Jake stayed in the vault for a long time, unable to tear himself away. He didn't know how long he walked along. He at last tore himself away and, not without regrets, not without a backwards glance, sealed the Vault. As the door clanged shut, he couldn't help but compare it to the stone door of a tomb closing.

For several days Jake remained busy, putting off his hibernation. He organized all the books that had been saved on the shelves, a task that occupied him for a full week. He sealed all of them to keep them dry and protected through the centuries, despite the warm, dry atmosphere of the library.

Despite his efforts, it didn't take as long as he might have liked before all the chores he'd set for himself were complete.

"Come on. It's time, mate." He said to himself as he stared at the pile of gold that would be his bed. "You can sleep for a while and wake up and see what the world looks like. Then you can free your friends and family and everyone else."

Feeling unconvinced, he tried to sleep on top of the pile, but couldn't seem to get comfortable. He tossed, turned and rolled trying to get comfortable. At last in desperation he burrowed inside the gold. He was surprised and gratified to realize there was enough gold in the hall now that no part of him could be seen outside.

He closed his eyes and thought about three hundred years as he began to drift. Unlike the times when he normally slept, he felt his consciousness begin to drift. He was only barely aware of the passage of time.



He came awake quickly, feeling well rested and quite recovered. He slowly pulled himself from his golden sleeping bag, using his tail to neatly sweep the scattered coins and artifacts back when he walked out.

Opening the door, he slid stealthily out into the natural cavern beyond. It showed incredible wear and damage, more than he would have expected. He guessed, and rightly, that an earthquake had hit the area and badly damaged his cave.

Shouldering aside fallen boulders, he spent the next four hours clearing debris and digging out the entrance again. Some of the boulders were quite massive and he ended up using his breath to melt the stubborn granite and let it puddle onto the floor of the cave where it cooled. It formed a gentler, smooth floor than what had been originally, which was a nice side effect, Jake thought.

When he broke outside, Jake found himself wondering if he had. The sky was dark as midnight although here and there a break provided a point where a flash of light from the sun could peek through. The lands surrounding the mountain seemed bare and desolate. Ash fell from the clouds like dirty snow, changing the landscape even as he watched.

What happened here? Jake wondered.

He spread his wings and started his search for life. His bearings were good and he flew over the remains of the city where his stand had taken place. Pillars of shattered buildings stuck out of the ground like shattered bones. No life could be seen anywhere.

Venturing further, he discovered a scrawny deer struggling to escape a pit in the ground that he'd apparently fallen in. Pouncing on the hart, he killed it with little trouble and ate well for the night.

For six days he searched ever further, seeking any other human life. Where ever he searched, he only found old ruins, craters, and devastation. No trees grew in the areas he could see, nor were there any signs of current human habitation.

His search lasted eight months and carried him far from his home. He investigated capitols of major and minor world powers alike, big cities to farmsteads. Destroyed military equipment, civilian cars, buses, buildings and scattered weapons were all he ever found.

In Washington D.C. he found most of the buildings intact. Their facades were pocked with hundreds of bullet holes and around the White House there remained the remnants of a great last stand.

Jake stared at the fallen bodies, both man and animal, cursing himself for sleeping when he could have helped. Guilt overcame him then and he roared his rage and frustration, knocking over bits of glass and sending something scurrying away.

Immediately Jake was after it like a Doberman after prey. It led him on a merry chase down streets and through buildings until he caught sight of a dog's tail and gave up the chase. As the creature turned the corner, a flutter of cloth caught his eye and he saw the dog had been wearing clothes.

How odd. He thought to himself. But I suppose the poor thing had been a soldier's companion and when its master died it came here to live.

He felt bad for it and wondered if he should go after it, but decided to leave it.

Jake took some time to visit the Library of Congress. It too had suffered damage on the outside, but there was so little that Jake thought there would be a good chance to recover something of worth from the inside.

Forcing his way through a closed and sealed entrance, he knocked over some skeletons inside. They were old and shattered when they fell. Jake felt remorseful for the disrespect, but felt drawn further on.

