Chapter 34: The Shadow Realm

The Shadow Realm, January 29th, 2017

"Where's Oz when you need a wolf whisperer?" Buffy Summers muttered through clenched teeth while the wolf-spirit-of-vengeance howled louder than a ship's siren or something. The thing was huge - as tall as an elephant. A small elephant, but still.

And it was mad - it was literally frothing at the mouth; she could see green drool splatter against the pitch-black fur. She clenched her teeth. If the thing charged, she wouldn't be able to stop it - it was too massive. It would charge straight through her, and trample or eat her friends behind her. No choice - she had to play bait.

She gripped her scythe with both hands and charged at the thing. "Flank it, Jim! We need to keep it focused on us!"

"No!" Merlin yelled behind her.

But she could see Jim starting to move in the corner of her eye. And then she reached the wolf - which tried to bite her in half. She jumped to the side, rolling over the ground and coming up in a crouch, blade held in front of her. "Come on, doggy! Here I am!"

The thing roared and charged her. She gritted her teeth and moved to the left again, leading it further away from her friends. A second before it reached her, she jumped over its jaws and slashed at it.

Her blade passed through it as if it wasn't there, and the sudden lack of any resistance sent her stumbling. "What the…?"

Jim had reached it as well, and Eclipse passed through the wolf's flank as if it were just an illusion. Either the sword or the wolf.

"It is a shadow spirit! Its form is merely an illusion!" Merlin yelled.

"So what do I need to cut?" Buffy yelled back as she jumped over a paw swipe.

"Can it hurt us?" Toby asked, standing between the monster and the others, hammer gripped in both hands.

Before Merlin could answer, another paw swipe sent Jim flying through the air. He bounced twice before he came to a stop in a bush.

"Jimbo!"

Buffy charged the thing again, slashing left and right at any part of the thing's body.

"I'm Ok," she heard Jim say. Good. Then…

The monster whirled to face her and tried to bite her again. Buffy spun to the right, moving her scythe to keep the thing at bay, but it went straight through the blade. She managed to jump up at the last moment, so the teeth didn't rip her in half, but its nose slammed into her, and she went flying as well, tumbling head over heels. This was going to hurt.

She smashed through the crown of a smaller tree, then into the underbrush and finally hit the ground.

Gasping for air - her ribs were on fire again - she dragged herself up. She couldn't let that monster get to her friends. She had to stop it. Slay it. Mom and Dawn and the rest depended on her!

"Jimbo! No!"

She raised her head and saw Jim take a flight again. Damn. "This stupid monster is doing better than Glory did!" she muttered as she started to run at it again.

"You need to hit it when it hits you!" Merlin yelled.

That was… "How?"

"I've got an idea!" Jim yelled as he got back up after ploughing a trench into the soft ground.

Toby stood his ground, hammer raised, as the wolf turned towards him.

"I tried to capture it, but my spell's not affecting it!" Willow had her hand pointed at the monster, but that was all Buffy could see.

Spike was moving next to Toby.

"What's the plan?" Buffy snapped as she drew up next to Jim.

"I let it hit my shield, and you hit it at the same time."

That was… it could actually work. But Jim was already wounded.

"I got the shield," Jim said as if he had read her thoughts.

Buffy looked at him for a moment. He had his jaws clenched. He wouldn't budge. "Alright," she said.

Screaming, he charged the wolf while she followed him.

The monster whirled to meet them, opening its maw - and Jim charged straight into it, raising his shield at the last moment to smash it against its teeth.

And Buffy jumped over Jim's head, scythe held in both hands, then brought it down right when the monster tried to chump down on Jim. The tip of her scythe sunk into the wolf's skull - and met resistance! Yes!

Baring her teeth, she drove the blade down, into the creature's brain. It jerked, and she was sent flying again, her scythe ripped out of the monster's head, but she had enough time to adjust and landed on her feet.

Just in time to see Toby bring the trollhammer down on the monster's head when it swung back.

The wolf collapsed, then started to fade away - like a cloud of smoke in a breeze.

Buffy drew a deep, shuddering breath. "That went well." Kinda. No one died.

But her ribs were hurting again, and Jim was limping once more. Not the best way to start their trip through the Shadow Realm.

