Chapter 8

Lady Shadow sat down hard in one of the chairs next to Tom. Her knees wouldn't hold her anymore and her stomach was churning. Was it possible that she was at the end of her search after all this time? She hardly dared let herself hope.

Prissy stood beside Lady Shadow's chair and stroked the back of the cat lady's head and lightly scratched her behind the ears. Lady Shadow unconsciously leaned into the caress and relaxed ever so slightly.

"Retrieving your cub won't be easy," warned Tom. "Like most collectors, this being guards its treasures jealously and fiercely."

"Just tell me where." Lady Shadow said. "And I will find her though Hell itself may stand between us."

'Lyssa came over and knelt by Lady Shadow's feet. "And my husband and all of us will aid you."

Tom chuckled. "Too many of you go and the cub will be lost forever. All that are needed are three."

"And which three?" asked 'Lyssa. "Why, Lady Shadow, David, and the delightful Staffet of course."

"But David and Bitsy aren't here!" said Prissy plaintively.

"They'll be along shortly I'd expect." Replied Tom. Then the old hermit leaned back in his chair and started snoring.

Jenny woke up early. She felt strangely crowded in the bed. She looked over and saw David curled up to her side. She looked down at her feet; Staffet was coiled up on the floor at the foot of the bed in her dragon body. She had her head resting on the mattress by Jenny's toes.

When Bitsy felt Jenny move, she woke instantly and shifted back to human form. "Mommy!" she cried as she piled onto the bed to hug Jenny.

All the commotion woke David up. "Hi Honey." he said. Bitsy was bouncing all over the bed, making getting anything more than a brief kiss impossible. David swatted Bitsy on the rump as he climbed out of bed. "Take it easy Squirt. Don't get her too tired out so soon."

"I won't daddy." Bitsy said. She settled down and lay next to Jenny and wrapped her arms around her. "I'm glad you're OK." She said.

"I'm just fine." Jenny said as she hugged Bitsy. "Now scoot, I have to use the toilet."

Bitsy wriggled off the bed. "OK, I'll use the box in the gym." Bitsy shifted to Dragon form and went into the attached gym where the curtained sandbox still waited from her previous visits

Jenny used the toilet, then stepped into the shower as soon as David stepped out. He collected a kiss in passing, and then dressed to fix breakfast.

As they ate, David filled them in on his little adventures. Jenny filled David in on what Bitsy had missed.

"We had better get right back," she said when they were done eating.

David opened the door to the apartment arid stepped directly into the parlor. "HI Uncle Tom!" Bitsy squealed as soon as she caught sight of the old hermit.

'Lyssa and Prissy were crowding around David in a flurry of welcome.

Lady Shadow looked wistfully at the reunion. No one had greeted her like that since her mate had died.

Then she looked down in surprise. Bitsy had locked her arms around her waist. "Don't worry, I'm here for you too." Bitsy said.

Lady Shadow wrapped her arms around Bitsy's head and hugged the girl to her. Gods! How she'd missed this!

David finally broke away from his wives and approached Mad Tom. "What brings you here?"

"Just another small quest for you to deal with." The hermit said.

David shook his head wearily. "One damn thing after another."

Battle Plans

Shana called them into the dining room for dinner.

"So how do we deal with this collector?" David asked Tom.

"Simple," replied the old hermit. "You kill it."

"And how do we kill it?" David asked.

"That's entirely up to you." chuckled Tom.

Lady Shadow spoke up then to forestall a grouchy response from David. "Exactly where is this collector located? And, is my cub with him?"

"Your offspring is concealed in a crystal cylinder located next to his other treasures in his vault. She is suspended on display, but is unharmed. Although she has aged slightly since her acquisition."

"So how are we supposed to get into this 'collectors' vault?" David asked reasonably.

"The entrance to the collectors underground cavern is through that door there." Tom indicated a door in the wall that hadn't been there an instant before.

David narrowed his eyes. That little trick should have used an amazing amount of power, but he hadn't felt the slightest tingle of magic in use.

Lady Shadow started up from her chair to go charging through the door. She sat down again however; as an unseen hand pressed her firmly back into her seat. "Don't act like a kitten." Tom scolded. "Your cub has waited this many centuries. She will last at least until we finish eating."

Lady Shadow subsided with bad grace, not that she had a lot of choice.

Bitsy finally finished eating, then she asked to be excused so that she could get her dagger and change clothes in her room. 'Lyssa nodded her permission, and Bitsy made the round of the table, giving each person there a kiss. When she had gone, Tom lit his pipe. "David, you will need all the cunning that you developed as a mercenary to defeat the collector. Don't be fooled by outward shape. Lady Shadow, to you falls the task of slipping unseen through all of the collectors traps while it is distracted by David."

"And what role will Staffet play?" asked 'Lyssa in a dangerously soft voice.

"She will have to defeat the guardians of the vault while Lady Shadow recovers her daughter." Tom explained.

