Chapter 17

Buffy watched as Spike cut away the last pieces of wood that used to be the door and looked inside. It was a massive hall, definitely the largest room they had seen so far and the ceiling was so high up she could only vaguely make out what the intricate drawings was suppose to look like. It apparently depicted some form of battle but none of the creatures looked human and there were some very odd weapons involved. At the far end two tall, heavy gates marked the entrance to what must be the main room. Several tall but narrow windows lined the ceiling of the outer walls, and the room was cast in the same eerie light from the eclipsed sun as before. She almost preferred darkness. But the main event of the room was a large, strange looking ball at its center. It seemed to be made up of thousands of beige twigs and to make matters worse the twigs actually seemed to be moving and she could hear a faint crackling coming from it.

"What the bloody hell is that!" Spike exclaimed next to her as he stared at the thing. No one answered; they all just crowded near the entrance to stare. Clearly none of them were too eager to go inside and find out.

"Do you think it's alive?" Deanna suddenly asked quietly, huddling close to Xander. They all turned to look at her in surprise, since she rarely spoke.

"Probably. Would be way too easy if it was dead." Xander answered then added with a glance towards Angel, "But I'm sure they can kill it, right?"

"A little hard to say if we don't know what it is." Angel stated and she felt him move a little closer. Not that she minded his arm protectively around her waist and truth be told she wanted nothing more than to rest her head against his chest, but this was no time to indulge in fussy feelings.

"Angel, we need to talk." she said firmly and pulled him back into the hallway, away from the rest.

"What is it?" he asked cautiously.

"Look, we both know that thing in there isn't going to die easy. This is her last stand and she would bring out the big guns for that."

"Yeah?"

"You have to promise me you won't hold back or lose focus." she continued, sounding a little more desperately then she had wanted. "I can't fight if I have to worry about you. OK?" He thought for a moment, avoiding her eyes. When he looked at her again there was deep concern in them.

"I can promise you I will try, but you can't convince me you're at your best here, and I worry about you, always. I can't stop. I love you."

"I know!" she said exasperated. "But that's what I mean. We can't let that be a reason to lose here. I'm the Slayer, not some helpless little nitwit. Even at my worst I promise you I can beat whatever she throws at me, as long as I can see it. But you have to let me, OK? Let me do my job and concentrate on doing yours."

Suddenly a big, mischievous smile lit up his face and the concern in his eyes was replaced by pure love and admiration. She felt herself blush violently from head to toe and in that instance she was overwhelmed by a desire to rip his clothes off. She matched his smile and they merged in a passionate kiss that filled every cell in her body with a lust for life.

When Giles cleared his throat trying to get their attention they regretfully pulled away from each other. With an encouraging nod Angel let her go and she actually looked forward to get into close combat. She hadn't felt this powerful in ages and the sword felt as light as air in her hand. When they got to the doorway Spike gave them a scornful smile.

"Done snogging then?" She just gave him a sly smile and said eagerly,

"Let's go kill this thing!" Then the three of them stepped through the doorway.

Giles held his breath. The large mass of sticks that had been folded into a sphere in the middle of the room slowly stirred as Buffy, Spike and Angel moved closer, and the strange crackling, hissing noises from inside got more insistent. He would feel a lot better if they had a clue what this creature was, but Catherine had once again shone that she had ways of bringing forth creatures more evil than any of them had ever heard of. It was a terrifying thought indeed. Willow had tried to inflict damage to it with her energy balls but it barely moved. He hoped dearly that Buffy was as strong as she claimed she was. He had been close to losing her so many times the last week he was beginning to feel numb.

The rest of the group was hovering near the doorway. He could feel them twitch restlessly. They probably felt as useless as he did but it was obvious this would take physical strength and the two vampires and the Slayer was far better suited for that then the rest of them. It was hard to believe that this young woman that now so confidently challenged the unknown giant without so much as a hint of hesitation had once been an ordinary sixteen year old girl. He clearly remembered when Buffy first came into his life, young, scared and naïve. But she was powerful even then, more so than any other Slayer before her. And the two vampires standing tall by her side were the ultimate proof. Knowing her, loving her had changed these two creatures of the night into forceful defenders of good. She had already far exceeded all hopes he had concerning his Slayer and watching her now he felt certain she was far from finished.

