Title - Dawn, The Key: Guardians of The Key Part 2
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. The Ghost Roads, The Gatekeeper and The Gatehouse come from the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer novels The Gatekeeper Trilogy Books 1, 2 and 3 by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder (Great set of books get em if you can) What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit. There is one exception to this and that is Quinton Everett III, he is mine and you can't use him whatsoever.
Authors Note - To be introduced to Quinton Everett III please read one of my previous stories "Love's Energy"
Authors Note 2 - The Hell's Circle does not exist to my knowledge. If anyone thinks it does exist then email me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Guardians of The Key - Part 2
The Ghost Roads were just like Buffy remembered, lots and lots of grey.
"Which way?" asked Dawn.
"That way." Quinn answered pointing forward and slightly to the left.
The trio set off, walking in silence, ignoring the spirits that tried to stop them.
After thirty minutes of walking they spotted a black dot on the horizon. As they got closer the saw that it was large, very large.
"How did a boat get here?" Buffy asked.
"That's not just any boat, that's a cruse liner from the 1940's, the 'Fulconelli' it disappeared into what was known as the Hell's Circle." Quinn said walking up to it.
"The Hell's Circle? where's that?" Dawn asked coming up behind him.
"It was just off the Californian coast." Quinn turned round to face the two women, "It vanished in early 1975."
"Any connection to you?" Buffy asked looking worried, she knew that her husband was born in January of 1975.
"No, I was born on the other side of the." Quinn started, "You know I actually have no idea."
"Could this be what the Gatekeeper was having problems with?" Dawn asked.
"No it is not what I was having problems with." all three heard the Gatekeepers voice in their heads.
"How long have you been listening in?" Quinn asked him.
"I only caught your explanation of what happened to the ship." The Gatekeeper replied.
"How long has it been here?" Dawn asked.
"This is where it vanished to." he said.
"So there could be something on board we could use." Quinn said.
"Shall we go check it out?" Dawn asked as she started to levitate off what passed for ground in the Ghost Roads.
"Hang on." Buffy said going up to Quinn.
"Come on." Quinn said taking her in his arms and levitating them both up after Dawn.
"This place is creepy." Dawn said walking a few paces ahead of the other two, "Shouldn't there be bodies or something?"
"Yes there should." Quinn answered.
"Then where are they?" asked Buffy.
"I don't know, Gatekeeper?" Quinn said stopping walking and looking into the air above them.
"I.I do not know." he answered.
"Quinn! Come here quick!" called Dawn from further down the corridor. She was looking into one of the rooms.
Quinn ran to where she was standing.
"Oh my god." Buffy said putting her hand to her mouth.
"We have to go, now!" Quinn said as he pulled the two women away from the door.
As the ran down the corridor they didn't notice a shadow come out of the room they had looked in and follow them down the corridor.
"What could do that to that many people?" Dawn asked as they walked at a brisk pace away from the horror they had seen in the ship.
"A creature that shouldn't exist." Quinn answered walking slightly behind her, "A Grunatholite Demon, I think they called it at Uni, they were supposedly wiped out during the third demonic war."
"When was that?" Dawn asked.
"About, oh, five billion years ago." Quinn answered.
"So, what does this demon do?" Buffy asked, "and how do I kill it?"
"It sucks the very life from beings once the life has gone it sucks all the liquid from the bodies." Quinn answered, "And you can't kill it, sure you can take it apart but it will just reform."
"Rocket launcher?" Dawn asked looking at Buffy with a smile.
"No, that wouldn't work." Quinn told them, "The only thing we can hope for is that it doesn't follow us out into the world."
Fifteen minutes later, Quinn called a halt to their trek.
"This is the place where we get out." he said, "Gatekeeper, if you please?"
"Certainly." he answered.
A portal began to form right in front of them, through it they could all see Jason tied to a chair in an empty room.
"Dawn!" Jason cried as she jumped through it.
"Jason!" she cried back as she ran up to him and began to untie the rope that held him in the chair.
"Jason are you all right?" Buffy asked coming through the portal followed by Quinn
"Yea, they said they just wanted to use me as bait." he answered.