"Will they all be OK?" Jenny asked.

"That remains to be seen." Tom replied.

Sometime during the ensuing discussion, the mad old hermit vanished from his chair. It was several minutes before his absence was noticed.

Bitsy came back to the dining room dressed in her jeans, a long sleeved mesh-mail shirt over a 'Dragons Rule' t-shirt, and her usual sneakers. Her dagger was sheathed at her right side, and her amulet shone softly through the mesh sleeve of her armor shirt. "I'm ready!" she said.

David pushed his chair back, stood up, and kissed each of his wives in turn. "Please try to stay out of trouble this time," he said, only half jokingly.

'Lyssa hugged Lady Shadow. "If anyone can get your daughter back, my Beloved can."

David linked his belt to Bitsy's with a piece of nylon rope. He then tied another rope from his belt to a loop around Lady Shadow's waist. "Stay close, do what I say, when I say, without questions, and we just might all live through this."

"I am not accustomed to following orders," said Lady Shadow with a smile. "However for this matter, I place myself under your command."

"OK," David told his team, "here is what I want to happen if at all possible." The trio huddled briefly with their heads close together. When they straightened up, Lady Shadow made a bow in David's direction. "You must be part cat." was all she said.

David opened the door in the wall and stepped through accompanied by the other two.

Interlude

When the door closed behind David and the others, it vanished as if it had never existed. And in a very real sense, its existence hadn't truly happened at all.

"All we can do now is wait." Prissy said.

"I hate waiting." grumbled 'Lyssa and Jenny in such perfect unison that all three women started laughing.

The Collector's Cavern

David and the others found themselves facing a cave entrance leading into a hillside near a

forest. David loosed the rope that linked them together. "Everyone stay loose and stay about

3 feet apart. Keep levitation spells s syllable away from activation in case of trap doors

etc."

"I don't have a levitation spell," said Lady Shadow.

David took her hand in his, noticing a gold band around one finger. "I'll put one on the ring. It will-be a one shot spell, but all you'll have to do is will it to activate."

Bitsy followed the flow of her father's magic, refining and strengthening it.

"Thank you Milord." Lady Shadow said softly.

"Let's go." David ordered. He took point, with Bitsy behind him and Lady Shadow trailing. There was no ambient light in the cave, but David1 s enchanted hand gifted him with vision that saw into the infrared. This was one of the unexpected side effects caused by the stoned efforts of crystal and Ruby, the cave dweller twins now living in David's world. He made up his mind to sit down when he had the chance and explore the powers and abilities of his artificial hand.

David1s enhanced vision detected several booby traps on the ceiling, walls and floor of the cave in time for him to either disarm or lead his charges past without tripping them. In this manner, they made their way several miles under the surface. Bitsy was now in her natural dragon form, the better to see, hear, and smell out the guardians of the vault. They knew they were getting closer to their goal as Lady Shadow's amulet grew warmer as she approached her cub's resting place.

"Thieves!" boomed a voice from a side passage.

"Go for it!" David hissed to his companions. Bitsy and Lady Shadow slipped past David as he turned to confront he 'collector'.

"You have come to plunder my treasures! But I will kill you before you can even take the sight of them with you!"

"Lots of talk for a spook afraid to show itself." David sneered. He wasn't feeling nearly as confident as he sounded.

"Those who see me, perish soon afterward." The voice came from closer at hand, yet David could not see anything even with his augmented vision.

"I just want to be left alone." Whined the voice. "Why can't you all just leave me alone?"

David's artificial hand shot out to the side of him, fingers rigidly extended, and his arm straight and the elbow locked. David stared at his errant arm. This wasn't HIS idea!

His arm and hand flared bright as it had when he had faced the undead in the other dimension. The glow outlined a small humanoid form with his hand embedded in its head. Something told David that as long as he held his hand in place, the 'collector' was powerless. The rest was up to Lady Shadow and Staffet. All they had to do was to follow his plan...

Bitsy shifted form to whisper in Lady Shadow's ear. "Get on my back when I change form again, I will refold my wings to hide your outline. That way they can't see you and won't even know you're around until it's too late. " Bitsy stepped back and shifted back to dragon form. Bitsy unfolded her wings slightly as Lady Shadow slipped onto her back and lay down along the young dragon's spine. Bitsy refolded her wings to drape over Lady Shadow while leaving space between the wings and her body unobstructed so that Lady Shadow could slip down on either side unseen. Bitsy used a small levitation spell to raise her just a few inches above the floor, holding her forelegs and hind legs trail straight back instead of dangling, and stretching her body slightly lengthwise, Bitsy had plenty of clearance on the sides, above, and, most importantly, below her. Bitsy pushed with her mind, gliding silently and easily 6 inches from the floor, thus avoiding pressure sensitive traps etc. But her inexperience showed when she zipped around a corner without checking it first. She felt the tripwire before she saw it. And of course, by then it was too late. Alarm bells and gongs sounded and light flared from previously dead torches on the walls. Bitsy sped up, hoping to get to the vault before the guards had a chance to react. Around another bend, Bitsy ran full speed into a large group of creatures blocking the entrance to a huge cavernous room. Bitsy didn't feel Lady Shadow leave her back, but she did catch a glimpse of her stealthy form entering the display cavern.

