Gavin sat up cautiously, relieved to discover that he didn't hurt quite as much as he had previously. Now he only felt as if he'd been beaten with switches, not a club. He touched his face gingerly, sure there was probably a spectacular bruise there. Still, he was in better shape than he'd been an hour or two ago. Sleep had restored him somewhat, enough so he could scowl at his former gang buddy and demand, "What are you doing in Undercity, Monkey? Slick send you to keep an eye on the goods?"

The girl stiffened. Then she shook her head firmly. "Slick can go to hell. I came on my own, Wolf. What he done to you wasn't right. Selling you out for money or whatever. You saved Smoke, brother, and we owe you. That's why I'm here. Ravens stick together, ‘member?"

"I'm not a Raven anymore."

"Says who? You're a Raven far as I'm concerned. And nobody sells out my bro and gets away with it." Monkey said, one hand on her hip, the other clutching a Louisville Slugger baseball bat.

"How'd you find me?"

"Hitched a ride on the roof, then stalked the slaveys what brought you here. Had to wait awhile tho, ‘fore I could pick the lock. C'mon, you gonna sit here jawin' all night, or are we gonna split? This place gives me the creeps."

"Me too," Gavin agreed, slowly climbing to his feet.

"Hold it," Ginny put out a hand. "How do we know it's safe to leave? Where's Malfoy and the others? I know he wasn't alone here. And I need my wand."

"The boss guy, who calls himself the Shifter, left ‘bout an hour ago and took one of the others with him. The big one, looks like a gorilla." Monkey reported.

"Goyle, probably," Ginny surmised.

"What about Devlin?" Gavin asked. "He was the other one who brought me here."

Monkey shrugged. "Don't know where he went, ‘cept he ain't in here now. That's how I slipped in here and jimmied the lock." She gave both of them an impatient glance. "You gonna make it all be for nothin', or are you gonna fly the coop?"

They followed her to the door, waiting while she peeped cautiously out, then beckoned them onward. Once they'd entered the main complex of the living area, Ginny summoned her wand to her. Once it was safely back in her hand, Gavin felt much better. He still wished he had his switchblade though.

Monkey eyed the red-haired woman curiously. "That's what they stole from you, lady? Why would they want an old stick?"

"That's not a stick, it's my wand," Ginny corrected softly.

"A wand? Like in a magic wand?"

"The same. I'm a witch," Ginny told her.

Monkey's eyes bugged out. "For real? Like in The Wizard of Oz?"

"She's a good witch, like Glinda," Gavin explained. "The assholes who captured me are wizards, but bad ones. Like Saruman in The Lord of the Rings." He knew she'd remember the reference, they'd sneaked into the theater to see the movie at least ten times.

"You ain't serious, Wolf?" she sputtered. "Magic ain't real. What you been trippin' on, boy?"

"Nothin'. I'm clean. Magic's real, trust me. I can do it and so can she. And you know that cop who adopted me? He's a wizard too. A kickass one, like Gandalf the White."

"You're losing it, Wolf," Monkey made a swirling motion beside her temple.

"Watch," Gavin ordered, and concentrated hard, holding out his palm. For a moment nothing happened. Then all at once a small flame appeared in his palm. It danced upon his hand for barely a minute, then it vanished.

Monkey gasped. "Holy flipping hells!" She rubbed her eyes. "That was real. Not a trick?" She grabbed his palm, turning it this way and that. "No flash powder. I'll be damned!" She whirled upon Ginny. "What can you do?"

"A lot. I'll be happy to show you once we're away from here," she said, not minded to linger. "Which way is out in this miserable hole?"

Monkey smirked like a cat with a bowlful of sweet cream. "Follow me, Galadriel."

"Actually, the name's Ginny Potter."

"Yeah, sure. Just stay close. These tunnels can be tricky." She swung open the large door that led to the tunnel complex.

"You mark ‘em somehow, girl?"Gavin queried.

"Naw, I memorized ‘em," the Raven rolled her eyes. "‘Course I marked ‘em, fool. Think I'm an idiot? Sheesh! Think you're the only one with brains, Wolf boy? This way." Tucking her bat under one skinny arm, she slipped out into the dank dimly-lit tunnel.

