Title: Key To The First
Chapter: Child of… (8/?)
Author: Anna
E-Mail: mostunstableone@aol.com
Rating: PG-13
Website:
Feedback: it would make me a very happy author :)
Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS… if I did, then certain people *cough* would still be alive.
Note: takes place after 'Storyteller'
Dawn pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. In the passenger seat, Andrew clenched his hand around the door handle so hard that his knuckles were white. When the car pulled into the Summers' driveway again, he breathed a sigh of relief. Dawn turned off the car and hurried inside the house.
Upon opening the door, she threw the keys on a nearby table and dashed up the stairs. Andrew crossed the threshold a few seconds later and closed the door behind him. Dawn returned a few minutes later with her backpack slung over one shoulder. Andrew was in the kitchen and took a seat next to Andrew.
Silently, they measured ingredients and put them into Ziploc bags. When they had finished, Dawn put all the bags in her backpack where she had already put some candles. Andrew grabbed the book with the spell in it and grabbed a crossbow out of the weapons chest. Dawn grabbed a few stakes and expertly hid them on her body.
"Oh, I'll be right back." Dawn raced up to Buffy's room. "Where is it? Where is it?" she opened the closet doors and looked around on the floor. "Yes!" she cried as she found her favorite weapon. She trotted back down the stairs, brandishing a wicked sword.
"Do we have everything?" Andrew asked, his hands shaking slightly.
Despite her fear, Dawn looked confident. "Yea. Now we need to get to the tree lot. I know where it is, but um, you can drive this time so I can work on memorizing the spell."
Andrew nodded and took the car keys and followed Dawn out the door once again. While in the car, Dawn gave directions to Andrew as they drove through the night. By light of her flashlight, Dawn scribbled down words in her notebook.
"What are you doing?" Andrew asked as he glanced at her.
"I'm altering the spell. It's gonna be a little bit different than Willow and Tara's."
Ten minutes later the car pulled into the parking lot at the Christmas tree lot. The sign out front had fallen over and there were cracks in the pavement. The whole area was completely dilapidated. As they got out of the car, they looked around.
"So, we're looking for a hole in the ground, right? And that should be the entrance to the First's lair?" Andrew wondered.
Dawn glanced at her watch and noted that it was nine o'clock. Had time sped up? She didn't think it was that late. They only had three hours.
"Yea, Giles said they were walking around and Buffy just fell through the hole." She laughed a little, imagining her sister's face.
There were no trees in sight, just dried grass and weeds. In the dark it was even harder to detect anything. Suddenly Dawn felt the ground give way beneath her and she screamed as she fell through. She fell about ten feet and rolled as she hit the ground. She rubbed her arm as she bent down to recover her lost sword. Okay, it's less funny when it's me that's falling.
"Dawn? Dawn, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Andrew called, carefully leaning over to see her.
"Yea, I'm fine." She looked around, "This is it, the First's lair. Throw my backpack down and then climb down, we don't have much time."
Andrew tossed the bag down and Dawn caught it. She slung it over her shoulder and kept a look out as Andrew clumsily climbed down into the hole. A foot from the ground his foot slipped and he fell to the dirt with a thud. Quickly getting back up, he struggled to regain his dignity.
"Heheh. Those roots sure are tricky." Dawn contained a laugh and suddenly a thought occurred to Andrew. "Maybe they're evil roots."
"Yea, sure." She said, "I think we should go this way."
They traveled down a maze of tunnels, ducking to avoid low hanging roots and rocks that jutted out at weird angles. Andrew kept a trail in his head, remembering their path for when they had to leave.
They came to an open cavern and Dawn immediately noticed the shackles on the wall across from them. She moved closer and noticed the blood stained on the rocks. "Spike." She said, "This is all Spike's blood. When the First had him, I know they tortured him, but… there's so much blood."
Andrew came up behind Dawn and silently took her hand. She smiled at him, and then looked back at the bloodstained rocks.
After a few moments she took a deep breath. "Here is good for the spell." She released Andrew's hand and knelt down on the ground and began unpacking the bag. Andrew helped her and within a few moments they had set up a circle of candles around themselves. Dawn motioned for Andrew to sit.
"So what's my part in this? I'm the-the rutter?" he asked.
"You're the anchor. All you have to do is hold my hands and not leave the circle until the spell is done." She answered.
"Oh. I knew it had something to do with boats."
"Okay, ready?" she asked. Andrew nodded.
Dawn began to chant. "Child of words, hear us now. Child of words, we entreat. With our actions do we call thee, to our voices wilt thou bend…"
A soft laughter interrupted her chanting and Dawn and Andrew looked up. Across the cavern stood the image of Buffy Summers.
"Now, Dawnie. You don't wanna do that."
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, but I hope you all enjoyed it! It's getting closer to the end, so I think there will only be a few more chapters, depending on how creative I get :) And thank you all for the wonderful reviews! As a die-hard Spuffy fan, I just had to add it in the last chapter, but the story's not based around that so don't worry. More D/A fluff to come!
