AN-I'll warn you now, this chapter is a rough ride! How about if I promise to follow the cliche, "It's always darkest before the dawn."
Chapter Twenty Two-The Heart of Darkness
"It's time to go Willow."
Morton had allowed her to return to her room for a minute to freshen up. What she had actually been doing was pondering the unbelievable information she had been given. Isobel having unlimited healing abilities leading to relative invincibility and immortality.
Whether it was true or not, Morton believed it. That at least explained his determination to kidnap her daughter. Now he had indicated the time had arrived for Isobel to be brought to him, and he expected her to help.
"I need a coat." Willow was shivering in the cold room, and she wasn't dressed for a December day.
"You are a powerful witch, make one." Maxwiel laughed. "Let's go."
Each time the warlock had mentioned her magick, it was as if the cells coursing her bloodstream spoke to her, whispering words of power, of greatness. It was undeniably strong and she could not deny an element of attraction to the feeling. "Fine." With a twist of her fingers, a long black leather jacket appeared.
They returned to the large round room where she had been branded. The bench and table were gone and the warlock gestured to a three foot circle drawn on the floor.
"This will help you focus your teleportation. Step in and think of your house; that is where we are headed. It will be far less disorienting if you achieve the teleportation on your own."
The witch and warlock stepped inside the circle together and a moment later, they stepped into Willow's living room.
"Now I will wait here and you will retrieve your daughter. Then we will all return to my lodgings together." Morton instructed.
When Willow made no move to comply, Morton grabbed her arm roughly and spoke with disdain. "I was hoping this wouldn't be necessary, but I see that you are not yet convinced of the futility of your position, and that of your friends."
He shoved her out the front door and into the yard. "Look, with all of your senses at your surroundings."
Willow glanced down the street at Buffy's house. Her heart ached to be so close to her family and yet unable to escape at the moment. Then she allowed her new powers to flow into her awareness; touch, smell, sight. What she saw almost brought her to her knees. At least two dozen soldiers, cloaked with dark magick, were stationed all over the block. They waited on rooftops, in trees, behind vehicles, all with weapons trained on the home of her family and friends.
"Feel it little witch. Your daughter, your lover, the Slayer and your friends, they are all in that home right now. I know you can sense each one of them in the house. And the Colonade bitch isn't there to protect them with her magick. Their lives are in your hands. I will give you one minute. Sixty seconds to bring your daughter here. In sixty one seconds I will order the soldiers to storm the house, kill every adult inside and take the child. I might suffer losses, but I can afford to. I will have Isobel either way."
Willow was panicked, she needed to buy time somehow. "I can't get inside the shield around the property, it won't allow dark magick users."
"Oh yes, that. Your lover's quaint attempt at protection. I have allowed you the illusion of safety long enough." The warlock took a larger version of the Khul sphere from his coat pocket and raised it into the air. With a word it sailed to the yard around Buffy's house and with only a slight hiss Willow watched as the shield dissipated to nothing.
"No more delays. Let's see if you are learning your lessons yet my student." Morton calmly removed an old fashioned pocket watch from his coat and clicked the stem. "Your time starts. . .now."
Tara stood and spun in a heartbeat as Isobel pointed to where Willow appeared. Her heart swelled and leapt thinking that her love had escaped and returned home. She had nearly spanned the space between them when she took in Willow's appearance. She was black, from her hair to her clothing. But it was the eyes that stopped Tara's approach. Even the complete replacement by ebony could not disguise the anguish and despair that shone out from the depths.
Willow held out one arm stiffly to stop the blond's advance. She then took one step forward and touched Tara on the cheek with her pale hand. "There is no time. Trust me. Trust our love."
So fast that Tara could not comprehend her movements, Willow was past her and taking Isobel in her arms. Then dark parent and child were gone, and the blond witch was truly alone.
By the time Willow had teleported back to her house and participated in the second jump back to Maxwiel's hideout she was again dizzy and drained. She gently set her daughter down and fell roughly to her knees.