They followed practically on her heels, anxious to get away before any of the necromancers returned and sounded an alarm. Monkey moved swiftly through the concrete passages, her eyes narrowed and focused. "I marked the walls with a grease paint pen," she explained, indicating a small black blaze low on the wall. "That's how I know which way to go."

She continued down the main tunnel for a few more feet, then turned to the right and began following a new branch. "That Shifter dude sure wasn't happy with you when he came outta there," she reported gleefully. "Walked like he was in serious pain and was cursing enough to make Satan blush."

"I'll just bet he was," Gavin snickered.

"Mad as blazes, and when the one gorilla guy asked what was wrong, he told him to shut his gob before he turned him into a grease spot. I thought he just meant he was gonna pound his lights out, but if he's a black wizard, maybe he meant somethin' different," Monkey told them. "Can you magicians kill people with fire and stuff like in the movies?"

"Yeah," Gavin answered. "If we want to."

"But most of us don't," Ginny hastened to reassure the girl. "Malfoy, he's as dark as they come, so I wouldn't put it past him. He knows too many dark curses."

"That's what I figgered. The other two seemed plenty scared of him. Even when all he could do was curl up on the couch. He kept talking about how he was gonna make you pay. Said somethin' about killing you Wolf, the brat deserves to die, he says, then Snape will know how it feels to lose somebody he loves all right. An eye for an eye, he killed my father, I'll kill his son. And I'll make him watch while I do it. Then we'll see him beg, the old cripple. He meant your cop dad, right?"

Gavin nodded, feeling a cold sensation stirring in his gut at Monkey's words. "Yeah. My dad's name is Severus Snape. He's a master wizard and once he was Malfoy's teacher. He's also head of Hunter Intelligence, that's like a chief of the FBI, sort of."

Monkey whistled. "You've been adopted by the head of a wizard FBI Agency? Cool! But why's what's his face-Draco-call him a cripple?"

"Because my dad hurt his leg while he was a secret agent spying on a really bad wizard, Voldemort. He's dead now, but he tortured my dad before he bit it. My big sister healed him, but she couldn't fix his leg all the way, so now he limps and sometimes he uses a cane or a staff to walk. But my dad's no cripple, like Draco says." Gavin said indignantly.

"Yeah, I figgered he was lyin' through his teeth." Monkey spat. "He talks big, but I'm guessing he can't take on your dad in a real fight, now can he?"

"In a fair fight?" Ginny chuckled. "Not in his wildest dreams. But Draco doesn't fight fair, most times."

"Coward too. Anyways, he was s ayin' how much he was gonna enjoy killing you, Wolf, and watching your dad freak while he did it. He also mentioned somebody called Harry, said he was gonna get even with him too. Potter can watch me do his woman, he says, and then he laughs all nasty-like. Was he talkin' bout your husband or your boyfriend, Ginny?"

"My husband," Ginny said tightly, her eyes glittering. "They're old enemies from way back. He went to the same school we did, back in Britain."

"Yeah, well Draco was makin' like he was gonna smoke both of ‘em. Then he says to the other guy, after he done your dad and your husband, he was gonna bring his father back from the dead. I didn't quite get how. He mentioned resurrection, like in the Bible, only he ain't no Jesus. Said that they were stupid enough to give him the stone, just like he asked. Whatever that meant."

Ginny stopped dead. "Good God, not the Resurrection Stone!"

"Yeah, that's what he called it."

"Oh no! Harry, you blundering ass, what have you done?"

"What's the Resurrection Stone?" Gavin asked. "Can it, like, raise the dead?"

"Yes and no. It's part of a trio of magical items called the Deathly Hallows. Once Harry had all of them and used them to defeat Voldemort and bring himself back from the brink of death. But then he separated them forever, since they were too dangerous to be kept all together. Only he knew where he hid each part, and now he's gone and let Draco bloody Malfoy get his hands on one!" Ginny slammed her fist against the wall, then yelped. "How could you do that, Harry? Even to save my life?"

"He must love you awful much, lady," Monkey murmured in awe. "Like Aragorn loved Arwen, huh?"

"Exactly like that," Gavin agreed, since Ginny was too busy damning Harry's impulsive noble streak to reply. "So, can he really bring his dad back from the dead, or what?"

