Buffy inhaled deeply, as she raised her arms, muscles burning as she shifted her weight with intention. She turned, her body flowing through the kata. The slow rhythmic movement soothed her fraying nerves. Buffy slowly exhaled as she turned, bring her arms back down towards her center.
Angel's lessons in Tai Chi had grown increasingly useful as the long years of her life passed her by. The careful flow of the movements settled her inner slayer, and soothed rattled nerves - especially from having spent so much time near a building that absolutely reeked of death magic. Buffy would need to be at the top of her game when she and Olorin crossed the massive bridge into the fortress of Dol Guldur.
She took another slow breath, her feet shifting under her as she slowly moved her arms around her body in a wide, steady arc. She ignored the curious stares from the elves hiding in the trees behind her. The elves weren't as sneaky as they thought they were. Buffy mentally rolled her eyes, but ignored them in favor of refocusing her attention on the kata.
As long as the elves didn't try to do something stupidly noble - like following them into the trap she and Olorin were definitely walking into - she can't afford to care. Buffy stretched her arms to the sides, breathing evenly with every careful movement. The two of them would be forced to walk across the exposed bridge to enter the fortress. Olorin is not a slayer, and would not be able to cross into Dol Guldur unseen the way Buffy could. And she would not abandon the Istari to walk in exposed and alone.
Buffy cocked her head to the side, her slow and steady movements coming to a stop. The soft thumping stomping of Aiwendil's prized rabbits were growing closer, the runners of the sledge rushing noisily over fallen leaves and dry twigs. Buffy opened her eyes as the two wizards appeared at the foot of the trail that led to the bridge. Olorin and Aiwendil dismounted from the sledge, and quickly made their way up to where she stood waiting. Buffy's arms dropped back down to her sides, a wry smile twisting at the corners of her mouth.
"You're late." Buffy teased lightly, trying to keep the danger of the situation from overwhelming her.
"Buffy…" Olorin warned her. Buffy rolled her eyes and waved down the two elves, Tauriel had handpicked as messengers. They silently emerged from the tree line, flanking Buffy. Aiwendil jumped in surprise, but Olorin seemed like he was expecting it. The two elves stood at attention as the three of them approached the bridge, looking across to the seemingly empty fortress.
"Dol Guldur. The hill of sorcery." Olorin whispered, his voice grave. He seemed to lean more heavily on his staff as he looked across to the evil building. His eyes were fixed on the tall spire, staring at the building as if it would reveal its secrets to him based on his glare alone.
"It looks completely abandoned." Aiwendil commented nervously. Buffy shook her head.
"It only looks that way. Inside are enough orcs for an army." She warned him, her hand settling on the hilt of her sword. The fortress gave her the wiggins.
"A powerful spell of concealment lies over this place, which means our enemy is not yet ready to reveal himself. He has not regained his full strength. Radagast, I need you to carry a message to the Lady Galadriel. Tell her we must force his hand." Olorin turned to the Brown Wizard, giving his orders. Buffy nodded to the two elves and they both moved towards the sledge, prepared to escort the eccentric and peace loving Istari to the Golden Wood.
"What do you mean?" Aiwendil's eyes widened, even as he looked between the well armed Buffy and the solemn Olorin. He well knew exactly what they meant, but the Brown Wizard was a good man. Loyal too. He wouldn't leave without some convincing.
"Olorin and I are to enter alone. You, nor anyone else," Buffy raised her voice, eyeing the concealed elves, "must follow us. Do you understand?" She waited, eyes narrowed sternly. The leaves shifted, and if Buffy didn't know better, she would have through it was the breeze. Buffy watched until she knew was sure that all the elves had left, retreating back to the still green areas surrounding the dead forest.
"Do we have your word Radagast?" Olorin asked sternly.
"Yes. Oh, yes, yes, yes." He agreed reluctantly, wringing his hands over. Aiwendil was skittering between the two of them, worry plain on his face.
