Chapter 21

The three companions were on their third day of riding in search of Sam. The land had been changing with each passing day and they were guided only by the sun since there were no roads, trails, or paths to follow now. The trees were straggly and looked beaten down and the grass had turned from a different shade of luscious green to a dried, greenish brown. Shrub brush dotted the terrain and barred their paths at times making them choose a path around them. The water was getting scarce, and they made sure to stop and fill all their containers whenever they ran across drinkable water.

The day had started off sunny but quickly became overcast with grey clouds building in the distance. It looked like rain might be on the way and none was looking forward to having to ride in it. They would continue their search for Sam until they knew one way or the other what had happened to him.

They were riding along single file with Dean in the lead. His spidery senses kicked in and he stiffened and looked around trying to pinpoint what he was feeling. Something caught his attention in the sky as a dark spot seemed to be drawing closer to them. He held up his hand for everyone to stop as he kept his eyes on the spot watching it get bigger. The others followed his gaze and saw the black spot too.

"Isn't that…" Titus started as he nudged his ride forward while he squinted and shaded his eyes. "It is! Look Dean I think that's Black Beauty!" he cried out excitedly as the dragon took shape the closer it got.

"Yeah, you may be right," Dean cautiously said wondering if there were other black dragons around.

They watched as the dragon circled slowly above them before gliding to the ground far enough away to not scare the horses. She turned and looked at the travelers, waiting to see what they would do.

"Ice, take the horses so they don't run away," Dean told him dismounting and handing over his reins.

"Here's mine," Titus rushed as he slipped from the horse's side and ran toward the dragon. He was halted when Dean grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Easy Ty, we need to be sure it is her," Dean told him as he studied the dragon.

Ice stayed back and cooed to the horses to keep them calm as he watched the interaction between his friends and the dragon. Titus had told him about a black dragon that they helped during their first task on the Dark Hunt. It was during the last hunt that the dragon had saved Dean's life when a harpy attacked them. He was amazed to see one this close and studied its huge body, large extended wings, long tapered neck, and a mouth full of deadly teeth. She was regal looking and he could see wisdom and intelligence in her penetrating gaze.

"It's her Dean. She knows us," Titus insisted pulling loose and walking closer to the dragon. "Hi Black Beauty," he spoke to her raising his hand as she lowered her head and allowed him to rub her face. She stuck her face near Titus's head and sniffed deeply before blowing warm breath on him. "Hey, that tickles," he laughed.

Dean walked closer and looked into her eyes seeing recognition as she blinked and stretched her neck toward him.

"Hey girl," Dean said to her scratching behind her ears and rubbing down the middle of her forehead. "What are you doing here?"

Black Beauty drew in his scent and sent puffs of gray smoke at him as she growled in her chest. She flapped her wings slightly and raised her long neck up. After turning, she looked back at them and then toward some distant mountains. Once she did that a couple of times, she took flight, and stayed above them, waiting to see I they understood her.

"Dean, I think she wants us to follow her," Titus told him. "Did you see how she kept looking that way? What if she knows something about Sam?"

"I don't know, but it's worth checking out, I guess. We're not finding anything to help." Dean headed back to the horses with Titus. "We're going to follow her," Dean told Ice as he mounded and watched the dragon circle one more time before flying ahead of them.

"Alright," Ice said trusting Dean's judgement. "So, that's your dragon," he commented. "Very impressive."

"I wouldn't say she's my dragon by any means. But Black Beauty did help us back then."

They kicked the horses into a gallop and kept the dragon in sight. If she got too far ahead, she would circle back to be sure they were heading the way she wanted. She was leading them more to the south than their previous trek.

Hope was building again in Dean that maybe by some sheer miracle Black Beauty was leading them to Sam. How she found him or what shape he was in, he didn't know. Dean surmised that there was a reason Black Beauty had showed up and was guiding them somewhere.

The horses kept a steady gallop for several hours until the riders slowed them to a trot so they could cool down and not over tax them. It was getting darker as the clouds kept building and a few drops of rain began to fall.

"Dean, we need to stop before this storm gets worse," Ice called to him. "We're not going to be able to see the dragon when it hits."

Dean looked at the churning clouds overhead and felt drops of rain hit his face. He knew Ice was right, but he feared if they didn't continue to follow Black Beauty, they would lose her. A streak of lightning bounced around in the clouds before striking the earth.

"Up ahead," Titus pointed. "There's some trees for shelter over there."

"Fine," Dean finally gave in since he could barely see the black dragon anymore. They reined in the horses and headed for the stand of trees to set up a quick camp. They got the tarp hung in the branches of several trees for shelter from the rain that was beginning to come down harder. The horses were tied under the biggest tree with a tarp over them for protection and unsaddled. Luckily the ground sloped, and the rain ran away from them.

"Guess it's a cold meal tonight," Dean sighed listening to the rain hitting the tarp and gazing out into the downpour. He was deflating and hung his head trying to reign in his emotions.

"It'll be okay Dean. I know the direction Black Beauty was flying. There are canyons out that way with caves," Titus offered.

"If she wants to show us something, I think she'll come back," Ice added wanting to give Dean the encouragement he needed to hear.

Titus dug into the packs and got out dried meat, hunks of bread and three apples for their meal. He passed the food around and they ate in silence, hunched together again the coolness and dampness. They used the cooking pot to catch some rainwater and filled several water bottles to drink.

Spn

Sam was standing at the cave entrance looking out at the rain when Black Beauty suddenly dropped from the sky and landed on the ledge. She shook her body as she entered spraying Sam with water.

"Hey!" Sam cried out stumbling back out of the way. "I'd like a shower but not this way."

Black Beauty looked down at him and gurgled sounding like a laugh as she dropped some meat to the floor of the cave. She lumbered to her nest as Drago squeaked and squealed at her rubbing against her legs.

Sam moved to the kill and picked it up to set it on a rock he was using as a table. He got some water to wash it off before he started cutting it up. He had fallen into a routine over the past days of fixing food for Drago and himself, exercising, playing with Drago, sleeping and starting another day.

Black Beauty watched Sam for a moment while Drago was eating waiting for him to fix his meat so she could cook it. She had no way of relaying to him that his brother was near, and they would be seeing each other soon. The storm raged on for most of the night until it moved on just before dawn.

A/N: Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I do like reviews/comments. NC