CHAPTER FIVE

CONFRONTATION

After several more long moments locked in each other's embrace, Buffy, Willow & Dawn finally got to their feet. Buffy & Willow's hands remained clasped together, however; a fact that did not escape Willow's notice.

"Attached to me now?" she asked Buffy jokingly.

"You're not leaving me again," Buffy said simply. Willow blinked away a tear, touched by her sudden possessiveness.

"Wasn't planning on it," she replied with a smile.

"You two gonna get a room, or are we going after tall, dark and ugly?" Dawn quipped. Buffy ignored the remark.

"I think Zaragos is going after Xander and the others back in Scotland," she said gravely. "We've gotta get there before he does."

"Sounds like a job for our resident goddess of magic," Dawn replied, nodding.

"Take it easy," Buffy replied. "I'm not even sure how Will's still with us; no way in hell am I taking a chance of losing her again!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Willow said, gently squeezing Buffy's hand. "To answer your question, though… Zaragos didn't take all my magic. He tried, but I was able to hold onto the last, tiny spark in me… thanks to you." Buffy blinked.

"Thanks to me?" she repeated, not understanding. Willow smiled shyly.

"Because of our bond," she said quietly. "You lent me the strength to hold on."

"I did?" Buffy asked, confused. "I don't remember anything like that. Not that I wouldn't have! 'Cause you know, you're my best friend and all, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, it's just…" Willow fought the urge to laugh at Buffy's sudden rambling.

"I don't think it was a conscious thing," she said, smiling. "You just… reached out to me, when I needed you the most." She lowered her head, suddenly finding it difficult to look at Buffy. The Slayer swallowed.

"And now?"

"My magic is beginning to replenish itself, but slowly. It'll be a few minutes before I have the power to try anything like teleporting us home."

"Can you?" Buffy asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm not sure. This place seems to dampen my magic somehow."

"Sounds like you need a serious mojo boost," Dawn quipped.

"Think I've got just the thing for that," Buffy replied. Tentatively reaching for the scabbard hidden under the back of her shirt, she pulled out the Slayer's Scythe.

"You had that thing the whole time?!" Dawn gaped.

"I was saving it for a special occasion," Buffy replied. "Looks like this is it." She carefully handed it to Willow.

"You pulled some serious power from the scythe before Will, think you can do it again?"

"It kinda did it before," Willow said hesitantly, "but I can try. I'll still need a few minutes to prepare."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Dawn asked. Willow shook her head.

"Not really, unless you want to help me meditate. Not real exciting, I know, but I could use the help focusing…" Without a word, Buffy and Dawn sat cross-legged on the ground on either side of Willow.

"Count us in," Dawn said with a grin.

Zaragos arrived at the fortress home of Buffy and her allies amid a towering geyser of fire and brimstone. The slayers on guard duty reacted instantly, a credit to Buffy's rigorous training. It did them little good, however. Laughing evilly, Zaragos shrugged off their attacked and dispatched them both with crushing blows of his huge flaming mace.

"Is this the best the vaunted Slayer can throw at me?" he mocked them. Flames began to gather in his outstretched hand.

Deep in the command center, alarms – electronic and mystic – sounded shrilly as the fortress shook violently.

"Red alert!" Renee shouted. "We're under attack!!"

"Give me a visual!" Xander barked. The view screen cleared to show a visual of Xaragos' massive form as he continued to lay waste to everything around him.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Zaragos…" Giles breathed. Xander blinked.

"You didn't tell me he was a giant!" he shouted. Giles swallowed.

"He wasn't… before."

"What?"

"He's changed somehow… become far more powerful."

"How's that possible?" Xander asked. Giles paled.

"Willow," he whispered.

"Will would never help that monster, and you know it!"

"I'm not suggesting she did, but Xander… he had the most powerful practitioner of magic in this world at his mercy. Heaven only knows what he may have done to her." The fortress shook again, a roar of thunder echoing in the distance.

"He's gonna bring the whole place down around us!" Xander shouted. "We've gotta stop him!"

"We must find his phylactery!" Giles shouted back. "It's the only way!"

"I'm open to suggestions, G-Man!" Giles winced at hearing Xander's nickname for him again.

"I found a spell in one of my books that may help us, but I'll need time to cast it!" Xander nodded.

"We'll just have to distract him long enough for you to do that!"

"Xander, you can't possibly hope to…!"

"Wasn't planning on it," Xander replied with a smile. "You find the weak spot, and the ladies and I'll keep big ugly busy until Buffy can take care of him."

"Xander, we have no way of knowing what may have happened to them! They may not be coming back at all!" Xander grinned again.

"Sure they are… has Buffy ever let us down?"

"Ready Will?" Buffy asked, squeezing her best friend's hand. Willow drew in a shaky breath.

"This may not work," she said hesitantly.

"I have faith in you," Buffy said, smiling

"Me too, Will," Dawn added. "We know you can do it." Willow felt herself blush.

