Author's Notes: My sincerest apologies for the lateness of this chapter. I can make a million excuses, but the fact of the mater is that the holidays make me depressed and when I'm depressed, my muse takes a hike. On the plus side, the next chapter is about half way written and I'm hoping to have it up soon. Please enjoy.

He locked us in, the dragon growled, glaring at the door.

Ruby just shrugged and continued to explore Wildwing's room. The room was huge and she couldn't believe that he was the sole occupant. Did the others have rooms like this one or was it because he was their captain? It just seemed way over the top for one duck to have a room that was that large and the bathroom half the size of the bedroom.

I can burn a hole in the door, the fire Elemental suggested. It'll take time, though.

She shook her head 'no' and let out a huge yawn. She was tired beyond words, but she just couldn't do it. It was bad enough that after using his soap and shampoo, she smelled like him. It wasn't helping that she was wearing his clothes. She just couldn't sleep in his bed too. Her sanity just couldn't take it.

You're swaying, the dragon stated gently, coming up next to her. You need to sleep.

She turned to the bed and stared at it. It was big enough to hold her and the dragon. It was also large enough to hold her and a certain white feathered, male goalie who she currently smelled like.

How could she be attracted to him? She refused to think how nice it had felt to wrap her wings around Wildwing on the motorcycle, despite the fact that he was obviously revolted by it. The curse made sure she wouldn't be able to find love and she liked to think she wasn't so shallow that she would lust after a good looking drake. The exhaustion must have been getting to her.

She was not looking forward to trying to sleep in that bed, but the dragon was right. She was exhausted and she could barely keep her eyes open. She needed to lay down before she fell down.

Instead of going to the bed, the tired mage went over to the couch and stretched out on it. She squirmed around, trying to find a comfortable position. Unfortunately, the sofa was well used and rather lumpy, making it hard to get comfortable.

What are you doing? the dragon asked as he stared at her. There's no room for me.

She didn't dare respond since her throat still hurt. She rolled on her side, pillowed her head on her hands and tried to get comfortable. Her exhaustion started to win out over the lumpy couch and she barely noticed the dragon climb up onto the back of the sofa.

She was starting to drift off, her mind in that nebulous place between sleeping and waking where she was no longer really aware of what was going on around her. That's when the dragon, in his own attempt to get comfortable, rolled off of the back of the couch and landed right on top of her. Startled by the sudden hot weight, she rolled over and they both went crashing to the floor, hitting the air hockey table on the way down.

It took them a minute to disentangle themselves and get to their feet. After making sure that the dragon hadn't gotten hurt from her landing on him, she checked to make sure she was still in one piece. With a sigh of regret, she found a hole in the sleeve of the jersey.

She didn't remember it being there before. She knew how to reweave spider silk and she hoped that she could do it with whatever the jersey was made from. However, it was going to have to wait as she still could barely see straight from being so tired.

Figuring that there was no use fighting it anymore, she stumbled over to the bed and crawled between the sheets. The dragon was right behind her and gladly snuggled up to her. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and let the warmth of the dragon help relax her tense muscles. As she drifted off, she wondered what her life would have been like if Dragaunus had never escaped his prison. That's when she had the strangest dream ever.

Ruby was in an alleyway near where she lived with her mother and baby brother, Nosedive. She was in full goalie gear and blocking shots by Nosedive. She was deflecting the flying pucks with only some difficulty. Her baby bro was getting better.

Ruby could barely hear anything with the helmet on her head. It wasn't until Nosedive stopped hitting the pucks and looked at the sky that she realized something was wrong. She took off her helmet and mask and looked up at the clear blue sky. Through the buildings she could see the strange shaped airships blocking out the midday sun. She stared at them in confusion until they opened fire on the surrounding buildings.

Ruby yelled at Nosedive to run. They skated for all they were worth, trying to stay out of the way of the attacking ships and other panicking ducks. The sounds of weapons fire and exploding buildings almost drowned out the sound of screaming, frightened ducks. Almost.

Ruby and Nosedive continued to run. The blades of their skates had been broken off shortly after the attack had begun. They dodged around broken pieces of buildings and running ducks. She tried not to notice the ducks that were trapped under the rubble, especially the ones that weren't moving.