"Mommy, why are we here?" Isobel was taking in her new surroundings with as much courage as she could muster.
"I can answer that little one." Morton was doing his best to smile kindly, but it sat uneasily on his heavily lined face. "I need your help. You are a very special girl, a very talented witch."
"My Mama said a bad man was trying to hurt people, is that you?" As she spoke, Isobel moved until she was half-hiding behind her kneeling Mommy.
"Ask your Mommy there Isobel. She will tell you it's Ok to help me. Won't you Willow?" Maxwiel's smile appeared out of phase with the demanding inflection of his voice.
"Let me talk to her, maybe rest a little while." Willow asked wearily.
"No." Morton moved to sit on the large chair on the daïs. "You may rest later. Now Isobel needs to show me something. Just a small demonstration."
The warlock waved the girl in his direction. When she stayed behind her Mommy, he gestured more emphatically and the little redhead squealed as she was floated over to his chair.
Willow regained her feet enough to stumble over before falling onto the daïs. "What are you going to do to her?"
"It is what she is going to do to me, my pupil." Morton seemed to relax as he turned to the little girl. "Isobel, you know you have power, that you can heal people."
The small redhead nodded solemnly.
"I want you to use your healing power on me. Think of it as healing my skin, my bones. Heal me by making me younger, stronger. Do you think you can do that?" Morton asked with as much kindness as he could muster.
"I don't know. My Mama says I'm too young to do my magick. She says I should always ask her first." Isobel was starting to shake.
"But you can use your magick. It is a special gift. And your other mom is here to make sure everything goes as it should. She knows it is important and wants to make sure it goes just as I want it too, right Willow?"
The underlying threat was not lost on the witch. She didn't think Morton could force magick from Isobel, but he could certainly hurt her.
"It's Ok baby girl. I'll be right here with you. Mr. Morton doesn't want you to do anything that hurts you." Willow looked up at the warlock at the end.
"No of course not. Now take my hand Isobel."
Shyly the girl reached out and grasped the pale veined hand of the warlock. She looked up at him and then into the similarly dark eyes of her Mommy and started to think about the warmth of life, and how she wanted to share that with her. Her Mommy looked sad and lost and cold right now and she wanted to wrap her with golden light like she had before and make her happy.
Morton gasped as magick flowed up his arm and enveloped his body. This magick was like nothing he had ever experienced. It certainly wasn't dark, but it was unlike any light magick from Khul. This magick could never be fashioned into a weapon, but it was strong, and amazing from one so young.
As he gazed in wonder at the soft golden glow that now surrounded him and the child, the warlock looked down at his arms and his hands clasping the much smaller ones. His skin had gained natural color and the lines and veins were gone. He could feel his heart beating stronger and his muscles flexing. He started to pull more from the child until he heard Willow at his side.
"Stop, please. It's too much at once." The witch was begging.
He suddenly tugged his hands away from the child who drifted into her Mommy's arms, half asleep already. "Of course. Take her to your room. When she is settled come back, we have more to discuss."
When they were gone Maxwiel magicked a mirror into the room. As he took in his visage he began to smile, then laugh, then practically cheer. He was young again, a powerful warlock in his prime. His hair was thick and wavy, his skin clear and taut. He could feel life coursing through his veins. His eyes were black, but that would not change. He had no intention of giving up his dark sources. In fact tomorrow he planned to increase his power of darkness exponentially.
Tara stumbled down the stairs in a daze to find Buffy and Dawn calmly inventorying weapons in the living room. At the bottom step, she simply sat. Her expression must have signaled Buffy that something was terribly wrong because the Slayer was in front of her in an instant.
"She's gone. Isobel is gone."
"What?" The Slayer exclaimed. "Dawn, go upstairs and find Isobel, now."
As her sister ran up the stairs calling out the young girl's name, Buffy turned back to Tara.
"Nobody has come into the house Tara. How do you know Isobel is gone?"
"She took her." The blond's tears finally came and she wept into her hands.
