Hello to all my readers I am back with the next chapter please R+R all reviews and criticism are welcome just please no flames.
A Slayerette's Slide
Chapter 8
Chandler Hotel
5 minutes till slide
"How much time now?" Wade asked.
"Two minutes Wade, one minute later then the last time you asked," Quinn responded in an annoyed voice.
"Chill out girl, we're all worried about him but driving us up the wall won't help," Remy told his friend.
"Well sorry if I happened to be scared to death about the well being of my boyfriend!" Wade bit back in an angry tone.
"Xander is both strong and smart, I'm sure he's fine," Maggie said, trying to sooth the angry red head.
"Well we won't know that until we slide, now will we," the red head shot back.
"Alright, times up," Quinn called as he held up the timer and opened the vortex.
"Thank God," Wade said as she quickly ran forward and jumped into the tunnel, followed closely by the rest of the group.
Unknown Location
2 days till slide
"Everyone ok?" Quinn called as soon as everyone emerged from the tunnel.
"I will be once we find Xander," Wade said as she got up and looked around. "Where are we?" she asked as she took in their surroundings.
They had landed in what appeared to be a clearing in a forest. Ten feet away the tree line started, beyond that nothing was visible due to shadows and dense foliage.
"Looks like a forest," Quinn replied as he put the timer away.
"What's a forest like this doing in the middle of L.A.?" Maggie asked as she looked around cautiously.
"I don't…" Quinn started too reply but was cut off as a loud growling sound came from the forest.
Soon five large wolf like creature emerged from the shadows; each wolf was the size of a small horse and covered in pitch black fur. The group of sliders quickly moved together and were soon standing back to back as the wolf like creatures closed in on them.
Without warning the lead creature jumped into the air, its target Wade, but before it could get within five feet of the woman a ball of fire flew out of the shadows and struck the wolf, causing to fly back into a tree where it laid unmoving.
Turning in the direction of the fireball the sliders saw a figure walk out of the shadows. The person was just over six feet and was dressed all in black. Black armor covered his chest and stomach as well as black leg armor and boots. The face was hidden from view by a black helmet that seemed be molded to the head, covering all of this was a dark black coat.
It was easy to tell that the figure was male by his build. In his left hand he held a long sword with a blade that seemed to be maid of fire. In his other hand he held a long dark red stick that appeared too be carved in the likeness of a dragon.
Without hesitation the man ran forward and thrust his fiery sword into the hide of the nearest wolf and then held up the stick and launched another ball of fire at another. With three of the creatures dead the last two backed up a few feet and began to circle the man. Soon one was in front of him while the other was on his left. The two wolves then quickly ran forward and leaped into the air that the same time.
The man then quickly crouched down and propelled himself backwards, causing the two monsters to collide in mid air. He then leapt to his feet and quickly made short work of the last two monsters.
Upon the deaths of the last two creatures the man then turned and looked at the group of sliders.
After a few seconds in which no one spoke and the figure evaluated the group his voice came from inside the helmet. "About damn time you guys showed up."
"Xander?" Wade asked as she slowly moved toward the figure.
Instead of responding the helmet on the man's head seemed to turn into a liquid before retreating into the breast plate revealing the grinning face of Xander.
"You sound surprised to see me," Xander replied as Wade shot forward and jumped into his arms, and quickly began kissing him.
The rest of the sliders watched with smiles on their faces, glad that there friend was alive and well. A few minutes later the couple pulled apart and Xander then turned to face the rest of the group,
"How ya been?" he asked as they moved over.
"Worried sick over you," Quinn replied as he and Xander shared a manly hug.
Xander greeted his other two friends much the same as Quinn before he led them out of the forest.
"Where's Rickman?" Maggie asked as they cleared the forest and saw a large city off in the distance.
"Dead," Xander replied in a cold tone.
"You killed him?" Quinn asked, no shock in his voice.
"Unfortunately no," Xander replied.
"Then who did?" Maggie asked.
