CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Underground Evidence
On Saturday morning Buffy and Spike were up and out early. Their task for the day was to find more evidence about the fires downtown. Since Spike couldn't travel above ground in the sun for long, they moved quickly toward the nearest sewer system. He left the smoking blanket he'd used to cover himself near the entrance so he could use it again on their return trip.
"This tendency of yours to burst into flames is a real bummer," Buffy observed."
"Luv, if I could change it, you know I would."
"So, which way do we go?"
"We take this long tunnel here and follow it for about a mile. Then we take a quick left and then another left. And follow along another tunnel. That should take us under some of those burnt out buildings."
"Let's go to it, then," Buffy said.
Each of them was wearing a belt with several long throwing knives, covered over by their leather coats. The Fire demons were vulnerable to normal weaponry. However, because of their ability to throw fire balls, it was best to stick to long range stuff like cross bows or throwing knives or guns. Buffy had nixed guns. She was afraid if they had a confrontation in the sewer that ricocheting bullets would cause more harm then good. As for cross bows, they were a pain to reload and one shot wasn't likely to take out a Fire demon the way it could a vampire. So they had settled on the knives.
"Remember," Spike said as they stepped between broken bottles and other better unknown objects, "You can tell that a Fire demon is about to throw a fireball because when he brings both hands to his chest. That means he's gathering energy. They always send their biggest ball of fire first. All those after that are smaller in size. They can't send one after the other, because each of them takes a toll on their inner energy supply. The best time to throw a knife is in-between fire balls. Then, when they're wounded, they'll have a hard time rallying enough energy to send another one. Usually then they retreat because they're not good at hand to hand combat. A normal human can easily take one of them down. Actually, a normal human can take down a Shadow too, if he's not dematerializing. That's probably why both those demons tend to stay away from humans. Humans can be really determined buggers when they get going."
"Look, I appreciate the demon lesson," Buffy said. "But don't you think we should be quiet, so we can hear if we're being followed."
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Just wanted to be sure you knew all that."
"I got it. So, let's be quiet now. For a dead guy, you're awfully talkative."
"Was before I was dead too, actually. At least I liked words."
"What were you again before you died?"
Spike shifted his shoulders uneasily. "I was . . . bad. I had me a gang. And I, uh, liked to hear myself talk. And . . . uh, didn't you say you wanted us not to talk."
Buffy nodded her head, not looking at him. Her attention was focused on the flashlight that she was shining ahead of them. After a while they came to the left turn that Spike had mentioned, but didn't come across another left for quite sometime. All the tunnels were on the right.
"Are you sure it wasn't a left and then a right?" Buffy asked with a touch of irritation. The last thing she needed was to get lost down there.
"No, no. It was definitely a left. But I expected to find it long before now. Maybe someone closed it off."
"I didn't see any obvious patching."
"Neither did I," Spike said. He wasn't carrying a flash light because he didn't need one. Vampires didn't need as much light to see by.
Suddenly they heard the splashing of small feet behind them. Buffy and Spike instantly went into defense mode. They stood, shoulders touching on a slant to each other, her on the right and him on the left. This kept each of their preferred hands free and ready for combat.
Buffy held her flashlight in her left hand, beaming toward the direction they'd heard the sound come from. In her right hand she held one of her throwing knives. Spike had a knife in each of his hands.
The splashing continued toward them and a tiny tentative voice said, "Slayer?"
"Who are you?" Buffy demanded.
The furry figure of a Nazari demon stepped into the beam of the flashlight.
"Oh, it's you," Buffy said, "Why are you following us? I told you we'd get back to you when . . ."
"That's not who you think it is, Slayer," Spike broke in.
Buffy looked more carefully at the little demon walking toward them. At first she'd assumed it was the same Nazari they'd been dealing with. But on closer inspection she realized that this one's coat was not as well kept and that his figure was much thinner.
"I am called Swimmer," the Nazari said, folding his paws politely in front of him.
"I'm Spike and this is the Slayer," Spike said, lowering his weapons.
"Yes, I thought it must be you. I heard you were working with the Shadows. I thought you might be coming this way at some point. I've been watching for you. I was afraid you'd miss the turnoff."
"Do you know where it is?" Buffy asked.
"More or less."
"What does that mean?"
