a/n: Apologies for the long wait. I had some extreme writer's block on this chapter and literally had to step away from it for a while to regain my focus. I'm still iffy about how it turned out, but it's mostly filler anyway. Hopefully after this I can get somewhat back on track. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 36 – THE VALLEY OF DRAGONS

SUMMER - 2002

I turn on the light and walk into my quiet, lonely bunker. Home sweet home. Not my true home, of course. That would be with Buffy. I stare at the sketched pictures of her on my wall and smile. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like if she were here with me. It would make this experience easier for sure.

I sit on the cot and kick my shoes off. I'm tired and exhausted after our latest trip. I intend to take a quick nap, but my mind won't shut off, keeping me awake. I keep hearing Grayer complaining.

"Complete waste of time."

Maybe he's right. Maybe we spent weeks searching Astoria for a non-existent compound. Maybe Cronus was there in the Garden or Sea Districts all along, hiding out somewhere and laughing at us.

I reach for my wallet and pull out Buffy's picture. I stare at her beautiful face and wish I could ask her what to do. Buffy would know what to do. Meanwhile, I'm a complete failure.

A soft knock sounds on my door. I tuck the picture back into my wallet and set it aside. "Come in."

The door opens and Andromeda steps inside. I've been on the road for so long that her appearance stuns me for a moment. Suddenly she seems much taller, and her pink hair is a lot longer now. She's starting to look like a young woman.

"Hi, Angel."

"Hey. Long time, no see."

She walks over to me and gives me a hug. "I'm so glad you and Papa are back home. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I know you just got back. I just wanted to say hey."

"You're not bothering me. You could never bother me."

"Where did you go?"

"Just about everywhere."

"Did you go see our district?"

"Yes, I did."

"What's it like there?" she asks in a small voice. "Is everything okay?"

I hesitate to tell her, but Andromeda can already see the truth in my eyes.

"It's bad, isn't it?"

"It's deserted. The people that stayed behind…there's no one there anymore."

"Are the houses still standing?"

"Most of them, yes."

"But not all of them?"

"No."

"Is our…?"

"Your house is fine. It's still standing."

Andromeda breathes a sigh of relief. "That's good at least. Where did everyone go?"

"Maybe the remaining people found a way to escape or hide somewhere else. I don't know." Or the Invaders took them away, or worse, but I don't say that.

Andromeda sits down on the side of the cot. "Angel, how much longer is this war going to last?"

"I wish I could tell you it's going to be over tomorrow, but I can't."

She nods. "I figured. But it's been so long."

"I know. And we're doing everything we can."

"Did you and Papa fight Invaders on your trip?"

"Yes, we encountered several. We always do. But for every Invader we see, there are many more we don't see."

Andromeda sighs. "Sure seems like there are a lot of them. I guess it would take a long time to fight all of them. Where are they all coming from?"

"They're spread out all over."

"And where are they keeping our Crystal?"

"We don't know, but we're looking for it."

"Maybe they're keeping it in the forest where the dragons are. That way we'll be too afraid to go after it."

I smile at the girl. "You may be on to something. I think you've just given me an idea."

Andromeda smiles back. "Happy to help. Well, I'll let you get some rest. I know you must be tired. I'm glad you made it home safely."

"Thanks, Andromeda. I'll see you later."

Andromeda leaves, and I lay down on my cot. I try once again to sleep, but my mind is still racing. Only now, I'm thinking of an idea. Where is the Crystal? And where is Cronus hiding? We haven't looked everywhere in Astoria. Maybe the answer should have been obvious to me from the start.

Later that afternoon, I find Roman and Althea in the commons area. Althea is pouring him some tea, and when she sees me, she offers some to me as well.

"Thanks, Althea," I say as I join them at the table. "Roman, I wanted to run something by you."

"Sure, what is it, Angel?"

"I was just thinking of something. I can't believe it didn't occur to me before. When I came here to Astoria, it was through a portal. A portal that was in the middle of the forest."

Roman seems intrigued with what I'm saying. "Go on."