Ginny was silent for a moment, then she said, "It doesn't really work that way. From what Harry told me, the Resurrection Stone can only give a semblance of life. Meaning that the person will be alive in body, but not in spirit. And they have to obey the holder of the Stone. It's a half-life at best, but I guess Draco doesn't care so long as he gets his father back."

"Sounds damn creepy. Like Night of the Living Dead," Monkey shuddered. She continued leading them through the warren of tunnels, moving quickly and carefully. "He's got some serious problems."

"You can say that again," Ginny sneered. "Malfoy's always thought he was the be-all and end-all of the wizarding world. Comes from being raised as a pureblood and spoilt rotten. Now he thinks he can play God and to flaming hell with the consequences."

"Sev and Harry'll teach him," Gavin said stoutly. "They'll make him wish he was never born."

"If they can find him," Ginny sighed.

"Oh, he was gonna make sure of that, lady," Monkey informed them. "That's where he was headed. To put down another note to lure them in, he said."

Ginny looked worried, but said nothing more, simply concentrating on following the slender girl through the maze of tunnels. "You were clever, to think of marking your way back like this," she praised the girl.

Monkey blushed. "Shoot, it was the only thing that made sense. I've been in Undercity before, and if you don't know your way in and out, you could wander about here till you died. And I ain't too keen on dyin' just yet. I wanna live a bit more before I go meet Jesus face to face, capice?"

"Yeah, me too, seein' as I got a score to settle with that doublcrossing bastard Slick," Gavin said hotly, his face flushing angrily.

"The Ravens'll take care of that," Monkey assured him. "Just wait till Smoke finds out what he done to you, Slick'll be lucky he won't be takin' a one way trip down the Hudson. He was paid off by that Draco dude. Least that's what he told his pals there when I was hiding behind the couch." Monkey spat on the floor.

"How much longer before we get out?" Gavin asked. He still felt terrible, like his legs were going to fold up under him, but he forced himself to continue.

"It's just around this next bend," the Raven girl replied. "Smell the fresh air?"

Gavin took a deep breath. Yes, he could smell cooler air, but oddly enough, he could also smell something burning. He sniffed again. "Huh? Monkey, do you smell something burning?"

The other kid sniffed experimentally. Her nose wrinkled. "Yeah, I do. Weird. What could be on fire down here?"

They rounded the last bend and stared down the last fifty feet of the main tunnel to the exit grate.

Which was blocked by a huge creature lying across the entrance. It was about twenty feet in length, similar to an alligator, but it was colored a striking crimson with odd orange speckles on it. It had a gigantic mouth full of rows of gleaming white teeth and its eyes were slits of pure yellow. As Gavin stared, the speckles on the humongous reptile's back seemed to flicker and it was emitting heat like a blast furnace.

It was also giving off an odor like burnt leather.

"Christ and all the freakin' saints and angels!" Gavin hissed, suddenly awash in a cold sweat. "What the hell is that?"

"Man, my mama always told me there were alligators in the sewer, but I never believed her," Monkey was muttering, clutching the baseball bat to her in one hand and making the sign of the cross with the other.

"That's not an alligator," Ginny whispered, pushing the two kids protectively behind her. "That's a full grown fire salamander. Second cousin to a dragon. This is the first time I've ever seen one alive. No wonder Draco and the others left and didn't bother to post a guard. They didn't need to."

"How do we get past it?" asked Monkey. "It looks hungry."

"It is," Gavin said suddenly. "They haven't fed it for days."

Ginny gaped at him. "How on earth do you know that?"

"I can hear it grumbling to itself, somewhat," Gavin explained. "I'm an Animal Speaker."

"What, like Dr. Dolittle?" Monkey sounded as if she were going to faint. "Now I've really heard everything!" She gave the boy a skeptical glance. "You plan on askin' it to go out to lunch?"

"Shh!" Gavin waved her to be silent. The fire salamander was swiveling its head about, staring down the tunnel. Gavin wondered frantically if the big reptile were nearsighted, like its alligator cousin. Then it sniffed the air, once, twice.

All three of them froze.

The salamander lifted its head up, eyes open, and hissed loudly.

"Aw hell! It's smelled us," he groaned.

Ginny pointed her wand at the beast. "Maybe I can hold it off while you two make a run for it. Maybe an ice bolt will slow it down."

