Xander and the Black Dagger 7 Author: Tohonomike Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters but also the Lawrence Watt-Evans characters from his Ethshar books aren't mine either and any real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. None are mine.

Two years had passed in Ethshar, and happily Captain Tikri had become the new Minister of Investigation, and Sarai had become his wife and the mother of two children already. The family members had come together so well, that the boy, 13 months, was named Rupert Kalthon, and the daughter Jana Teneria. There were now many jokes that they now had to have enough children to use everyone's names, but Sarai jokingly insisted that that only counted for family as of the time of betrothal—no way was she going to become a baby 'factory.'

Two years in which Jana had pushed hard to where she leveled off as a 5th-year witch apprentice, but no further, though she was at the sixth year of seven toward completing her Wizard's training. And seemed to have a very good knack for coming up with devices to handle magic or magical devices to handle the mundane, a nod to her 'techno-pagan' roots it seemed. And the improved looms and, aptly-named 'spinning jenny' were currently trade secrets they were poised to take advantage of in coming months as the various materials for different textiles became available. They'd allowed the completion and delivery of the tapestries only four months ago, ahead of schedule, and the influx of lucre made their 'treasurer' Tabaea, very happy.

Though why she insisted that something called a cabbage machine was important eluded all including Xander. And what did that have to do with computers?

May 19th, 1998 – Sunnydale, Crawford Street Mansion

The last couple of months had been stalemates; the taunting threats of Angelus had led to a tighter group patrolling and reducing the numbers of Aurelius minions, but no success in eliminating the threat of Angelus and his core cadre of evil. Now, unfortunately, the threat of Acathla meant that one side or another would have to give. And with Kendra showing up with declarations of 'dark portents' and 'returning allies' it was all one big confusing mess.

"The Sunnydale Tapestry…is done…" Jana told the others who'd gathered at her magical chiming, "The two other tapestries are ready for dyeing."

Alexander stepped up to the tapestry. "Have you tried it yet?"

"No, I'm almost afraid to," she admitted. It showed the book stacks from the viewpoint of the end of the table, at night, with normal lighting. "So I waited for you. If it works, I though you might want to make a trip of it, so I brought the flying carpet and travel luggage down here to the main room."

"Upstairs unblocked? We might need it if we run into Angelus or some other nasty."

"No, but only the lamp needs moving out of the picture. I thought I'd wait until we wanted to try."

Alexander looked to his wife and the others. She smiled back.

"I want to see this world you come from, Alexander. We'll leave the children here for now, but I'm going with the two of you."

"Fair enough, Sarai, and since Jana says we're ready, I have an idea. It took me a while, and I've made a guess as to the time. Jana, it should be mid-May of 98 now. Maybe the 19th and probably evening. I think."

Jana was very impressed at his calculations, "Wow, that's good, Alexander."

"Well you told me when you left and when I left, so it wasn't too hard. And I'm thinking we might try this out, by tossing a note through. Something like, get out of the way of the picture for the next ten minutes if the Tapestry still works. Because I do plan on coming back."

"That's good thinking," Sarai considered, and perhaps we should take an undyed tapestry with us just in case; that way we could make another one."

Jana considered, "Would our magic work there?"

"Well, didn't some of your rituals work here?"

"You're right, though much easier here. Maybe if we cast a sealing spell around the materials we need, so magic doesn't seep away?"

Tobas stepped forward, with a small wave to the carpet, "As there's room for four, I'd like to get a better look at the place I thought was an odd dream that night. And you might need another mage with fire spells from what you've told me about vampires."

"Okay, let's get it together and go," Xander nodded, excited about seeing his old home and friends for a while. And Dead Boy needed some payback.

SHS Library

Willow is sitting cross-legged on the table with an Orb of Thesulah within a sacred circle and surrounded by candles, bones and stones. Willow casts some stones. She looks at them and then gives Giles a nod.

The weary-looking man opens a book and begins reading, in Latin..

"What is lost, return…"

Oz spreads incense into the air while the two Slayers guard the front doors, Willow continuing the ritual.

"Not dead nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum I call..."

Several things happen at this point, adding to the confusion of what was to come. First from out of nowhere, a large magic carpet with four people and some materials between them, transitioned into the building just before eight vampires pour into view from the book stacks, heading for Oz. Only one makes it as Buffy leaps past into the group, sword and stake flying.

The vampire charging Oz takes a swing at the young man, only to be knocked to the floor as the carpet essentially runs him over as it passes Willow sitting on the table. Giles and Willow don't stop, and Oz tries to continue with the incense while stomping on the head and key joints of the grounded vampire.

The main doors fly open, and Kendra spins back around to defend the group as six more vampires walk in, others still in the hall.

"Get down!" Xander shouts as he and Jenny flank Kendra and fling fire through the center of the vamps and out the door, causing screams inside and out as the doors blast to the sides. Two vampires try to roll forward and out of the way, only to find themselves being kicked around by an angry Jamaican Slayer. Three more dodged to the side, singed but able to get up as Angelus could be seen ordering more minions into the building.

Buffy, dusting two and keeping another at bay, is surprised to see the four other vamps ignore her and leap into the main room. Xander spots this from across the room. Mentally ordering the carpet to remain where it is, he rolls off and lands cat-like to his feet, drawing the black dagger and yelling in Ethsharitic.

"Jana! Take charge and hold the doors! I'll take care of the rest!"

