Chapter 4

"Let the meeting begin."

The words rang loud and clear over the clearing. Everyone sat up as the coven prepared for the duels that were supposed to take place in a moment. Many vials of magic rejuvenation potion were set aside at a corner of the clearing. Thirteen people from the area where the competitors were stood up and each one of them faced a member of the coven. Everyone watched with interest as the duels began.

For Buffy's group, it was a new experience for them. They had never been in a duel before. Their experiences were more of the kind where you had to fight for your life and the lives of your friends. Having a fight where both sides still remained alive after the battle was somewhat of a novelty to them.

Willow and Tara were studying the techniques the wiccans were using for the duel. In some cases, the duels were simply a case of two people blasting the opponent with pure magical power until one of them overpowers the other. Willow and Tara ignored these people totally. Some of the wiccans though, were using their magic with more finesse. Miniature elementals were summoned to attack the opponent, fog was used to conceal yourself, magic was used on the terrain to hinder the opponent, magic was used on oneself to improve strength and reflexes. Some of the magics used were creative in the extreme and Willow and Tara watched on in fascination.

For Dumbledore's group, most of them had observed duels before. However, those duels mainly consisted of two people standing there, throwing spells at one another until one of them was disarmed. Here, though, apart from the few who were just throwing raw magical energy at one another, the rest of the wiccans were showing them that spells could be used in more creative ways.

Another difference they observed is that instead of standing there and throwing spells, the wiccans moved as they cast spells, relying on their reflexes not to get hit by an opponent's spell, rather that solely depending on their shielding spells. It was definitely more physical than the duels Dumbledore's group were accustomed to, and yet, the way the wiccans moved definitely indicated that the tactics they employed were infinitely more dangerous and effective than those used in wizarding duels.

After half an hour, Dumbledore's group was pleased to note that Laura had defeated her fifth opponent. So far, only four of the original coven had been replaced by newcomers. The pool of competitors had also reduced significantly.

However, another half hour later, all original members of the coven had been replaced. According to what Dumbledore had been able to sense, all the current wiccans holding the positions in the coven were only slightly less powerful than himself. Laura had gone back to her seat with Dumbledore's group and was observing the new coven who were still dueling with the last remnants of the competitors.

"I'd have to say that the competition was a lot tougher than I had anticipated," Laura admitted as she watched a competitor get buried in quicksand that had suddenly appeared underneath his feet.

"Is one of them Willow Rosenberg?" Harry asked softly.

"I don't think so," Laura replied, frowning. The thirteen wiccans out there are powerful but none of them show signs of being powerful enough to justify all the rumors I've heard for the past few months. Either she's here and decided not to participate in the duels or she didn't come. Personally, I'm thinking that she didn't come since Albus and myself have been scanning every wiccan here and not finding anybody who has an exceptional amount of magical energy."

A few minutes later, the thirteen who were being observed by Dumbledore and Laura had defeated the last of the competitors and were then officially pronounced the new coven. After that, one of the coven then asked if there were any issues anyone wanted to bring up. Apparently, it was unusual for anyone to bring up any issues for everyone seemed surprised when Laura stood up.

"Members of the coven, I would like to bring up an alliance with wizards to fight against an evil creature named Voldemort," Laura announced. "I have with me, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the wizarding school called Hogwarts to present the appeal in person."

"Denied," the coven said in unison.

"What?" Laura was startled. They had not even begun to make their appeal and the coven had denied it unanimously without needing to confer first? She started to get a bad feeling in her stomach.

"You see, Miss Henderson," one of the coven, a man named Ralph who seemed to be the spokesman for the coven, replied. "We have already offered our services to the Dark Lord and he has accepted."

"What!"

This time, it was another member of the original coven who had jumped up. Laura remembered that his name was Shawn Oakley. He was a good man, and a smart one as well and she had always relied on him for advice when she was stuck with a problem she couldn't solve.

"You mean to tell us that you have sold your services to evil?" Shawn asked fiercely. "I have heard about this guy, Voldemort. I'm sure some of us here have heard the rumors and although I agree that rumors can be exaggerated, the one common point to these rumors about Voldemort is that he is evil."

"Perhaps," Ralph, replied. "But he has offered us power if we ally ourselves with him. You can see that it is true by how easily we defeated you. There was no doubt that the thirteen of us would emerge the final victors of the duels. And we have not only offered our services to the Dark Lord. We have offered all your services as well. By the power and authority of the coven, we now command you to obey the Dark Lord and aid him in any way possible."