"Tara, I need you to stay with me. Who took Isobel?" The Slayer asked quietly, sensing that the blond witch was at her limit.
"Willow. Willow came into Isobel's bedroom while I was there and took her."
"Tara, that's great! They are probably at Will's house right now! I'm sure she would take Isobel someplace where she would be safe." Buffy was talking, but she realized Tara was still crying. "Why aren't you happy about this?"
Tara slowly lowered her hands back to her lap and looked the Slayer in the eye.
"Willow was dark."
Faith ran in through the front door to find Tara sitting on the stairs with Dawn tucked into her side and Buffy at her feet. All three women had tears in their eyes.
"Oh God, who died?" Faith cried out.
Buffy looked up at the dark Slayer. "Nobody died. Isobel was taken, kidnapped."
"By all of those soldiers? We didn't see a child or we would have attacked. Dammit!" Faith yelled.
"Soldiers, what soldiers. Who are you talking about?" Buffy asked confused.
"The two dozen Elena and I saw leaving the neighborhood a few minutes ago as we were coming back from Oz's cage. They were quiet, but pretty easy to track. We decided to split up in case you were under attack here. I got back as fast as I could and Elena is still following them." Faith explained. "So if there was no attack by soldiers here, who took Isobel?"
Willow was almost thankful for the draining Isobel had undergone. It let her drift into a quiet slumber in just a few minutes, despite the strange surroundings. She had tucked her daughter into bed and hummed to her while stroking her hair. She wasn't truly appreciative though. Her situation was going from bad to worse, and she saw no hope for improvement in the near future.
Allowing herself to be kidnapped was infuriating. Being forced to involve Isobel in Morton's scheme was heartbreaking. Her daughter represented everything that was good in this world and any other. She did not deserve to be used, to have her magick twisted to the warlock's agenda. Willow simply could not come up with an alternative in which her family and friends would still be alive today absent her actions. Morton would probably have kidnapped Isobel anyway and she could not hurt the warlock with her magick.
Willow didn't have time to think about an escape, Morton was waiting for her. That left no moment to contemplate the hell Tara must be going through or the impact her actions would have on the future of their relationship. Since any of those thoughts would simply leave her incapacitated with grief right now, the witch decided to return to the warlock and see what he wanted now.
She walked back down the hallway alone and found Maxwiel again at the dining table with a large plate full of food.
"I can't remember ever having such an appetite. If you are hungry, please eat." Morton was practically gleeful.
"I'm not." Willow answered quietly.
"You should keep your strength up. We have much to do together over the next few days." The warlock's words flew out of his mouth with enthusiasm along with several crumbs.
"What is your plan?" Willow asked, remaining still and quiet.
"You know that tomorrow is the winter solstice? The day of the year filled with the greatest darkness. You and I will call upon the most powerful source of darkness in this world tomorrow night. We will open the Hellmouth." Morton continued to eat unabated. "We will release an army of demons waiting inside, the Turok-Han. They will answer to me as the master who released them. Some will come with us to Khul, others we will leave here to wreak havoc.
"The Slayer will try to stop you, as will Elena. Many have tried to open the Hellmouth and failed." Willow kept her demeanor as calm as she could.
"I know they will try. Perhaps they have a chance to succeed. But I believe I am stronger. I believe I will be even more powerful with you at my side, truly committed to my objectives. Come with me." The warlock set aside his plate and moved down the hallway towards the main room.
Willow followed him into the round stone space. Several soldiers were now stationed at the entrance and up against the walls. "Maxwiel, you know I have only done as you asked to protect my family. Why do you think I will ever really join you?" She saw no reason not to be honest with the warlock at this point.
"My dear student. You continue to underestimate my abilities, and my understanding of who you are, deep inside. I gave you only a taste of my dark power last night, enough for you to function today." The warlock gestured for Willow to step into the circle still drawn on the floor.
As she did so, the witch felt a barrier rise, trapping her within.
