Epilogue: Raging tempest

(This is a bit AU-ish. Barlow wasn't selected to go with Van-Zan. Warning: violence, mild-swearing, death. And since I've gotten so many requests for Creedy live and join Quinn, Van Zan and Alex... just wait and see, but do know this; since Creedy was part of Quinn's motivation to go and kill the dragon, if Creedy lives, this will be an awkward epilogue to write, not mention that's its been awhile since I've watched the movie, so something not might be right due to poor remembrance of the movie. I've never played the game so I'm just going to stick to what I saw in the movie (part of the dialogue/scenes might be off or missing). If anybody knows who Rose is in Reign of fire please let me know I keep thinking she's Eddie's wife, not that it matters, since he's dead. Sorry if this sucks. I tried. -----Sakura123)

When Creedy awoke he immediately knew the effects of alcohol would bring a hangover. And he certainly felt hung over, when he rose from his bed he was bombarded with pain that traveled from his head stinging his eyes. He shut them immediately trying to ignore the signals his overfilled bladder was sending him and the feeling of stuffiness from the hangover. "Cripes," He muttered weakly falling back onto the bed. "I shouldn't have drank so much. Oh."

There was a loud banging at the door that sent Creedy cowering underneath his musty smelling pillow. He was careful not to press the pillow too hard against his head. He heard the door open and light footfalls enter the bedroom, he figured it was either one of the children or Rose. "Creedy," Came the all too familiar voice. I should've known it was Quinn, Creedy thought as a wave of nausea came over him. Nonetheless Creedy stayed still and silent hoping that Quinn would get the message and leave him alone.

But he didn't. "Creedy, I know you're awake. I need to talk to you," Quinn said bluntly. Creedy peered at Quinn from underneath the pillow, the British man had a look on his face that meant he was not playing around with him. Muttering the Scotsman rose from his lying position and faced his friend with a not so pleasant look on his face. Creedy noticed Quinn's serious face was faltering and knew he would start laughing at him pretty soon. "Don't even think about it," Creedy groaned rising from the bed. Quinn simply smirked at his friend.

"What is that you want to talk about? Again." Quinn stopped smirking and got serious. "Jared came back," He began. Creedy just gave him a look without really expressing it facially. "And I wanted to apologize for some of the things I said to you," Quinn said. Creedy's eyebrows raised in confusion, he couldn't exactly remember much form last night besides their fight over his feeling's toward Quinn's decision to let the American's take refuge in the castle and what he should do about Jared. Everything else was just a big blur to Creedy. "Apology accepted," Creedy yawned. "I'm sorry for being . . . an ass if that's any consolation to you."

Quinn laughed. "I can't remember the last time you were an ass. Just forthcoming and blunt," The Britshman said. "Or maybe an ass. You never know with you, mate." Creedy winced at the comment but tried to remember Quinn was joking around with him; it was the man's way of saying let's be friends and not fight. "Don't rub it in," Creedy grunted before exiting the room trying to ignore his headache.

Quinn sighed as he scanned the room thoughtfully, he figured everything was straight between him and Creedy, he just hoped Van-Zan would come back empty handed instead of cocky dragging the head of a male dragon behind him. That was something he just wasn't up to. However, he couldn't shake the bad feeling that something bad was going to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Sighing, the bearded man headed out of the room careful not to step on any of the glass cups on the floor.

Rose was busy gulping down some of the unpalatable soup Quinn had made to counteract her hangover when she caught sight of Creedy passing through the makeshift living room stepping over all of the slumbering people on the floor. With a smile she brought two fingers to her lips and clamped them underneath her teeth and whistled. Creedy looked up holding his leg in suspended air, Rose smiled and gestured to the kitchen. "Quinn made some of his famous hangover soup," She announced in a playful tone. Groaning he shifted his body toward the kitchen and made his way over to her with one eye open, Rose laughed mentally at his disheveled appearance just as the Scotsman came up beside her. He reeked of alcohol. "Its not cold is it?" Creedy asked fiddling with the soup spoon. Rose looked up at him blushing and shook her head. Creedy never noticed. "That's good," He muttered grabbing a mug from off the cup-holding above the stove. Rose simply marveled at his height.

He was tall. Taller, than she expected him to be. When she first met him, they were all in their mid-twenties. Creedy seemed a bit short and Quinn looked as though he was tallest. But as time passed she noticed Creedy was beginning to tower over Quinn and it sort of made Rose angry; Quinn was the leader. In all the cartoons she watched as a child all the leaders were the tallest. So why was it that Creedy was becoming taller than his friend? It still puzzled her. "Penny for your thoughts?" Came Creedy's question.

Rose snapped herself out of her trance and realized she was staring straight at him. Wide-eyed she laughed nervously punching him playfully on the arm. He grunted but made no move to hit her back. "Sorry, I must have spaced out," She said nervously. Creedy rolled his eyes and began to fill his mug with broth and peas. Quinn's soup always tasted funny to him but he would drink anything just to get rid of his hangover.

