose were squaring off against the Dark Dragon. Rose had just landed a blast to the Dark Dragon's back, which was followed up by a kick from Jake into a barrage of fireballs from Lao Shi. Haley leapt into the air and shot forward, coming to hover beside her brother, her wings beating rhythmically and a wide grin in place on her face. "You better save some of this guy for me," she said, getting his attention. "After he locked me up, beating him down was practically all I could think about."

"By all means," Jake replied with a smirk, holding both hands forward as the Dark Dragon growled and aimed a jet of fire at Rose, which she dodged easily as Lao Shi flew around behind him and fired his own stream of flame. Haley glided downward and the Dark Dragon seemed to focus on her at once, flying toward her with arms outstretched. She ducked and rolled in midair and glided around him, landing a kick against his side that sent him reeling to the ground. "That's for using me as bait!" she shouted in satisfaction, crossing her arms as the Dark Dragon snarled and rose from the ground, ready to strike back.

It was obvious that the full extent of the evil dragon's power had not returned to him yet, as his strikes were slow and easy to dodge. The last time they'd fought him, he'd been at the height of his power, and a very dangerous adversary. Now, the fight was hardly matched, and in minutes they'd had him backed against the rear of the chamber, glaring and snarling at them, obviously angry and frustrated with his own weakness.

As Rose took a step toward him, Gregory suddenly appeared between the Dark Dragon and his opponents, making Haley jump in surprise. "Out of the way," Rose said in a low voice, grip on her staff tightening. Gregory smirked and muttered something under his breath. He waved a hand across the air and a light gust of wind blew by seemingly out of nowhere. "Look, we're not here to fight you," Rose went on. "So just do yourself a favor and—" She broke off suddenly, eyes widening and gaze dropping quickly to the ground. Haley realized why at the exact same moment, as she felt it too – as invisible force had attached itself to her legs and locked them against the ground. She couldn't walk, run, or fly, and judging by the expressions and movements of the others around her, they were experiencing the same thing. Whatever Gregory had done, it had frozen them all in place.

"Why are you doing this?" Jake asked Gregory in a voice of forced calm. "Why are you helping him? You know he just wants to take over the world. What can you possibly get out of it?"

"You still don't get it," Gregory said, shaking his head. "This isn't about me. This is about you – all of you. It's time you learned what it's like to lose everything you care about, just like I have."

"I tried to stop her!" Jake retorted angrily, a vague sense of desperation in his voice. "But she was too warped by her need for revenge." Haley watched him sympathetically, knowing he was telling the truth. She had witnessed firsthand what her brother had gone through three years ago with Ebony, and probably understood him better than anyone could. He hadn't wanted to kill the half-gorgon girl, but it had been his duty, and she had left him no choice. "It was my job to protect the world," he went on, serious eyes fixed on Gregory, who was watching him with mild interest, "and she was a threat to it. …I did what I had to do."

Gregory's expression hardened and he fixed Jake with a stony gaze, almost void of emotion. His voice was level and rang with a sense of direct finality and conviction when he said, "So did I."

Haley cocked her head to the side, a strange feeling of uncertainty and foreboding sparking in her, when suddenly the Dark Dragon got to his feet, a wicked gleam in his eyes and his mouth spread wide into an almost excited grin. "At last…" he muttered, holding his arms out in front of him and looking down at his claws in apparent earnest. Haley just barely noticed a ghost of a smirk cross Gregory's face before the Dark Dragon began to change. His scales lost their shimmer and morphed into thick, black fur while his claws and teeth stretched in length, their tips sharpening into fine, deadly points that glimmered like polished ivory in the torchlight and had the sickening appearance of sharpened bone. His body grew feet in length and width, arms and legs bulging with powerful muscles. His dark eyes flashed and began to glow a steady, evil violet hue, a vicious smile on his monstrous face.

"W-What's going on?" Haley stuttered, struck by a sudden and intense fear as she watched the transformation, eyes transfixed on the horrible sight.

"No way…" Jake said, his voice soft and distant. Haley tore her eyes away from the Dark Dragon and glanced to her left to see a horrified look on her brother's face, which only caused her own fear to increase. Jake's eyes traveled slowly to Gregory, whose expression had remained passive. "You didn't," he went on in a strained voice.

"Oh, I did," Gregory replied calmly, still standing between them and the transformed Dark Dragon. "I take it you recognize the spell? You should – it's the same one my daughter used on you. Got it from an interesting book she left me." Haley gasped – suddenly it made sense. She returned her gaze to the black monster behind Gregory and felt her heart sink in dread. Jake had fought against this very spell with everything he had, and it had still made him very dangerous. She didn't want to imagine what it could do to the Dark Dragon – who apparently had no intention of fighting it at all.

