Well, here is the 7th chapter of Friends and Enemies. I would like to thank Harry 2 for his reviews. And I will also like to thank my trusted Beta, The Red Dragons Order. Both of the above is long since overdue. Sorry.
Well let's get on with it.
As they fought their way down the levels in hell, she felt her strength disappear more and more for every second. And at the second level, she began to fear that she wouldn't have enough strength left to send Angel back to earth. She actually had trouble protecting the string that connected her astral body with her physical self. And she knew she would die, the same moment that string was cut.
But somehow she did it. Angel was out of hell.
But her sigh of relief cost her dearly, as she suddenly found her self grabbed by the Hellmouth Guardian. She felt its tentacles squeeze harder and harder and the string was stretched to its limit. With the last of her strength, she concentrated, and tried to draw power from the Guardian for a last attempt.
She forced out the words of the ancient Valheru magic that very well could kill her, it was that powerful. And sent up a prayer to The Powers That Be.
With a blinding light she tore free from the Guardian. And with the speed of light, she raced through the remaining levels of hell, up to earth, and in head spinning speed over the landscape. Racing over Los Angeles. Following the string back. With a searing pain she was back in her body. And then, everything was black.
How long she was unconscious, she didn't know. But slowly she woke up. Shivering from cold, soaking wet from sweat, every muscle in her body screaming out in pain.
Dizzy from exhaustion she stumbled to her feet, and went to the bathroom. As she stood under the shower, letting the beams of warm water massage away the tension in her body, the full brunt of her exhaustion hit her. She was so tired; all she could do was to keep her self from sinking to the floor, and sleeping right there, in the shower.
After the shower, she went straight to bed with a good feeling that she for once had done as The Powers That Be wanted her to do. She was just about to drift of to sleep, when her head exploded in pain as a vision hit her. More powerful than any vision she had ever had. She saw a person she had wished she would never see again. She saw Cathla the Warrior Sorceress of the First Circle of Hell. She was in Sunnydale. Planning to create a twin hellmout, and thereby release certain an unavoidable hell on earth.
And Spike had teamed up with her. What was up with that? Spike had never been one for destroying the world. But now he had teamed up with Cathla in more than one way, she thought. And a wave of jealousy hit her. Then the picture changed, and she saw Buffy and her friends trying to stop Cathla. God damn it!! They were chanceless. They would never be able to break through Cathla's magic defences. They would all die. Drusilla jumped up in the bed. She had to help them. She had to hurry back to Sunnydale. But the vision became too much for her already exhausted body. With a soft thud she fell back onto the bed. In a sleep that was close to comatose.
"God damn it!!" The gang was once again gathered in the library, researching and trying to find a way to defeat Cathla. Now everybody looked up from his or her work. Baffled by the unusual outburst from the usually so quiet redhead.
Willow threw the computer mouse into the wall in sheer frustration. "Now I have searched that bloody net for hours and hours. And what do I find. Nada, zilch, squat, nichts. Not a bloody thing. I have visited the web page of god knows how many witch covens. And half of them turned out to be a bunch of nogooders playing party games in the dark. And the ones that were serious, had only one thing to say.
"The only ones that can stop a Warrior Sorceress of the First Circle of Hell, is another Warrior Sorceress or Sorcerer of the First Circle of Hell. Or a naturally born warrior sorceress/sorcerer in the service of The Powers That Be. And the only ones I know of was Cassandra. She is said to have been the most powerful witch to ever live. But sadly she died three thousand years ago. And then we have Shimiko Yumasimo. But he was killed fifteen hundred years ago by a clan of Balrogs. High up in the Himalayans.
"My own magic powers are a joke compared to Cathlas," Willow stated while pacing the floor furiously. "She would wipe me out in seconds. Even Angel couldn't defeat her. He could perhaps withstand her. But defeat her, no way! What we need now is a miracle. Or else we, and the rest of the world, are doomed."
"I'm glad you realise that all hope is out," a cold yet melodious voice said. Everybody's eyes went up to the gallery. And there, in thin air, sat Cathla, or rather a mental projection of her.
"Foolish children. Why don't you all give up? By this time tomorrow, the world will be at my mercy. That is if I had any." She let out a laughter that made cold chills run down their backs. "But please, do try to fight. It will be amusing to see your ludicrous attempts; the short while you will last. I'll give you a quarter of an hour against Spike and his men. And maybe five minutes against me."
Again she laughed madly, and let her projection fade slowly away.
For a moment everybody just sat there. To shocked to move. Then Buffy jumped to her feet, storming out of the building. She had to get some air. God Damn it! She hated to feel helpless. And the bitterness of it all struck her with staggering strength. She had survived Drusilla's attack, just so that she could die at the hands of another raving lunatic.
As they often did when she were dealing with issues, her steps steered to the park, and the duck pond. With a steady pace she started running around it, while pondering over her life. And shedding tears that everybody was to busy to notice. Finally, after ten rounds or so, she stopped and sat down on a bench. She looked around her.