They finally found shelter in a ruined building. Ruby and Nosedive hid in the darkness, not saying anything. The noise of the ships and their weapons were deafening, but the silence after they were gone was even worse.

Ruby and Nosedive slowly emerged from their shelter, still badly shaken. She made sure that her little brother was all right before checking on herself. Once she was sure that they didn't need medical attention, she started to head home. She hoped that their mother wasn't buried under some building like so many other ducks she had seen.

Ruby saw that their home, a fair sized apartment building, was nothing but a large hole in the ground. She tried to assure her little brother as she began the trek to their mother's work. She held onto the belief that their mother would have been working at that time of day, not home.

As they picked their way through the remains of people's homes and torn up streets, a new danger arose. She heard them before she saw them and was able to get herself and Nosedive into a safe place. Not a minute after they hid, a group of sinister looking robots came marching by, herding hapless ducks that they had caught.

Ruby and Nosedive spent the rest of the day moving from one hiding place to another. They finally managed to make it their mother's work, but the building was nothing but a pile of rubble. With heavy hearts, they helped to try and find survivors. They worked until the robots appeared and only just managed to escape capture.

That first night, it was cold and dark. There were no warm lights coming from windows as ducks gathered to share an evening meal. There were no street lights to light their way. The only light came from buildings that were still burning. Ruby was only concerned that she and her brother made it through that cold and dark night.

Over the ensuing days, Ruby and Nosedive moved from one hiding spot to the next, scrounging for food. When they found another group of ducks, they would avoid them. The robot things seemed to be finding the groups of ducks and rounding them up, so they stuck to the shadows and each other.

Occasionally, they helped where they could, but the robots, which they finally learned the smaller ones were called hunter drones and the large ones were monitors, were always a worry. They never stayed in any one place for long and for the most part, it worked for them. She heard some ducks talking about the resistance, but no one knew how to find them. She and her little brother moved on, always on the look out for the hunter drones.

Ruby hoped that by staying close to their old home that they would get some word about their mother, but nothing came. She was always trying to find someone who knew how to get in contact with the resistance, but had yet to find such a duck. She and Nosedive kept moving, never daring to stay in one place for too long.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. Ruby and Nosedive met fewer and fewer ducks as they moved around and she knew the reason why. The hunter drones were slowly combing their way through the city, getting any stray ducks that had managed to escape so far. She knew it was just a matter of time for them to get her and her brother, but she wasn't going to make it easy for them.

Ruby had never seen a duck with green feathers and dark blotches before and she was hesitant to trust the stranger, but he seemed very friendly. He claimed to have found a stash of food that was too much for him to eat and she and Nosedive were starving. Against her better judgment, they followed the stranger.

Afterwards, Ruby could have just kicked herself. She knew she shouldn't have trusted that duck. However, she and Nosedive hadn't eaten in a couple days and she had let her stomach get the better of her. Now they were marching in a line with the rest of the prisoners.

Ruby trudged along with Nosedive and the other ducks on the way to the transport. Soon, she and her brother would be working in the mines with the other slaves. She feared there was no hope anymore. The resistance was nothing more than a dream someone thought up. At least she thought that until someone grabbed her.

Ruby couldn't believe her luck! Canard had saved her and her brother and was part of the resistance. He wanted her on his team! Granted, he still didn't care for Nosedive, but there was no way she was leaving her baby brother behind. Canard wasn't happy about it, but he wanted her on the team bad enough to even put up with Nosedive.

Ruby had always been in awe of Canard and the fact that he had found the Mask of Drake DuCaine just moved him up even higher in her esteem of her friend. Shortly after arriving at the resistance's hide out, she met the other members of the team and was amazed by them, too: Mallory with her battle skills, Duke with his cunning, Tanya with her smarts, and Grin with his strength. So why did Canard need her?

After a couple of days of rest and food, Canard got the team geared up and moving out. Ruby still wasn't sure why she was along, but she was looking forward to paying back Dragaunus for the loss of her home and mother. Though revenge would be nice, freeing her world was even more important.

Ruby was amazed by her best friend. Canard handled finding Dragaunus's tower without even a twitch of a feather. He was an incredible leader and she was glad she was serving under him, even if she still didn't understand why she was along.

