In agony, he crawled over to Claire who appeared to be aware of nothing but
the pain. Looking around, he saw the other vampires were in a catatonic
state.
Only Claire was suffering the severe penalty for her crime. Angel knelt
beside her and took her in his arms. Enfi looked at him sharply. "Do not!"
she shouted hoarsly. "Or risk her sentence."
Claire was still screaming, piercing wails that only added to Angel's discomfiture. Taking her body in his arms, he tried to lift her but was stopped by an unseen force. It was like fighting an invisble brick wall. He struggled to get to her, to comfort her but they wouldn't allow it.
"Angel." A strangled voice called. He looked up to Enfi staring at him, not without sympathy. "Please. Let her be."
"I can't!!" he pleaded. "Enfi, release her!"
She merely stared at him.
"Please!!" He screamed at her. The noise was driving him mad, and Claire's agony was his own. His own transformed face was wet with tears, not of his own physical pain, but in heartbreak over seeing his sweet Claire suffer.
"Enfi!" A new voice called over the roar.
"What's going on?" Wesley and Cordelia took in the scene before them. The room before them was eerily silent except for Claire's wails and Angel's impassioned pleas.
Human ears could not hear the Ta-Ley voices. It was not meant for them to hear.
Suddenly, Claire's cry was chopped off. Limply, her body fell towards the floor, but Angel caught her. The wall was gone. The noise was gone. The unconscious vampires exploded into dust, startling Angel and the two humans. He clutched Claire desperately.
"NO please!" He begged. Half expecting, wholey dreading Claire's death.
Enfi ignored him. The Ta-Ley were focused on Tnar who appeared to have fainted.
While they were distracted, Angel gathered Claire in his arms and started toward the doorway. Wesley and Cordelia seeing his goal, headed back in to the tunnel. The door slammed shut behind them before Angel could reach it. He heard them banging on it, trying to open it. He didn't have to turn around to know who had shut the door.
"Put her down." The voice was quite clear and quite strong. Tnar.
Angel turned but didn't obey.
"Open that door." He demanded. Tnar merely looked at him. "NO."
Angel avoided his gaze. Tnar's laughter echoed through the room. "Do you think simply avoided my eyes affects anything."
Angel glared at him, meeting his eyes delibratly.
"I may look young, but let's not forget that I'm 400 years old. Older than even you, Angelus."
Seeing Angel's surprise, he smiled broadly. "Oh yes, Angelus, I know about you. Claire and I had quite an interesting chat."
But his mirth quickly disappeared. "Now put her down. Don't toy with me or I'll destroy you both." He said coldly. Angel believed that Tnar could and would make good on that threat.
"Tnar, She.." His voice trailed off. "Yes, even you, her lover, cannot justify her actions."
"And who are you to be her judge?" Angel fired back, knowing the weak argument he presented.
Tnar scowled. "I am the one who has spent my half my life running from her. I am the one who was hunted down and captured to be her pawn. I am the one who was to be her slave while she tried to control the world. The Ta-Ley are not a violent people but even we have our limits. And she enslaved my loved ones, my family, my wife. I am the One. She violated their rest, destroyed their burial plots, and forced tehm to use their talents for evil."
Angel knew there was nothing to say in Claire's defense. But he had to try.
"You would have your revenge for your loved ones by taking my loved one. How is that anybetter than what she did to you?"
Tnar paused. " You love this creature?"
Now it was Angel's turn to pause. His life, and Claire's had taken vastly different roads. But he believed that she was still the person he had once known and loved.
"Yes. I do. I had.I had hoped for her to be my wife one day, before she was taken from me and turned into what she is now."
Tnar considered this for a moment. Genuine empathy radiated from him but Angel could feel it wasn't enough.
"I'm sorry." Tnar said. Though Angel knew he meant it, it wasn't enough.
"Put her down. We are not finished with her. You may stay with her until her end if you wish."
"NO!" Angel roared, suddenly rushing Tnar and slamming him to the ground.
The swarming noise started again, rendering Angel incapable of thought. He felt himself letting go of Tnar's neck. Even as he fought for control, he felt it slipping away.
"I understand your pain. " Tnar said, once they were both once again upright.
The other Ta-Ley looked ready to strike Angel, but they made no move toward him. "Will you stay or will you leave?" He asked.
Angel turned to Enfi desperately. "Please. I was on your side. Cordelia, and Wesely, and I helped you!"
Enfi studied him for a moment then turned to Tnar. Silent communication passed between them for an interminable moment. "Would you wish to say good-bye?" Tnar asked.
Angel nodded vigorously. "Yes." Anything to buy some time.
"Very well." Tnar nodded sharply and they withdrew to the other side of the room. They could still hear and see all that happened but it gave an illusion of privacy.