Turning off the stove Creedy made his way over to the table and sat himself down across from Rose who jumped. Creedy gave her a look but said nothing about her behavior. Rose gulped down her soup and rose from her chair quickly. "Well I had better go check on the kids. Bye Creedy," She said rather quickly. "Hey rose!" Creedy called out. The woman stopped in her tracks and turned to meet his pricing gaze, she blushed faintly but he never noticed it. "Can you do me a favor?" He said. Rose nodded without hesitation. Creedy swallowed roughly, his throat was still a bit rough from the lack of water. "Can---uh-- can you round up all the kids and put 'em in the shelter? I'll explain later. Promise," Rose nodded and headed off. Creedy watched her rush out of the kitchen with her hands on her face. A look of utter confusion was his expression as he continued to drink his soup. He was feeling much better.

Barlow traveled about in his usual roost as he watched Quinn down below with curious eyes. He began to even wonder if the young man knew what he was doing anymore. Since the arrival of Van-Zan and his crew the young Britshman had been in denial and hopelessness, Barlow figured it was because of the American's rank in the army, because he was a marine with a fighting background. It was enough to make anyone feel beneath the bald man. Sighing he slumped back into his chair with a grunt and shifted his sights toward his bird. Something bad was brewing in the air. He could feel it in his bones.

Later that night, Creedy stood outside atop a hill his jacket wound tightly around him to block out invading cold air. His hair was damp with humidity from the rainy air. He stared into the blank cloudless, starless sky with a wandering and longing eyes. He noticed there was something not quite right about the air that night and made him uneasy, this lead him to wonder if Van Zan reached the dragon's lair wherever it was. Creedy's brow furrowed when he noticed something moving about below the hill nearest to the castle; scanning the area he spotted a horse and a man galloping toward the dead dragon's mangled body and he immediately knew it was Quinn.

"If I didn't know any better, he was becoming obsessed with that thing," Creedy muttered tiredly. He continued to watch his horseback riding friend until he heard a sort of roar in the distance. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as his stomach began to twist itself into knots. Perhaps death will come for me, sooner than I expected. Mom wouldn't like it if I died on purposed, so I better fight to stay alive for as long as I can. Tugging at his jacket Creedy headed down the hill back to the castle. Hot air blew around him as it fought to push him back as though it were saying to stay away from the castle, Creedy took no heed to this and continued forward. As he did so a wave of nausea came over him, clutching the side of his head Creedy fought to focus on the world blurring around him. Creedy fell to his knees unable to stand any longer. The world vanished before him and he fell into darkness, oblivious to the world around him.

Quinn brought his horse to a stop and jumped off. He carried with him a burning torch and a mail bag around his shoulder, the horse couldn't stand the smell of the dead beast and trotted off some place not too far away from Quinn but somewhere where the smell wasn't as strong. Quinn ducked underneath the dragon's broken wing with searching eyes as he avoided the beast's claws on its feet. It had to be around here somewhere, it was a female so he figured it had to be carrying a child in its womb.

Quinn shuddered at the thought and tried not to vomit as the smell became stronger. Placing the torch down Quinn ventured toward the dragon's stomach and noticed a weak spot in its decaying body upon the stomach. Bracing himself Quinn stuck his arms into the stomach and felt around until his hands landed on something oval shaped. He pulled his arms out of the stomach and almost choked on his tongue. "Sweet Jesus," He muttered. His brown eyes remained in a paralysis type state as he stared upon the egg that held the beast's dead baby dragon.

The dragon flew over head at a blinding speed. He spotted the castle below and landed a few feet away from him. Dragging himself over to the unguarded castle, its farmable Silvia fell from the sides of his mouth leaving a small burning trench of fire in its wake as he came up onto the structure. Climbing onto its legs, the dragon drew in a large heaving breath, its chest inflated as though it were a balloon. After a moment the dragon breathed its fire onto the castle burning the walls and everyone who dare stand in the path of its deadly flame. Inside, all the people residing inside the castle ran for their lives as the fire swept through life a swarm of locus.

Rose dodged the falling debris as she directed what people she could down into the shelter with children. She spotted Jared and ran over to him. "Jared!" She cried. Jared did not hear her, he was dazed out his mind as he put out the small fires with the extinguisher. Rose placed a hand onto his shoulder causing him to fire onto her. She screamed falling back onto the floor covered in foam. "Rose!" Jared cried falling to her side.

Rose climbed to her feet hauling the young boy with her and directed him toward the stairs order him to see if there was anyone trapped up there. Although he was afraid, Jared did what she asked of her and dashed toward the stairs. Rose headed back into the mess of things to make sure no one was causing a ruckus over getting inside the shelter. God knows she needed help. Creedy where are you? She thought frantically.

