Chapter 7
[The meadows surrounding a ruined abbey, Southampton]
The ocean waves sprayed up as they clashed against the high cliffs. Gulls squawked as they circled over the rocky shore. The morning fog was beginning to lift. Today would be a beautiful day.
Giles returned to the amphibious landing craft. He was wearing a non- descript olive green uniform. You'll blend in, Melissa had told him. He handed back the rifle to the corporal.
"You don't know how to use a rifle?" the soldier assumed.
"No," Giles replied, "I've used one more times than I dare to remember." These shores reminded him of a rocky beach in the Falklands – twenty years ago. He picked up a small semi-automatic weapon.
This should do, he told himself. But if I know the chairman ... no mortal weapon we possess may be able to stop him. The chairman was a warlock – one of the most powerful in Britain.
He saw a plane high above them. Parachutes began to open and sail down towards the meadow.
Melissa was already half-way up the cliff, dressed in – how typical, Giles smirked – a secret agent black spec-ops jumpsuit.
Giles attached the line to his belt the scaled the cliff. Ready, aye, ready, he muttered to himself.
[A meadow near the abbey, morning]
The watcher Richard, with his nose bandaged, unsheathed his sword, accompanied by a dozen of the chairman's men.
They couldn't pursue that girl with an urn. Mr. Wyndham-Pryce blocked their path.
Wesley clenched his teeth. "You know not what you are doing. Leave, and I'll spare you."
Richard chuckled. "Sorry, lad, you're outnumbered." The other watchers pulled out their guns. "Step aside!"
Wesley stepped forward. "No." He began to charge, wielding his long axe. "No!"
"Kill him!" Richard ordered.
Amy watched as the watchers aimed their guns at Wesley. "Repel," she hushed. The bullets fired and would surely hit their mark in seconds. A blue shockwave rippled from Amy and paused in front of Wesley. The bullets deflected off the shockwave and towards the mob of watchers. Three of thw watchers fell instantly, struck by their own bullets.
"Nice trick," Richard remarked, then swung his sword at Wesley.
"I still have a few to spare," Wesley parried the blow with his axe handle.
Scores of parachutes descended on them. British paratroopers. About a few yards behind the abbey, the chairman arrived with about 50 watchers and henchmen loyal to his cause.
"Fools! They know not what they're about to witness. The dawn of a new age." he mumbled. "Finish them!" The mob pulled out swords, axes, staffs, rifles and sabres. They charged as the paratroopers collided with them. A melee of hand-to-hand combat ensued.
Thomas and a smaller group of watchers broke away from the battle. Another party – led by Giles – tried to outflank them from the cliff to the rear.
"I can hear the battle in the distance." Giles detached his cable.
"I've brought the battle to you!" Thomas yelled and landed a punch squarely into Giles' jaw. Melissa, the MI5 agents and a few soldiers soon found themselves in close-quarters fighting.
Giles and Thomas both pulled out their guns at the same time. "It appears we have a stalemate, Thomas."
"I'm prepared to use this gun. Are you?" Thomas challenged.
Giles looked at the corner of his eye. The chairman was using black magic to attack the larger force of paratroopers, who screamed as their bullets were turned against them. Not again, Giles feared.
He aimed the gun at Thomas' head. "I don't want to use this, Thomas! Not if you don't force me too!! The chairman has misled you. You and the others."
The other watchers looked at each other in confusion. Giles continued. "He means to use the lily not just to overthrow the Queen. He'll use it to find the Holy Grail! Do you think he'll share power with you once he's achieved his ends."
Melissa joined in. "Mr. Giles is right. The chairman cannot be trusted. If you continue this fight, you'll be little more than traitors. Surrender now and no one gets hurt."
Giles lowered his gun. "Drop your gun, Thomas. We're not your enemies." He motioned the others to lower their guns. "Together we can stop the chairman. Thomas, you're an honourable man. I know you are." Giles placed his gun on the ground and extended his hand out. "Don't let the Grail fall into the chairman's hand."
"Drop your guns," Thomas ordered, "Drop them now!"
"Is he telling the truth, Thomas, sir?" One of the watchers asked.
"Yes." Thomas replied. "Rupert Giles may be many things, but he's not a liar." The band of watchers dropped their guns. He walked up to shake Giles' hand.
Then the chairman materialized in murky green fog. "Thomas, you fool! You could have served by my right side." He levitated a sword, and hurled in in the air towards Thomas.
"Nooo!!" Giles tried to push Thomas aside, but it was too late. Thomas gurgled and collapsed on the ground. Melissa's men dashed towards the chairman, but he disappeared in another green fog.