"Sure, no pressure…" she quipped.

"Just do what you do best," Buffy said gently, "and we'll get to the bad guy busting." Willow smiled.

"I'll try," she answered. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Buffy and Dawn did the same. Willow wrapped both her hands around the scythe, while Buffy and Dawn rested theirs on her shoulders. Then she began to chant softly. As she did so, the scythe started to glow.

Back at the fortress, Zaragos' attacks continued. Despite their best efforts, the other slayers could not even slow him down.

"You are all beneath me!" Zaragos howled. "None of you are even worth my effort!" Raising his huge, gauntleted hand, Zaragos brought his mace crashing down on the ground in front of him with shattering force. Huge cracks splintered along the stone floor of the courtyard. Tongues of flame spat up from the sundered ground. Then, from out the flames, crawled creatures spawned in a nightmare: gaunt and skeletal, with razor sharp talons, and horns protruding from their foreheads. Their bodies flickered with flame, but none of them seemed to notice or care. They simply snarled, saliva dripping from their fang-like teeth, and leapt towards their prey.

"Demons!" Satsu screamed. Then the creatures were upon them. Slayers quickly began to fall, one by one, to the ravenous horde.

"Giles, whatever you're gonna do, do it fast!" Xander called out. The former Watcher nodded quickly.

"Just a few more moments!" he shouted back.

"We may not have them! Do it now!" Giles grimaced at Xander's impatience, but he knew the younger man was right. The situation was dire. Straightening his glasses, he began to red aloud from the book he held in his hands.

"Open your eyes, to the dark, show us where lurks evil's heart!" Reaching into his pocket, Giles pulled out a handful of white powder and scattered it in the air. The remnants of the powder glittered a pale blue as they vanished from sight. At the same moment, across the courtyard, something around Xaragos' neck glowed a pale blue in return. Giles blinked in surprise.

"It can't be… he's wearing it?!"

"What?" Xander shouted back.

"Zaragos' phylactery… he's wearing it around his neck!"

"I guess that saves us having to look for it! Now all we need is…" He was cut off by a brilliant, blinding flash of silver-white light. For a moment, it seemed as though all action in the courtyard had stopped. Then the flash was gone, and all was again as it had been… with one important exception: Buffy, Willow & Dawn were back.

"Wha… Buffy, Willow?!" Xander gasped.

"Miss us?" Buffy quipped.

"Are you okay? What happened?!"

"It's a long story," Buffy responded, "and now is definitely not story time. We've got work to do!" She turned to her sister.

"Dawnie, get yourself and Willow to someplace safe. She needs time to recover."

"What's wrong with her?" Xander asked worriedly, noticing the way Willow was leaning heavily on her best friend.

"Getting us back here drained her," Buffy replied. "No thanks to Zaragos."

"So Giles was right. All that power big bad and ugly is throwing around…"

"He stole from Willow," Buffy finished, nodding her head grimly. "She barely survived." Buffy didn't elaborate, but the pained expression on her face spoke volumes. Swallowing, she turned her attention back to her sister.

"Get going, Dawnie," Buffy told her. "Things are going to get ugly around here."

"I won't leave you," Willow interrupted, her voice weak. "I promised."

"I know," Buffy replied softly, "but I almost lost you once, Will. I'd die if I lost you again. Please, Will… do this for me." Willow opened her mouth to argue, but somehow she knew this was a battle she couldn't win.

"All right," she conceded. "I'll go… this time. You know where I'll be if you need me… and Buffy?"

"Yes?"

"Come back to me alive." Buffy put her arms around Willow and hugged her gently.

"I promise," she whispered. Willow nodded, fighting back tears. The two parted, and Dawn slipped her arm around Willow to support her. The two sisters shared a brief, silent look, and Dawn nodded.

"I will," she replied, silently mouthing the words. Then she led Willow away. Buffy watched them go, and then turned back to Xander and Giles.

"Um… did something happen between you two?" Xander asked, noticing the way his two best friends were acting together.

"Later," Buffy growled. She wasn't even sure what was happening between Willow & herself, no way was she going to try and explain it to Xander. When this was all over, she and Willow definitely needed to talk.

"Giles, how do we put this guy down?" she asked instead. "The short version," she amended, seeing the look on his face.

"To destroy Zaragos, you must destroy the vessel containing his soul," Giles said. "Whatever it is, he appears to be wearing it around his neck."

"So how do I destroy it?" Buffy asked quickly. She could hear the sounds of battle growing closer.

"I'm afraid that's the problem," Giles said, running a hand through his thinning hair. "It cannot be destroyed by any physical means. It is only vulnerable to magic."

"Great," Buffy muttered. "Too bad our big gun is out of the fight. Think you can work something out with the rest of the mystics here?"

"I can try," Giles replied. "Understand though, Buffy – the phylactery is a product of the darkest of the magics. It may take magic nearly as powerful to undo it."

