It was bird song, perhaps.  It didn't really sound like that, but that was the only thing it could have been.  Maybe.  Right?
        No, not quite.  It was like... humming.  Pretty and gentle, but... so strange.  So strange and so familiar that he just had to know, had to take a look.  His eyes opened on sunlight, blue sky... and a pair of ecstatic, big brown eyes... 

        Dark.  Cold.
        Lonely.  Alone.
        No, wait.  Lonely.
        No.  No, not quite.
        Shivering.  Tingling.  Sharp, cold, bitter... calm.  Breeze?  Warmth... sunlight, maybe.  Grass.  Cool grass.
        Blue fire--the feeling.  That warm/cold, healing buzz.  But much more powerful, much stronger than simply that.  Much more...
        Weight.  Something living, something moving... sharp again.  Not pain.  Not pleasant, but not pain.  Rhythmic.  Many little pins and needles.  And something else sharp.  Side to side, over and over.
        Voices?  Murmurs... whispers.  No, breath.  Held, indrawn breaths--humming in the background.  Even the sharpness resided into stillness with that humming.  Waiting.  Urging.  For... what?
        No voice.  No voice in her mind.  No presence in her mind.  Panic--no.  No.  No, not quite.  The presence was closer than that.  There are many.  There are some just...
        Humming again; still.  Pretty.  Like bird song.  But... different.  So pretty.  The sound, it... felt, good.  Like the healing.  Like the blue fire, in a sound.  She wanted to see...
        She brought herself to open her eyes--and promptly blinked away from the all too bright sunshine.  A yip sounded, right in front of her.  Come to think of it, she was laying on her back, with a weight on her chest that was wiggling like an excited--
        Dragon.
        Without attempting to open her eyes again, her hands gracelessly flopped to the thing that sat on her, and embraced it carefully.  Yes, dragon--she'd know the touch of that fur anywhere.  Silky smooth scales, leather jacket wings...
        Tears.  She felt tears flood her eyes.  Her lips moved but no voice came. Adrian.
       Fear encased her.  For a moment she didn't want to open her eyes.  There was such a chance that none of this was real, none of this was solid... it could still be that godawful dream.  But the very chance that it wasn't--
        A presence.  A familiar one.  No, several.  All over, all around.  Arms around the dragon on her chest, she closed her eyes even tighter and struggled with her tired muscles until she sat upright.  Yeah, it hurt.  It felt like she'd done a billion sit-ups and been knocked around quite a bit.  But the squirming thing in her arms made another yip that was distinctly Adrian; distinctly real.  And there was a sound around her, encasing her--or maybe that was the lack of sound.  It was that huge indrawn breath, like an audience might make on those disaster TV shows.  Some familiar energies, but most foreign--all waiting.
        All at once, the humming stopped.  The light on her eyelids dimmed--something was shading her.  There was no way she could keep sight away any longer, no way she could let it all be unreal.  Eyes brilliant with tears and flame opened upon the visage of a great, red dragon's head, lowered before her.
        Aliyn's own eyes glistened with moisture as she greeted the waker--but not by herself.  The cheerful gaze shifted from Shadow's and then to the side as the great beast craned her neck back to allow--
        It felt like she'd been attacked, frankly.  Or like a few boulders had broadsided her, first one and then two more.  Warm boulders, with arms.  Not quite wanting to, she closed her eyes again; but she didn't feel like she was missing anything this time.  Adrian squeaked in surprise and climbed onto her shoulder to avoid getting entangled, then bounced around on the shoulders of everyone else in pure joy.
        She didn't need to open her eyes to know who she was holding.  Roan had been first to attack; both because he was closest and because he was still painfully weak from the whole experience.  Evyn and Taerlyn had double-teamed her from either side and were holding on just as much for dear life.  It was a great big freakin' hugfest, dammit.
        And then... there was a nose.  A great big warm, soft and fuzzy... horse nose.  No; a unicorn's nose.  Bumping, greeting; forcing her eyes open again.  Even through the tears, Shadow could  make out those unmistakable brown eyes.  The sound was coughed, gurgled for lack of any better expression at the moment--but it was a laugh.  Her family.  Home.  With her family.
