Chapter 2

Travers looked up when the doors to the Council’s inner most chambers banged open.  The wooden doors bounced off the walls with a great force, and the noise echoed through the now silent room.  Travers stood up to speak to whoever had interrupted the session.  “Now see here…”

“Sit down, human.”

A man and a woman entered the room.  They were both dressed like ancient warriors with swords hanging off their belts.  The female’s armor looked like bright red scales while the male’s was blue scales.

“I am Stormshifter,” the female boomed.

“And I am Vitriolchanger of the Depths,” the male boomed.

“You can’t come in here, this is a private meeting,” Travers shouted.  “You will leave immediately.”

Stormshifter swiveled her head to stare at Travers.  “I told you to sit down, human.”

Wyndam-Pryce jumped to his feet.  “Now see here!”

Vitriolchanger opened his mouth, and a mighty roar came out.  Then, there was a spurt of slime that covered Wyndam-Pryce from head to foot.  The man fell back into his chair while wiping the slime from his face.

“Be glad that it was him, and not I, that chastised you,” Stormshifter informed Wyndam-Pryce.  “You will not like what I can do.”

A dark haired man raised a hand. 

Stormshifter looked at the man.  “Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Reginald Bey.  Reggie to my friends.” 

“Speak and be heard, Reginald Bey,” Stormshifter said.  “Reggie to your friends.”

“May I ask what it is that you want with the Council of Watchers?” Reggie asked as politely as he could.  He didn’t want to get slimed or find out what could possibly be worse than being slimed.

Stormshifter nodded before her attention shifted back to Travers.  “The handling of the Slayer by this Council is a travesty.”

“Now see here.”  Travers took a step towards the newcomers.  He was in charge, and he was going to assert his authority.

Vitriolchanger swiveled his head towards Travers.  “You still haven’t seated yourself?  Did you not hear what my mate told you to do?”

Several Council members scooted away from Vitriolchanger when his body started to elongate.  His armor sank into his skin and grew to cover all of his skin.  Large fangs, dripping with venom, grew from his mouth.

“You’re dragons,” Reggie said in an awe-filled tone of voice.  “Real, live dragons.  I read about you.”

“How did you read anything about them?” Travers hissed.  “Those books are only for the head of the Council.  Not lowly librarians like yourself.  Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll be without a job, Bey.”

As Vitriolchanger advanced on Travers in his half-shifted state, Stormshifter turned towards Reggie.  “Don’t worry, my dear,” she said.  “Tell me all about it.”

Reggie gave Travers a glance before he turned his attention towards Stormshifter.  “Right.  Travers was having me do a research project a couple of years ago in the Head Watcher’s private library when I came across the information about dragons.   The Council wants the Slayer to dependent on her Watcher, not some other outside influence.  They have hidden all legends of why dragons appear to the Slayers.”

“I told you to shut your mouth, Bey.  You’re out of here.”  Travers glared at Reggie.  He screeched to a stop when Vitriolchanger’s clawed fingers closed around his throat.

“You will be silent, human, when your masters and betters are speaking.”  Vitriolchanger shook Travers like a rat.

Several of the other men around the room, including Wyndam-Pryce spluttered at the dragon’s words.

 The dragon wrinkled his nose when he caught the scent of urine.  Vitriolchanger dropped Travers into his seat.   “In case it was too much for you little brain to understand, I am your master and … “ he pointed towards Reggie.  “He is your better.”

“I think we have found our new Head Watcher, my sweet,” Stormshifter said to her mate.    She moved over to Reggie, and she gazed deep into his eyes.  “I am Stormshifter.  We are one now, Reginald Magnus Bey.”

Reggie nodded in agreement.  “There have been signs.  I tried to tell them, to warn them, but they all shut me down.  They didn’t want to hear.”

“There were no signs.  It was all a bunch of balderdash and chicanery to make the Slayer think she is better than she really is,” Travers said with sneer.  It was obvious that despite his fear, he wasn’t going to heed Vitriolchanger’s warning.  “There is no truth in those unsubstantiated rumors.”

“And yet here we are, right in front of you, as proof,” Stormshifter replied.   “Pick your companion, my dear.  Not this one, Travers, he is only good for cannon fodder.”

Vitriolchanger stalked around the room until he stopped at the secretary sitting in the corner taking notes.  “I like this one.”  He bent over to stare into her face.  “Who are you?”

“J-Jane Dobson.”

Vitriolchanger grinned a very toothy smile.  “I am Vitriolchanger of the Depths.  We are one now, Jane Rebeccah Dobson.”

Reggie cleared his throat.  “So, what is the first order of business?”

“I believe we need test the potential and weed out any unsavory characters,” Stormshifter replied.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

There was a knock on Tara’s dorm room door.  “Hey, Tara, there’s … someone here to see you.”

This confused Tara, as she wasn’t expecting anyone.   “Can you tell them I’ll be right down?  Tell them to wait in the lounge.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

Weirder and weirder.

“Okay, I’ll be right down.”  Tara put her books aside.  She hoped it wasn’t her dad that had shown up.  Tara wasn’t ready to be dragged back home yet. 

Tara took a moment to calm herself before she opened the door.  She followed the student down to the front lobby. 

“You know what’s really kind of odd?  Half the dorm is empty.   People just vacated the place over night,” the student said.

In the lobby, a silver scaled dragon had stuck its head into the building.   It vibrated with happiness when it saw Tara.   “I am Howlfang,” she boomed, rattling the windows of the dorm.  “We are one now, Tara Louise Maclay.”

“It’s a dragon,” Tara whispered.  “A girl dragon.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

The hospital wall crumbled under the onslaught.   On the bed laid a dark haired woman hooked up to heart monitor.  The steady, monotonous beep was a counterpoint to the steady, monotonous breathing.  The woman was alive.

“I am Poisondreamer.  We are one now.”

The beep jumped and the woman’s breath deepened.

“It’s time to wake up.”

The woman still slumbered on.  Alarms sounded inside the hospital, and in the distance sirens stared to blare.

“Oh, bother.”  Poisondreamer scooped the woman up in her claws, and she launched herself into the sky. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Jinx and Murk snuck through the woods outside of Sunnydale, trying to find a way past the shield that now protected the Hellmouth.

“Her Glorificusness isn’t going to like this,” Murk muttered.  “We are supposed to ready the Hellmouth for her return home.”

Jinx snorted.  “It won’t do her any good if she can’t get to the monks.  I thought dragons were just a myth.”