Author notes at the end. Really long chapter!! Review. I'm a sucker for them. Makes me write more.
Chapter Twenty-five – Harbinger of Death
Angel had made the quip about Tarzana being the place where the demon would arise. The scrolls had said Reseda, which were in geographic proximity to each other, neighbors actually. It had to be the Beast of Amalfie, the razor-toothed, six-eyed harbinger of death. Wesley had remembered that he had been captured ages ago and put in a box. The box was made of rosewood, sealed by a priest and could not be brought forth unless you had the right magical incantation. All of it was thought to have been lost.
This demon was supposedly from the British Isles. Could he have been around in the time of Columba? That would have made him an old demon indeed. Nothing else was clear from the prophecies other than the time of rebirth. He had concentrated so hard on the prophecy that pertained to Angel, he had completely forgotten about the rest of it. What else did he miss in his quest to figure out the shanshu?
And if this was Amalfie, what on earth did he want with Faith, Angel and Cordelia? That was the part that didn't make any sense. There was nothing in the scrolls about Faith or Cordelia, just Angel. Cordelia had even made a joke about wanting to know if she could get a fame and fortune reading by translating the scrolls. He had informed her it wasn't a magic eight ball. Now that he thought about it maybe they were mentioned but not by name. Since both women were quite memorable, that had to be impossible. He would have noticed. And he obviously couldn't check because they had been stored in the safe of the Hyperion, which had burned less than six months before.
As he raced to help Faith and the others, Wesley wondered what he would find when he arrived. He knew that it was a blood ritual, that Amalfie needed the three. It had to be something to do with the scrolls. He must have missed something very important. Could the magical incantation to trap him have been in the scrolls? He couldn't remember any kind of spell that was mentioned in any of the prophecies. If there wasn't, then how on earth was he to stop the beast?
Buffy had said that it was in human form. That she had believed that it was human, although she had sensed that it was decaying. Maybe the shell really was human. Could the sacrifice keep it in human form or give it infinite power? Too many questions to answer for that moment.
So he didn't know how to stop it, didn't know how many guards there were, and didn't know why the ritual was happening. What worried him the most were the dreams that Faith had been having. She must have been dreaming about the ritual, but neither knew that at the time. Slayer dreams had the amazing ability of coming true, although Buffy had thwarted several in her career already.
With the connection strong, Wesley saw flashes of Faith being dragged somewhere against her will. Angel and Cordelia weren't in very good shape, so they would be no help. Faith was fighting with all her might, but the creature that held her was stronger than her for the moment. He concentrated very hard to see where they were. They passed cell after cell, going through a door and heading down more stairs. The ritual was on and would start momentarily. Buffy had been wrong about the time. Amalfie was getting edgy, especially since Faith had escaped. His timetable had been pushed up. As soon as that sun went down, he'd begin.
Wesley looked at the receding sun, watching it set over the horizon. He guessed that they had another twenty or thirty minutes at the most before things started to get unpleasant for the three. Maybe Faith could delay the process for a little while after that.
Connor gestured to him to follow, his nose doing the work. The two crouched down behind a fence. The boy pointed across the way to a large house surrounded by gates and guards. Well protected as far as the two could tell.
"How do we get in?" Wesley whispered.
"We could walk through the front door?"
"Very funny. You see any breaks in their security?"
"None."
The second revelation hit Wesley. He had that answer all along too. They were taking the three down, which meant they were underground. The dream had shown an underground structure large enough to hold lots of demons. Those demons would need access under cover, especially the vampires. Wesley pointed to a manhole cover not ten yards from them.
"They're welded shut, you know." How did Connor know this? "I know how to pop them." Connor smugly smiled at Wesley.
Connor crouch ran over to the cover, put his fist to one side and slammed his fist downward. The cover literally popped under the force, making a clanging noise as it did. It wasn't enough to draw the attention of the guards patrolling the house. And it gave them a way in.
"Where are they?" Buffy asked the one of the big men beside her.
"Don't know," both Gunn and Riley answered in unison. Neither one was ever too verbose. Shorter answers were better than Xander's exposition any day.