"You can't tell it's there by seeing. You have to feel it by touching the wall. I think it's a long way back now."
"You mean it's camouflaged?"
"Yes," Swimmer said with a nod of his furry head. "Only recently. After the fire above I think."
"Thank you very much for your help," Spike said.
"You are welcome. If you need anything, my mate and I live along these tunnels."
"We'll remember that."
Swimmer gave them a quick bow and retreated out of the flashlight beam into one of the tunnels.
"Very hospitable of them, really," Spike said, putting away his knives.
"I thought he was that other Nazari we've been speaking too."
"Not at all. That one's called Speaker. You can tell by how easily he talks. I'll bet he was chosen to contact us for just that reason. The Nazari are a very straight forward people. They name themselves after they reach a certain age. And before that they're called after either one or both of their parents. You know, like son of Speaker, daughter of Swimmer."
"And what about the females? What are they like?"
"They're actually bigger then the males. That way they can give birth to larger offspring. Size counts down here, Slayer. The Nazari are small because their prey is small. But tiny baby Nazari's wouldn't last very long in a place like this. His mate is probably just starting into her nesting period in preparation for the spring."
Buffy let out a small laugh and stuck her knife back in its original place at her waist. "You're just a fountain of demon information, aren't you?"
"Not really. I suspect Anya knows more about demons then I do. She's lived longer and all that. Now, are we gonna find this entrance or what?" Spike moved to the side of the tunnel and started running his hands along it.
"How do you think it's been camouflaged?" Buffy asked, following along.
"By magic I'm sure."
"Do Fire demons do much in the way of magic?"
"Not at all. That's what's so bleedin' funny about it. Most of the subterranean types don't do magic. Probably cos most of `em like to keep to themselves. And them like the Fire demons have their own way of protecting themselves. Ah! Here we are!" Spike stopped at one portion of the wall not far from where the original left turn had been. Buffy aimed her light on the area, but it looked like a solid wall . . . except that Spike's arm seemed to be growing out of it. "It looks like a simple optical illusion. I'll go through first because I can take things in more quickly then your flashlight can." Without waiting for an answer, Spike stepped through the seemingly solid wall and disappeared from Buffy's sight.
"What do you see?"
"Not much," Spike answered. "It's just another tunnel. But we must be close to something. Otherwise they wouldn't bother to put a visual shield here."
Instinctively, Buffy put her right hand back on her knife belt, readying herself for battle.
Spike laughed. "I love it when you strike macho poses like that, Slayer."
"What?"
"I can see you from this side of the illusion. Why don't you walk on through and let's see what's ahead."
Buffy complied. "Pretty neat trick," she said looking back at the spot where she'd just been standing. "Like those mirrors they always have in police stations on television."
"Except you can walk through it."
They continued their way down the tunnel, not noticing the figure tucked into a corner not far from where they'd come in. It was a Fire demon named Ledic. He'd heard the strangers talking to the Nazari. And he realized that Buffy was the Slayer. The little Nazari had said he'd heard they were working with the Shadows? Helping them how? The tall blond man smelled like a vampire. That was strange. A vampire working with the Slayer?
Ledic wondered if this were perhaps a good sign from the gods for his cause. Just when he was looking for an ally, this strange new kind of slayer shows up. Still, he couldn't be certain. He would have to observe them to be absolutely sure. It would be hard to follow them because vampires had very sharp hearing. Too much splashing and he would be discovered. Of course, vampires also had an excellent sense of smell. But in the midst of so many new scents this obvious above-ground dweller, who slicked his hair back so carefully, probably wasn't used to underground scents and wouldn't be able to pick out Ledic's as long as he stayed a good distance away.
Buffy and Spike continued on through the tunnel, totally unaware they were being followed. They reached a spot where there was a metal ladder built into the wall, going upward.
"Well, Slayer," Spike said. "You want to lead? Or should I go first since I don't need the flashlight to see where I'm going?"
"Good point," she said, tucking the light into her coat pocket. Its glow spilled over the area above them, revealing a dripping ceiling covered with mold. "You lead."
Spike climbed up the ladder and pushed open the trap door above it. There was a touch more light on this level. It was the basement of a building, but it was only partially underground. There were two small windows with frosted glass letting in the daylight from outside on either side of a stairwell. Spike wandered away from the trap door while Buffy climbed up and out. He stood perfectly still, listening for any sounds.