"Now it is time to fill you to the brim, directly from the source, as I have been filled. In my preparations here in Sunnydale I have acquired the ability to focus the Hellmouth's nebulous flow, the bits and pieces of dark magick that bubble out now and again. In fragments, it only attracts the attention of various demons and other unsavory types. But in an energized stream, well, I hope you find it as invigorating as I did."
His speech complete, the warlock stepped back and began an incantation, striding around the circle as he spoke. Morton began to walk faster, to chant louder and more rapidly. As he did, Willow felt a change in the air inside her confined space. At first, the atmosphere seemed charged, like static electricity. Then suddenly it wasn't the elements outside of her that were changing, it was the molecules of her very being. Involuntarily her arms flung out and her head flew back.
Willow had taken in enormous amounts of dark magick on the night she fought Rack, but this was on an entirely different scale. This was dark power directly from the source. It was the difference between a 120 volt household outlet and a gigawatt power station; both could be deadly, but there was really no comparison.
Willow didn't have the capacity to notice when the warlock finished his spell. The stream of dark power was no longer coming into her, it had become the core of her being. The darkness moved out along arteries, veins, nerves, bones and skin. Every tissue of her body became a transport medium for the infusion, until she was completely and utterly suffused by darkness.
When she reached the point of saturation, the stream simply stopped. Willow did not scream, she did not fall to her knees or crumple to the ground. She moved her arms to view her hands as if she had never seen them before, marveling at the dark veins that ran along each digit and up her arms, entwining with the old scars into unnatural ropey black vines. Then she simply waved away the circle and its barrier as if it was a child's toy.
The witch became aware of her surrounding again and her eyes focused first on the warlock, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow as if to ask an unspoken question.
Morton could not contain the excitement in his expression. He pointed to a guard standing along the curved portion of the wall. "Kill him."
Willow turned her body, her head still leaning slightly to the left as if in contemplation of the request, before she simply nodded. The guard started to raise his weapon, as if to defend himself, but got no further than the thought before he was reduced to a pile of smoking ash and bone by a thunderbolt of dark red power streaming from the witch's hand.
Maxwiel 's face broke into a genuine smile and he opened his arms wide. Willow approached him slowly, almost methodically, before sinking her body into his chest and allowing him to wrap her in a fatherly embrace. "You have now passed two important tests, my favored pupil. One more and we will be ready to open this Hellmouth and return to Khul. Go rest now, everything will be over and we can return home tomorrow."
Willow stepped back, nodded, and teleported herself directly into her room.
Tara was slumped into the couch flanked by Dawn and Buffy who seemed to be holding her up in a sitting position with matching side embraces. Faith could not sit down. She was pacing across the room and muttering a string of epitaphs. Anya was sitting in Xander's lap on the recliner and all of the Scoobies were listening to Elena as the Light Witch described following the soldiers to an abandoned vineyard in the hills at the outskirts of town.
"When they got to the vineyard I saw lookouts and felt dark magick, probably alarms in place around the property. I could not see exactly where they were hiding."
"I know that vineyard." Buffy commented. "There are large underground cellars, some have connecting tunnels. It would be a good place to set up shop."
"If they are mostly underground, it would be a difficult place to attack." Elena shook her head. "My magick would most likely be blocked."
"We need to talk about Willow." Anya spoke as she held Xander's hand. Tara shrunk further into the couch cushions and more tears threatened.
Dawn immediately jumped to the redhead's defense. "We don't know what Morton has done to her. She was probably forced to take Isobel."
"We know she is dark. We know how the bond was broken. The lieutenant showed me his back. A brand was applied over the first tattoo, a rune of power. It counteracts the block and allows access to dark sources. He was a volunteer, but said that it could be done against someone's will just the same." Elena added sadly.
Anya sat up as she spoke again. "Well I guess that is good to know, but it doesn't really matter now, does it? Willow is dark again, and she took Isobel. We have to assume she is working for Morton."
"We don't know that honey. Maybe she is being forced." Xander wanted desperately to believe in his oldest friend.