She wished that Lindsey were present, but he was leading one of the other squads. He had made her feel more comfortable in the last couple of days, helping her out immensely. He was a natural born leader, had a sense of humor, and was gorgeous to boot. She just had to keep her mind about her so that Angel would never sense her growing feelings for the ex-lawyer. He wouldn't take kindly to seeing Lindsey near his old flame. The man had tried to kill him. Angel never did take that lightly.
"Manhole cover," Xander pointed down the street.
"Calling card for us," Gunn told them as he looked down. "Let's go."
"Who opened this? We don't know what will be down there." Riley wondered.
"The kid did this. I know his style. Now get your Army butt down that hole. They're gonna need backup."
Riley did as he was told, followed by Xander, then Buffy and finally Gunn. The rest of Riley's troops soon dropped down too.
"The way in?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah, just not the way I came. They must be close."
"Chanting. I hear chanting," Xander told the group.
"What I don't hear . . . ." Buffy reached out with her senses. Off in the distance, she could hear the faint hum of a chant. Damn, Xander had been right. Maybe it was true when you lost one sense, or part of a sense as Xander had, that the other senses made up for the loss. "I hear it too. Let's move."
Both Wesley and Connor heard the chanting begin. It was happening. They took off at a run, ignoring any danger signs.
Faith fought hard until they had dragged her into that room. The room that she had seen in her dreams. So slayer dreams do sometimes come true. All the ones she had ever had came out vague and disturbing. She never had time to figure them out, so mostly she just ignored them. But this one had been crystal clear. Did that mean it would come true?
In her dream, Wesley had arrived right after the fatal blow. She'd heard that Buffy had several times beaten the dreams, made them not come true. Could she do that this time? She hoped so, because this group was getting louder and more insistent by the minute.
Her strength had returned full force, but Angel's had not. There were too many demons to fight. Should she just save herself and not worry about the other two? If she did escape, the ritual wouldn't happen. But Columba was just crazy enough to kill the other two for spite. There had to be another way.
Columba stood at the altars, ritual knife at the ready. Man, that thing was big, she thought, when a little one would do the trick just as nicely. Why was it men had to have big knives? Must make up for some inadequacies.
Wesley was so close, she could almost feel his power radiate out of her. Was that how she was able to regain her strength? Maybe that connection had come in handy after all.
"The ritual begins," Columba hissed.
"You bastard. What is it that you want? Huh? Power is not all its cracked up to be. Besides, you're going down."
Faith lashed out with her fist to take the vampire at her side down. She'd have to improvise on stakes since she was fresh out. Maybe that ritual knife could take the guy's head off, if she could wrestle it away from the bloodthirsty maniac who waved it around. Delay was her only hope now. Wes was on his way, stronger than ever.
The damn chants were severely getting on her nerves. Luckily most of the chanters hadn't joined in the little diversion she had started. But the ones that had were big and vicious. She tried to protect herself as much as she could. She just had to dodge and stay away from the knife. What surprised her was Angel had joined too. He was weak, but from the looks of it, pissed beyond belief. She would be too if she had been held for three months and treated like a punching bag. Queen C was struggling with her captors too. Maybe they might end up on the win side of this battle after all, she thought.
Wesley could hear fighting up ahead, could feel Faith desperately trying to keep her head above water. She was waiting for him. Taking on the next demon, he could feel her strength wavering. As he rushed down the dark corridor, he willed her to keep fighting, to borrow some of his power.
Connor and Wesley entered the vast space surrounded by red robed demons. The chanting became louder and more insistent. Everything that the dream had shown him was coming true. Except the fact that Faith, Angel and Cordelia were all fighting. That had not happened. Maybe he had missed it watching Faith get skewered by the knife.
Lucky for him that the red robes didn't move. The guards though did, seeing the two humans enter. Wesley drew his pistol and took down the first one that got close to him. He was tired of fighting with his body. Superior firepower indeed. The demon crumbled in front of him, blocking his way for a few moments. Connor had taken on another one beside Wesley. He'd let the boy fight his own battles.
Faith had sensed him entering but had not turned to greet him. Too busy holding off three vampires. What didn't make sense was why she was only blocking the attack, not throwing many punches. She was waiting for him? Why the hell was she doing that?
