(Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the following story)

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Return of the Dragon Slayer.

Chapter Fourteen.

Finn paced the camp. She tried to occupy herself with small tasks but found her mind constantly drifting to her son. It was her fault he'd taken off, she'd promised him she would always look after him, make sure nothing ever happened to him and now he was sitting in a cell and she could just imagine what they had done to him. She'd seen it in Seth's eyes even though he'd refused to say anything about it and Jonas knew Caleb, so there was little doubt her son would pay for Jonas' hatred of her.

Seth had tried talking to her, but she wouldn't speak to anyone, not until Caleb returned; and Seth knew her well enough to know she was best left alone.

She went to the coral, Picasso coming over to her, nuzzling at her hand. She grabbed a brush and started to rub him down; the repetition seeming to calm her. She didn't know how long she'd been brushing her horse when she felt the tattoo of the griffin on her leg move wildly. She looked up and saw a fleet of dragons scream over the garrison; she dropped the brush and ran to the fence, vaulting over it as she saw Peluda shooting towards the ground.

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Dean looked at Sam, then towards Caleb; he saw Caleb look over the soldier's shoulder at him, trying to fight against the man that was stealing him away.

"DAAAADDDEEEEE!!!"

Dean looked at Caleb then back at Sam again, his gaze shifting between the both of them…his brother or his son…he had to choose.

Dean looked at Sam, watching him fight against an ever-increasing number of soldiers "I"LL BE BACK, SAMMY! I PROMISE"

Sam fought hard against the men that held him, punching at them furiously "GO, DEAN! YOU SAVE CALEB!"

Dean nodded and Peluda swooped, rocketing towards Caleb and his kidnapper, he flew low over the man's head before turning 180° spreading his wings, hovering in front of the man. The soldier stopped dead, his face draining of all colour as he looked at the dragon that was ten feet in front of him, seeming to just hang in the air, its eyes fixated on him.

"DAAAADDDEEEEE!!!" Caleb yelled, his arms stretching towards Dean.

Peluda opened his jaws wide and roared, the rush of it ruffling the man and boys hair. Dean drew his sword and Peluda rose slightly, lifting his head to the skies and shot a short burst of flame into it before returning his gaze to man.

"NOW PELUDA!" yelled Dean.

Peluda dropped, rushing the man, Dean raised his sword and Caleb instinctively ducked, he felt the rush of air as his fathers sword flashed down, then a strong arm lift him from the dead man's grasp and deposit him on the neck of the dragon.

"HOLD TIGHT, CALEB!" yelled Dean.

Caleb slid his little hands underneath the dragons scales as he felt one of Dean's arms go round him. "WE HAVE TO SAVE UNCLE SAM!" he yelled.

"We will" he whispered in Caleb's ear "PELUDA!"

The dragon raced towards the men that were dragging an unconscious Sam towards the Palace. "ASSHOLES!" Dean yelled. Peluda swooped down low and turned slightly, giving Dean the perfect position from which to strike. Dean decapitated two soldiers before the dragon rose and circled back.

Dean heard the sound of something firing in the distance and then Peluda dropped unexpectedly and Dean yelled out as a pain ripped through his leg "PELUDA!"

They are firing their weapons, Slayer

Dean looked, Peluda was bleeding a silver liquid from his back leg. Dean hadn't been injured but had felt the pain of the hit the dragon had taken "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

I can fly

The dragon swooped again, roaring as he neared Sam and his captors. The men turned, the fear clearly visible on their faces. Three stood their ground and raised their swords as the remaining men hustled Sam towards the Palace.

May I?

"JUST DON'T HIT SAM!"

Peluda let out a short burst of fire, engulfing the three men. There were no screams, no flaming of limbs, nothing. The three soldiers were turned instantly to ash.

"Look away, Caleb" said Dean.

We cannot get to you brother

"WE HAVE TO!" yelled Caleb "WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM HERE!"

Little Slayer…

"PLEEEAAASSEE!" begged Caleb.

Peluda dipped his head and rushed towards Sam and the men. Dean could hear weapons being fired, explosions coming from all around him, the roars of the dragons that were still doing fly-by's through the Citadel, it was chaos.

They raced forward and Dean screamed as Peluda roared and dropped low, almost touching the ground.

"DADDY!" yelled Caleb. He looked down, Peluda had been hit again, this time in the shoulder…and so had his father, his thigh was bleeding heavily from the hit. Caleb looked towards Sam, he was almost inside, they couldn't get to him. "HOME, PELUDA!" he yelled, he looked towards Sam "WE'RE COMING BACK, UNCLE SAM!" he yelled again. He knew his Uncle couldn't hear him but he hoped the men who had him would hear and be very, very scared.

