STARRING:
Eliza Dushku as Faith
James Marsters as Spike
Iyari Limon as Kennedy
Shane West as Robert
And
Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn
GUEST STARRING:
Tara Reid as Barris
D. B. Woodside as Principal Robin Wood
Nicholas Brendon as Xander
Kenneth Marshall as General Segur
And
Casey Liggett as Erika
CREATED BY:
Gary Boshears
Based on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' & 'Angel' created by Joss Whedon
WRITTEN BY:
Gary Boshears
Check my author profile for links to the discussion forum and Yahoo group. Use these to post and share your thoughts on the series.
OVERTUREEUROPE; OCTOBER, 1154 A.D.
"Fire!" A barrage of hundreds of flaming arrows from the ranks of archers, flew towards the massive black stone castle, the features of which were only visible thanks to dim torches burning on the sealed gate and along the walls, the army had laid siege to. The arrows flew over the stone walls and towers, striking several of the enemy archers that had aligned themselves on the walls. Only a few of the projectiles landed exactly on the mark, their targets bursting into a cloud of dust as the weapon sailed through them.
Those upon the walls in the towers returned fire. Black arrows sailed into the thousands of troops. Those who had them raised their shields and those who did not took whatever cover they could. The amount of firepower from the defenders did not match that of the attackers but their accuracy was far greater, striking several mounted commanders off their horses as well as killing three standard bearers, a symbolic victory if nothing else.
Galloping to the front of their lines on his white horse, General Segur raised his green eyes to the night sky. The moonlight could barely be seen through the dark gray clouds. He took a heavy breath, a white cloud forming in front of his mouth as he released it. He heard the tapping of a rain drop against his clean silver armor, followed by another and then another until a light stinging rain began to fall from the cold night sky. The general wrapped his heavy, dark red cloak around his armored chest and arms. The cold and the rain were not furthering their possibilities for an assault against the stronghold this evening.
Segur turned to his right, where his second in command stood firm on his own steed. Their army had marched for weeks by day and fought by night against this foe. Despite the fatigue and hunger of their troops, the resolve to end this threat was still strong and would not falter if the final assault was delayed for another night. "Have archers provide cover fire, order all lines to fall back behind the hill," he pointed to the hill in the distance they had crossed only an hour before. "The sun will be up in a few hours, we will rest during the day and attack at dusk."
"Why not attack when the sun shines?" His second in command did not understand this enemy they faced, not the way Segur did. "We should attack at a time when they are vulnerable, stop fighting on their terms and take the battle to them when the most damage can be done."
Thunder clapped and the rain began to poor harder. The commander of the archer divisions ordered another salvo against the walls of the castle as Segur and his second continued their debate. "If we were to attack the castle during the day, they would have their numbers consolidated inside. Sunlight has no bearing in a castle with few windows to the outside. Better to engage as many of them in open field as possible before we are forced to deal with having to drive them from the inside out."
"I have not fought this foe for as long as you General," the second continued to persist in his argument. Segur did not see what he did everyday. Did not see the hunger and fatigue of all of their troops, the men who would never see their wives, sons and daughters again. He did not see the fear whenever one of these strange enemies descended upon them. He did not see how cold they were or how frightened. He did not see how badly each and every one of them wanted to return home. "But even I know some of their weaknesses. The men do not understand why we continue to make our actions during the night rather than pressing the advantage we hold when the sun shines."
"You cannot fight this enemy during the day Captain," Segur insisted. Although he was an experienced solider, the Captain had only recently joined their campaign and did not understand the complexities involved in their fight. "If we could draw them out into the sunlight, I would gladly do so but we cannot and I refuse to sacrifice so many lives by fighting so many of them in close quarters. Better to engage them in open field where numbers and tactics can be our allies."
"Then we should attack now, while the momentum is ours."
The exchange of arrow fire from the archers on the ground and walls continued, more of Segur's army falling than the defenders. "We have no momentum captain, we must regroup, consolidate our forces before the final strike."
"General, the men are tired of this fight," the captain saw things in a much different light than Segur did. "Many of them do not understand why we are still fighting. The enemy has been driven from our lands yet still we pursue them to every corner of the earth."
"We pursue them because it is the right thing to do and we will not stop until every one and their leader have been destroyed," General Segur's composure did not falter but he did grow weary of this conversation. A volley of arrows from the walls of the castle struck down the front line of an infantry squad assembling near the general's position. The army's archers returned fire. "Pull your men back," the general waived to the unit commander who hastily followed his order. Segur looked back at the captain. "We fight because it is the right thing to do, because it needs to be done." Segur brought his horse about and began to ride away, shouting the orders to fall back.
"Or do we fight for revenge?" The captain shouted his question to his general's back. Segur brought his mount to a halt, slowly turned around and rode towards the now rain soaked captain who nodded in response when he saw the confusion in the general's eyes. "I know what they did to your family, these creatures and I know what you had to do after that. I can understand your desire for revenge after such a traumatic experience but do not risk the lives of every soldier under you command just to gratify your desire for vengeance."
