Chapter 6
Westbury, England
The various members of the Giles' household had breakfast in almost stony silence apart from the obvious greetings to one and all. Giles then took them from the kitchen/dining area to the study.
Willow was impressed. He had expanded what had been quite a small and humble study room and library into a large room which seemed to take up most of the house on the west wing. The reference library seemed large indeed, possibly larger than the old library at Sunnydale High School where she had spent so many angst-ridden hours.
"I see you've had the decorators in, Giles" said Buffy.
"Well, one has contacts and Xander does work cheap." His smile stretched out wearily but warmly.
"I thought I recognized the craftsmanship from my dining table days", remarked Buffy. "Have you seen much of him lately?"
"No. He did this work for me about a year ago. Since then we have spoken intermittently, when he hasn't been working for Riley and Sam and their commando squad."
"I still can't imagine Xander in military garb, especially not with that eye patch. Who does he think he is, Nick Fury?" Dawn smiled at her own joke, as no one else in the room grasped the reference.
"Since the military re-awoke his soldier knowledge from his subconscious he seems to have settled into the unit very effectively. And I think he feels he is actually contributing to the fight directly, rather than just being the moral support."
"With all due respect but we have far more going on here than carpentry and old friends." Alan Carter's voice was authoritarian, and reminded Willow of Wesley, Buffy's former Watcher. She didn't like Wesley at first but had learned to accept him as one of the team, especially after he had died trying to save the world from the apocalypse of the Black Thorn. Somehow she felt that Alan would take longer to like.
Giles snapped his mind into focus. "Yes. We shall begin by looking for all references to Avalon here and then we will cross reference those with the volumes at the Council's main library."
Alan shook his head. "I still say that Avalon does not exist. This talk of ravens and doves and of a day of reckoning is the kind of talk that gives the Council less credibility as a force for good and makes us sound like raving madmen."
Dawn began to tremble, her voice shaky and hesitant with more than a note of fear upon her breath. "Ravens and doves?"
"What is it, Dawn?" Asked Giles.
"The nightmare I had last night. It was of a dove, in a golden cage, being pecked to death by ravens. It was awful. They never let up until it was torn to pieces and then they came after me. When I woke up, for a few seconds I could still feel them around me, still hear them cawing and shrieking. The dove shrieked in pain." Tears began to flow down Dawn's cheeks as the memories of the dream came back to her.
Buffy embraced her sister, turning her head to Giles as she did so. "This making sense to you, Giles. Cos its sure beating me."
"What it indicates is that our enemies may very well know we are here. But we need to do this research so, Buffy, fortify this place best you can and we will work in shifts to protect ourselves should we come under attack. Meanwhile the rest of us will concentrate our research on the question of Avalon as this is certainly a factor, regardless of what you may say on the subject, Mr Carter."
Carter nodded. "Very well. We shall begin in Celtic Folklore and then find the historical context for them. Maybe we can get some idea of where this Avalon is meant to be."
"I am far more interested in finding the whereabouts of our Lady Morgana. Merrick seemed determined to keep the location of Avalon safe, even willing to die for it. As such if we can defeat Morgana without discovering Avalon's location then I feel that we will have kept Merrick's wish alive." Answered Giles, exuding cool authority as only he could when necessity dictated.
"But what will happen if we are left with no choice but to find Avalon? Morgana may well know its location already." Claire Danvers was doing her best to sound knowledgeable but couldn't quite disguise her naivety.
"Then we must find her before then." Giles' voice was the last word.
AvalonTara sat alone in the gazebo. She had had a rough night's sleep and was not at her best. She had come here to find her balance, as she had so many times down the years, but today she could not find it and she wondered if it she had ever really had it here at all.
She heard the familiar sound and cheerful footsteps of Heather. But there was another sound she heard, one that was alien to the usual serenity of the garden. It was the sound of cawing.
She was used to the sound of birds here. But the birds usually whistled and sang as they flew and built their nests. At night she could hear the odd hoot and shriek of owls as they took to the skies or perched and made their presence felt. The voices were pleasant, soothing and serene in turn.
But this sound was different. It was the sound of impending fear. Tara began to feel panic settle in her heart and stomach as the number of bird sounds increased and overlapped each other. She was unsure how many birds there were but she guessed that there could easily be a dozen, perhaps two. She could feel the cold shadow spread from the willow tree above the gazebo and she felt the shadow move towards the only person in the open, towards Heather.
The birds swooped upon the young girl. At first they tore at her clothes but in an instance fund flesh and began to attack with frenzied abandon. Heather tried to escape their clutches but could not. She ran, heading for the gazebo and the safety it might provide but the birds swooped in front of her, flying towards her face and neck, keeping her low and stopping her from making further progress.