"A group of really big spiders," Xander answered as a grin began to form on his face. "I'll tell you about it when we get back to my place," he said before anyone else could question further.
"Where are we anyway?" Remy asked, as they grew closer to the city walls.
"We are on the outskirts of the city of Neverwinter," Xander replied.
"Neverwinter?" Quinn asked in confusion.
"Yup, from what I've been able to gather this world is vastly different from ours," Xander responded.
"How so?" Wade asked.
"For one thing the land masses are far different then on our Earth's, there are many different races of creatures ranging from elves and orcs to dragons and Hellhounds that everybody know about, and magic is an everyday occurrence here," the young man explained.
"Is that how you have a sword made of fire, and a stick that shoots fire?" Maggie asked.
"Yup, a sorcerer made them for me after I saved him from zombies,"
The rest of the walk was in silence and soon the group walked through the open gates and the sliders that were new too the world gazed in wonder at the city around them. Not long after that they were all seated comfortably in Xander's home above a local tavern.
"So you said you have a story for us," Remy said once Xander had changed out of his armor into a simple shirt and pants.
"Your right," Xander replied and then launched into his story.
Flashback
1 ½ months ago
Once Xander emerged from the wormhole he quickly got to his feet and began to look for Rickman, he soon spotted him running quickly threw the forest that they landed in. Without wasting another second he took off after the psychopath, all the while trying to get a clear shot with his Zat.
After what seemed like hours of running Rickman emerged into a clearing and started to panic as he heard Xander come crashing through the woods after him. He then quickly started to run across the clearing hoping to reach the tree line before the young man could get a clear shot.
Unfortunately the former general couldn't run fast enough, as soon as Xander emerged from the forest into the clearing he fired the Zat and hit Rickman, causing him to crumple to the ground. Slowly moving forward Xander kicked the man in the side and when he got no reply he figured that the man was indeed unconscious and not faking it.
Once again taking aim with his Zat he prepared too fire and end the life of the whack job, but before he could pull the trigger a strange hissing sound came from the trees around him. Looking around he raised his Zat from the unconscious killer to the sounds in the forest.
Seconds later several very large spiders emerged from the forest and surrounded the two humans.
"Oh crap," Xander said as he watched the large bugs.
Soon the spiders began to move closer to the pair of sliders. The young man then began to fire off quick shots from his Zat that caused the monster's legs to collapse under them when hit, unfortunately their were too many spiders for Xander to handle and they began closing in on him.
Right as one of the spiders was about to slash at him with its claws, a bolt of lighting shot out and struck the monster, instantly killing it. Looking in the direction the lighting came from, Xander saw a woman in full plate mail armor with a long sword in one hand and what looked like a glowing stick in the other.
The woman then quickly shot off several more bolts, striking various different spiders causing them to drop to the ground. Soon the remaining spiders began to retreat, but not before one of them bit down on Rickman's leg dragged him off into the forest.
"Are you okay?" the woman asked as she walked over.
"Yeah, thanks for the help," Xander replied as looked the woman over.
She stood about 5'7 with long brown hair and brown eyes, but what stood out most to the young slider was the way her ears were pointed.
"What's the matter, never seen an elf before?" the woman asked.
"Actually I haven't," Xander replied.
"I find that surprising, elves are all over the place," the woman responded, a slight amount of surprise in her voice.
"That may be true, but I'm not exactly from around here,"
"Then where are you from?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"That is a long story," Xander told her with a slight smile on his face.
"Then it is a story for another time, we must get out of here before the spiders return," she said as she turned and began walking.
Xander started after her but suddenly stopped as something caught his eye. Moving over to where Rickman had laid before being dragged away he had too hold back a cry of joy at he saw what must have fallen out of the maniacs hand when he shot him.
Quickly bending over and retrieving Rickman's timer he then stood up and ran to catch up with his unknown savior.
"So, could I ask your name?" Xander asked as he caught up to the woman.
The elf eyed him up and down for a moment before responding. "My name is Aribeth, now may I ask yours?"