And Merlin looked furious, but that was par for the course.


The Shadow Realm, January 30th, 2017

James Lake Jr could see the camp. He didn't even have to close his eyes for that. The campers, forming a half-circle, the dining area in the middle, next to the grill, the training area with the cut, smashed and ground rocks, the edge of the island, with the shadows beneath and beyond, Mom sitting at the table, tired but smiling…

And he could almost feel himself getting closer to the island with each limping step he took. The woods gave way to fields, then to shores. Then he was on an island, then on land again, two steps took him past hills, three past mountains.

"It's like flash-stepping!" Toby said next to him as they crossed another lake. Or inlet - it was hard to see the landscape when it was blurring past you.

"Yes," Jim said. They were racing through the Shadow Realm - but they had still spent hours to get here, with the trip to the Army base, the ritual and then the trip to and through the Wild Wood. Could Claire have held back Morgana for so long?

He pressed his lips together. Claire was strong. Stubborn. Fantastic. She wouldn't give up. He had to trust her. But Morgana was a thousand years old. And she had been trained by Merlin himself…

Another mountain rose in front of them. Two steps took them to the top. Three more down the slope on the other side.

"This is amazing!" Jim heard Blinky's voice from behind. "We're even faster than the Gyre! This could revolutionise travel!"

"If you don't mind dealing with the shadow monsters," Buffy commented - of course she'd overhear them even though she was taking the lead. Then again, somehow, they were still all together, more or less.

"Ah, right," Blinky replied. "That would be a drawback, yes."

"We didn't 'deal' with the spirit," Merlin complained. "You slaughtered it."

"Hey!" Buffy retorted. "I'm the Slayer. A monster attacks my friends or me, I slay it. That's how it works."

"And the spirit didn't seem to want to talk," Willow, slightly out of breath, added.

"It was full of rage," Tara agreed.

"And if it had attacked first, it would have stomped everyone. Including you," Buffy pointed out.

"If it had attacked," Merlin retorted.

The wizard had been rather cranky about the fight against the shadow wolf spirit thing, Jim knew. Though Jim sided with Buffy here - they couldn't have risked the monster attacking first. And he wasn't quite sure if Merlin was cranky that they had killed the spirit instead of trying to talk to it or retreat - or if he was cranky because they had done so without waiting for him to say so. The wizard certainly wasn't planning to talk to Morgana, from what Jim could tell.

Not that Jim was against that - as long as Claire didn't get hurt. If they had to kill Morgana to save Claire, Jim would kill her himself without hesitation. To take over Claire's body, try to kill them all, after watching through Claire's eyes… He shuddered and clenched his teeth.

"Well, if it didn't want to attack, it should have fled," Buffy said.

"We were in its territory," Willow pointed out.

"We were just passing through."

"It's dead. Why are we arguing about it?" Spike said. "Let's get to the camp, evacuate the others, then go and kill the bitch."

Well, Jim couldn't argue with that.

Merlin probably could, but the pace they were setting must have made it more difficult for him to talk since he only grumbled a few more times before they were passing through a forest again.

Another step, and Jim reached a shore - no, an edge. This wasn't shadowy water in front of him but just shadows. And…

"I see lights ahead," Buffy announced.

"The island we seek," Merlin told them.

"How do we reach it?" Toby asked.

"We fly, of course." Merlin sounded rather curt. Jim looked at him. Yes, as expected, the wizard seemed out of breath. The same as Willow and Tara.

"Fly?" Blinky sounded surprised. "I'm no Stalkling, alas."

"You don't need to be to fly here." Merlin took a step forward. "Gravity is a state of mind."

"What does that mean, Yoda?" Buffy asked.

"It means that you can fly if you think you can fly."

"Uh. And if we don't think we can fly?" Toby asked.

"Then you will fall."

Jim frowned at Merlin. "That wasn't helpful at all."

"We are a short hop away from our goal. We just travelled a thousand miles in a few steps." Merlin took another deep breath. "Why would you baulk at flying?"

"That's because, well… flying involves falling if you fail. Failing at walking just means… stopping?" Toby shrugged. "I'm afraid of falling to my death. I'm not really afraid of falling behind."