Tara reacted quickly, instinctively. Arcane phrases accompanied majestic gestures of her hands as she kept her eyes constantly on Heather. She stretched her hands out towards her young charge, her voice becoming deeper, more forceful with each repetition of her ritual.
The birds began to arc away from Heather as a glow appeared around her, growing in intensity and size. The ravens tried to peck their way through, tried to claw but it was useless. The barrier stayed firm, protecting the young girl from further harm.
From the opposite end of the garden came the sound of further chanting, a mixture of Gaelic and Latin filled the air, threatening to silence the cawing of the ravens. But now that cawing was replaced with something else, the sound of the birds shrieking as each of the birds exploded as though they were nothing more than small fireworks that had reached their end. The incessant cawing of the ravens became high-pitched, rasping shrieks as they flew for cover.
Tara quickly crossed the distance that separated her from Heather. She embraced the terrified girl and as she did so, checked to see if she was hurt. Tara was relieved to find no marks on Heather, other than a small cut on her knee from where she fell. She could feel the terrified grip around her and knew Heather was hugging her as if letting go would somehow increase the pain and fear she felt. Gently kissing Heather's forehead in comfort, Tara picked her up, holding her tight as she crossed the remainder of the path to where Nimue and Karen were standing.
"What happened?" Tara was agitated, for the first time since the attack she began to let the emotion swell.
"We are unsure. Such dark harbingers of death are not welcome in this realm. They should not have been able to come here."
"You have an idea who sent them, don't you?" Tara's voice was accusatory.
"Yes, the choice of ravens as the attackers seems to narrow the field to one likely suspect. We will discuss this later, after you have settled Heather down."
Tara left, still holding Heather in her arms and soothing her with a gentle lullaby.
Karen turned to look at Nimue, "This may not go as planned. This attack happened sooner than expected. Are you positive that she is the one?"
"There is no other reason I can see for the birds attacking as they did."
"What if she won't go?"
"She will. We must be cruel to be kind, Karen. Destiny must be allowed to take its course."
"She may end up despising us for it."
"Perhaps, but the stakes are too high for us to worry about how she may think about us. Send a message to the Court at Sommerway, let them know what has happened and I request an audience."
"At once, My Lady."
Westbury, EnglandGiles' home was a flurry of intellectual activity. As Buffy, Whittaker and Willow fortified the home through a mixture of shutters and magical devices, Giles and his colleagues worked to discover what they could about the mysterious Avalon, a mystery that had cost the lives of dear colleagues.
Buffy, Whittaker and Willow were outside, checking that they had the views they needed and setting the best place for early detection spells that would create an unmistakable high pitch alarm should intruders attempt to come to the house. It was exhausting work but they were determined to see it through.
Whittaker coughed and wheezed as he lifted and carried various items to be used as barricades should they be attacked. He was an old man and his health had already had begun to fail him prior to the smoke damage his lungs took from the Merrick house fire. Now he could feel the strain beginning to tell, but he was too proud to admit to two young women that he was incapable of coping.
Buffy had been here, of course, many times but had never had to view it from the point of view of a fort before. She had always seen it as a sanctuary away from the madness of her life as a Slayer, not to be attacked here by forces she could not quite comprehend.
That bothered her more than anything. In the old days it was simple: Slayer needed, demon identified, weaknesses assessed and actions taken. The end result was: demon dead, apocalypse or other disaster averted. But this seemed to be different. This was a force determined to be patient and plot its moves. It knew its targets rather than randomly seeking out victims. The guiding mind here was surgical, clinical, and intelligent.
Buffy looked at Willow, her friend now for ten years. A friend who had possibly lost as much as anyone she knew. A friend who now could be their best shot of getting this new evil on the ropes and keeping it there. And that scared Buffy.
She loved her friend but remembered her descent into magic and grief-fuelled megalomania all too clearly. Of all the people that Buffy feared, Willow at her crazed worst was by far the most frightening. She did worry that being so close to such dark and potent magic, that she may have to face her friend again. And this time there could be no excuse of bereavement to stay her hand. Too many lives depended on it.
Willow closed her mind to all around her as she set another mystical alarm up at the far side of the driveway. She was aware of the anxiety that the Council had about the coming battle, a battle she was not sure that she was ready for, or wanted. But it was coming, like it or not, and she would was determined not to let down her friends.
Giles studied the large volumes of ancient texts that were spread out in front of him. Endless books about the legend of Avalon and various theories as to its purpose, from the resting place of King Arthur to the notion of it being a gateway to the realms of the Fey. But none gave any clue about its location, other than stating with some certainty that its doorway was "somewhere in England". Giles polished his glasses as he set his mind to thinking. Every reference to Avalon seemed to cross-reference to a note or section about the Fey, and vice versa. Giles allowed himself a wry smile as he knew he was onto something. This was progress.
