Chapter Fifteen: Beware Faerie Gifts

When Giles and Ethan had finished the uninvite spell and the rest had gathered every weapon they could think of for the battle, Tara made a suggestion. She'd remembered some Faerie stories that she'd heard as a girl. Not the Cinderella kind but myths and legends she'd been told about the actual Fae and their magics. Using a few books in Giles' collection, she'd checked up on a few assumptions and found that her idea might work. When everyone gathered, waiting for night to fall, she had questioned Giles about her idea. When he agreed that it could be done, everyone congratulated Tara on her cleverness and talked amongst themselves as Giles and Ethan implemented Tara's plan. They were done a mere ten minutes before sunset and joined the others in silent waiting.

The start of the battle proved that the Scoobies weren't up against a run-of-the-mill vampire. Gregory had tactical talent and knew strategy well. As soon as the sun's rays were no longer a danger to them, the vampires converged on the Watcher's home from the sewers. Two vampires came up to the door together and tried to enter. Of the original attack group, they were the only two who had survived and so Gregory hoped that they would still be invited. From their faces, it was apparently a nasty shock when they were stopped by the invisible barrier. Unfortunately, Gregory had planned for this. All the vampires surrounded the windows while Gregory's demon allies moved on the door. Not needing an invitation, they quickly gained entrance by the simple expedient of brute force. Lacking the Nathlar's aura abilities however, they could not invite the vampires in and so the fight began to bring Giles outside to Gregory.

Xander and Spike were stationed at the windows. Xander was using a crossbow to shoot at the vampires and Spike had jumped outside and started laying in with a stake and bare hands. He was having the time of his unlife as he dusted the minions. If an enemy came too close to him, Xander nailed them with an arrow.

Buffy was defending the front door and was doing a pretty good job of it. Sure, the demons had broken the door down, but then they had to get past the Slayer and she wasn't letting any one of them by easily. A miniature whirlwind, Buffy attacked with kicks, punches, and an ax that she wielded one-handed and used to good effect, actually beheading two of her opponents.

The two witches and the sorcerer were weaving spells of protection, shields that held back some of the demons from entering, at least until Buffy could deal with them. Giles himself stayed behind the others, playing to Gregory's idea that the Faerie would be hiding from him. But in his palm nestled Tara's plan, which they'd put into action only if necessary. Still, he was also able to assist the battle by weaving several small glamours, mostly on his Slayer, that made her appear slightly out of sync with herself. The demons she fought kept trying to strike her a few centimeters from where she actually stood. She'd dodge and come back with her own swift attacks.

The numbers of the enemy, however, began to take their toll. One of the vampires outside the now-open window threw a rock that hit Willow on the head and knocked her out of the fight. That effectively got rid of Tara too as she knelt to help her girlfriend. The shielding spells lost a great deal of potency with two of the three magic users out of the fight and the demons began edging their way into the room. There were too many now coming in for Buffy to defend against them all and some of them got past her. Xander turned his crossbow on the demons but unlike their vampiric allies, simple wooden bolts did nothing to slow most of them down, though he did drop two of the more human-looking ones.

Being approached by these new demons, Ethan had to switch from defensive magic to offensive, firing off several quick and nasty spells. Unfortunately, this left the front door completely defenseless, instead of just mostly, and Buffy was finally grabbed by three of the strongest demons and held out of the way by the wall. Another demon headed for Xander and, after ducking the boy's swinging crossbow, managed to knock him out of the fight as well.

Spike was kept busy with the vampires outside and couldn't come back in to aid the rest of the Scoobies. Every time he tried to turn, he encountered another minion he hadn't yet killed. "How many of you bloody poufs are there?!" He continued fighting, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside the house.

Ethan hadn't been able to cast spells quick enough and had soon been overpowered. Tara had looked up at his pained cry as he was thrown several feet through the air to land limply on the floor. She started to cast a spell but was cut off halfway through by one of the tide of demons who simply knocked her to the ground with a backhanded slap.

Giles backed up a few steps, his eyes glancing at each of his defenders, now unconscious or occupied. Then he straightened and looked regally at the demons who were now grasping his arms, preparing to drag him out to Gregory. "I will meet him myself, thank you."

The body the demons had grabbed faded away to their shock and the real Rupert Giles, who had cast an utterly complex and lifelike illusion spell, stepped down the stairs from the second floor and made his way outside unaided. There he was met by the diminutive figure of Gregory who, without his demonic face, would have looked incredibly harmless if not for the truly triumphantly evil smile that graced his features.

"Well, Lordling, it seems I have won."

Ri'par inclined his head. "It appears that way."

"Will you forfeit my prize or will I have to take itand you as well?"

Ri'par shook his head, "No. Here, Gregory you are named, here is what you seek." He tossed the object in his hands to the vampire, who easily caught it and held the carved silver armband tightly in his fist. Ri'par smiled and finished, "Here is a gift from the Fae folk."

Gregory's eyes narrowed and he looked at Giles in confusion. The fight between the minions and Spike had died down as they all watched the Master Vampire and the Faerie confront each other. Now the other vampires, who had been smiling at their win, were looking very confused and Spike was grinning, presenting a demented look as he was still in gameface.

Gregory held up the armband so he could look at it more closely and it began to shine with light. The light grew outward until finally, in front of Gregory, was a glowing gateway. He could see nothing beyond the light but the door was pulling him in and he couldn't resist. His eyes grew round in fright and anger as he fought the spell. "What have you done?"

Ri'par smirked, truly looking as the mischievous Faerie at that moment. "Have you never been warned about accepting gifts from Faeries?" Gregory snarled as he was pulled bodily into the portal, his hand still clutching the false armband. When he was all the way through, the light died and the air was as it had been.

Giles shook his head mock-sadly. "It is always true that Faerie gifts are treacherous."

The minions and demons, who had all watched their leader be pulled into another dimension or world, started looking around at each other, wondering what to do now. Due to this, Buffy's three captors were slightly inattentive and she broke free, immediately slaying two of them and starting in on the third. The rest of the attackers took this as a signal and all began running away from the house as fast as possible, breaking off into different directions as they ran. After all, they no longer had Gregory's lair and protection.

Spike walked up to Giles, who quirked an eyebrow at him. Spike grinned and clapped the Watcher on the back. "Guess we showed them not to mess with the Big Bad, eh mate?"