        She let the tears come, unburdened.  Living only a moment with thinking that she might have killed them, may have failed them all in her own death, all of them...  How she didn't, even how she'd managed to survive... not that it mattered.  No, not at all.  Not right now.
        Distantly, she knew their little group was surrounded by one much larger.  So many beasts, so very many creatures of all sorts that a human mind could only hope to imagine, watching them.  Waiting for something.  She felt it somehow--just like she felt the crowd part as another entity approached.
        She knew, even before she could make out the creature stepping toward them regally, that it was important enough of a moment to wipe the tears away.  But she sure as hell didn't want to let go, not yet.
        The creature seemed patient enough, however.  The voice was low and steady, thick with an accent but easily understood; the tone booming, important.  "You have come through.  And you have come home."
        Wasn't that the fucking simplest way she'd ever heard the truth described.  She let another laugh pass through her lips, this time being more full than the last attempt.  Knowing that this was a point in time in which she would want her full attention on the present, she hesitantly released hold of her love and her siblings.  It was okay.  They'd have their moments in private.  But they sure as hell weren't taking off.  They sat side by side in a semi-circle, the young dragon climbing restlessly between shoulders, regarding the messenger before them.  Aliyn and Marqueh sat behind their human companions, tails wrapped together, making their presence known by soft, cat-like purrs.  Even Sandy joined in, laying before the two-legged creatures with a great grunt of relief--and expecting some good ear scratching.  Surely Taerlyn wouldn't mind.
        Actually laying eyes upon the messenger, this great aquatic-looking dragon as large as Aliyn with pure onyx coloring, almost made Shadow feel... silly.  She'd never imagined she could have been addressed by such a fantastic life form, ever.  And certainly not like this, not as if she were of any importance to such an amazing thing.  Regardless, she nodded politely and removed the moisture from her eyes as surreptitiously as possible.
        "I am Torudor, Envoy of the Sep Reval and the Council of the Realm."  The dragon introduced, inclining his head politely.  "It has been agreed by the majority of the Council: they would like to invite the four of you to take a place among them.  If you were to accept, you would take your places as parts of the governing system of our world."
        Jaws dropped.  Looks were exchanged.  And all Shadow could come up with was, finally, "A-...are you sure?"
        Torudor grinned a smile that only a thin-mouthed dragon was capable of.  "I do believe we are quite certain after the admirable charge you successfully carried out.  And I must say, it runs in the blood for you, Kirse Shadow."
        Another slight series of looks exchanged.  Somehow no questioned surfaced.  There was simply too much shock.
        The dragon waited with saint-like patience for all eyes to turn back to him.  He explained carefully, "Your ancestral surname is Darken, Kirse Shadow.  Darken was a dead clan of your ancestors; until you arrived back here, of course."
        "'Kirse'?" she repeated softly, feeling very much like an idiot.  None of the rest of what he'd said was sinking in just yet.
        "It is a title."  Torudor responded matter-of-factly.  "You would call any equal by such a title."
        Equal.  With a dragon.  An envoy of this world-governing council.  Would wonders never cease.  She tried very hard not to ask too many questions.  Not just yet.  There was plenty of time to annoy everyone later.  But... still.  She let herself ask the most important one.  "What... happened, exactly?"
        The black dragon relinquished his position of speaker to one of better understanding--Marqueh's voice responded behind them, and they turned to hear all that he had to say.  "Your life energies woke the false stone that surrounded us.  And the rest, clearly..." he trailed off, knowing there was no better way to explain that to illustrate.  Folding his wings tightly, he leaned down; as did every other fantastical creature behind him.  Hundreds upon hundreds of the most amazing, most impossible living things they had ever seen bowed only so that they could see the horizon over their bodies.
        All that was left of Aunger's vast paradise was a massive pile of sand.  All of the stone and all of the creatures within seemed to have simply vanished.  Only the mountain of sand remained, slowly torn apart by the wind and carried as far as dust could travel.
        "We couldn't have survived without your help."  Aliyn kept her voice soft and meaningful, addressing all of the small creatures before her.  She'd hoped so desperately that she'd made the right choice in the beginning, calling Shadow to them.  Now it was clear that she had.  Many had died in protecting such a small girl's passage to this moment--and Aliyn was awestruck to know that it had all been worth it.  She knew in her heart this invitation to the Council would not be thrown off as a mere celebratory procedure; and she dearly hoped they would join in rebuilding their home.  With or without Arunguin's help; he was just a grouchy old coot, anyway.
