Chapter 9: No Plan Ever Survives -
Tuesday August 4, 1998; Sunnydale High School outdoor Girl's Basketball Court, near midnight.
First contact with the enemy came just as the last encounter had - in a rush. Despite their preparations, it was a near unexpected rush: only the distance the Durslar had to cover from whatever sewer exit it emerged from and the open space around the basketball court gave them time to ready themselves.
The Durslar beast soaked up the arrows and Faith's crossbow bolts without slowing overmuch. A second and third volley did slow it down a bit, or at least cause it to voice its displeasure with an ear shattering roar, and then it burst through the chain link fencing in a shrieking yellow rush of claws and talons.
Faith managed to reload for one last bolt before dropping the crossbow and lunging in with axe and knife, as Cordelia backpedaled away to one side. Xander and Oz split to each side of the beast while Faith went in low, smashing her axe into a supporting leg's kneecap.
A clawed hand smashed - knuckle side first, fortunately - in a backhand against Faith's head and shoulder and knocked her rolling and dazed across the concrete. Xander chopped into the other knee with the edge of the Acathla sword and yellowish ichor spurt out in an arc across him. Unfortunately, although the knee buckled, it didn't go down.
Oz yelled, and slashed at it with his axe, distracting it from gutting Xander like a fish as Xander dropped hastily and rolled - losing his sword in the process. Xander managed to recover the sword and clamber to his feet as Faith came up, shaking her head. Xander's eyes widened as it ignored him and lifted an arm to slash at a woozy looking Faith, and he stepped in between them, blocking the arm with a two hand sword hack that stopped the blow but sent him smashing to the ground. Faith screamed and buried her long bladed dagger into the beast's groin with an upward slash and kicked it away from the supine boy.
After a near slash from a clawed hand left Oz's shirt shredded and showing bleeding stripes across his chest, it ignored him and turned back to the chanting Giles and Willow within the spell circle...
... only to stop, both hands clawing at its face when a bolt from Cordelia sank into its eye socket. Xander's next sword stroke came in from behind, biting into its leg just above the ankle just as it staggered back, and Faith's shoulder hit it in the mid-section, driving it backwards and away from the chanting spell casters. A taloned hand raked across Xander's back as it staggered back and away under Faith's onslaught.
It fell, and as it attempted to clamber to its feet past a snarling, cursing Faith hacking two-handed at its shoulders and neck, Giles and Willow's voice came together in a shout of some unintelligible sound.
There was a rush of wind and a fetid stench. The candles around the spell circle flared high and then guttered out - and the Durslar beast vanished in a flare of otherworldly light.
"Oz!" Willow ran out of the circle and fell to her knees next to the bleeding musician. She began pulling up his shirt to see how bad the cuts were.
Faith took a deep breath, and got back to her feet while Cordelia shoved a protesting Xander back to the ground on his stomach so she could look at the claw marks he hadn't been aware he'd gained.
Giles came up beside Faith, letting out a ragged breath and taking off his glasses to let them dangle absently from one hand.
"Well, that certainly went well," he remarked.
"You think?" Faith shook her head and grinned up at him.
"Well, yes." Giles nodded. He looked down at her and gave her a tired smile, "On the Xander scale of apocalypse prevention, I'd say that rates at least an 'oh my' and quite possibly a 'good show'."
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