Chapter Twenty Three: Battles Then and Now
It had taken most of the day for all of the witches to gather at the secret location in the woods a few miles from the town. They had quietly arrived in the area over the past few weeks. They had generally avoided going into the town in order to avoid notice by Goa'uld agents, including the Witchfinders.
By the time the ceremony was due to start there might have been several hundred witches present. There were also groups of armed men scattered in defensive positions in locations for miles around the central meeting point in order to provide a security cordon. At this stage in their history the Kallistians did not have firearms but some of them had captured Goa'uld weapons. The others had bows, swords and spears.
Daniel had said nothing, in line with the wish not to affect events but he wondered if the witches knew about the Goa'uld teleport technology, assuming it actually existed at this stage in their history. Although the numbers involved were very impressive it was surely impossible to keep such a large gathering a secret.
The sisters plus Faith and Daniel had arrived early along with Glory who still appeared to be a friendly, but powerful, local witch. She had vouched for them and gained them the status of observers despite queries from some of the other Kallistien witches as to why they were not lending their support to the action being taken against the Goa'uld.
Shortly after dusk all of the witches gathered in a great circle in a clearing. The ceremony was timed to coincide with the rising of a particular star group which was seen as the appropriate time for success. Faith and Daniel helped Prue and Piper climb into a large tree overlooking the ceremony so that they could see exactly what was happening. Paige simply orbed herself up into the branches.
"Everybody better make sure nobody can see us up here," said Daniel to the others. "Hide amongst the foliage."
"Why?" asked Faith. "They know we're up here."
"Yes they do but there might be some uninvited guests turning up," said Daniel. "There are so many people about I don't see this meeting staying a secret for long."
Finally everything seemed to be ready and everybody fell silent. Seven women, all presumably witches and including Glory, now walked into the circle. They were all wearing formal robes of white or grey. One of them carried a bowl and another held a sword upright. The bowl was placed onto a tripod that was already in the centre of the circle and the witch with the sword drove it into the ground alongside the bowl.
The seven witches now stood in a rough semicircle facing the bowl and sword and began to chant. As the chant continued all of the witches in the surrounding circle joined in.
"The Key is in the bowl," said Prue. "They're doing a spell to activate and empower it. The idea is to harness the mystic energy of the Key against the Goa'uld."
"So what exactly is the Key then?" Paige asked Prue. Prue had spent some time talking to Glory and the other senior witches before the ceremony. "What does it look like?"
"They wouldn't let me see it," said Prue. "I don't know what it looks like, just that it's an ancient mystic artefact."
"And it fits inside a bowl," said Piper sarcastically.
"And the sword?" asked Daniel.
"I don't know," said Prue. "Nobody said anything about a sword."
"So what do they do when they've empowered the Key?" asked Faith. "And did you find out if it's the same Key as...you know."
"Something I should know?" asked Daniel. The four women had talked about the Key before but they had been mysterious about it. From what he could gather they knew about another Key or the same Key but had fobbed him off when he had tried to find out more about what they knew.
"Not really," replied Prue. "It doesn't make any difference anyway."
"This wouldn't be the 'Key to Open Worlds' would it?" asked Daniel reluctant to be brushed off again. "It got a brief mention in one of the books I found in the witches' library."
"It might be I suppose," said Prue suddenly interested. "What did the book say?"
"It was mainly about closing and opening up travel to other worlds," said Daniel.
"Did the book say if it had been used against the Goa'uld?" asked Piper.
"No it didn't," said Daniel. "It was in a list of ancient Tau'ri artefacts. Next to the name it just said whereabouts unknown. It also said it had not been seen for many centuries. I found it difficult to take a lot of that stuff seriously." Daniel recalled to himself a number of other artefacts on the list: The Chalice of Eternal Youth, the bucket that never stayed empty, the tooth of the giant Slobomir. This was the sort of stuff you'd find in the Brothers Grimm or Hans Anderson stories.
"I wondered if it could be used to stop the Goa'uld coming to Kallistien," continued Daniel. "Perhaps a way to close the world to the Goa'uld, to lock them out so to speak, although it seemed to have more relevance to travel between different dimensions than to space travel."
"They may not be as different as you think," said Prue. "Faith came here through a magic portal and we came to the same place through a Stargate."
"Yes," said Paige. "Back on that Replicator world Colonel O'Neill or somebody said we could get home by spaceship. It seems we've got three ways of getting to the same place."
"But can they all be blocked off?" asked Piper.
"It seems they can if what the witches are doing kept the Goa'uld from coming back for many centuries," said Daniel. "But why did the protection run out?"
"Maybe something happened to change the Key," suggested Faith looking at Prue. Prue looked back thoughtfully but said nothing.
The chanting abruptly stopped and Glory walked forward. She pulled the sword out of the ground and carefully placed its tip on the edge of the bowl. The contents of the bowl began to glow with a pure green light. The glow grew and spread to the blade of the sword. Now the witches restarted their chanting but at a much faster tempo.
