CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

Say hello to my little friend!

It took Buffy, Riley and the other Potentials several hours, but they finally arrived at the castle. They kept to the woods and were able to get into a position about 200 meters from the castle gate. That's where they now found themselves—keeping an eye on the castle and trying to figure out what they were going to do next.

When they first arrived, Buffy saw the gate open. Her first instinct was to go storming in with guns a blazing, but Riley quickly managed to convince her to be patient and see how the situation developed as they had no idea how many demons they would be facing. Using his experience, he explained that with it getting later, the guards would start to become more tired and sloppy—giving them a chance to get closer or go in and take a look.

Buffy reluctantly agreed with Riley and tried to sit and wait patiently while they watched the castle gate. Riley was still hesitant about going in and he was silently hoping that the guards wouldn't get sloppy before sunrise. He wanted to rescue Faith and the others, but getting yourself killed in the process wouldn't help anyone. Once sunrise started, he knew that they would have no choice, but to turn around and go back. Riley hoped that if he was given more time that he could get Washington on side or if they wouldn't come over to his point of view, then maybe he could call in a few favors and get some Army Rangers or Delta Force operators to go on another "training exercise". But until then they were here—watching and waiting. The main obstacle to his plans was going to be Buffy's impatience.

Even with the situation being what it was, a part of Riley had to admit it was a bit of a rush being here—looking at storming an actual castle. This wasn't something that was taught or covered in any of the training he'd taken, but then he looked over at Buffy, trying to stay calm and patient, and thought maybe the feeling he was having was due to being with her and going into battle again.

Riley's mind started wandering to what they used to do after fighting vampires and demons—those had been hot and steamy encounters.

Easy there boy … You're a happily married man now, plus your wife and your ex-girlfriend could both hurt you badly, Riley thought trying to push the memories of him and Buffy back down. He couldn't afford to be distracted by old memories at this time.

They continued to wait…

Time seemed to drag as a couple more hours passed and the group waited. Riley was used to long stakeouts, so he was able to keep a—mostly—focused mind on watching the castle gate and guards. He started to notice that movement around the castle and on the walls had slowed down to almost nothing … it was quiet. The only obstacle appeared to be the two guards at the gate across the drawbridge and they were starting to look tired and were sitting down. From their posture, Riley figured it was only a matter of time before they were asleep.

His conflicted feelings came back to the forefront as he realized that Buffy would see this as their opportunity to move.

oOoOo

Lord Prince Paymon was still in a foul mood when wakened by the Captain of his personal guard. The Lord Prince's foul mood stemmed from having his entertainment with the female leader ruined. He contemplated that if the female didn't recover that as compensation he would use the other two females tomorrow to entertain himself. He knew that those two would be easily broken and provide him with "some" entertainment, but he had so hoped and savored for the female leader, she was—special.

As Paymon stretched himself awake, his Captain informed him that the tower lookout had observed movement in the woods outside the gate. This caught the Lord Prince by unaccustomed surprise—no one had the strength or courage to try and attack him in nearly 200 years. As he considered the situation, he quickly came to the realization that these new intruders must be related to these females he'd captured. Somehow word had gotten back to their people and this was a rescue party or that these females had been part of a larger group and had been tracked to here.

Either way it didn't matter who these intruders were. They were a threat to his castle and his authority and if they were indeed humans, then they were an affront to himself as the notion that humans would stand against him made him angrier.

Paymon hadn't become leader of this realm and maintained his control for so long by being stupid and careless. He'd always been a clever, devious and ruthless ruler. He'd had a chance to inspect the weapons the females had been carrying when captured. At first he'd hadn't been impressed with them—until he pulled the trigger—killing one of his unfortunate household servants with a burst of fire. He had planned to ask the female leader more about these weapons while he "entertained" himself as he saw the potential of having more weapons like this.

He was impressed with the killing potential of these weapons, especially at far distances. If these intruders were with the females, then they would probably be carrying the same type of weapons. He realized that to go running out the front gate to chase them down wouldn't work against these weapons. He and his troops would be at a disadvantage in open battle, this required more thought on a strategy to eliminate or reduce their advantage. This would require some finesse—this would require a way to lure this other group into a trap.

