Heh, well, two things here. First off, I can't get into the computer lab that I normally use, so updates will be a bit more erratic… but hopefully still fairly regular, and second of all, I just got a new RPG, so blame all lack of updates on that. I'll still try to update every day, but no guarantees. Anywho, on with the story!

**

            The huge eye blinked once, and then narrowed. Miroku nervously reached forward, and pulled Sango back several feet. There was a tense silence.

            Slowly, starting deep beneath their feet, a rumble started to work its way to the surface. The crystalline blue eye narrowed angrily, and the sand all around them suddenly exploded upward as, like an angry, blue lightning bolt, the dragon erupted from the sand, sending all three of the travelers flying in different directions. The beast rose, towering, into the air. Sango gasped in awe as the sky clouded even as the dragon rose to its full height, towering into the sky.

            It held one arm into the sky, its ivory claws reaching up to the roiling black clouds. In response, bolts of lightning raced down to the claw tips, crackling across the azure hand, down the cerulean arms, across the huge, outspread sapphire wings, and down the spiny, scaled back, and rushed from the thrashing tail into the whirling sands.

            The dragon looked sown slowly, and trained it's deep, pool-like eyes on Sango. Its mouth parted, revealing a row of ivory blades. "How dare you pervade upon the sacred desert of Khellendros, the storm, the portal master?" Hissed the dragon.

            Sango was speechless. This dragon wasn't holding back. If Atma was the most powerful of them, then how much had she been holding back?

            The dragon, Khellendros, looked down at her in rage. "You do not answer?" It hissed in its cool, inhuman voice. "Very well." It lifted its head to the clouds, and its eyes flashed an intense gold.

            Sango gasped as the felt her body begin to tingle, and only managed to scramble to the side before a giant, burning white bolt of electricity struck down at the spot where she had been standing just a moment before. The heat from the bolt hit her like a solid wall; she could feel the skin on her face blistering. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she feebly tried to scramble out of the way of the next bolt. This one hit even closer, and she cried out in pain as the heat ripped though her body.

            The dragon looked down at her, almost amused. "Impressive." He murmured, and flexed on of his talons in front of his face as if bored. "But still, you are a dead girl walking." His eyes flared once again, and the sand directly in front of her shifted. She gasped in horror as a golem rose from the sand, brandishing a sword of the purest glass. The golem of sand whirled, and slowly took shape. Sango gasped as she suddenly found herself looking at a perfect sculpture of herself. The golem brandished the sword, and grinned. Sango slowly rose to her feet, every muscle in agony. Golems tended to be slow. She would be able to defend herself at least.

            The golem grinned, and suddenly leapt ten feet into the air, executing a perfect flip over the youkai slayer's head, and landed gracefully behind her. Sango gasped in surprise, and whipped out her katana, smoothly deflecting the blow despite the pain in her muscles. The golem opened her mouth in a silent laugh, and recovered like lightning, slashing from the left. Sango blocked the blow, but fell roughly to the side, gasping in pain.

            The golem reversed its blade, and lifted it high, preparing to stab downward, when suddenly it was engulfed in roaring blue flame. Silently, the golem slowed down as the sand heated and began to fuse.

            "Sango!" cried a childlike voice. Shippo rounded the melting golem, keeping the foxfire blazing, and came to stand next to the youkai hunter. "Are you alright."

            "No." Sango gasped, feeling too much pain to lie.

            Shippo cut out the fox fire, and looked up. The golem was now stopped totally, a perfect statue of Sango, made of pure, blue glass.

            Khellendros's mouth curved upward at the victory. "Well." He said thoughtfully. "This is turning out to be rather fun." Lighting crackled across his talons again, and he grinned. "Maybe I will let you live." His eyes narrowed. "Provided you can defeat my dragoon."

            Sango's cocked her head to the side… and against all odds, started laughing in the face of certain death.

**

            InuYasha took a great running start, and then a mighty leap, easily clearing the fountain of lava that covered their path… or what little path they had. Largely, they were wandering randomly… and it was driving InuYasha insane.

            "Umm, excuse me?" A soft, sultry voice rang from behind the pair.

            InuYasha turned around quickly, and Kagome poked her head over his shoulder to see. Sitting lightly on the molten rock's surface was a young girl. She grinned at them, and waved. "Hi!" She said.

            InuYasha blinked. "What the hell?"

            The girl was maybe thirteen… and far you young to be wearing an outfit like the one she had on! It was a deep crimson, and covered only the very barest of essentials. Her hair matched her clothes, and her skin had a tan that was probably a bit more than healthy. Her grin revealed two large fangs. "That's exactly what I would like to know!" She said, shifting to sitting cross-legged, and looking very pouty. "What the hell are you doing here?"

            Kagome looked nervously at InuYasha, then back at the girl. "Um… InuYasha." She said, very nervous. "I'm getting one of those really bad feelings."

            InuYasha nodded. "I sort of picked up on that." He said. Her fingernails had been digging into his back since she had laid eyes on the girl.

            The girl cocked her head at them. "Why are you here?" She asked again. "This is my place. You shouldn't have come here."

            InuYasha closed his eyes, and sighed. "We're looking for Vadise."

            The girl's face scrunched up, and she started to snicker. "You're… looking for Vadise?" She asked, and started to laugh. "What a hoot!" She cried, "What an absolute riot!" She began to tip backwards in midair, and suddenly dropped into the molten magma.

            "You think she's gone?" Kagome asked nervously.

            InuYasha snorted. "Not really." He said.

            Sure enough, the girl floated out again, completely unscathed. "Heh, whoops!" She said cheerfully. "I do that all the time." She smacked her forehead lightly. "Silly me!" She shrugged again, and lifted both arms into the air. "Well, if you're gonna be stupid, then I might as well tell you where she is."

            InuYasha gasped in surprise. "You will?" He asked. Was it really going to be that easy?

            The girl nodded, and held up her hands. "Unfortunately… I will tell you. But nothing is that easy, InuYasha."

            Her hands erupted into twin pillars of flame.