"You won't fall behind or fall down," Jim told him. He licked his lips. If this failed… "Just jump. I'll catch you if you fall. We've taken longer steps than this."

Toby slowly nodded. "Right." He licked his lips. "Just… jump. I can do this."

"Watch me!" And Buffy dashed forward, pushed off - and flew towards the island.

Spike snorted and followed her. But then, vampires were said to be able to fly, weren't they? At least in some movies.

Merlin scoffed and flew off as well - though at a slower pace.

Willow and Tara looked at each other, closed their eyes, and slowly floated off the shore.

Blink cleared his throat. "I must profess that the thought of flying is terrifying."

"You can do it," Jim told him and Toby.

"Are you sure?" Xander asked. "We're not exactly team magic. Well, you've got the super-armour."

"But our families are waiting over there!" Jim told them. "They need us! We have to jump!" He couldn't leave them behind.

Xander cursed under his breath, then started to run. "If I fall, it's your fault!"

But the man jumped and flew towards the island.

"Nana. I need to go to Nana." Toby took one deep breath after another. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this." He started running, jumped - and fell down screaming.

Jim cursed and jumped after him. His friend was already picking up speed. "Focus!" Jim screamed. "You can fly!"

"I'm trying! It's not working!"

"Try harder!"

"I'm trying! I'm try…" Toby suddenly flew up, almost crashing into Jim.

And now Jim was the only falling. He closed his eyes. Mom. He had to fly to Mom. Mom was on the island. This wasn't real - it was the Shadow Realm. If he believed, if he wanted to, he could fly. He just had to want it. Want it hard. Mom. Claire.

He felt the air change and opened his eyes. He was flying. He was flying!

Laughing, he shot back up towards the edge. Towards Toby. He couldn't help it - despite their situation, he whooped with glee when he cleared the edge - he was flying!

"Impressive, Master Jim."

Right. Blinky. Jim sobered up. "You can do it. You just need to want to fly!" Jim told him.

"I tried." Blinky shook his head. "It's not working."

Jim clenched his teeth. He wanted to fly to the island and check on Mom. What if Morgana had been there? What if she was still there? He looked back. No sign of any fighting. And between the others, they should be able to at least give some kind of signal that they were fighting. But…

He flew over to Blinky - and dropped as soon as he was above the edge-shore, crashing into the sand.

"Jimbo!"

"Master Jim!"

"Ow." Jim got up, spitting out some sand. His side hurt again. Fortunately, he hadn't been up too high. "You can't fly above this part. You have to jump off," he told Blinky.

"Oh." Blinky eyed the shore. Swallowed.

"You can do it, Blinky!" Toby encouraged him. "Just jump and think flying thoughts. Like in a dream. Or in a game."

"I never dreamed of flying. Or play such a game," Blinky replied, taking a few steps to the very edge of the, well, edge.

"Just jump!" Toby repeated himself. He sounded impatient, Jim realised. They were… well, not wasting time. But Mom and Toby's nana were so close. And they must be worried.

Blinky closed all his eyes, then took another step - and fell.

Jim jumped and dived after him, followed by Toby.


"Mom! Dawn!" Buffy Summers yelled as she entered the camp. "We're back!" Where were they? All the lights were off. Well, it was very early morning depending on your view, but...

The door of Mom's camper opened as she approached it, and… "Giles?"

"Buffy!" He smiled at her, then turned his head. "Joyce! Buffy's back!"

"Buffy!" She could hear her mom cry out in the back of the camper. A moment later, she arrived behind Giles, wrapped in a bathrobe. At least Giles was wearing his tweed, Buffy noted. If they had… No, not going there!

"What happened?" he asked. "We were unable to make contact with anyone outside the camp."

"Ah." Buffy pressed her lips together. "We beat Glory - her human host was Ben the intern. But Riley and AAARRRGGHH! died, and…"

Mom hugging her cut her words off. "Buffy! You're safe."

Relatively safe. But that could wait a moment. As more doors were opened all around them, Buffy hugged Mom back.

"Glory's dead?" Dawn asked - she was standing there in her pyjamas.

"Glory's dead?"

