FIC: Ravages Of Hell (26/?)
"You're sure this is the right way?"
Angel hid a smile at Gwen's question as he led his companions, savouring the sunlight breaking through the forest's tall trees to warm his face. "I'm sure," he chuckled, "Atlantis' new leaders were very anxious I didn't come back."
"Just what did you do to them?" Connor asked.
Angel's amusement fled. "I put the fear of Angelus into them."
"Oh," Connor fell silent.
For his son's safety he could put up with another stain on his soul. Besides he hadn't actually done anything, just showed them his strength, vampiric face, and coldly delivered a few threats. That had been enough to convince them. "We're here," he pointed ahead, towards a mossy hill perhaps a quarter of a mile away. "Half-way up the hill there's a cave entrance. The natives call it 'Cavern Of Lost Warriors'. There's reputed to be a great treasure inside but all who have tried to take it have never returned."
"Comforting," Gwen muttered.
"A rare challenge!" Groo enthused.
Angel smiled grimly as he continued on his way. His opinion was somewhat closer to Gwen's but the job had to be done.
Soon the four of them broke out of the wood and into the small, tall-grassed clearing between the forest and the hill. Now they were nearer, Angel took an opportunity to inspect the hill. There was nothing especially foreboding about it, despite its blood-stained reputation. Just a grassy hill with a muddy track snaking up to a narrow opening half-way up.
"Remember," Angel warned as they reached the entrance, "we have no idea what's in there. So be careful."
"That's my dad," Connor muttered. "Always with the good cheer."
Angel ignored his son's comments to plunge into the narrow passage, grateful of the vampire eyesight that allowed him to see in the darkness. The path wound and twisted, dipped up and down, until Angel was sure that they'd long since left the hill, but although their journey was tension-filled, they encountered no trouble.
Until they turned a corner to find the path had spilled out into a clearing dominated by a snarling, squid-like creature. The grey-skinned monster's body was dominated by a single golden eye and a long, wide mouth filled with dozens of curved teeth, the sort that once secured in a limb would never let go. Its five pairs of eight foot long, wiry tentacles all ended in different weapons – hammers, claws, pinchers, spikes, and one pair of huge sausage-fingered hands.
"Okay," Angel groaned. "This isn't good."
"Fair Faith! I wonder if I might have a word!"
'Fair Faith' rolled her eyes before turning to face the one calling for her attention. The excitement of meeting the Knights of the Round Table had soon paled. Well after the sixth proposal of marriage and third knight offering to be her champion. And if she caught Lancelot looking at her ass again, well Guinevere was gonna be wicked disappointed when he tried it on with her again.
Her face smoothed as she recognised the approaching figure as Merlin. He at least had a modicum of common sense. Something that was in even shorter supply here in males than it was in her time\world. "Any news?"
The bearded mage nodded. "Aye lass," he replied, eyes troubled. "It would appear that in years long past this castle was the home of a powerful dark arts mage. Your friend witch appears to be a woman of considerable wit and nerve, for it was in this time she hid the trident. But be warned, a creature of considerable power defends it!"
"One thing I don't get," Faith asked. "Is if Red hid these tridents why there's these evil guardians to prevent us getting them?"
"The placing of such potent artefacts through the time stream and dimensions would be a great undertaking even for a magician as powerful as your friend," Merlin slowly replied. "Perhaps she further wished to assure their safety and assigned them protectors but was unable to spare the power to allow these beasts to recognise those who had justly come for the Tridents."
"Yeah," Faith nodded as she walked around the courtyard, the spacious lawn they walked filled with sparring knights.. Her eyes rolled at the number of squires gawking at her. "Makes sense."
"And you have been justly chosen," Merlin stopped in front of her, a suddenly frighteningly forbidding expression on his lined face. "I understand you had words with Bronwyn. You falsely believe you are not the sort of person my Slayer should be listening to?"
Faith didn't bother to ask how he'd found all this out. Hell, he was Merlin, he could have plucked it from her head. "I killed a man, murdered him," Faith growled, "and I laughed as he died. That sound like the sort of gal your Slayer should be hangin' with?"
"And would you do the same today?" Merlin demanded.
"Of course not!" Faith hotly replied.