"Yea we know, they want Dawn." Quinn told him.
"Well they can't have her, she's all mine." he said with a smile getting up and giving her a huge hug.
"Come on we gotta go, before they come and check on you." Buffy said.
The four of them ran into the portal which closed behind them
"Gatekeeper? Are you there?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, I am." he answered.
"Can you make the trip back any shorter?" Quinn asked the thin air.
"I think I can, why?" the voice asked.
"Because I think you have a Grunatholite Demon in here." Quinn said.
"What? Are you sure?" The Gatekeeper's voice was full of fear.
"On the ship, what had happened to the people on it, it matches the description we were taught at Uni." Quinn told him walking away from the other three.
"Then we may have a bigger problem than we thought." The Gatekeeper told him, "Wait a sec, I'll be right there."
There was a shimmering in front of Quinn and The Gatekeeper appeared out of thin air.
"What do you know about Grunatholite Demons?" Quinn asked the boy.
"Only what my Great-Grandfather wrote in his journals, and that was essentially what you know." he replied.
"We have absolutely no way to kill it, do we?" Quinn asked.
"No." he answered.
"Could we bind it to the Gatehouse?" Quinn wanted to know.
"We might but it will take both of us to do it." Jacques answered.
"Well we'll look at it once we get back to London." Quinn said as he walked back to the others.
Half an hour later they stopped and The Gatekeeper opened a portal that lead into the War-room of the Watchers Council.
"Dad!" cried the two kids running to Jason and giving him a huge hug.
"Excuse me but there is a call coming in and we can't trace the origin." said a technician walking up to Buffy and Quinn.
"Let's see it." Buffy told him.
The screen flicked on and a man Buffy had never seen before appeared and said "Because of your actions here today, there now exists a state of war between the Knights of Byzantium and The Guardians of The Key and their allies." with that the screen flicked off.
"Who was that?" Buffy asked looking at Quinn who had a shocked look on his face.
"That was Socrate Byzantium, the founder of the Knights."
To be continued.
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. The Ghost Roads, The Gatekeeper and The Gatehouse come from the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer novels The Gatekeeper Trilogy Books 1, 2 and 3 by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder (Great set of books get em if you can) What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit. There is one exception to this and that is Quinton Everett III, he is mine and you can't use him whatsoever.
Authors Note - To be introduced to Quinton Everett III please read one of my previous stories "Love's Energy"
Authors Note 2 - The Hell's Circle does not exist to my knowledge. If anyone thinks it does exist then email me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Guardians of The Key - Part 2
The Ghost Roads were just like Buffy remembered, lots and lots of grey.
"Which way?" asked Dawn.
"That way." Quinn answered pointing forward and slightly to the left.
The trio set off, walking in silence, ignoring the spirits that tried to stop them.
After thirty minutes of walking they spotted a black dot on the horizon. As they got closer the saw that it was large, very large.
"How did a boat get here?" Buffy asked.
"That's not just any boat, that's a cruse liner from the 1940's, the 'Fulconelli' it disappeared into what was known as the Hell's Circle." Quinn said walking up to it.
"The Hell's Circle? where's that?" Dawn asked coming up behind him.
"It was just off the Californian coast." Quinn turned round to face the two women, "It vanished in early 1975."
"Any connection to you?" Buffy asked looking worried, she knew that her husband was born in January of 1975.
"No, I was born on the other side of the." Quinn started, "You know I actually have no idea."
"Could this be what the Gatekeeper was having problems with?" Dawn asked.
"No it is not what I was having problems with." all three heard the Gatekeepers voice in their heads.
"How long have you been listening in?" Quinn asked him.
"I only caught your explanation of what happened to the ship." The Gatekeeper replied.
"How long has it been here?" Dawn asked.
"This is where it vanished to." he said.
"So there could be something on board we could use." Quinn said.
"Shall we go check it out?" Dawn asked as she started to levitate off what passed for ground in the Ghost Roads.
"Hang on." Buffy said going up to Quinn.
