Chapter 4: Party at David's house

In David's living room, the three gals looked around. All was as it should be.

Bitsy sat down on the couch and cried. "I miss them." She moaned.

"No sweat." Said Prissy in an effort to cheer the dragon child. "What we need is a party!"

Prissy walked over to the phone. She knew a few numbers from a decade ago. Maybe the still worked after all this time. It was worth a try.

Jenny sat next to Bitsy and put an arm around her, singing a lullaby from her childhood. Bitsy calmed down gradually, and leaned against Jenny for comfort and security.

Prissy was on the phone: "We need some party favors and some music. Yeah, I know it's been a while. And invite a few interesting people. We have a couple of newbies here and one of them's a kid. My kid if you must know. She's about 12. OK See you then." She hung up.

Prissy strolled back into the living room. "Party tomorrow." She announced.

Jenny looked dubious. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked.

"Well, Davy boy didn't say NOT to party. Did he?"

Jenny was forced to admit that he had not specifically forbidden it. However...

"But nothing'," said Prissy. "This is our best chance to meet people and get Staffet's mind off her troubles."

~On the trail of the Dark Lord~

David turned to 'Lyssa. "How do we get to the Dark Lord's palace? The last time we went, it was not exactly voluntary on our part."

'Lyssa thought about it. "Can you orient on the disturbance caused by the rift?"

David let his eyes lose focus as he sent his awareness out on other levels.

There, a definite source of power bleeding uncontrolled into the realm.

"Got it." David said as his eyes re-focused.

"Concentrate on the locus and take my hand."

David twined his fingers with 'Lyssa's. He sent tendrils of thought out and fastened on where he wanted to go. Once he had a stable anchor, David simply opened the way and pulled himself and 'Lyssa through.

The stone walls, pillar, and floor were familiar.

The 30-foot tall giant composed entirely of living flame, was not.

It was standing in front of a glowing, ragged hole in the air, obviously having just come through. The stone of the floor was melting like ice in the summer under its feet. David used an elemental wall of force to shove the fire elemental back through the rift. Leaving the invisible wall in place to block the opening, David took a good look around.

There were gouges in the walls and floors as if gigantic talons had ripped the stone. There were corpses and parts of corpses strewn about the hall. Some were damaged beyond recognition. For that matter, the bodies that were relatively intact defied classification.

'Lyssa was stunned. In all of her centuries she had never seen creatures or carnage like this. There was a sound from the end of the hall. It seemed there was at least one survivor of the battle.

A huge bestial looking humanoid came out of the shadows.

David braced himself for a fight, sweeping 'Lyssa behind him.

"Would either of you have some kind of pain killer?" The humanoid asked. "This hurts like hell!"

David let out an incredulous laugh. "I think we can come up with something," he said.

David didn't want to give the being something that would do further harm, so he conjured a very oversized icepack. It dropped at the creature's feet.

"Thanks." Said the creature. He sat down and put the icepack on his most obvious wounds. "By the way, my name is Tuck."

David conjured rolls of bandages and gauze pads and tape. "Come on Sweetie," he told 'Lyssa. "We have work to do." The pair set about patching up Tuck.

As they worked on Tuck, David asked a few questions.

"How did you end up here and what happened to you and this place?"

Tuck gave a massive shrug. "I dunno. There I was, walking along the street, minding my own damn business, when I turned a corner and was standing here. Next thing I know, something's tryin' to take my freaking head off!"

"You won that one." Said 'Lyssa as she wrapped a bandage around Tuck's forehead.

"That I did little lady." Tuck said with a chuckle. "I ripped it's fuckin' leg off and used it to beat the critter to death."

David grinned. He was starting to like this guy.

"The good news is, I have a legitimate excuse for bein' late this time." Tuck said. Then he hung his head. "That is, IF I get home."

"Concentrate on your home, the feel, the sounds, the smell, the look." David told Tuck. David slipped easily into the mind if the giant Tuck. There. That was what he sought. David made a small gesture. The space between two of the pillars shimmered and cleared into a street scene from a good-sized city. Tuck looked up. "That's home!" He bellowed.