"Would you in fact give your life without a second thought to save his?" After a second she silently nodded. "I have lived centuries Faith, and in that time I have come to understand you humans," her head snapped up at that. Merlin wasn't human? What was he? "You claim to have committed some terrible crimes," Merlin shrugged. "Perhaps you have. But the girl before me could not do such a thing. The girl before me is strong-willed, loyal, and brave. The girl before me, although she would deny it onto death is compassionate and kind, the only flaws I see are a slowness to trust, a lack of patience, and an inability to believe in herself." Faith's mouth opened. "Silence. Bronwyn could do far worse than ask for one who has truly lived such as you for advice. Now," the wizard looked around, "perhaps you should round up your companions. I will find Bronwyn. You have a mission to complete."
"You're telling me that's Garm?" Buffy whispered.
"Indeed," the Immortal muttered his reply.
"Oh boy," she whispered. "Do you think he's been to obedience school?"
The wolf sat before the mouth of a shadowy cavern with a glowing light that had to be the trident within it. But this wolf was no normal wolf, its eyes glowed red and its shaggy grey fur covered a thickly muscled body the size of a house. Worse still was its mouth filled with knife-like teeth that glinted in what little light there was.
"I doubt it," the Immortal dryly replied.
"Okay," Buffy pulled her head back in behind the slight hill heading towards the beast and their goal. "In that case we'll try a flanking action," Buffy looked towards the other two Slayers, "you two come in from the left. We'll take the right. On three. One, two, three."
Buffy's blood began to pound with the familiar excitement of battle the moment she reached 'three'. Leaping to her feet, she spun around to face the monster, drew her sword, and charged, dust kicking up as she ran.
Garm leapt up from his slumber, his gaping maw opening in a ground-shaking roar. His right leg flicked out at her, Buffy barely managed to duck under its huge paw before thrusting her blade up at the trunk-like limb.
Her strike sliced home, ripping a furrow in the creature's lower thigh. Viscera spurted out, drenching her from head to foot. The creature howled in pain before bringing its leg inside to smash a paw into her lower back.
"Ahhh!" Buffy's own world exploded in pain as Garm's claws ripped through her clothes and raked her back, ripping her open. The force of the blow flung her to the ground, only Slayer instinct allowing her to hit it in a forward roll and spring back to her feet directly under the hulking beast's body.
Ignoring the blood dripping down her back, Buffy dropped into a squat before leaping into the air, thighs powering her up the seven feet that separated her from the creature's under-belly. The monster shuddered as her blade thrust into its stomach.
Buffy gasped as she crashed to the ground behind the hulking wolf. An idea flickered into her head. Leaping back to her feet, she bounded into the air, sword swinging at the beast's rear hamstring.
"Awwwww!" The shaggy-furred beast threw back its head and roared, eyes wide with shock as her blade ripped into the thick muscle, blood fountaining out. Garm slumped onto its haunches, Buffy took the opportunity to leap onto the creature's back and raced to its head, sword swinging to behead it.
The decapitated wolf crashed to the ground. A grin on her face, Buffy jumped off the monster and headed towards the trident just in from the cavern's mouth.
"Buffy! Michelle's dead!"
Angel drew his sword and bounded towards the squid. A clawed tentacle snapped out, catching Angel in the face. The force of the blow lifted him from his feet and flung him into the wall. Ignoring the jarring impact and the blood dripping down his face, Angel sprang up and bounded back into the attack.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Connor crumple under a hammer-blow to the head. Angel started towards his son as a spiked tentacle swung down at him. Angel smirked as Connor side-rolled away from the attack. "That's my boy."
Turning his attention back to the battle, he charged towards the squid, ducking beneath a hammer-swing at his head while at the same time leaping over a pinchered tentacle. Upon landing, he sliced at a handed tentacle. "Oh crap!" he barely had time to register the blade bouncing off the rubbery-like tentacle before being grabbed around his ankle and flung to the ground, dust billowing up. The monster immediately slapped his sword out of his hand and began dragging him towards its mouth.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his companions charging to his rescue. "Stay back." He endured the back-bumping drag across the ground. The moment he was in range, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a throwing dirk, uttered a quick prayer, and flung the knife deep into its golden eye. The monster roared in fury and then exploded like a water balloon hitting the ground, showering him with blood.
"How did you know that would work?" Connor asked.