People of all ages were having a good time. Over by a small group of oak trees some elders were doing Thai chi. On the open grass some teenagers were playing Frisbee, And right in front of her three small kids were eagerly fishing in the duck pond. She doubted they would catch any because they were using too big bait. Buffy leant back on the bench and closed her eyes. Feeling the warm sunshine on her face. She was tired. Tired of everything. The constant danger, all those infernal prophesies. If only she had someone to talk to, someone alike her. Another Slayer. But both Kendra and Faith were dead. And Clarissa, the one that came after Faith, was an impossible bitch, with Kendra's sense for rules and obedience, and Faith's explosive temper and rude mouth. Buffy, sighed in despair. Despite all her good friends, she was lonely. Oh so lonely.
Suddenly she tensed, as she sensed a very strong power signature, the type that only came from an extremely strong and vicious vampire, or a Slayer gone dark. She opened her eyes and before her stood a woman with long straight red hair. Clad in a white blouse, black suede pants and dark red boots, she radiated strength and determination. It took a while before she recognised her, and then only because the woman's green eyes turned bright yellow for a moment. Eyes that usually were clouded by insanity were now sharp and intelligent. Fear ran through Buffy as she reached for the small emergency stake in her hair.
"So, Drusilla," she said as calmly as she could. "Have you come back to finish what you started. And pardon me, but shouldn't you be toast now," she said while pointing at the sun.
"No," Drusilla said. And to Buffys utter shock, tears ran down her cheeks, clear human tears.
"I'm not going to kill you. I have come to ask for forgiveness, and to say thank you. Your blood was all that I needed to break the Bonds of Insanity. And thereby my soul and life returned." Then she sat down on the bench and started telling the strangest and most horrific story Buffy had ever had heard. Finished with her story, Drusilla wiped away the tears. "That's why I'm back. I'm here to help you in the fight against Chatla."
At the library they were still researching, and as the sun went down, Angel came to help. Nobody had seen Buffy for hours, and they were getting worried.
Willow was again searching the net, while muttering curses under her breath.
Xander had his nose buried in an old tome that was covering most of the desk he was sitting at.
Angel was trying to come up with some sort of magical protection for his friends. While Cordelia were helping him the best she could, while carving stakes.
"If I say this spell, these amulets should, at least in theory protect against most magic." He took a pinch of a grey powder, (he didn't want to think about what it consisted of), and sprayed it over the amulets he had made. Then he raised his voice and chanted in Gaelic. With a loud explosion he was sent thundering into a bookshelf. And as he was buried under it, a thick and really stinky cloud rose from the amulets.
"Angel! Are you okay big boy?" Cordelia dived coughing into the smoke and dug out Angel. "Speak to me. Angel. Come on man. Aren't vampires supposed to be close to invulnerable? Buffy is going to kill me if something happened to you. Come on, don't do this to me."
She grabbed the stunned vampire, and with surprising strength dragged him out from under the bookshelf.
With a flow of cursing on about twelve different languages, including at least four dead ones, Angel stumbled to his feet.
"Bloody Hell!! That God Damned spell backfired!" Then he stumbled, and for a moment had to steady himself on Cordy. "Damn it!" He growled. "I'm too old for this shit. I'm so out of practice. It must be at least a two hundred years since I last used my magic powers. Thank God, Angelus never cared for them. He preferred mind games and brutal force." He sat down on a chair. Submerging himself in a serious brood mode. "I'm a failure," he stated flatly. "I couldn't even make those bloody amulets."
"How is it, Willow? Any news about where we can find a Warrior Sorceress in the service of The Powers That Be?"
"No, Angel. It's hopeless. I'm afraid that this time the Scooby gang has met its match."
"Don't bet on it," Buffy said as she came in the swing doors along with a tall redhead, which seemed familiar to them. But they just couldn't figure out why. "I have found us a Warrior Sorceress. This is . . . Edith," the Slayer said with an odd smirk towards the newcomer.
"Hey everybody. I hear you have some trouble with a certain Warrior Sorceress called Cathla. Well I'm here to help you. And I think that I will make the odds immensely better. I have seen that bitch in action before. I know what she is capable of. Last time I didn't have the . . ." She hesitated for a moment. "Health to fight her. But now I'm fit for fight."
Willow looked over to Giles, and he nodded. They both sensed a great magical power in her. And her movements were those of a warrior. Almost like those of a Slayer. Even Xander and Cordelia, could sense how powerful this woman was.
But all of their reactions were nothing compared to Angel's. He turned a unhealthy shade of grey, and left the library like a bat out of hell.
"What the hell was that," Xander said.
"Oh. You all have to excuse Angel," Edith said. "You see. A hundred years ago, I had a rather nasty run in with Angelus. He is probably still blaming himself for the evil deeds of the demon."
She walked up to the table and looked at the amulets.
"Hmm. So this is his work. Quite impressing. He has almost managed to make six Tears of Hecate; it also explains the explosion that we heard. He just forgot one thing. A pure vampire should never use that particular spell. Let me finish them for you."
She did a few strange hand movements above the amulets. Then her hand glowed white for a second.
"Now they are finished. I just had to remove the vampire influence on them. Well!! Now we better get going. Preparing for the oncoming battle. Together, I think we have a good chance."
End of chapter seven