Tuck lumbered to his feet. "Thanks pal!!" he grabbed David's hand and shook it vigorously. David almost had his arm yanked off before Tuck let go. The giant scooped 'Lyssa up and planted a juicy kiss on top of her head. "Thanks little lady! You two come see me sometime!" And he moved with surprising quickness through the portal and back to his home city.

David shook his head and closed the portal.

David sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the rift. He closed his eyes and probed the fissure with his mind.

'Lyssa sat down with her back against David's to keep watch where he could not.

David found the trace he was looking for. He could tell where he and the Dark Lord had passed through the rift. He followed the trail to the point where his trail and the Dark Lord's separated and spun off in diverging directions.

He followed the Dark Lord's trail to the realm where it ended, then stood up and took 'Lyssa's hand. "This way." He said. They stepped together through the portal together.

For long seconds, the great hall was empty and still.

Then a sudden motion at one of the great bronze doors, and a voice called out into the echoing stillness.

"Mommy? Daddy? Are you there? I'M SCARED!!"

But there was no one left to hear the words, or the sobs that followed.

~Where is Bitsy?~

Prissy answered the knock on the door. The party was already in full swing. Jenny was dancing with a tall blonde dude who looked like a Viking version of Conan. There were a dozen other people in the living room dancing, eating, and talking.

"Who are you?" Prissy said to the two guys on the doorstep.

"Hi, I'm Rath, and this is my buddy Booger. Say Hi Booger."

Booger waved a hand and made an odd noise. "URT?"

"What are you doing here? I don't remember inviting you." Prissy said.

"We heard there was a kickin' party here. And we brought party favors!" Said Rath. "Urt." went Booger as he nodded and held up a brown paper bag.

Prissy took in the goatees, short hair, tattoos, and general 'party on' attitude of the duo. "OK Come on in."

She stepped back and let the two come on in. If nothing else, they would be comic relief.

She followed the newcomers into the living room where Booger was already digging into his bag.

"Urt, urt!" and he held up a small colored glass pipe. Prissy sniffed the telltale odor of prime weed and grinned. This may be a great party after all!

An hour later, Most of the guests were well stoned, a thick haze of pot smoke hung to waist level in the room.

Jenny made her way over to Prissy. That worthy was sitting on the couch between Booger and Rath. She had a silly grin on her face as she stared at the bong, trying to remember which end to light. Prissy was bombed, baked, stoned and fried.

Jenny patted Prissy's face to get her attention.

"Bitsy's gone." Jenny said.

"Wha?" mumbled Prissy.

Jenny hated to risk showing her power at all. But she felt she had no choice. She placed her hands on Prissy's temples. She sent a jolt of energy directly into the other woman's frontal lobes.

Prissy blinked awake as her head cleared. "What did you say?"

"Bitsy's gone, and I think she went after David and "Lyssa." Jenny said in an urgent low voice. "Oh Shit!!" wailed Prissy. David was gonna kill her for sure this time. And she wouldn't blame him a bit.

"Who's Bitsy?" asked Rath.

"Our daughter, and she's missing." Snapped Prissy.

"Hey, we'll help ya find her, right Booger?"

"URT! You bet!"

Jenny wrote out a quick note to Paul Black Eagle for when he arrived.

"Come on." Said Prissy to Jenny. We have to get her back before David finds out she's gone!"

She had already forgotten the stoners and their offer to help.

She was still feeling off as she led the way upstairs to Bitsy's room to look for a clue.

What they found was a note.

(I'm gone to mommy's house to look for Daddy and Mommy 'Lyssa.)

Prissy turned toward the doorway and used it to anchor a gate straight to 'Lyssa's parlor.

She didn't notice until too late that Rath and Booger had followed them through.

Rath looked around the room at the fancy furniture and the obviously expensive tapestries.