"It's Xander," the young man replied.
"That is an odd name," Aribeth commented as they walked through the forest.
Xander chose to ignore that statement as he started to fiddle with Rickman's timer, trying to figure out how long until the slide that would hopefully take him back to his friends. Aribeth looked over at the young man with the strange item he picked up, assuming it was something to remember the man she assumed to be his friend by.
"I'm sorry I was not able to save your friend," Aribeth said to the young man.
After hearing this Xander stopped dead in his tracks and stared directly into the eyes of the elf. "That man was in no way my friend, he was a cold blooded killer that kidnapped me and put several scars on me," he said with anger in his voice.
Aribeth was slightly surprised by the amount of anger in the young human's voice and chose to remain silent as she studied him as they continued walking. After several minutes of silence Xander finally spoke up.
"So, where are we going?" the young man asked as he tucked Rickman's timer into his coat.
"The city of Neverwinter," Aribeth replied.
"Cool,"
End Flashback"So we came back here, and I basically explained that I was hunting down Rickman because of what he did and that I had friends that would eventually show up looking for me," Xander finished his story as his friends stared at him with surprise.
"That's some story," Maggie said after a moment of silence.
"Yup,"
"If you had Rickman's timer, why didn't you slide back to us?" Wade asked her boyfriend.
Xander was silent for a moment as he fished Rickman's timer out of his coat and held it up. "Because I couldn't get the damn thing to work," he answered as the rest of the sliders saw that it did appear to be not functioning seeing as there was no count down to the slide. "Kinda hoping you would be able to fix it," Xander continued as he handed the device over to Quinn.
"I'll get right on it," Quinn responded as he took the timer and started fiddling with it.
"Does this mean that we'll get home?" Remy asked, hope evident in his voice.
"I think so Remy," Quinn replied as he punched a few buttons on the timer and the digital display flashed on. "It's working," Quinn called as he examined the readout. "Apparently the countdown on the two timers is only different by a few seconds," Quinn said after checking his timer.
"Is that good?" Xander asked.
"It's not bad," Quinn replied as he pulled out his timer and started fiddling with both of them.
It wasn't long before Quinn was off in his own little world. While Quinn worked on the timers Xander showed the others around his home and showed them where they could get some sleep. As the sun began to set Xander was sitting on a small balcony attached to his room, alone with his thoughts, until Wade joined him.
The red head didn't speak but she quickly moved over too him and wrapped her arms around him, tears beginning too form in her eyes.
"I was so scared that something bad had happened to you," the red head said as he held onto him.
Xander quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Don't worry, I won't leave you," he said as he held her.
"Good," Wade responded before pulling him into a kiss.
Xander's Place
1 day till Slide
The next morning Xander woke up and noticed that there was something different about his room. Looking around he quickly found that it was the naked red head next to him in bed, his memories of the night before then came flooding back and with a smile he gave Wade a gentle kiss and then slid out of bed and got dressed.
After he was dressed he walked out into the main area of his home and saw that Quinn was in the same place as he was the previous day and was hunched over the timers.
"Morning Quinn," Xander said, walking into the small kitchen area as Quinn grunted a reply. "Have you been up all night?" the young man asked as he went about cooking breakfast.
Quinn simply grunted again and then stood up and walked into the kitchen.
"Please tell me there's coffee on this world," Quinn said as he leaned in the counter.
"Nope, no coffee," Xander replied as he cracked open some eggs and dumped them into a pan before reaching into a cupboard and pulled out a large vial of dark liquid. "But I do have this," he said as he poured some into a cup and passed off to the scientist.
"What is it?" Quinn asked as he accepted the cup.
Xander took a few seconds to throw some bacon onto a skillet before answering. "Once I realized that there was no form of coffee here I tracked down a potion maker and with his help was able to make a potion that has all the perks of coffee, but for some reason tastes like fruit," he explained as he continued to make breakfast.
