Fireheart:

Chapter 13: Deathwatch

It took another hour before Rose and Fu Dog made it back to Lao Shi's store. With each passing moment, Rose's feeling of dread increased. She knew that something terrible had happened. They entered the shop to find it in turmoil, the signs of battle still clearly visible.

"No!" Fearing the worst, Rose tore into the back room, ignoring Fu Dog's yelp as she knocked him flat in her haste. The sight before her made her stop dead in her tracks. Lao Shi was lying motionless and pinned beneath a fallen shelf, his body scorched and covered in burns.

"Gramps!" She was at his side in an instant, using all her strength to remove the rubble from around his battered form. Once he was free, she gently rolled the old dragon onto his back, supporting his head with her arm as she felt for a pulse. It was there, weak and erratic, but there, and he was still breathing. He was still alive, but only just...

"Come on Lao Shi," pleaded Rose, "wake up. You have to, please!" She shook him, gently, then turned to toward Fu Dog, who was standing beside her. "Fu, get some healing potions, anything!"

"No." The voice was weak, but firm, as a whithered blue claw gently touched her face. Rose looked down, to see the old dragon gazing up at her with clouded eyes. "Rose..." he whispered, "You're alive- AGHHH!" The claw suddenly flew to his chest, clutching it as a spasm of pain shot through him. Rose held him until it had passed, anger raging in her heart as she saw the terrible burn that scored the old man's chest, as if lightening had struck there.

When it was over, Gramps was shaking and gasping for breath, but he held the young slayer's gaze. "Listen- you must listen to me, Rose." he gasped, "Find Jake-" He snarled as another spasm took him, the light already fading from his eyes...

"No, Gramps, come on stay with me!" Rose clung to the old dragon, a look of utter despair on her face. "Fu! Help me!"

"I can't..." said Fu, looking at her with sad eyes, "He's too far gone. No even my strongest potions can save him now."

"No... Lao Shi! No!" Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked down at him. He met her gaze, and for a moment his eyes seemed to clear. He seized her hand in a tight grip.

"Promise me." his voice was so faint, she could barely hear him. "Promise me that you will find Jake. Save him Rose... Save my grandson..."

Rose gentle squeezed his claw. "I will." she said firmly, "I will save him, I promise."

She didn't know if he'd heard her, but his eyes now stared at something beyond her. He lay back against her arm, and his eyes closed, as his claw slipped from her grasp.

"Lao Shi!" called Rose, alarm coursing through her, "Lao Shi! Gramps-"

Rose!

At that moment, she felt a presence in her mind. She had only felt him once before, but knew him instantly.

Rose! Can you hear me?!

Jake?!

Rose! Aw man! You can't believe how glad I am to hear you!

Jake what happened? Where are you?!

In answer, images flashed in her mind. Lao Shi's store, then out over the city, past landmarks they both knew, and ending with a dark alleyway.

I don't have much time... You have to find me... hurry... His thoughts sounded faint, as if he were straining so that she could hear them. She felt urgency from him, pain, and a deep fear...

Jake hang on! I'll find you! I promise!

Rose... please- AGHHH! A sudden blast of pain from him, a roar of fury in her mind, a cold, dark presence, cruel laughter echoing, then- nothing...

Jake?! JAKE!!! Again she called to him with her mind. But there was no reply. He was gone.

Meanwhile...

Fu Dog sadly turned away from his old friend's body, sniffing as he tried to get himself under control. Though deeply saddened by the loss, he knew this was no time for grieving. They had to find out who had done this. At least that might help them find Jake, and so fulfill his grandfather's dying wish.

Just then, a very familiar scent came to the old dog. He sniffed again, closing his eyes as he tried to place the smell. He knew it from somewhere, or someone...

Huh... he thought, brimstone, wood smoke and hair gel with a touch of burnt rubber... He began going through his mental list of people he knew and the scents associated with them. Spud and Trixie where soon ruled out. It wasn't Rose either. He could smell her pine-needle and flower scent quite well, and underneath those, a reminder of her Huntsclan past, the faint scent of cold steel and old blood...

It was closer to Lao Shi's scent, Fu decided. The dragon identifying brimstone-and-wood-smoke, mixed with old parchment and the smell of coming rain. So it's definitely a dragon, thought the old Sher Pi, If only Jake were here, he knows a lot about hair gel- chuckle- he should, considering how much that kid puts in his hair-

The answer hit Fu Dog like a ton of bricks.

JAKE! That's it! Why didn't I notice it sooner?! Imminently the old dog opened his eyes, moving around on all fours as he followed the scent. It was fresh, only an hour or two old at most. A feeling of unease began to gnaw at Fu's insides as he continued to search. Jake's scent was different from the boy he knew, and the hint of charged ozone it carried did little to quell the beginnings of suspicion forming in the Sher Pi's mind. There was fear and anger in the scents as well. It hung heavy in the air like a poison fog.

So engrossed was he in these thoughts, that it took Fu Dog a whole five minutes before he realized that Jake's scent had led him through the front room, into the back room again, and straight back to Lao Shi's body. This isn't good, he thought. He sniffed again, noticing how the scent was strongest right in front of where Gramps had been found. But then he noticed something odd. The scent he was following, seemed to be coming from the old dragon, or at least, from something right next to him. Fu went over and studied his old friend. One of Lao Shi's claws lay on his chest, where it had fallen from Rose's hand; but the other lay on the floor next to him, curled into a tight fist. It seemed to be clutching something...

Fu Dog slowly approached, somehow knowing what he would find, dreading it all the more, and praying that he was wrong. He carefully uncurled Lao Shi's talons, his eyes once more brimming with sadness, as the scrap of bright red fabric confirmed his fears.

He quickly turned with the scrap in his paw, intent on showing it to Rose- only to find that he was alone.

"Rose?" he called. "Rose?! Come on kid, where are you?!" There was no answer. It was if she had simply vanished into thin air.

Fu slapped a paw to his head, as he growled in frustration.

"Darn ninjas! How do they do that?!"

Hey people! I am sooo sorry about not posting sooner! :( I've been getting used to my first term at college. But the good news is that my finals are now over! :D Until Spring term at least... Anyway, I'll try to make up for your long wait with two more new (and hopefully longer) chapters this week. :) Happy Hoildays!