9:00 A.M. Canal Street Electronics

Jake paced nervously around the backroom wringing his hands. Trixie, Spud, Fu and Lao Shi tried to calm him, but they were worried as well, so it was no use.

"There's got to be a way to find her," he said frustrated. "Surely there's a potion somewhere that can do it."

Fu was going through every one of his spell and potion books--a tedious task--looking for something to aid them in their search for Rose.

"Worrying won't help anything," Trixie reminded Jake. "This is Rose we're talking about here, the best fighter we know. The girl can handle herself Jake, so calm down."

"I know that, but I can't help it," Jake said, running his fingers through his hair. "I feel like it's my fault she's in this situation in the first place. I should have fried Penderas and then she'd be here right now."

"Jake," Lao Shi said gently touching his arm. "You couldn't have stopped this. It's not your fault."

"You don't understand!" he cried, shoving his grandpa's hand away. "I promised Rose that I'd never let anything get her. That's the only reason she agreed to go in there, because she had faith that if things got bad, I'd be there to protect her."

He sank onto the couch and buried his face in his hands.

"I let her down," he moaned.

His friends surrounded him, saying nothing, just being there. He just wished he could be there for Rose. No telling what kind of danger she was in.

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Contrary to everyone's belief, Rose was perfectly safe. She was sitting beside a sparkling river with Draco who had already dedicated himself to becoming her traveling companion and guard dog. The Dark Dragon himself would avoid Rose at all costs to prevent a run-in with her new friend.

"So tell me more about New York," Draco began casually.

Rose thought about her concrete jungle home. It's gleaming skyscrapers, and busy inhabitants.

"It's a place like you've never seen," she began staring off into the blue skies above, deep in thought. "Huge buildings of glass and steel reach into the sky, and catch every ray of the sun's light. The people are always on the move, going here and there, flowing like a river in and out of the buildings. There's always something to do and something happening. At night, the city glitters like thousands of jewels. It shines so bright that the stars can't be seen. At all hours of the night, life carries on as if it were day. "

"Sounds amazing," Draco commented thoughtfully.

"What normal people see is only scraping the surface," Rose said, looking at him.

"Normal people?" Draco said curiously.

Rose smiled and plucked at the grass absently.

"There's a whole other world that exists within the city that only a lucky few know about," she began, looking up into the dragon's eager eyes.

She chuckled softly, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them.

"Living among the humans are all sorts of magical creatures ranging from brownies to werewolves and everything in between," she said. "As you can well imagine, so many magic beings coexisting with regular people would cause some conflict. This is where the dragons come in. They keep order and protect the magic's from anyone that would harm them. I used to be on the opposition, out to get anything magical, dragons in particular."

To her surprise, Draco didn't flinch. He listened with a nonjudgmental ear, something age and years of gained wisdom taught him. He could sense a poisoned heart through a pleasing varnish. Rose, he knew, was beautiful through and through. If eyes are windows to the soul, the view was of a meadow with deer munching on clover without a care in the world. Though her choice of attire was baffling the dragon.

"What made you change?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Long story short, I fell in love with the enemy," she said with a bright smile. "Dragon slayer running off with a dragon. What are the chances of that?"

"You love a dragon?" Draco asked astounded. "He must be something for a lovely human like yourself to seek the companionship of a dragon over your own species."

Rose chuckled and said, "You bet your dragon fire he is. Then again he never had any serious competition."

Draco chuckled. He stopped abruptly, glaring at something behind Rose. She looked at him curiously, and became aware of the sound of horse hooves striking the ground. She turned and saw a man clad in black attire characteristic of the Middle Ages. He was riding up on a bay horse, sword at his side.

"Friend of yours?" Rose queried, looking up at the dragon.

"Not hardly," Draco responded darkly.

"DRAGON!" the man on horseback called, still charging. "Let the girl go, or face my wrath."

A rumbling came from deep in Draco's throat that could mean only one thing. Whoever this stranger was, would get to witness the dragon's fire skills first hand should he attempt anything. He rode closer, stopping a few yards away from Rose. His shoulder length brown hair, unshaven face and grungy appearance stated that this man wasn't too concerned with image.

