Jake felt fresh surprise when he woke up. His entire body hurt, his head felt like a brass band was playing the 1812 overture in his noggin, but the fact he could even wake up astonished him.

How he had managed to survive lay beyond his reasoning, but he quietly blessed his luck. He wouldn't care to put it to such a test again, but he had survived.

As he became more and more aware, he risked opening his eyes, wondering if he'd gone blind. Nope, they worked just fine; he could see dust falling from a grey sky in fine particles. He stretched his wings slowly and carefully; jolts of pain shot through them, but they obeyed his commands. At last he regained his feet; his muscles shrieked in protest, but supported him.

Now upright again, he examined his surroundings. As he might have expected, most of the buildings surrounding him were completely flattened. Some stood upright however, surrounded by a white glowing shield of energy that extended upwards of almost three hundred feet, encompassing the top of the tallest building and taking in a circumference of twenty city blocks or a little more than three miles.

Jake puzzled over this until he realized that it must be a product of his sister against the radiation poisoning and shock wave from the device.

He made his way towards it, skirting the deep holes left by the feet of the demon chief. He paused at one, remembering the smaller demons that had answered the leader's summons. Were they all dead now? Or had some escaped?

Well...so what? They dropped a nuke on my head, after all. If they think they can handle the problem on their own, then let them!

It was unfair of him, he knew. After all, they'd probably been terrified of the war chief and the damage he could do after devastating their armies and air force with such ease. He just couldn't bring himself to muster any sympathy right then, however.

Arriving at the shield, he carefully probed it and found it intact. He didn't push on it too hard, fearing it might break and doom all within. Instead he began to circle it, seeking someone at the edge that could carry a message for him.

Behind the shield he found other buildings that had been protected from the blast for an additional four city blocks, before the blast wave could circle around and close ranks again. A quick search revealed no survivors.

At last, Jake spotted a soldier in an intersection at the shield edge. He looked to be searching routes for dangers; behind him stretched a huge crowd of people packing the streets and lining the buildings.

When they saw him fists were pumped and a dim cheer could be heard. Jake acknowledged it with a dip of his head and spoke rapidly to the soldier. He raced back through the crowd which parted as much as the tight space would allow.

While he waited, he talked with a young couple cordially. They seemed awed of him, and disbelieving that they were talking to a dragon. He learned they were librarians from the city library and had cowered inside while the battle raged. Jake found himself delighted that the huge library had survived and bemoaned the loss of the books.

"Alas! If only we could save them. I would dearly love to read them all!"

To his surprise, he saw people hurrying away towards the city center, only to return some time later with huge packs or wheelbarrows of books, even a few library carts!

He immediately thought of the trek they'd have to take; he had no doubt where they would all go and what fate awaited them at the end of the journey; and realized the difficulty they would endure. He was about to tell them to leave the books behind when he thought better of the possible loss of knowledge. All he told them was that if the load became too wearisome, to tell him immediately and he would help as best he could.

"We can take this as far as you'd like." They told him.

"Thank you, friends. I will not forget this." He choked out.

Whatever reply they were about to make vanished in the wave of cheers and shouts preceding a procession walking down the street towards them. Jake could make them out easily from his height; his sister, Rachel, Brian, Stacey and Tom together with a limping Volgelson and a bare handful of her staff (he learned later that most of them had been killed in an attack) were walking to him with broad smiles on their faces (except for Serena who remained in unicorn shape to maintain the shield) surrounded by an armed escort of twenty soldiers. More soldiers could be made out in the back, along with damaged APCs, tanks and trucks.

"Jake! We thought you dead!" Stacey squealed as she flew to hug him. She hit the edge of the shield and rebounded off, looking surprised. Then she laughed.

Jake laughed as well. "Not yet. Looks like the demon chief wasn't tough enough to do the job, though that nuke nearly did." He growled angrily.

"Yes. Well. Please remember they'd launched it before your sister killed the demon." Volgelson pleaded.

"I remember." Jake nodded. "But they still sentenced the people of the city to death in exchange." He sighed. "I can see the logic in it, but being one of the expected victims, I can't say I particularly care for the decision."

"Indeed." A lot of heads were nodding through the crowd. Here and there an angry face appeared.

Before things could escalate further, Jake spoke again. Now he'd have to let them in his plan, made in haste, for their next move.

"Gather all the food and supplies you can." He advised. "Also, if there is any spare room, I would like any book that can be found in the library to be included please, but it isn't necessary. Electronic copies would work as well, provided a reader or laptop is included. More important than that, however, are seeds; any tree or plant seeds that can be found. When everything is gathered up, we will leave this place."

Volgelson looked at him warily. "And where will we go?" she asked.

"To the Mountain."