Ten minutes later the rest of the sliders emerged from their various sleeping quarters and gathered in the kitchen just as Xander finished cooking breakfast. "Morning all," Xander said as he started to hand out plates to his friends who quickly began to eat and after giving a Wade a smile and quick kiss he too sat down.
"So, what else have you done while you were here?" Rembrandt asked as he poured himself a glass of the coffee potion.
"Well, after Aribeth helped me out with the spiders and took me back here she explained to me about the area and took me back to the Hall of Justice which is basically this temple for one of the gods they worship. However shortly after I arrived a cult attack and after helping to defend the hall I was rewarded with some money that I used to get some basic equipment and lodging."
"What kind of basic equipment?" Maggie asked in between bites of her breakfast.
"Some leather armor, a long sword, and a dagger," Xander replied. "After that I got a job doing some basic mercenary work around the city until I rescued a sorcerer from some zombies, who then made me my armor and sword. After that I just kept up with the merc work while I waited for you guys to show up," Xander finished his story.
"What other jobs did you do as a mercenary?" Wade asked, although the thought of her boyfriend being hired to do other people's dirty work didn't sit well with her.
"Some basic stuff, I helped Aribeth and some other paladins take out a vampire cult that set up shop here, helped take out the hive of the giant spiders I told you about, killed a mage that had gone bad and was sacrificing virgins, that one wasn't fun," he answered as a dark look crossed his face.
"You want to talk about it?" Remy asked.
"Nothing much to talk about. I went in, I found him, I fought him, I killed him," Xander said as he finished his breakfast.
"So, do we get to meet this Aribeth?" Wade asked, quickly changing the subject.
"If you want, I was heading over to see her today anyway," Xander replied as he set his dishes on the counter.
Soon the group had finished eating and helped Xander to clean up.
"We need to find you some new clothes," Xander said after all the cleaning had been done.
"What's wrong with what we're wearing?" Maggie asked.
"It's not exactly the type of clothing that is worn around here," Xander replied as he opened up a large cabinet in the room. "There should be some stuff in here that will fit Quinn and Remy, but we're gonna have to buy some clothes for you two," he said in reference to Maggie and Wade.
A few minutes later Quinn and Rembrandt had changed into the clothes Xander had giving them, which consisted of simple dark colored pants, white shirts, and dark brown tunics. He then handed cloaks to Wade and Maggie so they could hide the clothes they were wearing until new ones could be purchased for them.
"So where can we get clothes for us?" Wade asked as the group moved down the street.
"There is a tailor's shop up ahead, and since he owes me a favor we can get it cheep," Xander responded as they approached a small building with a sign stating it was a tailors shop.
After spending twenty minutes in the shop, but what seemed like hours to the three men, the group was once again heading down the street with Wade and Maggie in more appropriate clothes. Soon the group arrived at a large white building that looked to be a temple of some sort.
"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Xander said as he walked up the stairs and through the doors.
The inside of the building was just as impressive as the outside. There was a raised platform in the center of the room with stairs leading up to it. In the center of the platform was what looked to be a circle of golden light.
"What's that?" Maggie asked as she looked at the light.
"That is a recall portal," Xander replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, he then started walking over too a woman in armor that was standing on the other side of the room, the other sliders following behind.
When the woman noticed Xander walking over she smiled and went to meet him. "Xander, how are you?" she asked as she gave him a friendly embrace.
"Been good, killed some worgs out in the woods," Xander replied as he returned the hug. "Also these are the friends I told you about. This is Quinn, Rembrandt, Maggie and Wade. Guys this is Aribeth" Xander continued, pointing to each of the group in turn.
"It is very nice too meet you," Aribeth said to the group with a nod who returned the greeting. "This means that you will be leaving soon doesn't it?" Aribeth asked, once again addressing Xander.
"Yup, heading out late tomorrow," Xander replied.
"That's too bad, I know that there are quite a few barmaids that will be sad to hear that," Aribeth responded with a grin.