"There doesn't seem to be much in the way of fire damage in this building," Buffy whispered.
Spike's answer was a shake of the head. He was still listening. They were in a corridor of some kind and he wondered if the rooms behind the doors further down were empty or not. He couldn't hear anything, but he thought he smelled some sort of living thing, buried under the scent of charred building.
Buffy decided they should take the stairwell up to the next floor. "Spike," she whispered, waving for him to follow.
This next floor up from the basement was at ground level and it was very wide open. It looked like a one-floor warehouse with an exceptionally high ceiling. There were some signs of fire damage, but not much. And there were a lot of windows, letting in more of the noonday sun then Spike cared for. He had to keep mostly to the center of the room so as to stay out of the sun's strong rays.
"Well," Buffy said, "there doesn't appear to be anyone here.
"Keep your voice down, Slayer," Spike commanded with a wave. "We're not likely to meet any Fire demons on this floor. It's such a bright place. But there could be some downstairs. Something smelled funny down there."
"Funny?"
"Yeah. It could just be something that burned. I don't know. But I'd like to keep as quiet as possible. Just whisper. In case of trouble you can always run through that pair of doors there. But I have to go back the way we came. It's too sunny around here for me." He pointed to the bent double doors that looked to be the main entrance. They were chained shut. But neither the chains nor the doors appeared all that sturdy.
It was at this point that Ledic the Fire demon crept up the stairwell to the main floor. Buffy and Spike were too busy talking to notice him. He was able to slip his lean form behind the door leading downstairs so as to remain unseen.
"Look up there." Buffy pointed to the high ceiling. "It looks like most of the lighting fixtures were burned out by these powerful blow torches. See how there are all these lines crisscrossing on the ceiling. I wish we had Xander here. He could tell us if those lights were killed by a manmade invention or not."
"It could have been that new power the Shadows said the Fire demons have. If they can put out jets of fire, they could have stood down here and shot up."
"I really am tempted to break through those doors and see what's outside."
"Why?"
"Most of the buildings that Anya and I saw on this block were in a lot worse shape then this. We probably just didn't notice this place because it was so much shorter then all the others. I'm wondering what the address is. I'd like to be able to come back here above ground again in the day time. And I'd like to ask Willow and the Shadows if there's anything particularly unusual about this building. That optical illusion in the tunnels blocking off the entrance to the tunnel here is very suspicious. If somebody's behind these Fire demons, making them stronger, we need to know as much as possible in order to fight them."
"Yes. That's laudable. But do we have to make a lot of noise?"
"Oh, come on. Don't be a chicken. You're supposed to be the Big Bad!" Buffy put on a husky voice and shifted her shoulders like he did when he walked.
Spike gave her a dirty look. "Yeah. I stand in the sun long enough, I end up as the Big Bad pile of dust."
"Look. Let's see if we can find anything that you could use to cover yourself in case of trouble. Then we can smash down the door." Without waiting for an answer, Buffy started walking the perimeter of the floor. In one of the far corners she found a pile of old furniture blankets. "Hey! What about these? These are pretty heavy." She sniffed one cautiously. "They smell a little funky. But being in a fire will do that to you I guess."
"They're heavier then my usual blanket. All right," Spike said, hoisting up a couple. "Let's break out. It might be better to take a look at the topside while we`re here anyway." Spike tossed the blankets near the door and took his place at Buffy's side.
Ledic, still behind the door to the stairwell, knew well that what they were about to do would bring a small army of Fire demons rushing up from the basement. They were sleeping in rooms at the opposite end of the corridor from the trap door to the tunnels. It occurred to him that the tunnel entrance was still open. He thought he would go there and pretend to come up from the tunnels when the confusion started. Then his people would never know that the strange slayer and her minion knew about that entrance. Quietly, he slipped back downstairs.
"All right," Buffy commanded. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three." And they charged. The first run was more to test the strength of the doors then anything else. It felt as if the door hinges would give way pretty easily. Buffy and Spike exchanged glances. "Again!" she shouted. And they charged. "Again!" she shouted. And the doors came tumbling down, with the chain still intact between them. Buffy stepped out while Spike remained inside on watch. There was a large parking lot outside, probably meant for unloading trucks. On either side of the building was a taller burnt out structure. In big black letters next to the door was the address. It read, "666 Lindemann." Buffy's eyebrows rose up.