Quinn's head jerked in the direction where he saw a flash of light over the ridge of the hill automatically knowing something was amiss. Dropping the egg he smashed it under his foot and ran out from underneath the dragon's wing calling for his horse. The horse came galloping over to him, wasting no time Quinn jumped onto the horse. He kicked its side's hard sending it into a fast gallop. The horse rode along the side the hill fighting against the strong and hot wind that beat against its body. Quinn held onto the reins with his very life as the uneasy feeling escalated. "Yah!" He shouted kicking the horse in its sides again.

The horse galloped as fast as he could. The orange light was becoming brighter as they reached the castle. "Oh please God, don't let it be!" He whispered as the horse came up to the entrance of the castle. Quinn jumped off letting the horse leave to find safety. He dashed through the gate ignoring the embers that floated around him. He halted in his tracks at the sight of the burning castle. Quinn's eyes brimmed with tears as he fell against the castle entrance's wall losing all hope that anyone was alive when the low hissing noise caught his attention.

Fear struck Quinn's heart as he looked up and gazed upon the male dragon that had killed his mother perched upon the top of the castle scanning the ground blew as though he had seen him. To Quinn, it looked as though it was staring at him. The dragon prepared to take off. Quinn ducked slightly as the dragon past him over head and flew off into the distance. Swallowing his fear, he managed to get his legs to move and dashed into the castle. He jumped over the rubble on the stairs holding his gun tightly in is hand. The castle was a complete disaster; fire was everywhere burning everything bodies laid lifeless on the floor charred black.

Quinn fought back oncoming sickness as he began to shout for all those he knew. "Jared! Creedy!" Quinn continued to travel through the castle until a burst fire in the distance and shattering glass caught his attention. He turned around to find Barlow venturing around with his bird on his shoulder. "Barlow?" Quinn muttered in question. "What, where is everyone?" Barlow did not reply he came over to Quinn revealing his burnt face. Quinn jumped back in surprise Barlow lunged out at him, the two fell to the burning around with a grunt. Barlow's hand's latched around Quinn's neck, the bearded man struggled to pull the man's hand from around his neck as if felt the air being shut out from his lungs he barely heard man hiss; "You've gone and dammed us all Quinn!"

His eyes began to roll to the back of his skull when the air suddenly returned to his lungs, he watched as Barlow was tossed off of him and into the fire, he coughed roughly deaf to Barlow's screams of pain as he climbed to his shaky legs assisted by the person that helped him. Quinn looked up into the dirt smudged face of Rose who looked grief stricken over something---- whether or not it was because she tossed Barlow into the fire he was unsure.

She threw his arm over her shoulder and headed for the shelter. "Rose-- where's everyone?" He rasped as she quickly lead him to the shelter. Rose did not answer she lead them down the flight of stairs, Quinn asked again and still there was no answer from the woman. Once they were down into the shelter Quinn's ears were bombarded with panicked sounds from various people that had managed to make it down into the shelter, he looked. All children were accounted for.

They were either wailing loudly or looking around in confusion and fear. Rose removed his arm from over her shoulder and headed over to the others, Quinn dashed toward the pipes he grabbed the valve and turned it hard activating the water system, the children screamed at the touch of water while the adults seemed to be unaffected by it. Quinn spotted Jared nearest to the children trying to calm a woman down. Half of everyone he knew was here but Creedy was missing. Where in the world was Creedy? Quinn looked toward the open door his eyes set on the stairs.

Inhaling he rushed toward the door but was stopped by a violent yank at his jacket's collar. "What the bloody hell are you doing!" He turned to meet the enraged face Rose. "I'm going to find Creedy!" He snapped yanking his jacket collar out of her grasp. Quinn attempted to make his away out of the door but Rose grabbed him by the waist and struggled to pull him away from the door.

"Let go of me!" He shouted as they fell over into the muddy ground below. He fought to toss the relentless woman off of him as she climbed from under his body and on the top. Rose pinned him down beneath her hands wrapped around on of his wrist while her arm protected her face from his attacks with his free arm. The moment she put her hand Quinn's fist made contact with her face that did for Rose. She related his hand and clamped hers down onto his neck and delivered a devastating blow to his face rendering him unconscious. Quinn's arms fell limp to his side, Rose climbed off of him checking herself for bleeding injuries as Jared came up to her with a flabbergasted look on his face. Rose had no time to speak, a ball of fire above the stairs caused everyone inside to jump in terror cowering deeper into the tunnels they made. The fire came rolling down the stairs, but the suction of oxygen caused the shelter's door to slam shut. Rose's trembling knees gave way beneath her and she fell to the ground beside Quinn.

The smell of something burning was what aroused Creedy from unconsciousness he groaned clutching his head. He thought back on the previous events of what he was doing unsure how he ended up on the ground, one moment he was walking back to the castle and the next he finds himself on the ground. His eyes darted toward the clouded morning skies; they appeared darker than usual. He blinked in confusion before bringing himself back to the smell that awoke him.

