Chapter 18

Sam was trying to claw his way out of the darkness. He could feel a hot breath on the side of his face and tried to push it away, feeling something leatherlike under his palm. It wasn't registering in his clouded mind what had happened to him or what had happened to the others. His body felt like it was made of lead, and he couldn't move it. He could feel something messing with his clothes around his waist and the radiating pain seemed to get worse.

Black Beauty had flown back to her cave and placed Sam on the dirt floor in a beam of sunlight that was coming in from one of several openings in the ceiling of the large cavern. She took in his scent and could smell his brother's aroma mingled with his. Knowing Dean's scent meant this was someone that knew him too, she decided this was a friend.

She ran her face down Sam's body and located the source of the blood that was seeping through Sam's shirts. Using her claws, she managed to get the material out of the way and saw the ugly wounds made from the talons of the other dragon. They were deep and serious. Black Beauty nudged Sam to his side to make access easier so she could help him.

Nightmares invaded Sam's mind as he fought the clutches of the darkness that didn't want to let go. They had gotten out of the forest and were heading toward the farm when a great wind knocked everyone over but him. His body became weightless as he was clutched and pulled off the ground. He could feel intense, sharp pain in his side but couldn't move. He tried to scream for his brother, but the air was taken from his body and only gurgling, gasping breaths were expelled. It was hard for Sam to breathe with the vice-like grip around his body. Sam couldn't pull himself from his nightmare as his body trembled and jerked on the dirt floor.

Black Beauty huffed a hot breath onto the wounds and let her salvia drip over them. She covered the wounds with her mouth and blew enough heat to heal the injuries. She gave him a dragon kiss, just like his brother. Sam cried out and squirmed under her ministering as he fought to break free from the darkness. He could feel streaks of pain racing through his body and an intense heat on his side. He got his eyes open enough to see a dark shape beside him before he was sucked back under and let his mind shut down. When Black Beauty was finished, she moved back to her nest and settled down to wait for Sam to gain consciousness.

Spn

A fearful gasp escaped from Sam's lips as he forced himself to dispel the darkness from his mind leaving it clouded and mudded. He made his eyes open and tried to see in the diming light, not sure where he was. Sam wiped his face and slowly moved his hand down his body feeling the rips on his shirt and how stiff the material was. He had been hurt enough to know dried blood would do that.

Very carefully, Sam pushed his upper body from the dirt floor and looked down at his side after moving his shirts out of the way. He ran his fingers over slightly raised skin that was pinkish and smooth realizing it was scars from the wounds. A snuffing noise had Sam slowly turning his head to look across the cavern to see a huge, black mass nestled on the floor. He squinted his eyes shut and opened them again to see if it was still there or if he was hallucinating.

Black Beauty stretched her neck out and brought it down to study Sam with intelligent eyes. She yawned showing her mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and snorted causing smoke to seep from her nostrils.

"You saved me," Sam stuttered not sure what to say. He wracked his memory on what Dean had told him about this dragon. He was sure it was the one that had saved his brother from the harpy when he was trapped here. He could see the intelligence in the dragon's eyes and hoped she didn't intend to harm him. "You…You know my brother," Sam finally continued. "You saved him too, just like you did me. Thank you for your help." He watched the dragon bow her head slightly toward Sam as she continued to study him.

Sam pulled his pack from his back and saw it had been ripped by the other dragon's talons and saved him from probably deadly injuries. He looked through it to see if anything was salvageable. The sleeping bag had been spared, but the food and his blanket had not, along with a couple of shirts that now had rips in them. At least his cameras were still intact and still useable.

He looked around him and saw a large pool of water back in the corner and slowly got to his feet to make his way to it. After kneeling and checking the water to be sure it was drinkable, he cupped his hands and quenched his thirst. It was cold and had a slightly mineral taste but was good. Once he had his fill, Sam stood again and looked at the dragon.