"At first, I thought the location of the portal was random, but what if that's where it originated?"

"It's a good theory," Roman says, "but the Invaders have always steered clear of the forest."

"Are you sure about that? It's true, I never encountered them when I was there, but the forest is huge. What's beyond the forest?"

Althea and Roman exchange glances before looking back at me. "We're not sure, Angel," Althea replies. "The forest has always been dangerous, even before the dragons."

"This is true," Roman says. "We've never ventured out there, except for hunting and medicinal purposes."

"Well someone had to venture out there. You told me yourself how vast the forest is."

"Our forefathers," says a voice from the back of the room. I turn around to see Old Man Hogan walking our way. He then pulls up a chair and joins us at the table.

"What do you know, Hogan?" I ask him.

"Many years ago, a group of explorers took it upon themselves to venture out in the forest and find out what lay beyond. Not all of them came back, but the ones who did told stories of the dangers they encountered. Wolves. Bears. Panthers. The usual dangers."

"Couldn't they have used magic to keep them safe?"

"Could have, but that was before our skills in magic were fully understood."

"Okay, so what did they find beyond the forest?"

"Nothing, really. Just another ocean and some mountains."

"And how long ago was this?"

Hogan shrugged. "Hundreds of years ago maybe."

"And no one since then has explored what's out there?"

"Like Althea and Roman say, the forest is dangerous."

"So no one thought to see what's out there? Even when you had your magic?"

Althea shrugs. "I suppose exploring the unknown wasn't really high on our priorities. Everything we needed was right here. Plus, I can't imagine us spread all out. Us Astorians like living in our close-knit communities."

I lean back in my chair and ponder the situation for a moment. Roman looks at me. "What are you thinking, Angel?"

"It seems that the more we fight, the bigger their army becomes. Where are they coming from? If there's no magic in this world anymore, then no one new should be coming. I'm thinking there are more Invaders than we originally thought, and I'm willing to bet their home base is somewhere beyond that forest."

"You could be right, Angel," Roman says. "That very well could be where we'll find Cronus, and the Crystal for that matter. Who knows where they're keeping that. But it would take months to travel that far of a distance."

"Approximately four months. I know. Because that's about how long it took me to reach civilization once I got here. Unless…" I smile, the beginnings of a plan starting to form in my head.

"Unless what?" Roman asks.

"Unless we travel by horse. The journey would still take a while, but it would shave off some of that time."

"We only have the one horse now," Roman says.

"I'm sure we could round up a few more. Risky, but worth it."

A week or so later, we borrowed another horse from a villager in the Sea District. I was hoping we'd find more, but was grateful for what we had. And two seemed enough for a recon mission, especially when the rest of the men were needed for security and hunting purposes. To my surprise, Walker volunteered to accompany me. I'd figured if anyone would come, it'd be someone who wasn't married with a family, but Walker was eager for the journey. So at dawn's light, the two of us set out into the forest.

By noon, we stop for a break. We were still in familiar territory, as our regular hunting expeditions often brought us here. I knew though that once we got deeper in the forest, things would become more dangerous.

Walker pulled a piece of jerky out of his bag and offered me some. "We still have a long way to go, don't we?"

I nod. "We're still making better time with the horses than we would on foot."

We don't rest for long, for we have a long journey ahead. After the horses get some water and Walker and I get some food in our stomachs, we're off again.

It's been weeks since Walker and I left. But even if I wasn't keeping track of the passing days, I'd know it from the facial hair I'm sporting.

After washing up, I reach into my bag for my razor and proceed to shave it off. I've had enough of it. From the corner of my eye, I can see Walker staring at me.

"How do you do that without a mirror?"

I shrug. "Years of experience I suppose."

It takes Walker a moment before understanding registers on his face. "Right, you were once a vampire, and vampires have no reflection."

I've gotten close to the people of Astoria, and several of them know about my past because I have told them. Though many of them do not believe I could ever have been anything but a good, honorable man. Walker, however, knows I do not lie.

