I have seen it! The source of all darkness, the all-consuming mouth of
Hell itself come to devour both sinner and saint. It is inside me now, I
feel it crawling over my brain, eating my memory. Oh, God, please let it
end. Did I have a mother and father? Was I even born? The words, they
are alive and screaming, screaming in agony. Or am I? I am lost, lost!
And with me, others, too many others. Oh, why why WHY did we think we
could stop it? I can hear it in my head now, laughing at us. We failed,
it's in us now, we are puppets doing its will. No, not me. This puppet
will cut his strings. God grant me strength, it MUST end!
-- From the personal journal of James Trenton, October 12th, 1678
The dream was the same. Except this time his aim was off, and the knife missed. He watched as the demon grabbed her, its claws digging deeply into her arms. He watched as it pulled her forward, impaling her on a hundred barbs, as the white gown she wore slowly turned black, the color of blood in moonlight. And he watched as its mouth opened, impossibly wide, and bit through the top of her skull. He heard the crunch, and saw blood and bits of brain and bone spray the creature's face.
And then he woke up screaming.
The sun was up, and he had no idea what time it was, but he had to see her. This time, he couldn't wait for sunset, because he knew the worry would drive him mad. Especially after the time they had spent talking, he found he wanted to protect her more than ever. He threw on his clothes and black leather duster, and grabbed a blanket.
"Sun be damned," he thought, as he crossed the threshold of his crypt, "I will not wait."
"I can't."
---
Buffy sat in bed, trying to shake off the dream. It had been worse than the first, and left her feeling afraid. Why hadn't Spike saved her? What had happened to him?
She was glad she didn't need to go into work. It was her day off, but part of her actually looked forward to the mindless monotony of dealing with customers, and her co-workers. It was better than having nothing to do but think about the dreams.
Dawn was still asleep, and Buffy decided to take a long, hot shower, hoping it would make her feel better. But, the feeling of the water running down her body only made her think of the blood in the dream, and how hot it had felt.
As she was getting dressed, Dawn knocked on the door. "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute."
"Hurry up," Dawn whined, "I need to get ready for school, and Spike's downstairs waiting on you."
"Spike?"
Spike. The dream had shaken her up so much she hadn't even thought about him, other than to wonder where he had been. After the talk they had had the night before, she felt a little guilty when she realised she hadn't even considered that something might have happened to him, that that was why he wasn't there to help her.
"Yeah, he ran in and was all smoking and with a blanket. He says he needs to talk to you."
Buffy was suddenly worried. Spike had made trips out during the day before, but only when he had to. Something had to be up.
"Tell him I'll be down in a few minutes," she said, as she quickly dressed.
---
Spike sat on the couch, standing when he saw Buffy coming down the stairs. "Are you alright?" he asked, walking over to the bannister.
"What's going on?"
Spike laughed as he looked her over. "Nothing I guess. Bloody stupid nightmare had me worried. Dreamed a big nasty did you in."
Buffy stared at him. It can't be, she thought, it's just a coincidence. It had to be.
"Spike, this is important. What did this demon look like?"
Spke thought for a moment. "Big, maybe eight feet tall, and easily that wide. Covered in these large, sort of fishhook-like things. Head split nearly in half when it opened its mouth. Lots of teeth," Spike shivered, "very nasty."
"It can't be," Buffy said, as the dream played out again in her head. "You weren't there this time. You would have saved me if you were there. Tell me you would have saved me?"
"Of course I would have saved you. I was there, but I.." he stopped, the pain of his failure playing out on his face. "I tried. Tossed a knife at it, but I missed."
"Wait a second, what do you mean this..." he got out before Buffy hit the floor.
---
She woke up on the couch. Spike and Dawn were standing over her. Spike held a glass of water in his hand. "Are you alright?" he asked, holding the glass out to her.
Buffy smiled weakly. "Not really, no," she said, waving the glass away.
"What happened to me?"
"You fainted," Spike said. "If I'd known my dream was going to do this to you, I would've kept it to myself."
"What dream?" Dawn asked.
"Never mind, Dawn. You need to get to school," Buffy said. A few seconds later, a horn honked outside, and Buffy pointed at the door. "School. Now. I'm fine."
Dawn walked to the door, and asked over her shoulder, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, now you better hurry."
As soon as Dawn was out the door, Buffy closed her eyes.
"Spike, can vampires faint?"
"Yeah. Not that I ever have, but I've seen it happen. Guess it's some sort of..."
Buffy opened her eyes, and sat up. "I had the same dream. Only I didn't see you. And a couple of nights ago, I had practically the same dream, but you didn't miss. You killed it. Then you died in my arms."
Spike sat down hard on the floor. "Spike, are you ok?"
