After the Fall

  I was still on my stomach, but I spun around and slid off my friends, the rocks digging into my belly. I had to see him. Maybe there was a tree sticking out or something he could grab. Maybe he hadn't really fallen. I leaned over as far as I could, but I saw nothing but a few wispy clouds. His screams had stopped, and the only thing I could hear now was the wind whistling past my ears, blowing my loose hair all around my face, sticking it to my cheeks now wet with tears.

  We remained completely silent, the only sounds to be heard once I'd scooted back away from the edge, the sniffling from most of us crying. The only one who wasn't bawling was Niles, but I looked up in time to see him wiping his eyes.

  "What happened?" asked Tony in a choked voice.

  Before I could answer, I heard yelling again. And it was coming from below us. Down below the clouds.

  "Is that ... ?" I asked, crawling on my hands and knees to look back over the edge and then over my shoulder at my friends. "Did you guys hear that?" I whispered, afraid I'd imagined it.

  Jared looked at me and then Finn. "It sounded like ... Ben."

  Spike nodded. "Yeah, I heard it too. Definitely Ben. And not sounding dead or unhappy, actually."

  I turned my head to the side, aiming my ear to the space over the edge, hoping to hear him again. At first there was nothing, but then there was another yell. This time it was more like a shout of happiness, though.

  I frowned. "What the hell?"

  And then a figure burst out from the clouds just below us, and I scrambled to get away from the edge of the cavern, as far away from the illusion I was seeing as I could.

  I mowed over Spike and Finn in my urgency and complete lack of finesse, causing a minor pile up at the entrance, making it really difficult for the purple dragon and its elemental rider to enter the dragon's lair.

  "Get back!" shouted Ben, sounding more commanding than he ever had prior to falling off a cliff. "We need to come in," he yelled from the back of the purple dragon, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear.

  CHAPTER TEN

  WE WAITED FOR BEN OUTSIDE the mountain, Willy sound asleep in a little sling I'd made for him around my neck. After he ate one of the strawberries I found for him, he was fat and happy, his yawns so big they nearly swallowed his face. By the time we made it out of the mountain, he was snoring lightly under my chin, reminding me painfully of his father who had probably destroyed his hairdo completely by now with his worry over his son.

  We had to take the long way down out of the mountain, through twisting damp and dark tunnels. We hid behind outcroppings and inside crevices in the walls to avoid coming into contact with the dwarves who still hadn't figured out we weren't being held captive anymore.

  We stood in a copse of trees near a clearing not far from the exit we'd found, all of us watching in awe as Ben was delivered in style, coming in for a landing on the back of the purple dragon again.

  I noticed as he got off that he didn't have the dragon fang weapon strapped to his leg anymore. The holster was there, but it was empty. "Where's your weapon?" I asked as he walked towards us, his swagger impossible to ignore.

  "You should know. You're the one who struck the bargain." He smiled patiently at me. Arrogantly.

  I rolled my eyes. As if his head wasn't big enough already. This whole dragonrider business was definitely going to be a problem.

  Ben turned to the dragon and stared into one of her eyes for a few seconds before backing away, giving her room to take off. She leaped up and beat her wings hard, pushing herself up high enough to catch a current of air that lifted her up into the clouds above us. We quickly lost sight of her.

  Niles turned and began walking into the trees, and all of us followed. Ben was last, still looking back from time to time at the spot where he'd gotten off his fancy ride.

  "What did Ben mean by that, Jayne?" asked Tony, the first one to speak since the dragon had made her majestic entrance and then exit.

  "Yeah, what was the bargain?" added Jared.

  Niles just grumbled, but I couldn't tell if he was actually saying anything.

  There hadn't been time for me to explain everything as we made our way out of our prison, but now that we were trudging through the woods back to the Elysian Fields, I no longer worried so much about being overheard. "The dragon wanted two things to be the portal guardian again. She called the shots. She wanted her mate's tooth back and a companion for herself."

  "A companion? Like another mate?" asked Finn. He looked back at Ben, trying not to snicker.