Creedy looked toward the castle expecting to find someone around and about but to his dismay the only thing his eyes landed on was a shame of what used to be the castle he lived in. As if his body were on automatic Creedy dashed toward the smoking castle despite the desperate pleads from his mind to stay away from it. He staggered down the hill spotting the Quinn's horse walking around searching for grass to nibble on, he took this as some sort of sign that Quinn was dead but until he saw this with his own eyes he would continue believing everyone he knew was alive and well. He walked through the entrance of the castle and across the ash-covered ground then made his way toward the castle stares. He tripped over the fallen support beams as he made his way down the stairs, Creedy paused in his tracks at the sight of the charred inside of the castle; it looked like something out of a collage student's caracole sketch pad, he hardly recognized anything he saw in front of him. He walked passed what he thought to be the kitchen or living area and headed toward the corridor that would lead him toward the shelter if that still excised. The hot air blew against his body as he traveled down the corridor at a slow pace; he was in no hurry to find anyone he knew dead, his eyes peered around the places where several bunk beds used to stand, his nose wrinkled in disgust from the smell of burning wood and ash in the air, Creedy paused for a moment to look down at his feet; he spotted something sticking out a mound of ash beside his boot.

Kneeling down he dug the object out of the ash and stared at it. Rose's angel pendant. Running a hand through his hair thankful for his dissipating headache he made a move to head down the stairs but the sound of a cocking gun stopped him dead in his tracks. Creedy whipped his head in the direction of the sound and peered angrily at Van Zan and Alex who stood behind him and two of his surviving men. "What are you doing back here?" Creedy sneered fighting back the urge to walk over to the man and punch him. "To help," Van Zan lowered his gun and walked passed the Scotsman without another word spoken between them.

Creedy shifted his gaze toward Alex who gave him an almost sympatric expression but the look in her eyes told him otherwise. Alex and the two soldiers followed Van Zan down the stairs toward the rubble blocked the shelter door. Creedy watched them for a brief moment before walking away looking for a place to calm down knowing he wouldn't be able to hold back the rage inside him if he stayed in the same place with Van Zan.

He headed outside below the castle stairs and placed himself on a large boulder his elbows rested against the top of his legs and his fingers intertwined with each other. He stared out into the cloud sky wondering if the others were still alive in the shelter. If Rose had done what he said, then he wouldn't have to worry about the children's well-being. However, he wasn't so sure about the adults though. Not even the shelter itself; he had never seen or felt Dragon's breath before, only what it created and that was quite intense. Running his hands through his hair he sighed and continued to stare out into space.

Quinn sat on the muddy ground away from everyone else, away from Rose. His hair was soaked to the extent that it looked more like noodles than actual hair though it didn't bother him. He remembered Creedy always made fun of his hair when it was extremely wet, he called it poodle hair. That was enough to get Quinn out of the tub and chase Creedy down the hall stark naked but there were children running about all over the castle, so instead of chasing Creedy he would always pull out the hose and soak him when the older man least expected it. Quinn would then make of Creedy's hair and call it frizzy when wet.

Quinn would have smiled at the memory if he knew his friend was still alive, but to his dismay he didn't. The young man was brought of his thoughts by the sound of thumping against the shelter door. Quinn stared up at the rusty door in question his brow creasing in confusion before realizing what it was. Jared's spirits perked up when he heard voices on the other side of the door and climbed to his feet at the same time Quinn did. Quinn started banging on the door like a mad man shouting to whomever was on the other side that they were alive, he and Jared then started to push against the door in a desperate attempt to open it. "Back away!" Came the gruff response.

Jared and Quinn did as they told and stepped away from the door, to their delight the door began to open in the opposite direction they were pushing it toward waking all those who had fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Quinn was taken aback slightly when he spotted Van Zan, Alex and several other men on the other side of the door. It wasn't who he was expecting to say the least. Van Zan seemed apologetic and almost grief stricken over what he was seeing, Quinn just stared at him with his brown eyes knowing all to well what had happened. Swallowing his pride Van Zan managed to choke out one simple phrase; "You were right . . . "

The children traveled outside of the burned castle that was once their home, they trotted down the stairs on weary legs catching the attention of Creedy who, at the moment was buried deep within his own mind, he watched with sheer happiness at the fact they were all alive and accounted for. At the same time, he was glad they didn't see him just yet, he still trying to calm himself down, however, this moment was short-lived. "Creedy!" He turned his head toward the two small child running toward him. Creedy smiled weakly and let the little boy hug him. He was soon then bombarded by several children at once causing him to fall off the boulder onto his back while the tired children with renewed energy crawled over him trying to hug him all at once.