"Forced or not, she kidnapped Isobel and now Morton has both of them. She is dangerous." Anya stated as if there was no other option.
When no one argued the point, Tara felt she had to say something. "Willow would never hurt Isobel. She almost died protecting us."
Elena felt conflicted. She loved Willow, but all of her experience with dark magick had shown her the evil such practitioners were capable of, the harm they had done to her society. Willow herself had been terrified of reverting to darkness and had eagerly embraced her light magick training and the tattoo blocking dark magick sources.
"That was when Willow was using only Light Magick and blocked from the darkness. I hate to say it, but we don't really know what she is capable of now." The Light Witch felt she was betraying her friend with every word.
Tara scanned around the room and found no one would even meet her gaze now, including Buffy and Dawn. Well, except Faith, but the dark Slayer didn't have the same history with Willow's darkness as the rest of them did. "You've all given up on her, haven't you? Even you Buffy?"
"No, Tara, no. I just think we have to consider the possibility. . . "The Slayer just stopped, her feelings were obvious and there was no point trying to conceal them from her friend. "I'm sorry. You know I'll still do anything I can to get them both back, but I think Isobel needs to be the priority."
The silence that followed was weighing down on each one of the Scoobies in its own painful way until Anya spoke up again. "How did Willow get into the house anyway?"
The question snapped Tara out of her shock. The blond witch ran out into the yard with the Slayers close behind. "No, No, No!" As soon as she had gotten outside Tara realized the shield was gone. Not damaged or breached, but completely destroyed. Her magickal signature was nowhere to be found.
"Buffy, it's gone. We are defenseless." It was too much. Suddenly the enormity of losing everything in one day struck the blond down. "I couldn't protect Willow or Isobel, and now I've left us all exposed."
The Slayer saw that her friend was collapsing in front of her, mentally and physically. She knew that Tara was devastated. Losing Willow was bad enough, but Isobel being kidnapped and still not knowing why was going to tear the sensitive witch apart. Somehow Buffy caught her before she hit the ground and carried her back into the house and upstairs to the master bedroom, laying her gently on the bed.
Heart wrenching sobs filled the house as Tara let it all go. Buffy sat by her side, holding her hand and stroking her hair as her friend's overwhelming grief took over. It was hours before the blond simply passed out from exhaustion.
At first tears of sympathy slid down Buffy's face. Then slowly a change came over the Slayer. She thought of who was truly responsible for all this anguish and allowed Tara's grief and agony to fuel her anger. Her enhanced powers responded in the same way as every Slayer for countless generations before her. She was suddenly stronger, faster, her senses enhanced beyond anything she had ever experienced. She had broken her silent promise to the witches to protect them, but that was something she could fix. She swore an oath that in the morning, Maxwiel Morton would regret coming to Sunnydale.
Willow found herself pacing the small space between the bed and the wooden door of her room. Isobel was sleeping peacefully in the bed, for which she was grateful. She had glimpsed herself in the mirror following her dark magick infusion from the Hellmouth and she was horrified at what she had become.
It was not only the external changes that were troubling, it was the internal alterations of her nature, her very essence that she was struggling to control. She felt like a tick, bloated to bursting from a night's feed. Or maybe she should use a vampire analogy; she was certainly more demon than not now.
She laughed coldly at her own ignorance. She had fancied herself so smart, so talented, with her superior intellect and Light Magick skills. But Morton had planned for all of it. He had entered her mind and had taken her knowledge so many years ago back in Khul. He knew everything about her, everything she would do before she did it. All this time he pondered how to use the information and plotted his revenge. Now she was completely under his control.
Willow understood the Scoobies would attempt an escape. They would find her and Isobel, somehow they always did. But they would be one step behind, just as she had always been one step behind. Morton would be ready for them as he had been ready for her.
