Chapter Twelve

"Now's not a good time Tynam." Trinity said staring at the three demons blocking her way.

"Now's a perfect time." Tynam growled back.

The Beastealcian demons moved further into the room and began to circle themselves around her. Trinity's eyes flicked to the sword lying on the floor just a few feet away from her. Aspen caught the movement and smiled at her before walking over to the sword and throwing it as far away from her, as far as he could. Trinity's heart sank as her only weapon disappeared.

"Why now Tynam?" asked Trinity. "You know I'm not nearly a hundred percent. Give it another few days and I could be perfect."

"You will be better then perfect after the ritual." said Tynam.

Trinity shrugged. "Well I'm sorry but I changed my mind. I'm not going to do it anymore so you should just come back later."

"We don't need you to agree to the ritual for you to do it."

Trinity frowned. "You can't force me to do it. I know you can't touch the sword, I felt it's energy. It would drain you in seconds."

Tynam burst out laughing. "No I can't touch the sword when it's touching the Stone, but you've already solved that little problem for me."

Trinity's eyes widened as she realised she was out of options. She turned around trying to find an opening between the demons but just found herself facing Craw instead."

Tynam laughed again. "Feeling panicked now are we. You know what's coming. Let it happen and it could be so much less painful for you."

"But less fun for us." commented Aspen.

Tynam smiled. "You're right. What was I thinking. Get her."

Aspen and Craw both rushed forward. Trinity ran towards the cavern wall then used it to vault backwards over them and run towards the exit.

Tynam suddenly appeared in front of her and shook his head. He grabbed her by the throat and threw her into the opposite wall.

Trinity cried out as she slammed into the rock and fell to the floor. She knew she couldn't rest for a moment though and scrambled to her feet. She found herself staring at the Stone. She ran forward knowing if she could just break it, the demons couldn't perform the ritual. She might not survive the fight afterwards but at least the world above would.

Her fingers brushed the Stone when Craw body slammed her into the wall knocking all the air from her. She slid to the floor as he moved away, feeling numb all over. He grabbed her by the leg and dragged her along the ground. Pain shot through her body from the pressure on her injured knee joint, waking her back to her senses. Crying out she pushed herself off the floor and kicked Craw with her free leg making him drop her.

Pulling herself to her feet, she was ready when Aspen ran forward to grab her and managed to jump out of the way. She punched him in the gut as he ran past but he barely even winced at the movement. Aspen turned and growled at her.

"Just back off. You can't have me anyway. I belong to Tynam."

"I know that already." said Aspen moving closer to her. "The Slayers mine."

"The Slayer belongs to nobody." Trinity shouted out.

She ran at Aspen and rammed him backwards using her shoulder. Aspen, surprised at the move stumbled backwards allowing Trinity the chance to run pass back into the centre of the room. The demons began to circle her again bringing them back to square one.

"And what do you get out of it?" Trinity asked Craw.

"I get the Stone." he said calmly.

"So you got the bum deal then. I will be taking all the power from the Stone it'll will be nothing more then a shell when it's finished."

Craw smiled. "You can not turn me against the others if that is what you are trying. I know all about the Althea Stone. I know it can never become empty. It will always have souls to fill it. All three of us will have feasted like no other of our kind when we leave this place. Nothing you can say will make me want to give that up."

Trinity was out of ideas and Tynam was out of patience.

"Enough fooling around. I've waited long enough. Get her." roared Tynam.

Aspen ran at Trinity. She turned to dash off in the other direction only to find herself blocked by Craw. He punched her hard in the face causing her to stumble back into Aspen who grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her painfully. Craw punched her again and again until blood poured from her nose and mouth and her left eye was so swollen she could barely see.

She lashed out with her feet but Craw dodged them then punched her in the stomach until she could barely stand up straight.

Tynam moved up and pushed Craw out of the way.

"You've caused me nothing but trouble and now I want what I deserve. Fetch the sword."

As Craw disappeared, Tynam struck a heavy blow on the back of her shoulders as Aspen let her go sending her falling to the floor.

She crawled onto all fours not wanting to appear so vulnerable to the trio. She raised her head to look venomously into Tynams eyes.

He stood calmly in front of her, the sword shining in his hands, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Hold her arms."

Craw and Aspen grabbed an arm each and hauled her up to her knees. They held her at a painful angle forcing her back to curve and her chest to stick out as if she were an offering to Tynam.

Tynam raised the sword and angled it towards her heart.

"Tynam please. If you do this people will die." Trinity begged knowing that the demon didn't care but having to try nonetheless. "Kill me if you want. I promise not to fight you or to run just don't do the ritual. Please!"

"Your energy's not enough anymore. I want more."