The warriors got to about eight feet of the creature when it suddenly began to unfold. Sticks and thin tentacles slowly rose as one with a rattling sound that mixed with the crackling and grew into a terrifying crescendo. He had to stop himself from gasping out loud as it grew larger and larger in front of them. Xander on the other hand didn't bother with any fake heroics.

"Oh crap, that thing is big!" he exclaimed, his voice breaking a little at the end. Good old Xander, always voicing what was on everyone's mind. Indeed it was big. Big enough for Spike, Buffy and Angel to take pause and stare as the creature stretched up all the way to the ceiling like a gigantic web. But Giles had to marvel at this most curious being. It didn't seem to have a head or arms and legs in any real sense. It was just a tangled web of these strange stick-like things going in all directions. When the being had reached the ceiling it began to stretch out to both sides as well and soon it covered their path to the gates perfectly. Ingenious! Still he couldn't imagine what weapons this creature could have. The sticks themselves seemed fairly fragile and except the shear size there didn't appear to be anything particularly dangerous about this being. Giles hesitated a moment. Perhaps a closer look wouldn't hurt. Maybe he could determine what this was if he could… A high pitched shriek filled the room and forced them all to cover their ears and fight the urge to run the other way. It almost sucked the air out of his lungs and he squeezed his eyes together in pain, praying it would end soon.

When the shriek subsided Buffy and Angel advanced, with a somewhat dazed Spike right behind them. Buffy delivered the first blow, right into the thick wall of sticks and tentacles. It didn't seem to do much damage at first but as they all began to cut their way mercilessly through the web the web began to sway. Suddenly it shrieked again, but as they all backed away in pain, the shrieks changed from one single noise to several hundreds. All they could do was stare when the large mass dissolved into hundreds of small, insect-like creatures that fell from the sky like a Biblical nightmare. Giles tried to focus on one of them long enough to get an idea of what they were, but it was tricky in the chaos of falling and scurrying creatures. Eventually he concluded that they were about six feet tall, had six gangly legs attached to a slightly thicker rod that apparently served as a body. At the high end of this rod-like body there was a tiny outcrop where two black dots were placed that could well be the creature's eyes. Tentacles grew out of the head and the rest of the body and they swayed in the air like hair in the wind. They had no mouth that Giles could see, nor claws or anything sharp at all, except the legs. Never had he seen such a strange creature but it wasn't until they had surrounded Spike, Buffy and Angel that he fully realized the danger. They used their legs to strike out and it was all the warriors could do to keep them at bay.

He grabbed a sword out of his backpack. Some of these insect creatures had noticed the group standing in the doorway and was now heading their way. The sound their legs made as they scurried over the floor to get to them made his skin crawl but he steeled himself. They didn't seem too difficult to kill. Xander had found an ax and was standing ready right next to him with Kaya clutching a small sword beside him. Willow threw an energy ball to see if it had an effect and to Giles's relief the insect went down immediately. Unfortunately there were a few hundred coming behind it so there would be plenty left to fight. Tess was getting off the floor where she had barely recovered enough strength to stand up. She had clearly been humbled by the experience and had no problem responding to Willow's command to join them along the wall ready to rain fire over the insects. Giles took a deep breath. It looked like a tidal wave of insects that were coming at them at a striking speed. Catherine had certainly made sure they would have a very small chance of success. He threw a sidelong glance at Fridha who was standing close to him holding a small pouch.

"How long?" he asked her simply and she smiled sadly.

"Not long enough." she answered. In that moment the insects were upon them and he had to focus all his energy on the surviving.

They were going to die! Kaya fought the tears as hard as the damn bug in front of her. To get this close and still go out like this, it was more than she could bear. To her right she could see the witches burning their bugs but more kept coming. Endless amounts of them. She whacked one of them with her sword and it went down, then it got up again, now on five legs instead of six. She ducked as it launched at her with another leg then got around it and hacked away at the body that held the legs. Maybe that was the way to kill this thing. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her arm, a scream escaped her and she fell to the floor. She realized that a tentacle had hit her and she couldn't believe how much it hurt. Xander reached down and pulled her up seconds before one of the bugs stomped a leg where she had been. She nodded a thanks, ignored the pain and started hacking away again. Pure rage fueled her, rage that they would die here. Rage and fear. Fear that he would die first. It was a strange thought. She almost didn't want him to die more than she didn't want to die herself. She could hear them fighting somewhere deep inside the jungle of lethal insects. It had taken her so long to find him and now they would die. She had always thought Angel was the only one she would ever love but Spike had hit her like lightning from a clear sky. What was up with her obsession with vampires anyway! Another tentacle hit her back and she gasped in pain but managed to stay on her feet this time. She turned just in time to see the sharp leg coming at her and as she dodged it the pain in her back took her breath away. But she got under it and stabbed her sword with all her might and rage through the bug. It went down but she kept hacking at it, chopping it into tiny pieces with tears rolling down her face. When she noticed the Watcher looking at her over his shoulder she stopped. He was right, plenty of other bugs to kill, no reason to pick on this one. Fine she would kill! She'd kill them all.