"Wait!" Gavin cried, unwilling to let a woman, especially a pregnant one, sacrifice herself for him. "Let me see if I can talk to it first." He could hear the salamander grumbling in the back of his head, sounding very like a disgruntled crotchety grandmother. He pushed past Ginny and took four steps towards the salamander.

"Gavin, no!" Ginny yelled, making a grab for the boy's shoulder.

But Gavin was too quick. "Hey, Smaug! What's a wiz wyrm like you doing down here guarding a tunnel?"

At least that's what Gavin had planned on saying. What actually emerged from his mouth was a combination of hisses and growls.

"Who dares . . .!" spat the salamander. "Ah, one who speaks my tongue! Hissarrth! It has been long since I've heard it in a two-leg's throat." It sniffed the air again. "And not just any two-leg, but a wizard! One with the gift of fire in his veins."

"Huh? I don't understand."

"Sss . . .how can you not? Have the two-legs forgotten to teach their young about the elemental magics then? So it would seem. You are a firecaller, young one. Master over flame and heat and light and all those who draw their strength from it."

"I am?"

"Indeed. It has been long and long since I beheld one with your power. Not since my youngest nymph was newly hatched . . .some two hundred suns ago. Hissareth! You glow like the rising sun." The salamander shifted, coming a few feet closer. Her, for Gavin felt certain it was a female, skin seemed to flicker and change as she moved, and Gavin realized that it wasn't a trick of the light, but the salamander's hide was actually emitting small spurts of flame.

"Uh, were you told to guard this place, ma'am?"

"Yess," she hissed angrily. "The dark one came and bound me with his cold spells, told me I was to guard this place until he returned. Or else he would skin me alive," the salamander's tail lashed back and forth and the tiny flames on her suddenly grew to finger length streaks of fire. "I had no choice but to obey. Are you what he guarded against, young one?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Ahh." The salamander sighed heavily. "Then the dark one is a fool! For his compulsion does not outweigh a firecaller's command. I am of the elemental of fire, born of magic long ago, and if a firecaller commands, I must obey, despite his dark working."

"So, if I tell you to let me and my friends go, you'll do it?"

"Yes, did I not just say so?" the salamander grumbled irritably. "Your word supercedes all other wizard bindings, and I must obey, out of respect for your mastery. Ask, and I will do my best to comply, Firecaller."

Gavin didn't comprehend all of what the salamander was saying, but one thing he did understand was that he could command it and it would listen. "Then I would ask you to let me and my friends pass. But before you do that, I want to ask you something. How long have you been here?"

"In this place? A few rising and settings of the sun. Not long the way we salamanders reckon time. But still . . .I am hungry. That arrogant darkling barely gave me enough to sate a fingerling nymph!"

"Uh, what do you eat?" Gavin asked softly.

"Anything. Wood, cloth, flesh. Whatever fire devours, so do I."

An idea began to form in Gavin's mind, and he grinned wickedly. "Well, Lady Salamander, what if I were to tell you to follow your nose down this tunnel until you came to a red door and eat whatever was inside the room beyond it. Would that please you?"

"Very much," The salamander crooned, sounding delighted.

"All right. Then I order you to let me and my two friends there out of here and then go and have yourself a feast behind the red door." Gavin gestured grandly down the way he had come. "And after that you can go home," he added, not wanting to be responsible for letting a dangerous fire monster loose in Manhattan.

"Your wish is my command, young firecaller. Shiva is your obedient servant," hissed the fiery reptile, then it moved like a streak of flame to one side and the way out of Undercity was now open.

"Ginny, Monkey, let's go!" Gavin called.

"Is it safe?" Ginny called, her face twisted in fear.

"Fine. I convinced her to let us by and go and eat Malfoy's hideout."

"Smooth move, Wolf boy," laughed Monkey and then she grabbed Ginny's hand and they made their way past the salamander's bulk and through the grate to the city street.

"My thanks, Shiva!" called Gavin.

"You are most welcome. By what name are you called?"

"Gavin Snape."

"I go to do thy bidding, Firecaller Gavin Snape. Farewell!"

And the fire salamander slipped off through the tunnel like wildfire set free upon a dry forest, searching for food to sate its scorching appetite.

Gavin watched it leave, then quickly scrambled out of the sewer grate.