"Why bother?" he asks after a moment. His own facial hair hasn't been shaved off since we left, and he doesn't seem particularly concerned about it.

I smile at him. "Because, if there's some miracle and I get to see Buffy today, she's going to expect to find me clean-shaven."

Late one afternoon, Walker and I decide to give the horses a breather since we've had them traveling since dawn. As the horses rest and drink some water from the river, Walker and I search our bags for something to eat. When we come up with nothing appealing, Walker grabs his crossbow and stalks off. He returns twenty minutes later with a wild jack rabbit.

I've got a campfire going already, and Walker and I begin the process of preparing lunch. I almost feel bad for the poor animal, but we have to do what we can for survival. And truth be told, it's not my first rabbit, and it's not half-bad either.

"How did you get so good at using a crossbow?" I ask Walker out of curiosity as we eat.

"Archery," he replies with a smile. "My father taught me the sport when I was young. It was something we both enjoyed."

A shadow crosses his face, and I know from experience that he's thinking of someone he has lost. "When did you lose him?"

"Soon after my youngest was born," he replies. "He was sick for a long time and heartbroken after my mother passed two years before that."

"I'm sorry. I know that had to be hard."

"It was, but it was also a relief that his suffering ended. I'm glad he got to see both his granddaughters, and that he's not here to witness what Astoria has become."

"It'll be good again," I say. "I won't leave here until it is. And not to mention that I can't leave anyway."

"You're stuck with us, pal," Walker says, a smile coming back to his face.

Out of habit, I reach for my wallet to take out Buffy's picture. I always reach for it when I'm feeling homesick. But when I slide the photo out of its pocket, it slips from my fingers.

Walker picks up the fallen picture and glances at it for a moment before handing it back to me.

"Thanks."

"She's a looker."

"She saved my life more times than I know. I don't know what I did to deserve her."

"You're a good man, Angel. You deserve to have love in your life."

"Yeah, well, I made some mistakes too, and I wasn't always such a good guy. But Buffy…well, she changed my life."

"Tell me about her. What's she like?"

I smile. "Stubborn."

"What woman isn't?" Walker laughs.

"She gave my life purpose. Before I met her, I didn't care if I lived or died. Then all I wanted to do was to keep her safe. Even though she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and could even kick my ass. I've never loved anyone like I love her."

"You'll see her again."

"I know. It's just hard. The waiting. You know?"

Walker nods. "Yeah."

"This must be hard for you too. You've been away from Alicia and your girls for so long."

"It is, but Alicia understands why I have to do this. We both want Astoria to be the wonderful place that it used to be. We have to restore Astoria to its former glory for the sake of our girls. They deserve to have a place where they can feel safe and where they can be free to be kids. You know?"

I nod. "I get it. At least you two get to have a reunion between trips, huh?"

Walker grins. "Oh yeah. We enjoy it. Though there's one small complaint about our reunions."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Those bunkers are too damn small and offer no privacy at all."

I laugh, but I sympathize for him.

Another morning comes. Walker and I leave the horses at our makeshift camp and set out to hunt some breakfast down. Armed with my axe, and Walker with his crossbow, we make our way through a dense area where boris tend to hide. We're so hungry though, we'll settle for just about any sort of meat.

"Don't know how you did this," Walker says as he follows me.

"You've been out on the road before," I remind him.

"Yeah, but having to hunt every single morning just for breakfast? Man, that's hell. At least when we take short journeys, we can pack a little food with us."

I laugh. "It's tough, I'll give you that. I managed to survive though."

There's some movement in the bushes up ahead. It's probably just a bird, but it's worthy enough to check out. I point it out to Walker and together, we go to investigate.

"Is it something we can kill?" Walker asks as he peers behind me.

I once again see some movement, then see a small bird jump from one branch to another. "No, just a bird." As I turn my head, something white and oval-shaped catches my eye. I look more closely, and my heart sinks. I know what this is. Dragon egg.

No sooner after I spot the first one, I see a second and a third until finally, I spot at least a couple of dozen.