"To quote you, pet, no, not really."
---
Tara sat on the floor in the living room, thinking over what Spike and Buffy had told her about their shared dreams, while they all waited for Willow to get home from classes.
"There are spells that can do this sort of thing, but," Tara blushed slightly as she spoke, "usually, they have to be done by the dreamers."
Spike smirked, and said, "Why Tara, I didn't know you had it in you."
Buffy hit him lightly on the shoulder, and Tara blushed a deep shade of crimson.
"U-um, anyway," Tara continued,"there are magical ways to accomplish it. In fact, it's a very simple spell, but this sounds like something else."
"Definitely. These weren't dreams. They were nightmares. And so real..." Buffy shooke her head. "Every time I start to feel a little better, it all comes rushing back."
Spike spoke up, "Is there a magical way to find out why this is happening?"
"M-maybe," Tara said haltingly.
"If it is magical, I might know a way," Buffy said. "I did it once before, when I thought someone might be using magic to hurt my mom."
Spike raised his eyebrows. "How's that?"
"It's a type of meditation. I need some things," she turned to Tara, "Do you think you can get them for me?"
"Sure," Tara said, retrieving a notepad and paper from her backpack. "What do you need?"
---
The ritual was easier than Buffy remembered, but she wasn't ready for what she saw when she finally opened her eyes.
Tara and Spike still sat across from her, watching her intently, but she saw them both differently. Tara was suffused with bright glow, so bright it almost hurt Buffy to look at it. It seemed to not only surround Tara, but move through her. And Spike...
"Wow," Buffy said, laughing out loud.
"What?"
Like Tara, Spike seemed to have some sort of glow, except his was a deep blue, almost black. It pulsed, and shifted, sometimes lightening to an almost royal blue, sometimes darkening to black, so deep she couldn't make out his features.
"You, Spike. You look... different," she said, before laughing again. He sat back, and it shifted to black and stayed there. "I'm not laughing at you," she said quickly, "it's just really pretty."
"What you're seeing is the magic th-that, well, animates him," she glanced over at Spike, "though I didn't expect it to be pretty. What does it look like?"
"It's all dark and shimmery, and it changes color. When I laughed, it turned black. Right now, it's just a really deep blue. It looks good on you, Spike."
"Focus, Slayer," Spike said. "Look for whatever is causing this."
She stared intently at him, and began to make out a faint, smoky tendril extending from him. "I think I see it." She passed her hand through it, but felt nothing. "It looks kind of like smoke."
As Buffy focused on the tendril, it came into sharper focus. "Wait," she said, peering intently at it, willing it to become clearer.
The link suddenly solidified into a chain of small, black creatures, clawing at each other, creating a living bridge with their bodies. Buffy gasped, and multiple sets of eyes looked at her, showing no sign of thought, or anything resembling intelligence.
Buffy scampered backwards, away from Spike, trying to break it, to get them away from her. She desperately tried to grab hold of the little creatures, but her hands simply passed through them. The further she got away form Spike, the more of them appeared, maintaining the integrity of the link. "What is it? What's wrong?" Spike asked as he started to stand.
Buffy looked down, and saw that the final one on her end of the chain had it's claws stuck deeply into her chest, and she screamed.
Everything returned to normal, and for a moment, she was disoriented. When she saw Spike coming toward her, she screamed at him to stay away.
---
It took Tara several minutes to calm Buffy down to the point where she was making any kind of sense. After finally coaxing what she had seen out of her, Tara sat with her in the kitchen, thinking.
"So what's the prognosis?" Spike said, making sure he stayed in the doorway after Buffy's earlier reaction to him. He desperately wanted a cigarette, but he needed to know what had happened.
"It isn't a spell. What Buffy saw, I've never read or heard of anything like it. I think the things she saw were demons, but I-I'm not really sure. Maybe in one of the books, m-maybe I could find something."
"Bugger that. Can you do something about it. I know I'm not going to be able to sleep knowing I've got supernatural bugs crawling on me." Spike risked Buffy's wrath, and shook a cigarette from his pack. She didn't even seem to notice, so he went ahead and lit it, garnering a small cough from Tara.
"I-I don't know. I mean, maybe, but if they're like Buffy said, and not intelligent, that means..."
"Something else sent them," Spike finished for her. "Would getting rid of them set off some sort of alarm somewhere?"
"Spike, you have to understand, this is d-darker magic than I'm used to dealing with. I don't know, breaking the link could be d-dangerous, I just don't know."
"I don't care," Buffy said, turning to look first at Tara, then at Spike. "I want them gone."
Spike smiled. "I'm with Buffy on this. I don't care. If these things are causing the nightmares, then I say do what you have to."
