Pawns of Prophecy
Part One
Reconciliation, Retribution & Redemption
Chapter one
"All dangers must be anticipated else we will perish like wheat before a scythe," the leader of the assembled crowd spoke to his brethren. "The greatest hazard of all is Man. He will hunt us down like before and, as helpless as we were then, we will cease to exist. So, I say to you, take special care when you walk amongst them. Avoid them if at all possible. And avoid the vampires as well. The time for fighting our old enemy is over; we must re build."
"Why not join with them?" A voice challenged anonymously from the crowd. "We have a common enemy…"
"No!" The leader attacked. "Let both antagonists fight it out amongst themselves. In the meantime, we will live out lives. We will devote ourselves to what is important; our families our desires. By doing so, we ultimately win; the normal mundane life is sweet when compared to the need to constantly be on our guard and fighting a war that no one can win."
The crowd expressed their agreement to the speech. The speaker afforded himself some self-congratulation. He was relieved beyond words to express such. They had come so close to mobilising against those that they saw as being their enemies. Whilst he agreed that such emotions were justified and certainly addictive, he also knew that to answer such desires would be the end of everything they had achieved.
The crowd gradually dispersed and everyone went about their business; rebuilding their lives after being released from the underground laboratories, renewing the bonds of family and, in so many cases, giving themselves time to mourn the death of their friends.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
They were all assembled in Giles' living room. Willow sat next to Tara, no longer shy to show her affection. Buffy knew that she was happy with the one she loved and glad that it was all in the open. She mentally made a note to devote some time to her friend. To talk about the relationship. The only reaction she had given so far was on the first day Willow revealed her affections for the shy girl, who had attached herself to her and followed her everywhere like a devoted puppy. There had not been time since then to talk. She had to make time, though. The last year had seen the gang distance themselves from each other. It had not been intentional on any ones part, but it had happened.
Buffy could not help but smile inwardly as she looked from one friend to another. Xander and his vengeance demon made her smile. The latter was trying unsuccessfully to hide her boredom by stroking her boyfriend's leg. Whilst Xander was undoubtedly enjoying the sensation he still had that wide-eyed look of someone trapped in a gilded cage. Buffy did not know whether to feel sorry for him or to laugh at his predicament. Anya made Cordelia seem like Willow. The bulk of Xander's attention, however, was taken up with Giles who, with a patience bordering on the noble, was trying to explain some principle of something to the young man. Buffy had to admit that she had lost track of the conversation long before. She started another mental note to herself; she must confide in Giles more.
She was ashamed to admit that she had mishandled the whole Initiative affair. Giles, in fact all her friends, had advised her she should investigate more before becoming a member of the demon-hunting club. Again, she had put her friends on the edge of her life. Side-lining them and only bringing them into play as substitutes whenever she felt the need for their input. In doing so she had overlooked Willow's need for reassurance, Xander's need for a role in life and Giles' isolation from what he had devoted his life to; the guidance and protection of a slayer.
"Is that tea going to arrive, I wonder," Giles said, looking over his glasses at Buffy.
"I'll go and assist the maid," Buffy offered.
She entered the kitchen to find Riley looking at the instructions on a packet of loose-leaf tea. He was a picture of concentration and indecision and entirely out of his element amongst pots and pans. She knew that Angel could rustle up a three-course dinner for a party of five if he had to, but Riley was unable to decide whether to put two or three spoonfuls of tea into the pot. Her eyes glazed over briefly when she thought again at how she had nearly lost him the week before.
He stood there looking tall and helpless. Buffy walked up to him and took the tea from his hands and placed it on the worktop. She then embraced her boyfriend and lover and kissed him passionately. The embrace expressing a need that spoke of the fear she had of losing him. They had not had much time alone together since the confrontation with Adam and the destruction of the Initiative. Although the need to be with all her friends outweighed her desire to be alone with Riley, she could not deny that desire existed.
