Red
Chapter Nine
Fire
A crossbow bolt splits the chilled blue night. In the forest, a M'fashnik demon bellows as the projectile sinks into its chest. The creature falls to its knees in the deep grass, roaring.
Buffy rises from behind the bushes where she's been hiding with Tara, Giles, and me. She dashes forward, and with a swing of her ax, severs the demon's head and silences the grumble vibrating the air.
But not before the others have heard. A second later, three more M'fashniks burst through the mossy cave opening. They surround Buffy instantly, coming at her with blows from all directions. My eyes can barely keep up with all that's going on - one of the demons comes at her head with a blade, while the others swing at her from front and back. She ducks the blade and one of the punches, deflects the other with her hand, then kicks the knife from the first demon's hand. As a fourth M'fashnik emerges from the cave, she hurtles the ax towards it - and misses. The blade nails into the side of a tree, and the demon roars, pries the weapon free, and charges.
"Now," says Giles, and I force myself to unfreeze. Tara squeezes my hand, and together, we begin the spell.
Energy empties as we speak, saturating the air with a static that prickles my skin. Even before the spell is complete, time seems to slow down and the world go quiet, and it's just Tara and me in the eye of an electrical storm. This spell has no colour itself, but everything around us grows vivid - light pours in and overexposes the snapshot. The navy night turns baby blue and the wavering air reels back and strikes the charging demon, ax suspended above its head.
The beam refracts light like water, then like ice, hardening as it wraps around the M'fashnik. The demon freezes mid-step, and tendrils of magic seep out towards its allies.
The demons slowed down, Buffy jabs one with the butt of her ax, throws another backwards with a kick to the stomach. The third M'fashnik takes advantage of her position to grab her from behind and lift her into the air. Spells are already rushing through my mind when Buffy handles the situation herself, jerking her head backwards to connect with the M'fashnik's jaw with a loud crack. The demon reaches towards its jaw and she slips free from its other hand. She kicks it in the chest and the demon keels over, and she quickly snaps its neck.
The two remaining demons look back, then dash into the coverage of trees.
"Ow," says Buffy, touching the back of her head.
"You okay?" I ask, running up to meet her.
"You wouldn't happen to have any demon-strength Tylenol?" I shake my head, and she says, "I'll live. Now let's find out what the hell is going on."
We walk towards the frozen demon, and the ground seems to disappear. I step forward and a black wave rises up to swallow me.
A second later, I've fallen backwards and Giles' hands are at my back, steadying me. "Are you alright?" he asks.
The rusted gears are grinding in my head world around me fades in and out, like the blur when a camera lens adjusts focus. I straighten myself and try to feel solid again. "Just a bit tired from the spell."
It's the truth, minus the detail of the energy-transfer this morning. But I can tell he doesn't believe me - after all, Tara and I did tonight's spell together and she's fine. But Giles doesn't press the issue, at least not yet.
Tara takes my hand and we walk towards the demon. Buffy gets there first, reclaiming her ax from its place suspended in the air. As we approach, Tara begins another spell, and I fight the urge to join in. Despite the temptation of a blast of spell energy, it won't do anything good for the headache tap-dancing on my brain.
Speaking carefully, Tara unfurls an immobilization spell. It's slower work than the time-stop one, and as she speaks, I can sense her energy drain. Her words get slower and her eyes lose some of their brightness, and it's killing me that I can't join in. Not for the rush this time, but to help her. I know she's strong, but… she's my person, and I don't like seeing her hurt.
She finishes the spell in one triumphant syllable, and I put my arms around her waist and lean my head on her shoulder. She leans her head against mine and smiles. The rhythm of her breathing relaxes me, even in the adrenaline-y circumstances.
"Who sent you?" says Giles, interrupting a growl from the demon.
The demon glares back, then grimaces as its arms and legs fail to move.
"We were promised the Slayer," says the demon.
"Promised by who?" Giles' voice is sharp enough to cut, and I'm glad we're on the same side.
The demon narrows its eyes. "Couple humans. All look the same."
"Lead us to them," says Giles.
"Don't reveal clients."
Giles presses a hand against the demon's windpipe. The demon chokes, eyes wide with pain and surprise. "Lead us."
Something flashes in the wide milky eyes, and I know we're in trouble. It's not a conscious thought - there's movement, and the demon's mouth twitches up in triumph, and my mind processes this before my brain can put it into words. I wheel around in time to see the two demons from before, charging forward with a snap of branches. And I don't need to think to know what I have to do.
The gears in my head stop grinding and spin. All the power-regulations are off, and I'm using every shortcut I know to wire as much energy for right now.
A blast of electricity bursts from my hands, leaping white into the air and jolting the two demons backwards. My skin feels raw, but it's an observation rather than a complaint. I don't feel quite attached to my body anymore. The information from my nerve endings comes through, but doesn't translate into emotion or meaning. All that matters is protecting my friends.
The demons shake off the static and continue to approach, slower but angrier. Electricity isn't going to be enough. And I should trust Buffy to handle it, but all I can see are images of Buffybot, torn to pieces that night we brought her back.
I speak quickly. The syllables stream from my mouth harsh and heavy, like spitting out pebbles. Something burning cold rushes into my skin. My edges seem to fray, and I expand past myself, unable to place where I end and the night begins.
I reach out and everything inside me floods through my hands. A black blaze flows from my fingers and surrounds each demon in a dark flame.
The flames fleck black-purple into the night. Or maybe they're not flames. More like rips in space. Their coldness prickles my skin, and they burn with the sound of air rushing away.
There's a snap and all the life rushes out of me. The flames disappear, and I fall to the ground. The string that held me up has been cut, and my spine isn't enough to support me.
And forever, there is nothing.
"Willow!" The voice is Buffy's. I feel like I have pillows over my ears. Without emotion, I wonder if I am still alive. I can't find my body, can't feel anything.
Then, from nowhere, I am somewhere. But it's not somewhere I know.
A/N: Thank you so much TazFlan93 for the review on the last chapter! I'm sorry to end this on such a cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting long and I thought I should cut it off here. I have lots of ideas for the next chapter and will try to post as soon as possible!
The update schedule might be a bit irregular for the next while. My relationship of two years just ended, and I'm kind of struggling to figure out what to do now. But I think spending time on writing might be a good way to deal with things, so I will do my best to update often.