To The Death - XXVII
'Yeah it's holding me, morphing me,
And forcing me to strive,
To be endlessly cold within,
And dreaming I'm alive'
- Hysteria By Muse
It was surely the savagery of the fray that would be foremost in Willow's mind for the remainder of her days. The humans swept in a wave of tight-pressed bodies towards their target, an alien bloodlust present in their eyes and murderous intent clear on their faces. Those who had never so much as raised a hand in anger before smirked in enjoyment as their fingers found purchase at the throats of their enemy and their shoddy weapons were granted purpose.
The demons were undeniably stronger but their passion for the fight paled in comparison to the humans they had held captive for so many months. Vengeance was rife in the air and Willow shuddered as she watched a girl of no more than fifteen repeatedly crushing a rock against the skull of a demon who had long since breathed it's last. However, the girl continued relentlessly in her quest to shatter the creature's cranial bone until the green mass of it's brain poked out of the hole she had created. Her face was smattered with droplets of luminous blood but the girl barely seemed to notice her macabre war paint as she moved away from her victim in search of the next.
Willow swept her gaze around the area, searching for the weaker members of the charge who she knew may need her assistance. She spotted May in the distance, grappling with a vampire who seemed to be gaining the upper hand with his teeth dangerously close to the woman's jugular. Willow had barely begun to call forth a fireball in her palm to instantly inflame the demon when May produced a shaft of wood from behind her back and delivered it squarely into the vampire's heart. With her head held high and her makeshift stake gripped tightly in one hand, May stalked through the cloud of resulting ash.
The witch turned her attentions elsewhere. A small smile broke out across her face as she watched Grey's hulking form disappear over the horizon, shepherding eight children towards the now attainable safety of the borderline. Willow murmured a few words of prayer to the Mother Goddess before returning to the battle at hand.
x-x-x
Faith traded blows with the Torak-Khan without barely breaking a sweat. She seemed to remember these guys being a whole lot tougher the last time she had encountered them but she chalked her sudden success up to little more than experience, and wasted no time in severing the creature's head with her axe.
The adrenaline that pumped through her veins succeeded for the time being in masking the pain from her various acquired wounds and Faith was firing on all cylinders. She danced elegantly away from her enemy's blows and delivered her own with shocking precision. The blade of her axe whistled as it whipped around her body, slicing demonic limbs and ending half-lives. The smug smirk never once wavered from Faith's face. Until above her head, the sky began to open.
Faith lowered her weapon and stumbled back several paces as the clouds overhead divided to reveal a flickering gateway. Faith's mouth fell open and she noted that those in her peripheral vision had also frozen in order to stare at the sight before them.
"What the fu…" Faith began as an object suddenly tumbled at high velocity from the open gate and connected with her body. Faith's legs collapsed beneath her and despite her sudden breathlessness she began pummelling the weight that crushed her in an attempt to dislodge it. Faith paused momentarily as the thing let out a familiar groan.
"B?" Faith exclaimed, her confusion evident as she squirmed around in order to catch a better glimpse of her assailant.
"Faith?" Buffy countered. The Slayers rolled apart and leapt to their feet in perfect synchronicity. Whilst Faith simply stared at her friend in silent amazement, Buffy's head whipped around in every direction as though she was searching desperately for something that escaped her. Her eyes roved across the battlefield but she seemed to barely recognise the obscurity of the scene before her.
"Duck…" Faith yelled as a Polgara demon jabbed a protruding spike in the direction of Buffy's head. Buffy dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way before kicking her leg out to trip the demon. The Polgara tumbled to the ground and in an instant Buffy had mounted it and snapped it's neck. Faith stared after her in shock as Buffy pushed her way through the throng of bodies, not even pausing to slay the monsters at her fingertips.
"B?" Faith yelled, her expression indignant as she continued to watch Buffy move further towards the centre of the battle, remaining inactive. Faith's attention was suddenly diverted by the distinct sound of hissing at her right elbow. She turned just in time to see the twelve foot Cobra strike.
x-x-x
Willow drew her arm back into a pitcher's pose and flung the fireball at the snake-demon without a second's pause. The creature hissed and writhed as it's body exploded into flames and Faith was able to slice it in half with her axe. The two burning pieces of the Cobra's body dropped to the tarmac and were still. Faith turned in order to shoot Willow a grateful look but, before words could be exchanged between the two, a sudden rumbling from the sky drew their attention.