Heartbreakingly Willow knew the Slayers could not be the saviors in this war. Even with two of them, the enormous gifts and talents of the Slayers were not pure magick. They could fight Morton's soldiers and his demon army, but only true magick could battle the warlock himself, and Willow was blocked. Elena was the last best hope to rid the world of Morton, but Willow wasn't sure the Light Witch was strong enough on her own.
Willow had tired of pacing and found herself in a meditation pose on the hard wood floor of the room. The Hellmouth was swirling inside of her. She could see the army of the Turok-Han so near, waiting for the seal to break. Dark powers from the depths of hell dimensions reached out for her, whispered touches to her mind promising power and gifts of her choosing. They became impossible to ignore when they found her heart's desire; offers to allow her to take Isobel and Tara away from Morton, from Sunnydale, to become queens, loved and protected by all.
Her head slumped forward as she gave in to the blackness. She didn't have the strength to fight Morton and all the powers of darkness calling to her from the Hellmouth. Tears streamed down her face as she considered her meager and bleak options. She could join Morton. Perhaps he would allow her to protect Isobel and Tara. She could flee through the Hellmouth with her family and find the best offering among the hell dimensions.
Her daughter mumbling in her sleep interrupted her introspection. Isobel was saying something about rose petals and growing flowers in the garden. Willow got to her knees so she could see her daughter's smiling dream face. She knew Isobel deserved so much better, and she also knew in her heart that Tara would never agree to leave with Morton or to go to a hell dimension, she would die first.
Willow moved to sit on the chair in front of the mirror. She settled herself and took in a deep breath. She wanted to test if it was possible for her to push back the darkness for even a moment. She concentrated on her Light Magick training and on her love for Tara and her daughter as she looked into the mirror, willing the blackness from her hair and face. Slowly she saw red return to the roots and the dark veins recede briefly from her cheeks, but her eyes remained black.
It would have to be enough. She could not fight the darkness within her. She would have to use it, bargain with it, if there was any chance to defeat the man from Khul. Most importantly she needed to take back the element of surprise from Morton. She would have to do it using only the gifts the warlock did not understand and could not block, her strength of will and love for her family.
Slowly she formulated a plan, terrible in price, but one that could work. A deal with the devil, her dark witch, was necessary. Too much was at stake. When her awful work was complete she wondered if for her, only the darkness would remain.
The group that gathered near the vineyard the next morning was quiet with a grim resolution. The Slayers were armed with stakes and swords, ready for demons or soldiers. Elena had every magickal supply she had brought from Khul and several more from the Magic Box. Anya and Dawn had knives and stakes and Xander had a two headed axe. Tara had insisted on coming despite Buffy's protestations. The blond witch knew she was not at full strength, but she hoped that when they got underground she could track Isobel and Willow with magick and help with the escape.
They approached cautiously, allowing Elena to disarm magickal alarms as they proceeded. Faith then scouted ahead and removed two soldier lookouts from the action with blows to the head. The Scooby squad was able to reach one of the central buildings without apparent detection and slipped inside.
Buffy quickly evaluated the space which still held several large rotting fermentation barrels on shelves along the walls, but was empty in the middle. Faith pointed out several boot prints in the dust on the floor. The prints all headed toward the center of the room, but not away. Xander stepped over and kneeled down. As he evaluated the wood planks on the floor he ran his fingertip along a recessed edge until he came to a small latch beneath which clicked on release.
Buffy waived the others back as Xander lifted the trapdoor open. She looked inside to find a set of steps leading down, but no guard. Buffy indicated she would take the lead with the others following and Faith to cover the rear.
They descended nervously but with the courage of their convictions until they reached a long stone passageway. With only one direction to go, they moved forward waiting for an attack. They passed a series of wood doors on each side, but a quick evaluation showed them to be locked. Pressing on, Buffy soon found herself edging into a round stone room, empty but for a large chair set on a daïs.
Seeing no one inside the room, the group gathered in a huddle to quietly discuss their next move.
"We need to check those locked rooms. Isobel and Willow may be in them." Faith suggested.