"NO!" yelled Dean.

"We have to, Daddy! Peluda's hurt bad…you too" he turned back "GO, PELUDA!"

"SAM!!" yelled Dean as he watched his brother being dragged into the Palace.

Peluda gave a final roar, a roar that rocked the Palace, shaking all the windows, shattering those that were closest and he shot into the air, letting out a call to the other dragons. They rose as one, shooting skywards, their roars thundering across the skies as they left the Citadel in ruins beneath them.

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Finn raced towards the clearing and as Peluda got closer, she could see Caleb sitting in front of Dean and she smiled, wiping at the tears that spilled down her cheeks. Ancients were coming from everywhere and as Peluda landed awkwardly, she finally noticed his injuries. She'd been so focussed on her son, she hadn't noticed the large holes in his leg and shoulder that were bleeding profusely. She ran over to the dragon and Caleb threw himself from Peluda's neck and into her arms.

"MAMMA!" he hugged her tight.

"Caleb" he held him tightly to her, kissing him all over the face and he started to giggle.

He pulled back slightly from her "Mamma…Daddy's hurt…"

Finn looked at Caleb, had he just called Dean, 'Daddy'? She looked towards Dean; Jude and Zach were helping him over to her "Dean?"

"We have to get back, they've still got Sam" said Dean.

"Soon, you're hurt…"

"I'm alright" he was pale but he grinned at her "Told you I wouldn't come back without him" he looked at Caleb "Right, buddy?"

Caleb smiled "Yes, Daddy"

Dean smiled at his son then looked at Finn and grinned at her "So do I get a kiss or what?"

She smiled, put a hand gently behind his neck, pulling his lips to hers and kissed him deeply "Thank you"

Dean laughed "Aaah, no…thank you"

"Come on, Romeo" said Jude with a laugh "Let's have a look at that leg" and he and Zach led him over to his tent.

"Where's Sam exactly, Caleb?" Finn asked

Caleb's face fell "In the Palace. We had to leave him, Mamma" and tears welled in his eyes "He saved me and we had to leave him"

"Hey, shhh…we'll get him back, I promise" and they followed Dean to the tent.

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Finn put Caleb down as she got into the tent, she crouched in front of him and looked at his bruised face and split lip. She opened his shirt and saw the bruises on his tiny frame "Who did this to you?"

"Jesus…" said Dean as he looked over "Who DID that to you, Caleb?" he demanded, pushing at Jude as he tried to make him lie down.

Caleb shrugged "Some bad men, but I didn't tell them nothing" he said proudly "I said bad words to them" he looked at Finn "Sorry Mamma"

She smiled at him "That's alright, Caleb. You're allowed to say bad words to bad men, okay?"

He nodded "They want to know where you are, where Daddy is and where everyone is. I told them to kiss my…umm…bottom"

"Kiss your ass?" asked Dean with a smile.

Caleb nodded "They get angry. But I don't care, they bad men, I heard them talking, they said they gonna kill Uncle Gideon and the little dragon and then them and the dragons are gonna go into our other home and do lots of bad things" he looked at Finn "They want to be the bosses of everything"

"Well they won't be" said Jude "We'll stop them, Caleb"

"No, you don't unnerstand. They gonna let the 'Wrong One's' out and pretend to save the people. Then…" he sighed "I can't 'splain it…they gonna trick people…use their magic and they gonna start a war with the 'M-Mortals"

"Immortals?" asked Finn.

Caleb nodded "Jonas bad, Mamma"

"You leave Jonas to me, little man" she looked at Jude and he nodded and left the tent "Now lie down, let me fix you"

Caleb laughed "You take too long, Mamma. Zach can do it"

Zach smiled "Lie down, little guy" and he went over to Caleb as Finn took Caleb's shirt off, her anger rising at every bruise she saw. Zach looked at Finn "He'll be alright. Now can you get Dean to lie down before he falls down?"

She nodded, kissed Caleb on the forehead and went to Dean, she crouched down and inspected his leg; she looked up into his grinning face and smiled "Drop 'em"

"Any chance to get into my pants huh?" he asked.

She laughed "Yes, Dean…now drop 'em"

He undid the leathers and Finn helped him slide them over the wound "Jesus…" she looked up at him "What were you hit with?"

"Don't know" said Dean "But it hurts like a sonofabitch"

Finn nodded, the flesh was torn, the muscle ripped through to the bone "For Gods sake, lie down" she helped him onto the mattress and inspected the wound more closely "Something's….hang on" she took her dagger from her boot and looked at him "This is gonna hurt but there's something in there and it's…I have to get it out"

He nodded "Do it" He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he felt the dagger slide under his thigh muscle, lifting it slightly "Jesus…hurry up"

Finn grabbed one of Dean's t-shirts "Hang on…and sorry but…" she covered her hand with the fabric and slid her fingers into the wound as Dean swore "Sorry…it's stuck"

"Get it OUT already!"