"Slayer," Spike said from inside. "It sounds like we've got company." He bent to pick up the furniture blankets and started to throw them around himself.
Buffy stepped back inside in time to get her first real look at a Fire demon. Six very angry looking ones pushed their way into the main room of the warehouse. They were tall and thin like the Shadows, with scaly skin that was tiled in various patterns of orange and gray. They had thin reptilian tongues that snapped out occasionally, testing the air. Their feet and hands had small white claws.
The first demon to see them, touched his hands to his chest and threw them outward.
"Look out!" Spike yelled. He thought the Fire demon was going to shoot out a fireball. But this wasn't quite true. Fire did indeed spring from the demon's hands, but not in the shape of a ball. It was a solid jet of flame that flew out across the room, striking the wall just to the right of Spike. "Run!" Spike yelled, burrowing under his blankets and heading out into the sunlit parking lot.
Buffy didn't need to worry about going up in flames quit as easily as Spike. She paused for a moment to watch the way the demon's jet of fire pummeled its way into the wall. But when two other Fire demons shot out flames as well, she decided it was better to run.
The demons couldn't follow Buffy and Spike out into the sunny parking lot because their skins were not made for the sun.
"Who were they?" one Fire demon asked.
"Thieves," a second answered with confidence. "They pulled down the outside doors to get in. But we scared them away."
"I was in the tunnels," Ledic said coming up behind them.
"Ledic!" the first demon said. "You missed the excitement. We just scared away two human thieves."
"Sounds like fun," Ledic said. "I'm sorry I missed it. I was down in the tunnels hunting for a snack."
"Did you find anything?"
"I had some luck," Ledic said with a flick of his tongue. "Since the Shadows and most of the Nazari are gone, the hunting is better."
"Good, good. Well, the excitement's over. Let's get back to sleep. We can fix those doors after dark."
"Yes," Ledic agreed. And he followed his fellow demons downstairs to their rooms off the corridor.
Underground Evidence
On Saturday morning Buffy and Spike were up and out early. Their task for the day was to find more evidence about the fires downtown. Since Spike couldn't travel above ground in the sun for long, they moved quickly toward the nearest sewer system. He left the smoking blanket he'd used to cover himself near the entrance so he could use it again on their return trip.
"This tendency of yours to burst into flames is a real bummer," Buffy observed."
"Luv, if I could change it, you know I would."
"So, which way do we go?"
"We take this long tunnel here and follow it for about a mile. Then we take a quick left and then another left. And follow along another tunnel. That should take us under some of those burnt out buildings."
"Let's go to it, then," Buffy said.
Each of them was wearing a belt with several long throwing knives, covered over by their leather coats. The Fire demons were vulnerable to normal weaponry. However, because of their ability to throw fire balls, it was best to stick to long range stuff like cross bows or throwing knives or guns. Buffy had nixed guns. She was afraid if they had a confrontation in the sewer that ricocheting bullets would cause more harm then good. As for cross bows, they were a pain to reload and one shot wasn't likely to take out a Fire demon the way it could a vampire. So they had settled on the knives.
"Remember," Spike said as they stepped between broken bottles and other better unknown objects, "You can tell that a Fire demon is about to throw a fireball because when he brings both hands to his chest. That means he's gathering energy. They always send their biggest ball of fire first. All those after that are smaller in size. They can't send one after the other, because each of them takes a toll on their inner energy supply. The best time to throw a knife is in-between fire balls. Then, when they're wounded, they'll have a hard time rallying enough energy to send another one. Usually then they retreat because they're not good at hand to hand combat. A normal human can easily take one of them down. Actually, a normal human can take down a Shadow too, if he's not dematerializing. That's probably why both those demons tend to stay away from humans. Humans can be really determined buggers when they get going."
"Look, I appreciate the demon lesson," Buffy said. "But don't you think we should be quiet, so we can hear if we're being followed."
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Just wanted to be sure you knew all that."
"I got it. So, let's be quiet now. For a dead guy, you're awfully talkative."
"Was before I was dead too, actually. At least I liked words."