"Dean named you Black Beauty and I can see why," Sam spoke to her. "Thank you again, but I should be going. I need to find my brother. He must be worried sick about me." Sam eased toward the entrance after picking up his pack but was stopped when the dragon moved her tail to block his way. "Ummm…" Sam stammered not sure what to do. He could try and make a run for the entrance but didn't think he'd get very far.

Black Beauty used her long tail to make Sam move closer to her before stopping. She moved her heavy, cumbersome body and looked down at what lay beside her.

Sam watched and was amazed at what he saw when the dragon shifted her body. He was looking at a dragon's egg nestled in some type of fur bed. It was greenish blue in color and not quite the shape of a hen's egg but much bigger. Curiosity got the best of him, and he dropped his pack to move closer to the egg. It was about three feet tall and looked like a Paul Bunyon size egg.

After glancing at the dragon to be sure she wasn't going to attack, Sam carefully laid his hand on the top of the egg. The outside layer was rough and felt like an eggshell but thicker. It was warm and emitted some type of energy that made his fingers tingle.

"So, you're going to be a mom," Sam spoke to Black Beauty. He startled slightly when she lowered her head down to his body and seemed to hum to the egg. Sam watched in shock as it seemed the eggshell was starting to show signs of spider web cracks.

Black Beauty nudged Sam closer to the egg and looked from him to it like she was trying to tell him something.

"It's trying to hatch, isn't it?" Sam questioned. He ran his hands over the surface and could feel vibrations. "You want me to help your baby."

Black Beauty huffed softly and grumbled deep in her chest as an answer.

"Okay," Sam replied. He pulled his knife out and used the hilt to tap on the hard shell several times. He tried again, a little harder to see the cracks enlarge. Very carefully, Sam finally got a small piece broken free. He worked to extend the crack down the egg so it could break open. He exposed the membrane inside the egg and used the knife tip to slit it enough to get his hands into it.

"Alright, here goes nothing," Sam mumbled to himself as he pushed his hands into the slit, grimacing at the gooey slime that was leaking out. He pulled in a long breath and began to pull the shell apart with all he had. He could hear cracking, but the shell didn't give. Bracing his feet firmly on the ground, Sam tried again only to have the egg suddenly break open causing him to fall on his butt as a small dragon emerged from the egg and landed on his chest.

Black Beauty hummed and lowered her head to smell the baby dragon that was squeaking and gurgling.

"Holy crap," Sam cried out in surprise when the fluid and the baby landed on him. He wasn't sure what to do as he tried to move the little dragon off him. "Hey little fella, hope you're not going to eat me," Sam giggled nervously.

The little dragon stumbled, and its small wings trembled and jerked uncontrollably. Black Beauty used a front foot to help her baby to stand. She growled softly and cooed to it.

"Oh, this is just gross," Sam whined as he pulled his jacket and long-sleeved shirt off since they were soaked with the fluid from the egg. "Guess I could wipe the little one off for you."

Black Beauty watched Sam move to her baby and use his shirt to wipe his face and then each wing, being careful and stretching them out to dry. The little dragon butted Sam and rubbed against him as he tried to clean him.

Sam looked at Black Beauty when she turned to lumber from the cave and disappeared.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sam called, not sure what he was to do with the baby dragon. He guided it to the nest and settled it there. "Okay, looks like I'm the babysitter," he huffed. "I need fire so I can see better," he said to himself.

After gathering wood scattered around the cave, he ventured to the opening to look outside for more. He looked toward the horizon and saw the sun was beginning to sink and it would be dark soon. He got what he could and went back inside to pick a place away from the nest to build a fire pit and get a fire going.

Sam began to walk around the cave looking for anything that would be useful. He found some different size dragon scales that were large enough to use as bowls. Picking up several of them, Sam went to the pool of water and filled them so he could see if the baby dragon was thirsty.