Her legs were so tired they were shaking and her arms could barely lift the sword. She had no idea how long she had been fighting. It felt like hours, days, years even. Something had changed but she didn't dare to think the thought, didn't dare to hope. She chopped the head off the bug, for what felt like the millionth time then turned, ready to take on the next one. To her surprise there were no one left. Xander had already collapsed on the floor and the Watcher was leaning against the wall breathing heavily, while the witch with healing powers was going around offering her help, even though she looked like she could barely stand up herself. Kaya felt exhausted too. Her legs craved rest but to her own surprise there was something she wanted more than that. She looked out over the large hall. The floor was covered with chopped off and burned bug parts and she dreaded having to walk across it all but she knew what she wanted and nothing was going to stop her.

Buffy, Angel and Spike were standing in the middle of the room. All around them were piles and piles of bug pieces. Kaya noted with curiosity that those three had apparently killed as many as the rest of them put together, and yet they seemed not nearly as tired. It wasn't fare. She inhaled hard then put one determined foot in front of the other, wading through the piles of dead bugs. Spike was cleaning off his sword when he noticed her. He got an odd look in his eyes as she came towards him and for a fleeting second her mind had enough time to point out to her that there was a small chance he didn't want to see her right now. Maybe she had just imagined the connection between them! It's not like she had a whole lot of experience when it came to these things. But to her relief he put his sword down and went up to meet her. As she put her head against his chest and his arms pulled her close to him she exhaled and allowed herself to relax. Tears of exhaustion poured down her cheeks but she didn't care. Despite the aches and pains she was happy. She looked up at him and to her satisfaction he seemed happy too.

Buffy stretched her muscles tentatively while looking out over the battlefield. The energy she had felt before was gone. Now all she felt was pain and exhaustion again. But it wasn't over yet. Now they had to get inside the main room and get to Catherine which probably wasn't going to be any easier than anything else today. She sighed heavily and gently touched one of the many tender scars on her body. It was closing already, it was a good thing she healed fast. The tentacles had been the most annoying thing about these bugs. Fighting back to back with Angel and Spike they had avoided any serious wounds but the burning sensations were bad enough. They had been a little nervous for a while when they noticed the legs of these bugs seemed to be covered with a wood-like substance which might have been enough to kill the vampires by her side. Luckily the bugs weren't too smart and their fighting tactics was more based on striking out and hoping for the best. Still she had a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right here. She couldn't put her finger on it but looking out over the sea of dead bugs she had a strong sensation that danger still lurked there. But nothing stirred and she shook it off. They had to keep moving.

When she turned she saw Kaya making her way across the floor, her eyes intently fixed on Spike. Buffy smiled. Not in a million years would she have thought those two would get romantic with each other but clearly they had. The look in Spike's eyes when he saw her approach said everything. She was happy for them though. Angel was watching them too and when he noticed she saw him looking he smiled and walked up to her.

"It's a bit odd but I guess I'll have to get used to it." he said then leaned down to kiss her. She pulled him close and whished they could stay like that forever. But they soon parted all too aware of the challenges that lay ahead.

Giles was pushing through the debris of the battle with some effort, occasionally leaning down to study the remains more closely. When he reached them he said cheerfully,

"Well done." motioning to the vast amount of dead critters around them.

"You weren't too bad yourself." she answered with a smile. Giles suddenly turned towards Fridha with a concerned frown.

"Is it still too late?" he asked and Buffy realized she had completely forgotten about the ticking clock.

"No, this went a lot quicker than I would have thought. But it's only a few minutes before she can start the ceremony. After that it will be hard to stop her. She can tap into the powers of the crystal and be stronger than ever before." Buffy felt a sinking feeling taka a hold. But Willow was heading for the gates looking calm and determined. It wasn't over yet. If she could get them inside Buffy was sure they could fight whatever was in there.