"Rupert," Thomas coughed, "your friends – friends – have the lily. Help them!" Giles nodded. "Rupert ..."
"Yes?!" Rupert clutched Thomas' failing body.
"I'm a good man, right. A good man. God ... save ... England." Then Thomas the Watcher breathed his last.
Giles pulled out his gun. "We end this now .." he commanded, "or die trying!!" The watchers who followed Thomas cheered, picked up their rifles and joined them.
In the main battlefield, the chairman waved his hand, tossing aside whatever soldier tried to block his path. To his right, paratroopers were being blown off their feet by tornado-like winds. Black magic had kept his safe so far. He saw Richard grappling with the traitorous watcher Wyndham- Pryce.
Richard knocked Wesley to the ground and raised his sword for the fatal blow. Wesley swung his axe in one desperate lunge ... and caught Richard on the feet. Richard groaned as his knee buckled. The axe had cut a gash in his calf.
Wesley wiped the blood from a cut on his cheek. "It's over. This mad plan of yours to capture the Grail. You'll never find it without the lily. I know! Without it, the Grail will remain lost. Hidden. It was never yours to claim!!"
The chairman stepped closer. "So you're a student of the Grail legends, too?! Yes, it is over. For you."
He waved his hand, conjuring a green dagger. The dagger zipped through the air, stabbing Wesley in the side.
Amy shrieked. She was physically exhausted. She had cast dozens of spells. Shielding spells. Deflection spells. Even a few healing spells, as the casualties mounted. Still, it was not enough. A pool of blood was forming under Wesley. He would be dead in minutes.
"Stay," Amy whispered, with all her strength. A blue cloud formed over Wesley, suspending time ... and his inevitable death. For the rebel watcher, this fight is over.
I have nothing left to offer, Amy sighed. The cliff was at her back now. She hugged the urn. I'm at the cliff's edge now.
"Nowhere to run, witch." the chairman declared. "If you choose to resist, I will kill you. Your friends are of no use to you. I can sense your confusion. Your fear. I know everything, Amy. I know of the Slayer's schemes. She saw the bigger picture, too."
"She knew nothing about your grail scheme!" Amy objected.
"Did she?! Or was she plotting all along to seize the lily – and its power – for herself?"
Amy looked behind her. Several stories high. If I jumped, it would be certain death. The waves crashed against the jagged rocks below. In the distance, Wesley gasped for breath. Don't do it, Amy. Don't jump. We'll ... find another way.
She looked inside the urn. The white lily with the purple centre was as glorious as ever. A covenant with his brothers, the Latin motto had said. I tried everything. I can't fail. Not now. I will do this. This will be my covenant. My gift.
"If this lily shall be used to do evil, then none shall have it," Amy declared. She dangled one foot over the edge. No, the chairman mouthed. She leaned back – and fell. For what seemed like an eternity, Amy soared in the air like a bird, then plunged towards the rushing surf. She could feel the mist against her skin.
"Blessed be," she hushed, then plunged into the awaiting darkness. Oblivion.
"Such a waste," the chairman cursed, "I guess she trusted the Slayer after all." He walked towards the ruined abbey.
Giles ran to the cliff's edge. He could see nothing. "No further," Giles ordered and pointed his gun at the chairman.
"You won't shoot me," the chairman smiled, "you are like me, Rupert. You thirst for knowledge. Whether you join me or fight me, it matters not. You want to know what I know. That's why you will just let me walk away. Your fighting days are over." The chairman turned his back and strolled away.
Giles saw the fallen soldiers on the battlefield. Their sacrifice will not be in vain. He raised his gun and fired three accurate shots. Two in the chairman's back and one in the back of the head. The chairman struggled to face Giles – perhaps to cast one last spell. But he had dropped his guard. No black magic on earth would save him this time.
"Didn't see that ... coming," he moaned, then died mere yards from the site of the Holy Grail – so the legends claim.
"I thought he was a warlock," Melissa wondered.
"Yes, but he was a man. A man who thought he could defy the heavens," Giles tossed aside his gun. "I'm sure you intelligence types will make all this go away."
"A gun-running scheme gone bad," Melissa nodded, "We already have the clean- up teams in place."
"How nice," Giles shook his head. "I'll leave you to your work." He walked towards Wesley, who was being placed onto a medi-vac chopper.
Melissa stepped in front of him. "We could use your – talents – at MI5." Giles walked away, ignoring the offer. "You were a soldier, once. What of your duty to England?"
Giles looked at the battlefield. At the chairman's corpse. And the rocky cliff to the distance.
"I believe I and my friends have done our duty for today," Giles replied and climbed into the chopper.
Wesley looked at Giles – and wept. Amy kept the urn. At all costs.