Paymon sneered as he came up with a way to lure the others in. He remembered how sentimental humans could be about protecting each other, especially females when they were in danger. He gave his orders to his Captain, "Do not sound the alarm … Go quickly and quietly to wake my warriors. Make sure they make no noise. Get them in position along the courtyard and on the walls. Ensure that all our archers are on the wall … We will draw the intruders into the castle courtyard, we need them to come close as they are probably carrying the same weapons as those females."

"My Lord … What about the guards at the gate? Should we warn and reinforce them?" the Captain asked.

He sneered at the suggestion, "No … They are expendable. If I know those guards, they will probably be if not already are asleep. The intruders will see the guards asleep and the gates opened … that will present them with the opportunity to come in. We just need to give them the motivation to come in …"

Paymon saw his Captain's puzzled look and continued explaining, "Bring the female prisoners out and place them on the sacrificial platform … They will see their females so close they will not be able to resist coming to their rescue. Instruct the archers to hold their fire as the intruders cross the drawbridge. Remind them that under pain of death, they are not to open fire until the last of their numbers are crossing. Then open fire … Once we get them in the courtyard we will rain arrows on them until we cut them down or they surrender."

The Lord Prince paused as he considered all the possibilities. He wanted a contingency in case there were problems or the intruders proved more troublesome, "… If these intruders don't surrender quickly, have the high priests ready to perform the ritual sacrifice. They will cut the prisoners' throats and drain their blood as an offering and appeasement." He was disappointed at the potential of losing his entertainment before he had a chance to "play" with them, but the prospect of offering human blood as a sacrifice would be a tolerable consolation.

Paymon waved his Captain off to go quickly and quietly carry out his orders and ensure that his plans were put in place and they were prepared to receive these new "guests".

oOoOo

Buffy was watching the front gate more closely now alongside Riley. She'd noticed the guards beginning to slack off and the rest of the castle had gone dark except for a couple of areas and there had been no movement and it was dead quiet. She looked at the guards and she realized it wouldn't be too long before they were asleep.

Riley and Buffy discussed what they would do as they watched the guards. The group was to be split into three sections—the first part of the plan would be to take out the guards quietly by two people—Buffy and Riley. If no alarm was given and it appeared clear, then one section of potentials would come across and secure and hold the gate. If there were no problems or indications of being spotted, the second group would then cross and enter the castle courtyard. This group would move quietly from building to building to locate Faith and her team. Once they did, everyone would exit back to the gate passing through the first team holding the gate. Once everyone was back in the tree line, they would make their way back to the clearing and open the portal and return to Sunnydale.

And pigs have wings and fly and I'm a billionaire, Riley thought as he went over the plan he'd discussed with Buffy and the other potentials.

He knew that this was a weak—a very weak plan—but it was the only one he could come up with in the time and the resources he had. They had no intel on how many demons they would be facing and no idea where Faith and her team were being held. He tried to talk Buffy out of this course of action, but she was adamant that she wasn't leaving without Faith and the others. She smiled reassuring him that everything would be fine—they had surprise on their side and they had guns against swords. Riley still had a deep sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach as this was against all his training and experience, but he wasn't going to run out and abandon Buffy at this time.

Buffy and Riley saw that the guards hadn't moved for a few minutes, they appeared to have finally fallen asleep. They checked once more with the rest of the group to make sure that they were all in position and understood what their roles were.

Riley knew that the first part of the plan was the biggest hurdle. If they didn't take out the guards and secure the gate or the alarm was raised, the drawbridge would get raised or the gate closed and secured—meaning that they would be screwed along with Faith and her team.

Riley knew that even though it appeared that these demons had nothing in the way of firearms, they could sit behind their castle walls and fire arrows at them all day and there would be nothing that they could do.

Riley blew lightly into his headset to get everyone's attention. Once he knew that everyone was listening, he whispered, "Okay … you all know the plan. We stay nice and quiet. Buffy and I take out the guards. Once we are at the gate, we signal and team one comes fast and secures the gate. Once the gate is secured … team two moves fast and passes through to the courtyard."

Riley looked at Buffy and then at each of the potentials. Other than Buffy he had never fought with any of these people before. They were all young girls—women, he had to remind himself that they had been trained and had been in combat, but this was a different situation.

"Okay we go in 30 seconds … Stick to the plan, stay quiet and keep together … Ready?" he said.

Riley saw the affirmative nods. He turned and looked towards the East.

Damn! It's going to be dawn soon, he thought.

This had taken too long. His bad feeling grew.