Buffy's group already knew that something was wrong even before the duels ended. Tara had scanned the thirteen who seemed to be having no problems in defeating the rest of the duelists and had discovered darkness in their auras. Communicating this to the rest of the group via their mind-to-mind link, they were not really surprised when Buffy, Faith and Angel scanned the surrounding area and sensed the presence of vampires who had arrived within the last half an hour and had hidden themselves nearby. Mentally, the three of them were kicking themselves for being too distracted with the duels to sense them before.

When Laura first made her appeal, the gang was startled by her mention of Voldemort. However, the response of the coven didn't surprise them much. Obviously, this was what Voldemort had planned for the meeting and if the presence of the vampires was any indication, he intended to kill everyone who did not join him.

The vampires were making themselves known now. Being creatures of the night, they managed to get close to the clearing before anyone – apart from Buffy's gang – saw them. Buffy's group of course, had spotted them ages ago. Growing up in Sunnydale had trained their eyes to look out for creatures such as vampires. Moving their hands surreptitiously towards their stakes, which they never left home without, they continued to keep an eye on the undead legion while listening to Ralph continue his speech.

"As you can see, the Dark Lord has many followers," Ralph said, waving his arms to indicate the vampires. Behind the vampires, several demons could be seen. He ignored the frightened screams and the gasps that were emitted from the assembled wiccans when they discovered the vampires and demons behind them. "I've promised the Dark Lord that all the wiccans who remain alive here will serve him," he said blandly.

Everyone heard the unspoken threat. That they would be killed if they did not submit. Ralph turned towards Dumbledore. "So, you're Albus Dumbledore," he said smugly. "And I suppose that group around you is your fabled Order of the Phoenix? The Dark Lord will reward us well when we bring you to him in chains." Ralph then focused his gaze on Harry, Ron and Hermoine. "And you're allowing children to join your order as well? I suppose you're short for new recruits, are you?" He smiled nastily and turned away, but at the last moment, he whipped his head back and stared at Harry. Or more accurately, stared at Harry's forehead. His eyes widened and he laughed loudly. "Oh this is just perfect. Today we capture Albus Dumbledore as well as Harry Potter. The Dark Lord will definitely place us at his right hand after this."

Those in the wiccan community who have heard of Voldemort had heard about Harry Potter. After all, if they've heard of Voldemort, they would have definitely heard about how he was defeated the first time. All eyes turned towards Harry and everyone could see his face turn red.

Although there were vampires behind them, Buffy's group were prepared for them and already had one hand on their weapons, unlike Dumbledore's group as well as the rest of the wiccans who were caught by surprise.

As a team of vampires approached Dumbledore's group, Buffy and Willow used the mind-to-mind link to devise a plan and communicate it to the rest of their group. Dumbledore's group pulled out their wands but before they could get to use them, the vampires were already onto them and grabbed their arms. The few wiccans who tried to help were forcibly restrained by their captor vampires.

At Buffy's mental command, Buffy, Anya, Angel and Faith whirled around and staked the vampires guarding them with supernatural speed. Dawn and Xander were only a moment behind them, plunging their stakes into the hearts of two very startled vampires. In the meantime, Tara dropped all her aura shields, grabbed Angel's hand and swiftly placed a protection spell on him to protect him from the effects of the spell Willow was about to cast. Willow dropped two layers of shields, letting more of her magical aura out. She took a deep breath and intoned in a clear and commanding voice.

"Living and undead, SEPARATE."

Dumbledore's group was in trouble. Everyone had lost their wands, even Dumbledore. Laura did not need a wand to cast spells but she was in the grip of a vampire. Everyone was struggling but were no match for the unnatural strength of the vampires.

Suddenly, a commotion from the side caught their attention – as well as the attention of everyone in the clearing. Three women and a man had turned around and with a speed that defied belief, plunged a stake into the hearts of their captors. Two other people with them staked their captors at a more normal speed. However, what mostly captured their attention was the sudden spike in the magical aura of the two wiccans with them. In an instant, the blonde and redheaded wiccans displayed a magical aura that was beyond what they had ever encountered before. Even those who had seen Dumbledore at the peak of his power before admitted that the power the two wiccans displayed was already beyond that. As they watched, the redheaded wiccan called out.

"Living and undead, SEPARATE."