[The meadows surrounding a ruined abbey, Southampton]
The ocean waves sprayed up as they clashed against the high cliffs. Gulls squawked as they circled over the rocky shore. The morning fog was beginning to lift. Today would be a beautiful day.
Giles returned to the amphibious landing craft. He was wearing a non- descript olive green uniform. You'll blend in, Melissa had told him. He handed back the rifle to the corporal.
"You don't know how to use a rifle?" the soldier assumed.
"No," Giles replied, "I've used one more times than I dare to remember." These shores reminded him of a rocky beach in the Falklands – twenty years ago. He picked up a small semi-automatic weapon.
This should do, he told himself. But if I know the chairman ... no mortal weapon we possess may be able to stop him. The chairman was a warlock – one of the most powerful in Britain.
He saw a plane high above them. Parachutes began to open and sail down towards the meadow.
Melissa was already half-way up the cliff, dressed in – how typical, Giles smirked – a secret agent black spec-ops jumpsuit.
Giles attached the line to his belt the scaled the cliff. Ready, aye, ready, he muttered to himself.
[A meadow near the abbey, morning]
The watcher Richard, with his nose bandaged, unsheathed his sword, accompanied by a dozen of the chairman's men.
They couldn't pursue that girl with an urn. Mr. Wyndham-Pryce blocked their path.
Wesley clenched his teeth. "You know not what you are doing. Leave, and I'll spare you."
Richard chuckled. "Sorry, lad, you're outnumbered." The other watchers pulled out their guns. "Step aside!"
Wesley stepped forward. "No." He began to charge, wielding his long axe. "No!"
"Kill him!" Richard ordered.
Amy watched as the watchers aimed their guns at Wesley. "Repel," she hushed. The bullets fired and would surely hit their mark in seconds. A blue shockwave rippled from Amy and paused in front of Wesley. The bullets deflected off the shockwave and towards the mob of watchers. Three of thw watchers fell instantly, struck by their own bullets.
"Nice trick," Richard remarked, then swung his sword at Wesley.
"I still have a few to spare," Wesley parried the blow with his axe handle.
Scores of parachutes descended on them. British paratroopers. About a few yards behind the abbey, the chairman arrived with about 50 watchers and henchmen loyal to his cause.
"Fools! They know not what they're about to witness. The dawn of a new age." he mumbled. "Finish them!" The mob pulled out swords, axes, staffs, rifles and sabres. They charged as the paratroopers collided with them. A melee of hand-to-hand combat ensued.
Thomas and a smaller group of watchers broke away from the battle. Another party – led by Giles – tried to outflank them from the cliff to the rear.
"I can hear the battle in the distance." Giles detached his cable.
"I've brought the battle to you!" Thomas yelled and landed a punch squarely into Giles' jaw. Melissa, the MI5 agents and a few soldiers soon found themselves in close-quarters fighting.
Giles and Thomas both pulled out their guns at the same time. "It appears we have a stalemate, Thomas."
"I'm prepared to use this gun. Are you?" Thomas challenged.
Giles looked at the corner of his eye. The chairman was using black magic to attack the larger force of paratroopers, who screamed as their bullets were turned against them. Not again, Giles feared.
He aimed the gun at Thomas' head. "I don't want to use this, Thomas! Not if you don't force me too!! The chairman has misled you. You and the others."
The other watchers looked at each other in confusion. Giles continued. "He means to use the lily not just to overthrow the Queen. He'll use it to find the Holy Grail! Do you think he'll share power with you once he's achieved his ends."
Melissa joined in. "Mr. Giles is right. The chairman cannot be trusted. If you continue this fight, you'll be little more than traitors. Surrender now and no one gets hurt."
Giles lowered his gun. "Drop your gun, Thomas. We're not your enemies." He motioned the others to lower their guns. "Together we can stop the chairman. Thomas, you're an honourable man. I know you are." Giles placed his gun on the ground and extended his hand out. "Don't let the Grail fall into the chairman's hand."
"Drop your guns," Thomas ordered, "Drop them now!"
"Is he telling the truth, Thomas, sir?" One of the watchers asked.
"Yes." Thomas replied. "Rupert Giles may be many things, but he's not a liar." The band of watchers dropped their guns. He walked up to shake Giles' hand.
Then the chairman materialized in murky green fog. "Thomas, you fool! You could have served by my right side." He levitated a sword, and hurled in in the air towards Thomas.
"Nooo!!" Giles tried to push Thomas aside, but it was too late. Thomas gurgled and collapsed on the ground. Melissa's men dashed towards the chairman, but he disappeared in another green fog.