Buffy glanced around. Everyone was coming out of their campers. Anya. Dr Lake, Nana, the Nuñez, and the changelings.

"Where is Jim?"

"Where is Claire?"

"Where is my daughter?"

"Where is Xander?"

"Big Sis?"

"When will Toby-Pie arrive?"

Right. Buffy grimaced and released Mom. "We defeated Glory," she repeated herself, "but we have a problem."

"Where is Jim?" Dr Lake asked with an impressive glare.

"He's coming. He just needs to figure out how to jump a mile," she told the woman.

"What?" Dr Lake blinked.

And Giles stopped smiling. She saw him glance towards Claire's parents. So, he had figured it out already. "We've got a problem," Buffy said again. "Everyone except for Riley and AAARRRGGHH! is alive." She could see the others relax. "But…"

"Xander!" Anya's scream interrupted her.

"Anya!"

The two all but tackled each other. Buffy sighed and looked away as they started kissing.

Willow and Tara, followed by Merlin, arrived. Still no Jim.

"Where is Jim? What happened?" Dr Lake said, looking around.

"He's coming," Buffy told her. What was taking Jim so long, anyway? He should be explaining this!

"Where is Claire?" Mrs Nuñez blurted out. "Why didn't she create a portal to the camp?"

Right. Buffy clenched her teeth. "Claire got possessed by Morgana."

"As I feared," Merlin said.

Buffy glared at him. This wasn't the time for any 'I told you so's!

Mr and Mrs Nuñez gasped. "NO!" "Claire…" They hugged each other.

"Possessed?" Giles looked grim.

"Yes. She is now the greatest threat to our world," Merlin told him. "We need to evacuate you to a place she doesn't know, then deal with Morgana."

"Where's Jim?" Dr Lake asked again.

"He's…" Buffy cocked her head. That sounded like… "...coming." She turned and saw Jim and Toby arrive at the edge of the island, carrying Blinky between them. They came in low and didn't fall down.

"Jim!" For an older woman, Dr Lake could do a decent impression of a sprinter - she met Jim halfway to the camp while Blinky was still patting down his body as if he was checking for missing parts or something.

"Mom!"

"Nana!"

"Toby-Pie!"

"I have to say, flying is quite… disturbing," Blinky said.

"I found it comes naturally to me," the changeling commented.

"I much prefer the solid ground. And rock over my head."

"What happened to big sis?" Not-Enrique asked.

"Yes." Mr Nuñez nodded with a deep scowl. "What happened to my daughter? How could you let her get possessed?"

Damn. Buffy could see Jim flinch worse than when he was struck by Glory. "It wasn't his fault!" she snapped.

But Jim shook his head and released his mom. "It was my fault. I should've seen it coming."


It was his fault. James Lake Jr knew it. Claire was his girlfriend. He should have noticed something. Or should have had a better plan for the fight against Glory. If he had been with her when it had happened, he could have… done something. Anything.

Mr and Mrs Nuñez were glaring at him.

"Jim! It wasn't your fault!" Mom said, hugging him again. Despite the armour.

"You couldn't have done anything," Buffy cut in. "Merlin expected it and prepared for it, and it didn't help."

Now Merlin was scowling. "I did what I could in my weakened state. But the girl didn't notice Morgana's presence in her mind, which allowed my former apprentice to prepare for my precautions - and counter them."

"Yeah, yeah." Buffy snorted. "Don't blame this on Jim. He isn't a wizard, and he wasn't next to Claire during the fighting."

"Indeed. Morgana got the better of everyone of us," Blinky cut in. "And she chose the time to strike well - everyone was distracted by the fight against Glory."

"Yes. Kinda hard to notice someone getting possessed if you're fighting for your life a hundred yards away," Buffy said.

"So, what? No one could've done anything?" Mr Nuñez asked. "It was Claire's fault?"

"No!" Jim protested. "It wasn't her fault! She even let Merlin trap her armour to stop her!" It wasn't Claire's fault! She had been willing to let Merlin curse her to stop Morgana! They had failed her, not the other way around!

"Which is why she took him out first," Toby said.

"Claire let you trap her armour?" Mrs Nuñez bellowed. "What were you planning?"

Merlin didn't flinch. "What I had to to save the world. What I did and will do, as long as I live."

