Chapter 3

Spike stepped out of his crypt into the cool February night.  He’d been watching the telly all afternoon, and the news about dragons descending on several areas of the world.

Now, Spike wasn’t stupid.  Impulsive, maybe.  But not stupid.

Spike knew what all the locations had in common. 

Cleveland, Ohio.

Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru. 

Melbourne, Australia.   

The island of Madagascar.

Spike knew that there was a Hellmouth at each of the locations.  One of those times when Drusilla had abandoned him, he’d spent his time visiting every Hellmouth on the planet.

“Spike, Spike, Spike!”

A large shadow blocked the moonlight.  Spike whirled around, and perched on his crypt was a …

Dragon.

Her golden scales gleamed under the full moon.  Spike stared at her, dumbfounded.    The only thing he could think of to say was, “If you don’t get off my crypt, you’ll crush the bloody thing, and I’ll have no place to stay.”

The dragon looked down at her roost.  “Oh, sorry.”   Her sheepishness reminded Spike of the Slayer when she made the Native American vengeance demon into a bear.

The dragon expanded her wings, and she glided off the crypt.  She put her head down next to Spike.  “I am Dawn.  Dawnwing if you want to get technical.  We are one now, William Andrew Henry Jamison known as Spike.”

“You’re here for the Hellmouth,” Spike stated in a matter-a-fact tone of voice.   He actively ignored the fact that the dragon knew his full name from his human days.

“No, dummy, I’m here for you,” Dawn protested.

Spike raised one disbelieving eyebrow.

“Okay, you got me.  I’m here for the Hellmouth.”  Dawn’s wings drooped for a few seconds before she visibly brightened.  “But, I’m here for you too.  Honest.”

“So what the bloody hell is coming that gets the Elgarath Serpendrake to come out of their hidey-holes?” Spike enquired.

Dawn let out a delighted squeal.  “You know what we are.  You are so smart, Spike.”

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doin’ here in grand old Sunnyhell.”

“Something very, very evil is coming.”  Dawn shuddered. 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

‘That Which Cannot Be Name’ also known as Glorificus, Glorifius, Her Splendiferousness, Her Sparkling Luminescence, the Beast, the Abomination, Hell-bitch, paced back and forth, steaming with fury.  A barrier of some kind blocked her way to her monks. 

Glory growled.

A deafening roar answered her.

No!

No, no, no, no, no!

Dragons were NOT in Glory’s plans to get her Key away from the monks.  She was tired of being stuck in this backward, horrible dimension.  She was tired of being stuck sharing a body with a willful, ignorant human male.  It was time to go home and crush her brothers down for their uppity attitudes.

Who did they think they were anyway?  Kicking her out just because she was more powerful than them.

Another roar sounded through the still night air.  A dark shadow blotted out the moon.  A dragon landed a few yards away from Glory.

“You are not welcome here, Abomination.”

“Give me my Key and I will leave.  Peacefully,” Glory said in a cajoling tone of voice.

The dragon gave a throaty chuckle.  “No, I don’t think I will do that.  Besides, I think you will find that you need a Hellmouth to accomplish opening a portal, and I guarantee that they are all protected now.  Tough luck, bitch.”  He launched himself into the air.

Glory let out a scream of frustration before she threw herself on the ground and had a toddler-like fit.  She lay there kicking and screaming while pounding her fists on the ground.

“Ahem.”  Someone cleared their throat.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Cordelia stared at the television screen.  Something about the news of dragons was calling to her.  She just wasn’t sure what it was that had her attention.  When she’d called in sick to Angel Investigations, Angel had questioned her about having another vision, which Cordelia had denied.  She’d claimed just normal under the weather symptoms.

There was a knock on the door.  Then, Wesley called out.  “Angel sent me to check up on you.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes.  “Ugh, that stupid vampire.”  She got to her feet to go answer the door.    “Come on in, Wes.”

“You don’t look like you’re sick,” Wesley said, glancing around the apartment.

“I’m not.  I just didn’t feel like dealing with his broodiness this morning,” Cordelia replied with a shake of her head.  She settled back down on the couch.  “I was just watching the news.”

Wesley glanced at the television screen.  “About the dragons?”

“Yeah.”  Cordelia frowned.  “I’m having a sudden, strange urge to go to Sunnydale.  I don’t have sudden, strange urges to go back to that hell hole.”

Wesley watched the television screen.  After a few seconds, he whispered, “I’m having them too.”

“Maybe we better listen to them.”  Cordelia gave a firm nod of her head before she rose to her feet.  She clicked off the television before she grabbed her purse.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Dennis,” she called out to her ghostly roommate.

Wesley followed Cordelia out of her apartment in a daze.  Were they really going to Sunnydale to see about dragons?  Cordelia gave him an expectant glare before she got into her car.

Cordelia and Wesley were silent for the two hour drive to Sunnydale.  Each was lost in thought about going back to a town where they’d lost everything.   Cordelia was still at odds with her parents, unhappy about how her father had acted the past few years.   Wesley hadn’t spoken to his father since he’d been let go from the Council.

They drove into Sunnydale filled with a touch of trepidation.

“Is it just me or does Sunnydale feel different?”  Cordelia blurted out.  “I’ve lived in Sunnydale my whole life you know, and it just feels different.”

Wesley glanced towards Cordelia.  “Have you visited since your visions started?”

Cordelia shook her head.

“Maybe that is what is making it feel different.”

Cordelia gave Wesley a hopeful glance.  “Maybe.”

Wesley turned his attention back to the streets, and he frowned.  “Where are we going?”

“I think the high school,” Cordelia answered.  She clenched the steering wheel hard enough to turn her knuckles white.

“The Hellmouth,” Wesley muttered.  “Just bloody brilliant.”

“Don’t I know it?”

Cordelia and Wesley pulled up to the burnt-out high school.  Cordelia slammed on the brakes in surprise.  “Well,” she whispered.   “That’s not something you see every day.”  They got out of the car to stare in awestruck wonder at the dragons.

Pop!

Pop!

Two dark shadows appeared above Wesley and Cordelia.  They turned their faces upwards, and they found two dragons hovering in the air above them.  One was white while the other one was green.  The green one landed beside Wesley.

“I am Lord Stormtravel the Thunderer.”  It was clear why he was called Thunderer.  His voice carried like a thunder clap.  “We are one now, Wesley Anthony Wyndam-Pryce.”

The white dragon landed next to Cordelia.  “I am Venomlitch the Venomous.  We are one now, Cordelia Marie Chase.”  She leaned in to rub her head against the stunned human.  “You will be fine now.  The visions will no longer give you pain.”