Leaving Nosedive behind with the Areowing made her nervous, but she didn't want him getting hurt. Nosedive wasn't happy about it, but at least he was safe there. How much trouble could he get into locked in the armored vehicle?

Ruby wasn't sure how thrilled she was to find out that she was the decoy to keep Dragaunus busy while the others destroyed the tower. She was going to have to remember to 'thank' Canard properly for that. Provided she lived that long.

She was feeling pretty good about herself as she blasted away several hunter drones. Then Dragaunus showed up. He was HUGE! And he could disappear! How was she supposed to fight that?

Apparently, she couldn't and she found herself strapped to a platform that was being lowered into a series of electric rays. She didn't even realize her feathers could sweat. Where were Canard and the others? The sound of a distant explosion didn't really help her nerves.

Never had she been so glad to know a thief! Of course, the relief of being rescued was short lived when she found out they only had a few seconds to get out of the Master Tower. It was pure luck that the wall next to them blew out.

However, she didn't see what good it was going to do them as they were a few hundred feet up! The fact that the Areowing and her brother were missing nearly gave her a heart attack. Then, just when they had run out of time, her baby bro saved the day. She couldn't have been prouder of him.

Once they were in the air, they gave chase to Dragaunus's ship. When Dragaunus's ship suddenly went through some strange gateway, she told her brother to punch it. There was no way she was going to let that slimy lizard get away to terrorize her or any one else's world.

They followed the larger ship, staying right on their tail. Then a large glowing thing came out of the Saurian ship and wrapped around the Aerowing. Suddenly, Nosedive was fighting to keep the ship stabilized as the thing writhed around them.

"Tanya, what is that?" Ruby asked.

"Well, if I didn't know better," Tanya responded. "I'd say that was an electromagnetic worm!"

"Hey, if that thing gets big enough that thing could swallow the entire ship!" Duke warned.

"Well, how are we going to get rid of it?" Ruby demanded.

"Well, it has to consume some sort of matter," Tanya answered.

"We're going to have to jettison something," Ruby stated as she grabbed the back of Tanya's seat and tried to move it.

"Well like what?" Tanya questioned. "Everything is bolted down!"

Suddenly, the side hatch was opened and Ruby spun around to see Canard standing in front of the opening.

"Canard!" Ruby yelled as she came up to her best friend. "What are you doing?"

"You heard Tanya," Canard replied. "I'm going to close that thing down!"

"Are you crazy!?" Ruby shouted.

"It's the only way," Canard said as he took the mask off and held it toward her.

She took a step back and shook her head 'no', her hand up to fend off the item being handed to her.

"Take it, Wildwing!" Canard demanded. "Take it!"

Suddenly, a glowing tendril wrapped around Canard's ankles and pulled him out of the Aerowing.

"Canard!" Ruby screamed as she made a lunge for her friend and managed to grab Canard's wrist with one hand while the other hung onto the ship.

Canard yelled in pain as he was pulled in two different directions.

"Hang on!" Ruby yelled.

Grin grabbed her around the middle, freeing her other hand to grab Canard's wrist. She held on with all her might, but she could feel her friend's hand being pulled from her. Suddenly, she realized she was holding onto the mask and she looked up into to Canard's eyes.

"Take it, you're team captain now," Canard instructed just before he let go.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ruby sat up with a start. Her heart was pounding and she was breathing like she had just run a marathon. She could feel the sweat dripping down her back as she took in her surroundings.

She hastily climbed over the dragon to get out of Wildwing's bed. She stood on shaky legs, her entire body trembling. Never in her life had she experienced a dream like that one.

How could she have possibly had a dream like that? Did she actually just dream about what Wildwing experienced when Dragaunus attacked their world? Or had her mind created it from the bits and pieces that Canard told her in his bid to get her not to come after The Mask?

Most of the dream had been jerky, jumping from one scene to the next, but that last part. The last part unnerved her the most. It had been so clear. She could remember every little detail, right down to how it felt to lose her very best friend.

What's wrong? the dragon asked.

She just shook her head. She had to get out of there. She wasn't sure how or why she had that dream, but there was no way she was going to get any more sleep, especially while wearing his clothes and sleeping in his bed. Her heart wouldn't stop racing and she was close to panicking.

