It looked like Athena was over tired, which surprised me, and she was angry.. But she also had marks on her, like scratches and cuts that seemed like they were fresh.. Hmm...

I didn't care at that moment, I scooped the now medium sized phoenix, and I cradled her. I didn't care if she wasn't a chick anymore, and I didn't care if she hated me after this... I missed her!

Her eyes softened, and her chirping slowed down, and then she topped chirping all together. She buried her flaming face onto my cold midnight fur... She was like the stars in my jet black night.

I looked at her more, and I tried to figure out what the wounds might be from... Did something happen? Would I find out?

I was just glad that she was alive rather than being dead.

She suppressed her head onto my fur once more, but than drew back from it, and she tilted her head and looked at me. Her eyes were beady, and she looked normal... Still, that didn't explain the wounds.

She looked like she had crashed, or got clawed up by something... Definitely not a canine, that's for sure... And, it couldn't of been a feline, either.

Surely I wouldn't be able to communicate with Athena, she probably wouldn't tell me, anyway.

Then it hit me: Those dragons... They never really disappeared, they showed up, trying to steal Spike's egg. Could it have been them? I didn't like this. Not at all.. I needed to find out the truth from the untrue.

I looked onto the grass, meanwhile, Athena sprung out of my paws and tried to fly into the sky, and she managed to do it with little wing power.

"Hey runt, or should I call you, mutt.!?" A familiar voice called out.