Bloody hell, he thought to himself, she didn't want to draw on his strength. And in the process, she might get herself hurt.
"Faith. Fight," he yelled to her. She still dodged, not taking any punches to her middle. She wasn't in the game, just holding status quo.
Connor took out two demons with a swipe of his sword and started pushing forward to the altar. Wesley followed in his wake. Amalfie/Columba had moved closer to Faith, knife slashing out, almost catching her arm in the process. Angel violently pushed him down, knife clattering to the floor. Cordelia was screaming like a Hellbeast, taking the demon down with just her voice. It really did hurt when she used it in full force.
The chanting that had before gotten louder seemed to almost stop now. The red robed demons were starting to sense that something was not quite right. Most looked frightened, but some looked as if they would join the fray. That was just not what Wesley needed at the moment.
Angel wrestled Amalfie for the knife, but in the end was not strong enough. The Beast tossed Angel off the stage at Wesley and Connor, knocking the two down like bowling pins. Wesley literally threw the vampire off of him, diving for the stage, but being held back by another demon. He cut the thing down quickly, swinging up the knife that he had dug out of his boot when he was down on the ground, embedding it in the demon's skull.
Amalfie was close, too close to Faith. It had nothing to do with the ritual anymore. The beast had murder in his eyes. Faith had ruined it for him. Whatever repercussions happened would be taken out on her if Wesley didn't find someway to stop him.
"Ignis," he shouted as a neat fireball flew out of his palm to hit Amalfie square on the chest. The shell that he had been using blackened, but the demon did not stop. Wesley tried again, this time gathering much more power and flinging the fireball directly to its face.
The shell faded away to reveal the true form of Amalfie. No wonder the thing had taken on human form, Wesley thought. It was hideous. Flesh dripped off of its surface, grotesque features made him ill just looking at it. Now at least he knew what he was fighting. The teeth stood out, razor sharp and ready to taste any kind of flesh. The eyes were not where they were supposed to be. Did the thing even have a head? Wesley could only see three eyes. Where were the others?
As he pushed another vampire out of his way, the flash of steel caught his eye. Amalfie had somehow picked up the knife again in one of its arms. Faith didn't see it coming towards her. This was not happening. He couldn't get there in time.
"Extundo," he flung at the beast, hoping to stall it for a moment.
"Up ahead," Gunn called as they raced towards the sounds of fighting.
Buffy cringed. They were probably going to be outgunned in there. She remembered how many demons had been present before. Now she'd get to see how well Gunn used that battleaxe, how well Riley's men had been trained, how well she could handle herself yet again with a room full of bad. Would it never end?
What she didn't expect was to meet no resistance as they entered the chamber. Demons scrambled all over, trying to avoid the fighting up front. So, maybe the spell had been broken. Only the most faithful fought. It was still a formidable force, but not hundreds like she had worried about.
"Don't fight the others. Get to the altar. Now," she commanded.
Since Riley was used to taking orders from her, he didn't question her expertise. Or he thought the same thing at the same time.
Angel, Cordelia and Faith were all holding them off, but the thing that was emerging wasn't pretty. Wesley's little fireballs had managed to erase whatever glamour the thing had put on. She liked it better in human form. But now maybe it could be killed. And she would really like to do the killing right about now.
Before she could make her move, she saw the thing move towards Faith with a great big, nasty knife.
"Faith," she yelled, hoping her sister slayer heard and would get out of the way somehow.
She wasn't the only one who screamed at Faith. Wesley and Angel had also. Only it hadn't worked. The knife had already moved on its trajectory hitting muscle before she could reach the altar.
Wesley watched in slow motion as the knife came into contact with Faith, making her stumble over. It hit high, right under the ribs, probably the stomach area. Amalfie screamed in triumph as the knife slid in like it belonged there.
"Commoveo," Wesley screamed at Amalfie, slamming the creature against the back wall. Power surged through him, tasting black and dangerous.
The dark creature started to get up, but Wesley was on him quickly. "Abolesco," he shouted, bringing the thing to its knees as he twisted his hand in front of him. The thing would die by his newly found power. If this had been what had come from the connection, then so be it. Faith would be dead shortly and so would he. The dark magicks that he conjured wouldn't matter. He wouldn't need to recover. He'd be dead.