"Come on." Quinn said taking her in his arms and levitating them both up after Dawn.
"This place is creepy." Dawn said walking a few paces ahead of the other two, "Shouldn't there be bodies or something?"
"Yes there should." Quinn answered.
"Then where are they?" asked Buffy.
"I don't know, Gatekeeper?" Quinn said stopping walking and looking into the air above them.
"I.I do not know." he answered.
"Quinn! Come here quick!" called Dawn from further down the corridor. She was looking into one of the rooms.
Quinn ran to where she was standing.
"Oh my god." Buffy said putting her hand to her mouth.
"We have to go, now!" Quinn said as he pulled the two women away from the door.
As the ran down the corridor they didn't notice a shadow come out of the room they had looked in and follow them down the corridor.
"What could do that to that many people?" Dawn asked as they walked at a brisk pace away from the horror they had seen in the ship.
"A creature that shouldn't exist." Quinn answered walking slightly behind her, "A Grunatholite Demon, I think they called it at Uni, they were supposedly wiped out during the third demonic war."
"When was that?" Dawn asked.
"About, oh, five billion years ago." Quinn answered.
"So, what does this demon do?" Buffy asked, "and how do I kill it?"
"It sucks the very life from beings once the life has gone it sucks all the liquid from the bodies." Quinn answered, "And you can't kill it, sure you can take it apart but it will just reform."
"Rocket launcher?" Dawn asked looking at Buffy with a smile.
"No, that wouldn't work." Quinn told them, "The only thing we can hope for is that it doesn't follow us out into the world."
Fifteen minutes later, Quinn called a halt to their trek.
"This is the place where we get out." he said, "Gatekeeper, if you please?"
"Certainly." he answered.
A portal began to form right in front of them, through it they could all see Jason tied to a chair in an empty room.
"Dawn!" Jason cried as she jumped through it.
"Jason!" she cried back as she ran up to him and began to untie the rope that held him in the chair.
"Jason are you all right?" Buffy asked coming through the portal followed by Quinn
"Yea, they said they just wanted to use me as bait." he answered.
"Yea we know, they want Dawn." Quinn told him.
"Well they can't have her, she's all mine." he said with a smile getting up and giving her a huge hug.
"Come on we gotta go, before they come and check on you." Buffy said.
The four of them ran into the portal which closed behind them
"Gatekeeper? Are you there?" Quinn asked.
"Yes, I am." he answered.
"Can you make the trip back any shorter?" Quinn asked the thin air.
"I think I can, why?" the voice asked.
"Because I think you have a Grunatholite Demon in here." Quinn said.
"What? Are you sure?" The Gatekeeper's voice was full of fear.
"On the ship, what had happened to the people on it, it matches the description we were taught at Uni." Quinn told him walking away from the other three.
"Then we may have a bigger problem than we thought." The Gatekeeper told him, "Wait a sec, I'll be right there."
There was a shimmering in front of Quinn and The Gatekeeper appeared out of thin air.
"What do you know about Grunatholite Demons?" Quinn asked the boy.
"Only what my Great-Grandfather wrote in his journals, and that was essentially what you know." he replied.
"We have absolutely no way to kill it, do we?" Quinn asked.
"No." he answered.
"Could we bind it to the Gatehouse?" Quinn wanted to know.
"We might but it will take both of us to do it." Jacques answered.
"Well we'll look at it once we get back to London." Quinn said as he walked back to the others.
Half an hour later they stopped and The Gatekeeper opened a portal that lead into the War-room of the Watchers Council.
"Dad!" cried the two kids running to Jason and giving him a huge hug.
"Excuse me but there is a call coming in and we can't trace the origin." said a technician walking up to Buffy and Quinn.
"Let's see it." Buffy told him.
The screen flicked on and a man Buffy had never seen before appeared and said "Because of your actions here today, there now exists a state of war between the Knights of Byzantium and The Guardians of The Key and their allies." with that the screen flicked off.
"Who was that?" Buffy asked looking at Quinn who had a shocked look on his face.
"That was Socrate Byzantium, the founder of the Knights."
To be continued.