"Rupert," Thomas coughed, "your friends – friends – have the lily. Help them!" Giles nodded. "Rupert ..."
"Yes?!" Rupert clutched Thomas' failing body.
"I'm a good man, right. A good man. God ... save ... England." Then Thomas the Watcher breathed his last.
Giles pulled out his gun. "We end this now .." he commanded, "or die trying!!" The watchers who followed Thomas cheered, picked up their rifles and joined them.
In the main battlefield, the chairman waved his hand, tossing aside whatever soldier tried to block his path. To his right, paratroopers were being blown off their feet by tornado-like winds. Black magic had kept his safe so far. He saw Richard grappling with the traitorous watcher Wyndham- Pryce.
Richard knocked Wesley to the ground and raised his sword for the fatal blow. Wesley swung his axe in one desperate lunge ... and caught Richard on the feet. Richard groaned as his knee buckled. The axe had cut a gash in his calf.
Wesley wiped the blood from a cut on his cheek. "It's over. This mad plan of yours to capture the Grail. You'll never find it without the lily. I know! Without it, the Grail will remain lost. Hidden. It was never yours to claim!!"
The chairman stepped closer. "So you're a student of the Grail legends, too?! Yes, it is over. For you."
He waved his hand, conjuring a green dagger. The dagger zipped through the air, stabbing Wesley in the side.
Amy shrieked. She was physically exhausted. She had cast dozens of spells. Shielding spells. Deflection spells. Even a few healing spells, as the casualties mounted. Still, it was not enough. A pool of blood was forming under Wesley. He would be dead in minutes.
"Stay," Amy whispered, with all her strength. A blue cloud formed over Wesley, suspending time ... and his inevitable death. For the rebel watcher, this fight is over.
I have nothing left to offer, Amy sighed. The cliff was at her back now. She hugged the urn. I'm at the cliff's edge now.
"Nowhere to run, witch." the chairman declared. "If you choose to resist, I will kill you. Your friends are of no use to you. I can sense your confusion. Your fear. I know everything, Amy. I know of the Slayer's schemes. She saw the bigger picture, too."
"She knew nothing about your grail scheme!" Amy objected.
"Did she?! Or was she plotting all along to seize the lily – and its power – for herself?"
Amy looked behind her. Several stories high. If I jumped, it would be certain death. The waves crashed against the jagged rocks below. In the distance, Wesley gasped for breath. Don't do it, Amy. Don't jump. We'll ... find another way.
She looked inside the urn. The white lily with the purple centre was as glorious as ever. A covenant with his brothers, the Latin motto had said. I tried everything. I can't fail. Not now. I will do this. This will be my covenant. My gift.
"If this lily shall be used to do evil, then none shall have it," Amy declared. She dangled one foot over the edge. No, the chairman mouthed. She leaned back – and fell. For what seemed like an eternity, Amy soared in the air like a bird, then plunged towards the rushing surf. She could feel the mist against her skin.
"Blessed be," she hushed, then plunged into the awaiting darkness. Oblivion.
"Such a waste," the chairman cursed, "I guess she trusted the Slayer after all." He walked towards the ruined abbey.
Giles ran to the cliff's edge. He could see nothing. "No further," Giles ordered and pointed his gun at the chairman.
"You won't shoot me," the chairman smiled, "you are like me, Rupert. You thirst for knowledge. Whether you join me or fight me, it matters not. You want to know what I know. That's why you will just let me walk away. Your fighting days are over." The chairman turned his back and strolled away.
Giles saw the fallen soldiers on the battlefield. Their sacrifice will not be in vain. He raised his gun and fired three accurate shots. Two in the chairman's back and one in the back of the head. The chairman struggled to face Giles – perhaps to cast one last spell. But he had dropped his guard. No black magic on earth would save him this time.
"Didn't see that ... coming," he moaned, then died mere yards from the site of the Holy Grail – so the legends claim.
"I thought he was a warlock," Melissa wondered.
"Yes, but he was a man. A man who thought he could defy the heavens," Giles tossed aside his gun. "I'm sure you intelligence types will make all this go away."
"A gun-running scheme gone bad," Melissa nodded, "We already have the clean- up teams in place."
"How nice," Giles shook his head. "I'll leave you to your work." He walked towards Wesley, who was being placed onto a medi-vac chopper.
Melissa stepped in front of him. "We could use your – talents – at MI5." Giles walked away, ignoring the offer. "You were a soldier, once. What of your duty to England?"
Giles looked at the battlefield. At the chairman's corpse. And the rocky cliff to the distance.
"I believe I and my friends have done our duty for today," Giles replied and climbed into the chopper.
Wesley looked at Giles – and wept. Amy kept the urn. At all costs.