Finn worked the fragment as delicately as she could from the bone, she glanced quickly at Dean, he was getting paler and sweat had broken out on his brow. She took a deep breath and wrenched the object from the bone; Dean gave a guttural yell before passing out.

She looked at the fragment, turning it over in the t-shirt…she couldn't touch it to her skin, it had been festering inside Dean's leg, making the blood boil around it. She turned as the tent flap opened and Seth and Jude came in.

"What?" asked Jude, when he saw the look on her face.

She held out the shrapnel and Jude swore. Finn grabbed another t-shirt and put it to Dean's leg, pulled a belt out of his bag and made a tourniquet above the wound "Jude, wrap the leg, I have to go see the dragons. Tell Caleb I'll be back as soon as I can. Make sure Dean doesn't move. How's Peluda?"

"He doesn't look good, Finn"

"No, I wouldn't think so"

"I'm coming with you" said Seth.

Finn shook her head "You can't, you're not allowed and if you enter their land without permission, they'll kill you"

"Finn"

"Don't argue with me, Seth" she leaned down and brushed her lips across Dean's and rose "You watch out for Caleb, Seth" and she left the tent.

She tucked the fragment into her vest, went to her tent and retrieved her swords. She jogged over to Peluda; the dragon was lying on the ground, his head resting on some hay-bales the Ancients had laid down for him "Peluda, I'm going to see Fafnir, when I get back we'll get you healed" the dragon blinked "Thank you for saving my son' she put a hand gently to his face.

She turned, Raja was waiting and she scaled him quickly, the griffin shooting skywards as soon as she was in place. Finn looked at her watch, she had three hours…if she didn't get back in time, both Dean and Peluda would be dead.

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Sam's mind woke first, he felt the faint stirrings of consciousness seep into him and he moaned as it recognised each and every bruise and contusion he had suffered at the hands of the soldiers. He felt someone put their hand to his chest and his eyes snapped open.

"Easy, Sam" said Gideon.

Sam sat up slowly and looked around "Where…" he looked at Gideon "Did Caleb get away?"

Gideon smiled "He did, thanks to you"

"I didn't do anything except get caught" said Sam.

"Overpowered from the looks of it" said Gideon.

Sam shrugged "How screwed are we?"

Gideon laughed "Pretty screwed. But…" he pointed.

Sam looked over and through the bars of the adjoining cage "Fuck me…"

It was 'the little dragon' as Caleb called it; only it wasn't all that little. It was easily ten foot high and five foot across its chest. It sat on the ground in the middle of the cell watching them. It was completely gold, its scales, it's wings, its horns, everything bar it's eyes, which were the most amazing shade of green Sam had ever seen. "He's beautiful"

The dragon bowed its head Thank you

"What the fuck…" said Sam.

Gideon laughed "He can communicate if he wants to"

Sam got slowly to his feet and went to the bars that separated them from the dragon "You know who my brother is?"

You are the brother of the Dragon Slayer, Phoenix

"My brother will be back, back for all of us"

It is not the task of the Slayer to rescue us. That is laid at the feet of another. But you, Phoenix, there are parts of you that must be returned.

"My memories"

The dragon nodded

"Finn said I wouldn't want all my memories" said Sam.

There are some things that will be difficult to…accept ...but while your mind is not completely open to yourself, you are unable to raise the phoenix within

"Aaah, okay" he sighed "Look to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what's going on, I don't understand all this 'phoenix' business…" he frowned "although Eve did tell me a pretty weird story about…"

The Rise of the Phoneix

"Yeah" said Sam "So, aah, seeing as we're not going anywhere for a while" he smiled sheepishly at the dragon "You couldn't explain it to me, could you?"

As you wish, but first…tell me, why is it you deny your link to the animal when he has clearly marked you

"Huh?" asked Sam.

The dragon looked at Gideon Show him

Gideon limped over to Sam "Take off your shirt"

Sam winced and Gideon had to help him remove the leather shirt "Look" said Gideon and he pointed to Sam's left arm.

Sam stared, his mouth falling open as he saw the tattoo of a phoenix on his upper left shoulder; one red and gold wing spreading down onto his chest, the other he assumed was on his back, its tail feathers winding down and around his upper arm. "How…"

Your destiny has begun, Phoenix. You were never meant to leave with the Little Slayer, you were meant to walk this path, with me and the Lion.

Sam looked at Gideon "You?" Gideon nodded. Sam turned back to the dragon "And what exactly is it I'm supposed to do?" he asked.

Die, of course.

To be continued…