Without really thinking about it, she sent out a pulse of energy. She had never used her magic like that before, but she had been taught it. It was similar to a distress call, but aimed at any friendly Elementals in the area.

What do you need help for? the dragon inquired worriedly as he slithered out of the bed.

She looked at him for a moment, briefly distracted from her near panicked state by his appearance change. He was starting to look more like a classical dragon than a salamander, complete with the small spikes that ran along his spine. Before she could get too caught up in the changes, several brownies appeared as well as the gnome from the kitchen.

What do you want? the gnome demanded and she knelt down in front of the earth Elementals.

"Help, please," she rasped out, trying not to wince at the pain of talking. "Need my things and door unlocked."

Why should we? the gnome questioned with his arms crossed over his chest.

The brownies gave the gnome a bunch of dirty looks before they disappeared through gaps in the walls that a mouse would have problems with. She didn't have the time or patience to deal with the gnome's cranky attitude. She had learned the hard way that some Elementals only wanted to argue and had no intention of ever helping.

She stood back up and walked past the scowling gnome. She went up to the control pad by the door and put her hand on it. It was electronic which was a type of energy. Magic was also a type of energy. Maybe she could use one to manipulate the other.

It took her a good ten minutes to get the job done, but the door finally hissed open a crack. She put her hands in the small opening and started to push. It didn't budge at first and then the dragon shoved her out of the way.

She watched in amazement as a creature that had started out no bigger than her thumb less than a week ago was now nearly eight feet long and strong enough to force the heavy door open. He looked right proud of himself once he got the door open enough to fit through. She smiled at him as she joined him in the hallway.

The first of the brownies arrived dragging along her still wet clothing. With a bit of magic, they were dry in a few seconds. She dashed back to the bathroom to change, leaving Wildwing's clothes neatly folded on the counter next to the sink when she was done.

When she returned, the brownies had delivered her hiking shoes, which she quickly put on. A few moments later, a couple brownies returned with her cloak and the dress shoes she had worn when she left Puckworld. She was really happy to see those, though she wasn't sure how they had ended up here.

She was about to thank them when the last of the brownies arrived with her bag. They looked right proud of themselves and she couldn't blame them. Wildwing had said he had locked it away. Guess he wasn't figuring a bunch of earth Elementals could break into it.

"Which way out?" Ruby asked, ignoring the pain in her throat as she stuffed her cloak and extra shoes into the bag.

The dragon went one way and the brownies went another. She was tempted to follow the brownies, but she worried that they would try to lead her through the cracks only they could fit through. She started to follow the dragon only to have the brownies come and stop her.

We can't fit through the cracks that you can, the dragon testily reminded them.

We may be small, but we're not stupid, one of the brownies huffily retorted.

There's another down that way, another brownie stated.

Ruby didn't need to ask another what, she just trusted the small Elementals to know the place probably better than the builders did. She started to follow them and with a snort of disgust, the dragon followed. Despite all of the twists and turns they went through, they finally ended up in a monster huge room with an extremely tall dais and a giant computer on top of it.

If she had stopped and stared, it probably would have boggled her mind that they had made this. What was the point of putting the computer way up on a dais? Did the room really need to be this big? And what mental midget decided that the best way to get up to the computer was up a flimsy ladder?

She got to the top of the ladder with the brownies and turned to check on the dragon. He paced at the bottom a few times and then started to follow her. The rungs started to bend under his weight and the ladder creaked ominously. He moved as quickly as he could and by the time he got to the top, the ladder had just started to pull away from the wall and the rungs were bent and had scorch marks on them.

Have they never heard of stairs? the dragon grumbled and she had to smile.

The brownies led them to an elevator that they all barely fit into. When the doors opened, she was staring at a locker room. While she tried to figure out why the elevator would open up there, the brownies led them through the room and out into the arena.

She gave the ice only a cursory glance as she followed the small Elementals. It was amazing how quickly those little legs could move, even up stairs. They hit the outside doors only to be brought up short by them being locked with chains.

The dragon made short work of the metal while the brownies took care of the internal locks and they burst through the doors. They got three steps before the alarms sounded. Not wanting to see what would happen next, they ran for all they were worth across the parking lot.

She couldn't have stopped the grin on her beak if she had wanted to. That was the most excitement she had had in a long time.