"Barmaids?" Wade asked, daggers in her voice.
"Heh, it's not what it seems like Wade," Xander replied in a nervous tone, all he got was a glare. "Would you look at that, there's a door over there, I think I should go through it," the young man said as he ran through the door, leaving behind a glaring Wade and laughing Aribeth.
A few minutes later the elf's laughter died down and she turned to face the glaring Wade. "It really is not what you think," the elf said in an attempt to calm down the enraged woman.
"Then what is it?" Wade asked, her anger still there.
"It's nothing, at the tavern that myself, Xander, and few others go to has barmaids that are always flirting with him," Aribeth started to explain.
"Funny how that doesn't make me feel any better," Wade cut in.
"If you would let me finish, I was going to say that he never acknowledged the flirting and would always tell stories of the fiery red head he loved," Aribeth continued, bringing a smile to the young woman's face.
"Really?" she asked with a giddy look.
It was at that time that Xander emerged from the door he had ran into with a queasy look on his face. "I've got to remember which door is which," he said as he started turning green.
"Sick room?" Aribeth asked.
"Sick room," Xander replied as Wade walked over. "You gonna hit me?" he asked in a timid voice. Wade simple smiled before pulling him into a kiss. "Guess not," Xander said as they broke apart. "So, Aribeth, why did you ask me here today?" he asked the elf.
"Right, time to get down to business," Aribeth said as she walked over to a table, the sliders right behind.
On the table was a large map of Neverwinter with small needles sticking out of various points on it.
"It was just come to my attention that the vampire cult wasn't complete destroyed," Aribeth said. "Vampires have been spotted in these areas," she continued while gesturing to the pins in the map.
"So we get to go in and take out the bloodsuckers?" Xander asked with a glint in his eyes.
"Yes, get your equipment and meet me back here at sundown," Aribeth told the young man before walking off to attend to other matters.
Xander's Place 12 Hours till Slide"I don't like you doing this," Wade said as Xander moved around his room while gathering his equipment.
"You've said that five times now Wade," Xander replied as he strapped on his armor.
"It bears repeating, I don't want to lose you," Wade said as her boyfriend slung his coat on over his armor and put attached his sword to his belt and put several rings on his fingers.
"Wade, this isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, that I've dealt with vampires, plus I am going into their lair with several paladins and at least three sorcerers and four clerics, I'll be fine," the young man said in a reassuring voice as he wrapped Wade up in a hug.
"You promise?"
"Promise,"
"Alright, but if you die I am so gonna kick your ass," Wade told her boyfriend, who laughed in return.
"You got it," Xander said, smiling as he walked out of the room and into the larger sitting room where the rest of the sliders were waiting.
"So you heading out now?" Quinn asked as he looked up from the timers.
"Yup,"
"Just make sure you're back in time for the slide, now that we found home we don't want to have to come back and pick you up," Quinn told the young man.
"How till the slide?"
"You have about twelve hours,"
"That should be more then enough, taking out the cult should only take a few hours," Xander said before a said goodbye to them and headed out the door.
Soon the young man was standing outside the Hall of Justice with Aribeth and several other paladins who offered him friendly greetings. After discussing a plan of action the group of warriors headed off to the known entrance to the vampires lair.
Sewers of Neverwinter
10 ½ hours till slide
"Uhh, I hate the sewers," a sorceress named Kaleena said as she, Xander, and two paladins slowly made their way into the lair.
"Apart from the stench and the occasional giant bug they're not all that bad," Xander remarked, earning a laugh from the paladin and a grunt from Kaleena.
Xander was leading the trio through the sewers, his fiery sword out of its sheath and casting light into the small tunnel. The plan was that they split off into three groups, each one containing a sorcerer and at two warriors to defend the spell caster. The three groups would then take different routes into the lair.
The first group led by Aribeth and also contained two of the other paladins as well as the clerics and a sorcerer were entering through an abandoned storage house above the lair. While the second and third took two different routes through the sewers so they could surround the undead monsters.