Tynam thrusted the sword down pushing through her chest and out the other side.

She dimly heard a male voice cry out before the power washed over her like a wave. It gushed down her throat threatening to drown her. She could feel the cold metal get hotter and hotter until it burned as her heart began to pulsate around it. Trinity heard noises, a scraping of rock, a voice, a bang of metal but they all seemed muffled and far away. She expected her body to scream with agony but instead it shivered with power. She could feel her demon and human sides move around the energy as if not quite knowing what to make of it. Then the energy touched them both and the real fight began.

Buffy and the others sprinted down the tunnel. They could hear Trinity's voice desperately pleading. They reached the cavern just in time to see Tynam spear the sword though her heart. Angel called out Trinity's name and rushed forward to meet them, his face changing into his vampire guise. The demons turned in surprise dropping her limp body haphazardly on the floor, the sword still buried deep in her chest.

"Slayer" said Aspen his look of surprise melting into one of pure pleasure.

"They've started the ritual." said Giles. "We've got to destroy the Stone."

"I'm thinking first we're going to have to get through them." replied Buffy and she rushed forward to attack Aspen, her short sword held at her side.

Angel lunged at Tynam and back handed him sending him stumbling back a few paces. Tynam turned back to Angel wiping his mouth, his eyes shining with anger.

"A vampire?" Tynam began to laugh. "A vampire working with a Slayer. That is quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. Is she one of yours too then." he said nodding his head towards Trinity.

"Yeah she's with me." growled Angel.

"I bet you're furious that she is my possession now."

Angel smirked. "I'll think you'll find that Trinity is very much her own person. No one can lay claim to her, not even me, and trust me I tried for nearly a century."

Tynam nodded. "I'll admit she has proved difficult but I guess it always comes down to power. Who's got it and who has strength enough to take it."

He stood straighter, towering over Angel, and looked the vampire up and down. "You it would seem have neither."

"How do you know until you try me?" said Angel and he moved into a roundhouse kick which caught Tynam along the line of the jaw.

Tynam began to laugh again as he straightened himself. "Yes it would be rude not to at least let you try."

He bent down and growled deeply and ran at Angel, the spike in his arm extending as he threw himself at the vampire.

Xander rushed over to Trinity's side. "Is she ok?" he asked Giles.

Her eyes were shut tightly, and her breathing shallow . A thin sheen of sweat glinted off her skin.

"I can't say for sure. I don't know what to expect."

Willow stared wide eyed at her bruised and bloody face. "She looks like she's concentrating."

"Well she can stop right now." said Xander and reached over to grasp the sword.

Giles grabbed his wrist before he could touch it. "No! If you remove it now you could kill her."

Xander frowned and pulled back his hand. "And that's a bad thing? Remember what Angel said? She's not right in the head."

"Since when have you ever listened to Angel?" said Willow.

"If her death isn't a good enough excuse then how about our own? Removing the sword could cause a backlash of power that kills us all."

"Yeah that's a good enough reason." said Xander sitting back on his heels.

"I still don't think she's evil. I can't believe it. She hasn't really done anything wrong and she hasn't told us any major lies." Willow reasoned.

"Any major lies we know of." said Xander.

"Are you all quite finished?" came a gravely voice behind them.

The group turned around to face Craw.

"Ok who forgot there were three demons?" Xander said getting to his feet and holding his double bladed axe in front of him.

Before anymore could be said, Trinity cried out and her eyes shot open. They had gone the pure yellow of her vampire eyes.

"What the…" began Craw.

A huge burst of power suddenly exploded from the Stone sending demons and humans alike to the floor.

"It's started!" Aspen shouted out as he struggled to get to his feet in the heavy power that smothered the room.

Willow looked over to Giles. "I don't feel right."

"I believe…" Giles stuttered. "I believe it is the Stones affect. We are being drained."

Buffy scrambled to her feet, grabbing her sword from where it had fallen from her hand. She swung it at Aspen who had just managed to stand clipping him across his cheek. He growled and lashed out a clawed hand that caught her across the stomach.

"Not quite as quick now are we Slayer."

Buffy frowned. She really wasn't. Only moments ago she had dodged the same move easily. She threw a punch only to have Aspen catch her fist mid air and pull her off her feet.

"Buffy be careful!" called out Giles. "The Stone's draining us."

Buffy rolled out of the way of Aspens foot stamping down. "Well that explains a lot." she muttered.

Trinity felt as if she was being torn in half and put back together over and over but always in the wrong way. She could feel the weakness of her human body struggle against the waves of power which her vampire swam through easily. For a moment she panicked. Was she wrong? Would the Stone actually take her humanity and leave her a demon instead of the other way which she had always thought. That moment of panic was all it took to let the power engulf her, feeding her and feeding from her all at once. She cried out and struggled against it trying desperately not to let it overwhelm her. She could feel her vampire raise up but she fought hard against it, not letting it win. She was weak against it though, so very weak. It wouldn't be long before it won and then her demon would destroy her.