"Wesley," he heard Faith groan as she lay on the ground. "Don't."
Faith had been a half a second too slow. She didn't know whether it was the fact that the thing that emerged before her scared her for a moment, or because she finally saw Wes and reacted. Something was building in her watcher, something dark and dangerous. He'd thrown a couple of fireballs at the creature, melting its exterior away. Too gruesome for words. What she hadn't seen was the knife. She thought that Angel had knocked it away. As it slid into her, the dream became reality. Damn slayer dreams, she thought. How on earth did Buffy change them? She'd have to ask her if she survived the gut wound.
She looked at Wes as the knife slid into her. She could no longer see the blue of his eyes. The eyes that looked back at her were entirely black, not unlike Willow at times. And Willow had turned bad once upon a time. Whatever Wesley was tapping into, it was bad also.
Faith slid to the ground, watching Wesley gather nastier mojo, as he got closer to the bad guy. Sure, she wanted to see the thing dead. But not at the cost of Wesley's mind or his life.
Faith could feel the blood slowly drain from her body. She wondered what could have been if things had turned out different. She had to stop Wes though, even with her lame words. She couldn't die with him being like this.
"Wesley, don't."
He turned toward her, eyes black and unseeing. Would he turn his power on her also? He had never looked as powerful and as lost as right now. Everything had stopped in the room, except for Buffy making her way to the altar. Connor was tending to Angel.
"If you do, there will be no going back," Cordelia spoke up.
Faith had forgotten about the cheerleader. Cordelia was trying to reason with the ex-watcher?
"You have to help her," she told him as she touched his arm, trying to bring him back to reason.
Faith laid her head on the cool floor, watching the scene sideways. Her strength was ebbing fast. For once, she wished people would just aim for vital parts so she wouldn't have to linger. No coma for her this time.
Whatever Cordy had said to him made him put his hand down. Yay for her, Faith thought. We'll both still be dead in minutes. Wesley crouched down to Faith's level, eyes still that coal black. She wanted to see his striking blue eyes once before she died. She wanted once to see what really was in his heart. Dammit, why did life suck so much just when something good happened?
"Faith," he whispered to her as he touched her face.
His hand was cold, freezing in fact. It moved down to her fatal injury.
"Sorry. Should have dodged quicker. It hurts." Faith was starting to lose consciousness.
"I'm sorry I didn't get here in time," he told her as he touched her injury.
It burned like fire. She couldn't hold on much longer. "Dammit, really look at me. See me."
It was like a switch had turned off. He slumped over, closer to her dying body. Wesley's eyes had returned to their brilliant blue. "Oh God Faith. No," he cried.
But that didn't mean that he had turned off the switch on the magicks. His hand glowed orange now that it was covered in her blood. Wesley grunted in surprise as Faith looked down at his hand. How was she feeling the strength returning to her? His look of amazement told her something. Whatever he was doing, he was somehow healing her. Until she saw the crimson stain spreading on the front of his shirt.
Cordelia gasped and Angel crawled to the altar as Wesley collapsed. Faith couldn't believe what just happened. He'd tried to save her, take away her death. What had he done?
Faith gingerly raised her body off the floor and crawled to Wesley, who was panting in pain.
"What did he do?" Angel asked her angrily.
Faith touched his wound just as Wesley had hers. She had no magical power to speak of, so she couldn't just take the pain away automatically. But there was something else she could give him. It would take some time, but at least he wouldn't die.
Paying no mind to the blood seeping out of him, she lay her head down on his chest, listening to his heart pump madly to stay ahead of the loss. His hand reached up to feel her hair, slightly chuckling because of their positions.
"Would someone tell me what's going on?" Angel was getting antsy. Connor grabbed his arm to stay him.
Buffy walked up to the altars and knelt down to Angel. Cordelia did the same.
"It's OK now. Everything is as it should be," Cordelia announced.
"English?" Gunn asked as he approached the scene too. He'd seen this happen one too many times to Wesley.
"Would everyone please be quiet? I'm trying to concentrate here," Faith asked the group.