Tara looked down at the floor. "I don't know if I'm even powerful enough to do it, Spike."
"You are. You were different too, Tara. I could see the power, all around you. I may not be an expert," Buffy said, patting Tara's hand reassuringly, "but I know you have more power than you think."
Tara looked up at her, still unsure, "I would need some books from home. And supplies, more than we have here. Look, I-I can't promise you anything."
Spike tossed his cigarette into the sink. "Look, we need you. Buffy says you can do it, and that's good enough for me. So stop with the I don't know's, and either prove us right, or or prove us wrong. Yeah, it may be dangerous, and yeah, you may fail. But you may succeed."
"Spike," Buffy started, but Tara stopped her by squeezing her hand gently.
"I think I have an idea of how to do it," Tara said, standing up and facing Spike, "But we still don't know what consequences there might be." She thought for a moment, and a smile started to spread across her face.
"I t-think I have a plan."
---
While Tara was out preparing for the spell, Willow arrive home from class. SHe was somewhat shocked to find Buffy and Spike sitting on the couch, watching TV. Both of them looked at her as she came in.
"Uh, hi," she said, dropping her books by the door. "What's going on?"
"Long story. Got about six hours for us to fill you in?"
---
Buffy was still filling in details for Willow when Tara walked in the door. Willow was sitting with a look of pure disbelief on her face, and Tara decided to hang back until they were finished.
"But... You and Spike?"
"Will, I'm not proud of what I did, not because it was with Spike, but because of the reasons for it." She added with a touch of guilt, "And because of what it did to him."
"We sorta worked things out, though. That's between us, the details at least," Buffy said, throwing a sharp glance at Spike, "but we're just friends now."
"Buffy's right." Spike laughed, and shook his head, smiling. "But I will say I had to admit that maybe I'm not the Big Bad anymore. And that she isn't the only one I care about now."
"You mean Dawn, right?" Willow asked somewhat hopefully.
"Well, yes, I do care about Dawn. But I do care about you, and Tara as well. The whelp, well, we'll have to wait and see."
Willow looked up at Tara, "I think I need to take a nap. A nice, long nap."
"W-will you be okay with us doing this here? I mean, the spells and all."
Willow looked at the bowls Tara carried, and the plastic-wrapped herbs within them. "I'll be upstairs in my room. Just come get me when you're done."
---
Tara explained the details, but most of it went over Buffy's head.
"I still don't get it."
"Ok," Tara said as she arranged the ingredients for the spell. "Remember the demon we created when we brought you back?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this?"
"In order for you to fight it, we had to make it corporeal. I just modified the spell we used then."
She continued her preparations, "What I'll do is cast a spell so I can see the link, and then use the modified spell to make a part of it physical. Then we can literally cut the bond."
Spike spoke up, "I got that part of it, personally I'd prefer to squash the little bugger when you give it a body, but I don't get the part that comes before that."
Tara stopped, and took a deep breath. "Ok, all magic is based around the manipulation of energy. What I'm doing is creating a sort of dead zone, asking the powers to create a shield around us that will draw energy from any spell or magical energy that tries to pass through it. If there is some sort of trigger or alarm, it'll act like a muffler. It won't stop it, but it should draw enough energy from it that it won't be able to get where ever it's supposed to go."
"Sounds like powerful stuff to me. You sure someone didn't give you a shot of confidence while you were out?" Spike leaned back against the wall, smiling appreciatively at the young witch.
"It's not, really," Tara closed her eyes, and asked "Are you both ready?"
"Yes," came the reply from both at once.
"Then step into the circle, and let it be complete."
Tara moved the first of three bowls to the center of the circle, and deftly mixed the ingredients, saying words in a language neither Buffy nor Spike understood. Bluish haze began spreading out from the bowl, and Tara spoke, "North, to south, to west, to east, I invoke thee. Spirits of the elements, Fire to Earth, Air to Water, grant us your protection"
As she finished, the haze solidified, forming a roiling bubble around the three.
"We thank thee for thy blessing"
Tara set aside the first bowl, pulling a smaller one to the center of the circle.
Again, she mixed herbs in the bowl, setting them aflame. "Maat, goddess of justice and truth, she who is the underlying current that connects all things, allow me your sight so that I may work my will."
Tara's eyes glowed briefly, and she blinked, a single tear running down her face. She quickly wiped the tear away, and placed the second bowl to the side.
Pulling the last, and largest, of the three bowls to the center of the circle, She threw various herbs into the bowl. She then poured a dark liquid from a crystal vial over them one drop at a time, speaking a different word with each drop. As the drops touched the mixture in the bowl, it began to smolder, small sparks shooting out, growing in intensity.