"Walker, be still," I whisper.

Walker gives me a worried expression. "What is it?"

I point to the overgrown brush and weeds. Walker's eyes widen. "There must be fifty of them."

"Or more, and there's probably a mama dragon somewhere."

I spot more eggs in another section of bush, and it is clear to me what this is: a dragon's nest. Or maybe more than one. Hell, a whole colony perhaps.

"What do we do?" Walker asks.

"It's morning. Wherever Mama Dragon is, she's probably sleeping. Now's our chance. Do you have your axe on you?"

"Yes, I brought it just in case," Walker says, exchanging his crossbow for a different weapon.

"Good. I think we have work to do. And we better do it fast."

Breakfast now forgotten, I take my axe and swing at one of the eggs. It quickly becomes a gooey mess. Then I smash another and another. Walker follows my lead.

Together for the next ten minutes or so, we clear a path and leave a trail of smashed dragons eggs in our wake. It feels as if the task is never-ending. As soon as we smash one egg, we find a dozen more in another location.

"Uh, Angel?"

The nervous tremble in Walker's voice alerts me. "What is it?"

"Come here. You should see this."

Walker is peering behind some bushes. I walk over to him to see what has him alarmed.

"There," he says, pointing.

I move a branch aside, and my heart sinks. Before us is a large valley, miles and miles across it seems. And in that valley are literally hundreds of dragons. It would seem that not only are they breeding at a rapid pace, but their numbers have drastically multiplied too.

It takes us both a moment to stop staring, for all we can seem to do is watch them. Most are sleeping, but the ones that are awake are quite obviously mating. No wonder we were seeing so many dragon eggs…

"Angel, I know we can kill one dragon, and I know that we can kill two. But this many?" Walker laughs, though not as if the situation is funny. "This is impossible. I don't think we even have enough weaponry to kill this many."

"We should probably get out of this area. I don't think it's safe here."

"I agree," Walker says, nodding eagerly.

We trackback and pass the gooey remains of the eggs we destroyed. I keep my eye out for any we missed, but we were thorough for the most part.

Behind me, Walker trips and falls to the ground.

"You okay, man?" I ask.

Walker nods as he picks himself up. "Yeah. Just tripped over a tree root."

I look to the ground at the tree root he tripped over, but something about it looks odd. It doesn't look like a tree root at all. It looks like a tail.

Oh god.

Looking up, I see an angry-looking dragon staring down at us. One of the mothers, I presume. She snorts, evidently pissed off that we disturbed her nest.

"Uh, Walker, that wasn't a tree root."

Walker's blue face turns pale. "It wasn't?"

I shake my head. "Don't look now, but I suggest we run."

The two of us take off running. Somewhere above us, I hear the wings of the dragon flapping in the air. The trees offer us some protection, as it's hard for her to see us. But I know just one puff of fire and things could quickly turn very bad for us.

We continue to run, propelled by adrenaline and the will to live. At some point, we outrun the dragon, and both stop under the shelter of a rock to catch our breaths.

"Man, I thought she was going to kill us," Walker says.

I peer out from the rock, surprised that the dragon seemed to give up on us so easily. It's then that I spot her. She's a good distance away, but she's sitting on her haunches and watching the forest.

"Do you see her?" Walker asks.

"Yeah. She knows we're hiding. I think she's waiting for us to come out."

Suddenly, a strange noise fills the air. I look at the dragon and realizing the noise is coming from her. It's almost as if she's calling out for help. Beyond the dragon, I see the tree branches sway. I know the wind isn't moving. It's a dragon moving those branches. And there's more than one coming.

I look to Walker. "Okay, here's the plan. We're going to calmly walk back to our campsite. I feel that if we move slow, there's less of a chance they'll spot us. We only run if we need to. Got it?"

"Okay. Then what?"

"Then we quickly gather our gear, get the horses, and get the hell out of this area."

We make it back to camp without incident. Walker and I both hurriedly work together to gather our belongings. I almost start to think I overreacted and that the dragons are no longer a threat to our immediate safety.