It took surprisingly little time for the supplies to be gathered for the trip. Barely two days after the battle had passed the remnant of a once powerful city tromped through the land like wraiths, silent except for the rumble of engines, the wail of infants, and the steady rumble of thousands of feet over the ash. Around them the shattered remains of the forest that had answered the summons to battle still burned. A few animals had survived inside the shield, but many bare bones lay where they had fallen, some still entwined with demons and witches.

Tracks were found in the ash, some animal and others human-like. Jake wondered about those until they came to some that were made with human feet, but the ash had baked into a glass in each footstep from internal heat. Some of the demons had escaped after all. After the discovery, everyone went on much greater alert, with sentries posted each night.

For five days and six nights they traveled from the ruined city to the mountain. They found the corpse of the Great Tree lying over the pool, scorched and bereft of limb or leaf. Serena keened over the loss of her home, destroyed by man's greatest weapon.

All was not lost, however. Her pool still retained its magic and healing. Serena had been working over the wounded each time they stopped without rest; Stacey and Shyla laboring alongside her as they fought the foul wounds inflicted by the demons or the blindness brought on by the nuke. So many cases existed however, that there were still some that were allowed the chance to drink from the pool and heal themselves.

They continued up the bare slope to the cave entrance. The doorway stood sealed against intruders or blast, protected by the direction it pointed and the small bend and twists in the entrance. Jake pulled the stone door open and led the way inside.

With everyone gathered, the Hall proved to be extraordinarily cramped. The passageway down to the great palaces and living quarters below were opened up and soon the city came alive with the hurried bustle and fuss of people.

Serena and Jake flew back down to the sacred pool where Serena took out the crystal vial and placed it in the water. They watched as the magic waters flowed back inside and she stoppered it carefully, sealing it with wax.

"Now we'll have to wait five years before using it again." She said softly.

"I don't think that will be an issue." Jake said equally softly. "It will be centuries before the radiation will dissipate enough to allow us to come back out. What happened here would be like Chernobyl and Nagasaki and Hiroshima rolled into one event. That nuke was powerful."

"We can't keep everyone inside for so long." Serena protested as she got back on his shoulders. "There's not enough food for so many people. What we do have is running out now."

"There'll be enough to last." Jake denied.

Serena stayed silent for some minutes. "You're going to encase them in Dragon Ice." She said finally.

"Yes." Jake nodded.

"For how long?"

"I don't have an answer to that. Whenever I wake up from hibernation I guess. If it's a couple of centuries, then that would be best, and give time for the land to recover from the damage wrought."

"What would the world be like in two hundred years?" Serena asked wistfully.

"Different. That's for sure." Jake suggested. "But it's the only way."

Of course, convincing people of that proved to be the biggest challenge. Volgelson wanted to contact her superiors again, but Jake said they didn't have anything left. Land lines were gone and none of the stuff had been hardened against the blast except the tanks, but they were fuzzing out because of the magic from the death of the demon. It would be years before it cleared out, and what would she do in the meantime? The very atmosphere was a poison and would remain so for some time until the next rains. There was no food that could last everyone that long; they couldn't grow any either yet as the fortress had no place to do so.

People would come looking, Volgelson argued; other soldiers and overflights by fighters. They would search for any survivor they could help.

There hadn't been any signs of a search since they started the trek to the mountain, Brian pointed out. He had no doubt they were right, but he suspected the center of the blast was too hot for anyone to approach. They could try to get further out, but that risked everyone left in the mountain if Serena went with them or the party if they chose to go alone. He suspected that their exodus had been watched via satellite and they'd been written off as too exposed to save. They might survive a short while in a hospital, but no doubt they were expected to die in hospitals of cancer and such.

Volgelson had no good argument for that. She simply maintained that her duty as a soldier required her to report to her supervisors.

Jake suggested that her duty lay instead with the civilians she was supposed to protect.

"After all, there are other soldiers out there, as you pointed out, and you are out of contact with your superiors. The safety of those in your charge rest solely with you."

After that there wasn't much arguing left. People still had to be convinced of the necessity of the measure, but here Brian and Rachel's calm reasoning and endless patience proved advantageous.

Nearly a month after the battle, Jake started to encase people in Dragon Ice. To do so, they were taken deep inside to the larger palaces and storerooms and frozen either singly or with their loved ones close together. Their belongings and weapons Jake froze separately and placed at their feet so as not to be lost.

On the last night, Jake and his friends gathered in the hall. It had been a weary three weeks, but despite Volgelson's efforts, not a single soldier or overflight had appeared. For whatever reason, they seemed satisfied with satellite overflights. The one time Jake had ventured out to find someone, he'd come close to a neighboring city only to find it swarming with soldiers and guarded by jets that had tried to shoot him down and chased him back into the mountains.

At that news, Volgelson had at last surrendered to the plan, and her staff had been amongst the last frozen. Now the tired group congratulated each other on a job well done.