"We'll find a way. After what he did to Willow, no way is he walking away from this!"

Zaragos thundered across the courtyard, destroying everything around him. Fires raged everywhere, and the sounds of battle filled the air as the slayers fought for their lives against his army of demons.

"Nothing can stop me!" Zaragos roared in triumph. "Soon the Slayer and all her allies will fall, and this world will be mine!!"

"Wanna bet?" Buffy interrupted.

"YOU! What does it take to kill you, girl?!"

"I'm like a bad penny," the Slayer quipped. "I always turn up." She held up the Slayer's Scythe.

"Now, you gonna be a nice bad guy and let me take you apart, or is this gonna get rough?"

"You cannot stop me now! Your power is nothing to me!" Looking up, Buffy beheld the source of the evil being's power for the first time. It appeared to be a chain of bone around his neck, a grinning skull dangling at the end of it. The skull emblem appeared to be made of solid gold that shone in the sunlight.

That's it? Buffy thought to herself. You'd think he needed something bigger to hold his whole soul. Oh well… I just hope Giles can get the mystics to do their thing!

Swinging the scythe, Buffy leapt at Zaragos. The armored giant unleashed a blast of flame from one of his gauntleted hands, but Buffy rolled under it and slashed at his knees. It carved deep into his armor, but the attack didn't seem to slow Xaragos down at all. He raised his armored boot and tries to crush Buffy under his heel. Buffy dove out of the way just in time, and raised the scythe to strike again. She never got the chance. Two of the horned demons grabbed her suddenly from behind, wrapping their arms around her in a fierce grip. Buffy hurled one off her before it could bite her, but before she could free herself from the grip of the other, she was struck by a searing blast of magic that hurled her clear across the courtyard. She crashed hard into a stack of wooden crates, sending shards of wood flying everywhere.

"Ow…" Buffy groaned miserably. She knew her Slayer strength had kept her alive, but it didn't keep her from hurting in a dozen different places. Slowly, carefully, she picked herself up and dusted herself off. She winced when she tried to take a step forward, a sharp pain shooting up her left side.

Great… probably broke my ribs. Just what I need right now. C'mon, Slayer healing! Zaragos towered over her again.

"Not so defiant now, are we Slayer?" he taunted Buffy. He raised his flaming mace. Realizing she was weaponless, Buffy frantically began to look for her scythe. Zaragos didn't give her the time; he swung his mace as if to crush her with it. Summoning all her strength, Buffy leapt completely over the weapon as it flew towards her, and then lashed out with a flying kick to the armored chest of its owner. The impact did little to harm however, at least to its intended target. Buffy's foot, however, wasnot so fortunate. She dropped to the ground, clutching it. Without warning, a storm of razor-sharp wooden shards rained down on her, slashing her skin and clothes, some cutting deep. Buffy cried out in pain.

"How does that feel, Slayer? Would you like some more?" A freezing wind began to lash at Buffy, chilling her to the bone. Then the frigid wind began to fling hailstones at her, pelting her over and over with hard, sharp little bits of ice. Buffy fell to her knees… and a crackling bolt of lightning slammed into her, lifting her off her feet and flinging her back to the ground with bone-crushing force.

"I can't hear you, Slayer," Zaragos growled, advancing on her again. "Where is your pathetic wit? Your endless, pedantic chatter?"

"Called… on account of… pain…" Buffy managed from where she lay, gritting her teeth.

"Then perhaps you deserve more." An invisible hand suddenly snatched Buffy into the air, and then slammed her back to the ground, hard. She tried to fight her way to her feet, but again she was again pulled into the air and slammed down to the ground. Then for a third time. Buffy's vision began to blur, and she could taste blood in her mouth. The relentless hand lifted her into the air again…

"Buffy!!" Willow cried out. Dawn looked at her in alarm. They had been on their way to the relative safety of the inside of the fortress when Willow suddenly pulled up short.

"What is it?!"

"It's Buffy… she's in trouble!"

"Huh? How do you know…?" She stopped in mid-sentence. "You can feel it, can't you?" Willow nodded.

"She's a part of me. I can't explain it… but I love her." Dawn blinked.

"Well, she's your best friend. Of course you love her."

"Dawnie… this thing Buffy & I are feeling together? I think it's more than that." Dawn opened her mouth to say something, only to close it again when she saw the look in Willow's eyes.

"You really mean that?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Willow said solemnly.

"And Buffy?"

"I… don't know. We haven't exactly had the chance to talk about it yet; but if I don't go to her now, we may not get that chance!"

"Wait, what? Willow, you can barely stand!"

"Buffy saved my life! I'm alive only because of her!" Willow shouted back. "I just found her, Dawnie, I can't lose her now!!" Pulling herself free from Dawn before the younger Summers could argue again, Willow called upon what magic she still had and vanished in a flash of light.