I thought wrong.

Somewhere not far behind us, we both hear the footsteps of a dragon. Or dragons, rather. There are more than one of them.

Walker looks at me alarmed.

"We need to go. Now!"

Without haste, the two of us mount our horses and urge them to run as fast as their hooves can. This poses no difficulty, as the sounds of the dragons behind us have spooked the horses. Both of them take off at a hurried pace. When a nearby bush burst into flames, the horses run faster.

Eventually, the horses tire and stop. Luckily for us, we've outrun the dragons. We all take a moment to catch our breath.

"Do you think we lost them?" Walker asks as he casts a worried glance behind us.

"The horses seem to think so."

Both mares are visibly tired. We're not going anywhere for a while.

"That was a fun way to start the morning," Walker says sarcastically. "I guess now we're going to have to go around them."

"Actually, I don't think that's a possibility."

"Why not?"

"Because I remember that valley. I spent days there. It's huge. And the river cuts right through it."

"So you're suggesting we go through it?"

I shake my head. "No, that would be a suicide mission."

"So what option does that leave?"

"We're going to have to go back."

"But what about finding Cronus? Are we abandoning the mission?"

"No. If anything, I'm more convinced the Invaders have something to hide out here. But we can't get past those dragons."

"So...?"

"So we find a way to kill them. We need to go back for help."

"How will we do that?"

"I don't know. But we better find out a way. We can't leave that many dragons out there. Leaving one or two? That's fine. But leaving this many? They'll be all over Astoria at the rate they're breeding."

Carter and another man named Sullivan are on guard when Walker and I bring our horses up the hill. Both men seemed surprised to see us.

"You're back?" Carter says, half question, half statement.

I dismount from my horse and wipe the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand. "We had to cut out journey short. We ran into a problem."

"A big one," Walker says. "And multiply that by a thousand."

"Invaders?" Sullivan asks.

I shake my head. "No. Dragons. There must be a hundred or more of them in the forest valley."

"And they're breeding at an alarming rate," Walker adds. "We destroyed as many nests as we could find, but there are surely more."

"We need to be proactive and take care of this problem or it's going to get much worse."

"Maybe they'll stay in the forest," Sullivan says.

"No, they won't. With that many of them, they'll compete for resources and continue to spread out over Astoria. It's likely the only reason the majority of them are together now is that it appears to be mating season for them."

"So what should we do?" Carter asks me.

"I'm going to call a meeting, and that's what we're going to figure out."

"Can't we just get rid of them when we get our magic back?" voices one of the men at the meeting I call later that day.

"Yeah, it'll be a whole lot easier to get rid of them with magic than trying to kill them and endangering our lives," Grayer agrees.

"I'm sure it will," I say. "But I don't think we can afford to let the problem get any bigger. If we ignore them, they'll continue to breed. Soon enough, no part of Astoria will be safe."

"So how are we going to kill them?" Brutus asks. "It's one thing to kill one or two, but a hundred of them? Even if all of us were armed with crossbows, I don't think we have that many arrows."

"But we do have fire," Roman says. "What about a controlled burn?"

There's a murmur of agreement in the room as several like the idea.

"That's one of the options Walker and I discussed, and honestly, I think it's our best option. It'll take out several of them at once."

"But can't they just fly away?" Grayer says. "Look, Angel, I'm not saying it's a terrible idea, but those beasts have wings. What's to stop them from going?"

"We're not going to kill all of them. There's no way we could. And yes, I'm sure some will probably get away. But we do have a good chance of killing many of them if we act soon. It's evidently mating season, and they're otherwise occupied."

"But what if they fly away and take out their anger on us?" asks a man in the back.

"We have to be prepared for that possibility, which is why we need to be smart about this. So if anyone has any ideas on how to immobilize them, I'm open to suggestions."

"I may have an idea," Roman says.

"I'm listening."

