Chapter Fourteen

Spread Your Wings

The stars shone in the sky over the dull desert sands, thin wisps of cloud sliding silently across the heavens. A low mournful wind scoured its way across the dunes, whipping up great clouds of sand as it moved across the desert, rustling the hair of the two girls that stood at the base of the huge sandstone pyramid that tapered up into the dark night sky.

Faith glanced up as the wind whistled shrilly at her, disturbing the two birds that perched on her shoulders. The raven let out a loud call in challenge to the swirling desert winds.

"A storm is coming." She said flatly. The small blonde girl at her side nodded.

"A big one." Buffy said.

"Do you think he knows?" Faith asked.

"He's inside." Said Buffy, looking straight at the pyramid. "I'd be more worried about us. We need shelter." The shaggy cat on the small Slayer's shoulders licked its lips hungrily at the sight of the birds on Faith's shoulders. Faith reached up and stroked absently at the feathers of the dove, trying to calm it as it shifted uneasily.

The two girls continued to search along the sides of the pyramid, the distant winds and swirling sands drawing ever nearer. While Faith felt along the pyramid's rough stone walls, Buffy stood, her eyes watching the distant dunes in absolute silence.

"We're not going to make it." She said finally.

"We will if you help." Faith replied, her fingers following the joints in the stonework.

"I can't help." She said, her voice low and sad. "You need to spread your wings Faith."

"I don't know how." Faith said. Buffy turned to face her. Behind her the raging wind burst over the brow of the dune, carrying the raging desert sands with it. It howled down the valley so fast, Faith could almost swear it was alive and with a single-minded intent. Her eyes flickered to Buffy again. The small blonde Slayer had sprouted a pair of angelic white wings. She gave Faith a sad smile.

"You know everything you need to." She beat her wings and lifted into the air, soaring quickly away from the approaching sandstorm.

"Spread your wings Faith." She said one last time as she disappeared.

The storm howled in rage as one of its victims escaped its grasp. Faith turned and pounded hard on the walls of the pyramid, desperately searching for an entrance. One of the stones let out a tired sounding groan and vanished into the wall, leaving a yawning black gap in front of her. Without pausing, Faith threw herself into the hole, tucking and rolling as she hit the dusty dry floor beyond. Behind her the storm hurled itself ferociously against the walls and she felt the building shudder as the wind and sand ripped away at it.

Slowly she clambered to her feet and began to observe her surroundings. The pyramid was poorly lit with only a few rays of light sprinkling through gaps in the stone. The darkness was pervasive, creeping into her, dirtying her almost as if it were tainting her soul.

"Are you there?" She asked. There was nothing but the sound of the howling wind. A thin hallway linked into this one large chamber, spiralling up out of sight into the gloom, the flickering light of torches causing shadows to flicker and whirl along the uneven walls. Cautiously she made her way down the corridor, groping gently at its walls as she went. The rough-hewn stone scraped uncomfortably beneath her fingertips while the pyramid continued to quake gently under the force of the storm.

"Please answer me!" she shouted into the darkness. Again, there was no answer, save the wind. The corridor continued to spiral up and up, seemingly endless as she tramped tiredly between its walls. Finally after what she was sure was almost an eternity, she emerged into a columned chamber full of carved stone pillars that stretched to the slanted ceiling above. At the distant end of the room was a high backed throne and in it sat King. A large lion lay lazily at his feet, its mouth opening in a cavernous yawn that displayed its glistening white teeth.

"You shouldn't be here." He said simply. "The storm is coming for me."

"You need help." Said Faith walking toward him. The dove and raven on her shoulders began to rustle their feathers uneasily. Outside the storm roared louder, a bellow of pure rage that tore a stone from the wall, letting the sand hurl itself inside. It whipped through the air, scraping viciously at her skin as she moved.

"Please!" said Faith desperately, "It can't have you! We need to leave now!" King regarded her quietly for a moment as she moved toward him, his eyes gradually moistening.

"I wish I could come with you." He said finally. "But the storm wants me, and I can't disappoint it." As if in answer, the wind ripped a hole in the wall and the air filled with the howling wail of a banshee.

"But I can't leave you!" Faith yelled over the noise. "I need you with me!" King clambered to his feet and glared at her.

"You don't need me!" he snapped harshly. "You have everything you need. Now spread your wings and FLY!"

"But the storm…"

"You know how to stop it." He hissed. The ceiling was torn away with a final roar of air and sand.

"THERE IS NO MORE TIME!" King roared over the wind. "FLY!" and suddenly Faith was flying, large feathery wings riding the air and carrying her higher. The raven on her shoulder let out a shriek of fury and disappointment, lifting off her shoulders in a flurry of feathers and hurling itself into the wind. She looked down to see King watching her.

"FLY!" He yelled at her, as the storm lashed at him, scattering him as dust upon the air. "FLY!" he yelled one last time. Faith felt a lone tear roll down her face, as she soared ever higher. With a final flourish her new pair of wings beat strongly against the wind and carried her toward the heavens.

*****

Faith's eyes fluttered open, the dream still fresh in her mind. All she could see was a harsh white glow from a lamp overhead, and the steady monotone beep of a heart monitor. She frowned. This was a hospital? Why was she in a hospital? What had happened to her? Nervously she glanced through a glass window that stared out into the hall, where she had spied a calendar. She gave a mental sigh of relief when she saw the date. No comas this time thank god.