"We need to find Morton." Buffy's voice was filled with controlled anger. "I say we head back, maybe make our presence known as we reach the trapdoor, try to draw them up and out into the open, where we would have better odds."
"I could use magick outside. Here I am blocked." Elena added.
Tara likewise found she had no powers in the underground.
"Ok, let's head back. Faith and Xander can break locks and check the rooms as we go by, quickly. If we draw attention, we run for the stairs, got it?" Buffy ordered.
With nods of agreement the group turned to leave and found themselves facing Morton flanked by half a dozen armed soldiers blocking the opening.
"Willow said you would come. Despite my disbelief she explained that you would not be able to stop yourselves from making a senseless and futile attack on my compound." Morton shook his head as if he was speaking to a classroom of children. "I need to trust my favorite student's instincts more I see. She really does possess a keen intellect and now that I have provided her with proper motivation, her potential is limitless, in my service of course."
Buffy had heard enough. "Wow, you really do talk too much. I get accused of unnecessary banter sometimes, but today? I think I'll just kick your ass."
With preternatural speed, the Slayer took off, sword raised above her head ready to strike down the warlock. The petite blond was in midair when out her peripheral vision she noticed the soldiers still had their weapons trained on the others behind her as if her move did not concern them. She found out why as her sword sliced through thin air where Morton had stood seconds before.
As she landed and spun 180 degrees, Buffy saw the warlock, still flanked by soldiers, was now behind the Scoobies in the center of the room. As her eyes took in the scene, her fellow Slayer read the movement of the enemy in her reflection. Before Morton could speak, Faith had taken the knife from her boot and flung it behind her. A gurgle and thud caused the group to turn as one. Morton still stood in the center of his line of soldiers, however, the guard was now five strong. The soldier that had been at his right hand was now on the floor, Faith's knife protruding awkwardly from his chest.
"Oh you troublesome girl, we can't have any more of that!" Morton exclaimed. A word and a wave and Faith disappeared from the room.
Buffy began a second charge, with Xander following close behind. As Morton turned toward them, the remaining Slayer threw her sword like a javelin directly at the warlock. The soldier who had been at Morton's left suddenly appeared between Buffy and the warlock, impaled through the neck.
"I should kill you all for the trouble you are causing, but you will find yourselves otherwise occupied soon enough. Fight to the death little warriors! I have more important matters to attend to." A wave of his left hand resulted in the disappearance of Xander and Buffy. A wave of the right and Anya and Dawn were gone.
Only the two defenseless witches remained. Morton gestured for the remaining soldiers to collect the bodies of their comrades and depart. The warlock approached Elena, ignoring the blond at her side. "I am surprised to find you here. You must have known your magick would be useless, and yet you accompany these fools on their suicide mission. Didn't your mother teach you better combat technique?"
Elena had been studying the warlock since his sudden appearance. She could see his youth and vigor and that it did not appear to be glamour. Something had happened to strengthen him significantly and it made her despair. "What do you intend to do?"
"What do I intend? I intend to rule Khul. I intend to crush the Light Council. I intend to make the name Colonade synonymous with tortured slave. Your family will serve as the example for those who would dare cross me. As for what I intend to do with you? Perhaps I should give you a choice." Morton saw an opportunity to sow more discord while entertaining himself.
"You could join Willow. Accept the darkness and serve me as she has chosen to do. Or die. I won't have you attempting to interfere in my plans with your magick." The warlock stepped close to the two women, whispering to Elena but making sure Tara was close enough to hear him. "I know you love her, want her. I could give her to you. You could stand at my left and my right, feared dark witches administering my justice."
Elena was listening as Morton spoke. When he offered her Willow, the Light Witch knew her moment had arrived. She had drawn the warlock in, hoping he would get close to her. When he spoke of her love for Willow, Elena clutched his jacket by the lapels and whimpered as if the offer was everything she desired. She felt horribly that what she was about to do could not include the blond witch, but she simply did not have the power to incorporate Tara into the spell.