An explosion sounded from behind where the group were watching and then another from the opposite side of the clearing. Suddenly there were Jaffa arriving from all directions, firing their weapons and running into the circle. Witches began to fall and the chanting faltered then stopped.
"No!" screamed Glory who had not stopped her intense concentration on the sword and Key. "You must carry on! You can't stop now!"
Some of the witches took up the chant again but it was impossible. Some of the armed defenders were now contending with the attacking Jaffa and some witches were using magic against the Jaffa but witches were being killed and others began to flee.
By now Glory was surrounded by the green glow that came from the bowl and the sword. This attracted the attention of a number of the Goa'uld who now directed their fire at her and at the bowl.
At first nothing seemed to happen, Glory appeared to be unaffected by the fire. However more Jaffa continued to arrive and in default of other targets they added their fire to the weapons firing at Glory and the bowl.
The watchers in the tree held themselves motionless in the tree, largely concealed from sight by the leaves and the dark. None of them were used to simply being spectators and it came hard to have to watch people being killed and being able to do nothing about it. They had discussed this at great length once again before the start of the ceremony and they all resisted the urge to jump out of the tree and take part in the fight.
Prue was carefully watching Faith, well she was watching all of the others but Faith most of all since she thought Faith was the most likely to get involved but Faith continued to just watch. Suddenly Prue's attention was directed back to the scene in the clearing.
The fire of the Jaffa now at last seemed to have an affect, a dramatic affect as the green glow seemed to literally explode outwards from Glory and engulf all of the surrounding area.
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"It's all in there," said Eve putting a large ancient book on the table in the middle of the room. "All you ever wanted to know about what really happened in ancient Kallistien."
"And you're just giving it to us free," said Wesley sceptically. "No strings attached. That's just like Wolfram and Hart, I don't think."
As he spoke Wesley recalled what Eve had said about Lilah soon after she joined them: "She wants to feed you false information." Maybe that's what this is, he thought. There will be a lot of truth in that book in order to disguise a few vital lies. The question is do I read it or is it safer to ignore it altogether. Even as he thought that Wesley knew he would have to read the book. Anything else was unthinkable. It was as if this whole scenario had been designed by somebody who knew him very well, which it probably had been he conceded.
Eve had refused to talk any further to Wesley and the others until they had all left the premises of the local Wolfram and Hart branch. "Somebody or something will be hearing or recording anything we say here," she explained. "We can't talk freely in a Wolfram and Hart building."
They had returned to the hotel where everybody was staying and she had brought the old book with her. Once there Eve insisted that Cordelia make magic wards to prevent anybody from watching or listening to them.
"OK, that's done," said Cordelia after finishing the wards. "Even scientific bugging devices won't work now. Now perhaps you'll tell us what this is all about." Either she's genuine thought Cordelia or this was all playacting because if she's still working for Wolfram and Hart nothing she tells us will be a secret to them.
"Can't somebody with stronger magic get round what you've done?" asked Kennedy.
"Yes they can," said Cordelia. "But if they do I'll know about it."
Eve now explained that she was still on their side and had simply gone to the local Wolfram and Hart office to find out what she could about how the Kallistians had gotten rid of the Goa'uld in ancient times. "Wolfram and Hart go back a long way in one form or another," said Eve. "We've, that's to say they've, got records back on Earth that you won't find anywhere else. The sort of records ancient historians would kill for. I thought it might be the same here and it is."
"And they let you just walk in and help yourself?" asked Cordelia, still at least as sceptical as Wesley. Wolfram and Hart are very definitely up to something here she thought, with or without Eve's cooperation.
"Why not?" asked Eve. "I'm still in good standing with them. As far as Lilah is concerned I'm still working for her. That's why I don't want her to hear anything that might make her think differently."
"And how do we know you're not still working for Lilah?" asked Wesley. "And why didn't you tell me what you were doing?"
"You people really are amateurs," said Eve. "I don't know how you've survived this far. You don't seem to be aware that the Goa'uld, Wolfram and Hart and who knows who else have agents in this city watching and listening. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the first private conversation you've had since coming here. Never tell anybody something unless they need to know it and never tell them until they need to know it. Basic operating procedure."
Wesley glanced at Cordelia who said nothing. Both had the same thought. They were both glad that Eve had not been included in any of the planning that had been done as far as the attack on Marduk was concerned. They were also aware of the fact that unknown to her Eve was quite wrong about the lack of precautions taken to prevent evesdropping as far as the most important meetings were concerned.
Eve shrugged. "Anyway the book's there," she said. "Take it or leave it."
Wesley decided to open the book and made to pick it up but was forestalled by Gwen who grabbed his arm. "Wait a minute," she said. "It might be booby trapped. I've heard stories about things like that."
"Like what?" asked Kennedy looking at the book suspiciously. "You think it might blow up or something?"
Gwen shrugged. "Who knows," she said. "But everything I've ever heard about Wolfram and Hart says you never get anything free."