Bitsy roared in pain and anger as a critter looking somewhat like a hyperthyroid rabbit bit her on the tail. She whirled and bit once, half of the overgrown bunny disappeared. Bitsy swallowed and reached out with a foreleg, talons spread wide to rake the belly of a humanoid nearly the size of Tuck. Leaving its intestines in a steaming pile at its feet, the semi-giant collapsed. Then Bitsy was too busy biting, clawing, and flaming everything within reach to keep track of anything else but the next foe.

Finally all was still. Bitsy stood alone amid dismembered corpses and piles of internal organs. She swayed on her feet wearily. While most of the blood covering her scales was the enemy's, a good deal of it was flowing from her own wounds. Bitsy's head ached abominably where a club wielding ogre type had landed one blow to the top of her skull before being burned in half by her fiery breath. She took a deep breath and winced, feeling broken ribs grating under her scaly hide.

Then she entered the vault. Lady Shadow was seated on a diamond large enough to have bought many nations if properly cut and sold. There were bodies and blood everywhere. Lady Shadow saw Bitsy and managed to stand. The cat lady held her hand pressed to her side. Blood seeped between her fingers and down her hip. "I guess I wasn't fast enough this time." Lady Shadow rasped. "My daughter is over here." Leaning on Bitsy, Lady Shadow made her way over to a series of crystal pillars, each holding a young creature. There were representatives of about 20 species trapped in the crystals. "How do we get them out?" asked Bitsy. "Let's get them out of here first, we'll worry about getting them out of their crystals later. Bitsy made Lady Shadow sit nearby and relax. Then she used the strength of her dragon body to shift the pillars until they all touched. Lady Shadow crawled painfully up on Bitsy's back once more. Bitsy wrapped her body and tail around the pillars as best she could, then triggered her escape amulet, willing Lady Shadow and the children to come with her.

A flash of light, and they were gone.

David stood like a statue with his hand still inside the head of the 'collector'. He was thinking hard about what to do with the creature. He didn't know how to kill it, and he damn sure wasn't going to let it loose! Finally he curled his fingers into a loose fist within the being's head. "Time to visit the vault." he said. David could feel the helpless rage from the 'collector' on a telepathic level. David made his was through the cave, the presence of the collector keeping the traps from springing. David reached the site of Bitsy's battle. He was nauseated by the carnage, He hoped that she had followed his plan, or had used her amulet to escape if she was overwhelmed. Then he saw the bloody tracks leading away from the scene of the combat. Dragon tracks. So Bitsy had survived after all. David felt something inside him relax just a little. He made his way into the cavern where the 'collector' kept his prizes.

"Looks like quite a mess in here." David spoke aloud. The creature on the end of his arm fairly radiated fury and hatred. David was unimpressed. Eventually, David found where Lady Shadow had fought her own battle. A blood trail led away from there, and he followed it. The trail ended at a group of clear crystal pillars gathered into a small circle. The crystals had blood smears on them where they had been moved recently. "Well, the girls did their jobs." Said David with satisfaction. He looked at the creature now writhing wildly on his fist. "What shall I do with you?"

Without warning, his artificial hand acted on it's own again. It shot out, passing into one of the crystals, then opened it's fist. David yanked his arm out of the pillar, leaving the creature trapped in it's own clear prison. The creature was now visible as a vaguely human shaped cloud of yellowish gas. The crystal pillar seemed to be holding it quite nicely.

David thought a moment, and then he opened a gate directly under the crystal holding the trapped 'collector'. The crystal dropped through the portal and out of sight. David heard a fading telepathic wail as the creature passed into the other dimension. David closed the portal with a snap. The 'collector' ought to be secure for a very long time indeed deep under the surface of the planet Pluto in a far distant dimension. In any event, he wouldn't have to worry about it ever bothering him again.

David opened a gate to the library dimension and stepped through. Behind him, something stirred in the distant reaches of the vault. "Mine now... All mine..." something whispered in the darkness.

Rescue's Aftermath

When David stepped through into the library world, he heard a lot of noise coming from inside the apartment. He opened the door to find a scene of total chaos. Bitsy was still in dragon form, lying across the doorway to the gymnasium, and Lady Shadow was unconscious on the bed. David ran to Bitsy. "Are you OK sweetie?" he asked. The dragon raised her head. "I'll live, But Lady Shadow's in bad shape. I can't stop her bleeding."

David went to look at the cat lady. Taking his dagger from his belt, he cut away her robes to expose the wound. Whatever had stabbed into her had been razor sharp, and it had gone in deep. David knew he was way out of his depth on this one. Time to call in some help.