Asshann materialized right in front of them.

"Right on" went Rath.

"Urt." agreed Booger.

"Have you seen Bitsy? The dragon girl?" Prissy asked the maid.

"Why yes." said Asshann. "She showed up here two hours or so ago and asked where her parents were. I told her that they were going to the Dark Lord's palace."

Prissy paled.

Rath was checking out Asshann's tits where her low cut dress showed plenty of cleavage. "Right on" he said again. Asshann winked at Rath and Booger as she faded out like a wisp of smoke.

"URT." went Booger. He was suitably impressed.

Actually Booger had a rather extensive vocabulary. But it didn't fit the image he tried hard to project. However this often led people to underestimate him. And that was sometimes very useful.

"Come on folks. We have a daughter to catch before she gets any further away and into any more trouble." Said Prissy with a determined look on her face.

"Ummm, What's all this about a Dark Lord's palace?" Asked Rath. Booger was busy rolling a joint and concentrating on doing a good job. Of course being baked to the eyebrows did not help his co-ordination.

Prissy just shook her head. Jenny was a bit more practical.

"How do we get there?" she asked.

Prissy opened a gateway anchored by the frame of the front door. Prissy stepped through the portal. Jenny grabbed Booger and Rath and followed just before the portal collapsed.

They emerged in the echoing hall amid the piles and heaps of dismembered corpses. "Gawddamn what a stink!" blurted Rath.

"URT." agreed Booger. He flipped open the lid of his old style Zippo lighter and fired up his doobie. The smoke did help cut the odor a bit.

"Bitsy!" called Prissy.

But no answer came back save the echoes of her own voice.

~Little Lost Dragonette~

Bitsy was tired of feeling sorry for herself. She had sat hidden in the nook, crying and pouting for hours.

Enough was enough.

Bitsy shook herself. She debated using her human body.

Nope. Too vulnerable, and limited in senses.

With a gusty sigh, Bitsy allowed herself a brief regret that she had not spent more time recently in her true body.

She remembered the books and lessons from the library. She sent out her magical probes to seek traces of David's magic. She caught the mental traces almost at once. She followed the trail to between two pillars. She sat down and closed her eyes. She followed the methods that David had painstakingly taught her.

She mentally traced the structure of the spell that had been cast there, and slowly reconstructed it.

She allowed the power to flow, and opened her eyes to see the gate open.

Bitsy yipped with delight.

An older, more experienced dragon or wizard would have waited and observed before passing into the gate.

But Bitsy was still a child in either dragon or human terms. With the lack of patience this implies.

She stood up and walked through the gate. Daddy and Mommy "Lyssa were somewhere, and she would find them.

She emerged onto a city street that was crowded with huge, gnarled beings. The street cleared with remarkable speed at the appearance of a dragon in their midst. Bitsy looked around at the fleeing figures and snorted.

She sniffed the air. Faint but recognizable. The scents of her daddy and mommy.

Bitsy set off down the street following the odor trail.

The scents grew stronger as she walked. She picked up the pace.

The scent trail led her to a doorway.

Bitsy shifted back into human form. She straightened her clothes and raised a hand to knock on the door.

~We have to find our daughter!~

Prissy did a fast magical scan of the hall and surrounding area.

Booger handed Rath the doobie and exhaled a cloud of fragrant smoke.

A sparkle caught his eye. Booger walked over to the pile of corpse parts. He reached in and extracted a sword with an odd shaped hilt and a crystalline blade. Further rummaging produced another sword and matching belts and scabbards.

Booger strapped on one of the belts and sheathed one of the swords. He stuck the other sword into the sheath on the belt and took it over to Rath.

Rath took the sword and handed back the joint. "Right on, right on." He said. Rath strapped on the belt and drew the sword. The blade flickered with inner fires. Rath hefted the sword. The hilt was shaped oddly to human eyes, but it felt surprisingly comfortable. He sheathed the blade and walked a few steps away to get a clearer look at a particular dead critter.