Mr Nuñez took a few steps towards him, but Buffy moved and put her hand on his chest, easily stopping him. "You can't hit him, sorry. We need to focus on getting Morgana out of Claire. And save the world."

"And we will save Claire," Jim said. No matter the cost.

Merlin scoffed at that.

"And Merlin's dying," Willow added. "We don't have much time."

"Indeed, we do not." Merlin seemed to ignore Claire's parents. "Morgana will come after you soon enough - she wants the Key to free Gunmar." He nodded at Dawn.

"What?" Dawn gasped. "But… Glory's dead!"

"This is true," Merlin said. "But the Key remains. And many will covet its vast powers."

Dawn blinked. "But…"

"What do you mean? Will more of those crazies come after Dawn?" Mrs Summers asked.

"If the knowledge spreads, yes," Merlin said. "The power to breach dimensions is too tempting for many. Especially for those who deal with forces from beyond our dimension."

Dawn wrapped her arms around herself. "But… I didn't ask for this!"

"Of course not," Buffy told her. Mrs Summers moved to hug Dawn.

"It does not matter what you wanted. You have the power, and others crave it." Merlin shrugged. "Best prepare to deal with it. Such as we should, now." He looked at Jim. "Instead of wallowing in guilt."

Jim glared at him, clenching his teeth.

"Don't blame my son!" Mom snapped.

"I do not. He is blaming himself," Merlin retorted. "And we cannot afford such foolishness. Not now." Toby's nana frowned at him, and he scowled in return. "Morgana could strike at any moment. With her staff, she can reach any place she has been before. We have to move now."

"But where would we go?" Mom asked.

That was a good question. Morgana knew everything Claire knew since she had taken the staff. Los Angeles, perhaps? Not Sunnydale. Never.

"The one place where Morgana cannot enter, of course. The one place where she is barred entry by forces greater than her own," Merlin said. "Camelot."

"Camelot?" Mom gasped.

"Did I stutter?" Merlin scoffed.

"But I thought it was sealed," Jim said.

"It is. I sealed it, using the castle's own power, after Arthur had fallen," Merlin explained. "But there are ways to enter it which I know."

"You didn't mention that when we were there," Buffy said.

"There was no need for it," Merlin retorted. "I would not risk opening Camelot to those who might exploit it unless there was no other choice."

"We wouldn't exploit it!" Willow protested. Tara nodded.

"Yes, we wouldn't," Toby said.

Jim nodded in agreement.

"You would not, I admit that. But what about your successors? Your friends, allies and descendants?" Merlin shook his head. "You might only share the secret with those whom you trust, but even I was fooled by Morgana. A mere year before she turned on us, I would have trusted her with my life."

"What exactly is so valuable that you need to protect it so much?" Willow asked.

"The Heart of Avalon." Merlin grimaced. "My greatest work - and my greatest folly. How do I wish I had never created it! The danger it poses to the world rivals that of the Key."

"So… what does it do? Is it another dimension breaking thing?" Buffy asked.

"An unlimited source of magic?" Willow looked a little too interested, in Jim's opinion. "Wait! If it were, you'd have gone to it when we arrived in England to cure yourself!"

"Neither. And I shall not compound my mistake and tell you anything about its nature." Merlin shook his head. "And do not try my patience with guessing games lest you like living as a newt."

Xander, who had been raising his hand, lowered it again. "Never mind!"


"So, how do we get there?" Buffy Summers asked. "I'm fresh out of seven-league boots." Dawn and Mom couldn't imagine the Wild Wood or Camelot and then rush through the Shadow Realm like Buffy and the others had just done. "And flying doesn't work overland."

"There are alternatives," Merlin said.

"Alternatives?" Buffy blinked.

"We're on the edge of the Shadow Realm. As you undoubtedly noticed, the laws of nature are different in the realm - especially here, where the firmer, more focused lands give way to dreamshapes," the wizard explained. "So, you can fly using your willpower."

"Yeah, yeah, I got that," Buffy replied. She was a college girl. "But we had to walk through a lot of woods, hills and mountain ranges to reach this part. We can't fly over them. And we can't just rush through them, 'cause not everyone has a connection to Camelot."