"Buffy," came a desperate cry from Xander, "Giles is talking analogies again"
"Don't worry, Xander you're safe until he starts drawing Venn Diagrams," she shouted in response relaxing her hold on Riley slightly, but not her eyes from his.
"The tea, Buffy," Giles added desperately.
Buffy quickly came to her senses and switched the kettle back on. It had boiled several minutes ago whilst Riley was reading the instructions on the packet. When it clicked back off she poured some in the pot and swished it around before emptying it in the sink. She then put the correct amount of tea in the pot and poured the remaining water up to the level of the spout. Riley watched in awe as she set up the tray with cups, saucers, spoons milk and chocolate biscuits. She gifted him a smile of satisfaction and placed the tray in his arms.
They both re-entered the living room and sat amongst the others. For the next few hours the group of friends chatted. Their conversation drifted from topic to topic. Nothing important was discussed and the next day they would be hard pressed to recollect anything that was said. It was, rather, the type of evening where friends just relaxed and allowed the world to tick by.
Towards the end of the evening Buffy yawned. She looked around contritely. "I'm sorry," she said.
"The undead keeping you out late the last few days?" Giles offered.
"No. Actually, I haven't come across anything at all, which is weird considering the number of demons that must have escaped the lab that night."
"They're probably in hiding still," Xander added. "They'll come out to play soon."
"I can wait. The rest has been … sublime. I've been able to spend time with Mum and feel like …. a normal person almost. I actually went clothes shopping with her yesterday," she continued quietly as almost to herself. The others regarded her thoughtfully, knowing that she craved normality above anything else. Buffy looked up and blushed slightly at the attention. "So, I can wait a while before jumping into the breach again," she added with a smile and change of tone to lighten up the proceedings.
"You should take a holiday with Riley whilst college is in recess," Giles suggested.
"Yeah," Xander perked up. "Anya and me and Willow and Tara could come as well."
"I don't want to go," Anya butted in.
This caused everyone to laugh and the evening continued in a similar vein until they all decided it was time to relieve Giles of the responsibility of being host.
"Next time you can all come to our place," Buffy offered. By that she meant hers and Riley's. With his house in need of much repair he was going to secretly move in with Buffy in her dorm whilst Willow would share with Tara.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was not a real medieval castle, but a nineteenth-century reproduction. The building reeked of Victorian excess; draped itself over the landscape like a black cloak; hiding its true self and convincing people not to seek out the reality. Inside the structure a dining room was occupied, laid out for its guests. If rooms could speak it would boast of its importance amongst its fellow rooms; relaxing in their company wearing its wood panelled walls like a uniform showing its rank amongst them.
The occupants sat around its large circular dining table. Their cigar and cigarette smoke rose up and created a layer concealing the intricately carved ceiling. The carving depicted demons being slain by a lone warrior. Alone except for a choir of elders watching the scene. Some scribed the battle. Others directed it as a conductor does an orchestra. The smoke lingered like fog between the contours of the carving.
"Our sources say the US military have closed the Project," one of the room's occupants spoke.
"Wisdom at last," added another. "The Initiative was a foolish attempt lacking in the subtlety and thought."
"The very name of the organisation spoke the arrogance of the Americans in thinking they could use force of numbers where stealth has always sufficed for centuries."
"Mind you, it took some initiative to decide to close the project."
The group gathered in the dining room allowed themselves a few moments of humour at the last remark. If the room could feel it would have glowed with pride at being the host of such a gathering of learned and noble men; however misguided such a feeling would have been.
"One has to admit, however, that they served a purpose. Though it pains me to say this, we all know that we have been poorly served by our own weapons. One of whom is incarcerated and the other under the illusion she can act without us,"
"Like a common vigilante!"
"Guided by a deserter to the cause!"
"Come now, her Watcher was banished."
"We must regain control if we are to be in a position to be of power when the Event occurs. The question is how do we regain the initiative? No pun intended."