        "Your answer can wait for as long as you feel that you need."  Torudor added softly.
        A tentative grin came to Shadow's face as she looked over at Roan.  Moving from one set of eyes to the other, then the last... it was clear.  No need for questions, and nothing to take back.  "If you're sure you can handle us." 

        Granted, it wasn't much.  It was literally a three room tree hut, in fact.  But it was a little "vacation spot" until what had been referred to as the Sep Reval Palace had been restored.  It had been a very long time since any of the Council had lived or worked in any of the actual palaces; as such, having been the key places where Aunger's terror had really begun.  It may be several days, or several weeks.  They didn't exactly mind, either way.  They'd damn well earned a vacation, anyway.
        The four of them had laid in the grass underneath the giant tree with Sandy and Adrian for hours with barely a word spoken.  Words were so... not expressive enough.  And that much didn't matter.  Rest, comfort, calmness--they didn't think they'd ever be getting enough of that.
        What had occurred, what had happened to all of them, during the entire last battle... it could wait.  Shadow and Roan had made it out alive.  As did Evyn and Taerlyn, by some miracle.  None of them could remember all that much after that last energy blast.  No big surprise, of course.  It felt too good in the shade of the afternoon, just laying there as if nothing bad had ever happened.  The subject would come eventually--and "eventually" was a long way from "now".
        And then Roan turned to Shadow out of the blue with the all too simplistic words, "So.  You want to use one of those rooms or what?"
        "Sinful."  She'd thrown back at him after a beat.  She was merely too content and lazy to so much as teasingly thwap him.
        Taerlyn, abandoning her delicate senses, giggled.  Evyn pretended to be incredibly offended.  In truth, he didn't care about much more than getting some more suitable clothes.  Sure the ungodly oversized deerskin shirt was fine compared to nothing but a cloak, but... he needed something more.  A lot more.  Something he didn't have to tie in the back just so it fit.  And the pants... well, the less said about the pants, the better.
        Teasingly, Roan laced his fingers into four (amongst the dozens of) holes in Shadow's still somehow "solid" Guns N' Roses shirt.  He'd been waiting way too long--and not for that.  Well, not for just that, anyway.  As much as he did finally feel comfortable being among all of them, he was craving a little time alone.  Just a little.  "Aw, come on."
        She raised an eyebrow and turned her head to make eye contact.  Humorous though it was... she realized he was actually bordering on serious need, here.  It was... funny.  And different, to put things lightly.  It wasn't just a straight-out, horny thirst, either.  Powers of the universe help her, it was almost fucking... "romantic".  "Tell you what."  Her trademark grin glistened demonically.  "Why don't you go up there first and get things ready for me?"
        He stared at her for a moment, blank faced.  But he couldn't hold it.  Almost giddily, he replied, "Okay."  And with that, he got up and immediately started climbing the stairs embedded on the side of the giant tree trunk.
        Well.  That was kind of... surprising.  Not shocking or anything, but... hm.  Interesting.  She could barely imagine what the hell all that had been about.  But she didn't mind finding out.
        Taerlyn started to giggle yet harder.  Evyn looked over at her, making the brotherly suggestion, "We might want to get out of here for a little while."
        "Yeah."  Shadow agreed, still too lazy to get up just yet.  "Your poor innocent senses may be shattered."
        Ter made a "yeah, right" noise, but got up anyway.  "Fine.  I'll just go ride Sandy again."  Any excuse was good enough.
        Upon hearing her name, the steed leapt up from the grass and dove right back to the ground before the sibling, fully prepared for another run.  It would be the fifth one since morning, but she certainly didn't mind.  It was far better than the claustrophobic hell of being trapped in an eternally growing wall, alright.
        Adrian yipped suddenly, bounding from where he'd laid curled just above Shadow's head, knowing what was about to happen.  For a little dragon, he sure did like to feel the wind in his face.  He was learning how to glide, too; when Sandy got to a certain speed, he'd jump off and grasp hold of her tail, then spread his wings.  Flying and landing would take a lot more practice, though...