Merlin raised his eyebrows at her. "You are stating the obvious."

Buffy clenched her jaw.

"It's obvious, but it's also an obvious problem," Willow said. "So, what's your solution?"

"We will enchant one of the wagons here to fly, of course," Merlin said.

"What?" Buffy blurted out.

"It should hold all of us, and I can guide it back to Camelot easily enough," the wizard went on.

"A flying camper? They can't even move without a car to pull them - or a Slayer," Xander said. "Do we get winged horses to pull them?" She smiled at him behind the old geezer's back. Way to go!

Merlin glared at him. "Magic will suffice."

"You mean our magic," Willow said.

"Obviously. You want to save your friends and families, so this should not be much of a sacrifice," Merlin replied. "Further, you want to learn how to enchant a vehicle to soar through the skies."

Willow pouted but didn't contradict him. Buffy nodded in agreement - he had her bestie's number.

"Why do I foresee a greater number of UFO sightings in California after this is over?" Xander commented.

"I would never!" Willow protested. "I would enchant the car to be invisible and I'd stay under the radar!"

"But you are planning to enchant a car."

"Well… the advantages are obvious," Willow said.

Of course she was. Buffy sighed.

"A flying car!" Xander grinned. "You know that you'll have to call it the Fantasticar!"

"Or the Willowmobile," Dawn added. "I'll have to learn how to drive!"

"You have to be sixteen first," Mom said.

"But this would be for safety!"

"Could we cease counting the chickens before they have hatched?" Merlin cut in. "We need to make haste unless you prefer to risk fighting Morgana surrounded by ready-made hostages."

That was what Merlin had been planning, wasn't it? And Buffy had no doubt that he would still prefer to fight Morgana here and in Claire's body, hampered by Claire's soul, instead of in her own body.

But they had to evacuate their families.

"Then let's get started," Willow said.

Tara nodded, and the two followed Merlin towards Toby and his grandmother's camper.

"You should pack in the meantime," Jim told the others. "Just grab what you need - we'll have limited space in the camper."

"Let us hope that weight is not a problem," Giles commented as the others moved to their own campers.

Buffy looked at him. "Shouldn't you be packing as well?"

"I already prepared the necessities," Giles told her.

"Books and a toothbrush?" She grinned.

He smiled in return. "Not quite as spartan, but I do think we'll need information more than a spare suit."

Probably, yes. Buffy nodded.

"What about you, my dear?"

She shrugged. "I got a bug-out bag ready." Riley had once told her about that. Good advice, even though Riley had bugged out later. She sighed.

Giles polished his glasses. "Buffy…"

"I'm fine," she told him.

"I have to admit that I doubt that," he told her. "With this new development, and the loss of your…ex-boyfriend..."

"We weren't together any more," she said, cutting him off. "And he knew the risks."

Giles put his glasses back on and sighed. "That does not make it any easier to bear."

It didn't. But they didn't have time to deal with this. Riley was dead - he wasn't going anywhere. They had to focus on saving Dawn, Mum and the others. And the world. "Let's go help the others pack," she said.

As she walked over to her family's camper, she tried not to listen to Mr and Mrs Nuñez worrying about their daughter. Fortunately, Anya was loudly complaining about leaving perfectly good clothes and other valuables behind. And trying to make Xander pack them all by claiming it was about sustainability instead of greed.

Buffy was smiling as she entered her camper.


"Alright. That should be all," James Lake Jr said, looking at the two suitcases. They would have to leave a lot behind, but they could replace things. They couldn't replace lives. "Let's go check how Merlin and the others are doing."

"Jim…"

He looked up. Mom was leaning against the kitchenette. And she had that concerned expression on her face that she usually had when Jim had messed up. And he had messed up royally, hadn't he?

"It wasn't your fault," she said.

"I should have noticed," he retorted at once. "Should've done something." Anything.

"How could you have known? No one noticed. Not even Claire's parents. Merlin himself expected this and couldn't do anything either." Mom shook her head and took a step forward, placing a hand on his shoulders. "Don't blame yourself."

"But I'm the Trollhunter! I'm supposed to protect everyone, trolls and humans." And certainly his friends!