"We'll be ok Aiwendil. Go, this is Ailmar and Faelyn. They will protect you to Lothlórien, then deliver a message from me to Thranduil while you are there; they'll come back for you after they deliver my message. Go to Galadriel and don't stop." He bobs his head and scurries to his sledge, preparing to leave, directing the supplies that the two elves were loading. Buffy watches until the two elves boarded the sledge, ready to leave.
She stops Olorin from crossing over the bridge first, and draws her sword in one hand and the scythe in the other before slowly moving across the bridge ahead of the Grey Wizard.
"Wait, Gandalf!" Buffy didn't pause. "What if it's a trap?" She trusted Olorin to dismiss Aiwendil onto his mission. If she looked back, Buffy might not be able to walk forward. The death magic leaking from the fortress had been hard enough to bear even without entering the crumbling ruins. Looking back would remind her of the way back - and Buffy won't turn back.
"Turn around, and do not come back." Gandalf ordered coldly, his own sword scraping against the side of his sheath with a soft shiver of metal on metal. The wizard quietly followed behind her, a steady presence by her right shoulder.
"You know that this is totally a trap right?" Buffy murmured to Olorin. He snorted.
"Of course it is." A grim smile crossed Buffy's face.
"As long as you know."
They walked into the fortress unopposed. Buffy's skin crawled with the malevolence and evil radiating from the stones around them. Gandalf held his staff and his sword in opposite hands as they prowled through the crumbling fortress, picking their way around rubble and fallen blocks of stone. Buffy sheathed her sword and her scythe, and climbed the huge iron vines that wound around everything.
It looked abandoned. But Buffy knew better; she'd seen the forges deep in the fortress, had seen the thousands of orcs and wargs and trolls march through the surrounding forest into the fortress, had watched many of them leave again. Seen the work of a rising army, and felt the expansion of evil from here.
No, the fortress was definitely occupied, and Buffy had an awful feeling that whoever was home not only knew that they were there, but that she and Olorin were walking closer and closer to where it wanted them to be. Olorin muttered to himself and Buffy stopped moving, freezing in her place high above the ground, watching the wizard work.
"Cé ná ulco sís nurtaina…I et tuluvas caninye! Cánin ai sá tanuvaxe!" (The evil that is hidden here...I command it come forth! I command it reveal itself!) Olorin slammed his staff into the ground, the sound echoing like a gunshot; far louder than it would have been naturally. Buffy flinched at the announcement of their presence.
"Olorin, áva quetë!" (Olorin, be quiet!) Buffy snapped at him. A white light glowed and pulsed from his staff before expanding wildly, washing over the whole fortress. Buffy blinked, temporarily blinded by the light. The building shook, and dust and pebbles rained down all around them both. Something inside her settled at the brief expulsion of darkness.
However, when the darkness returned a moment later with a jarring snap, the shadowy presence of malevolent evil was made all the more painful. In the weeks spent working under the shadow of the creeping evil magic, Buffy had nearly forgotten how clean light felt against her senses.
When she looked back down, Olorin was frowning. Nothing about the fortress seemed to have changed at all. Olorin began to walk forward, his staff tapping on different stones as he muttered to himself. Buffy followed silently, uncomfortable with the lack of reaction within the fortress so far. This was such a trap it wasn't even funny. He chanted the quenyan words again, and another flash of light washed over Buffy. She was ready this time and had turned away so that she wasn't left blinded.
Buffy glanced up at the cloudy sky and noticed the weak sun filtering through the cloud cover had grown a little stronger. Whatever it was that Olorin hoped to find in the fortress clearly hadn't been made clear - and in the process he'd given their presence away to anything left on the fortress that might have still be unaware of their presence.
They had already tipped their hand, but at least the shadow seemed to be lifting at least a little. She sighed and followed after the foolish Istari.
Sometimes the powerful forget that even the powerful can lose; even to those that are far less powerful than themselves. All it takes is one good trick. One mistake. How many times had Buffy used that exact method to kill monsters bigger and stronger than her?
Too many.
A cold feeling crawled down her spine and Buffy shivered. Something was watching them. But that was the whole point wasn't it?
The trap was primed to spring, and they were walking straight into it.