The key was to be physically touching the powerful warlock as she spoke the words. Elena had been slowly creating a bubble around herself that pushed back the dark sources and allowed her one shot at using Light Magick.
As Elena held onto Morton, she incanted the spell almost silently, disguised by her whimpers. At the completion, she pushed off with every ounce of her magick and using the warlock's intense dark power as a trampoline, she teleported out of the cellar and into the vineyard above. It wasn't far, only a hundred yards or so, but it was the best she could do to save her life and live to fight another day. As Morton had pointed out, she had allowed her emotions to push her into poor tactical decisions and almost get her killed. As she stumbled out of the vineyard to head back towards the town, she swore she would not let that happen again.
Now Tara was alone in the round stone room with Maxwiel. A shudder passed through her as she remembered a similar space from her childhood. She had spent many nights, cold and alone, in a dark cellar beneath the family farmhouse as part of her punishment. She recognized icy fury emanating from the warlock that Elena had eluded him. She had felt such anger many times from the man who had called himself her father.
"What are you going to do to me?" Tara asked in an even voice. Whatever Elena had done to get away, she had no similar ability.
"Me? Nothing. I was going to send you back with the others to fight uselessly against the hordes of demons that will be in Sunnydale after nightfall. The Slayer, your friends, including the witch from Khul, they will all die in the next day or two. I was content for you to die with them." Morton replied in a conversational tone with a just a hint of pleasure returning to his voice.
"Then why am I still here? Can I see my daughter?" Tara choked back a sob as she asked, knowing what the answer would be.
A second figure emerged from an arched opening into the room. "You are still here because I wanted you here. And no, you may not see Isobel."
Tara's heart wept to hear the voice speaking from the shadows. She knew what the unnaturally low timber of those words meant as they resonated through her. The natural witch in her was sickened by the waves of darkness that accompanied the figure that approached. If Willow had been dark when Tara had last seen her in Isobel's room, then she was the heart of blackness now.
Her beautiful redhead had undergone a hideous transformation. As if to hide the truth, Willow was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, black leather pants and black boots. Her black hair was down and partially obscured her disfigured face.
But it was her lover's hands that captivated Tara's gaze. Soft, gentle fingertips that had caressed in the most intimate ways. Fingers that had entwined with hers in solidarity and magick. Palms that had electrified as they pressed together. Now those hands were a mass of ropey black veins over bloodlessly pale skin. The effect made Tara think of a cold marble altar to an unmerciful god. She had little hope for mercy today, but she had to try.
"Willow. Let me help you. I still believe in you." Tara could not stop the tears she shed for what had happened to the only woman she would ever love.
The dark witch was standing directly in front of Tara now and saw the blond looking down at her hands. "Maybe I should have worn gloves so as not to distress you with my appearance. But then I would not have felt this." As she spoke Willow raised her hand and slowly pressed her cold palm into the blond's cheek.
"I wouldn't feel this." The dark witch continued as she ran her hand down across Tara's jaw and onto the smooth skin under her chin. "And I most certainly wouldn't have been able to feel this."
Tara gasped and her eyes went wide with terror as the hand that had never touched her with any emotion but love grasped her around the neck and lifted her from the ground without effort. The gentle lithe fingers she knew so well tightened around her throat and within seconds the blond felt consciousness slipping from her mind. Her own hands scrabbled and scratched, trying to loosen the dark witch's hold, but it was like a steel trap.
As the shade of her awareness was drawn down, Tara had one last moment of clarity. She dropped her hands to her sides and gazed into the black depths of her lover's eyes. Although she could no longer emit sound, she moved her lips to form the words she wanted to be the last she gave to her soulmate. Maybe somewhere in all that endless blackness Willow would see and know they came from her heart. "I will always love you."
The dark witch saw the words of love pass across the blond's lips. She felt the body go limp as she continued to hold it easily in the air. She gazed back unblinking at the eyes which had latched onto hers. Those deep soulful pools, the color of the sky on a cloudless summer day. The dark witch watched Tara's eyes until the light dimmed from them, and finally went out.