"Are you thirsty?" he cooed to the baby who grunted at him. Sam held the scale with water to the dragon's mouth and tried to pour a little in. He succeeded in getting most of it down the baby's throat without choking it but got a bath as some was spit back out. "Okay, so you didn't like that," Sam laughed wiping his face. He rubbed the baby's head and scratched around its ears hoping Black Beauty wouldn't be gone long. He had no idea what to do except keep the baby from wandering off.

"What about I try to clean you up a little better," Sam suggested. He found one of the largest scales and went to the pool to fill it with water. After cutting up his shirt, Sam dipped a torn piece into the water and began to wash down the baby dragon's back. He continued to clean all the sticky goo from the baby, going back several times for fresh water. "You are a vocal one," Sam laughed as the little dragon chuffed, snorted, and chirped at him as he nuzzled and butted at Sam's hands seeming to enjoy the bath. "When it's light tomorrow I'll get some pictures of you and your momma. Man, this is something that I thought I'd never see."

He was almost finished when the little dragon decided to dry his wings by flapping them quickly sending sprays of water onto Sam.

"Hey!" Sam cried out in amusement as he got a face full of water. He splashed the baby dragon back and laughed hard as he shook his face and fell from the action. Before Sam could recover, the little one snorted into the water and sent it over Sam's lap, soaking his jeans. "No fair, you dry quicker than I do." He smiled when it sounded like the little dragon was laughing at him. It pranced around swishing its small tail back and forth and tried to huff fire, but only a small whisp of smoke came out. "Guess you're not old enough to make fire yet. Maybe that's a good thing," Sam said as he wiped his face deciding he was wet enough, and the baby was clean enough.

Spn

Sam looked at the entrance when Black Beauty landed outside and made her way into the cavern. She heard her baby chirping and seemed happy and was pleased and approved of this human. She had a large boar in her mouth that she dropped to the ground near Sam and then went back out to retrieve another one. She pushed one of the boars toward Sam and nodded her head toward it.

"It's food for the baby," Sam surmised. He took out his knife and started to cut meat off the hind leg of the fat boar deciding she meant for him to share in the kill with the little dragon instead of ripping it up herself. He cut some stripes and put them in a scale so he could sit it in the fire to cook. Sam cut more meat into small chunks and sat the scale in front of the baby dragon. "Here you go little one, it's food for you," he encouraged. He picked up a piece and held it to the baby's mouth so he could smell it. Once he ate one piece, the baby began to hungerly consume the raw meat. "Bet you're hungry just being hatched and all." Sam continued to cut up the meat for the baby while watching his own portion cook over the fire.

Black Beauty ripped chunks from the other boar and devoured them. She watched with approval as Sam fed her baby meat from the other boar. Once she finished the first boar, she moved to the other and saw Sam had stopped feeding her baby. She lowered her head and began to eat what was left of the second boar. After she was finished, she lumbered to her nest and settled down.

"I think he is full Mama dragon," Sam talked to Black Beauty. He guided the baby dragon to his mother's side and let it curl up with her. "I'm going to eat something now and I hope maybe you'll take me to my brother tomorrow since your baby is okay."

Black Beauty snorted and rubbed her face over her baby's body and cupped a wing around it. She watched the human sitting at the fire as he ate the cooked meat. Her eyes tracked Sam as he went to get some water and then spread out his sleeping bag near the fire. He rummaged in his pack for another T-shirt, jeans, and long-sleeved shirt to replace the dirty wet ones. These were all the clothes he had left now. He laid his jeans across a boulder to dry thinking they were salvageable at least.

Sam emptied his pack and tried to figure out a way to patch the rips so he could use it. He found some cord in one of the pockets and used his knife to cut small slits so he could weave the cord through it and tied the torn part closed. Once he was satisfied it would hold, he repacked what he could still use. He used the pack as a pillow and laid down knowing he needed to rest. Sam was hoping either Black Beauty would let him go or take him to Dean the following day.

A/N: Thank you for taking this ride with me. Reviews/comments would be great. NC