Quinn peered over the stairs and saw the children rushing over to a particular spot, arching an eyebrow in question he raced down the stairs careful of the injured adults in front of him as he leapt of the last stair. He traveled over to where all the children were causing them to all look up from their moment of happiness revealing Creedy. Quinn would've hugged Creedy if not for the bewildered look he had on his face. Creedy looked up at his comrade with a smile, something he hadn't done for days. "Nice to see you're alive," The Scotsman began rising to his feet. "I thought you were dead." Quinn shrugged scratching the back of his head wearily. "I would've been--- if it wasn't for Rose, I'll say no more, though," Quinn grumbled rubbing his cheek.

Creedy's smile disappeared when he looked up at the devastated castle that barely stood as high as it used to, the top had given way under the weak support beams that held it up. Bedrooms were no longer in existence and anyone who didn't make it to the shelter were probably dead or dying somewhere inside. Clearing his throat Creedy made his way through the crowd of children and past Quinn muttering something about going to check to see if everything else outside the castle was unburned and intact. Quinn watched the older man stalk off just as Rose and Jared came down the stairs; behind him he heard a semi-squeal of surprise and Creedy grunt in surprise, Quinn turned his head and found Creedy trapped in Rose's happy embrace.

He smiled knowing that's who Creedy was trying to dodge. Creedy managed to show the same exuberant happiness while entirely self-wounding his own pride before prying Rose off of him and heading past her and Jared. Narrowing his eye Quinn looked up at the smoke clouded skies above him before catching sight of Van Zan and Alex heading in his direction. The bald man appeared to be carrying several weapons and other things he probably found in the shack behind the castle or some place else, Alex had nothing in her hand except a rifle that she handed to him once she was close enough; Quinn suddenly grew angry.

At first he thought he was angry at Van Zan (perhaps he was, partly), but he remembered the horrible dream he had when he fell asleep on his bed thinking over what he should say to Creedy after their squabble. He saw his mother die through her eyes, he saw the castle burning to the group, everyone who Van Zan hadn't taken running for their lives, Creedy trying to get to safety in the shelter and he saw himself running to the door just as the flame came over Creedy's body, the door shutting in front of him. If anything there was only one thing Quinn's mind at that very moment, and that was killing that bastard dragon before it killed any more of them. Cocking the riffle he lowered the weapon making brief eye contact with a sullen Alex who looked almost unrecognizable with dirt on her face.

Van Zan came up behind her carrying an assortment of weaponry in a worn green bag by its "worn" green shoulder strap, he placed the items down on the ground when he placed himself in a kneeling position then quickly explained the details of what they had in and how much it. Quinn's brow furrowed; it wasn't much, which meant they had to use what they had sparingly if wanted to survive this entire ordeal. Van Zan seemed to have read his mind when he looked up at him, it was as if he knew he wanted to go and kill the dragon though he hadn't said anything to him.

Perhaps Van Zan knew all that was surrounding them was all the push Quinn needed to get his motivation going. Quinn met the bald man's olive colored eyes for a brief moment before he opened his mouth. "You, me and Alex, head to the cost on the chopper, stick tight to the cliffs--- it'll take us right to the heart o' London," He explained, his voice matching the dark expression of his face. "I know where he lives." Van Zan smiled pleased to hear what Quinn had said. "Your going home," He said. Quinn's expression remained unchanged until he heard someone clear their throat rather loudly behind him, he turned and found Creedy sending a wave his direction with a mock-smile on his face. "Uhh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you go after that dragon, you're mostly likely to die. Or fry," Creedy corrected himself.

"Well he's not going to stop until all of us are dead. I don't plan on letting him doin' this again, Creedy," Quinn retorted, pointing to the burned castle. "I let it off once. He's run out of chances. I'm tired to running." Creedy had nothing to say to that, he simply stared his friend in the eye wondering if he had gone crazy from inhaling too toxic air when the castle was on fire. Without another word spoken between them, Quinn turned to Jared who had come from tending to the injured. "Jared, look after them," He said. Jared nodded wearily. "Creedy, your comin' with me." Creedy's face faltered but had no room for argument, Quinn grabbed his friend by the arm and dragged him toward the helicopter. Van Zan headed off after the two with the bag in his hand, while Alex checked to see if she had another machine gun with her. To her dismay, she only had a .32 Magnum pistol and the machine gun she had been carrying with her. "Damn . . . ," She uttered running off to catch up with the three men ahead of her.

The helicopter's rotors rang through Creedy's ears as he watched the ocean below them with disdain. If anything he should've talked Quinn out of bringing him along, but he knew it would simply impossible to do so. Once Quinn made up his mind it was made whether he liked it or not, although he did let the young man know how he felt about it. Creedy wasn't one to keep whatever he felt needed to be said inside like most people, which was probably why many in the castle found hm to be quite annoying.

Sighing he stared down at his dirty boots while shifted against on the floor away from Van Zan who sat from across him, Creedy's stomach twisted in knots every time he glanced up at the bald man thinking he wasn't looking (when if fact he was). But he managed to keep his feelings to himself that time for Quinn's sake. Turning his head, looking past Quinn he saw the cliff wall his friend was talking about. Closing his eyes, he leaned up against the helicopter's wall with a sigh. There was no turning back now.