"I'm a doctor, Jim."

Jim blinked. Did Mom just quote Star Trek?

She frowned, then snorted. "Not that." But she immediately grew serious again. "I'm a doctor, Jim. I am supposed to save people. But I don't succeed all the time. And it's not my fault. Some cases can't be saved - people who are too far gone. I still try my best, but it's not my fault if they don't make it."

"But…"

She shook her head again. "Sometimes, there's nothing you can do, Jim. I know it's easy to blame yourself, to think that if only you had done something differently, the patient would still be alive. I do that, too. But I had to learn that it's wrong." She leaned forward and looked into his eyes, her nose inches from his. "You cannot blame yourself for things you couldn't help. Please understand this."

Jim pressed his teeth together. That was all fine and well, but… "This is different! I've been with her all the time since she got the staff. Merlin told me about the danger!"

"And he himself couldn't stop it." Mom sighed. "Jim. Morgana is that Morgana. A witch with a thousand years of experience. And she was watching and waiting, wasn't she? She didn't take over Claire until the last moment, did she?"

Jm blinked. That was right. "Still…"

"How could you have noticed this? Can you read Claire's mind?" Mom raised her eyebrows. "That would be news to me."

Jim blushed. No, he couldn't read Claire's mind. That would have made a few things easier in the past. And probably far worse, too. "But I knew of the danger!"

"As did Merlin, who prepared for this. And everyone else knew as well, didn't they?"

Jim pressed his lips together. The others had been informed as well, yes. Those who fought. They hadn't told the rest. "Sorry…"

"It wasn't your fault, Jim. You have to accept that."

Jim sighed and slowly nodded. It made sense. He couldn't have noticed Morgana until she did something. And how could he have stopped her while fighting Glory? But that didn't change that Claire was still possessed.

And that he had to fight Morgana in Claire's body.

He closed his eyes. "I have to save her."

"And you will do your best, Jim. I have no doubt about that. And that is all anyone can ask of you."

But what if his best wasn't good enough? What if Claire was killed? What would Jim do then? Yet Jim nodded. "Yes, Mom."

Mom smiled at him. "Good. Now, let's go and see if the camper's flying already."

"We didn't hear squeals or screams, so they probably aren't finished yet," Jim said.

And indeed, when they left their camper and walked over to Toby's, Merlin and the two witches were still standing in a triangle, hands linked - Tara in the middle - and facing the camper.

Buffy and the others were a bit further back, various suitcases and bags at their feet. The Nuñez were there as well, but a bit apart. And they were glaring - at Jim.

Mom scowled. "I'll have a word with them," she whispered.

"No, Mom!" Jim retorted. "They just heard about Claire, and… What would you do if it had been me?"

She looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

But before she could say anything else, Merlin raised his staff in front of them, then pointed it at the camper. He spoke a weird word, then green magic rushed from the tip of his staff to the camper, covering it in a soft glow.

Willow pointed her hand at the camper as well, repeating his word. The glow intensified, shining so brightly for a moment, Jim had to squint. Then Merlin waved his staff, and the magic seemed to seep into the camper.

"Whoa," he whispered under his breath as runes and symbols appeared on the walls, shining brightly once more before fading.

"Awesomesauce!" Toby didn't whisper.

Merlin staggered, gulping down air, and it looked as if he had to use his staff to keep from falling. But he kept standing, taking deep breaths, as the camper rose about a foot from the ground before moving towards him, slowly turning so when it stopped, the entrance was facing Merlin and the others.

Willow and Tara looked tired as well - not as bad as Merlin, but both were panting. And sweating.

Jim looked around at once. If Morgana attacked now, they would be in a bad spot. But he couldn't see the witch. Or any portal.

"It is done," Merlin said. "Now come, enter - we should not linger here while we are recovering from this feat."

"Yeah. Let's all board the magic camper!" Xander said. "Camelot awaits!"


Buffy Summers put up a confident facade when she entered the camper, but she couldn't help feeling a little ill at ease. She trusted Willow, of course, but this was Merlin's idea. And he was old and close to dying. Not exactly the kind of pilot you wanted for a trans-shadow flight or whatever you might want to call it.