"We must instil the need to rejoin the ranks to our wayward friends."
"Why not just rid ourselves of them for good and replace them?"
"The training of a new slayer will take too long. She has the experience and the local knowledge to still be of use to us. Her Watcher should also be welcomed back since he has her confidence. A Slayer without a Watcher must not be allowed."
There were murmurs of agreement from the others around the table.
"How do we persuade them to rejoin the fight and what about the other slayer?"
"We will approach them meekly, as though contrite at what has occurred between us in the past."
"If that does not work?"
"Then, we will have to resort to other methods even if it means consorting with those we seek to displace."
"I ask again, what of the other slayer?"
"Let her rot behind bars. The ones she is imprisoned in and those she has built for herself"
"It is agreed then; we make a humble approach for reconciliation to the slayer and her guide." He looked around the table and registered the nods of his colleagues. "So be it. I will inform our office in America. Come now let us continue the evening. Jeremy, will you please pass the port."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The couple sat down on a bench. They had spent the evening swaying hypnotically to the sound of a local band playing at the hall in the grounds of the college. The evening was mild with a welcoming breeze that chilled the perspiration they had built up in the humidity of the concert. They held each other and explored the passion that had welled up inside them, exploiting the discovery of a mutual desire. After some time they broke off the revelling and looked each other in the eyes. They asked and answered the same question in unison without speaking a word and stood up with the aim of acting out their intentions somewhere more private. They found themselves confronted by a group of four tall men standing in a small arc blocking their way forward. The couple were momentarily embarrassed at being discovered. Before they had time to feel afraid, however, they were grabbed from behind by two others and pulled to the ground in a frenzy of blood and torn clothing. No sound escaped into the night; such was the efficiency of the kill.
From the melee one attacker stood up. The ivory of his fangs were almost luminous as a nearby lamplight played shadows over his demon-contorted face. He looked into the sky at the moon flickering through branches of the trees that swayed in the cool breeze.
"It's good to be in the open again; to hunt and feel the fear and the blood lust. It's been far too long since we have been allowed to roam freely and kill when we so desire. Get up," he ordered dragging two of his comrades up from their revelling. "We have a war to win. A war to start"
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The girl looked and felt unsure of herself. She hated feeling this way. Life was better when she had a meaning to live it. In truth, she had always needed someone to tell her what to do. She would baulk at following orders but secretly relish her part in life, even if someone else dictated it to her.
Everything had changed. He had brought her to her senses and made her see the error of her ways and told her that her life was her own. Her senses, however, were acute. She felt direction-less, guilt stricken and so lonely.
She knew that he would have welcomed her into his home. An angel in more than just name. She was still too ashamed to take up such an offer, though. No, she had unfinished business elsewhere; a task that she knew had to be undertaken or else she would never be able to rest or dispel the past and start anew.
With the last thought, she turned her back on Los Angeles and boarded the bus to Sunnydale. Her only belongings in a haversack strung over her shoulder.
/-/-/-/-/-/
Chapter two
Buffy patrolled the campus. The deaths of the students two nights earlier had necessitated a return to her duties. Despite that, her heart was not really fully engaged. The few days of normality had ingrained themselves onto her psyche. Not even the success of killing two vampires the night before could lift her spirits. All she could think of was that she had vampire dust in her hair again and that dull ache behind her eyes that only the lack of sufficient sleep could induce.
She was awoken from her mood by the sound of violence being inflicted on someone, exclamations of contempt and the familiar sound of exertion. She ran to the focus point of the disturbance and stopped several yards from the scene of two demons fighting. Both were conveying a viciousness that caused even Buffy to wince at each blow they inflicted on each other. Her fights seldom got as desperate due to her skill at avoiding such close contact. She was short but could always keep demons at arm or leg length. She had a momentary feeling of doubt at her own ability to beat either of the protagonists in front of her, but dispelled it and instead decided to observe and learn. Her inquisitiveness, however, was interrupted by a very human scream from the opposite end of the campus. Affording one final glance at one of the demons, a vampire, being thrown against a tree, she left the scene.