Once Alex spotted a secluded part of the remains of the burning London to land the four of them traveled across the ash covered ground in the shadows of buildings that were standing silent as they could, before they came up on a set of stairs where they hid themselves when a dragon appeared. They remained on the lower part of the stair watching the rather small dragon with fear, Alex looked up at Quinn worriedly, asking if the creature had seen them. Quinn shook his head quickly turning his attention back to the perched dragon. His brow creased in confusion. "What's stoppin' it?" Quinn asked. "Well, whatever it is, it's not us," Van Zan replied his eyes darting across the landscape when a loud hiss filled the air. All four of them immediately ducked lower as several dragons came flying out of the ruined building, fleeing for their lives. The moment they peered up, they found out why; as if materializing out of thin air, the largest dragon any of them had ever seen flew over head of the female dragons snapping its jaws at them. "Food must be scarce, their eatin' their own," Quinn whispered, watching the large dragon snap at its companions. Alex swallowed loudly her body trembling with fear. "C'mon guys were outnumbered, hundreds to four," She whispered. Creedy couldn't object to that observation.

Many of the female dragons made it away from the male, but one wasn't so fortunate; just as it lifted off from its perch the male dragon snatched out of the air, enclosing its jaws over the female's body. Creedy's stomach flopped in disgust as a wave nausea came over him. He found Dragons eating their own kind to be down right horrible and most disturbing. "Well, look on the bright side," Quinn grinned nervously. "We've got him out number, four to one." Creedy however, did not see how they had the advantage over the colossal beast. Once the male dragon flew away, they climbed the stairs quickly and continued onward. Somewhere above them, the Dragon was watching their every movement as they rushed out his line of sight. Shifting in his place, the male began to groom his wing. Quinn lead the way, Creedy was surprised his friend even remembered his home all that well, he could barely remember what his homeland Scotland looked like anymore; it was probably just was bad off as London was but unless he went there himself his mind was left to create a scenario fitting for his former home.

Creedy stayed behind the three not in the least eggar as they were to reach their desired destination, wherever that was. "Down here," He head Quinn shout to them. "There's a series of tunnels we can use to get the center of the city." Creedy slowed his pace he caught up with the others watching as Quinn went down first followed by Alex. "Well, aren't you comin'?" Van Zan asked grinning. Creedy remained silent and walked over to the hole and leapt down, Van Zan followed after him. Creedy felt blind in the dark as he moved across the ground looking for an empty space, hoping no one was in front of him when the sound of a flare being lit caught his attention.

He looked toward Van Zan just the bald man tossed the burning object into a deeper part of what was a series of tunnels. Quinn explained that either tunnel they traveled would take them to their desired destination, hesitantly Creedy followed after the others wondering where the male dragon had run off to. As much as he hated to admit, there was a burning desire deep inside him that also wanted to kill it, the dragon, but Creedy knew better to go against his better judgement and listen to the sheer impulse of his heart. So instead of seeking the creature, he hid from it, silently mourning his mother's death, bringing himself out of his thoughts Creedy watched as Quinn tossed another flare down a tunnel.

"Is it much further?" Creedy mumbled. Quinn turned to at his friend over his shoulder in question. "No, its right the tunnel I sent the flare," He responded. Creedy nodded and they continued onward until they reached the end of the tunnel, finding themselves looking upward where their exit was. I hate, heights, the Scotsmen thought in dismay watching the others head for the gate the spanned around the circular structure. He followed suit (no so eagerly though) and climbed upward beginning to feel as though everything around him was too surreal to be existing, he was oblivious to the fact that Quinn was below until he head someone place their hands against a crushed elevator's structure.

He looked down and found Quinn staring at the disfigured structure getting the idea that the something horrible happened to his friend, took place here. "Quinn!" Van Zan's voice caused both men to cast their glances upward at him. "Use it!" Meaning? Creedy though watching Quinn give a brief nod and began to climb up, the older man continued upward giving his friend enough space to climb. Once they were up out of the tunnel, all four of them jumped down and rushed across ground and took refuge in a charred bus. "Take what weapons you can carry, leave your backs behind," Van Zan ordered as they reached the bottom or what they thought was the end of the bus to unpack their things.

Van Zan stared out of the window of the bus and examined the unfamiliar ground before asking Quinn what was place to set up an attack. "There's a tower in the middle of the city, you can see the entire lay out from there," Quinn explained breathlessly. Alex shrugged her backpack off as she listened to the two men set up a plan, she extended her hand holding the .32maginum gun to Creedy. He stared at the small gun before removing it from her grasp then stared at the blonde in disbelief Alex just shrugged hopelessly.