        With lazy waves, brother and sister were left alone on the grass.  And neither of them were eager to leave it.  Just laying down like useless lumps felt kinda good.  Even if Evyn knew he ought to be getting up and going somewhere.
        Of course, this was a conversation opportunity.  And Shadow thought that she ought to take it, still knee-deep in the act of relaxing or not.  She had wanted to ask him exactly what had happened before they'd found him in that torture cell... but didn't dare really want him to have to tell her.  She wasn't certain she'd be able to handle his description anyway.  Not at that time.  Even with all she'd been through, it was ungodly horrible to have to know, to have him tell her...  And yet still she wanted to, only if to satisfy her sick and constant curiosity.  What a horrible thing to want to know.
        Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed his eyes solidly on her, seemingly able to look inside and see exactly what she was thinking.  "It was... agony..." he uttered quietly.
        "I can only imagine." she responded in a whisper.
        No; he was pretty sure she knew all too well, for the most part.  He closed his eyes tightly, wrapping his arms around himself.  Obviously, he was not quite... over it.  All in all, he was sure it would take a good long time to even come close.  He'd never dreamed, not even in his most disturbing nightmares... of anything like... that.  It haunted him, the back of his thoughts...  He opened his eyes forcefully and sat up, feeling more comfortable that way all of a sudden.
        She sat with him, but her eyes turned away.  She could not deny a small but viciously nagging guilt of not having done something sooner to have stopped his torment.  She just didn't know at the time; or maybe hadn't been thinking enough.  Hadn't been powerful enough, strong enough.
        He just looked at her until she met his gaze completely, forgetting about her internal monolog.  "I think I understand a lot more, though."
        She swallowed, having no indication of where that was going.  It actually made her a little nervous.  "About?"
        "You... Roan... I'm not... quite sure what I'm trying to say."  He answered thoughtfully.
        "I think I understand.  Of course, I could be way off..." She supposed, mostly to herself.
        "I felt..." he began carefully, arms still tightly around himself.  "When you were healing me... neither of you thought I'd be... whole again.  I think I almost wasn't..."
        She shivered at his words, not wanting to hear them--but she didn't dare silence him.  She didn't want him to stop, or to hold back.  She just wanted his pain to go away.  "Yeah.  I felt it.  Pretty clearly..."
        He shook his head slowly.  "I... have never known... I didn't know... that kind of... that much pain was even possible..."
        A long silence passed between them as they remembered far too much of the bad shit.  Yeah, it would be around them, stuck in their minds for a long time to come.  But this was not a time to dwell.  "I think that's enough of that."  She announced finally, a little too much uneasiness apparent in her voice.
        He nodded in agreement.  "I just... wanted you to know."
        "And I very much appreciate it."  She admitted.  "I just wish you hadn't gone through any of that."
        He tried to smile.  "Yeah, I know what you mean."
        "All past, then."  She agreed quietly.  Not to be forgotten, ever.  But not to be lived within, either.  "Besides, we all have new lives here now."
        "In a few ways."  He added, taking a short survey of the open landscape all around, knowing it was the truth.  Each one of them had undergone such transformation in their lives during their experience together.  It hadn't been easy much of the time, and there had been some pretty jagged rough spots... but they'd come out more whole than they'd gone into it.  Now they sat there, just the two of them, the "originals", in a little vacation spot all to themselves, just waiting out the afternoon.  Rather suddenly and without realizing it, he wrapped an arm around his sister for comfort; for the both of them.
        Surprising him the slightest bit, she returned the sentiment without pause.  "You're a good brother."  She grinned, relaxing into the casual touch for a moment.  "I'm sorry, Evyn."  It was possibly the most sincere thing she had ever uttered in her life.
        And that truly frightened him a little.  Without letting go, he carefully demanded, "Sorry?  For what?"
        "I don't know."  She admitted quietly.  "For... for not doing everything I could have for you.  And Ter.  For getting you both into all of this to begin with."
        "No."  He stated firmly, holding her even tighter.  "Don't... ever... be sorry for that.  We wouldn't know what to do without you."