Claire stirred, cradling her head. "Liam?" She whispered.
"I'm here." He said. He sat her down, and she leaned on him for support.
"I.I'm so weak. What's going on? One minute, Tnar was sitting over there."She pointed to the green sofa, "And the next moment, he was over there." She indicated the place he had been just moments before. "And now he's over there." She gestured to where he stood, watching. "My brain feels funny.I can't think.." She said faintly.
"shhh.It's okay."
"No, No it's not okay Liam! They were sending thoughts to me. So many thoughts, I couldn't understand them all, couldn't think. So loud." Her voice wandered off.
Angel wanted to make a run for the door but knew he'd never make it. With their psychic force, they were unstoppable.
"Claire," he whispered, leaning in close to her ear. "Do you know how to send the Ta-Ley back?"
She nodded. Putting her head on his shoulder in an embrace, she whispered
"Tnar is the focal point. When the Ta-Ley are communing, using their power, Tnar becomes vulnerable, weak. Without the One, they can't sustain the communing. They'll die. Even the dead." Her eyes rolled back up into her head.
"Claire!" he whispered vehemently, shaking her.
She came around slowly.
"Claire, don't leave me!" he begged. "Fight! You wre always such a fighter."
Claire managed a weak smile. "You noticed."
"OF course I noticed."
"Tell me Liam." She cried softly.
"What?"
"Tell me what you said to my papa was.wasn't t..true?" She was having difficulty with her speech now.
"It's wasn't true Claire. I was trying to protect you."
"You were?" she chuckled. "Liam being noble? How about that?"
He stroked her face, noticing that her face had at sometime reverted to its human likeness. She was so beautiful, like a porcelain doll. She put a hand to his face. "I love you, Liam."
"I'll save you this time Claire. I won't let them take you from me." He started to rise, but she stopped him.
"Liam, I.I don't blame you for..anything."
He quieted her. "Save your strength. "When the focus is right.." She whispered.
"Enough!!" Tnar shouted. "Step away."
Angel let her go, and she let him. He would need room to maneuver.
The whispering began like a babbling brook, it built quickly becoming an ocean of voices, becoming a hurricane, the force grew stronger, and Claire clutched her head. Wailing, she cried out for him, the pain making her lose all sense of the plan. Now, she just wanted him to hold her, comfort her. Why wouldn't he come to her!?
Angel was torn between waiting and going to her but if he wanted to save her.. He tried to tune out her cries but each resonated deep inside him. He watched Tnar's eyes begin to flutter, he was becoming weak, in perfect alignment with the Ta-ley. The moment was coming. Angel had to time it right. The noise drove him to his knees but he began the crawl over to Tnar. He wanted to move slowly to avoid notice, the throbbing in his head made that an easy task.
"Liam!! Please help me!" Claire howled but Angel continued his tortuous crawl. He waited, waited, almost.
Tnar felt himself being lifted up high into communion. He was overlooking the void of the mind. The abyss of thoughts from which there was no return. The Ta-Ley were everywhere. Lending him their support, he took their power and focused it upon the creature, the creature called Claire. All the emotions were directed through him to her thoughts, the rage of the Secret war where the Ta-Ley had murdered thousands psychically, the shock and loathing as they sought peace and serenity afterwards, taking an oath of non-violence. Fear, the terrible fear of being hunted, being slaughtered, the pain of death, It all rushed through Tnar, draining him as it took all his will to force it onto Claire. It did not take this much to control the undead, but the Ta-Ley weren't after Claire obedience, they were after her death. A simple stake would not suffice, she must suffer.As the Ta-Ley had suffered at her hand. The fear, and pain were channeled to her and she screamed the screams of the Ta-Ley through the centuries. He could feel Claire's essence ebbing. It was time. Tnar soared above the psychic precipice.
NOW!! Tnar began sending the death thoughts.
NOW!! Angel rushed the young yet old body, tackling him.
Claire quieted.
Tnar screamed.
Claire sobbed.
Tnar was knocked backwards.
Angel delivered the blow.
Startled, Tnar's contact was severed sharply. At such a high point, and without the support of the Ta-Ley, Tnar began to fall. Before he could recover, he fell into the terrifying blackness of the abyss. He felt the Ta- Ley struggling to catch him, but it was too late. Tnar was gone.
Enfi screamed a ear splitting shriek and lunged herself at Angel. As her body landed on his, he twisted, sending her sailing across the room. It vanished in mid-air. He turned, prepared to meet the other Ta-Ley but the room was empty. Cordelia and Wesley tumbled into the room after the door they had been pushing against opened. Angel wasted know time in going to Claire's side. Her still form wrenched his gut. Had he been too late? He knelt beside her but couldn't check for a pulse or breathing. Claire was, in point of fact, dead. But was she still un-dead? Angel wanted to assume that the lack of ashes meant affirmative but after what he'd just witnessed, he couldn't be sure.
