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Disclaimer: See previous chapters - nothing has changed, they're still not mine :(
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX - SOURCES
A sob rose in her throat as she got shakily to her feet, not trusting her eyes.
"Tara? Baby? Is that you?"
The love of her life smiled sadly and nodded, reaching out a hand to her. Willow took it, and marveled at the warmth she felt.
"I've missed you so much."
"And I've missed you," Tara told her. "But I've always been with you. But now, I need to make my presence felt."
"What's going on?"
"I'm so proud of you, Willow," she answered. "You've mastered your dark side and become more powerful than any of us could have imagined. You need to remember that now. You need to remember that we can never let the darkness in us win, no matter what happens."
Willow was confused. "Tara, what's going on?" she repeated.
Tara gently lifted a hand to touch the flame-haired witch's cheek. "You need to find your anchor, Willow. You can't let go of it."
"My anchor?" Willow asked, remembering who had used that term before. "Kennedy?"
Tears sprang up in Tara's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Willow," she whispered. "You've already lost so much. Too much."
"Tara! What's going to happen?" Icy dread had begun to fill her.
"You need to hang on to her love," Tara insisted. "And to mine. We will be with you forever. Don't give in to hate. Use it. And cling to our love."
"Tara!" Willow cried out as the sky darkened and Tara began to fade.
"I'm so sorry, baby," the other witch whispered and then she was gone, leaving Willow surrounded by death and war once more.
Scrambling to her feet, she looked around for Kennedy. Spotting a familiar profile, she rushed forward, grabbing a fallen sword from the ground as she went. She moved faster than she ever had before, blindly shoving demons out of her way, using the sword like a machete through the chaos.
She barely felt the attack coming. A hell-beast pounced from behind, throwing her off balance again. Using magic, she managed to push him away enough to angle herself into a better defensive position. When the creature rushed at her again, she was able to insert the sword between them. The beast fell to the ground with a yelp, freeing Willow to continue on her way.
As she turned, she was finally afforded a clear view of Kennedy, battling two members of the Sisterhood of Jhe at once. She was bloodied and battered, but still she battled bravely on.
Willow had taken but another step when the first blow landed, heavy and hard across the young slayer's stomach, nearly slicing her in two and doubling her over in agony. Willow's voice was strangled and muted as she screamed her lover's name.
The second blow was just as vicious, a kick to the head from the second demon. Kennedy's head snapped back as she went crashing to the ground.
Darting forward, Willow didn't even notice the two she-demons bursting into flames, victims of an enraged and powerful witch. Every ounce of her attention was fixed on the fallen warrior before her.
She fell to her knees and cradled her lover's head in her lap, her tears mingling with the blood and sweat on Kennedy's face. The injured slayer gasped, then smiled, her eyes fixing on Willow's.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Hey," Willow choked out. "We need to get you back to the hotel."
Kennedy shook her head. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt anymore."
Sobs wracked through the witch as she saw her lover slipping away from her. "Kennedy…"
"Sssh," she replied. "I love you."
Her eyes closed and with a final sigh, she was gone.
Tears poured down the witch's grief-stricken face. "I love you too."
"You're lying," Cordelia stated, refusing to believe any part of what he was telling her. It couldn't be true. "Angel and Connor would never…"
The demon smirked. "Really? You sure about that?" He regarded her with a self-satisfied air. "Because I seem to recall a certain young, now very stable man strapping a whole heck of a lot of high explosives to himself – and you – fully prepared to kill himself, oh – not even a year ago. Not to mention Angel's little kamikaze stunt when he went up against the Black Thorn."
Lies, she told herself. All lies. And yet…
And yet, there was still a small part of her mind that thought maybe… maybe under the right circumstances, they would agree to sacrifice themselves. If it meant others would live… Wasn't that what made them champions?
And still the question remained – Why? Why not just kill all of them straight away? Why did the Partners need their consent?
"Go on," he told her. "Ask."
His taunting voice brought her back out of her thoughts. "What?"
"Why are you doing this?" he asked in a mocking imitation. "I know you're dying to know."
"Tell me if you're going to," she answered dismissively.
He laughed. "Defiant to the last. I had a feeling you'd be the hardest nut to crack."
She huffed out a breath. "Yeah, because you know me so well."
"Actually, I do," he told her. "I know all of you. I knew what you'd do when you read that fake prophecy. I knew you'd fall for it, like you did all the rest."
"The rest?"