Angel fell to one knee as Tynam pushed his spines hard against Angel's sword. It felt as if the demons strength had triple but in reality Angel knew it was his own strength that had halved. Mustering as much energy as he could, he pushed up against Tynam, pushing him back away from himself. Tynam released the sword from his spikes grip.

"Why fight vampire? You weaken just like all the other souls in this room. Soon you will fade away. My death will feel so much better."

"I don't know." said Angel. "Death wasn't exactly fun the first time I did it. I'm thinking it doesn't matter how I do it a second time, I'm still not going to get any laughs from it."

He swung his sword round again, forcing Tynam back. "So I think I'll skip the whole dying part if it's alright with you."

"That's just not an option."

Tynam caught Angel's sword as he thrust it towards him and wrenched it from his grip. "These things will not kill us I hope you realise."

"I know, but they can be damn annoying if stuck in your flesh."

"Really?" said Tynam.

He slashed at Angel and just managed to catch him along his side. "So I see." he said as Angel cried out in pain.

Xander risked a quick glance around at Buffy and Angel. Both were struggling against the demons and the rising power. 'If they're struggling then how the hell am I meant to defeat this thing?' he thought watching Craw stalk towards him.

He raised his axe above his head and swung it at the demon who caught it easily and pulled. Xander fell past the demon and received a heavy blow on his back sending him sprawling. Craw picked up the axe and flung it across the room.

Xander rolled over so he was looking up at the demon. He flung his arms up, his only form of protection as Craw lifted his foot to stamp down hard on him.

Giles barrelled into the demon knocking him over. Willow helped Xander to his feet.

"We've got to destroy the stone." said Giles.

"I'll go" Xander said taking the axe from Willow.

"No. I will. The closer you are to the Stone, the quicker it drains you."

"That would be suicide Giles! You can't" gasped Willow.

"We have no other choice."

"Either way we can't do anything until we get rid of him." said Xander looking at Craw who had climbed back to his feet and was looking extremely unhappy. He snarled at the small group and rushed forward. Xander pushed Willow out of the way and instead took most of the hit himself.

Craw put his hands around Xander's throat and began to squeeze the life from him.

Willow hit the demon on his back with her axe, but Craw didn't pay any attention. He was determined to kill the irritating little boy.

Giles picked up his sword and swung it at Craws neck. The weapon just bounced of the demons toughened skin, barely even scratching.

"Just keep hitting him." Giles called out and Willow followed his order.

Trinity was losing. She could feel every fibre of herself being absorbed by the demon inside her. Her own mind seemed to turn against her whispering dark thoughts of murder and mayhem. 'Embrace me and you will be truly powerful. We will destroy the Beastealcian and then the Slayer and Angelus.' Trinity had barely heard the end of her thoughts though. Embrace me it had said. Someone had once told her that before, she had even told Giles.

I work my ass off trying to be something I'm not and I'm sick of it. I got told once that I should embrace my demon side and let it influence me as much as my humanity does. Thing is the thought kind of scares me.

She wasn't a demon, she was human and she works hard every day trying to live the way a decent human being should. It is her humanity that makes her who she is not her demon. Her thoughts gave her renewed strength. She could feel her demon being pushed back deep inside her, screaming and clawing all the way. It hurt but the human in her rose up soothed the pain. Her eyesight began to clear along with her mind. She realised she was still in the cavern.

She looked around, shocked at the sight of Buffy and her friends fighting. Then she saw Angelus. Fear welled up inside her and once again she had the urge to run. She knew that he had seen her though, everyone would know who and what she was, a monster. 'Stop it.' she told herself. 'You've been through this. You're not that person anymore things change.' Staring at Angelus she knew that it was true, things did change. His movements were different, the way he spoke and the looks he gave Buffy.

"He loves her." whispered Trinity. The Angelus she knew could never love but maybe Angel could. She still hated and feared him and yet at that moment she wanted to save him, not for his sake but for Buffy's.

She saw the demons beating them, their opponents moves were just to slow and sluggish. Then she felt the power in the air. She was still absorbing energy through the sword and the stone was taking theirs.

Trinity crawled to her knees. She knew what she had to do. Grasping the sword in both hands she began to pull. She could feel the metal slide free of flesh and bone until it finally freed itself of her body. The moment the hot steel left her heart, the Stone flared up brighter and began to suck in energy rapidly. Everyone in the room felt it but above all Trinity. It was trying to draw the energy it had given her back into itself but it had given too much. It couldn't handle it and eventually the Stone calmed down again. It was still drawing energy in but not at such a strong rate.