Buffy ran at full speed in the direction of the scream. Seeing the vampire in good time she maintained her momentum as she rammed it away from a student. The latter wasted no time in escaping, leaving her rescuer to follow through with her attack. The vampire was severely stunned and would have died at the end of Buffy's stake in seconds if it were not for his colleague, who levelled a kick to her stomach strong enough to lift her off her would be victim and push her to one side of it. She looked up at the second demon. "Where the hell did you come from?" She asked incredulously.
The demon went for another kick. This time to Buffy's face. Being ready this time, she grabbed his foot with both hands and shoved forward lifting her assailant up and backwards. He fell back several feet but remained standing, balancing precariously on his heels as he hit the ground. Buffy took advantage of this and leapt at him with her stake hitting the target with one fluid motion of her right hand. Dust erupted where previously there had been solidity.
The original vampire grabbed Buffy's arms from behind and gripped tightly causing her to scream with the strain it put on her shoulder blades. She knew, however, that if he maintained his grip the vampire would have no other possible action to make. It had limited its own ability to manoeuvre. Buffy crouched forward in a sudden movement that caught the demon by surprise. He fell forward, his own body weight and gravity causing him to lose control of the situation. Buffy felt his grip loosen and flung him over her shoulder, knowing that she risked breaking her arms if he maintained or re-tightened his hold. Fortunately, he released his arms on impulse reaching them out to catch his fall. Buffy staked him through the heart via his back.
She jumped up and quickly scanned 360 degrees for anything else that may want her dead. Nothing appeared. She was rooted to the spot for what seemed like minutes as the surplus adrenaline pumped round her body. Eventually her limbs relaxed enough for her to move. She stopped, however, only a few feet away and sat on a bench. She knew all to well that she had been lucky to win the fight. She berated herself. She was out of practice, too damn careless to be out on her own.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"I tell you, Giles, I didn't see the second one coming. Hell, I didn't even look." Buffy paced up and down Giles' living room. The small space required her to turn frequently which did not improve her mood.
"The important thing," Giles offered, "is that you survived."
Buffy gave him a disdainful glance on her return trip from the far wall.
"You survived and you know better for the next time, and will you sit down. You're wearing a groove in the floor."
"Giles, it's quarry tiled." Buffy sat down, however, when she saw his expression looked dangerous, and bit her lip to avoid smiling too obviously. Giles' stern look always made him look sweet and vaguely cuddly, in a middle-aged way. She frowned. Her thoughts were scary sometimes.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The girl looked at her new lodgings emotionless. She had stayed at worse places. It had a clean bathroom and a TV and a bed, which was suffice to suit her needs. It was certainly better than the night before; she had arrived in Sunnydale with no job or accommodation planned. The bus shelter was no substitute. She now had a job, serving burgers in a drive-through restaurant and a soft bed to sleep in. Tomorrow she would consider making contact. She was not looking forward to it, but knew that it would be the start of her long climb to redemption. She laid on top of the bed, face looking at the ceiling. Hours later she finally fell asleep.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"The Slayer took out two of our group this evening."
"Survival of the fittest. She just rid us of weeds. The crop still thrives," the new self proclaimed leader of Sunnydale's night population commented. He cast his eye over the expanse of the warehouse from his vantage point of the office several feet above. Two-score vampires mingled amongst each other.
"Never the less," the former pressed, "it has made the others unsure. Months of captivity by the army and a slayer still loose in the world….."
"The former is over, done with. To dwell on the past is a waste of time."
"And the Slayer?"
"Is but one girl." The leader turned to his second in command. "Tomorrow we start our campaign to reclaim this town. By the end of the week every demon from miles around will once more regard this as its premier holiday destination. We'll wipe the smugness from the faces of the descendants of the people who dared to name this town Sunny dale."
to be continued