He was smiling broadly now, relishing every moment of telling his twisted tale. "'The Father will kill the Son' – Wesley really lapped that one up, didn't he? And don't get me started on the Shanshu 'prophesy'. Without Team Angel falling for all of the crap we spoon-fed you, we'd never have gotten this far."
Her thoughts where stopped in their tracks. Surely he wasn't saying…
"The Shanshu…?"
"A big, fat fake," he told her with gusto. "Don't think I don't appreciate the delicious cruelty of it. Fighting for an atonement he will never receive. All so that it would bring him here. This moment. So that he could sacrifice that precious soul of his, and cover the Earth with darkness once more."
She shook her head, refusing to believe that it was true. "No."
"His soul will bring forth one of the Senior Partners. Connor's will bring forth the second. And you…" his eyes darkened with bloodlust. "You were to raise up the third."
Rage.
Rage seethed within her soul. They were just puppets. Everything they had done had been part of some evil plan…
The fury built, taking on a mind of its own. For a moment, she felt detached from her body, as though someone else has taken possession of it. Without giving it conscious thought, energy surged from her.
A ball of fire she had no idea how to create flew from her hand to incinerate the demon before her.
Grief, pain, rage, hatred, sorrow, vengeance. All bubbled within her. She felt the darkness rise within her, as it had done when she lost Tara. As she struggled to get to her feet, she could feel her eyes starting to turn black.
"No!" she screamed, loud and long, a fireball forming in her hands. She flung it forward, catching several demons at once and burning them to a crisp before they knew what was happening.
"We will be with you forever. Don't give in to hate. Use it. And cling to our love."
She heard Tara's voice speak within her, her words warm and so full of love.
"You need to remember that we can never let the darkness in us win, no matter what happens."
She struggled to hold onto that feeling – the love in Tara's words, the love in Kennedy's voice as she passed away. Their love was her anchor, Tara has told her. She had to hold onto it. And, as she did, a sense of peace settled over her.
The heat within her grew, taking her breath away, drawing a gasp from her throat. She was sure she would burst into flame from the intensity of the warmth. It filled ever crevice of her being, as though seeking a way out.
She looked down at her hands and saw that they were glowing, white and pure energy radiating off them. She knew without knowing that her eyes were no longer black, the same way she knew that her hair was now a pure glowing white.
The light burst out of her, surrounding her, lifting her several feet into the air. In the immediate vicinity, she sensed the fighting cease, as demons and slayers alike watched her in fascination.
Taking advantage of his current opponent's distraction, Spike cleaved his head from his shoulders before turning to watch the light show.
"About bloody time, Glenda," he remarked, smirking fiercely.
The light intensified, swirling around Willow like a tornado, before exploding with all the force of an atomic bomb. The wave of light swept forward, knocking everyone nearby off their feet with its power. Like a tsunami, the energy rushed towards the demon army, hitting them head on.
The power began to subside, and the witch felt herself slowly drift back to the ground. Gasping, she looked out ahead of her.
At least half of the remaining demon forces had been decimated.
The charred remains of Skip lay at her feet as Cordelia tried to get her breathing under control.
What a rush.
That was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. The feeling she experienced when using her own demon powers was intense, but it came from a place of peace and tranquility. But this new power – the fire – it was something altogether different. Anger. Loss. Pain. It was fuelled by a darker side of her soul.
She had sensed something else too. A connection. Consciously, she hadn't known what she was doing when she formed that fireball, but on a subconscious level, it felt like she was channeling someone else.
"Willow," she whispered to herself. The power had come from the Witch, she knew that somehow. They shared a connection now. One that could prove very useful – if she figured out how to use it in time.
"I see your connection to the Witch is strengthening," a voice remarked.
Startled, she looked up, only to be greeted by a terrifying sight. A huge demon, ancient looking, bearing the head of what looked like a deer. Or a Hart…
"No matter," it continued. "You will be dead long before you master your shared gifts."
Cordy stood her ground. "Everyone around here seems to talk a good game," she remarked. "Lots and lots of talk about killing me. Pretty much all talk, though, aren't you?"
"Insolent mortal. I could grind you into dust and scatter you to the wind before you could utter another word."
"You think you're scaring me?" she snorted derisively. "You can't lay a finger on me. You're only corporeal in your own dimension."
"Stupid girl," it replied with a sneer.
One clawed hand shot out, hitting her with a ferocious backhand that sent her flying across the room.
"This is my own dimension."
TO BE CONTINUED...