"Picking on defenseless maidens, are you?" the man scoffed. "Is there no limit to how low your kind can sink?"

"What exactly is he supposed to be?" Rose asked, surveying the man with amusement.

"Dragon slayer," Draco muttered.

"That's a dragon slayer?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Yes, and a good one at that, look at his shield of dragon teeth," Draco pointed out.

Rose scoffed and said, "We'll see how good he is."

Before Draco could stop her, she leapt between him and the man. She assumed a fighting stance, staff glowing furiously and eyes narrowed in determination.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked in surprise.

"You want to fight someone?" Rose snarled at the surprised dragon slayer. "Try me on for size."

The dragon slayer looked from girl to dragon in confusion.

"You're stark raving mad!" he said in astonishment.

Rose smirked and zapped the ground at the bay's feet with a bolt of red energy. The horse reared, throwing his rider to the ground.

"So I've been told," she commented dryly. "Now are you going to just sit there and let a girl beat you to a pulp…or are you going to get up and do something about it?"

The man sluggishly got to his feet and approached her, with his hands in the air declaring he wanted peace.

"I'm after the dragon," he said slowly, as if she were mentally inept. "I don't want to fight you."

With lightning fast movement, Rose sank the heel of her boot into his gut, causing him to double over and fall. He groaned in pain and looked at her dumbfounded.

"What was that for?" he moaned.

"You think I'm playing, dragon slayer?" she spat out the last two words like spoiled meat. "Come a little closer and see if I am."

The man staggered to his feet, stepping back a step or two. Determination was in his eyes, and it matched Rose's.

"You're interfering with business," he said, placing a hand on the butt of his sword. "I'm not leaving until I slay that dragon, and if I must, I'll fight you to do it."

"Rose, let me handle this," Draco said firmly.

Rose looked over her shoulder at him. It made sense to let the dragon fight the dragon slayer. His meager sword and flimsy shield seemed ill matched for their prey. Still the uneasy feeling was there. She shook her head and turned to face the man that had come with intentions to kill her friend.

"Draw your weapon," she said to the dragon slayer.

He looked at her incredulously.

"You're serious," he said, finally catching on.

He looked at Draco and then at Rose. He eyed her black suit and staff apprehensively.

"You're a witch aren't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"If I was, you can bet I would have turned you into a toad by now," Rose said. "Whatever gave you that idea anyway?"

"Your clothes for one thing," he said gesturing. "Mostly it's how tame this dragon seems to be. How ever did you calm such a savage beast?"

"He's not savage!" Rose said defensively. "You're the one walking around slaying things."

The man sighed and removed his hand from his sword. He could see he was getting nowhere and slaying this dragon was a lost cause. He hated dragons, but he didn't have it in him to strike a female to kill one. Chivalry still clung to him, no matter how hard he tried to dislodge it.

"Fine, I won't kill him," he said resignedly.

Seeing the distrust in Rose's eyes, he pulled his sword from its sheath and tossed it to the ground a few feet away.

"I don't trust you," Rose said bluntly.

Draco stepped forward and gently touched Rose's shoulder. She turned her head and looked up into his gold eyes. He seemed to trust the dragon slayer, so she decided to back down for now. Still she would watch this stranger with a close eye.

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In a damp cave miles away, Kane knelt on its cold floor. He uncorked a small vile of green liquid. He stared at it a moment, apprehensively. Penderas had said this potion would work. The ploy to throw Rose off had worked perfectly. He would have killed her if it hadn't been for that dragon. That put a damper on his plans, but no matter. Soon Rose and her dragons wouldn't be a problem.

He dumped the potion into his mouth, and threw the empty vile aside. He felt a surge of power rush through his veins. His body expanded, becoming more muscular and larger. He became covered in thick, grey skin and his eyes were two ovular pools of red with slits for pupils. His features were lupine, complete with deadly sharp fangs. The transformation was complete. He brought his hand up in front of his face studying the elongated fingers tipped in talons. He grinned wickedly. The Hunter had been born.

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Let me clarify something: Kane is not a werewolf. He looks a lot like one and he has a lot of the powers, but he's not. You'll see the difference between him and a werewolf later on.

Radiant Beam: I know you couldn't leave a review, but I got your message. Thanks!