Yet she couldn't tell Dawn, Mom and the others to take the camper and walk back to the Camelot herself. What if they were attacked en route? Or something happened? Xander would say 'never split the party' with a grin, but it wasn't wrong.

So she forced herself to smile as they filed into the camper. "I guess we won't be returning this one to the dealer," she commented as she saw that the interior had been slightly remodelled to fit more people, presumably.

"I don't think so," Xander agreed. "Probably better if we don't - they can just file their insurance claims instead of going through another round of investigations once the campers are returned. And we won't be starting another conspiracy theory."

"Area 101, the mysterious camper site!" Willow said. "Aliens need our mobile homes to turn them into spaceships!"

Everyone - except for Merlin and the Nuñez - had a laugh at that, though it was a little forced in some cases.

"No seatbelts. The FAA would never certify this," Buffy added as she picked a seat in the presumably front - Merlin was already seated there.

"I do not know nor do I care to know what that is," the grump replied.

"It's the Federal Aviation Administration," Willow piped up as she took a seat next to Merlin, followed by Tara. Right, they had to feed the geezer magic so he wouldn't die. And they needed to hold hands for that. Creepy. "It's a government agency that regulates air travel.

"As I said, I do not care to know."

"Just saying, we kinda violate their regulations, and…" Willow shut up with a slight eep when the camper shook, then started to rise.

They rose until they were about tree level - larger trees - then turned and accelerated towards the 'firm land' across the shadows. Buffy could hear nervous chuckling from the back. Tough - this was their best shot at saving everyone.

Soon they were flying overland, or overshadowland, as Xander commented. Buffy tried to spot the route they had taken, but from this angle of view, it was impossible to match the glimpses she had caught to the landscape. They were going faster than they should. A seven-league boots effect.

With the outside just streaks and glimpses, she focused on the inside of the camper. Merlin looked stressed and strained, and Willow and Tara were mumbling some chants, so they were feeding him magic already.

She turned in her seat and looked at the rest. Xander and Anya were sharing a seat, but they weren't making out, just cuddling. Spike and Giles were talking about Camelot in 19th-century literature, of all things. Hearing Spike arguing about poems was creepier than an old wizard feeding on magic from two young women.

She glanced at the rest, huddled together at the other end of the camper. Mom and Dawn seemed to be holding up OK. The Nuñez were holding each other and not looking at anything or anyone. And Blinky was telling Jim, Toby and their families about Camelot as he remembered it.

"It really feels like a flight," she muttered. "Just waiting for the crappy in-flight meals."

"Toby's nana made sandwiches," Willow commented.

"Those aren't crappy!" Buffy's eyes widened. "Do we have enough food?" The camper was full already with everyone and their luggage. Where could they have stashed more food?

"We've got some," Xander spoke up. "But we'll have to restock in a few days. There just wasn't enough room." He grinned. "We should have taken the biggest RV the dealer had."

"The one with the garage for a sports car?"

"Yes." He grinned.

"Yes!" Anya agreed.

"There was only one," Buffy pointed out. "And we would have had trouble moving it." She wasn't sure that it would have fit through a portal.

"But it would be so much more useful right now," Anya said. "We could have some privacy."

Xander blushed a little, and Buffy quickly turned away. This was too much information! Sometimes she suspected Anya knew exactly was she was doing when she talked about sex. Although…

She blinked at the sight in front of her. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the shiny light ahead.

Merlin snorted. "What do you think? That's the shadow counterpart of Camelot."

"It's glowing," Willow pointed out the obvious.

"Camelot was the shining light of civilisation in its day. Of course that would be reflected even in its pale shadow," Merlin explained. "You should see the pyramids in the Shadow Realm."

"Weren't those, like, tombs?" Xander asked.

"Yes. But they were also beacons and symbols of the height of the Egyptian civilisation," Merlin replied.

"I wonder what shines in America," Willow said.

"Probably a Walmart," Xander joked. "Or a gun store."

"Xander!" Willow pouted at him. "I was thinking of the Library of Congress!"

"Cease your pointless arguing. We have arrived," Merlin cut in before Xander could tease their friend a bit more.

They were already settling down in a small clearing in the shadowy woods.

"Camelot awaits."