Chapter 9
Spike rammed his sword for the tenth time into the body of something that would not die. Dacq'ilion had clearly summoned all the nastiest of demons to this party. Not that he minded terribly. He hadn't been getting nearly enough exercise lately. But he had to admit he was getting a bit tired. Xander better hurry. At first they had thought they could make their way to Dacq'ilion and the crystal by force, if for some reason Xander failed, but now it was getting obvious that wasn't going to happen. Xander was their only hope and time was running out. The ceremony would be over soon and if Dacq'ilion gained the powers of the crystal it would all be over. He ducked away from one of the same kind of demons he had met in the cave a few hours ago. There seemed to be an endless supply of them. For every one he killed two more were there to take its place. Luckily they weren't hard to kill.
A heavy fist came out of nowhere and landed right on his chin making him lose his balance. He fell hard, dropping his sword but a split second later he was off the ground again. He barely managed to block a clawed paw coming at him, then feinted the creature and came up behind it, using all his weight he snapped its neck. As the demon fell to the ground, he noticed Kaya in close combat with one of the horn-clad demons. He stood there a few seconds, watching her. It was the first time he had ever seen her in an actual battle. Angel always tried to keep her out of those things. He had assumed it was because she was bad at it but she actually held up well against this one. Just as he was about to get on with his own massacre, she fell. He had learnt the hard way that if you hit the floor you have to get up real fast or the demon will have all the advantage. But she stayed down too long.
The demon was beating her up badly, and after a few hits she no longer could block his punches. When her energy failed the demon reached for a knife. He dodged a big hairy creature that came at him with some kind of a sledge, then took three long leaps and was just in time to ram his sword in the demons back and toss him out of the way, before the knife pierced her skin. He looked at her, face bloodied and eyes still filled with fear.
"You OK?" he shouted over the ruckus, offering her his hand to help her up. The fear in her eyes changed and her normal defiance filled them again.
"Of course I am." she replayed curtly, ignoring his hand as she got up on her own. While brushing out some wrinkles in her outfit she added, "I could have handled him." She went over to the dead demon and pulled a couple of knifes from its body and put them back on her person. Spike just stared at her then he had to smile. When she noticed him standing there smiling broadly at her, anger flashed in her unusual eyes.
"What are you standing there for? Go, kill! Angel needs you." She then turned her back on him, picked up a short ax one of the demons had dropped and went off to help Riley with a few hard to kill werewolves. He laughed. She was something else all right. Seconds later two demons charged for him and he had to focus on the fight once more.
In the middle of a particularly intense sparing session he found himself fighting back to back with Angel. Over the noise of the battle and the chanting Angel shouted over his shoulder,
"Spike, what's the plan here?" Spike moved forward, stabbing his sword in an undefended part of the demons body and then turned to help Angel with his adversary. When that demon lay dead too there was a brief moment of calm around them and he nodded towards Xander, who had reached the stairs leading up to the throne and Dacq'ilion. For some reason Angel suddenly looked absolutely panicked, started shouting to Buffy while grabbing him by the arm, dragging him along towards Xander. He tried to pull him back, screaming at him not to draw any attention to Xander. Angel stopped long enough to point to the wall and yelled Pa'rlk. The word meant nothing to him but he could see it meant a lot to Angel so he ran after him. Buffy stayed were she was, clearly not understanding why he would abandon their plan. But as he caught up to Angel he saw what had made the big guy so rattled. Something was moving inside the wall. At first he couldn't make out what it was, only that shadows shifted on the strange metallic wall but as Xander got closer to it the contours of something that looked like arms was starting to bulge from the surface.
Xander had his focus on Dacq'ilion and nothing else. He slowly crept up along the tall steps, holding his breath and silently whispering a prayer. The bearded dude held the crystal in a outstretched hand, giving him one small chance of grabbing it, if Willow did her job right. Dacq'ilion's chanting seemed to reach its climax and he knew he had to move fast. From the corner of his eye he thought he saw something stir inside the wall, but he pushed it aside, told himself not to let his imagination get the better of him. A few more steps and he would be able to get to the crystal... just a little closer... He forced himself to breathe and kept his attention on the crystal. One more move and it would be in his hands. One more deep breathe... Willow better be watching this! OK, here goes nothing...
Angel screamed out loud. Of all people, not Xander! The Pa'rlk was coming out of its hiding, the long, razor sharp tentacles reaching for the invader. But it wasn't the Pa'rlk that made him scream. Dacq'ilion had clearly noticed Xander approaching but instead of alerting him and giving Xander a chance to run, he had waited, continued the ceremony. The thing in his forehead was glowing and he knew better than anyone what that meant. Right now he would have done anything to be able to take Xander place, but it was too late. As he and Spike began to cut their way through the many tentacles of the Pa'rlk, a surprised Xander was hoisted three feet up in the air, held up-side down by an invisible force.