"I didn't," Angel tried and failed to clean the viscera off his body, "but I figured when it took time to knock my sword out of my hand, our weapons must be a threat to it. Therefore it had to have a weakness. That was my favourite jacket, I hate it when this happens," Angel complained as he rose. He smiled as he saw the trident standing behind where the squid had been. "Ach," he smirked. "I can always get new clothes." He paused for a second. "Although obviously not in this time period. Me and fur, ugh."
"Are you okay to lead us? Merlin said you took a heck of a bea-."
"I'm fine," Faith lied, waving off Kennedy's concern as she peered into the torch-lit passageway that apparently led down into the bowels of the hill Camelot was built on and to their goal. In truth she felt like crap, not only had many of her bruises and cuts not healed, taking a beating like that or the one the Beast had so lovingly handed out shook her up emotionally, reminding her that despite her powers she was still mortal.
But she had a job to do.
After a nervous lick of the lips, she started towards the arched entrance. The path was floored by square tiles very comfortingly painted with what seemed to be demonic faces and lit by brush torches set in the grey stone wall every thirty paces. "Nice place to visit," Faith murmured as she continued on her way, "but I wouldn't like to live here."
"I'm not even keen on visiting," Kennedy replied.
The path led remorselessly down. Kinda like her mood. "Damn," she muttered. "What's this place greatest threat? Bore-." She gasped as she felt a tile move underfoot. "Back!" she yelled even as she ignored her own command and leapt forward, hitting the ground on her shoulder and rolling up to look behind her.
A six foot gap had opened up behind her, and peering down, she could see a pit filled with rusted but still dangerous looking spears embedded in the ground and pointed menacingly upwards. Glancing across, she was relieved to see all four of her companions had managed to leap back in time. "Come on over guys," she gestured.
The moment the last of the Slayers leapt over, Faith nodded. "Let's rock 'n' roll." Reminding herself to pay attention in the future, she continued on.
The path suddenly veered upwards, Faith raised an eyebrow before starting up the path. Faith stopped, puzzled as she felt a wind brushing against her face, looking up, she saw a huge hole in the ceiling. "What the -."
"The rumbling," Bronwyn screamed, "there's a rock coming down that hole."
"Good call, kid!" Faith yelled. "Run for it!" Faith rushed down the suddenly descending again path. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the others following, and a car-sized boulder rolling with increasing speed after them. Seeing a hairpin bend ahead, Faith dived around it, her friends crashing down on top of her just as the rock slammed into the unforgiving stone wall with shuddering impact and smashing into a dozen smaller but still large pieces. "Man," Faith groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, new bruises joining the others, "this place is a blast."
A few minutes later she drew level with a torch, heard a hiss and instinctively flung herself to the ground, flames spitting across the tunnel to scorch the wall opposite. Faith shuddered as she looked up; if she hadn't moved, her head would have been burnt clean off her shoulders. "This is a regular house of fun."
Rising she continued on, her companions doggedly following. "Can you hear that?" Rona whispered.
"Hear what?" Faith asked even as she picked up a wheezing hiss around the next corner. "Oh yeah. Hate to think what that is, draw your weapons girls," she muttered, "time to go to work."
Faith charged around the corner, only to stumble at the massive, apparently ceiling-less chamber and the green-scaled dragon flapping in the air. "Oh crap!" Faith swallowed as the creature dive-bombed at them. "Scatter!" She dived to the ground just seconds before a burst of flame scorched the ground where they'd been stood. After a quick glance to reassure herself the others were okay, Faith let out a yell. "Keep its attention!" Noting the chamber wall's long, intricately-woven tapestries, Faith decided to do something really, really stupid. Even dumber than dating Kenny Stringer in the 9th grade.
The moment she reached the wall, Faith grabbed a hold of the tapestries and began half-climb, half-run up it until she was something like fifty feet in the air. She grinned as she saw Bronwyn leading the dragon in her direction, weaving in and out of its flame bursts, kid had a brain and a set on her. The moment the dragon was in range, Faith kicked off the wall and did a quadruple back-somersault onto its neck, hair snapping in the cold air.
"Jesus!" Faith yelled as the dragon's head snapped around to face her, cold eyes impaling her with their primeval ferocity. "Just how many times did mom drop me on my fucking head anyhow? I must be fucking nuts!"