Jake nibbled at his food as he pondered his course of action. Around him everyone talked in forced gaiety as they planned on how they would survive the next set of years. The books would be a great help, they said. They congratulated Jake on his foresight in bringing them along, and eagerly picked out the subjects they would want to work on.

Jake's inward struggle was interrupted by Serena's anxious voice.

"Jake, you haven't really touched your food, are you sure you're all right?"

He smiled to reassure her. "I'm fine. Just a little tired is all."

"Tired my hoof! You've been thinking." Brian accused jovially. "You've played things mighty close to the vest, if I may be pardoned the expression!"

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, startled. How much had they guessed? He wondered. And how much would he have to argue with them to make them see the reason in his plan?

"It's quite simple." Stacey laughed as she flew from the table up to the level of his eye. "You've been wanting to use Dragon Ice on us all to keep us safe, and aren't sure how you'll convince us to go along with your plan."

Jake stared at them in mute astonishment. "Was I that obvious?" he asked sheepishly.

Everyone laughed. "Of course! But you must remember we've been your friends for a long time, and with you your entire dragon life! We've learned a thing or two about how to read your emotions, though it isn't easy! I don't suppose anyone who didn't know you as well as us could tell." Tom explained, hovering next to Stacey.

Jake looked around at the room of grins. "Well then, it looks like I've made most of my arguments without even opening my mouth!" Jake chuckled.

"That's the best way, keeps things much quieter for us." Stacey teased.

As the clamor subsided Jake turned to Serena.

"Well, since you can all read my mind, perhaps you'd like to make yours plain? My ability seems to lie in fighting, not politics it appears!"

"You're too honest, which would make a fine politician to me." Serena grinned. "But since you asked, then our answer is: Yes." Her smile faded. "I don't like leaving you alone for so long—heaven knows what trouble you'll get into without me around to get you out again—but we all think it's the best plan for such a long time. No one else can stay in the Fortress that long without succumbing to cabin fever, which would be dangerous. With your hibernative abilities, you should be able to last a long time."

"We don't really know that for certain." Rachel cautioned. "The longest Jake has tried has been two weeks, and he said he could get out of it on his own fairly easily, or be disturbed."

"True, but that is still a positive thing." Jake agreed. "I can wake up, ready for action, if something manages to actually get inside the Fortress. And by setting myself an internal clock, as it were, I can set a date that would be a good one to check out and investigate. If it isn't sound, then I can go back to sleep until a better time comes, and wake all of you up."

"I still don't like the thought of you being alone." Serena said stubbornly.

"I know, sister. But it won't be for very long, to me at least. To you guys it won't seem as any time has actually passed at all."

"Just one request." Stacey asked. "Could you place me next to my sisters in the Vault?"

At that there was a rush of requests for the others to be near their families as well. Jake quickly agreed to each one, nodding his understanding at how the contact might be soothing.

No more was talked about other than choosing a date that Jake could try. The radiation levels outside wouldn't subside very well for two hundred years or more, and Jake thought it might be better to wait three hundred years to allow more of the isotopes to dissipate.

Privately, he expected there would be some sort of effort at clean up. Like Chernobyl and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, efforts would be underway to make the areas survivable for short periods. How long it would take to remove the rest of the radiation Jake couldn't say.

After determining a date of three hundred years, everyone fell silent. They pulled bedding out of the rooms and set up pallets on the stone floor of the Hall—no one wanted to be alone that night.

Serena returned to unicorn shape and tucked up next to Jake to sleep. Brian and Rachel were more comfortable on pallets of straw with soft pillows placed near the fire. Tom and Stacey flitted around for a while, unable to get comfortable until they came to Jake's shoulder. Finding a nice hollow near his shoulders, they curled up and fell into a deep sleep. Shyla slept leaning against the giant catamountain shape of Asbiorn. A deep cackle-purr came from the big cat that soothed everyone, like a burbling coffee pot.

Jake couldn't seem to find sleep in him. Perhaps it was simply because he would soon be asleep for centuries, or the nerves that accompanied the thought. He spent long hours watching his friends and family, guarding over their slumber.

At last he slipped into a very light sleep for the rest of the night.





They finished the rest of the food that morning for breakfast. Jake, being in a state of suspended animation himself, wouldn't need to eat for a very long time, and the food would almost certainly spoil.

They had quite the feast of honey, bread, chicken, fish, fruit, and lettuce. Everyone had plenty to eat and then some, and most people left with a sigh of contention at the good meal.

It became time to wash up, and Serena led everyone into the kitchen where water was placed into a big stone sink. Jake heated the water himself instead of simply lighting the fires underneath.

Once the water boiled everyone set out to scrub the dishes except Jake, his task done.

Serena started to sing softly as she worked, the others picking up the song and joining in when they figured out the words. They'd been set to a popular tune, but the words themselves were very different.



