A/N: Happy Memorial Day to all who celebrate. As a treat I am posing this chapter early. Enjoy...

Chapter 22

"Am I glad the storm has passed," Dean groaned as he rubbed his horse down before saddling him.

"I agree," Ice said. "It wouldn't be pleasant to be riding in the rain."

"Ty, are you sure about the direction we should going?" Dean questioned him.

"Yes, I can guide us," Titus answered with a vigorous nod.

"I think we're close," Dean mumbled as he tightened the cinch and patted Stone on the neck. "I feel it deep in my soul."

Ice and Titus glanced at each other as they got their mounts ready and hoped Dean was right. They were all weary after last night's storm and none slept very much. Once they were ready, Titus took the lead and headed toward the distant mountains.

They had the horses galloping at a steady pace hoping that Black Beauty would find them again and lead them to wherever she wanted them to go. Dean kept scanning the skies looking for her but didn't see her.

"We're lucky these are fairy horses with strong, incredible endurance that can travel fast in this terrain. Horses from my world would never be able to cover this much distance."

The sun was moving across the sky and was almost overhead when Dean spotted something ahead of them. He pulled Stone to a stop and studied the mound on the ground before nudging his horse forward. He grabbed the saddle when Stone reared and wouldn't go any closer.

"Easy boy," Dean spoke to him as Stone pranced and neighed in fright. "You don't have to go closer."

"Titus, keep the horses here and we'll see what has frightened them," Ice told him, getting off his horse and handing him the reins.

"He's right, stay here," Dean agreed giving Titus his reins too.

They walked closer to the mound and stopped to inspect it.

"Isn't that what…" Dean started as fear gripped his heart making his chest ache. He started to search around for his brother.

"It's a dragon," Ice finished for him. He squatted down to look at the broken body.

"He's not here," Dean sadly said.

"Check this out," Ice called to him. "It looks like this dragon was in a fight and lost. Look at these deep gouges and burns on the face. It looks like one of the wings was shredded."

"This must be the one that took Sammy, but where is he? And what would attack a dragon this size? It had to be something bigger…"

"Him not being here is a good sign, Dean. That means he could have gotten away."

Dean slowly did a three sixty circle looking in every direction for anything that might be Sam or maybe a trail he left. Then he realized after the heavy rain last night it would have erased any trace of a trail and let his shoulders slump in defeat.

"We need to keep looking," Ice urged when he saw the disheartening look on Dean's face.

"Yeah, I'm not giving up," Dean huffed as he shook his body. "We'll keep heading for the mountains and hopefully we can find that canyon Ty was talking about. Sam would have found shelter from the weather and predators in a cave, hurt or not, until he was ready to get moving again. If we find the caves, I bet we'll find Sammy."

They headed back to Titus and the horses to mount up and ride a wide berth around the dead dragon. Titus questioned them about what they had found but went silent when he found out what it was. He kept glancing at Dean and saw the stoic look on his face and had a sense of what he was thinking. If that was the dragon that took Sam, where was Sam? He knew a fall from any height that a person wouldn't be able to survive it. He could feel the tension, stress, and worry coming off Dean and wished he could do something for him to help ease his pain.

Spn

"We need to stop and rest the horses," Ice told his companions as he looked up at the sun. It was passed noon and was heading toward midafternoon.

"Okay," Dean sighed. "Fifteen-minute break and then we continue. We're getting close now…"

Titus groaned as he slipped from his horse and led him to a patch of grass so he could eat. The others dismounted and let the horses munch on what grass was around while they ate a few pieces of dried meat and drank some water. They found a rock that would hold some water and gave each of the horses water. Once the riders had walked around and stretched their bodies, they swung onto the backs of the horses and continued their journey.

"Up ahead," Titus pointed as they neared the range of mountains. "There's a canyon that runs through them and there are supposed to be caves scattered throughout."

"We'll take the horses as far as we can," Dean decided as he urged Stone to trot faster. They would be to the large scar that cut into the side of the mountain in about an hour. The opening into the canyon was strewn with large boulders but still looked passable.

Ice and Titus flicked their reins and got their horses galloping to catch up with Dean. It didn't take them long to get to the beginning of the canyon.

"We go single file and watch for any danger," Dean told them as he walked Stone around the boulders and entered the large opening ever watchful on both sides for any trouble. He could already see this would be a great place for an ambush.

They had been moving through the canyon for about twenty minutes and found a spring bubbling up from the ground. Dean had them stop and let the horses drink and then fill their water containers before moving on. As Dean led his horse instead of riding it, he scanned for any caves above them.

Spn

Sam rolled over and found Drako had nestled down beside him again and was sleeping. He sighed softly and looked toward the nest to see Black Beauty was gone. It still amazed him at how quiet she could be as big as she was. He never heard her leave in the mornings before he woke. Sam reached and scratched Drako on the back around his wings and was rewarded by them fluttering happily. He didn't want to admit it, but he was enjoying looking after Drago.

He got up and stretched as Drako rolled over, grunting and snorting about losing his pillow. He looked up at Sam with huge, dark eyes that only showed love. He followed Sam outside so they could relieve themselves before going back inside. Sam looked at his rock table and saw something large lying across it and draping down the sides. He moved to check it out and decided it was some type of fish but not one he recognized.

He decided to take it outside to clean and fix it for Drako and himself. Sam would cook his portion outside so not to fill the cave with a fish smell. Drako pranced around him and cried out knowing this was food. He washed the fillets he cut off the large fish creature. Sam liked sushi but decided not to take the chance of eating this raw.

"Hold on," Sam laughed as he started cutting up one fillet for the impatient baby dragon. He took some of the wood he had gathered and started a fire to cook his portion. His mouth watered as the odor of the fish cooking wafted around him. Sam wondered where Black Beauty was since she usually stayed around to be sure Drako was fed.

Drako tried to keep up with Sam as he jogged down the ledge and turned to go back. He grabbed at Sam's pants' legs and tried to catch him, almost making Sam fall.

"Hey!" Sam complained slapping lightly at the dragon and dodging his attempts to catch him. He finished his run and plopped to the ground to do his sit ups letting Drago sit on his feet to hold them down. After finishing his routine, Sam leaned back against the cliff wall and just looked out across the rocky terrain. He caught sight of a bird that was gliding down the canyon catching the thermals that lifted him higher and watched him soar away. He looked at the little dragon and thought someday he would be soaring around in the sky.

This was his quiet time since the little dragon was curled beside him asleep. He watched as his legs began to kick and wondered what he could be dreaming about. His little wings twitched, and Sam wondered if he was dreaming of flying with his mother in the wide-open sky.

The day passed by before Sam even realized it. One ran into the other, the only thing to distinguish one from the other was day turned into night and they slept only to start another day.

Foreign noises had Sam standing and looking around to find the source. He shooed Drako back into the cave and eased to the edge of the incline to look at the canyon floor below them. He could swear he heard voices echoing around down there and wasn't sure who it could be, unless could it be possible it was his brother. He gripped his knife tightly in his hand determined to defend Drago and himself.

A rock rolled down the embankment from above and Sam quickly looked up to see Black Beauty perched above them like a gargoyle. She didn't move a muscle except to tilt her head enough to look down at Sam.

A/N: Thank you for coming on this journey. I do like reviews/comments. NC