  "No, not like a mate, you dork," I said. "More like just someone to keep her company at the gate, maybe. I'm not exactly sure, actually."

  "I can tell you," said Ben, his voice full of self-importance as he caught up to us. "My job will be to keep her company from time to time, visit different places with her, and talk about the realms and what's happening as the years go by."

  "Sounds ... interesting," said Spike, walking backwards. "Does that mean you're stuck there at the portal all the time?"

  "No. But it does mean that I have free reign over both realms, though - the Overworld and the Here and Now. And I might have some influence over who leaves the Overworld too."

  "How do you know all this?" asked Niles, not sounding very happy over the prospect.

  "She told me. It's the role she used to play for the former guardian. He can't do that for her since he was killed, so she needs a substitute."

  "Another mate," said Finn, now not bothering to hold back the snickering.

  "No, not a mate. Don't be ridiculous. Just someone to keep her company. That's it."

  "Well, I think it's cooler than cool that you got to ride a dragon, and that she saved your sorry ass from getting smashed on the rocks below that cliff," I said.

  Ben grinned at me. "It was cooler than cool. You've got that exactly right. I've never felt anything like that, not even when I rode the wind. It's completely different."

  "How'd you hang on without a saddle or reins or a mane or whatever?" asked Finn.

  "She has several small, curved horn kinda things coming out of her back near her neck that I held onto, and a couple on her sides that I could hook my feet under to keep from falling off when she went sideways. But a lot of the time I didn't need to hang onto anything. The way her head is designed, it makes most of the air move up over not only her head but over any dragonrider on her back. It was a surprisingly smooth and quiet ride, and her back was warm too even in the high altitude."

  "Dragonrider," I said, almost to myself. The idea was almost unthinkable. Unbelievable. Unimaginable, even. I could hardly wrap my brain around the fact that dragons themselves existed, but that they'd let you get on their backs and ride with them over the air currents and through the clouds with the angels? Gah! Too unreal. Too freaky. Too badass. I was jealous.

  "It's not all good," said Samantha to me very softly.

  I glanced over my shoulder at Ben, but he hadn't heard her. He was too busy regaling Spike and Finn with the story of how he and his new dragon buddy flamed a couple demon angels in midair, and how they were going to single-handedly rid the Overworld of the interlopers. I shook my head at his ridiculousness. He'd completely disregarded the fact that it was his fault they were here in the first place. Instead of considering himself the hero of the hour, he should have just been looking at it as his duty. But no, not Ben. He was too busy creating his own reality.

  "Seriously. He's got to be careful."

  Samantha was sounding all dire and doomsday, which definitely got me curious. Much as I kind of wanted karma to come do some ass-kicking on Ben's sorry butt, I had to know what she meant. If there was danger associated with this whole deal, he should probably know what it would be before he totally committed himself. "Why? What's the big deal with dragonriding?"

  "It's not just that. It's dragon companionship in general. Riding is only part of it."

  I frowned. "How do you know anything about this stuff?"

  She looked down at the groun
d, and for a minute there I thought she wasn't going to answer me; but then she said, "I saw some things. Maggie told me others. Dragons are powerful creatures, not just with their muscle and fire and stuff. They can influence fae and definitely people ... humans ... without them realizing."

  I looked over at Ben whose head was about twice its normal size, as far as being filled with hot air was concerned, and I nodded. "I can see that. I know riding a dragon and kicking ass in the air would make me feel pretty special."

  "Dragonriders are special. It's just ... without ties to the ground, they don't stay dragonriders for long."

  "What happens to them?" I whispered.

  "I don't know," she whispered back. "But it's not good."

  "What do you mean, you don't know but it's not good? That doesn't even make sense. Didn't Maggie tell you that part?" Typical Maggie - leaving out the punchline. Assbag that she is.

  "No, she didn't tell me. But I'm not even sure she knew the answer. She was speculating, relying on scrying and rumors and even some runework."

  "Ruinwork? What the hell is that?"