Trinity dropped the sword and fell down onto all fours in the dust. The Stone had torn a considerable chunk of energy back into itself. If Trin had taking the sword out a minute earlier she would most likely have died.

The trouble wasn't nearly over though. The rapid draining hadn't only effected her but everyone in the room with a soul. Buffy and Angel were on their knees trying to protect themselves from the blows rained down upon them. Willow, Xander and Giles lay on the floor. They could barely keep their eyes open.

Trinity picked up the sword and heaved herself to her feet. She stumbled towards the stone dragging the sword in the dirt behind her.

Craw noticed the girl walking slowly to the stone. He watched as she reached out and grasped it in her hand then with one fierce pull, tugged it free from the wall. Rage built up inside him. "That's mine!"

He ran at Trinity's unprotected back teeth bared and the spike in his arm fully extended. At the last moment the girl turned around and Craw's momentum impaled him on the sword.

She watched as shock then agony flew across his features.

"No." he managed to say weakly and then he fell backwards onto the floor.

Trinity stared down into the glassy eyes below her for a moment before she pulled the sword free of the corpse.

Tynam and Aspen turned and noticed the girl dropping the stone on the floor and raising her sword. Craws body lay inches away from her. They raced towards Trinity knowing inside they would be much to late.

Trinity swung the sword down and hit the stone shattering it instantly.

Energy exploded from it knocking her backwards. It flooded into the nearest souls it could find giving them all a huge rush.

Buffy and Angel climbed to their feet feeling fresh and renewed.

"Wow. I've never felt this good! It's incredible." said Buffy flexing her fists and feeling the strength behind them.

"Buffy!"

The Slayer turned and saw a sword flying towards her. She caught it easily and looked at Trinity.

"It's infused with magic." she slurred out and pointed to the dead Beastealcian besides her before falling to her knees.

Buffy nodded and faced Tynam and Aspen who had stopped at the opposite end of the cavern. "Ok now I'm ready to play."

Buffy and Angel ran forwards and launched into a flurry of kicks and punches, the energy boost adding strength they had never had to their hits. The demons tried desperately to protect themselves. Their bodies ached all over from the torrent of strikes. Finally Buffy raised her sword.

"All we want is the girl!" cried out Tynam. "She betrayed you. She was going to use the Stone."

"That might be so but she still helped me out so I owe her one." Buffy shook her head in disgust. "You're nothing but cowards who hide in the shadows. I've got no respect for stalkers."

With that Buffy brought down the sword and killed Tynam in one blow before repeating the move on Aspen.

Wiping the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her shirt, Buffy looked round, relief flooding through her at the sight of all her friends alive and well. Then her heart sank as she saw Angel cradling Trinity looking distraught. He stroked her hair from her face trying to calm her, as she shook from pain, her body going into shock.

Trinity was whispering rambling sentences over and over through gritted teeth clinging onto Angel's arm.

"I deserve this, I deserve everything I get. I deserve pain and I don't deserve to be happy but I thought I did but I don't. I didn't help anybody, I was going to use it and I wanted to but then the people. I can't take anymore blood on my hands Angelus. Even if I don't get to be with them in the end I deserve that too. I should have taken the herb, the witch was right. I'm never going to see them and that's right I shouldn't. I killed them."

"Trinity, they're fine. Everyone's fine. You did nothing wrong."

"Blame me. Please blame me. It's my fault they're not fine."

Angel shushed her and stroked her hot and sweaty brow. Trinity inhaled sharply and bowed her back as another jolt of pain went through her.

Willow, Xander and Giles came and knelt beside her.

"What's happening to her Giles?" asked Angel fraught with worry.

"I believe it's the energy she absorbed. It's trying to find a place in her body but with two separate entities in there it doesn't know which to choose, demon or human. It is meant to give strength to the host but it would seem that both sides of her are too evenly matched."

"Angelus?"

Angel looked down at Trinity. "I'm here."

"I looked for you afterwards. I searched the world. I was told you were dead and I was so sad. Now though, now it's all different." She grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him down to her face. "Now I get to kill you myself." she spat out.

She released him and collapsed back down into his lap.

"She's passed out." said Giles.

"She's been doing a lot of that recently" commented Xander.

Buffy walked up to Angel. "What was she talking about Angel? Who's not fine? What happened?"

"Yes I think we would all like to know that." added Giles. "I have a feeling this situation runs a lot deeper then we know."

Angel gazed down at Trinity and pulled her necklace out from behind her shirt. He held it up to show a small silver ring dangling from it.

"You wouldn't believe just how deep it goes."