Title / Prologue
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
Witch's Trial
The Ring of Arinoth Book 1
C. Allen White
Based on the Hit Television Series Created by Joss Whedon
Copyright © 2002, C. Allen White. All Rights Reserved.
This is an original work based on the characters created by Joss Whedon. Use of the characters and situations in this work fall under the "fair use" provisions of U.S. Copyright law provided it is freely distributed.
This work may only be distributed in its current form and with all copyright notices in place. No fee may be charged for this work.
To every generation is given a Slayer, a young woman called to fight the vampires and demons of darkness, and gifted with the strength, speed, and skill to do so. To every Slayer is appointed a Watcher, a keeper of the histories and legends, to train, guide, and ultimately bury her.
In the moment of her death, a new Slayer is called.
Table of Contents
Prologue
1. Combat Magic
2. Secret Operations
3. Rainy Days and Mondays
4. Assembly
5. Amends
6. The Mission
7. Test Preparation
8. Convergence
9. Who's Afraid of Big Bad Spike?
10. The Hit
11. Complications
12. A New Kind of Demon
13. The Amulet
14. Target: Spike
15. The Plan
16. Tensions
17. Infiltration
18. Captives
19. Dark Rescue
20. Who to Trust?
21. The Legend of Arinoth
22. The Confrontation
23. The Escape
24. Showdow
25. Witch's Trial
26. All's Well that Ends
Continuity Note
This story takes place during season five of Buffy, between the episodes Into the Woods and Triangle.
This is not intended to be an Alternate Universe story – every effort has been made to fit it into the television series continuity. Error or omissions affecting continuity are entirely unintentional and can be corrected or explained by the author. This section will be updated with continuity updates.
Continuity Errors and Explanations:
1. Willow and Tara never shared a dorm room.
While Willow and Tara were never shown to be officially assigned to the same room by UC Sunnydale, their relationship and hints in other episodes provide ample evidence that Willow spent a great deal of time (and likely nights) in Tara's room. It is not a stretch to speculate that they acquired things together which would need to be stored in one room or the other. In order to be more correct, the modifier "quasi" has been added to the sentence in chapter 3.
Prologue
"I call upon thee, a single flame, to guard against the night."
No sooner had the soft female voice intoned the words than the wax candle gripped in her hands ignited, seemingly of its own accord. The single point of light cast a small circle of luminescence around the holder. Her face was hidden deep in the shadows of the cowl of the pale blue robe she wore, but the hands that gripped the candle were clearly those of a young woman. She sat at a table, her hands and the candle resting lightly on the crimson velvet cloth that covered it. Small traceries of gold could be just seen in the meager light, but nothing else was visible beyond the small circle the flame cast. All to the left and right was unfathomably dark.
After several heartbeats, a voice to her left spoke. The voice was a rich bass, bringing to mind images of Atlantic islands like Jamaica and the strong, black men who lived there. "I call upon thee, a single flame, to aid me in this fight." Just as with the first, this candle lit itself, casting its light on a pair of strong, ebony hands. And like the female to his right, this man was cloaked in pale blue, with only his hands visible.
To his left, another took up the incantation. "I call upon thee, a single flame, to guide me in the dark." Then spoke four more, each in their turn, clockwise around the table. To burn in me a mark, to arm me with the truth, to let me have the proof, to accomplish so this feat, they spoke one at a time. Around the table, seven pairs of hands were bathed in small pools of light.
There was a longer pause before the eighth member spoke. The voice of the last was strong, but oddly accented. It was at once pleasing and melodious, but also laced with such power that the others trembled at the sound of it. "I call upon thee, a single flame," the voice spoke in a deliberate, measured pace. The whole room seemed to tingle in anticipation of the completion of the spell. His voice rose, louder than the rest, a rumble not unlike thunder, as the final phrase was spoken –
"Let the ring be complete!"
Like the others, his candle sprang to life of its own accord. However, this lasted only a moment. The flame jumped from his candle and raced to the center of the circular table. After, only the briefest moment, the other seven flames leapt from their candles and raced to the table's middle. Colliding, they grew into a cluster of flame about the size and shape of a disembodied heart, and floated in that form just above the surface of the crimson cloth. They burned like this, a hear of flame floating in mid-air, for the space of ten heartbeats. Then, the eighth voice spoke again, a single guttural word, and the heart expanded. It shot out in all directions, passing through those seated around the table, and formed a spherical, flaming enclosure just beyond them.
"The ring is formed once again," the eighth man said to the others, "within this form we have the power to fulfill our mission."
The ritual completed, the candles disappeared from view. The flames surrounding them gave sufficient illumination to see clearly, although everyone settled even further back into the shadows of their hoods. There was some brief shuffling as the members settled in for a lengthier meeting. Finally, the eighth to speak, clearly the leader of the small coven, called them to order.
"What is the status of Eve?" he asked.
The fourth in the circle, a man of middle years to judge by the voice and hands, cleared his throat. "We have moved to take custody of Eve, but an enemy is blocking us through political channels." He was clearly uncomfortable delivering bad news to the group. "We have hoped that perhaps – "
He was cut off by the sharp motion of the leader's hand, an impatient dismissal. "That is enough Number Four," the leader said harshly. He turned instead to the woman on his right. "And what of the pilot project?"
"We have secured access to her and are ready to begin the first phase," she replied confidently. Her position in the circle was earned through delivering on her assignments. This was something the Fourth Speaker would need to learn if he hoped to stay in the ring.
"Excellent," the leader replied. "Perhaps now the best way to test our pilot project would be to remove this political obstacle that is getting in the way of our rescuing Eve, wouldn't you say?"
"A wise choice, Creator of the Circle," the Seventh Speaker relied. "And when we are done with the test, what of the pilot project?"
"She is expendable," the Creator of the Circle replied coldly.
***
Congressman Jackson Greene watched the demon approach him. He looked carefully at the face as it marched into his office and headed towards him, noting every detail. The demon stopped in front of him and waited, its green scales seeming to change color in the fluorescent light. After a moment, Congressman Greene spoke.
"You're looking a little pink in the gills there, Ray. Are you coming down with something?" The Congressman reached his hand out, and the demon handed him the manila file folder he was carrying.
"I think it's all the traveling," the Demon replied. "I always get like this when we fly." He scratched at his gills irritably.
"You should see the family shaman about it," the Congressman relied evenly as he began looking at the contents of the file. Inside were three pieces of paper. The first was a fax bearing only the words, "Beware the Ring of Arinoth," upon it. The second, was a transfer request from a medical clinic in London claiming to have a treatment for certain disorders, and requesting the release of certain prisoners into their custody – prisoners whom they believe suffer from the disorder and can be successfully cured. The last was a four-page brief on certain demonic legends.
"There's nothing new there," the demon volunteered. "I just collected everything we already had and typed up what we'd talked about."
"All right," said the congressman, handing the file back to the demon. "This doesn't look good. For right now, though, let's just keep this under wraps and see if we can't figure out what were up against." He sighed.
"Okay boss. How do you want this filed?" asked the demon.
"Let's put it under 'S' – for 'Slayer.'"