"Let me try something," said Cordelia who extended her wand until it touched the book.
Abruptly the book turned black, then dark blue and finally bright red before returning to the way it had been. Meanwhile Cordelia's wand had begun buzzing as if alive with electricity or another sort of power. The wand abruptly grew very hot and Cordelia threw it across the room where it continued to buzz and crackle.
Now the air around the fallen wand began to waver, as if from a heat source although no heat was apparent. As they watched, the exiles from Earth saw the air around the wand condense into a dark shape which gradually became more distinct eventually becoming recognisable as a human figure.
"Well, hello gang," said Lilah Morgan. "Pleased to see me?"
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"You're sure they're not real?" asked Jack as he led the way along one of the corridors of the immense Goa'uld ship. "They haven't created another plague of the things by mistake?" More Replicators is one thing we can do without he thought.
Buffy stepped forward alongside Jack and waved her hand. It went right through the two Replicators that were climbing the wall of the corridor next to them. The Replicators were completely insubstantial although they looked and sounded exactly like the real thing.
"See," said Buffy. "Just pretend little monsters. They're the best sort. No blood or gore to get out of your clothes and hair."
"And no bodies to bury later," said Xander, "before anybody falls over them."
Jack nodded and glanced briefly back at Xander. You never could tell when these people were being serious he thought but he decided not to comment further. Talk's all very well, but let's see how they do when it comes to a real fight he said to himself. "There should be an elevator around here," he said, leading Buffy and Xander deeper into the spaceship.
Jack, Buffy and Xander formed one of the teams that had been infiltrated into the depths of Marduk's space HQ, taking advantage of the disruption caused by the apparent attack of the Replicators. Both Jack and Xander were disguised as Jaffa and Buffy was back in the technician's uniform she had obtained on her last visit to the spaceship.
Buffy and Xander followed Jack around the bend of the corridor to where there should be the door to an elevator but there was nothing there, only a blank wall. A few feet away was a stairwell leading up and down. A stairwell that looked decidedly odd aboard a spaceship and should not be there.
"This might be what Teal'c was talking about, " said Jack. "Some of those magic tricks." As he spoke he looked from the map in his hand, which said there was an elevator at their present location, to the blank wall in front of him and back again.
According to what Teal'c had found out from the captured Jaffa, with the help of the Sunnydale people, the defences of the spaceship had been improved by the witches. The witches working for Marduk had carried out spells to conceal the most important travel routes through the ship with a view to diverting any attackers into prearranged killing grounds. This had included changes to the guidance maps of the ship found at the intersections of the main corridors.
Teal's knew intimately the way a Goa'uld spaceship was actually laid out. He had provided maps and a briefing for everybody involved in the attack to allow them to find their way around and avoid the illusions and traps.
Buffy closed her eyes. Willow had told her that a first level illusion would not affect the sense of touch. She might therefore be able to feel the controls to the elevator. Yes, there they were. Buffy pressed the button and the three companions heard the familiar sound of an elevator door opening. But the elevator itself was still invisible and there still appeared to be a blank wall in front of them.
Buffy felt ahead of her and then stepped forward into the elevator. To Jack and Xander it looked like she walked through a solid wall. Hands out in front of them they followed her into the elevator.
Buffy pressed the appropriate button and the elevator began to ascend. It had to go up ten levels to reach the Control Center which was their target but the team would get out two levels before this to avoid the reception committee that might be waiting at the elevator exit on the top level. They intended to take a different route to travel the final two levels to their objective.
But the elevator didn't get as far as the level of the Control Center. Three and a half levels above the starting point it suddenly stopped. Everybody looked at one another.
"There's a hatch up there," said Buffy pointing to the ceiling. "How about we try that?"
"It'll be a bit awkward getting us all up there," said Jack. But if I boost Xander up he began thinking...
Buffy's suddenly leapt upwards and punched out the hatch cover in the ceiling of the elevator. As she did so she caught hold of the side of the hatch with her other hand and stopped herself from coming back down again. Now using both hands she quickly pulled herself through the hatch and onto the roof of the elevator. It was an impressive gymnastic display.
"Well are you coming or do you want to stay where you are?" called Buffy from above as she looked down into the elevator. She knelt down and put down her hand to help Xander up.
But at that moment the elevator jerked back into motion. The jerk caught Buffy off balance and she fell through the hatch and was caught by Xander who put her back on her feet.
"Maybe the hatch wasn't such a good idea after all," said Jack as the elevator continued upwards. "I suggest we stick to the original plan for the time being."
However things were still not going according to plan because the elevator went straight past its programmed stopping point and continued on towards the top level. Buffy briefly looked back up to the still open hatch. She could jump right up through there but neither Jack nor Xander would have time to climb through before they...
The elevator reached the top floor and the door opened. There in front of them was the expected reception committee. An armed Jaffa reception committee. All weapons were pointed into the elevator and as soon as it opened they all fired.