"Let that which is the focus of my will take shape, let it fully enter into our realm."
A small, dark blob formed in the air between Buffy and Spike. Both kept their gaze firmly on Tara, as she had instructed them, as it twisted and turned in the air, finally settling into the same form buffy had described.
"Now, Spike!"
Spike's hand shot out, and grabbed the creature out of the air, he squeezed as hard as he could, and the creature screamed in a high pitched voice. Black fluid oozed between his fingers, and both he and Buffy felt the link fall away.
Tara looked at the two of them, and satisfied that the link was severed, spoke one last time, "It is done. Spirits of the elements, again, we thank thee, and beg thee depart."
The bubble around them dispersed, and Tara shook her head, her eyes watering heavily. "Thank you, mother," she said under her breath.
Spike looked around. "You're telling me there wasn't some serious power being played with here?"
Tara rubbed her eyes, and blinked at her friends. "Yes, there was, but I simply directed it. The powers decided whether to answer the call or not." She looked down at the floor, and spoke slowly, "I won't be able to see for a while."
"What?" Spike said loudly. "You didn't tell us about that part of it!"
Buffy placed her hand on Spike's arm, and asked, "How long does it last?"
"Only a few hours. The spell I used allowed me to see with the eyes of a goddess. It'll take me a while to recover from that."
"Are you sure you're ok?"
Tara smiled, "I'm sure."
Buffy glanced at Spike's ichor-stained hand, making a face.
"What? I told you what I'd like to do to the little bastard."
---
They began to clean up the kitchen. Buffy was somewhat dismayed to find that the haze from the shielding spell had left a dusty coating over everything it had touched.
Tara was in the middle of giving Buffy tips on cleaning it up when she screamed and fell to the floor. As she did, the room went completely dark, and Buffy heard Spike exclaim "Bloody hell!"
"Spike, can you hear me?"
"He can hear you, Slayer, but you must listen, as we need to be quick. Our presence pains the witch, and she is vital to the coming battle."
"Then tell us what you need to, and bloody well bugger off!" Spike yelled as he groped through the darkness, trying to find Buffy or Tara. His hands met Buffy's, and he pulled her close to him. She shivered, fully understanding for the first time what it must have been like for Spike, alone, in his crypt, surrounded by this thing.
"We knew that in time you would discover our link, though your solution to it was far more amusing than we anticipated. The link served its purpose, however."
"But you couldn't know. We were protected. Weren't we? And what purpose?"
"The creature you killed is a part of us. A minor part, and it does not diminish us to lose it, but we would have felt it no matter what barriers you placed between us."
"However," it said, it's voice lowering almost imperceptibly, adding a hint of menace, "We do not have time to discuss that. Time is shorter than we thought. Already, it begins to move, and we must be ready to meet it. Others are gathering, across many different realms, preparing for the coming battle, but you, and your friends, play a key role in the most important battle of all."
"One is coming who will explain further. He is our emmissary here. Slayer, know this," the voices took on an almost pleading quality as it spoke, "what comes is beyond evil. It is chaos, destruction, hunger. And when it feeds, all, demon, human, amd vampire will suffer. If we do not defeat it now, it will devour all. All dimensions will be torn apart as it feeds, and nothing will be left. We are evil, but we have a common enemy. Fighting at the side of an enemy is better than extinction."
"Spike, you performed your part better than we expected. We have... respect for you, but make no mistake, if we were not forced by circumstances to come to you, we would destroy you. You are an abomination, a demon who denies what it is, for something as illusory as love. Still, you have a further part to play, and we will speak no more of you."
"The coming chaos is the end, and the beginning. When it has gorged itself, it will die, and from it will be born new realms. But none of us, anywhere, will exist to see it. And it wil leave behind a child. The child will wait, and grow, until it is time for it, too, to feed."
"We must go. Already, the battles have begun, and we must lend our strength. Be ready to do what must be done. Do not fail us."
"Wait," Buffy said, reaching out into the dark as if to hold it. "What are you?"
"We are that which sees through many eyes and speaks through many voices. There are some among you who have knowledge of us, though most only gain that sort of knowledge by... joining us."
With that, the darkness lifted, and Buffy was left shivering in Spike's arms.
As Tara sat up, and looked blankly at them, all three remained silent.
---
Multiple strands of living darkness wrapped themselves around the dimensional walls, creating small fissures, seeking to forces their way inside. As they did, across a hundred dimensions, armies waited, attacking with spells and claws, swords and guns. They fought, using all the skills and technology at their disposal to push back the hungering dark.
The sound of screaming from those that died in that first attack mingled into a single cry that was heard across all dimensions.
And the mind controlling the darkness rejoiced.