  "Not ruinwork. Runework. It's reading ancient runes or symbols. Kind of like tarot cards in a way. You know, like having your palm read - same kind of theory or whatever, but connected to the fae magic."

  I nodded sagely. "Ahhhh. I see ... that I have no friggin idea what you're talking about. But it sounds cool." I looked over at her. "Can you do that? Runework?"

  She shrugged. "I'm learning. I'm not that good at it yet."

  "Okay, well if you ever get the final answer on that dragonriding side-effect situation, let me know."

  "You'll be the first one I tell, believe me."

  I laughed. She sounded so serious. "Why me? You know I'm not bound to his stupid ass. I have no responsibility for him or what he does or says."

  "Why you? Because. You're not bound to him, sure ... but you might end up in his shoes not that long from now, which could actually be worse than being bound to him."

  I was confused for a second. "What are you talking about?" What could possibly be worse than being bound unwillingly to Ben?

  She put her hand on my arm to stop me from walking, turning me to face her. "What if the dragon in the Underworld asks for the same deal?" She looked down at my leg, the one with the dragon fang attached to it.

  My face blanched as all the dots connected in my brain and I realized that she was talking about not only me riding a dragon but also me being tied to it for all of eternity. And not only that, but it would be the friggin mean-ass demon dragon and not a nice, fancy purple one. I felt like I was going to have a coronary. I had to hold my ribs to keep my racing pulse from pumping my beating heart right out of my chest. I started wheezing with the effort of just breathing past the visions that were assailing my mind's eye.

  Spike came over to join us. "What's wrong?" he asked, resting his hand on my back, rubbing it a little.

  I waved him away, unable to answer.

  "What's wrong with her?" he asked Samantha over my shoulder. "What'd you say to her?"

  His tone had gone angry, so now on top of my freak-out over dragonriding, I was worried that he was going to say the wrong thing and possibly upset the delicate balance of the new relationships I had with him and Samantha, and also possibly cause a big-time ruckus when we were trying to get the hell out of these messed-up woods without being seen or heard.

  Samantha tried to explain. "We were just talking about the dragonriding thing and ... "

  "Spike, stop," I said, interrupting her so she wouldn't feel like she had to explain herself or apologize. "She didn't say or do anything. It's just me freaking out a little bit, I'll be fine." I began walking again, quickly so we could catch up to the others.

  "You don't look fine," he said, walking next to me and holding my arm to steady me. "What can I do? Do you need a piggyback?"

  He grinned at me with those teeth of his, and I smiled back in spite of my sudden onset panic-asthma, which was now calming itself, probably thanks to Spike's concern. "No thanks. But I might take a raincheck for later." I tripped over a log just after I said that, causing me to amend my answer to Spike's offer. "Or maybe soon. But not now." I laughed to myself at how I'd just gone from potential dragonrider in my mind to piggyrider. It was probably more suited to my personality, truth be told.

  Once Spike was sure I was okay to walk without tripping over myself, he let go of my arm. "You just say the word, and I'll be there for ya." He left me to go be with Tony and Finn again.

  I sighed at his dedication. For some reason his wanting to take care of me didn't piss me off like it might have in the past. It was nice to know that someone would be there for me if I fell, and that this someone was Spike, the most amazing guy I knew - probably exactly as amazing as Tony but in different ways. But they did have one thing in common; I couldn't imagine life without either of them anymore, and I didn't want to.

  "You're lucky," said Samantha, looking over at Spike.

  "Yeah, I know." I smiled to myself. "I hope I never forget that again."

  "You forgot it before?"

  "I didn't exactly forget it, but I wouldn't say that I appreciated it like I should have."

  "Regret. It sucks."

  "Yeah, tell me about it." I looked over at her just in time to catch her staring at Jared again.

  "Why don't you go talk to him?" I asked.

  "I can't. He's mad at me. And I don't blame him. I screwed up."

  "I don't think he's mad at you. And if he is, he'll get over it. Jared's fair, much fairer than me. And he knows what Ben's capable of. Just talk to him. You never know until you try, right?"

