Well, here I am again. First chapter of part two. Isn't this exciting? I'm actually getting somewhere! Believe it or not, part one was originally only supposed to be about four or five chapters… Oh, well. Enjoy!

Part Two: The Amulet of Sarenth

Chapter VII

After taking a quick glance at a clock in the lab, he saw that he wasn't late for his curfew yet. It was only six 'o'clock.

I'm not in trouble yet, he thought, phasing through the ceiling of the lab and out onto the porch, where he changed back to human. He opened the door slowly to avoid creaking, a habit he was probably too used to. To his horror, both his parents came barreling up the stairs from the lab. Oh, crap, he thought. I didn't even think to go invisible, let alone look to see if Mom and Dad were working.

"Danny!" His father, Jack, shouted enthusiastically. "You'll never guess what just happened!"

"Uh, a ghost flew out of the ghost portal?"

"No! A ghost flew out of the ghost portal! It even looked at the clock! How weird is that? I didn't know that ghosts had any concept of time. It's major discovery!" Jack ran back down the stairs he'd just come up, going down to do… Something.

At least he's getting exercise, Danny thought.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" He mother, Maddie, asked worriedly. "We saw the ghost phase through the ceiling…"

"Didn't even see it," Danny said truthfully.

"Well, then, okay," she said, and then there was a crash from the basement. "I'd better see what he's doing now…" She said with a sigh, going back down the stairs, too. When she was gone, Danny muttered, "Well, that was awkward," and went to climb the stairs to go to his room. He was quite literally tackled by a relieved looking Jazz.

"Oh, Danny, you're okay!" She said while embracing him.

"Jazz… You're… Strangling… Me…" Danny managed to gasp. Jazz let go and gave him a stern look.

"What on earth happened to make you skip a tutoring session, that, I might add, we didn't even know about, leave your book bag at school, and then come home almost two hours later?"

"I got thrown into the Ghost Zone while fighting Skulker. And I was going to tell you and Mom and Dad about the sessions! Mr. Lancer said just today that I had to have them; and-" Danny was trying to explain hurriedly, but was cut off by Jazz.

"You were thrown in the Ghost Zone?" She asked, and then laughed. "You are supposed to do the throwing!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Danny said with a glare. "There was this giant purple dragon, and-"

"Dragon?" Jazz said, once again butting in. "Anna didn't say anything about a dragon."

"Of course she didn't!" Danny yelled, getting very angry from being constantly interrupted. "She was the dragon!"

"Danny, are you okay?" Came a muffled yell from below.

"Don't yell at your sister!" Came another.

"I'm fine," Danny yelled back down, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, Jazz."

"Why don't we take this conversation into your room," she replied quietly and led the way.


"So, these dragons weren't like the other, right?" Jazz said. Danny had explained everything, starting with the tutoring session and ending at coming home. "I mean, Vlad's and the one that attacked you."

"Right," Danny replied. "They both seemed more intelligent, able to talk in sentences. The dragon in the Amulet of Eragon always just said 'Want this,' or 'shallow girl', something along those lines. Theses actually talk, and, like I said, Vlad's had a conversation with him." Remembering suddenly, he took out the Amulet of Astareal. "Vlad had this one, too, but I took it when I left." Jazz looked at it closely.

"It just looks like a regular amulet. But if Vlad had it…"

"It's probably dangerous." Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off. "For the love of… Hold on, Jazz, gotta go. Be right back." Danny grabbed a spare Fenton Thermos off his bedside, glad that his father made a new one every time Danny took one, and went ghost. He flew through the roof just in time to see Skulker break through the wall of the house next door.

"That's weird," he said to himself. "Usually, it would be the wall to my house Skulker breaks through. What gives?" He wasn't surprised that Skulker was already free from the Ghost Zone; it would only have been a matter of time, really. All the ghosts just come back out again.

Danny swooped down to investigate what was going on, seeing Skulker being sent flying by a blast of purple ecto… Was that fire? Danny realized that the house was Anna's house. Was it the dragon?

Skulker was soon to his feet, and fired off a net just in time to capture a form that came flying out of the house. It couldn't be the dragon, though, it was too small. Whatever it was, Danny was helping it. He shot an ecto blast that severed the line connecting the net to the launcher.

"Hey, Skulker!" He yelled. "Aren't you at the wrong house?"

"I have no time for you today, ghost child," the ghost replied. "Come back later and I will gladly hunt you down." Danny raised one eyebrow. Last time this had happened, Skulker was collecting stuff for Vlad…

The person in the net had quickly escaped, and Danny was more than a little surprised to see Anna. Only, it wasn't Anna, Danny didn't think. Unless Anna had grown dragon wings and a tail and gained the ability to shoot purple fire out of the palms of her hand since they'd last met. She looked up, and Danny was startled by the yellow eyes that stared back at him.

"You again, too? Why can't you just stay where you belong?" Danny instantly recognized the voice of the dragon. But, how… He thought blankly. Anna was being overshadowed by a dragon that was supposed to be her? Nothing was making sense anymore! And the wings and tail threw in a whole nother curve.

"I'm trying to help you!" He yelled, throwing an ecto blast at Skulker. Realizing that at this point having to contend with both a halfa and a dragon… Thing. Going invisible, he hightailed it out of there. Danny landed nimbly next to Anna, er, the dragon, as she growled with frustration.

"You do know you've overshadowed someone, right?" He asked her.

"What?" She said, a little shocked. "Well… No…" She looked behind her. "Where'd Anna g-! Oh." Looking at her hands, the dragon finally realized she had an extra set of limbs.

"Um… How do I get out?"


I cannot believe you let him esssscape, hissed the voice of Levian in Vlad's ear.

"Don't remind me," Vlad said out loud, scowling. How could Daniel have figured out how to get back into his lab?

You've misjudged your opponent far too many times, Levian said, going. Vlad was currently in his lab, looking mournfully at the empty amulet case. This has gone far enough. You have the means- do something about it.

"I'm not going to hire someone to kill him!" He growled. He still, really, didn't want to kill Daniel. No matter what the boy said, he was still young and impressionable. He could still join him.

Jack, then. Levian said. All of your lackeys, and even yourself, have failed hopelessly to kill the imbecile.

"That, now, I will agree to. Know of any ghost assassins?"

You forget how long I've been asleep, Levian replied irritably. Ask around; you're bound to find someone.

"Yes," Vlad said with a nod. "That would be the best thing to do." He smirked. "If you want something done right, hire a professional. Preferably a dead one."

Little conversation between Vlad and Levian there. As soon as I thought of it, I had to put in that quote. 'If you want something done right, hire a professional.' It was funny, right? No? Oh, well, I try. Another OC coming in next chapter, BTW. Don't look at me like that. I can't have all the amulets go to originals! Well, I probably could, but I don't want to. Oh, well, ignore my rambling for today. R&R, please.

(looks back) Wow, over three pages! Not bad. For me, anyway.