NOTES:
Ok, I wrote this in one long rush, I haven't edited it, but I'm so happy with it as it is now, I don't want to muck with it and kill the momentum. The magical bits I gleaned from a quick web search, and are mostly made up, so anyone who is knowledgable about the actual practice, please feel free to e-mail me and rip me apart.
-- From the personal journal of James Trenton, October 12th, 1678
The dream was the same. Except this time his aim was off, and the knife missed. He watched as the demon grabbed her, its claws digging deeply into her arms. He watched as it pulled her forward, impaling her on a hundred barbs, as the white gown she wore slowly turned black, the color of blood in moonlight. And he watched as its mouth opened, impossibly wide, and bit through the top of her skull. He heard the crunch, and saw blood and bits of brain and bone spray the creature's face.
And then he woke up screaming.
The sun was up, and he had no idea what time it was, but he had to see her. This time, he couldn't wait for sunset, because he knew the worry would drive him mad. Especially after the time they had spent talking, he found he wanted to protect her more than ever. He threw on his clothes and black leather duster, and grabbed a blanket.
"Sun be damned," he thought, as he crossed the threshold of his crypt, "I will not wait."
"I can't."
---
Buffy sat in bed, trying to shake off the dream. It had been worse than the first, and left her feeling afraid. Why hadn't Spike saved her? What had happened to him?
She was glad she didn't need to go into work. It was her day off, but part of her actually looked forward to the mindless monotony of dealing with customers, and her co-workers. It was better than having nothing to do but think about the dreams.
Dawn was still asleep, and Buffy decided to take a long, hot shower, hoping it would make her feel better. But, the feeling of the water running down her body only made her think of the blood in the dream, and how hot it had felt.
As she was getting dressed, Dawn knocked on the door. "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute."
"Hurry up," Dawn whined, "I need to get ready for school, and Spike's downstairs waiting on you."
"Spike?"
Spike. The dream had shaken her up so much she hadn't even thought about him, other than to wonder where he had been. After the talk they had had the night before, she felt a little guilty when she realised she hadn't even considered that something might have happened to him, that that was why he wasn't there to help her.
"Yeah, he ran in and was all smoking and with a blanket. He says he needs to talk to you."
Buffy was suddenly worried. Spike had made trips out during the day before, but only when he had to. Something had to be up.
"Tell him I'll be down in a few minutes," she said, as she quickly dressed.
---
Spike sat on the couch, standing when he saw Buffy coming down the stairs. "Are you alright?" he asked, walking over to the bannister.
"What's going on?"
Spike laughed as he looked her over. "Nothing I guess. Bloody stupid nightmare had me worried. Dreamed a big nasty did you in."
Buffy stared at him. It can't be, she thought, it's just a coincidence. It had to be.
"Spike, this is important. What did this demon look like?"
Spke thought for a moment. "Big, maybe eight feet tall, and easily that wide. Covered in these large, sort of fishhook-like things. Head split nearly in half when it opened its mouth. Lots of teeth," Spike shivered, "very nasty."
"It can't be," Buffy said, as the dream played out again in her head. "You weren't there this time. You would have saved me if you were there. Tell me you would have saved me?"
"Of course I would have saved you. I was there, but I.." he stopped, the pain of his failure playing out on his face. "I tried. Tossed a knife at it, but I missed."
"Wait a second, what do you mean this..." he got out before Buffy hit the floor.
---
She woke up on the couch. Spike and Dawn were standing over her. Spike held a glass of water in his hand. "Are you alright?" he asked, holding the glass out to her.
Buffy smiled weakly. "Not really, no," she said, waving the glass away.
"What happened to me?"
"You fainted," Spike said. "If I'd known my dream was going to do this to you, I would've kept it to myself."
"What dream?" Dawn asked.
"Never mind, Dawn. You need to get to school," Buffy said. A few seconds later, a horn honked outside, and Buffy pointed at the door. "School. Now. I'm fine."
Dawn walked to the door, and asked over her shoulder, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, now you better hurry."
As soon as Dawn was out the door, Buffy closed her eyes.
"Spike, can vampires faint?"
"Yeah. Not that I ever have, but I've seen it happen. Guess it's some sort of..."
Buffy opened her eyes, and sat up. "I had the same dream. Only I didn't see you. And a couple of nights ago, I had practically the same dream, but you didn't miss. You killed it. Then you died in my arms."
Spike sat down hard on the floor. "Spike, are you ok?"
"To quote you, pet, no, not really."
---
Tara sat on the floor in the living room, thinking over what Spike and Buffy had told her about their shared dreams, while they all waited for Willow to get home from classes.
"There are spells that can do this sort of thing, but," Tara blushed slightly as she spoke, "usually, they have to be done by the dreamers."