Claire was still screaming, piercing wails that only added to Angel's discomfiture. Taking her body in his arms, he tried to lift her but was stopped by an unseen force. It was like fighting an invisble brick wall. He struggled to get to her, to comfort her but they wouldn't allow it.
"Angel." A strangled voice called. He looked up to Enfi staring at him, not without sympathy. "Please. Let her be."
"I can't!!" he pleaded. "Enfi, release her!"
She merely stared at him.
"Please!!" He screamed at her. The noise was driving him mad, and Claire's agony was his own. His own transformed face was wet with tears, not of his own physical pain, but in heartbreak over seeing his sweet Claire suffer.
"Enfi!" A new voice called over the roar.
"What's going on?" Wesley and Cordelia took in the scene before them. The room before them was eerily silent except for Claire's wails and Angel's impassioned pleas.
Human ears could not hear the Ta-Ley voices. It was not meant for them to hear.
Suddenly, Claire's cry was chopped off. Limply, her body fell towards the floor, but Angel caught her. The wall was gone. The noise was gone. The unconscious vampires exploded into dust, startling Angel and the two humans. He clutched Claire desperately.
"NO please!" He begged. Half expecting, wholey dreading Claire's death.
Enfi ignored him. The Ta-Ley were focused on Tnar who appeared to have fainted.
While they were distracted, Angel gathered Claire in his arms and started toward the doorway. Wesley and Cordelia seeing his goal, headed back in to the tunnel. The door slammed shut behind them before Angel could reach it. He heard them banging on it, trying to open it. He didn't have to turn around to know who had shut the door.
"Put her down." The voice was quite clear and quite strong. Tnar.
Angel turned but didn't obey.
"Open that door." He demanded. Tnar merely looked at him. "NO."
Angel avoided his gaze. Tnar's laughter echoed through the room. "Do you think simply avoided my eyes affects anything."
Angel glared at him, meeting his eyes delibratly.
"I may look young, but let's not forget that I'm 400 years old. Older than even you, Angelus."
Seeing Angel's surprise, he smiled broadly. "Oh yes, Angelus, I know about you. Claire and I had quite an interesting chat."
But his mirth quickly disappeared. "Now put her down. Don't toy with me or I'll destroy you both." He said coldly. Angel believed that Tnar could and would make good on that threat.
"Tnar, She.." His voice trailed off. "Yes, even you, her lover, cannot justify her actions."
"And who are you to be her judge?" Angel fired back, knowing the weak argument he presented.
Tnar scowled. "I am the one who has spent my half my life running from her. I am the one who was hunted down and captured to be her pawn. I am the one who was to be her slave while she tried to control the world. The Ta-Ley are not a violent people but even we have our limits. And she enslaved my loved ones, my family, my wife. I am the One. She violated their rest, destroyed their burial plots, and forced tehm to use their talents for evil."
Angel knew there was nothing to say in Claire's defense. But he had to try.
"You would have your revenge for your loved ones by taking my loved one. How is that anybetter than what she did to you?"
Tnar paused. " You love this creature?"
Now it was Angel's turn to pause. His life, and Claire's had taken vastly different roads. But he believed that she was still the person he had once known and loved.
"Yes. I do. I had.I had hoped for her to be my wife one day, before she was taken from me and turned into what she is now."
Tnar considered this for a moment. Genuine empathy radiated from him but Angel could feel it wasn't enough.
"I'm sorry." Tnar said. Though Angel knew he meant it, it wasn't enough.
"Put her down. We are not finished with her. You may stay with her until her end if you wish."
"NO!" Angel roared, suddenly rushing Tnar and slamming him to the ground.
The swarming noise started again, rendering Angel incapable of thought. He felt himself letting go of Tnar's neck. Even as he fought for control, he felt it slipping away.
"I understand your pain. " Tnar said, once they were both once again upright.
The other Ta-Ley looked ready to strike Angel, but they made no move toward him. "Will you stay or will you leave?" He asked.
Angel turned to Enfi desperately. "Please. I was on your side. Cordelia, and Wesely, and I helped you!"
Enfi studied him for a moment then turned to Tnar. Silent communication passed between them for an interminable moment. "Would you wish to say good-bye?" Tnar asked.
Angel nodded vigorously. "Yes." Anything to buy some time.
"Very well." Tnar nodded sharply and they withdrew to the other side of the room. They could still hear and see all that happened but it gave an illusion of privacy.
Claire stirred, cradling her head. "Liam?" She whispered.
"I'm here." He said. He sat her down, and she leaned on him for support.