The dragon's head darted towards her, Faith leaned away from the attack, the creature's sulphurous breath almost causing to her pass out. "Hey lover?" Faith snapped. "Breath mints, look into them!" Raising her blade high above her head, Faith swung it down into the monster's long neck. Blood vomited out of the wound, showering her. The dragon's head snapped back, mouth opening in a pained scream. Faith took the opportunity to yank her weapon out of the demon's now copper-coated neck and thrust it deep into the bottom of the monster's mouth. "Think you're a bad ass?" she taunted as she twisted the sword. "You ain't shit."
"Gaaaaaa!" the dragon's scream pounded in her ears. The creature dropped like a stone, crashing to the ground. Instantly her companions were on it, hacking the winged lizard to pieces, its blood soon slicking the ground.
"Good work," Faith acknowledged as she climbed off the dying lizard before heading towards the trident. "Hey kid," Faith winked at Bronwyn as she wrapped her hand around the trident, "you don't need any advice from me, you do fine on your own."
Heart thumping, Buffy swung around. She shook her head in pained disbelief at the sight of Michelle's broken body, the formerly elegant Slayer twisted and broken, her blood staining the ground. "Nooooo," she whispered, head still shaking and the first of many tears rolling down her cheeks. After a second, she started towards her companions crouched around the corpse.
"A worthy warrior indeed. Othin will be pleased."
Buffy spun around at the husky voice behind her. A pony-tailed blonde wearing a twin-horned helm and steel-scaled, knee-length hauberk, carrying a round steel shield and spear was there, sat upon a horse-sized, shaggy-haired wolf. "Who are you?" Buffy demanded
"S….she's a Valkyrie," the Immortal gasped. Buffy glanced over her shoulder for clarification. "The Valkyrie are dsir, minor female deities who serve Odin. Their purpose is to choose the most heroic warriors and to take them to Valhalla so that Odin has an army of heroes to fight at his side at Ragnarok."
Buffy only understood half of what her boy-friend had said, but she knew one thing. This Valkyrie wasn't taking Michelle. Planting her feet, she put herself securely into the Valkyrie's path and raised her sword. "Listen missy," she grated, "you are not taking my friend."
The Valkyrie smiled. "Your loyalty is touching, but foolish. You cannot stop Sigrdrifa."
"Yeah?" Buffy grasped her sword ever tighter. "Let's see about this."
"Very well." The Valkyrie's smile widened. The Valkyrie stepped towards her. Buffy swung her sword at the Valkyrie's neck, the blade slid through the creature and came out the other side, like slicing through a ghost. "Just as we have no claim over the living," Sigrdrifa stopped by Michelle's corpse and placed a hand over her, "so they have no claim over us." Buffy gasped as the two were enveloped in a golden light and disappeared.
For a long time she stared at where the two had been. Then she heard the Immortal's whisper in her ear. "She's gone my dear, we need to go home."
After a second she nodded and reached for the trident.
Heath Private Airport, Sussex, 2 days later
Faith beamed as she saw a tarpaulin-covered figure rushing across the airfield and towards the tiny office they'd commandeered upon their arrival. "Angel's here!"
"Great," Kennedy grunted. "Be still my beating heart."
Faith ignored her friend's unenthusiastic reply to leap to her feet and hurry down the narrow stairwell leading to the front door and flung it open. "Hey Fang!"
"Faith!" The vampire grinned briefly before reverting to his customary deadpan expression. "Any sign of Buffy, yet?"
Faith smirked as she shook her head. "Ya know B. Likes to keep people waiting. Bring me back any holiday snaps? 'Specially any of you in speedos?"
Faith yawned as she glanced at her watch. Four hours had passed since Angel's team's arrival and seven since her group had arrived in the early morning. Now it was getting towards mid-afternoon and still no Buffy.
Suddenly Angel's head snapped up, somehow looking through the dirty brown ceiling, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "A plane's coming in for landing, it's Buffy."
"Cool." Faith nodded, knowing that no other aircraft could be landing at the airfield as the airfield was owned and exclusively used by the Council. "Then we get back to the Council and work out what the hell to do with these Tridents." She just wondered who of her friends were still alive.
Five minutes later and a canary-yellow six-seater came in for landing. The door flew open and Buffy's team began to disembark. And then a shot rang out and Buffy's head disappeared in a bloody mist.