Spell-casting continues at the front doors, careful not to hurt the Slayer, as Xander stabs a large vampire lunging toward Giles. Striking the beast in the heart, he twists the weapon, which bonded with part of a soul, and in water blessed by theurgists devoted to gods of life and the sun…immediately and spectacularly explodes the vamp into dust, but as it IS the black dagger, all of the vampire's inherent speed and strength passes to the wielder.

Xander felt a surge of power not familiar since the months of fighting when first arriving in the Small Kingdoms. He still had the benefits of previous fights and killings using the knife, against the bandits and raiders, against minor magic users before he'd really become comfortable as a mage instead of a fighter, and using it on animals for their enhanced abilities before they were made meat or something else.

Xander pushed his speed as he ran around Giles picking up a crossbow bolt lying on the table as he did. Behind him, Sarai fired one of his experimental matchlocks into an approaching vamp, the bullet and small pellets tearing and burning through the screaming and dusting vamp's chest, the lump of lead making a nasty squishy noise as it went into the left chest of the one coming up behind him. Jana and Tobas continued using fire spells as they kept vamps out and toasted the few scooting in to an extent that Kendra held her own.

Tobas realizes that the vampires look ready to charge and break, and mentions this to Jana. She turns to him.

"Can you take control of the rug and get us outside?"

"Charge them?"

"Yeah."

"Here goes!"

The carpet charges, the occupants readying magic as they close on nearly eight vampires visible through the door, Kendra following in their wake…

Oz elbows a vampire dodging the Slayer's stake; it's enough that Xander backhands his black dagger into the bloodsucker's heart, as he hurls his stake with vampire-plus strength into the throat and through the spinal column of another charging the table. Both dust as Alexander looks to see the remainder of the Scourge of Europe and a total of ten vampires within the back of the library, Buffy still holding off three minions.

Willow and Giles reach the end of the spell as Angelus charges forward, Drusilla with him, to prevent the curse from happening. Only Xander, and Oz behind him with incense in one hand and a crossbow bolt in the other, stand in the way. Spike smirked and ordered the minions to take out the slayer as he watched the fight below and looked out the door to see the magic users victorious but seemingly out of power to cast.

'We'll deal with them in a moment…I wonder if magic makes the blood taste better…'

Outside, the vampires fled from the last of the fire spells, a pistol shot and a ferocious Slayer with a very pointy stake. Of the dozen charged seconds ago, only three made it into the night…

Angelus recognized the boy, and sneered as he redirected at him, 'this just gets sweeter.' Xander had only one spell left, and as he saw Buffy—who'd made it back to the mezzanine and out of view of the Tapestry in Ethshar—leap up in a big somersault carrying her to the floor, he cast the spell into the midst of the confused minions. Xander allowed himself to fall back as Angelus tried to simply charge over him…

The soul curse took effect, Willow collapsing in exhaustion and Giles catching her as Angel's eyes flashed. Buffy landed on the ground and crescent-kicked Spike in the back, taking the menace by surprise. Drusilla froze between the change in her 'daddy' and the Slayer threat in the rear.

Oz hurled the incense at Drusilla, catching her on the back of the head, as Xander's black dagger pushed upwards from just under Angel's ribcage, through three ribs as it drew the master vampire's energy into itself. Angel screamed from the pain of knife and blessing as he and Xander crashed hard to the floor. Xander gasped for breath as Angel pulled himself off the knife and away to avoid more agonizing damage…weak as a new riser now that he was from the trauma, the black dagger and the return of the soul.

Spike's face hit the floor, as six minions on fire raced in the direction of the main doors. Oz stood in front of Giles as the Watcher tried to carry Willow to the office, and bolt in front of the young man, a vampire impaled himself as he flashed out of existence. Oz fell back but in desperation jabbed at a second vamp, dusting it as Oz's head became entangled in Giles' legs, bringing the three humans down into a painful knot.

Before losing consciousness, Oz saw the flash of the Jamaican Slayer flying over him. She in mid-air piston-pushed herself to a halt using the burning faces of two vampires. As they crashed back and stymied the others, she barely landed, and rolled back up and onto her feet to confront them.

Drusilla turned to see only a screaming 'Daddy who's not Daddy' rolling away from a human boy on the floor, and she lunged in foaming rage at the insult to her family. Xander as he got up, knew he might not survive the next moment, and settled for bracing his arms dagger-forward as the claws came for him.

Buffy quickly leapt on the back of William the Bloody, and now-stakeless, pounded the vampire's face into the floor hard, twice, then with both hands on his head, somersaulted over him toward the man that looked like Xander, twisting the vamp's neck as she did. The vampire screamed in pain, and as she grabbed a (Xander's) stake on the floor, rolled back to stab it hard into the back of the vampire known as Spike.

Xander felt the claws start to pierce his right abdomen and scrape his let face as the dagger pierced the heart of Drusilla the Mad and dusted her into history as her paramour met its similar fate at the hands of the senior slayer.

Kendra whirled through the flaming minions (soon to be the name of a new cocktail at Caritas…), ending their threat to Mr. Giles and his magic protégé Willow Rosenberg, as Angel began to remember the last few months. Xander in pain rolled over and got to his knees as the other minions in the room fled at the complete obliteration of their numbers in so short a time.

Buffy looked up as a lost-seeming Angel met her eyes and began mouthing 'Buffy?' as Xander's dagger sliced deep into his chest, just missing the heart. Giles called out to the young man.

"Xander! He has his soul back!" as the young man leaned on the weapon, putting his weight on it. The young man passed out from pain and from the shock of his wounds a moment before, as the knife reached the heart, ending the vampire, and sending the soul, not quite settled fully enough to be drawn through the dagger, onward to the next life.