"I think that we may have hit on something here. These references to the Fey seem to come up consistently. I knew Merrick was well versed in faerie lore, and now I think I know why."
"You think the Fey are the ones who reside in Avalon?" asked Diane Morgan.
"Yes, although there are one or two books from the Council's main library I wish to look at, just to double-check a few items."
"Are you going now? Do you wish one of us to go with you?"
"Yes and no, in that order. I want as many hands on here as possible should we fall under attack. I will travel alone."
"That is an extremely unwise course of action, Mister Giles. One of us should go with you." Carter seemed to be trying to show concern, but only arrogance rang from his voice.
"No, you are needed here so that we can keep up with this information here. I will be back before the night is out, I assure you."
Giles left the room, packing up his notes en route, and entered the small hall closet to grab his coat from the hanger. He heard footsteps behind him, coming from the library. From their weight and distance, he took a wild guess as to their owner.
"Are you going to ask me not to go as well, Dawn?"
Dawn was stunned as Giles had not turned around before speaking, but she composed herself. "I am worried. Giles after last night I have really bad feeling about all of this and I don't like the idea of you going off on your own."
"Speed demands it, Dawn. Besides, Buffy will require all of you here. Believe me, I will be fine." He flashed Dawn a reassuring smile, and left the house.
Buffy noticed her Watcher leave and quickly cut the distance between them. "Where are you going?"
"London. There are volumes in the main library archives that could give us a clue on what and who we are dealing with here and a way to stop it. You are in charge here, Buffy. Don't let your guard down at all."
"You be careful. We don't know what is gonna come out of the woodwork next."
"Don't worry. If I am right, we may have some real weaponry to deal with this crisis. Knowledge."
Giles got into his car. He was nervous about leaving his group but knew of his necessity and he was more than confident that Buffy and Willow could handle what anything that dared to cross the threshold.
Buffy watched the car leave and heaved a pensive sigh. She didn't like him leaving Fortress Giles, but she knew his resolve face and determined visage when she saw it, and she had seen it on him just then. No point in arguing with him in those circumstances.
Buffy signaled to Whittaker and Willow to return to the house. They entered and saw the Watchers busily reading and referencing and checking each other's work as they went along. It was like some strange production line, turning the line into a rollercoaster.
"So what do we have here? Anything at all giving us any indication of who or what we are facing?"
Diane Morgan raised her gaze to meet Buffy's. "We are pretty sure that if the legend is true, then we are dealing with the Fey. The Raven is the symbol of Morgan Le Fey and her legend goes back many centuries, to the time of Arthur in fact."
"Morgan, eh? Bet you are just hating the name similarity right now."
"Yes, it does rather make one look more suspicious than one is, I grant you. But if the chronicles of various monks and knights are to be believed, she is a great power and has one or two rather distasteful habits."
"Such as?"
"Well, she is known to absorb the life force of men and women whilst in the throes of passion with them, keeping her eternally youthful. Countess Bathory for the pornographic crowd, if you like."
"So she sucks their life out of them whilst she is having sex with them? Men and women?"
"Yes, it seems she was quite willing to satisfy her lustful urges with whomever came along, male or female."
Buffy noted that the last two words came out in an almost disgusted tone, something she noticed that Willow had also picked up on. "You have a problem with her sleeping with women?"
Diane looked at the scornful look of both Buffy and Willow, and lowered her head. "No, just what she does to them. Killing them, I mean."
"Glad to hear it. Anything else?"
"Yes, she seems to be quite the master sorceress, capable of powerful transformations and has been known to communicate to others through dreams and omens."
"Like the one I had last night?" Dawn, having settled down to read another volume, safely away from the explanations that she was already aware, suddenly began to pay full attention to the exchange.
"Yes. I have an explanation, a theory that is. She could be attempting to contact through the weakest link. Hoping to divert your attention towards Dawn whilst she makes her move."
Willow nodded. "Makes sense but I don't understand why I didn't sense anything. I mean, that kind of power, I would have picked up on it, even asleep. But I didn't get any residual aura at all."
Diane nodded. "Considering her power, it is easy to speculate she may have sensed your presence, Miss Rosenberg, and took steps to hide her presence from you. If my theory is correct, it makes defeating her that much harder, as essence will be nigh on impossible to detect."
Buffy folded her arms, taking it all in, before bringing all the room to attention. "All right! We have three problems: We need to find a way to detect this woman. We need to hold this place should we get attacked and we need to get all we can in one useful form so that Giles can check it against whatever evidence he uncovers from the Council library. Now, who wants what?"
"I say sleep, " answered Willow, wearily. "All those detector spells have wiped me out. If we are going to need a solid defense, I need my beauty sleep to recharge."
"Okay, you rest up. I'll send someone to wake you up in a couple of hours. Sorry I can't give you more time than that Will, but we will need all Watchers on deck to deal with this paperwork."
