"Are you ready?" Giles asked.
Willow sat in the center of the symbol they had put together in Giles' living room. The book sat in front of her.
"Yeah." She answered. "The book doesn't say anything about having it memorized, so I'll read it out loud."
"What do we do? Just watch?" Cordelia asked.
"That's all we can do. Just stay out the way and give her room." Giles replied. "We will know the spell worked if we see daylight."
"Okay." Willow said. She took a deep breath, looking down at the words in the strange Batalian language. "Here we go."
Giles, Fred, Cordelia, and Xander waited eagerly.
"Humda Ilya schum namb eleta shepu uptpa huldi lanye iutpa yaquta. Wutpe tiopa yewqa bealm owela rupyta qistue kwau cenupi hundsa…"
---
Laibach watched in amusement as the Slayer laid in the rubble, bruised and bleeding. She sputtered out blood, looking up at him with defiant, yet almost defeated eyes.
"Is that all you got?" she challenged, getting up. "The most powerful being in all Batal, with the knowledge and power of two of the most powerful witches in the Western Hemisphere, and all you can do is throw me around. I am the Slayer, the one girl in all the world here to kick your ass. Come show me what you really got."
It was then Laibach realized something. His attention was diverted away from the Slayer's rant: a sensation, something a human would've described as a cold shiver. A voice was in the air; it was soft but determined, barely audible but thunderous to his ears.
The witch!
Laibach suddenly disappeared, leaving Buffy behind in the broken down building.
"Whoa, that worked?" Buffy asked, bewildered. "Didn't think that would really scare him."
With only a thought, he had left the battlefield and had transported himself to an enclosed area: a house, a living room. Before him, in the middle of a symbol that was dreadful to him, was Willow, surrounded by an aura of white, yellow and red waves that spun around her body.
"Nuwalpa fepyue daquia kimhua otwanpa chamta muiluan juliwe. Peunyu aerle fiptya bhuta dupila xuprapt yozult kumdja dehun zuiapm gyupha vemasa asmei finuna."
She was chanting a spell he had never expected the puny humans to find.
How can she still have the strength for this defiance! I drained her completely through the other witch!
Though the girl was loathsome to him, he was impressed at her powers; he had known she was powerful but not this much.
"Willow, watch out!" a girl's voice shouted from behind the witch.
It had been Fred who had shouted out the warning, she was standing with Giles. Xander and Cordelia were nearby, closer to Willow. Laibach's face filled with anger and disgust. He raised his hand, which became quickly wrapped in a black smoke that spun quickly around the forearm. Like the crack of thunder his voice shouted.
"Enough!"
As he lowered his arm in one quick motion, a sort of shockwave came out from it. Everybody screamed as they felt their bodies be slammed against the floor and made lie flat against it, as if gravity's pull had increased a hundred times. Their muscles tightened severely, and even attempting to move caused waves of pain to shake their bodies.
Willow stood her ground, making an enormous effort not to give in to Laibach's spell. Sweat ran down her face, and a vein could be seen bulging against her temple.
"A barrier," Laibach's voice uttered. "You are resourceful, witch. But I know the spell you are casting against me. There is no way you will be able to hold both. Concentrating on closing the portal to Batal will drain power from your shielding spell, and you will not be able to close the portal while you desperately try to keep your barrier from breaking as I'm trying to tear you to pieces!"
Just like that, Laibach started to attack the barrier. White flashes exploded from it with the impact of each attack. Willow tried her best to continue chanting the spell, but it was obvious that her concentration was being broken and her strength was waning.
"Willow!" Xander shouted.
He laid face-down on the floor, unable to move. The very action of shouting made his entire body hurt. Willow was in trouble, he could see her weakening. She was still weak from when she had been drained by Laibach, everything rested on her shoulders. Closing the portal, destroying the shroud, and giving Buffy and the others a chance at victory. It seemed unfair to him to load up so much weight on her. He wanted to go over there and help her carry the load, even if he knew he couldn't even dream of being as powerful as her, he still felt it was his responsibility to protect her.
A scream was heard, and Xander realized it was his own as he forced his body to move. Unbearable pain coursed through his body. He clenched his jaw, his face became red, and he felt as though he was going to faint, but he didn't, he couldn't, for Willow. And what was his plan? What could he do to help her? If Willow, with all her power, was succumbing to Laibach, what could he do that would be of any use to her?
Only one thing: Try.
The best he could do was try.
His body felt as if it were coming apart at the seams. He could feel his muscle tissue tearing and bleeding in him. He clawed at the floor, forcing himself forward. He looked at Willow, she was close to giving up, Laibach's barrage of punches and scratches did not stop. For a second he saw her as that girl with the very long hair, pleased dress, long white stockings and naïve look in her eyes that he had known. How much she had grown since.
She was losing it. She was giving in. Laibach was attacking her with all his strength.
Too late. Too late!
Xander's hand stretched toward her.
Too late!
"Willow!"
His fingers closed around her hand, and he saw Willow's back arch forward and she gasped, as if she had been stabbed in the back. Xander felt as if all the blood in his body was running toward his hand and flowing out of his fingers into Willow. He felt dizzy, weak.
The last thing he saw before blacking out was an enormous wave of luminous energy explode from around Willow. Her hair suddenly became jet black. She was now standing up, encased in a sphere of light.
"Sefina tumiya simklu cilmha pemape selaset wuhta joupth naliem kyalua pirtqua velorm ewyua gupenal iumlpe humlai vaquti imbta!"
Her chanting had become shouting. She was shouting out the spell. Her oily black eyes displaying anger and resolution. Xander lay unconscious at her feet. The entire house shook. Laibach screamed, shielding his face, and he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
The sphere dissipated. A huge wind blew across the room, blowing out all the candles. A light cracked through the blinds: daylight.
Willow fell to the ground, tired. Her hair returned to its normal color. She gave an exhausted laugh. The spell had worked. She glanced around the room to see the rest of the gang lying stiff on the floor, glancing up at her.
"Why is everyone just lying around?" she asked, incredulously.
She then saw Xander lying unconscious at her feet, a reddish burn in his palm, and her heart sunk in gratitude.
To Laibach's surprise, he had been transported back to the place where the Slayer still stood. The witch had repelled him. Where had she gotten the strength to do so? She had been so close to caving in and being crushed under his mighty hand.
It was then he noticed daylight coming through the hole in the roof, and through the windows of the building. The witch had won.
He turned to towards the Slayer, who stood there looking around as well.
"You!" he shouted.
He threw his hand out, conjuring up a spell which would send a bolt straight through the Slayer's heart, killing her instantly. To his dismay, nothing happened. The Slayer smirked at him and ran up. Laibach threw a punch, which was instantly blocked. She brought back both hands and palmed him hard on the chest. Laibach stumbled backward.
"Looks like you're not all powerful and untouchable anymore." The Slayer remarked. "Come and get me."