Disclaimer: Oh for crying out loud! It's on the prologue and chapter one, do I really need to repeat it? Oh, alright, alright already… geez! Okay, I own none of the characters or any other part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon and co do. The only thing that is mine is this fic and any original characters, locations, etc in it. I'm not gonna make a penny from this story, it's been written purely for the entertainment of others. However, if anyone is interested in borrowing any part of this fic for some reason, please ask me first at rab_ruth@darkfox.freeserve.co.uk
P.S. I don't own the fonts here either, I'm just using them for effect. Chapter 2:Forewarned...
Night fell upon Sunnydale, and it was once again time for the town's demonic residents to begin stalking the many streets and cemeteries of the town. It was for this reason that the town's resident group of demon fighters, who called themselves the 'Scooby Gang' began to converge on the 'Magic Box' shop, to prepare for any patrolling that might have to be done later in the night.
Three of the Scoobies were already there; Rupert Giles, his business partner Anya, and her fiancé, Xander Harris. Giles and Anya were busy closing up the shop, while Xander sat at the 'research table', pretending to be deeply involved in reading one of Giles' rather old and extremely rare books. Every once in a while, he would steal a loving glance at his wife-to-be, until she started noticing his attentions and got distracted from her work, which earning them both one of Giles' patented looks of exasperation. That would usually be the point Xander started to find the book interesting again.
It wasn't long before a telltale jingle from the door signalled the arrival of Willow and Tara, followed by Dawn, who they had to pick up from school on the way to the Magic Box. Xander looked up from the book, glad for the distraction and greeted them, "Hey Will! How's my wiccan best bud doing today?" No sooner had the words left his mouth than he thought to himself, Lame Harris, very lame. But he had to at least try and be his usual goofy self, now more than ever, with what had happened lately someone had to do something to keep spirits up. Xander had realized long ago that such matters were his responsibility, whether he had intended for it to end up that way or not.
He was relieved that Willow was at least able to manage a smile at his cheery welcome, as was Tara. "Not too bad today, Xand." She said in reply to his question. Although Xander smiled back in response, on the inside he was slightly puzzled by the response, there was something different about Willow today. Having known her since childhood, he was probably more likely to notice it than anyone else. It was something in her eyes.
Ever since Buffy's death, Willow had become extremely depressed, and out of the rest of the gang only Dawn seemed sadder in comparison. But today Willow seemed better; there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Not just that, Xander realised, she's got her resolve face on…could she be planning something?
Xander frowned, deep in thought. What could she possibly be planning that's got her spirits up?
After a few moments, he sighed and put that thought away for later reference, deciding to talk to her about it later, once he was sure he was reading her correctly.
The thoughtful looks on Xander's face hadn't escaped Willow's notice though, so she asked him, "Something wrong Xander?" Xander looked up in surprise and gave the first reply that came to mind, "Huh?" Willow smiled at the response and tried again, "You seemed kinda distracted." It was as much of a statement of fact as it was a question, and Xander winced at the fact she's picked up on his introspective moment. "Uh, well…" C'mon Xander, just ask her! He prodded himself.
"It's just that…well, you seem…better today?" Xander caught a look forming on Anya's face, and suddenly realized that perhaps that wasn't the best way to phrase the comment, so he added, almost in panic, "Um…emotionally I mean!"
Way to go Xander, another day, another case of foot-in-mouth… He chided himself. Luckily, Anya seemed to calm down after he added the last part to his statement. He almost sighed in relief, but decided not to relax just yet.
"Uh…yeah, I just woke up this morning and, uh…" Willow started to babble, trying to make up some reason for why she seemed in a better mood today, unfortunately the best she came up with was, "…I felt better." Most of the Scoobies just looked at her strangely for a moment, until Giles finally broke the silence and said, "Well, let's begin shall we?"
That diverted everybody's attentions from her as they all took seats at the 'research table', everybody except for Xander.
He was still looking at her with the same look that he had been giving her since she started her 'babble fit', a look of suspicion.
"So does anyone have anything they want to mention, anything with possible supernatural connotations?" Giles asked, that broke Xander's attention from Willow, as he turned to the former librarian and inquired, "Conno-what?"
Giles rolled his eyes and decided to give a layman's version of his question, for Xander's sake at least, "Has anyone heard or seen anything today that may have been caused by supernatural forces?"
Nobody answered at first, then Willow remembered the news broadcast earlier that day and said, "Well, there was that big fire at the harbour last night." Giles' interest perked up at that, taking his glasses off and wiping them with a handkerchief as he spoke, "Yes, I heard about that. I must admit the level of destruction caused was rather extraordinary, but I'm at a loss as to what kind of creature could have caused it."
No sooner had Giles finished his sentence, than the door to the magic shop flew open and a figure walking with a crutch, and wearing a sheet over his body came barging in, screaming, "Dragon!" before slamming the door shut behind him.
"There's a bloody dragon on the loose out there!" Spike said, keeping his face hidden under the sheet.
Looking up from what they had been doing, everybody got a good look at Spike's form as he stood at the door, and the stump that was left of his left leg.
"Good lord, Spike what happened to you?" Giles asked, not sounding deeply concerned, just mildly interested. Nobody could see Spike's face at all, but they just knew he would probably be giving one of his 'you can't be serious' looks underneath that sheet. "A bloody dragon happened is what, didn't you hear me the first time Watcher?"
"Dragon?" Giles murmured under his breath, his eyebrows creased in concern, before turning around and heading for the books.
"Spike? Are you okay?" Dawn asked as she got up from her homework and approached him fearfully.