After a few more minutes of silent walking the trio reached small staircase leading up.
"This is it," Xander said as he looked up at the small trapdoor at the top of the stairs. "You two ready?"
After his two companions nodded Xander quickly moved up the staircase and readied his sword. Without a second thought the young man pushed the trapdoor open and using the enchantment stored in one of the rings, jumped up through the opening and was then propelled even farther into the air by the magic contained in his ring.
When he landed he was a good thirty feet away from the trap door, and standing in the middle of a small group of vampires. Using their surprise to his advantage Xander quickly spun around and with a quick slash of his sword decapitated two of the vampires, turning them to dust and then quickly leaping into the air again to avoid the rest of the vampires attacks.
In the time it had taken him to dust the first two vamps, the rest of the party had come into the room, as well as every vampire in the lair. Soon spells were flying through the air and weapons were clashing together.
Xander cursed his luck as the vampire he was fighting seemed to be an expert swordsman and had back him into a corner, where another of the undead monsters had joined the fight. While desperately trying to fight off to vampires with one hand, the young man raised his other and held out another ring shaped like a ram's head. When the ring was activated an invisible force flew out of the ring and struck the two vampires, sending them flying across the room.
"That's fifty, your useless now," Xander said as he let the ring of the ram fall from his finger.
Once he dropped the ring he rang over to the vampires that were attacking him and quickly drove his sword through both their hearts, turning them to dust. Looking around the room the young man saw that many vampires had already been killed, but more kept coming. Seeing that Aribeth was cornered on the other side of the room much like he was, he leapt into the air and allowed the magic in his Ring of Jumping to send him across the room and land silently behind the vampires cornering his elven friend.
Two quick sword swipes later the vampires were dust and Xander and Aribeth were back to back fighting off more the undead. "There's more here then we thought!" Aribeth called to Xander over the noise of the battle.
"No shit!" Xander yelled back as he duck and allowed a lightning spell to sail over his head and hit the vampire that he was fighting. "Thanks Kaleena!" Xander called as he began to fight with his next opponent.
What felt like days later but was really only two hours, Aribeth brought her sword through the neck of the last vampire killing it. When it's ashes had fallen to the ground the group of warriors collapsed, some in exhaustion, some from their wounds.
The surviving two clerics then quickly moved around the room and began to heal the critically injured fighters, leaving the less serious cases to be dealt with by the healing potions and first aid kits people had brought.
"That was fun," Xander said sarcastically as he walked up to Aribeth.
"Yes, we should do it again some time," Aribeth responded in a joking tone, getting a laugh out of Xander.
"So, now what?" Xander asked as he surveyed the room.
"We have the paladins and clerics move the wounded out of here while you, me, and Kaleena check for valuables," Aribeth responded as Kaleena walked over.
"That's a plan I can get behind," Xander said with a grin as he began to search the room, keeping a careful eye out for traps.
After twenty minutes of searching the three warriors had procured a small pile of items that they quickly wrapped up and began to head for the exit. As Xander walked up to the door he took one last look over the room and stopped in his tracks as a light caught the corner of his eyes.
"I think we missed something!" Xander called to his friends as he moved over the where the saw the light. The two women close behind.
When he reached the place he saw the light he began a closer inspection of the wall and found a small crack. With a little help from Aribeth and Kaleena they were able to pry at the wall which turned out to be a secret door that led into what appeared to be an armory.
"Wow," Xander said in awe as he looked at all of the weapons hanging on the walls.
"This is amazing," Aribeth said as she began to examine the weapons.
Xander was about to take a closer look a particularly nice looking axe on the wall when he noticed a sword lying on a table at the far end of the room. Approaching the blade he saw that it looked like any normal longsword, but he had learned early that looks can be deceiving.
"Hey Kaleena, can you come here a minute," Xander called out to the sorceress that was admiring a well-made quaterstaff.
"What is it?" she asked as he walked over to him.
"Can you see if there is anything special about this sword?" Xander asked as he gestured to the sword on the table.