O! There is a dish and a spoon so bright
That all gazed in wonder and delight
At the sight of the dish and spoon so bright              

We put the dish and spoon in water warm  
Heated by dragon's breath in true dragon form!            
And polished the dish and spoon until they were reborn!



Alas, into the cupboard it goes swiftly                          
Not to be used again until the year twenty-three-fifty      



For all of us will go to sleep in Ice                
Protected by a guardian so nice!                        

We await the day of freedom's ring,                      
to hear the bell and to joyously sing!



The Danger has past! The future is cast!                      
Sing ho! The danger is past, the future is cast!              

The Future awaits us with endless glee                  
With green mountains and deep blue sea!                  
Where rocks and fish and animals can be                    
Living in a peaceful world, oh can't you see?      

We wait, we wait, so patiently                            
To live again along the sea

To frolic in the meadows vast                                  
or maybe climb the mountain pass                              

The world will be new to us all                          
But they will remember it from before the Fall              
And cheer us with happy shouts and call                
‘Where stand the heroes tall?’                              

They have come back from slumber deep                  
And stand on the edge of the world, poised to leap      
Into the unknown, off the stone, from the home of the keep!

And what into the sky shall they cry? The Danger has past!    
The future is cast!                                  



Sing ho! The Danger has past!
The future is cast!





There was a good many more verses of course, but to the end of his days Jake could only remember those ones the clearest. He heard it echoing through the mountain as they cleaned all the rooms and halls, putting the things they'd found back into the alcoves, boxes, trunks, wardrobes, closets, cupboards, pantries and storerooms they'd been found in. Each place had a Spell of Sealing renewed by Shyla so that time couldn't touch them.



At last they traipsed off together to the Vault of History, his friends clutching their dearest possessions. Each one had different things in their bundles, and Jake noted them with interest, realizing how much they emphasized the differences between them.

Rachel took her place first. "After all, I got to be first last time, why not this time too?" she said with a brave smile.

She placed her bundle of armor, weapons, clothes, iPod and jewelry on the ground and after a moment's hesitation stripped off her simple modern garb and placed it on the bundle as well.

Looking a little shy and embarrassed now, she crossed her arms and watched Jake freeze her things. She took a shaky breath, then moved to stand with her front legs behind the stone and just to the left of her family, next to her mom.

Unexpectedly her smile changed to a broad grin and she posed herself with her hands on her hips, her shoulders back and a wildly defiant look in her eye. Her long brown hair fell down along her shoulders in a fetching display. Everyone stared in awe, and Brian couldn't seem to look away.

"I'm ready!" She announced loudly. Then, with a wink at Brian said, "See you in the future, lover boy!"

Those were the last words she spoke, now encased in the hard Dragon Ice. Every facet of her beauty shone through, enhanced by the not-quite ridiculous pose she'd struck.

Brian let out the breath he'd been holding. He stared hungrily at his girlfriend for a few minutes, then went to stand next to his parents, but close as he could to Rachel.

After freezing his bundle and clothes, Jake waited for him to stand where he wanted. He also struck a pose, hands clenched in fists, a roar of defiance coming from his mouth. And when he said "Now!", he reared onto his hind legs and struck out with his front legs.

Jake had to admit, he looked extremely impressive in his column of Dragon Ice. He seemed like a carven hero behind glass.

"Ooh!" Stacey sighed. "That's so...so..." she couldn't seem to find the words to say.

"All right, we get it." Tom laughed. He quickly volunteered to be next. When his things had been encased, he struck his own pose; regal, with a look of slight disdain and utter assurity. He had far more muscle on him than Jake remembered ever seeing oh him human. The constant exercise and training had done wonders to his physique, and when Jake froze him Stacey looked long at his statue.

"I guess it's my turn, isn't it?" she said at last.

"Take as long as you need." Jake said gently.

It wasn't long before she was ready to go herself. Naked, she decided on a pose of supplication. On one knee she looked heavenward, her arms outstretched while her blond hair cascaded down her back, almost obscuring her delicate wings. She looked better than a work of art, he thought.

Serena was the last to go. After turning human, she gave him a kiss on the tip of his snout.

"For luck." She explained. "Take care of yourself."

Her worried blue eyes gazed into his fierce golden ones.

"I'll see you in a blink." Jake comforted.

She simply stood next to their mom, her eyes locked on his with the same look in them, her longs silvery-white hair shimmering in the dim light. She looked nothing less than an angel, Jake thought in awe.

With as much tenderness as he could muster, he controlled the fog so that it slowly rose to cover her. The last thing he saw before the mist covered was her watchful eyes.

When the fog dissipated, his sister was inside a crystal of surpassing excellence, clean and bright. Her eyes peered out at him, full of pity in his mind. He felt little remorse for the deed though.

This was necessary. He knew it in his bones that it was; it just didn't make things any easier on him.