Spike smirked, and said, "Why Tara, I didn't know you had it in you."
Buffy hit him lightly on the shoulder, and Tara blushed a deep shade of crimson.
"U-um, anyway," Tara continued,"there are magical ways to accomplish it. In fact, it's a very simple spell, but this sounds like something else."
"Definitely. These weren't dreams. They were nightmares. And so real..." Buffy shooke her head. "Every time I start to feel a little better, it all comes rushing back."
Spike spoke up, "Is there a magical way to find out why this is happening?"
"M-maybe," Tara said haltingly.
"If it is magical, I might know a way," Buffy said. "I did it once before, when I thought someone might be using magic to hurt my mom."
Spike raised his eyebrows. "How's that?"
"It's a type of meditation. I need some things," she turned to Tara, "Do you think you can get them for me?"
"Sure," Tara said, retrieving a notepad and paper from her backpack. "What do you need?"
---
The ritual was easier than Buffy remembered, but she wasn't ready for what she saw when she finally opened her eyes.
Tara and Spike still sat across from her, watching her intently, but she saw them both differently. Tara was suffused with bright glow, so bright it almost hurt Buffy to look at it. It seemed to not only surround Tara, but move through her. And Spike...
"Wow," Buffy said, laughing out loud.
"What?"
Like Tara, Spike seemed to have some sort of glow, except his was a deep blue, almost black. It pulsed, and shifted, sometimes lightening to an almost royal blue, sometimes darkening to black, so deep she couldn't make out his features.
"You, Spike. You look... different," she said, before laughing again. He sat back, and it shifted to black and stayed there. "I'm not laughing at you," she said quickly, "it's just really pretty."
"What you're seeing is the magic th-that, well, animates him," she glanced over at Spike, "though I didn't expect it to be pretty. What does it look like?"
"It's all dark and shimmery, and it changes color. When I laughed, it turned black. Right now, it's just a really deep blue. It looks good on you, Spike."
"Focus, Slayer," Spike said. "Look for whatever is causing this."
She stared intently at him, and began to make out a faint, smoky tendril extending from him. "I think I see it." She passed her hand through it, but felt nothing. "It looks kind of like smoke."
As Buffy focused on the tendril, it came into sharper focus. "Wait," she said, peering intently at it, willing it to become clearer.
The link suddenly solidified into a chain of small, black creatures, clawing at each other, creating a living bridge with their bodies. Buffy gasped, and multiple sets of eyes looked at her, showing no sign of thought, or anything resembling intelligence.
Buffy scampered backwards, away from Spike, trying to break it, to get them away from her. She desperately tried to grab hold of the little creatures, but her hands simply passed through them. The further she got away form Spike, the more of them appeared, maintaining the integrity of the link. "What is it? What's wrong?" Spike asked as he started to stand.
Buffy looked down, and saw that the final one on her end of the chain had it's claws stuck deeply into her chest, and she screamed.
Everything returned to normal, and for a moment, she was disoriented. When she saw Spike coming toward her, she screamed at him to stay away.
---
It took Tara several minutes to calm Buffy down to the point where she was making any kind of sense. After finally coaxing what she had seen out of her, Tara sat with her in the kitchen, thinking.
"So what's the prognosis?" Spike said, making sure he stayed in the doorway after Buffy's earlier reaction to him. He desperately wanted a cigarette, but he needed to know what had happened.
"It isn't a spell. What Buffy saw, I've never read or heard of anything like it. I think the things she saw were demons, but I-I'm not really sure. Maybe in one of the books, m-maybe I could find something."
"Bugger that. Can you do something about it. I know I'm not going to be able to sleep knowing I've got supernatural bugs crawling on me." Spike risked Buffy's wrath, and shook a cigarette from his pack. She didn't even seem to notice, so he went ahead and lit it, garnering a small cough from Tara.
"I-I don't know. I mean, maybe, but if they're like Buffy said, and not intelligent, that means..."
"Something else sent them," Spike finished for her. "Would getting rid of them set off some sort of alarm somewhere?"
"Spike, you have to understand, this is d-darker magic than I'm used to dealing with. I don't know, breaking the link could be d-dangerous, I just don't know."
"I don't care," Buffy said, turning to look first at Tara, then at Spike. "I want them gone."
Spike smiled. "I'm with Buffy on this. I don't care. If these things are causing the nightmares, then I say do what you have to."
Tara looked down at the floor. "I don't know if I'm even powerful enough to do it, Spike."
"You are. You were different too, Tara. I could see the power, all around you. I may not be an expert," Buffy said, patting Tara's hand reassuringly, "but I know you have more power than you think."
