I unfortunately don't own the G-boys; if I did I would be much happier, wallowing in money. But I don't so don't bother suing; I don't have anything, I'm a poor college student people! Unless of course you want a couple blood thirsty dust bunnies....I got plenty of those. Comments are always appreciated....craved actually. REVIEWS!!! I NEED REVIEWS. Uh...sorry....I'm ok now. So please, review; let me know what you liked, what you didn't, the good, the bad and the ugly basically. However flames will be laughed at, so I wouldn't even bother.

Chapter 5 The Guardians

We were on the move almost all night. Every time we found a decent spot to settle down, we would hear the sounds of men in the bushes. Around twilight; one of the men found our trail. A cry went up and suddenly we had the sailors on us like a pack of hunting dogs...and they were about as noisy too. Both Wufei and I were tired; exhausted; on the verge of collapsing; could barely move our muscles....yet when that cry went up, we all but picked Solo off the ground and carried him in our attempts to get away. You would be amazed at what one can do on an adrenaline rush. We raced as fast as we could through the dense undergrowth of the forest, and at the same time trying desperately to make as little of a trail as possible to be followed.

Suddenly, there was no longer any earth beneath our scrambling feet...we plunged down, down...it seemed like forever....then SPLASH! I surfaced, coughing and sputtering, shaking water from my eyes. I glanced around; I couldn't see anything through the mist that surrounded us. "Duo..." I barely heard Wufei's voice over the roar in my ears...

No, not in my ears; in my search for Wufei I had turned completely around; before me, roaring like a thousand lions; was a waterfall... About twenty feet away, Wufei crouched on a rock; attempting to haul the sick Solo onto the rock as well. I swam over to them; climbing onto the rock next to Wufei.

"You two ok?" I asked, pulling myself up. "Yeah; but I think Solo's hurt, he hasn't said anything, and he hasn't opened his eyes..."

I leaned over my friend; I could barely hear the rasp of Solo's breath over the roar of the water. Solo was indeed, in pain. I stood up and quickly looked around. Solo needed some place to rest someplace dry and safe; the pack of human dogs couldn't be that far behind us... From my vantage point; I could just barely make out the ocean, and what looked like two crossed boulders.... In a flash, an image of the dream I had had came rushing back to me. Under two boulders; through the forest, and under a waterfall...

"Come on!" I cried, "Behind the water fall..." Wufei didn't ask questions; I had gotten them that far...

Solo ended up being too weak to walk; so Wufei and I ended up carrying him...correction, I ended up carrying him; since; and I quote; "he's my friend, I am the tallest, and Wufei needed to have his arms free in case he needed to use the sword...did I know how to use a sword? No he didn't think so, so it was my job to help Solo and he would lead..." Pushy little brat...

Anyway, with what little strength I had left, I lifted Solo onto my back and carried him piggyback-style; while Wufei lead the way. We moved behind the waterfall, what little light that had been visible winked out behind the crashing water. Wufei ran his hand along the wall, suddenly he stopped.

"Here..." he called, as he stood next to the opening of what might have been a cave; but at the moment was nothing more then a pitch black hole. "Do we have flint, or something to make a torch?" I asked, knowing that we did not; Wufei shook his head, "Nope."

"Shit," I growled, "What now?"

Wufei grinned, holding out his hand a white mage light appeared in his palm, "We go in."

I starred at the back of Wufei's ragged shirt with awe...he was a mage...a bloody mage....

The time passed slowly; at first my mind buzzed with the realization that Wufei was a mage....but eventually everything spiraled down to me concentrating on nothing more then putting one foot in front of the other. Pick left foot up....move forward...put down...pick right foot up...move forward...put down...... On and on and on we went, deeper and deeper into the earth. I could almost feel the pressure of tons and tons of rocks pressing down upon us...did I mention I was a bit claustrophobic?? Just as I thought I would go crazy, breaking down; crying and blubbering like a baby...the tunnel opened up into a vast room. Wufei's light reflected off hundreds and thousand of crystals turning the ceiling and walls into sparkling diamonds...

"Great merciful mother..." Wufei breathed, "What is this place?"

"Who isssss thissssss who disssssturbsssss the crysssstal chamber???" a low voice hissed from the shadows.

"TRESPASSORS!" another voice thundered. "HUNTERS!"

Carefully I lay Solo on the ground; Wufei immediately came to stand under him, mage light in one hand sword held ready in the other.

"We are NOT hunters...in fact we are being hunted ourselves. We seek only shelter in the cave to escape our pursuers and tend to our sick friend..." I said, proud that my voice didn't shake....much. Then I remembered something; "Would you happen to the Guardians?"

"HUNTERS! THEY SEEK TO KILL US AND TAKE OUR TREASURE!" another voice roared.

"NO!" I yelled over the angry growls and hisses coming from the shadows, "We aren't hunters, the Dark Lord sent us!" Silence followed my statement.

"The Dark Lord sssent you?" yet a fourth voice asked, sounding like a purr; I was willing to bet it was female. "Do you have proof of thisss claim, little human?"

"Yes..." I faltered unsure how to address these beings, instead I untied the bag the God of Death had given me, spilling its contents into my palm and holding it up for...whoever it was to see. The stone the Lord had given me caught the light from the mage-light and began to glow. I starred at it; the black stone lit up it seemed to have to have a lightning storm at its center.

"Milady," a fifth voice said, clearly masculine and quite deep, "There are more intruders sniffing around the falls; shall I...er...get rid of them?"

"Yessss," The one addressed as 'milady', purred, her voice sounding like wind chimes in a lite summer breeze. "It issss true then; you have been sssent by the Dark Lord....why?"

"I know not M-milady...." I answered, "I was merely told to come here, that I would find help..."

"I ssssee...in that cassse, help you sssshall have." Suddenly the room filled with light, temporarily blinding me with the suddenness of it. I blinked away the spots in my eyes; then starred in amazement....the speakers...they were all....Dragons....and not just any dragons BLACK DRAGONS..... the rarest form of the dragon race, thought to have died out centuries ago.

"Oh my..." Wufei whispered, awe stricken as well. They were huge! Easily thirty feet from tail to snout; at least thirteen or fourteen feet high; every inch of them compact muscle. Their noses were long and narrow like that of a lizards; a crown of horns atop their heads, that tapered off into long delicate looking necks. A rustle of leathery wings drew our attention to what appeared to be an older dragon; her scales beginning to turn grey.

"thisss way humansssss...." She purred, then lumbered off; moving with the grace of an old cat.

"oh my "was definitely an understatement....

THE END

for the moment....

Well folks thats all for now, hopefully I willl have more chappies for you soon. Thanks to all who have reviewed up till now...Mara202, Windy River, camillian, Garen, karrafear, crysania fay, jander, makeyourselfduo, and emerald wolf. If I have forgotten anybody , my apologies...

Nameless Waif: now you know whats in the pouch ; and don't worry bout duo's hair it'll be back!!!

Emerald Wolf: It's about time you read one of my fics girl!!! Now you need to wade through the rest of them and gimme your opinions...

Thanks again folks, I'll have a new chapter for you as fast as I can!