Willow and the other witches delivered what they had promised would be a decisive blow to Dacq'ilion, an electrical surge that was designed to throw him off balance long enough for Xander to get the crystal. At least that part of the plan seemed to work. For several seconds Dacq'ilion went silent, pressed back against the seat, his hands shaking and his eyes glaring at the witches on the other side of the gateway. But the spell had no effect on his powers and Xander was trapped in mid air, unable to move. When the spell faded Dacq'ilion started to laugh, a harsh, terrifying noise that filled the hall and beyond. He still clutched the crystal and with the other hand he gestured towards Xander.
Angel forced himself to think. There was no way to kill the Pa'rlk. That had been one of the reasons Angelus had been so keen on recruiting it. For every limb you cut off the creature grew another. Sooner or later it would inflict enough wounds on the two vampires to make them too tired to fight back and then it would pull them into its mouth and slowly begin to devour them. There wasn't a single creature in any dimension that this thing couldn't eat. Trying to fight it was a losing proposition, but somehow he had to get past it and reach Xander.
Buffy joined them, and he flinched when he noticed her eyes. There was coldness in them he had never seen before. But he had no time to worry about that now. She nodded towards the Pa'rlk and dodged one of its many tentacles trying to cut her.
"A friend of yours?" she asked sarcastically before cutting off a tentacle, only to watch it grow back again. She sighed heavily then cut that one off too.
"So, any chance we can kill this thing?" she said. Spike also seemed interested to know, giving Angel a hard stare, before ducking under another tentacle in the last minute. He shook his head and nodded towards Dacq'ilion, motioning to his own sword. A tentacle came at him and he cut it off then looked back at Buffy to make sure she understood. She nodded and started to slash her way towards him. He needed them to watch his back if he was to get to Dacq'ilion. Xander was screaming now, a high pitched shriek of inexplicable pain. Buffy didn't seem to react but Spike froze for a second and stared at the twisted body hanging in the air. He gave Angel a warning look that said he better not lose Xander then he resumed his battle with the lethal Pa'rlk.
He felt a strange reluctance, as he positioned himself closer to Dacq'ilion. He had warm memories of this demon being a respected mentor, a teacher in the arts of torment. Why that should matter now he couldn't imagine but it did. It felt like he was about to kill his father. And this time it was a father he had loved.
When he had managed to get close enough to do any damage, Dacq'ilion suddenly turned his head and looked at him. The crystal in his hand began to glow and the light slowly grew stronger, surrounding them both. Before he had a chance to react he was trapped inside a magical, protective bubble that not only shielded them from the witches energy-blasts but also shut out all noise. It was silent and he found himself unable to move. Dacq'ilion fixed his eyes intently on him.
"So, the witches succeeded in their evil scheme, after all. They have once again robbed you of your strength and power. That is a true shame. We would have made quite a team, you and I." The old man looked deeply saddened and he wanted to cry. He felt the loss as strongly as the old demon, yet he knew he had forgotten something important, he just couldn't remember what. Suddenly something changed in Dacq'ilion's eyes. A spark of hope.
"Perhaps there is still time, my son." he said and leaned in a bit closer, his long beard sparkling in the enchanting glow of the crystal. He tried desperately to remember, but the world, his life, everything up until this moment seemed so far away, distant and easily forgotten. When Dacq'ilion spoke again his voice was low, almost a whisper, drawing him closer to him.
"I can return to you everything they stole. I can make you strong again, powerful and respected. Give me your hand and I promise you eternal happiness. No more fear, no more pain, no more endless fighting. You and I will rule the world in peace! Come with me, Angelus! Come with me!" Dacq'ilion's hand was reaching out to him and he stared at it. A surge of emotions welled up from deep inside him, an overpowering desire to take the offer, to let go and embrace his destiny. But something held him back. He tried to focus, to recall a memory, a sound, a vague image of something forth fighting for. But he remembered nothing except the pride and joy he had felt as Angelus, standing behind his troops, fighting for true power. He really wanted to take the old man's hand and follow him anywhere. He wanted it so badly he could taste it. So the decision was made and he was just about to put down his sword when he suddenly saw it; a reflection in the polished surface of the blade. She fought so gracefully, her slender limbs perfectly balanced to adapt to any attack and her unyielding strength never wavering no matter what the opposition. Memories of her flooded his mind and blocked out all others. Without hesitation he lifted his sword and let it glide effortlessly into the demons skull, cutting right through the source of his power.