Tara looked up at her, still unsure, "I would need some books from home. And supplies, more than we have here. Look, I-I can't promise you anything."
Spike tossed his cigarette into the sink. "Look, we need you. Buffy says you can do it, and that's good enough for me. So stop with the I don't know's, and either prove us right, or or prove us wrong. Yeah, it may be dangerous, and yeah, you may fail. But you may succeed."
"Spike," Buffy started, but Tara stopped her by squeezing her hand gently.
"I think I have an idea of how to do it," Tara said, standing up and facing Spike, "But we still don't know what consequences there might be." She thought for a moment, and a smile started to spread across her face.
"I t-think I have a plan."
---
While Tara was out preparing for the spell, Willow arrive home from class. SHe was somewhat shocked to find Buffy and Spike sitting on the couch, watching TV. Both of them looked at her as she came in.
"Uh, hi," she said, dropping her books by the door. "What's going on?"
"Long story. Got about six hours for us to fill you in?"
---
Buffy was still filling in details for Willow when Tara walked in the door. Willow was sitting with a look of pure disbelief on her face, and Tara decided to hang back until they were finished.
"But... You and Spike?"
"Will, I'm not proud of what I did, not because it was with Spike, but because of the reasons for it." She added with a touch of guilt, "And because of what it did to him."
"We sorta worked things out, though. That's between us, the details at least," Buffy said, throwing a sharp glance at Spike, "but we're just friends now."
"Buffy's right." Spike laughed, and shook his head, smiling. "But I will say I had to admit that maybe I'm not the Big Bad anymore. And that she isn't the only one I care about now."
"You mean Dawn, right?" Willow asked somewhat hopefully.
"Well, yes, I do care about Dawn. But I do care about you, and Tara as well. The whelp, well, we'll have to wait and see."
Willow looked up at Tara, "I think I need to take a nap. A nice, long nap."
"W-will you be okay with us doing this here? I mean, the spells and all."
Willow looked at the bowls Tara carried, and the plastic-wrapped herbs within them. "I'll be upstairs in my room. Just come get me when you're done."
---
Tara explained the details, but most of it went over Buffy's head.
"I still don't get it."
"Ok," Tara said as she arranged the ingredients for the spell. "Remember the demon we created when we brought you back?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with this?"
"In order for you to fight it, we had to make it corporeal. I just modified the spell we used then."
She continued her preparations, "What I'll do is cast a spell so I can see the link, and then use the modified spell to make a part of it physical. Then we can literally cut the bond."
Spike spoke up, "I got that part of it, personally I'd prefer to squash the little bugger when you give it a body, but I don't get the part that comes before that."
Tara stopped, and took a deep breath. "Ok, all magic is based around the manipulation of energy. What I'm doing is creating a sort of dead zone, asking the powers to create a shield around us that will draw energy from any spell or magical energy that tries to pass through it. If there is some sort of trigger or alarm, it'll act like a muffler. It won't stop it, but it should draw enough energy from it that it won't be able to get where ever it's supposed to go."
"Sounds like powerful stuff to me. You sure someone didn't give you a shot of confidence while you were out?" Spike leaned back against the wall, smiling appreciatively at the young witch.
"It's not, really," Tara closed her eyes, and asked "Are you both ready?"
"Yes," came the reply from both at once.
"Then step into the circle, and let it be complete."
Tara moved the first of three bowls to the center of the circle, and deftly mixed the ingredients, saying words in a language neither Buffy nor Spike understood. Bluish haze began spreading out from the bowl, and Tara spoke, "North, to south, to west, to east, I invoke thee. Spirits of the elements, Fire to Earth, Air to Water, grant us your protection"
As she finished, the haze solidified, forming a roiling bubble around the three.
"We thank thee for thy blessing"
Tara set aside the first bowl, pulling a smaller one to the center of the circle.
Again, she mixed herbs in the bowl, setting them aflame. "Maat, goddess of justice and truth, she who is the underlying current that connects all things, allow me your sight so that I may work my will."
Tara's eyes glowed briefly, and she blinked, a single tear running down her face. She quickly wiped the tear away, and placed the second bowl to the side.
Pulling the last, and largest, of the three bowls to the center of the circle, She threw various herbs into the bowl. She then poured a dark liquid from a crystal vial over them one drop at a time, speaking a different word with each drop. As the drops touched the mixture in the bowl, it began to smolder, small sparks shooting out, growing in intensity.
"Let that which is the focus of my will take shape, let it fully enter into our realm."
A small, dark blob formed in the air between Buffy and Spike. Both kept their gaze firmly on Tara, as she had instructed them, as it twisted and turned in the air, finally settling into the same form buffy had described.
"Now, Spike!"