The gateway from which Buffy had emerged appeared to be growing larger and the centre began to swirl rapidly in the manner of a vortex. Willow dropped to the ground as a vampire sailed past her head, narrowly missing striking her. With her palms pressed to the floor, the witch gazed around her to see that the remainder of the humans had adopted a similar pose to hers whilst the bodies of hundreds of demons and monsters glided overhead. The enraged snarls and shrieks were muffled somewhat by the gale the vortex created but their fury was palpable nonetheless.
Willow watched in awe as the demons were sucked through the gateway one by one, their cries dying on the wind behind them. The gale picked up gravity and soon every demonic body, dead or alive, was hurtling towards the gate's open maw. As the final demonic carcass was sucked through the void, the gateway dissipated into nothing and the sky grew clear.
For several minutes there was silence. Humans stumbled to their feet, bleary eyed as though doubting the truth behind all they had born witness to over the last few months of their unfortunate lives. They exchanged trepid glances with each other but remained silent, seemingly lost for words in the wake of such carnage. Then, suddenly, a smattering of applause erupted from somewhere in the crowd and was quickly taken up in an infectious wave. Willow found herself smiling and joining in with the guttural cries of triumph that whipped up around them. The battle was over and, to a degree, victory had been secured.
"B?" Faith demanded, her expression sombre as she pushed her way through the throng of embracing people in order to reach Willow's side. "She dropped right through that gate thing before the demons got sucked up."
Willow narrowed her eyes in confusion before turning on her heel in order to survey the crowd for the missing Slayer. The people parted for Willow with grateful smiles, some even reaching out to caress her shoulder and touch her face as though she were suddenly revered for her part in helping them break free. Willow's cheeks grew hot and she blushed, but for the meantime she pushed her embarrassment aside as she searched the crowd for her friend.
She turned back to Faith momentarily as a group of familiar voices claimed her attention once more from the task at hand. Spike and the four potentials drew up to the crowd, slowing from a break neck run as they seemed to realise that the necessity for their presence had long passed. Faith rolled her eyes and slapped her palm to her head in a pantomime of despair. The potentials coloured a little and lowered the weapons they had been awkwardly clutching to their sides. Hayley bit her lip and glanced at the ground, whilst the others shifted their weight uncomfortably or attempted to appear nonplussed by their spectacular fail. Only the blonde vampire in the centre of their midst seemed truly unperturbed by their atrocious timing.
"So, uhm, did we miss anything good then?" Spike inquired jovially. Willow turned away in disgust.
Finally her gaze fell upon a lithe blonde figure in the distance that she knew so well. Willow's mouth dropped open in astonishment.
x-x-x
Buffy was the first to clamber to her feet once the portal had closed and she wasted no time in picking her way across the bodies underfoot that hampered her progress. She searched every face she passed but the gesture was hopelessly futile and Buffy found her anger welling within her. She reached up to the silver cross she wore suspended from her neck, the one Angel had entrusted to her upon their first meeting, and furiously ripped it from her throat. Buffy grunted as she hurled the offending piece of jewellery far into the distance and attempted to ignore the faint pang of remorse the gesture warranted. That part of her life was over now.
As she continued to move through the crowd of survivors, a sudden instinct drew her towards the immediate left. Buffy turned and her breath escaped her in an instant.
Angel stood bathed in the moonlight, his expression confused and somewhat pained. His hand was pressed to the back of his head and his eyes were narrowed as though he had yet to determine the sheer reason for his being. After a moment of Buffy's eyes upon him, Angel sensed the attention and glanced up towards the Slayer. Slowly, his lips curved upwards into an inviting smile and Buffy found herself running full pelt into the arms of her lover.
She collapsed sobbing against Angel's chest, unconcerned by the looks they were receiving from Willow and the others. Allowing her tears to cascade freely down her cheeks, Buffy wrapped her arms around Angel's waist and drew herself onto her toes in order to place her ear against his breastbone. She closed her eyes as she became entranced by the musical rhythm of his heart beat.