Author's Note - A big hearty thank you to everyone that's still reading this.
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Cornered.
The chamber was dark and it took a few moments before her eyes adjusted to the gloom. From the look of the damp walls, the low ceiling and the lack of windows, Cordelia guessed she was somewhere in the lower levels of the fortress – perhaps a basement…
…Or the dungeon, she thought with a shudder, as she spotted the shackles on the walls and an iron maiden hanging in the corner.
She saw them in the centre of the room, each lying on a narrow stone altar, parallel with each other.
"Angel!" she gasped, rushing to his side and taking his hand. "Angel! Wake up."
When there was no response, she took him by the shoulders and shook him gently.
"Angel!"
Further, more violent shaking still had no effect. Moving to Connor, she repeated the process – to no avail.
Above her, in a distant corner of the fortress, she heard a door slam, followed by footsteps.
She didn't have much time.
Grasping both their hands, she hoped the whole teleportation deal worked with passengers.
"No!"
Willows eyes were wide with shock as she watched Buffy crumple to the ground. As Spike dashed to the fallen Slayer's side, the Witch could see one of the demons preparing to fire another bolt of energy.
Without thinking, Willow glowed white-hot, and sent out a wave of bright light, hitting the demons square on. Several of the lesser demons, cowering behind, were incinerated instantly. The energy pushed the Wolf and the Ram back and deflected their own energy bolt, but otherwise left them unharmed.
"Get Buffy inside," she commanded, sending out another wave of energy which deflected another attack by the demons, but still left them unharmed.
Spike gathered Buffy into his arms and ran down the path into the hotel.
The Wolf sneered at Willow, now standing all alone in front of the hotel.
"You will not defeat us, Witch," it told her.
"We'll see."
Another burst of light, dazzling in its brightness, making it impossible to see. When the light subsided, she was gone.
The footsteps were getting closer. Still in an upper level of the fortress, but unmistakable nearer. It was only a matter of time…
She was concentrating with all her might, but nothing was happening. She couldn't take both of them at once. It was like she was being weighed down – an anchor around her neck. And now she was panicking.
She was going to have to take them one at a time. There was nothing else for it. She just had to hope that she could get back before…
Another door burst open above her somewhere. God, that was close…
Cordy took a deep breath. She didn't need to debate over who she'd take first – she knew what Angel would have wanted. That didn't mean that it didn't break her heart to let go of his hand and hold Connor's more tightly.
She looked down at the comatose vampire, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"I'll be back for you," she whispered.
And then, she and Connor were gone.
It had been a fierce battle.
The fifty or so warriors had been ferocious – battle-ready and highly skilled. But Faith's girls were better. She had hand-picked the nine slayers that accompanied her to Pylea and they had not disappointed her. Using their superior agility, their training and, of course, their slayer speed and strength, they had eventually gained the upper hand in this fight. And victory had been theirs.
Now Faith surveyed the battle-field, wiping the blade of her sword on the long grass before gazing towards the fortress, which was silhouetted against the night sky. And now she was faced with another decision. Should she wait here, as Angel had instructed, until they returned? Or should she go in after them?
She sensed a presence at her side and turned to face Giles, whose gaze was trained on the exact spot hers had been a moment before.
"We should go in," she told him.
"It's only been an hour," he replied, his voice calm and measured. "We have to give them time."
"Exactly," the slayer shot back, frustrated. "It's been an hour. Something could have happened."
"I suspect we'd all be dead by now, if it had," was his only reply.
Heavy footsteps announced the arrival of Landok.
"We must go," he said. "These warriors fear for the safety of their families. We wish to return to our villages and homesteads before the wrath of the Dark Fortress is visited upon them in vengeance for our actions here."
Giles nodded. "Of course. Thank you for your help."
The Pylea warrior nodded and moved off, followed by his kinsmen.
"How are the injured?" Faith wanted to know.
Giles glanced back towards the rest of their group. "None badly," he replied. "Lorne is tending to them."
"Good," she replied, sheathing her sword. "Keep an eye out, okay?"
She went to walk away, but the Watcher placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing, Faith?"
"Well, you gotta figure it'd be easier for one of us to get into that place, than a whole bunch."
"Faith…" he began sternly, but he didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. A bright flash of light appeared in front of them, subsiding to reveal two figures.
"Cordelia?"
The seer was knelt beside the inanimate figure of Connor.
"What happened?" Giles asked, crouching down at Connor's side and checking for a pulse.
"There's no time," Cordy replied. "Look after him. Get everyone in the van and be ready to go when I get back."
"Back?" Faith asked, but it was too late. Cordelia was gone as quickly as she appeared.
The hotel ballroom was in a blind panic when Willow teleported inside. They were leaderless, cornered like rats and even the bravest amongst them were terrified.
Willow ran to the far corner, where Spike had laid Buffy gently on a mattress and was now sponging the blood from her face.
"Is she…?" she couldn't bring herself to form the question.
"She's still alive," the vampire replied gravely. "Barely."
"Willow!" someone called out. She returned to the doors and to the slayer that called her.
"Can they get in here?"
"The force-field will hold – for a little while," Willow replied. Closing her eyes, she measured her breath and concentrated. Muttering a few well chosen words, the doors glowed for a moment, before fading back to normal. "That should buy us a little more time."
Several of the slayers, Rondell and some of his men gathered around her, looking for answers. The questions were all came at once. What were they going to do? How could they possibly win this? Did the appearance of these two demons mean that Angel and the others had failed? Willow had no answers for them.
But she needed answers, and soon, as the hotel began to shake with the approach of the demons.
The footsteps were very near indeed when Cordy arrived back in the dungeon. Right outside the door, in fact…
She ran across the cold, stone floor to Angel, and had just grabbed his hand when the door blew off its hinges and clattered against the far wall. The Hart strode into the room.
"You will not escape this time," It told her, drawing its sword back like a spear.
"Wanna bet?" Cordelia replied with more confidence than she felt. She squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, holding Angel's hand tightly, not seeing the blade as it flew towards her.
There was a loud clanging sound of metal hitting stone as the sword ricocheted off the wall of the dungeon and fell to the ground.
The Hart let out a yell of frustration. They were gone.
They were just placing Connor in the back of the van when another flash of light announced Cordelia's return. Faith and two other slayers ran out to meet her.
"Oh god," Faith gasped, seeing the unconscious vampire in Cordy's arms. "Angel! What happened?"
"The whole thing was a trap," Cordy replied, as she allowed two of the slayers to take Angel's weight from her arms. "It's some kind of spell, designed to make the Senior Partners corporeal in our dimension."
"Damn!" Faith spat.
"We need to get them back to Willow," Cordelia explained. "I don't know how to wake them up."
"What are we waiting for then?"
They hurried back to the van and had just put Angel inside when they heard a low boom, followed by a high-pitched whistling sound.
"What the…"
An explosion rocked the forest around them as the cannonball detonated only feet from them, blowing both Faith and Cordy to the ground. They were just scrambling back to their feet when they heard a second boom.
"Start the van!" Faith yelled, helping Cordy into the back before hoping in herself. Tires screeched as the van started moving. A second later, the vehicle shook as another cannonball exploded in the spot where they'd been parked.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Faith yelled to Giles in the driver's seat.
Giles sped through the forest, swerving to avoid trees and, subsequently, a third and a fourth cannonball, before they were out of range of the fortress and in relative safety.
"We need to get back to the portal site and home," Cordelia told them. "Buffy and the others are in serious danger."
To Be Continued...