Cautiously she tried to move and winced as a sharp pain shot through her. Her side hurt like hell. Slowly the memories trickled back to her. Wolfram & Hart, King Shinji, rescuing Buffy, getting stabbed in the side, all of them as clear as day. She tried to move again, more carefully this time, and was relieved when her side only throbbed angrily at her.

"Faith?" the voice sounded concerned. Gingerly she sat upright, ignoring the pain in her side and turned to face the speaker. Angel was sat in a nearby chair, the remains of a Styrofoam cup of coffee crumpled nervously between his fingers. He looked tense. Faith frowned again. Angel was never tense.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Faith gave him a weak grin.

"Not exactly five by five, but I'll manage." She glanced around, getting a better look at her surroundings. This hospital was a hell of a lot nicer than the dreary one she'd ended up in back at Sunnydale.

"How did I get here?" she asked. "What happened to the others?" Angel seemed to tense up even more at that.

"Shinji managed to stab you with his sword. When you went down, King fought his way over to you and pulled Buffy down, before picking you up and we made our escape." Faith eyed him suspiciously. He wasn't telling her something, something bad from the looks of him.

"Angel." She said levelly. His answer was no more than a stare. "Where's King?" she asked. Angel gave a long defeated sigh.

"I'd better get Buffy." He said, rising out of his seat. "There are some things we need to talk about."

*****

Buffy woke from her slumber to find she was slumped uncomfortably in the hospital waiting room's lumpy couch. Scrubbing sleep from her eyes she tried to recall the dream that was already fading from her mind. It had been crazy; that was one thing she remembered.

"Here." Said Xander, where he sat next to her. She thanked him as he handed her a cup of coffee, despite the fact it was stone cold.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked. Xander shrugged.

"One hour, maybe an hour and a half. I'm not really sure." Buffy nodded.

"What are we going to do Buffy?"

"Huh?" she grunted, momentarily blindsided by the question. Then she understood and let out a long sigh.

"I don't know." She admitted. Despite everything he had done to her, she had to admit feeling a tinge of pity for King. The vampire she'd seen in the hospital room, watching over Faith as if his life depended on hers had been a far cry from the brutal creature she remembered. Of course the soul they'd given him had something to do with that, but she couldn't help feeling that there was something more behind this change in him. It had hurt her more than she'd let on to tell him what she thought of this thing between Faith and he. She knew the look in his eyes, because she'd seen it dozens of times in Angel's. She'd had to tell him though. It was no use pretending that anything could be different between Faith and King than it could've been between her and Angel. Or was she just trying to make herself believe that? Was she so bitter against Faith that she hadn't even allowed the possibility that things could be different here into her mind?

She gave a quiet moan of frustration. It was all so hard these days. She'd liked it when it had been nice and simple, black and white, chapter and verse. These constant shades of grey were confusing and more importantly, tiring. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't felt weary with it all, but she knew there had been times when she hadn't felt this way. They were the times she'd patrolled with Faith. Faith had always been livelier, revelling in her role as the Slayer, loving the power of it, but where had been the responsibility? The Slayer wasn't all about being able to bench press a Buick and reflexes that would make a cat green with envy. It was about saving people's lives and fighting the good fight. It was about responsibility. Surely there was a way to balance it all. She just had to find that way.

"Look's like Faith's awake." Said Xander next to her. Buffy looked up to see Angel striding hurriedly down the hallway toward them.

*****

King awoke from the dream to find the immaculate furnishings of the office staring back at him, the scent of fresh wood polish filling his nostrils. The blinds behind him were opened revealing the full moon rising gradually up from behind the cities towering skyscrapers, each one glistening with row upon row of lights. It was an amazing place when you looked at it, this jungle of steel and glass. Never in his long life had he ever imagined that places like this would ever exist, but then, they were no more magnificent than any of the other things he'd seen in his time on this world. He'd seen the pyramids and stood at the feet of the Colossus. He'd watched as Roman Empire spread across the known world and drank deeply as the streets of Paris ran red during the French Revolution. He'd seen so much and now that he looked back at it, he realised how little it had all meant to him. The years had drifted by one after the other until they'd blended together. He no longer cared what year it was or what would come next, because like everything else, it would fade away and vanish into the dust.

The only world he'd ever cared about had been dead for a long time, the world of his life and the love he'd lost to it. How could he ever have done what he did? How could he ever have thought this was what she wanted? To see him going round and round in time, watching as the world rolled past him, stood upon it, but never part of it.

"Egypt." He said softly, remembering the land he'd called home for so long. He hadn't been born there, but the only things that had ever meant anything to him had been there. He remembered the night he'd left, when the fearful people of the city had stormed his former master's pyramid, forcing the creature that haunted that crypt out into the desert. He'd nearly died that night, and it was then that he'd decided that vampires were superior to humans. They may have beaten him had he stayed, but he would have taken untold numbers with him. He'd never realised before then just how fast he'd become, or just how strong. It was then he'd realised that humans were nothing to him anymore, nothing more than food for the creature at the top of the food chain. So why was he so confused now? Human's meant nothing to him, never had, but there was one human who did. A young girl lying asleep in an uncomfortable bed, a gaping hole in her side thanks to a vampire.

He glanced down at robes he was wearing, soft and silken, and layered with esoteric symbols written in a language that was never meant to have been spoken by human tongues. He remembered its harshness, remembered the violence inherent in it. That was his world now, and was all his world had ever been. This reminiscing over his long lost humanity was pointless. He knew what he was and it wasn't human.

Slowly he span in the chair to stare out of the window over the city that seemed to stretch on forever. He just hoped Faith saw it his way.