That brought back painful memories. He had just returned from a long campaign, eager to see his wife, to hold his two little daughters. Everything in the house seemed perfectly normal. He hadn't expected them to be awake that late but he wanted to see the children before crawling into bed with his wife. They looked like they were sleeping until he put his hand on their cold skin. It was in his panic that he saw the marks on their necks. He had then turned around to see his wife standing in the doorway but it wasn't his wife. Her face was that of a demon and had it not been for the sword at his side and his ability to strike before she got close, he would likely have joined his children.
There were many days, even now, four years later, that he wished he had. There would still be plenty of opportunities for him to do so. "We attack at dusk tomorrow," he put aside the captain's challenge to his motivations. "If nothing else, it will give the men time to rest and time for our reinforcements to arrive from the south," he hoped those reinforcements had survived the mission they were sent on, one that was intended to break their enemy's back as well as cut of their lines of retreat, effectively bottling them up at the castle.
"Those forces haven't been heard from in days," the captain's behavior, in Segur's mind, was beginning to border on insubordinate. "They were sent on what could best be called a fool's mission and could very well have been destroyed."
"I assure you captain they were not," a distinct female voice came from behind the two officers. They turned to see her riding up on a black horse. The young woman was small in a stature, a black cloak covering her almost frail looking body, only small slices of her fiery red hair visible from underneath the hood. "They will be here by mid-day tomorrow, I rode ahead to bring news of our victory over the everlasting that held the city in the south." Segur was pleased to see her, one piece of good news in this war.
"Good to see that you and your forces survived."
"I'm pleased that you decided to postpone the final assault until our arrival," she went on. "I'll admit to being a bit anxious to get this over with but I feel the need to be a part of that final battle."
"And we are pleased to have you with us," Segur admitted. The first three years of their campaign against this foe was marked by defeat after defeat until this mysterious young woman had arrived, taught them their weaknesses and how to fight them. "It would not be fitting for the end to come without you being here."
She smiled; it had been a long time since anyone had paid her a compliment, a long time since she felt deserving of one. "General, when the attack commences," she brought her horse around and began gesturing to a section of the walls, a weakness in their defense she had noticed on her approach. "If you order the archers to –" the captain cut her off.
"Explain to me again general," the captain was frustrated with his failure to reach the general, to explain to him what his troops were going through and what he thought was the proper course of action for ending this bloody conflict. "Why a great man and leader such as yourself yields authority and takes orders from this peasant whore!" She could not let that challenge go unanswered.
With a quick move, she struck him on the side of his face with her fist, knocking him from his horse, sending him splashing into a puddle of mud. She jumped off her own, sloshing through the mud towards the captain. He dug his own arms out of the mud and scrambled for the sword at his side. As soon as he managed to draw it, she kicked it from his hand. With blinding speed, she reached into her cloak, pulling a dagger with a jewel studded gold handle from a sheath at her side and pressing it against his neck.
He could barely see her blue eyes and red hair under the cloak but he felt her breath upon his face, felt the anger and the emanating from her despite the cold air, freezing rain and muddy pool he sat in. "Because I'm the one who knows how to kill them. I'm the one who is destined to kill them. I'm Erika, the Vampire Slayer."
***
Faith awoke from the vivid dream in a cold sweat. It had been so real. She could feel the cold air, the rain, the mud in her feet, her fist hitting the face of the man and knocking the sword from his hand. More than that however, she could feel the determination of the young woman, Erika she called herself.
The Slayer rolled over, looking at red numbers on her digital alarm clock. Two-thirty in the morning, times this early weren't supposed to exist, especially when she had to be awake in a few hours to get ready for work and she had been patrolling late last night. Although she needed the sleep, she also didn't want to go back to the dream. Something about it had frightened her, as the few 'Slayer' dreams she had in the past often did.
Slowly, Faith got out from under the dark gray sheets and red comforter, not bothering to put her robe on over the white tank-top and black panties she had worn to bed as she proceeded into the hall. Before walking down the stairs, she looked in on both Dawn and Kennedy who were sleeping comfortably in their own rooms. The kitchen was her first and only stop at the bottom of the stairs, where she immediately went for the refrigerator.
Amongst the assorted condiments, left over boxes of takeout and the casserole Andrew had cooked for them, she located a bottle of water, twisted the top off and chugged it heartily. She was always thirsty following a dream like that. This dream was different from the others. Her prior dreams always involved Buffy in some way, something Giles explained by saying it had something to do with them being the only two Slayers ever alive at the same time. She had never had any sort of dream about the past however.
Faith remembered her first watcher telling her that Slayers would often have prophetic dreams. She didn't see how dreaming about a Slayer from the past was at all prophetic but she also didn't pretend to understand how such things worked. Maybe there was more to it than there seemed. Normally she would consider calling Giles and asking him but he had proven impossible to get in touch with for the past week, since Robert had arrested Preston. Whatever stuck up watcher she had managed to get on the phone simply told her he was indisposed.
It began to feel as though trying to unravel the mystery of her dream was bringing the fatigue back to her body. She took a final swig of the water, put the half-empty bottle back in the refrigerator and went back up the stairs, unaware of the eyes watching her from the outside the window. "Soon Slayer," the figure standing in the shadows outside the Summers' home whispered. "Soon."