His footsteps echoed loudly down the corridor. The ceiling arched suddenly away, soaring several stories in height up to a glass dome top that had several holes but remained otherwise intact.

Hundreds upon hundreds of books lay on the ground or stood forlornly on their shelves. They appeared to be in good shape, with little signs of mold or wear. Books on every conceivable subject, aspect or simple pleasure were there for the taking.

Jake wanted them all very badly but didn't quite know how to get them back. He pulled out his dragon statue key from his cheek. Why, he wasn't sure, but something told him to do it.

As soon as the statue was out of his mouth, its eyes lit up in red fire. A similar flame covered the entire library; every book, blueprint, computer station, memory core and monitor. When the flame flashed and vanished, so did everything it had covered, leaving only empty shelves, bare floors, and uncluttered desks.

Though he wasn't quite sure what had happened he felt confident that everything had in some way been placed in the statue. He suspected they would appear when he released them from the inside.

A valuable and useful object indeed! He thought giddily.

His heart was much lighter at the rescue of the greatest repository of knowledge in the known world, and he felt invigorated to save what else he could.

A thought entered his mind and disrupted his entire train. He stood there, arguing with himself over the new idea.

Part of him said, "yes" and part of him said "no". One side claimed it would be stealing on a grand scale, and the other pointed out that with everyone gone, who would he be stealing from?

This last decided him, and he made only one last stop before leaving DC and heading southwest as fast as his wings would carry him.

He found Fort Knox completely deserted, its gates smashed and the front door nearly torn off its hinges.

Well, this isn't promising. He shuddered.

Inside he found the gold lying untouched, still in the gold bars. A little heat would soften them enough to mold more comfortably to his shape, and he used the statue again to collect everything of worth from the base.



Jake sighed with contentment. Seven long years of labor had paid off. Despite not having found a single human in the desolation the earth had become, he'd managed to rescue hundreds of thousands of artifacts from museums and private collections alike and bring them to the fortress. He'd had to move most of the gold down to the storerooms and placed the most important items in the vaults. But at long last his labor was complete. The rich history of the world would not vanish with the passing of further centuries like so many things he'd found.

He didn't know what would happen, but he'd long since exhausted the prey he'd been able to find, mostly deer and a few scraggly sheep. The oceans had proven more hospitable, and he'd killed quite a few whales and large fish to sate his appetite.

Now that his efforts had paid off, however, he'd be going back into hibernation. This time, he wouldn't wake up until something disturbed him, so he'd left the door to his home open. How long he'd be asleep this time he didn't know. He just hoped that when he did wake up, there'd be enough there to allow his people to live again.



Jake heard voices speaking nearby. He felt himself snap to instant consciousness as he lay frozen under his blanket of gold. He listened quietly at the unfamiliar language, picking it up naturally as Dragons were wont to do. Soon he could understand them as easily as if they'd been speaking English, which it sort of sounded like they did, but with a horrible accent.

"This is amazing! These treasures must date back millennia! Perhaps to our earliest ancestors! I can't believe that this is really here!" A voice, a woman's Jake thought from the tone, babbled.

"It is indeed, Mistress." Another, just as young but much more reserved spoke. She continued. "But I can't help but notice that many of the depictions on a few of these pieces don't appear to be of a familiar people. They have no tails, for one thing, and no ears. Do you see, mistress?"

"Matcha, are you suggesting that these are part of the "tailless" people put forth by that ridiculous fool, Professor Archem? Surely not." The first voice sniffed. "There's never been hard evidence of the existence of such creatures."

"Well, what about this piece?" a third voice, deeper and more masculine, asked curiously. "See here (there came the sound of something being removed from the pile) what I mean...what the devil?!"

With the removal of the goblet, the gold had started to shift off of Jake. As it cleared his face, he opened his eyes to glare down at three of the strangest creatures he had ever met, dressed in what appeared to be Victorian era garb! They gaped up at him speechless as he lifted his head from the gold to talk.

Oh, this ought to be good. Jake thought. Aloud, all he said was; "Well, thieves, who are you and what are you doing in my home?"