  "Maybe later," she said, back to staring at the ground again.

  Matchmaking was definitely not my specialty as Tony could attest to, but maybe when we got back home I could try to help her out. I'd probably have to do it with either Tony's or Spike's help, though. I didn't trust myself to say the right things at the right time. My own love life was complicated and confusing enough. I had no hope of figuring out Samantha's or Jared's on my own.

  After about an hour of kicking through leaves and climbing over dead wood, we finally made it back to the meadow where Spike and I had landed. Tony was just about to walk out into it, when I put up an arm to stop him.

  "What?" he said, looking down at the barrier I'd made.

  "Don't go out there, anyone." I looked at everyone to make sure I had their attention. "Something's up with this field. When Spike and I landed in it, weird shit happened."

  "She's right," confirmed Spike. "Seriously weird shit, especially with her."

  "Hey!"

  "What happened?" asked Jared.

  "I don't remember all of it - just that I didn't want to come out, and I had kind of lost my grip on reality."

  "How'd you fix it?" asked Finn.

  "Chase flew me out of there," I said, my voice going a little hoarse over the memory of our talk that happened after he'd rescued me.

  Niles stood at the edge of the grasses, hand on hips. "Well? How do we get back home? I hope you don't expect me to stand here all day. I have things to do. The Underworld isn't going to be as easy as this one, I can promise you that. We have preparations to make."

  I really didn't want to know what preparations he had to make for the Underworld. I was already formulating my do-not-get-involved plan in my mind. All I had to do was convince Tony not to go, and we'd be all set. We could kick back in the compound, chill with Tim and Scrum, and hand my fang over to some other dragonrider wannabe. Because I was most def not the dragonrider type. I was more the forest-path-walker kind of girl.

  "Tony, can you get us into the Gray from here?" asked Jared.

  "I need an angel to help me," he said, looking up into the sky.

  "Preferably not one o' them demon kind too, if y'all don't mind," said Finn, scanning the skies warily.

  "Oh, fudge," said Tony, his eyes looking off in the distance.

  I grabbed his arm. Tony almost ne
ver even fake-swore, so I knew this meant nothing good. "What? What can you see?"

  I followed his gaze, but all I could see were clouds.

  "It's a black-winged angel. Over there," he said, pointing to a spot that looked like pretty purple and blue sky to me.

  I squinted my eyes. "Are you sure?"

  "I see it now, too. Everyone! Get back in the trees!" ordered Jared.

  He didn't have to tell me twice. I grabbed Tony's hand and practically dragged him with me, getting past the first trees on the edge of the field and hiding behind the biggest one I could find. The rest of our friends spread out around us, each choosing a different hiding spot.

  Within a few seconds I could see the angel. The wingspan on this mother was huge, possibly bigger even than Chase's, but the wings themselves were black - so black, it was impossible to see their individual feathers. When the angel was just over the field, I could see that she was a girl, or more accurately, a woman. And she was wearing the skimpiest outfit I'd yet to see in the fae or angel world. She had leather pants that were mostly just straps, and some straps that went around her chest. But they conveniently missed her boobs. I looked over at Finn, and sure enough, his tongue was practically hanging out. We were about to be attacked by Dark Angel S&M Barbie, and I was pretty sure he didn't mind one bit.

  She landed on bent legs, her fingers touching the ground lightly before she stood and faced us. "Come out and face your end!" she demanded, pulling a long deadly-looking sword from a sheath at her hip. The thing went down nearly to her ankle, the blade long enough to chop four or five heads off at the same time.

  "Woof," I said in open admiration of her badass-ed-ness.

  "You are not kidding," said Tony in a soft voice.

  I nudged him. "Put it back in your pants, or I'll tell Felicia."

  He turned to frown at me. "I have all items inside my pants, for your information. I was looking at the sword."

  I smiled. "Sure you were. Don't worry. That's what I'm going to put in my report."

  He nudged me, turning back to the show.