Jake shook his head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" he demanded, sounding almost panicked. "This is… This can't… Now he's…"

"It doesn't matter," Gregory said with a loose shrug of his shoulders. "My part in this is done." Suddenly the Dark Dragon raised his head to watch the group before him, an evil hunger in his violet eyes. He stepped forward and leaned down, bringing an arm around Gregory from behind. Haley's heart skipped a beat as the great beast extended a single claw and in one swift, seamless movement, sliced it across his ally's throat.

"NO!" Jake screamed as several people gasped in surprise, but it was too late. Haley covered her mouth with both hands as blood poured from the gash just below the man's chin, soaking his shirt and jacket in seconds. His eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground in a heap like a boneless ragdoll, body still and unmoving. Oh, God… Haley thought, unbidden tears stinging her eyes as she stared on in shock. The worst part of it was, he hadn't even looked surprised.

As soon as Gregory fell, Haley felt the pressure on her legs vanish, allowing her freedom to move again. But despite that, her fear had frozen her in place, desperate adrenaline rushing through her veins and making her hands shake in frightened anticipation. The fight had been going well, they'd been winning. Why did this have to happen? Why had everything suddenly gone wrong all at once? Did they even have a chance anymore?

With a satisfied grin, the Dark Dragon threw back his head and opened his jaws, letting out a loud, ear-splitting roar of triumph. Haley and the others covered their ears with their hands in an attempt to block out the horrible sound, but still she could feel it penetrating into her mind like a million tiny daggers, causing her eyes to water and her head to throb painfully. When the sound vanished, Haley couldn't decipher whether the dull, high-pitched ringing left behind was coming from the air around her or from inside her ears, and she remained rooted to the spot as the Dark Dragon leapt into the air above them and glided from the chamber and out of sight.

"Guess it wasn't a party after all," Sara piped up from somewhere to Haley's right. "Ow…"

"We have to go after him," Jake said, his voice shaking. Haley glanced over to see an almost frantic look on his face. She could tell he was very shaken up, and he wasn't the only one. "There can't be much time until he does something terrible. Aw, man, this is bad…"

Haley turned quickly toward Sara and Kara, saying sharply, "So this wasn't the fight you guys' visions were about?"

"Guess not," Kara answered with a half-hearted shrug.

"What visions?" Lao Shi asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Swallowing hard, Haley turned toward her grandfather and took a deep breath, before recounting both Kara's prediction of Rose's victory and Sara's of Haley's defeat. Unsurprisingly, they took the news with mixed reactions.

"No way," Jake said firmly, expression turning grave. "I'm not letting that happen. I promised Mom and Dad we'd both make it home alive – and this time I'm keeping that promise."

"I don't know, Jake," Haley argued uncertainly. "We're supposed to win, right? Maybe we should just let it happen. Maybe we can't stop it, anyway."

"I don't care," her brother persisted. "The sooner we take out the Dark Dragon, the better. Then we can all make it out of this."

"Still, we must get Haley somewhere safe," Lao Shi cut in, looking troubled. "I too want to stop the Dark Dragon, but we cannot take unnecessary chances. Haley cannot be allowed to participate in the battle."

Haley ground her foot against the dirt in frustration. The last thing she wanted to do was sit at home while everyone she cared about was out battling a monster. "But Grandpa—"

"Message for Lao Shi," a sudden voice interrupted, and all of them jumped in surprise as they noticed the delivery fairy hovering beside the old dragon, apparently having arrived unnoticed. Lao Shi took the white envelope from the fairy, who disappeared in a cloud of smoke almost at once. He opened the envelope and extracted a single sheet of golden paper, examining it closely with a serious expression.

"What is it?" Haley asked, grateful for the change of subject.

"A summons from the Dragon Council," her grandfather explained with a frown.

"Why?" Jake said, looking confused. "What'd you do?"

"It is not for me," Lao Shi answered, his voice suddenly grave as his gaze rose from the letter and landed on his grandson. "It is for you."

-0-0-0-0-0-

This can't be good… What could they want? Why now? Do they even know what's at stake here? Argh! What could be taking so long?

A dozen thoughts buzzed to and fro through Rose's brain as she paced back and forth outside the audience chamber of the Dragon Castle on Draco Island, where she and the others had been asked to gather while Jake met with the Council. He'd been inside for almost an hour now, and they had yet to hear even the slightest whisper or clue as to what they could be talking about. She knew the others were just as anxious as she was, and the silence that had fallen between them was thick and stifling. The tension in the air was so substantial Rose wondered if she could have sliced through it.

"You don't think he's in trouble, do you?" Spud spoke up, voicing many of their thoughts.

"He did disappear for three years," Trixie pointed out, looking troubled. "That's gotta be like… 'abandoning his duty' or somethin'."

"But the kid left Haley in charge," Fu Dog pointed out. "She's taken care of the magical world just fine since then."