"That's okay. I should be better prepared to actually help you then."
Buffy returned her attention back to the rest of the room. "Today people! Weaknesses, powers, phobias, anything and everything on this Morgana woman so I can introduce her to a real Slayer-sized whuppin'."
The Watchers, including Dawn, now returned to their array of books with a renewed vigour and a sense of purpose. A conflict was coming and they had to be ready.
Willow sprawled out onto the bed. She as too tired to change, too tired even to lift the covers over her. She wanted to rest. The restless sleep from dealing with Dawn's nightmare and the heavy use of magic to protect the farmstead had left her exhausted. Now she could feel sleep take her, consume her and fill her up with a warmth that made her smile.
She found herself in a meadow. It was a beautiful spot, surrounded by three sides by tall, majestic trees and the fourth by the small incline that she stood upon, and yet down below her, in the middle of this green meadow, she saw something all the more beautiful. She saw a cage, a gilded one. Willow couldn't understand how a cage this beautiful could be in the middle of an otherwise empty field.
As by speed of thought she found herself standing next to it. She saw within the cage its single occupant, a white dove with piercing blue eyes. The eyes were immediately familiar to her and she wept at the recognition hit her.
"Tara, is that you?"
But the dove made no reply. Instead it moved away from the cage as a cold breeze and darkening shadows loomed overhead. The change in temperature was palpable and immediate. The gloom added an eerie hue to the trees, their majesty now a terrifying image of towering fear.
Willow looked up to see the sky now dotted with large, black birds. Their cawing seemed to echo down through the meadow. She breathed in, feeling the chill in her lungs. As she breathed out the breath that emerged was not white as she expected, but black. She raised her head again as she heard the flapping of wings, and realized that the ravens above her were not flying above now, but diving down.
She tried to run, tried to move her body, but she couldn't. She as capable of a few movements of her hands, but her legs stood firm, as if the ground itself held them fast. She thought of a spell, one that would shield her from the feathered onslaught, but as she tried to utter the words the memory of the phrases needed left her. She felt more vulnerable then than perhaps at any time in her life. She stared at the cage, at the dove with the blue eyes, and saw that it was trying to fly out, trying to reach her, but the cage, and the diving of the ravens, made it impossible to.
The first raven hit her. She felt the pain but it didn't stop at her body as it should. As if it were as incorporeal as the air it flitted through her. She could feel it though, every agonizing moment of it. It seemed to last forever, though she could tell in her own inner clock that it was the briefest parts of a moment. It flew out of her back, the force almost knocking her down. It span round, hitting her in the back and moving through her body once more. But as it exited, it changed course, heading for the dove. Willow wanted to stop it but her hands flailed through it, hitting nothing. All she could do was watch as the raven struck the dove, impaling it on her beak. But she recognized the cry of pain that emanated from the dove's mouth. It wasn't the cry of a bird, but a human cry. It was Tara's cry.
The ravens continued to descend, one after the other like bombers on a suicide mission. Each hitting and penetrating Willow front and back, each finishing its maneuver by attacking the dove in the cage. The cage refused to give, refused to yield or bend or break to the ferocity of the attack and yet with ease the ravens found a way to use their beaks and claws to full effect, each one pecking, ripping, slashing and tearing at the white bird. Each one punctuated by Tara's screams of pain.
Willow couldn't stop them, she tried to grasp each one in turn but was left only with a handful of air. But now she could hear the last few sounds of the dove as its last few gasps gave out. But somewhere within those gasps, Willow heard Tara's voice. It was weak, barely above a whisper. "Help me, Willow! Please help me!"
The ravens, as if spurred on by that request, turned their attention to Willow once more. This time she could feel their beaks and claws as they mercilessly ripped into her flesh. But now they could feel her hands around them, swatting them away. She could touch them. They flew high into the sky, like a display team ready for the final breathtaking stunt. Now they formed within the twelve of them an arrowhead formation. They turned towards Willow once more, and dove.
But Willow had heard her lover, had heard her words, and she was determined to be strong, to defend her, whatever the cost. As she looked towards the cage one last time, she saw the lifeless dove, still with it's blue eyes trained upon her, and a wave of anger such as she hadn't known since her days in Sunnydale consumed her. She stood, her eyes and hair turning black, her features beginning to pale as blackened veins slowly formed upon her face. She smiled as the ravens approached. She silently mouthed a few words of Latin, and let loose a fireball of such intensity that it blew her back as she saw the ravens, burning and screaming, fall to the ground to their deaths. She could feel the flame, hear the roar of the fire and the screams of the ravens, before darkness descended on her.
Willow awoke, screaming. She awoke with a scream in her voice, tears cascading down her cheeks, an emptiness in her heart, and black now tinting her hair, her eyes and her soul.