"It's magical," Kaleena quickly responded.
"How do you know, you didn't even cast a spell," Xander said as he looked at the ordinary looking sword.
"That's how," she said as she pointed a piece of paper with odd writing on it. "It's written in arcane letters and says 'do not touch, magic sword," Kaleena responded.
"So is it cursed then?" Xander asked as he eyed the sword.
"I'm gonna guess and say no, if it was a vampire would have no trouble wielding it, I'm guessing it's good aligned," Aribeth said as she walked over.
"Only one way to find out," Xander said as he reached for the hilt of the sword.
When Xander wrapped his fingers around the sword and lifted it off the table the first thing he noticed that it was lighter then a typical longsword, and that the minute he touched it the blade began to glow with a soft white light.
"What I say, holy weapon," Aribeth said as she walked back to the door. "We should get going," Aribeth called back to them.
Soon the group was heading back to the Hall of Justice with the items they had gotten off the vampires, and a holy sword tucked under Xander's arm. "So, you think I could keep this?" Xander asked as protectively held the sword.
"It's alright with me, I can't used swords," Kaleena said as they approached the hall.
"It's fine with me as long as you let me find out what powers it was first," Aribeth said as they walked through the doors.
"Alright then, I'll come by later and pick it up, as well as my share of the loot," Xander sighed as he handed the weapon over to Aribeth and then headed back out the door in the direction of his home.
Xander's Place
8 hours till slide
"Honey I'm home!" Xander called out in a joking matter as he walked into his home.
Almost immediately Wade was in his arms holding him. "Are you okay, your not hurt are you?" the red head asked, concern in her voice.
"A couple of bruises, but apart from that I'm fine, just really tired," Xander answered as Wade led him over to a couch.
"Kill all the vampires?" Maggie asked as she brought him a glass of water.
"Thanks," Xander said as he took the water and quickly downed the glass. "And to answer your question, yup, all the vamps are dust, and I got a cool weapon out of the deal," Xander replied with a twinkle in his eyes like that of a child at Christmas. "How long till the slide?"
"About eight hours," Quinn replied from where he was in the kitchen making some food.
"Then if you don't mind I'm gonna get some sleep, wake me up in six," Xander said as he rose from the couch and walked off to his room, Wade close behind.
"Ten bucks they do more then sleep," Maggie said as Wade closed the door behind.
"I'll take that bet," Remy said as he pulled a ten out of his pocket.
Xander's place
2 hours till slide
"That was probably an anti productive thing to do if you're exhausted," Xander said as a naked Wade cuddled in close to him.
"It's not my fault," Wade replied as she wrapped her arms around him. "And you did get a couple hours of sleep in between."
"Good point, but I should probably get up now," Xander said as he and Wade sat up.
"Do we have to, there's still at least two hours till he slide," she said with a seductive smile.
"That's true, but I have some packing to do, good-byes to say, and a sword to pick up," Xander answered as he pulled himself out of bed. "And besides, I am way to tired to do that again," he continued with a smile as he finished getting dressed.
"Fine," Wade sighed as she got dresses herself and then walked out of the room with Xander.
"Hey, sleep well?" Maggie asked as the two lovers walked out of the room.
"Not really," Xander said as he and Wade smiled at each other.
"Ha! Pay up Remy," Maggie said in triumph as she turned to face the singer, who reluctantly pulled the money out of his wallet and handed it over.
"You're betting on that?" Wade asked in shock while Xander just laughed.
"Okay, I'll be back soon, I got a quick errand to run," Xander said as his laughs died down.
"We slide in two hours," Quinn told him as he put down the book he was reading.
"I won't be gone for long, don't worry," Xander called back as he walked out the door.
Hall of Justice
As Xander walked through the large doors of the temple to Helm he began to scan the room for any signs of the elven paladin that had become one of his closet friends. Spotting her on the other side of the room he hurried over to her.