"Don't look at me, 'lil bit, I'm not a pretty sight…" He said, waving her off. She kept coming towards him though.
"Spike?" She asked again, gentler this time.
"Go out to the back room, I don't want you to see me like this." He said more forcefully this time.
"Why not?" She asked in a hurt voice. "Because Buffy wouldn't want you to see what I look like right now, all gore and the like, now go out back!" Tara was at Dawn's side now and with a hand placed gently on her shoulder, she led the reluctant younger girl to the back room.
When he was sure Dawn was out of the room, Spike gingerly lifted the sheet from his face, and revealed what lay beneath to those still in the room. Everybody looked away in fright, even Xander, who had never cared much for Spike anyway. The skin and hair on a whole side of his face was gone, revealing the charred muscle structure beneath, and his lips were gone leaving his teeth bare for all to see.
Holding his nose to keep out the stench of Spike's charred flesh, Xander was first to speak. "Wow! Spike, you managed to come in looking and smelling grosser than usual!" For that comment, Xander received a glare from Spike, that was made all the more disturbing by the current condition of his face, and an elbow in the side from Willow, who chided, "Xander!"
Rubbing the sore spot in his ribs, he said in self-defence, "C'mon Will, I was only kidding."
The exchange was broken when Giles called out from the bookshelves he was searching, "Spike, are you quite sure it was a dragon that attacked you?" Spike rolled his eyes in exasperation and shouted back, "Yes, I'm bloody sure! Big lizard with wings, breaths fire, sound enough like a dragon to you?"
Everybody was now looking at Giles, and they could tell that he seemed quite rattled and when they looked at Anya, she seemed even worse. "Giles? What's wrong?" Willow asked worriedly. The retired librarian looked at the rest of the group, pale as a ghost. "But they're extinct." He finally said, "Dragons have been extinct from this earth for millennia. There were some isolated cases in Ancient China and Medieval Europe, but dragons as a species…" He trailed off as he returned to his search for whatever book he hoped to find on the shelves.
"Giles?" Xander prodded for him to continue, but Giles was too involved in his search, "Giles!" He tried again, louder this time, succeeding in snapping Giles's attention back to him. "Hmm?" Giles responded intelligently. "You were saying?"
Suddenly getting what Xander was asking him, Giles shook himself back into reality and continued his story, "Oh right, well the dragons were reputed to have existed in our dimension around the same time as the Old Ones. When the Old Ones were driven from our realm, so were the dragons. The few dragons that have been encountered since then were summoned into this world from the realm in which they were imprisoned by powerful sorcerors seeking to control them and use them for their own ends." Giles returned to his book search again, but continued to speak this time, "Of course, they were unable to control the dragons and, in most cases the summoners were eventually killed by the creature themselves."
Xander frowned at that, "So I guess it's not one of those 'kill the bad sorcerer and the spell is broken' deals?" He asked, though he knew the answer already. "Unfortunately not." Giles replied, "The only way to kill a dragon is to defeat it in battle. Ah, there it is!" Giles proclaimed in triumph, retrieving one of the older looking books in his collection and flipping it open.
"Now Spike, this particular dragon breathed fire, yes?" the looks he got from everyone, except Anya, plainly said, 'Duh!' Spike was the first to speak his mind, giving the dry reply, "Yeah, it breathed fire, that's what dragons do isn't it?"
Realising not for the first time, that the others weren't all as knowledgeable in such things as he was, Giles explained, "Well, in previous accounts given in the Watchers' Diaries, one watcher described a dragon as breathing 'icy breath', while another tells of a dragon that shoots projectiles of charged magical energy from it's mouth. So certain dragons do breath something other than fire."
While the others were visibly surprised at this, Spike maintained a bored expression as always, and said, "That's brilliant Rupert, but how do we kill the soddin' thing?" Glaring at Spike over the rim of his glasses, Giles continued to leaf through the book, until he eventually stopped on a specific page, "Ah, here it is. Yes, it says here take out the heart, and you kill the beast. Presumably one would use a spear or a sword." He said aloud as he read the page.
"So, now we know how to kill it, but how do we find it?" Xander asked. A resigned look came across Giles' face, as he had no idea. But Willow did, and she said, "Well, it must be the dragon that's behind these recent arson attacks, so the next time it strikes, we just have to patrol the area surrounding whatever place gets attacked next."
Giles nodded his ascent, "That sounds like a reasonable idea, Willow. In the meantime I suggest we prepare ourselves for battle."
* * * * *
The walls of the cavern vibrated with the sound of the dragon's snoring, as it lay sleeping within. The vibrations stopped abruptly and the dragon's eyes snapped open. Rising to its feet, the dragon stretched its wings as much as it could inside the cavern and gave off a deafening roar as it shook itself awake. It started stomping out of the cavern, shaking the cavern with each step it took. Poking its head out of the cavern mouth, the dragon looked out at the ocean; though the sun itself was out of sight, there was still a golden glow in the sky. It wasn't time yet, the dragon decided, but it would be soon.
So it waited patiently, as the last remnants of daylight slowly disappeared over the horizon.
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Author's Notes:
Whew! Sorry that chapter took so long to complete folks, been busy with College stuff and all, not to mention a killer case of writer's block! I know there's not much going on at this point, but hopefully we'll be getting round to some more dragon action pretty soon. I only have a rough idea of how I want the plot to develop, other than that I'm really just playing it by ear.
I made a slight reference to a movie that was released fairly recently, who can guess what it was?
Thanks again to Ellie for beta-reading this chapter for me.
Well, hope you're enjoying the story, as always please send in feedback so that I know it's worth me continuing the fic.
Cya l8r!