        She... clearly hadn't expected anything like that.  It actually shut her up for over a full minute before she finally relaxed back into humor rather than shock.  "You'd be so very bored without me."
        He smiled brightly and pulled back, glad to see she hadn't denied his sentiment.  "That's true."
        "But, uh... you don't mind..?  Y'know."  She pointed up, toward the tree house subtlety.
        He grinned like only a knowing big brother could.  "No, I don't mind.  I was honest then and I am honest now.  I love you, dearly, as a sister.  I can most certainly live happily with that.  Unless you're trying to tell me something..."
        "Afraid not, oh brother."  She grinned back, glad to be in good spirits again.  "Hm.  Never had a brother before..."
        "And I have two sisters now..."  He forced a comic shiver.  "Of course, if I need help, I can always call on Roan to even the odds."  He pondered out loud.
        "Don't count on it.  He's going to be my property soon."  She joked.
        "Everything you deem your property is probably going to be your property."  He almost frightened himself with that thought.
        "I suppose I should start telling people that."  She agreed, deadpan.  Maybe she could get a shirt made...
        "I'm sure you will."  He shot back.  "Just... be safe.  Alright?"  Essential brotherly advice.
        "Oh you bet."  She assured him completely.  "Couldn't handle a little... ugh."
        That made him laugh painfully hard.  "The Darken Dynasty ends before it begins."
        "You're Darken by default."  She teased.  "Go get yourself somebody.  Have a litter.  Just don't expect me to be the doting aunt."
        "Never."  He grinned. 

        I sit here at the keyboard at 9:30 in the morning on July 18, 2004... having just finished re-editing this whole story.  And I have to say... it's still amazing.  I've left the old notes as they are... because I have no reason to change them.
 

        Wow.  I mean that.  Just, plain, frickin', wow.  I had no idea I was capable of something like this--and I'm not referring to any part of the whole process in particular.  I started this adventure on a whim and a whisper from Shadow in late 1999.  And here it is, finished, on June 11, 2003.  Finished.  Completed.  A full circle.
        More or less.  Okay, I've got to confess; I know this is not all there is, folks.  You think Shadow will ever leave me alone?  Then you sure as hell didn't read the whole thing!  The story of her life isn't done, period.  And she won't let me forget that.  A sequel will more than likely follow--some day.  I can't make guesses or promises.
        And with that much said, I really do have to thank the people that kept me going.  There is no way I'd have had enough energy without the fans.  My most precious thanks goes out to The Forgotten, not just for sticking with the story, but for giving me incredible feedback for every chapter; it goes so far beyond appreciated.  Specific thanks also goes out to Caelestis Tennyo for at the very least thinking this story good enough to share.  To Person of Flipsy, for caring enough to stick with it and nudge me once in a while.  Also to Shyva Afterglow for the various random comments.  And of course to my little brother and my husband, but you two know that already.  For those not specifically thanked... well, dammit, thank you!  And if you didn't get response ot your comments, then e-mail and bitch at me.  Chances are that it was a technology problem, but I might have gotten caught up in something, too.
        Apologies go out to my sweet hearted poison, Nightshade, however.  Many a day writing this story dwindled our time together... but she's not too pissed.  Just yet.  If I wake up bound in guitar strings with a bunch of picks shoved in my mouth, I'll know.  And if I survive that, I'll let everyone else know, too.
        If there is a person who can name each and every song I quoted by the lyrics alone (no search engines), then I congratulate you.  You've as much of a sickness as I have--and it's great.
        I love Shadow.  You've got to know that.  I love her dearly, even though she leaves my head a mess.  We tend to work off of each other, giving people the impression that I'm just one big split personality.  And it's true to a point, as it is with all artists of every persuasion.  She's only one of the voices in my head, but damned if she's not the loudest.
        This was such a great adventure, in all senses.  I hope I can offer this work back into that pool of inspiration that we all draw out of.  I had thought, around the time of the "One Tree Hill" scene, that this story would rock as a movie.  But now I think there's no way.  Not without completely ruining it or dumbing it down--at least not if any studio has a say.  But that's okay.  There are still a few literate people among us who can read it.  I hope.
        Rock on, creatures.  Fuck whoever gets in your way--literally or metaphorically is your call.