"Maybe it's about Ana…" Rose suggested with a worried frown, causing everyone to fall silent again. Upon arrival and their being forced to wait outside, she had taken the time to recount everything Jake had told her about his time in the Sierra Madre Mountains to the rest of the group, including Ana Valdeza and what had happened to her. She didn't want to think it was true, but it was possible that the Dragon Council was displeased with Jake for hiding her death and neglecting to find a suitable replacement for her. Whatever the reason, Rose only hoped they would allow him to assist them in going after the Dark Dragon – she had a feeling they would need him.

After a few more agonizing minutes, the door to the audience chamber finally opened. Everyone looked up at once as Jake stepped out, closing the door behind him and staring at the floor with a vaguely shell-shocked expression.

"Well?" Rose demanded when he didn't say anything. "What happened? What did they want?"

"They…" Jake muttered absently, eyes still downcast.

"Did they arrest you?" Spud asked, rising to his feet from where he'd been sitting on the arm of Trixie's chair. "Are you going to jail? Did you escape? You know you can hide out at my place, I've always wondered what it'd be like to have a fugitive for a best frie—oof!" He broke off when Trixie elbowed him in the stomach before standing up as well and folding her arms across her chest.

"Whatever it is, Jake," Lao Shi spoke up, "I am certain they will understand if I speak with them. They must know how important it is that we find the Dark Dragon now. At a time like this, discipline can wait."

"Is it really that bad?" Haley asked uncertainly, eyeing the look of disbelief on her brother's face.

Finally, Jake raised his head and looked around at them all, before finally saying in a slow, careful voice, "They wanna reinstate me as the American Dragon."

"What?" Rose asked, noticing the surprise on the faces around her. "That's great!" She grinned in relief, clasping her hands together.

"What did you say to them?" Lao Shi asked calmly.

"I told them I needed a minute to think about it," Jake answered, a reluctant and almost nervous look in his eyes.

"What's there to think about?" Fu Dog wondered aloud. "You're in, kid! The Council wants you back! Better jump at the chance while you got it – they might not be so forgiving later on."

"Yeah…" Jake replied, tilting his head to the side uncertainly.

Rose sighed as she suddenly understood what he must have been thinking. "You don't think you deserve it," she explained aloud, causing his gaze to flit toward her and instantly confirm her suspicion. "Come on, Jake, you know that's not true. The Council knows how strong you are, just as much as we do. You've got that fire, remember?" She grinned somewhat sarcastically, thinking back to the conversation they'd had that night on the train, and was glad to see a small smile of recognition twitch at the corners of his mouth as well.

"But what about you, Haley?" he argued, turning to his sister. "It's your job now. The last thing I wanna do it take it away from you."

"Oh, please," Haley scoffed. "You can have it. Juggling dragon stuff, school work, and piano lessons is exhausting. Besides, if I want to get into Juilliard, I have to devote more time to practice. Mozart composed over ten symphonies by the time he was my age, which means I've got a lot of catching up to do." She folded her arms and shot Jake a wide smile, causing him to shake his head and grin in reply.

"You're the best, you know that?" he said with a small laugh, placing his hand on her head and ruffling her hair.

"I know," Haley replied confidently, wrapping her brother in a tight hug. "Just don't go dirtying the golden reputation I've earned the American Dragon name over the last three years."

Jake laughed again and answered, "Aw, come on. Where's the fun in that?"

After a brief discussion, Jake opened the door to the audience chamber and reentered the room, this time followed by the rest of the group. "Have you reached a decision?" Councilor Kulde asked in a loud voice as Jake approached their table.

"I have," Jake replied. He shot a glance over his shoulder at his family and friends before turning to the Council and bowing his head. "And I would be honored to work for you again."

"Good," Kulde continued, observing Jake with a small smile. "Then let it be known that on this day, we, the World Dragon Council, do formally strip the title of American Dragon from Haley Long and bestow it upon you. You will from this day forward be responsible for the protection and safe-keeping of the magical realm within the country of the United States of America, subject to further instruction direct from sworn members of the World Dragon Council." He clasped his hands together and sat back in his chair, a satisfied look on his face as Jake stood straight and nodded in understanding. "That being done," Kulde went on, "we have one more important matter to address."

Councilor Andam rose to his feet just to Kulde's right and fixed Jake with a serious, business-like expression. "American Dragon, Jake Long," he began, his voice echoing across the audience chamber. "You are hereby tasked with the capture and/or defeat of Magic Enemy Number One, Donovan Hayes, also known as the Dark Dragon, convicted of illegal sorcery, assault, murder, resisting arrest, and unlawful use of dragon powers. He has been sentenced by this Council to execution. You are to use whatever means necessary to bring this criminal to justice. Do you accept this mission?"

Rose felt an unexpected swell of pride and exhilaration when Jake grinned and drove a fist into his palm. "Looks like the Am-Drag's House of Pain is back open for business," he said confidently. "Now serving number one – the Dark Dragon."


Alright! Things are rolling now! I'll probably update this sometime next week. 'Til then, gang!

See ya soon!

-oMM