Gift of a Family Ch 12. A Butt Ugly Piece of Jewelry.

Thank you Sulien! You are so wonderful to be my beta reader!

Jack clenched his teeth as he watched his daughter hug his best friend. It was such a simple thing. There were cultures in the universe where a hug was the standard greeting, how you concluded a transaction and how you said goodbye. Yet, he had never experienced this warm expression with his daughter. He wasn't ready for the pang of jealousy and loss he was suddenly feeling. It was the feeling of being alone in a crowded room or locked outside of a warm house in the freezing cold. He couldn't help but wonder about all of the hugs he had missed out on in her life.

Jack was lost in thought when Buffy threw her tiny arms around him and embraced him in a surprisingly strong hug. Just when he felt that she was about to break away, Jack wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. The chance to hold his daughter for the first time was something he wanted to cherish and remember.

Stop dwelling on the past and live for now, Jack thought to himself and knew that he needed to tell her that he was her father.

Buffy pulled away far too soon for his liking.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized, "I'm just so relieved that Daniel found what we were looking for. I'm gettin' the wiggins like the final countdown has already started, and party's over it's out of time."

Jack discretely wiped the traces of tears from his eyes and smiled down at Buffy. "I'm just glad to have been included."

Buffy cocked her head to the side, watching him. His attempt to discretely wipe away tears from his eyes was not lost on her and she wondered if he was the most emotional person she had ever met, or if he just had allergies. At length, she smiled at him and looked away pretending she hadn't noticed. He was probably imagining that she was his daughter, and she felt a little emotionally confused herself. At first, when she had hugged Daniel, it was simply in the joy of the moment, but it had quickly changed and feelings she didn't want to admit to were starting to flutter around in her stomach. So she did the only thing she could do, she hugged Jack. Now his hug was completely different, but no less confusing. It was a fatherly hug that felt safe and warm, it was something she wished could be a part of her life again. So now she felt jealous, and a little angry, while being happy that she could at least feel it one more time.

Giles cleared his throat loudly from the conference line. "Buffy, now that the celebratory hugging is out of the way, perhaps you can introduce these new friends of yours and we can get back to the issue at hand."

Buffy smirked at the phone. "Ok, the Mr-Proper-Brittish-Sounding-Guy is my Watcher Rupert Giles."

"The British Museum curator?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Er. Yes, I was before I became Buffy's watcher." Giles answered.

"Giles, the man you were just talkin' to is Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Also known as the Pyramid Nut. Daniel couldn't help thinking to himself.

"Yes, Dr. Jackson. I am aware of your theories, and I would like to apologize for not giving them due consideration. Your theories are remarkably...unique."

Daniel blinked in surprise. It wasn't a complete retraction from the 'Pyramid Nut' he had been decrying earlier, but it was not only more than his other colleagues had done, it was a certainly a few steps in the right direction.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Don't forget to introduce me Buffy," Willow hesitantly spoke up.

Buffy shook her head at the re-emergence of shy Willow. "I could never forget you, Wills. Guys, that is one of my best friends, Willow Rosenberg. That just leaves Captain Jack."

"Er...Buffy, Jack isn't a General or a Captain, he is a Colonel."

"Why does it keep changing?" Buffy asked frustrated.

"It, ah, doesn't, but you just keep getting it wrong. Actually, the different branches of the military all have..."

"Daniel!" Jack interrupted not wanting Daniel to list the ranks of all the different branches of the military.

"Right, sorry. He is Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"With two L's." Jack intoned.

"Right, the other O'Neil spells his name with one L and has no sense of humor according to Jack."

"Alright folks, lets get this show on the road. Daniel, tell us what you've got." Jack commanded.

Together they listened as Daniel read what he had found. The ritual itself was described just as Buffy had dreamt it.

"So how are we supposed to stop this Dragon guy if he is so strong and he has an entire army of vampires to command? I'm thinking we need some serious cavalry." Jack stated hopeing that someone would back him up and help change his daughters mind that they needed some reinforcements.

"Yes," Giles stated. "I would think so myself. Fortunately, as with most other religions I could name, the Dragon's followers have been involved in a long holy war with another group of vampires. The Dragon's numbers have been decimated in recent years."

"Ya' gotta love it when vampires do my work for me." Buffy stated.

"Quite." Giles agreed with her. "There shouldn't be more than about 30 left I should imagine. They will all be good fighters, though. Not your typical minions."

"Couldn't they just have bit themselves some new, um..?" Jack asked, waving a hand about as he searched for the word he was looking for.

"Minions." Willow provided helpfully.

"The Dragon has always been very choosy about who he will allow into his fold." Giles informed them.

"I believe that is because he has a limited number of medallions." Daniel stated.

"Medallions?" Willow asked.