"As if," Cordelia answered in her own fashion.
The core group gathered around Wesley and Faith, with Riley's men driving off the rest of the demons. Most of them had run after the battle had started. Now all they had to take care of was the damn bad demon, Amalfie. Angel saw Wesley's shotgun that had dropped out at some point. He pulled it up, walked over the panting and injured thing and blasted its head off.
"Cordy, the street urchin look does not do you justice," Xander told her as he moved up to her.
"You know. I agree. This is just really gross." Cordelia changed in front of everyone's eyes. Gone was the filthy garb, to be replaced by a flowing white gown. She was perfectly coiffed and ready for business. "Thank goodness. I was really getting tired of it all."
Angel stared at her in amazement. "Are you leaving?"
"What? And miss this show? No way. I can stick around for a while. And by the way, what's with the shotgun usage?"
The rest laughed at Cordy's antics, still not sure what in the world she had turned into.
"Borrowed slayer healing?" Buffy asked anyone who had an answer.
"Yup," Connor answered her question, casting a glance at his father, who was staring directly at Buffy in that it's nice to see you way.
"OK, while psycho slayer and Giles Jr. take a nice nap, what now?" Xander inquired to the group. No one had moved much, still looking at Faith lying on top of Wesley.
Both Faith and Wesley flashed Xander their middle fingers. Angel and Buffy laughed.
"What does that gesture mean?" Connor asked as Angel led him away to the back of the room.
"Better than a hospital," Wesley groaned as he slowly felt Faith's healing abilities take effect. It would take days for him to heal properly, but at least he wouldn't die and neither would Faith.
A few of the other squads had joined the advance group. Buffy just shook her head as she sat on the stairs, waiting for someone to explain to her what the hell just happened. Willow and Giles were so much better at dealing with these things. She just hit things for a living.
"You went early," a voice called out to her. Lindsey walked over to her. In the heat of the battle, she'd forgotten about calling in reinforcements. Of course, that had been Riley's job, but she still felt guilty.
"Not my fault."
"OK, why are those two lying on the stage up there?"
"You know, you just don't ask those questions. I've learned to just ignore the magical stuff and concentrate on the slayee stuff. Makes life less difficult."
Lindsey grinned down at the slayer.
"Where have you been?" Angel asked his son, not looking him in the eye.
"I could say the same for you, but I already had the answer to that one. Man, you reek."
Angel chuckled. The boy was smarting off at him. He guessed he was lucky Connor was even talking to him. They had a long way to go in their relationship. He just hoped Connor was willing to put in the time.
"Ha, very funny. Just cause I can't do that thingy Cordy just did. Hey, living in a cell for three months does things to you."
Angel looked at Connor to see his reaction. But Connor wasn't looking at him. He was still looking at the scene on the stage.
"They care for each other, you know," Connor told him.
"I know. Kind of figured that out a while ago."
Connor turned to look at him now. "How did you know?"
"Hey, vampire here. Right before Faith left for Sunnydale. I knew." Angel puffed up like he was a know-it-all.
"You know, that skill is way too eww for words," Cordelia told him as she approached father and son.
"Not my fault. If he hadn't touched her."
"We wouldn't be here today. Your ass would be toast and I'd be hounding you all the way to the gates of hell right now."
"Was it that bad?" Angel asked of their confinement.
"Bad as in crazy Cordy bad? Yes. Have I told you how much I hated that guy?" Both Angel and Connor chuckled at her statement. "Not funny guys."
TBC
Next: Faith? Where'd you go?
Author notes: I cannot believe that I'm still picking up new reviews. And I thought that I was the only one to go back and read people's stuff and catch up and review!!! I have never gotten so many nice, helpful comments and suggestions. Mind you, not that I have used every single one of them, because if I did, this thing would be huge (not that it isn't, since it's long enough now to be a book). Thanks go out to Insane Sketchbook, Wav, Brandywine421, Mila, Steph, Slayerfan, etc., etc. I know there are more of you out there. We're almost done with this fic. Of course, there has to be a sequel! I'm still not done. Blast it. I thought I could concentrate on my other fics. They just don't want to be quiet.