Creedy sighed in dismay knowing letting Quinn drag him to his death was bad idea, especially if the only weapon he had was a handgun. The four of them were caught off guard when a gust of hot air passed over them, Quinn and Alex peered half way out of the bus only to bombarded by a flash of fire, they jumped back almost falling on their bottoms. "Quinn..." Van Zan grasped Quinn's shoulder bringing the young man's attention to him. "Move!" The simple command sent Quinn hurtling out of the bus running, Creedy watched as the two men headed off in separate directions attraction the attention the dragon as it turned through the sky. The large winged beast came swooping down on Quinn who managed to dodge it with a quick roll across the ground as it flew by.

Quinn yelped in surprise when its tail came crashing down on the ground beside him before it finally flew back into the sky, he scrambled to his feet, running toward the building he ducked in a corner ready to arm his crossbow with the explosive arrows (heads). "The arrows..." When he reached into his jacket he did not feel their presence inside, dropping the crossbow onto his lap he panicky searched his coat for them but to no avail. Quinn trembled at the thought of arrows lying on the ground out in the open where the beast could easily get him. He peered past the wall he was hiding against at the place where he fell before slumping back against the wall still trembling. Closing his eyes, he began to work out a plan on how to kill the beast without the help of the arrows.

Elsewhere, Van Zan left his machine gun at the bottom of the ladder he climbed, between his teeth the only explosive arrow he carried with him, the crossbow hung over his shoulder by its strap. He could practically smell the dragon the higher he went. Van Zan cracked a half-grin; the damnable creature was going to pay with its life for killing his soldiers, his friends. It wouldn't get away from him this time. Grasping the railing Van Zan pulled himself up onto the platform halfway removing the arrow from between his teeth. They had to time this just right or it wouldn't work.

"Alex!" He shouted as loud as he could, not caring if the Dragon had heard him. Creedy and Alex's eyes averted upward toward the building the middle of the burned city spotting Van Zan atop of it, the Scotsman blinked in utter confusion as to what the bald man was doing up there while Alex fought to control her trembling body, she swallowed hard knowing what she had to do. "It about Eight seconds, you run like hell straight to the base of this chimney. Do you understand!" Alex shook her head although the woman knew he couldn't see it, she felt paralyzed by her fear, how on God's earth did he expect her to even run to miles with that beast flying above them.

Van Zan readied the crossbow just in time to catch the sight of the Dragon coming back into sight. "GO! GO!" And as if on automatic Alex sprung from her place on the charred bus and ran out into the open moving as fast as her legs could carry her. Creedy kept himself from grabbing her by the waist line of her pants watching in disbelief as the woman made a mad dash toward the chimney, from a distance he could hear Quinn shouting something though he wasn't sure what he said. "Run like the wind, baby!" Van Zan shouted like a madman edging out farther onto the platform.

Alex turned and looked back catching a glimpse of the Dragon coming down toward her like at top speed soaring on the air beneath its wings, she didn't even know where she was going anymore, her legs were the ones guiding her now. "Come on, big boy!" Van Zan's voice thundered above them. Alex had long since forgotten why she was running until she reached the base of the chimney, her body collapsed against it when she fell to the ground shaking. The dragon heading upward closing the distance between itself and the bald man standing above him. "That's right...," Van Zan whispered pulling the trigger on the crossbow the moment the dragon opened its mouth to breathe its fire onto him.

The beast's attention averted from Van to the oncoming arrow it breathed it deadly fire onto the object only to have explode in its face. Flames engulfed the front part of the dragon sending Van Zan for a fall onto his bottom. The dragon flew away smoking its right wing and face burned beyond its comprehension, turning around was quiet an effort for the creature as he headed back for the man on the platform. Van Zan laughed in slight triumph as he grabbed his battle Axe, with an enraged cry Van Zan leapt off the platform soaring through the air, his Axe raised and ready. Quicker than the blink of an eye Alex watched her comrade soar and get snatched out of the sky all in that instant, the dragon's tail collided with the platform knocking it off the chimney. Frozen in her place Alex eyed the falling object before rolling out of its way the second it crashed to the ground.

Creedy did not see the dragon anywhere in sight he jumped out of the bus and dashed across the ground followed by Quinn who seemed to have regained some of his courage much like the Scotsman did. Quinn glanced at his friend before coming to an abrupt halt, he and Creedy glanced around their surrounding area. They did not see Alex anywhere in their line of sight, just as they were about resume running a loud thump behind them caught their attention. "Quinn!" The two of them recognized the voice as Alex's, they made a mad rash toward the smoke-obscured part of the area as the woman came limping out of smoke with the machine gun in her hand. "What happened to the dragon?" Creedy muttered as he rushed off after his friend.

The two men brought themselves to halt beside the woman throwing her arms over their shoulders heading over to a secluded area. Quinn rested Alex against the wall, his hand against her cheek. "I'm okay," Alex breathed quickly. The moment of false safety was shattered when a burst of fire came at them, all three of them dashed out of the area and out into the open. Creedy could hear the dragon low hissing as it dragged itself across the ground unable to fly any longer. They ran past the dragon as it lifted its head in their direction, as he ran Creedy spotted dead in his tracks in front of the path of the dragon's head eyeing the .32 Magnum pistol in his hand before looking up at the dragon.