At the word 'separate', the vampires were flung backwards away from them. Startled, they looked around and saw that they were not the only ones who were free from vampires. It appeared that every single vampire who was near a human was flung back unceremoniously. Before anyone could react to that surprising development, another voice rang out.

"Sleep."

It was the blonde wiccan this time. As one, the coven toppled over and some of them started snoring. "That'll keep them out of our hair for a while," the blonde wiccan muttered, her gaze returning to the vampires, who were struggling to their feet.

After a moment, Dumbledore's group realized that the vampires had dropped their wands when they were flung back. Hastily they retrieved their wands and stood up. Everyone was looking at the two wiccans who were in turn, glaring at the vampires. Realizing belatedly, that the threat was not neutralized yet, everyone turned their gazes towards the vampires.

Buffy looked around. Everywhere, wiccans were regrouping towards the center of the clearing and most of them were casting fire spells at the vampires. However, the spells weren't having much effect on the vampires. Beside her, Willow yelled out, "Undead are resistant to spells. Set fire to their clothes, not the vampire themselves."

Following Willow's instructions the wiccans were more successful in beating back the vampires. However, it was only a temporary reprieve. Buffy could see more vampires, as well as demons, in the background.

Around her, her friends had dropped their stakes and were relying on heavier weapons. Buffy, Anya, Faith and Angel were wielding broadswords with an ease that belied the weight of the weapon. Of course, with their unnatural strength, it wasn't surprising. Xander was fighting skillfully with an axe, lopping off the heads of vampires. Dawn was holding a short sword that Willow and Tara had made specially for her. The short sword was crafted totally from the hardest wood they could find, which made it a good weapon to use against vampires, and moreover, the spells on it allowed the sword to pierce the toughest demon hide without breaking. Willow and Tara were unarmed but their hands blazed with eldritch fire. All of them were fighting hard and had accounted for many vampires and a few demons.

As for Tara, she was keeping close to Angel in case one of the wiccans recognized him as a vampire and decided that he was one of the enemy. She was confident that she could probably deal with any spell a wiccan could cast. In her mind, she could hear Buffy silently thanking her.

They couldn't keep on like this though, the vampires and demons had the advantage of numbers. For every vampire they dusted, two more took its place. Demons were entering the fray as well and as these demons were particularly resistant to magic, the wiccans were getting injured although no one was killed yet, thanks to the fact that everyone was clustered together and were helping one another.

Buffy called everyone to a mind-to-mind conference. Discussing options while fighting off demons and vampires, they finally agreed on what to do. Forming a protective circle around Willow, they kept the demons and vampires at bay while Willow lowered another three layers of shields and prepared herself for a major spell.

With Shawn's help, Laura had gathered almost everyone together at the center of the clearing. The only ones left were the group with the two exceptionally powerful wiccans. Somehow, Laura didn't think they needed much help, and if this was a fight to the end, she was almost certain that the group with the two wiccans could last longer than they themselves could, despite their superior numbers.

They were taking on injuries, Laura noticed. It was a minor miracle that no one had been killed yet. Frantically, Laura racked her brain for a plan but came up empty. Even if they linked their powers, it would only provide them with a stopgap measure.

Beside her, Dumbledore was also worried. All around them, everyone was conjuring fire elementals and hurling fire spells at the vampires' clothes. Fireballs, fire darts, fire arrows, and more were flying all around. Vampires themselves were immune to all but some of the strongest spells but their clothes were flammable. Only a few wiccans had enough power to set fire to a vampire directly. Out of his group, only he himself had enough power to affect a vampire directly with a spell. Not even Professor McGonagall, the most powerful witch besides himself could affect vampires directly with her magic. And even he himself could not penetrate the natural magical resistance of the demons. The only demons who were getting hurt were those who had decided to attack the group with the two wiccans. The tide of enemies seemed endless and many on their side were weakening.

The sudden increase in magical energy caught their attention. Everyone's head turned towards Willow as her magical aura blazed even brighter to their magical senses. Even the demons and vampires were distracted by her aura. As everyone watched, streaks of white appeared in Willow's hair and she raised both her arms towards the sky. Some of the wiccans who had better eyesight saw that her eyes had turned white as well. Her friends were around her, protecting her from attacks. A moment later, her hair had turned completely white and it rippled, as if caressed by an invisible wind. Raising her head up, her voice rang, strong and clear.

"By my power and through my will, I command you, ARISE."