"What were you again before you died?"
Spike shifted his shoulders uneasily. "I was . . . bad. I had me a gang. And I, uh, liked to hear myself talk. And . . . uh, didn't you say you wanted us not to talk."
Buffy nodded her head, not looking at him. Her attention was focused on the flashlight that she was shining ahead of them. After a while they came to the left turn that Spike had mentioned, but didn't come across another left for quite sometime. All the tunnels were on the right.
"Are you sure it wasn't a left and then a right?" Buffy asked with a touch of irritation. The last thing she needed was to get lost down there.
"No, no. It was definitely a left. But I expected to find it long before now. Maybe someone closed it off."
"I didn't see any obvious patching."
"Neither did I," Spike said. He wasn't carrying a flash light because he didn't need one. Vampires didn't need as much light to see by.
Suddenly they heard the splashing of small feet behind them. Buffy and Spike instantly went into defense mode. They stood, shoulders touching on a slant to each other, her on the right and him on the left. This kept each of their preferred hands free and ready for combat.
Buffy held her flashlight in her left hand, beaming toward the direction they'd heard the sound come from. In her right hand she held one of her throwing knives. Spike had a knife in each of his hands.
The splashing continued toward them and a tiny tentative voice said, "Slayer?"
"Who are you?" Buffy demanded.
The furry figure of a Nazari demon stepped into the beam of the flashlight.
"Oh, it's you," Buffy said, "Why are you following us? I told you we'd get back to you when . . ."
"That's not who you think it is, Slayer," Spike broke in.
Buffy looked more carefully at the little demon walking toward them. At first she'd assumed it was the same Nazari they'd been dealing with. But on closer inspection she realized that this one's coat was not as well kept and that his figure was much thinner.
"I am called Swimmer," the Nazari said, folding his paws politely in front of him.
"I'm Spike and this is the Slayer," Spike said, lowering his weapons.
"Yes, I thought it must be you. I heard you were working with the Shadows. I thought you might be coming this way at some point. I've been watching for you. I was afraid you'd miss the turnoff."
"Do you know where it is?" Buffy asked.
"More or less."
"What does that mean?"
"You can't tell it's there by seeing. You have to feel it by touching the wall. I think it's a long way back now."
"You mean it's camouflaged?"
"Yes," Swimmer said with a nod of his furry head. "Only recently. After the fire above I think."
"Thank you very much for your help," Spike said.
"You are welcome. If you need anything, my mate and I live along these tunnels."
"We'll remember that."
Swimmer gave them a quick bow and retreated out of the flashlight beam into one of the tunnels.
"Very hospitable of them, really," Spike said, putting away his knives.
"I thought he was that other Nazari we've been speaking too."
"Not at all. That one's called Speaker. You can tell by how easily he talks. I'll bet he was chosen to contact us for just that reason. The Nazari are a very straight forward people. They name themselves after they reach a certain age. And before that they're called after either one or both of their parents. You know, like son of Speaker, daughter of Swimmer."
"And what about the females? What are they like?"
"They're actually bigger then the males. That way they can give birth to larger offspring. Size counts down here, Slayer. The Nazari are small because their prey is small. But tiny baby Nazari's wouldn't last very long in a place like this. His mate is probably just starting into her nesting period in preparation for the spring."
Buffy let out a small laugh and stuck her knife back in its original place at her waist. "You're just a fountain of demon information, aren't you?"
"Not really. I suspect Anya knows more about demons then I do. She's lived longer and all that. Now, are we gonna find this entrance or what?" Spike moved to the side of the tunnel and started running his hands along it.
"How do you think it's been camouflaged?" Buffy asked, following along.
"By magic I'm sure."
"Do Fire demons do much in the way of magic?"
"Not at all. That's what's so bleedin' funny about it. Most of the subterranean types don't do magic. Probably cos most of `em like to keep to themselves. And them like the Fire demons have their own way of protecting themselves. Ah! Here we are!" Spike stopped at one portion of the wall not far from where the original left turn had been. Buffy aimed her light on the area, but it looked like a solid wall . . . except that Spike's arm seemed to be growing out of it. "It looks like a simple optical illusion. I'll go through first because I can take things in more quickly then your flashlight can." Without waiting for an answer, Spike stepped through the seemingly solid wall and disappeared from Buffy's sight.