A blinding light flashed behind her. Buffy had all but given up on him but it seemed Angel came through after all. The creature she had been fighting gave up a piercing screech and retreated inside the wall again. She looked around, not sure what to do now. Spike was doing a rather elegant somersault and landed right under Xander, catching him miraculously before he pummeled to the floor. Spike was covered in blood and clearly weakened, his knees actually buckling under Xander's weight. But he pulled himself up again and tossed the shaking body over his shoulder. Then she noticed that Spike was covered in blood and as she looked down, she realized she was too. Strange, she didn't feel any pain. Probably a good thing. Spike was trying to shout something to her, but she couldn't hear him. He gestured towards Angel and that's when she noticed her former boyfriend was stumbling around as if he was drunk. Suddenly the floor started moving, and the roof began to drip, strange metallic drops that actually made a small hole when they landed on the floor. Staying here meant death, that much was obvious. She looked at Angel, still stumbling around, seemingly blind and helplessly moving in the wrong direction. She hesitated. If she didn't help him they would both die. She didn't want him to die. So she would help him.
It felt strange to move. Everything felt like slow-motion, like the world didn't affect her. She noticed the crystal on the floor in front of her. It must have fallen from Dacq'ilion's hand when Angel killed him. She leaned down to pick it up. It was a lot smaller than she had imagined and it felt cold in her hand, like ice. Without thinking much of it she tucked it in her pocket and grabbed Angel's arm. He fought her at first then calmed down and allowed her to lead him down the stairs. Spike was ahead of them, throwing nervous glances in their direction. The occasional demon stood in her way but they all seemed to realize the world was crashing down on them so they scurried out of the way quickly enough. When they had made it passed the gateway, she let go of Angel's arm and walked away from him. She had saved his life that was all that mattered. A part of her wanted to go back inside the gateway but she had to give Willow the crystal first.
Willow said something to her when she gave her the crystal but she couldn't hear her. Maybe the flash of light that had made Angel blind had made her deaf. It didn't really matter, though. There was nothing left she particularly wanted to hear. Her work here was done. She deserved to rest now. She felt the ground shake again. Clearly whatever had affected one world affected the other. So she would die here. Angel seemed to have regained his eye-sight. He could find his own way out. She saw Riley hurrying his men out of the cave, or at least the ones left standing. His team had suffered a lot of casualties, only about half of them it seemed had made it. Well, they knew it was a chance they wouldn't make it back. Even some of the witches had fallen too, apparently. Strange, she had always thought of them as invincible.
Spike was heaving the still shaking Xander over his shoulder again, with considerable effort. But instead of making his way up the stairs with the others he hesitated, watching her for some reason. Angel was still there too. She looked around. The whole cave was moving; rocks were falling down, large cracks opened up in the floor. Only the four of them remained, although Spike was slowly making his way towards the stairs. Angel on the other hand was walking towards her. The fool! What was he doing? He was talking to her; she could see his lips move. He grabbed her arm, tried to pull her away from where she stood. She hit him hard enough to make him lose his balance. He came for her again and she hit him again. He didn't hit her back, only reached out to her, his eyes pleading. Eventually she couldn't take it any more. He wasn't supposed to die here but he clearly wouldn't leave without her. So she started to run, ignored him, simply ran. Leaped over a crack almost six feet wide, then raised up the stairs. She could feel him right behind her and Spike had finally started to run in front of her. And so they ran, up winding passages, through caves, dodging falling rocks as they went along. Once she lost her balance when the ground under her shook and she crashed into the wall. She stood there staring for a moment, surprised to see so much blood on the wall. Then Angel came and pulled her along, pushed her to move, wouldn't leave her.
After what seemed like an eternity, she saw what seemed like stars ahead. It was night. The full moon lit up the desert with a magical glow and as they ran through the entrance into the night, Buffy felt a strange sense of relief. It was over. They had once again saved the world, and for her it would be the last time. Most of the choppers had already taken off, only two remained. She saw Willow helping Xander and Spike into one, while Giles stood outside the other, seemingly waiting for something. Fear was written all over his face, a fear she had never seen in him before. She didn't understand. What was there to be afraid of? They had made it. The ground shook once again under her feet and the sand shifted. She saw the ground come at her before she realized she had fallen. She didn't have the strength to get up. The sand turned red around her, glistening like tiny rubies in the light of the moon. She closed her eyes, felt herself rise above the ground, as if lifted by an invisible force. Then it was dark.
Angel gently put her down on the blanket Giles had spread out on the floor of the chopper.
"She's lost a lot of blood." he said, more to himself than to anyone else. Giles carefully washed off some of the blood from her face, as the chopper took off into the night sky.
"I'm afraid our Slayer has lost something far worse than that." he said quietly, tears glistening in his eyes. Angel curled up by the window. If he focused hard enough he could hear her breathe above the loud thumping of the chopper blades. It was the only comforting thing he had to cling on to now. Looking out the window he could see the cave they had just left minutes ago, collapse into itself, leaving a gaping, black hole, which quickly filled up with sand. Soon there would be nothing to mark this place, nothing to indicate that anything special had ever happened there.