"Ultimately, the Dragon gives his chosen followers an amulet. It's a yellow gem on a chain," Daniel said as he held up the book to show Buffy the illustration.

"Now that is a butt ugly piece of Jewelry," Buffy couldn't help commenting.

"What is the purpose of this amulet?" Giles asked.

"That is where things get a little darker. Apparently, the point of the Horcoth ritual is to bring the Dragon's followers back to life with the arrival of a...loosely translated, it says 'beast of fire and steel.'"

"Hellbeast," Buffy stated.

Daniel nodded and continued, " Every vampire who was in possession of the amulet at the time of his death will be restored to the ranks of the un-dead while the Hellbeast rains fire upon the Earth. Then, as long as the vampires wear the amulets and the Hellbeast lives, they will return to life from dust no matter how many times or how they are killed."

"Good lord," Giles stated in horror. Buffy could almost hear him starting to clean his glasses again.

"So if this gets out of hand, we just kill the Hellbeastie and they will be normal vampires again?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, but once the process of regeneration starts, nothing will stop it. Even if the Hellbeast is dead, the first group of vampires will regenerate," Daniel stated, looking at the text.

"The first group?" Giles asked.

"It takes about an hour for the vampires to regenerate and only about a hundred vampires can come back to life at the same time. Each hour that the Hellbeast lives will see another 100 newly risen vampires until his entire army is restored."

"Was there anything in there I should know about how to kill the Hellbeastie?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, the book says it can only be killed with one of the Seven Swords of Wayland, charged with the powers of light and darkness."

"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed. "Is that all? I'll just run out to the corner market and ask for Excalibur, shall I?"

"Excalibur?" Daniel asked, his eyes lighting excitedly.

"All the swords of Wayland are powerful mystical swords, and only their chosen warrior can truly wield them. There is Excalibur, the sword of the element of air. It was given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. Then there is also Flamberge ..."

"Charlemagne's sword." Daniel exclaimed.

"Exactly which is the element of Fire. Next is Albion. That sword belongs to Herne the Hunter's son, or Robin Hood as he is commonly known and was blessed with the powers of the forest. The next two swords were removed from our dimension. They are Narsil which is the light of the Earth and Suiguu the water monkey, their rightful owners do not exist in this dimension."

"That leaves two other swords."

"They are the swords Shuhadaku Sa Shi Shurpu and Shuhadaku Sa Ninti Ma Sa Mitu. These swords have been lost in the shrouds of time. They are twin swords that are bound to one another. Each sword has both the powers of Heaven, Hell life and death as well as the key to access the power of these realms. There is a legend that they will be found by a warrior of the light and delivered to their rightful owners when the time is right."

"So we can't kill the beastie, so I just take out all the vamps before they can perform the ritual and poof! No nasty vamps to chant and burn incense, so there is no ritual and no Hellbeast to slay. We're rollin' in kittens." Buffy paused at this point wondering where that saying came from and trying to push away the memory of Spike playing poker for kittens. I wonder if the first person who came up with that saying played kitten poker? She thought to herself.

Shaking her head Buffy continued. "There's only one more thing I need to know, and that is where all of this is taking place. I've checked all the usual locations, and I've even beat up Willy the snitch a few times, but I still have nothing."

"The ritual takes place over the Seal of Danzathar. That is all I have on where," Daniel stated.

"Well, Willow and I will start researching the remaining swords of Wayland. We will call if we find anything." Giles stated and ended the call.

"Er..." Daniel stated just as Giles disconnected. He hadn't finished his briefing yet. Why didn't anybody ever stay to the end? The same thing happened at his dissertation, and at meetings at the SGC all of the time.

Buffy started walking out of the office. "Buffy, there is one more thing. This Prophecy says that this ritual will only work once every hundred years."

"Don't tell me it's tonight," Buffy stated, feeling a sense of dread.

"It's tonight," Daniel confirmed.

"I told you not to tell me that!" Buffy cried out.

I referenced this web page when coming up for the names of the swords. http://www.ping.de/sites/systemcoder/necro/info/sumerian.htm

I won't translate their meanings just yet because it would be a little obvious who will end up owning them. I will translate them when I post the chapter in which they are given to their "hero of choice."

I do not own any of the movies, tv shows or books that are mixed up in the 7 Swords of Wayland I created. I know that these are not the same 7 Swords that were in the Robin of Sherwood series but I like this better.

I do not own Lord of the Rings, (and yes I know that Narsil was not forged in Earth and sent to Middle Earth but I wanted Narsil to be one of them so I changed it.) I do not own the story of King Arthur, I do not own the Robin of Sherwood series (I love that series!) nor do I own The Twelve Kingdoms. (Also love it but it is very different.)

I hope you liked the newest chapter; please review, faster, faster. LOL Sorry it's late and I am on a sugar high.