"What do you see?"
"Not much," Spike answered. "It's just another tunnel. But we must be close to something. Otherwise they wouldn't bother to put a visual shield here."
Instinctively, Buffy put her right hand back on her knife belt, readying herself for battle.
Spike laughed. "I love it when you strike macho poses like that, Slayer."
"What?"
"I can see you from this side of the illusion. Why don't you walk on through and let's see what's ahead."
Buffy complied. "Pretty neat trick," she said looking back at the spot where she'd just been standing. "Like those mirrors they always have in police stations on television."
"Except you can walk through it."
They continued their way down the tunnel, not noticing the figure tucked into a corner not far from where they'd come in. It was a Fire demon named Ledic. He'd heard the strangers talking to the Nazari. And he realized that Buffy was the Slayer. The little Nazari had said he'd heard they were working with the Shadows? Helping them how? The tall blond man smelled like a vampire. That was strange. A vampire working with the Slayer?
Ledic wondered if this were perhaps a good sign from the gods for his cause. Just when he was looking for an ally, this strange new kind of slayer shows up. Still, he couldn't be certain. He would have to observe them to be absolutely sure. It would be hard to follow them because vampires had very sharp hearing. Too much splashing and he would be discovered. Of course, vampires also had an excellent sense of smell. But in the midst of so many new scents this obvious above-ground dweller, who slicked his hair back so carefully, probably wasn't used to underground scents and wouldn't be able to pick out Ledic's as long as he stayed a good distance away.
Buffy and Spike continued on through the tunnel, totally unaware they were being followed. They reached a spot where there was a metal ladder built into the wall, going upward.
"Well, Slayer," Spike said. "You want to lead? Or should I go first since I don't need the flashlight to see where I'm going?"
"Good point," she said, tucking the light into her coat pocket. Its glow spilled over the area above them, revealing a dripping ceiling covered with mold. "You lead."
Spike climbed up the ladder and pushed open the trap door above it. There was a touch more light on this level. It was the basement of a building, but it was only partially underground. There were two small windows with frosted glass letting in the daylight from outside on either side of a stairwell. Spike wandered away from the trap door while Buffy climbed up and out. He stood perfectly still, listening for any sounds.
"There doesn't seem to be much in the way of fire damage in this building," Buffy whispered.
Spike's answer was a shake of the head. He was still listening. They were in a corridor of some kind and he wondered if the rooms behind the doors further down were empty or not. He couldn't hear anything, but he thought he smelled some sort of living thing, buried under the scent of charred building.
Buffy decided they should take the stairwell up to the next floor. "Spike," she whispered, waving for him to follow.
This next floor up from the basement was at ground level and it was very wide open. It looked like a one-floor warehouse with an exceptionally high ceiling. There were some signs of fire damage, but not much. And there were a lot of windows, letting in more of the noonday sun then Spike cared for. He had to keep mostly to the center of the room so as to stay out of the sun's strong rays.
"Well," Buffy said, "there doesn't appear to be anyone here.
"Keep your voice down, Slayer," Spike commanded with a wave. "We're not likely to meet any Fire demons on this floor. It's such a bright place. But there could be some downstairs. Something smelled funny down there."
"Funny?"
"Yeah. It could just be something that burned. I don't know. But I'd like to keep as quiet as possible. Just whisper. In case of trouble you can always run through that pair of doors there. But I have to go back the way we came. It's too sunny around here for me." He pointed to the bent double doors that looked to be the main entrance. They were chained shut. But neither the chains nor the doors appeared all that sturdy.
It was at this point that Ledic the Fire demon crept up the stairwell to the main floor. Buffy and Spike were too busy talking to notice him. He was able to slip his lean form behind the door leading downstairs so as to remain unseen.
"Look up there." Buffy pointed to the high ceiling. "It looks like most of the lighting fixtures were burned out by these powerful blow torches. See how there are all these lines crisscrossing on the ceiling. I wish we had Xander here. He could tell us if those lights were killed by a manmade invention or not."
"It could have been that new power the Shadows said the Fire demons have. If they can put out jets of fire, they could have stood down here and shot up."
"I really am tempted to break through those doors and see what's outside."
"Why?"