Spike's hand shot out, and grabbed the creature out of the air, he squeezed as hard as he could, and the creature screamed in a high pitched voice. Black fluid oozed between his fingers, and both he and Buffy felt the link fall away.
Tara looked at the two of them, and satisfied that the link was severed, spoke one last time, "It is done. Spirits of the elements, again, we thank thee, and beg thee depart."
The bubble around them dispersed, and Tara shook her head, her eyes watering heavily. "Thank you, mother," she said under her breath.
Spike looked around. "You're telling me there wasn't some serious power being played with here?"
Tara rubbed her eyes, and blinked at her friends. "Yes, there was, but I simply directed it. The powers decided whether to answer the call or not." She looked down at the floor, and spoke slowly, "I won't be able to see for a while."
"What?" Spike said loudly. "You didn't tell us about that part of it!"
Buffy placed her hand on Spike's arm, and asked, "How long does it last?"
"Only a few hours. The spell I used allowed me to see with the eyes of a goddess. It'll take me a while to recover from that."
"Are you sure you're ok?"
Tara smiled, "I'm sure."
Buffy glanced at Spike's ichor-stained hand, making a face.
"What? I told you what I'd like to do to the little bastard."
---
They began to clean up the kitchen. Buffy was somewhat dismayed to find that the haze from the shielding spell had left a dusty coating over everything it had touched.
Tara was in the middle of giving Buffy tips on cleaning it up when she screamed and fell to the floor. As she did, the room went completely dark, and Buffy heard Spike exclaim "Bloody hell!"
"Spike, can you hear me?"
"He can hear you, Slayer, but you must listen, as we need to be quick. Our presence pains the witch, and she is vital to the coming battle."
"Then tell us what you need to, and bloody well bugger off!" Spike yelled as he groped through the darkness, trying to find Buffy or Tara. His hands met Buffy's, and he pulled her close to him. She shivered, fully understanding for the first time what it must have been like for Spike, alone, in his crypt, surrounded by this thing.
"We knew that in time you would discover our link, though your solution to it was far more amusing than we anticipated. The link served its purpose, however."
"But you couldn't know. We were protected. Weren't we? And what purpose?"
"The creature you killed is a part of us. A minor part, and it does not diminish us to lose it, but we would have felt it no matter what barriers you placed between us."
"However," it said, it's voice lowering almost imperceptibly, adding a hint of menace, "We do not have time to discuss that. Time is shorter than we thought. Already, it begins to move, and we must be ready to meet it. Others are gathering, across many different realms, preparing for the coming battle, but you, and your friends, play a key role in the most important battle of all."
"One is coming who will explain further. He is our emmissary here. Slayer, know this," the voices took on an almost pleading quality as it spoke, "what comes is beyond evil. It is chaos, destruction, hunger. And when it feeds, all, demon, human, amd vampire will suffer. If we do not defeat it now, it will devour all. All dimensions will be torn apart as it feeds, and nothing will be left. We are evil, but we have a common enemy. Fighting at the side of an enemy is better than extinction."
"Spike, you performed your part better than we expected. We have... respect for you, but make no mistake, if we were not forced by circumstances to come to you, we would destroy you. You are an abomination, a demon who denies what it is, for something as illusory as love. Still, you have a further part to play, and we will speak no more of you."
"The coming chaos is the end, and the beginning. When it has gorged itself, it will die, and from it will be born new realms. But none of us, anywhere, will exist to see it. And it wil leave behind a child. The child will wait, and grow, until it is time for it, too, to feed."
"We must go. Already, the battles have begun, and we must lend our strength. Be ready to do what must be done. Do not fail us."
"Wait," Buffy said, reaching out into the dark as if to hold it. "What are you?"
"We are that which sees through many eyes and speaks through many voices. There are some among you who have knowledge of us, though most only gain that sort of knowledge by... joining us."
With that, the darkness lifted, and Buffy was left shivering in Spike's arms.
As Tara sat up, and looked blankly at them, all three remained silent.
---
Multiple strands of living darkness wrapped themselves around the dimensional walls, creating small fissures, seeking to forces their way inside. As they did, across a hundred dimensions, armies waited, attacking with spells and claws, swords and guns. They fought, using all the skills and technology at their disposal to push back the hungering dark.
The sound of screaming from those that died in that first attack mingled into a single cry that was heard across all dimensions.
And the mind controlling the darkness rejoiced.
NOTES:
Ok, I wrote this in one long rush, I haven't edited it, but I'm so happy with it as it is now, I don't want to muck with it and kill the momentum. The magical bits I gleaned from a quick web search, and are mostly made up, so anyone who is knowledgable about the actual practice, please feel free to e-mail me and rip me apart.