"Somnus. It's a flowering herb in our world. Althea uses it as a sleep aid, and it's quite plentiful in the summer. And it's potent. Just a small amount will put a man to sleep for the night."

I smile, glad that the beginnings of a plan are taking shape. "That's very good to know. We're going to need to gather this herb on a large scale."

"But how can we be sure the dragons will ingest it?" Brutus asks.

I smile again. "The same way the Invaders tried to poison us. There's a lake in that valley. Looks as if the dragons were congregating around it. We'll dispense the herb in that lake because the dragons will drink from it."

It takes days of careful planning, but finally, we are ready.

The hardest part will be polluting the lake with the somnus. We decide to do this in the morning when the dragons are naturally least active. Sure enough, most are dozing, though there are still a few that seem to be otherwise occupied with each other.

A few of us dump the herbs in the lake without incident. When we return, several are eager to get started.

"Can't we start the burn now?" someone asks. "Most of them are already sleeping."

I shake my head. "No, I don't think it's a good idea. They may be sleeping, yes, which is what we want, but it's not a deep sleep. The second they sense danger to themselves, they'll bolt."

A few others agree with me, and so, we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

At high noon, a sheen of sweat lines my forehead. If I'm this thirsty and hot, surely the dragons must be as well. And finally, several of them rouse and head to the lake for a drink.

"About damn time," I hear Grayer mutter.

We wait longer, and many of the men I can tell are impatient. Hell, the waiting is grating on my nerves too. But if we don't do this right, we might as well not do it at all.

And if we can't put a dent in their population, they'll surely put a dent in ours. That's something I'm not willing to let happen.

I watch one dragon in particular as he lazily makes his way to the lake. He takes a drink, then returns to where he was before.

"I don't think it's working," another man grumbles.

"Just give it some time," Roman says.

I turn my gaze to another dragon. He takes slow steps, and his gait is unbalanced. "Look at that one," I point.

The dragon then stops and seems rooted in one spot. Suddenly, he wobbles. Seconds later, the great beast falls to the ground. His heavy body creates a thundering thud.

Soon after, more dragons seem to topple. The herbs are working.

"Let's go!" Roman says.

Together, we start the controlled burn. I myself don't know much about controlled burns, but many of the men here are from the Forest District, and they know exactly what they're doing.

It's not long before we have the dragons encircled in a fire. We wait with anticipation as the flames move closer.

I can't seem to do anything but watch.

The sound is deafening. Horrible squeals and howls of agony fill the air as the fire engulfs hundreds of dragons.

A number of them do fly off. It was inevitable. But many of the ones who got away are injured. I saw one fly away with his tail on fire.

This is not the last we've seen of the dragons, but a good number of them won't bother us anymore.

The valley is black and littered with the charred carcasses of the dragons who did not survive.

While some men stay behind to put out the fire, others head back.

Walker stands up when he sees me and gives me a questioning look. "Now what, Angel?"

I look to the sky. The sun is setting, but I can still feel its warmth baking my skin. And I already know it won't last. The summer is flying by, and too much time has already passed due to the dragon incident. By the time we make it to the other side of the forest, the season will have already changed. And after last winter, I'm not too keen on getting hypothermia again.

I look back at Walker, who is waiting for instruction. "I think our mission has been postponed."

"Good," Grayer says as he walks past us. "Maybe we need to focus on fighting the home fires rather than exploring Astoria."

"Ignore him," Walker says as Grayer walks off. "I don't think we've wasted our time. Hell, if anything, it's a good thing we ran into all of those dragons."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well just like you said. If we had left them here, who knows what would have happened? Come next spring, they could have been all over Astoria."

I nod. "At least there's a silver lining somewhere."

Walker grabs his gear and smiles at me. "Maybe hunting for food will be a lot easier now. Less dragons to dodge. Not to mention we might have more animals to hunt. The dragons were depleting our resources."

I turn back and glance at the dead dragons again. Hundreds of them perished. Still not all, but at least I feel that we accomplished something. We may not have defeated the Invaders yet, but we've killed a lot of the dragons they've brought to this world.