"Most of the buildings that Anya and I saw on this block were in a lot worse shape then this. We probably just didn't notice this place because it was so much shorter then all the others. I'm wondering what the address is. I'd like to be able to come back here above ground again in the day time. And I'd like to ask Willow and the Shadows if there's anything particularly unusual about this building. That optical illusion in the tunnels blocking off the entrance to the tunnel here is very suspicious. If somebody's behind these Fire demons, making them stronger, we need to know as much as possible in order to fight them."
"Yes. That's laudable. But do we have to make a lot of noise?"
"Oh, come on. Don't be a chicken. You're supposed to be the Big Bad!" Buffy put on a husky voice and shifted her shoulders like he did when he walked.
Spike gave her a dirty look. "Yeah. I stand in the sun long enough, I end up as the Big Bad pile of dust."
"Look. Let's see if we can find anything that you could use to cover yourself in case of trouble. Then we can smash down the door." Without waiting for an answer, Buffy started walking the perimeter of the floor. In one of the far corners she found a pile of old furniture blankets. "Hey! What about these? These are pretty heavy." She sniffed one cautiously. "They smell a little funky. But being in a fire will do that to you I guess."
"They're heavier then my usual blanket. All right," Spike said, hoisting up a couple. "Let's break out. It might be better to take a look at the topside while we`re here anyway." Spike tossed the blankets near the door and took his place at Buffy's side.
Ledic, still behind the door to the stairwell, knew well that what they were about to do would bring a small army of Fire demons rushing up from the basement. They were sleeping in rooms at the opposite end of the corridor from the trap door to the tunnels. It occurred to him that the tunnel entrance was still open. He thought he would go there and pretend to come up from the tunnels when the confusion started. Then his people would never know that the strange slayer and her minion knew about that entrance. Quietly, he slipped back downstairs.
"All right," Buffy commanded. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three." And they charged. The first run was more to test the strength of the doors then anything else. It felt as if the door hinges would give way pretty easily. Buffy and Spike exchanged glances. "Again!" she shouted. And they charged. "Again!" she shouted. And the doors came tumbling down, with the chain still intact between them. Buffy stepped out while Spike remained inside on watch. There was a large parking lot outside, probably meant for unloading trucks. On either side of the building was a taller burnt out structure. In big black letters next to the door was the address. It read, "666 Lindemann." Buffy's eyebrows rose up.
"Slayer," Spike said from inside. "It sounds like we've got company." He bent to pick up the furniture blankets and started to throw them around himself.
Buffy stepped back inside in time to get her first real look at a Fire demon. Six very angry looking ones pushed their way into the main room of the warehouse. They were tall and thin like the Shadows, with scaly skin that was tiled in various patterns of orange and gray. They had thin reptilian tongues that snapped out occasionally, testing the air. Their feet and hands had small white claws.
The first demon to see them, touched his hands to his chest and threw them outward.
"Look out!" Spike yelled. He thought the Fire demon was going to shoot out a fireball. But this wasn't quite true. Fire did indeed spring from the demon's hands, but not in the shape of a ball. It was a solid jet of flame that flew out across the room, striking the wall just to the right of Spike. "Run!" Spike yelled, burrowing under his blankets and heading out into the sunlit parking lot.
Buffy didn't need to worry about going up in flames quit as easily as Spike. She paused for a moment to watch the way the demon's jet of fire pummeled its way into the wall. But when two other Fire demons shot out flames as well, she decided it was better to run.
The demons couldn't follow Buffy and Spike out into the sunny parking lot because their skins were not made for the sun.
"Who were they?" one Fire demon asked.
"Thieves," a second answered with confidence. "They pulled down the outside doors to get in. But we scared them away."
"I was in the tunnels," Ledic said coming up behind them.
"Ledic!" the first demon said. "You missed the excitement. We just scared away two human thieves."
"Sounds like fun," Ledic said. "I'm sorry I missed it. I was down in the tunnels hunting for a snack."
"Did you find anything?"
"I had some luck," Ledic said with a flick of his tongue. "Since the Shadows and most of the Nazari are gone, the hunting is better."
"Good, good. Well, the excitement's over. Let's get back to sleep. We can fix those doors after dark."
"Yes," Ledic agreed. And he followed his fellow demons downstairs to their rooms off the corridor.