"I.I'm so weak. What's going on? One minute, Tnar was sitting over there."She pointed to the green sofa, "And the next moment, he was over there." She indicated the place he had been just moments before. "And now he's over there." She gestured to where he stood, watching. "My brain feels funny.I can't think.." She said faintly.
"shhh.It's okay."
"No, No it's not okay Liam! They were sending thoughts to me. So many thoughts, I couldn't understand them all, couldn't think. So loud." Her voice wandered off.
Angel wanted to make a run for the door but knew he'd never make it. With their psychic force, they were unstoppable.
"Claire," he whispered, leaning in close to her ear. "Do you know how to send the Ta-Ley back?"
She nodded. Putting her head on his shoulder in an embrace, she whispered
"Tnar is the focal point. When the Ta-Ley are communing, using their power, Tnar becomes vulnerable, weak. Without the One, they can't sustain the communing. They'll die. Even the dead." Her eyes rolled back up into her head.
"Claire!" he whispered vehemently, shaking her.
She came around slowly.
"Claire, don't leave me!" he begged. "Fight! You wre always such a fighter."
Claire managed a weak smile. "You noticed."
"OF course I noticed."
"Tell me Liam." She cried softly.
"What?"
"Tell me what you said to my papa was.wasn't t..true?" She was having difficulty with her speech now.
"It's wasn't true Claire. I was trying to protect you."
"You were?" she chuckled. "Liam being noble? How about that?"
He stroked her face, noticing that her face had at sometime reverted to its human likeness. She was so beautiful, like a porcelain doll. She put a hand to his face. "I love you, Liam."
"I'll save you this time Claire. I won't let them take you from me." He started to rise, but she stopped him.
"Liam, I.I don't blame you for..anything."
He quieted her. "Save your strength. "When the focus is right.." She whispered.
"Enough!!" Tnar shouted. "Step away."
Angel let her go, and she let him. He would need room to maneuver.
The whispering began like a babbling brook, it built quickly becoming an ocean of voices, becoming a hurricane, the force grew stronger, and Claire clutched her head. Wailing, she cried out for him, the pain making her lose all sense of the plan. Now, she just wanted him to hold her, comfort her. Why wouldn't he come to her!?
Angel was torn between waiting and going to her but if he wanted to save her.. He tried to tune out her cries but each resonated deep inside him. He watched Tnar's eyes begin to flutter, he was becoming weak, in perfect alignment with the Ta-ley. The moment was coming. Angel had to time it right. The noise drove him to his knees but he began the crawl over to Tnar. He wanted to move slowly to avoid notice, the throbbing in his head made that an easy task.
"Liam!! Please help me!" Claire howled but Angel continued his tortuous crawl. He waited, waited, almost.
Tnar felt himself being lifted up high into communion. He was overlooking the void of the mind. The abyss of thoughts from which there was no return. The Ta-Ley were everywhere. Lending him their support, he took their power and focused it upon the creature, the creature called Claire. All the emotions were directed through him to her thoughts, the rage of the Secret war where the Ta-Ley had murdered thousands psychically, the shock and loathing as they sought peace and serenity afterwards, taking an oath of non-violence. Fear, the terrible fear of being hunted, being slaughtered, the pain of death, It all rushed through Tnar, draining him as it took all his will to force it onto Claire. It did not take this much to control the undead, but the Ta-Ley weren't after Claire obedience, they were after her death. A simple stake would not suffice, she must suffer.As the Ta-Ley had suffered at her hand. The fear, and pain were channeled to her and she screamed the screams of the Ta-Ley through the centuries. He could feel Claire's essence ebbing. It was time. Tnar soared above the psychic precipice.
NOW!! Tnar began sending the death thoughts.
NOW!! Angel rushed the young yet old body, tackling him.
Claire quieted.
Tnar screamed.
Claire sobbed.
Tnar was knocked backwards.
Angel delivered the blow.
Startled, Tnar's contact was severed sharply. At such a high point, and without the support of the Ta-Ley, Tnar began to fall. Before he could recover, he fell into the terrifying blackness of the abyss. He felt the Ta- Ley struggling to catch him, but it was too late. Tnar was gone.
Enfi screamed a ear splitting shriek and lunged herself at Angel. As her body landed on his, he twisted, sending her sailing across the room. It vanished in mid-air. He turned, prepared to meet the other Ta-Ley but the room was empty. Cordelia and Wesley tumbled into the room after the door they had been pushing against opened. Angel wasted know time in going to Claire's side. Her still form wrenched his gut. Had he been too late? He knelt beside her but couldn't check for a pulse or breathing. Claire was, in point of fact, dead. But was she still un-dead? Angel wanted to assume that the lack of ashes meant affirmative but after what he'd just witnessed, he couldn't be sure.