"Xander," Aribeth said in greeting as the young man approached. "Here for the sword I take it," the elf said as she pulled the weapon out of a chest behind her.
"That, and to say goodbye," Xander replied solemnly as Aribeth handed over the sword.
"Finally leaving?" Aribeth asked as a small amount of sadness entered her.
"Yup," Xander replied.
In order to stop the impending sadness attack that would then lead to hugging, a thing Aribeth didn't enjoy, the elven warrior quickly changed the subject. "The sword is called Radiance, and is pretty powerful."
Sensing what Aribeth was doing, and knowing why she was doing it, he went along with the topic change. "What's it do?"
"For starters it can destroy almost any undead so long as the blade pierces the heart, it can also create rays holy energy, but it can only do that twice per day," Aribeth explained as Xander looked in awe at the powerful weapon in his hand. "It also has some other power that I was not able to discover, apparently they will only make themselves known after the wielder 'proves his worthiness'."
"I'll remember that, and thank you for everything," Xander said as he held his hand out to the elf, who took it.
"You think you'll ever be back this way again?" Aribeth asked as she let go of his hand.
"I don't know, but if I am, you're buying the drinks," Xander replied, causing the elf to laugh.
With one final hand shake and smile Xander turned and walked out of the hall and down the road. He was near his home when he stopped after hearing someone call his name.
"Xander!" the voice said again.
Turning Xander saw Kaleena running to catch up with him. A few seconds later the panting sorceress was in front of him.
"Here," she said as she held up a ring.
"What this?" Xander asked as he took the ring from her.
"A going away present, figured it could help you out,"
"What's it do?" Xander asked as he slid it onto his finger.
"I made it myself, it has the powers of a ring of jumping, can turn you invisible once per day, and increase your speed," the spell caster explained.
"So basically a ring of speed, jump, and invisibility," Xander said.
"Yup,"
"Thank you," Xander said as he pulled her into a hug, which she gladly returned.
"Take care of yourself,"
"I will,"
Xander's Place
30 mins to slide
"So what do we do about me?" Maggie asked as the group got ready too hopefully make their final slide.
"We can give you our timer and you can go back to the survivors from your world," Quinn explained.
"Oh, right," Maggie said, trying her best to hide her sadness.
The minutes then quickly ticked by in silence until only three minutes were left until the slide.
"Everyone ready?" Quinn asked and received nods from everyone. He then walked over to Maggie and handed over the timer that she would use.
"I guess this is goodbye," Maggie said as she accepted the timer.
Quinn was about to say something but was cut off as a loud explosion sound was heard and the building started to shake.
"What the hell was that?" Maggie yelled as the shaking grew worse.
"I don't know!" Xander called back as he unsheathed Radiance and moved to the window. "Oh shit," he said as he saw what was outside the window.
"What 'oh shit' why did you say oh shit?" Wade asked as she joined him by the window.
"Remember the wizard I told you about that I killed?" Xander asked as the shaking grew worse.
"Yeah," Remy called back.
"His son is down their," Xander said before he quickly ducked, just narrowly avoiding a fire ball that came through the window and quickly started to set things around the room on fire.
"Thirty seconds!" Quinn yelled as the fire grew.
Soon the entire room was ablaze, but worst of all was that the fire was cutting Quinn and Maggie off from the other sliders. Seeing that the time was about to run out on the timer, Quinn made a decision. Aiming the timer at the air just above the other three sliders he activated the vortex and soon a swirling red tunnel appeared in the air.
"Go!" Quinn yelled to his friends.
"But what about you?" Wade called back to her long time friend.
"Don't worry, I'll go with Maggie and trace the wormhole, go!" Quinn yelled again.
"Good luck man!" Remy yelled as he jumped into the red tunnel, followed closely by Wade and Xander.
Soon the portal shut and Maggie held up the other timer.
"Time to go!" she screamed over the blaze as she activated the timer and jumped through, followed closely by Quinn.
End Chapter 8
There's chap 8 hope you like it, please R+R