Unfortunately the bad feeling in her gut kept growing stronger. Even Angel seemed to sense something. He was walking slowly among the piles of corpses, watching them cautiously. To Giles apparent surprise he was even kicking them occasionally as if to make sure they were dead. Giles gave her a questioning look.

"Something is wrong." she explained and in that moment something moved inside the piles and it all happened so fast she didn't have time to think. Every muscle in her body tensed instantly and she was already making the first leaping step towards Angel when the bug rose behind him. Its long sharp legs were aimed right at Angel's back and in that moment she realized he wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough and she wouldn't get there in time. She would lose him! This couldn't be!

Buffy saw how the bug moved closer to Angel as if it all happened in slow motion. Her foot landed on a pile of bug parts and for a second she almost lost her balance but she regained it again in time to see how Angel turned around, his sword held high. All she could think was 'no not again'. Suddenly she saw something else move in the corner of her eyes. Spike was flying through the air then landed heavily on the bug while pushing Angel out of harms way. She almost fell over him as she stumbled towards the bug with only one desire - to kill. Her sword cut through the body of the bug and it all went silent again. She stood there staring for a second, trying to catch her breath then she turned to make sure Angel was OK.

"I'm fine." he said reassuringly as she helped him up with what must have been panic written on her face. He soothed her gently and she began to breathe normally again. Suddenly someone cried out in grief. It was Kaya who had just kneeled next to Spike. Buffy realized she had been so focused on Angel she hadn't even noticed Spike lying there, blood pouring down his chest. He tried to get up but failed and in that moment it dawned on her how badly he was hurt.

Buffy sat down next to Spike's bloodied body. Three bug-legs were clearly sticking out through his chest but luckily neither had gotten near his heart. He would be alright. But his eyes were closed and clearly Kaya was worried he was going to die. She was gently caressing his forehead and asked with desperation in her voice,

"William? William, can you hear me?" It took a few seconds before Buffy realized she was using his human name. It had been so long since she had heard it she had almost forgotten. Spike looked up as she spoke his name and smiled at her.

"Don't worry luv, not dust yet." Tears rolled down her cheeks and Buffy knew how she felt. Cassandra had made her way to them and was now leaning down beside Buffy.

"We need to get those things out of him." she stated as a matter of fact. Buffy nodded and she and Angel helped him sit up. Buffy cringed a little. She hated having to hurt people she cared about but there was no other way.

"Sorry, but this is going to hurt I'm afraid." she said sympathetically.

"Just get these bloody things out of me." he grunted and she and Angel took hold of the broken off legs protruding from his back. On the count of three they pulled them out of him and he screamed out in pain. Kaya looked like she was about to crawl out of her skin. They carried him away from the bugs and gently placed him on the floor close to the gates. When Cassandra began to heal his wounds Kaya started pacing back and forth, not sure what to do with herself. Buffy went up to her.

"It's going to be OK, Kaya. He's survived worse than this." Kaya gave her a look she couldn't read. Her strange eyes made it hard to know what she was feeling. But she nodded.

"It's just that…it hurts." she said simply and Buffy knew exactly what she meant. Maybe they weren't that different after all.

"I know." she answered and patted her arm reassuringly.

Angel was watching Cassandra slowly move her hands above Spike's body with a stunned expression on his face. Buffy walked up to him.

"Are you OK?" she asked tentatively. He looked at her with such a confused expression that she had to laugh.

"Why would he do that?" he asked her and she gently caressed his cheek.

"Because he loves you, silly." she answered and giggled at the look of shock in his eyes. Men!

"I bloody hell don't!" Spike suddenly spat angrily where he lay on the floor and tried to get up. The pain was too great though and he had to lie down again. Cassandra gave him a cold stare.

"Oh really." Buffy mocked. "Then why would you risk your life to save his?" She wasn't going to let them get away that easily. Spike thought for a moment, clearly trying to figure it out himself. Coming up blank he just grunted,

"I was going for the damn bug. Reflex, that's all." At that he closed his eyes again as if that was it. Angel actually looked relieved. She shook her head in frustration.

"Why can't you two ever admit that you care about each other?" Angel was about to say something when they were interrupted by the sound of heavy gates slowly creaking. Willow had finally succeeded opening them but what they saw was more bewildering than anything they had ever seen and Buffy felt that sinking feeling return. In front of her lay the impossible; an endless, blue ocean.