The creature hissed at him the side of its mouth curling upward in a snarl, Creedy watched as it opened its mouth. Snapping himself out of his trance he jumped out of the way the moment the dragon bathed its fire at him, Creedy rolled backward landing up against a burnt car (he figured was a BMW) before jumping back up. He raised his hand and fired straight at the dragon's eye, as if confirming his aim was correct the dragon howled in pain the vision in his left eye vanished leaving him with poor perception. Its head turned wildly trying to pin point Creedy's location, acting quickly the Scotsman rushed passed the dragon in its moment of helplessness, unsure where Quinn and Alex had gone.

He ducked behind a truck hoping the dragon didn't see him. His arms trembled with fear and realization that he actually shot the creature's eye out. He swallowed hard his heart beat wildly against his chest, Creedy stared at the gun in his hand before glancing upward in front of him. Across from him he spotted Alex and Quinn pointing to someone that was obviously on the side of the truck. Creedy peered past the front of the truck and spotted an explosive arrow beside the wheel. "You come and get it," Creedy shouted unintentionally. The younger man jumped out of his hiding place and slid to the ground grabbing the arrow with ease.

"C'mon Creedy," He hissed under his breath. Creedy scrambled onto his feet and followed after his friend when the dragon came around the corner its only useful eye locking itself onto them. "Keep running!" Quinn shouted placing the arrow onto the crossbow in his hand. Creedy did as he was told he ran past Alex's hiding place so's not to reveal her hiding place to the beast. The dragon forgot all about Creedy and averted his attention toward Quinn, it fired on the Britshman who ducked behind what was left of a brick wall of some sort spared from any sort of damage from the beast's fire. Scrambling to his feet he backed away from the dragon as it slowly advanced on him. Its acid-like drool poured from the sides of its mouth as it readied itself for the final blow that it was sure would kill the man in front of him.

Quinn watched the creature fearful he would miss his window of opportunity, he blinked and that same moment the dragon drew back its head closing its mouth, its chest inflating like a balloon. The dragon opened its mouth and Quinn pulled the crossbows trigger sending the arrow into the creature's mouth down its throat before it had a chance to release its flame onto him. An alien like scream emitted from the dragon when the arrow exploded inside its body fire exited through the sides of his neck. Quinn was thrown off his feet from the force of the dragon's exploding body. He crashed to the ground hard dropping the crossbow. He lifted himself off the ground in pure shock at what had happened, across from him laid the dragon, dead and charred beyond comprehension its head titled to the side.

A smile would have graced Quinn's face had it not been for the painful reminder that Van Zan had been killed. As much as he hated to admit, Quinn still admired the man despite all he did and it didn't seem right that he died. Quinn shifted his head toward Alex who had come out hiding and kneeled down beside him. They stared at each other for a short moment before she broke the silence. "He always knew you could do it," She whispered. There was a hint of despair in her voice but Quinn did not question it. The two of them climbed off their feet with a grunt. Behind them Creedy stared at the dead dragon in bewilderment unsure if he was dreaming or if he died, it was all still too surreal for him to digest all at once. He was surprised he was even alive, he thought for sure he would die when he came here. "--Err," Creedy cleared his throat. Alex and Quinn turned toward him in question weary looks on faces were evident. "We can go now, right?" He asked. Quinn looked back at the dragon then at his friend with a half-smile. "Almost, I've gotta find something first," Quinn replied. Creedy nodded and began to look around patiently waiting.

(Several Months later):

Creedy sat on the stairs of the nearly rebuilt castle, watching several new people that arrived from France speaking to their new 'leader' Jared. He eyed the blue sky curiously, they were hardly any dragons left to bother them, when they were Quinn, himself, and others took care of them with much effort but was all worth it. Creedy had noticed his friend had toughened up a bit since Van Zan had visited their home, he carried that bloody Axe he had found sticking out of the ground in the former London everywhere he went (except when he was inside the castle of course).

Creedy found it very annoying now and to him, it didn't make Quinn look any more menacing than he did with strange long hair and bushy beard he had grown. Shrugging, Creedy got ready to rise from the sitars, it was about time for him to go back inside he was feeling a bit tired. He looked down at his shoulders when felt someone wrap their arms around him from behind. He looked up at her with a smile. Rose propped her chin on his shoulder with a sigh sitting down on the stairs so that he was sitting between her legs. "You weren't planing on leaving so soon, were you?" She muttered playfully. Creedy nodded trying to stand up, but Rose brought him back down onto the sitars. "Rose, I'm tired," He grumbled in a whiny sort of voice. "I didn't say you had to stay out here forever, just for a while. I just got out here," She complained. Creedy chuckled pulling her close. "Fine. Don't blame me, if I catch a cold. I hate the fall," He uttered. Rose just laughed.

(FIN)