This is going to get ugly.

Riley pushed his doubts down and focused on what he needed to do. He drew his combat knife and looked at Buffy. She drew her knife and they started moving quietly towards the drawbridge and gate. Riley's training and combat experience and Buffy's Slayer training and experience allowed them both to stay quiet while they moved quickly. They reached the edge of the drawbridge and slowed their movements as they crept across the drawbridge. They each moved towards a sleeping guard and got their first close look at these demons.

Damn they're ugly, Riley thought as he moved into position and nodded to Buffy. They both made quick work of the guards and made sure that neither guard woke up ever again.

Riley and Buffy moved to the open gate and took position looking around for any indication that they had been spotted. He opened a com channel whispering, "Team one … Go!"

So far so good, he thought as he watched the first team sprint towards the drawbridge and gate.

As team one hit the drawbridge, their running feet echoed on the drawbridge. Riley winced as they crossed.

Too much noise, he thought.

Team one had made it to the gate entrance and there was still no indication that they had been spotted. Riley, Buffy and team one moved further into the gate area, they were now looking at the inside of the castle and the courtyard. It was still dark in the courtyard and along the walls. It was quiet—it was what Riley wanted, but he was still getting a bad feeling about the situation.

Buffy was looking around the courtyard—she blinked as her eyes focused on a raised platform at the far end of the courtyard. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. On the platform chained to posts were Faith, Kylie and Stacy.

Buffy couldn't see them clearly, but even from this distance it was evident that Faith was in bad shape. Riley saw the same thing—they had a stroke of luck as they'd located their targets and they were across the courtyard from them. Just a quick sprint, free the women and sprint out again, but Riley was still worried about the whole situation—it wasn't sitting right with him.

It was too late to back out, even if they could Buffy wouldn't leave—not now. Riley keyed his headset, "Come on team two … Hurry up!" he whispered.

Riley moved back to the gate to watch team two's approach as they sprinted towards the drawbridge. They were halfway across when he heard the swoosh and thud sound of an arrow hitting one of the Potentials dropping her in her tracks so quickly that she didn't even have a chance to cry out or scream. This was quickly followed by another arrow hitting another Potential.

"WE"RE BLOWN!" yelled Riley and he stepped out to fire a burst at the top of the walls to cover the rest of team two.

The early dawn was greeted with the echo of gunfire and the sound of arrows...

As soon as the first Potential was hit, Riley knew that they were all screwed. It was obvious that the demons had been waiting for them and setup this trap to draw them in. He felt stupid for getting sucked in like this, but he had to push those thoughts down and focus on staying alive and getting out of this trap.

Buffy, Riley, team one and the survivors of team two huddled in the gate entrance as arrows rained down on their position. They had cover and were able to fire back at the walls. They weren't in any immediate danger from getting hit, but they couldn't go forward or go backward without taking heavy causalities and the sun was coming up.

oOoOo

Faith was drifting in and out of consciousness. She was barely aware of what was happening around her, it seemed as if she was in a dream. A part of her brain was still functioning normally, but it was like as if it was like a commentator and reporting what was happening to her in a third person viewpoint. She knew that she'd been beaten badly by the guards when she stopped them from trying to rape Stacy. She recalled guards rushing in and dragging her and the others down the dungeon corridor and up steep stairs. She remembered the feeling of fresh air hitting her face and for a moment she became a little more conscious and alert, but her head was throbbing and she was having trouble focusing and seeing out one eye. She could barely walk in her condition and was being roughly dragged by her chains. She could feel Kylie occasionally trying to help support her up to stay on her feet. Faith had a glimpse of Stacy, she saw the look on the Potential's face. She was trying hard to stay brave, but the fear was obvious in her eyes.

The three women were taken outside into the dark courtyard. They were roughly pushed or dragged up the steps of a platform. As they were lead across the platform, they could see the blood stains on the platform floor. The guards quickly and roughly chained the women to the posts on the platform.

Faith's hands and arms hurt from the chains as they were supporting her weight as she sagged. That pain was minor compared to the pain in her head as she continued to fade in and out. The part of her brain that was still functioning told her to snap out of it—she needed to find a way out, but the other greater part of her brain acted as if this was all a dream. She could taste blood and her vision was blurry. She knew she was hurt bad, she wanted to sleep and end this bad dream, she wanted to go back to that dream where the sky was blue and that lake seemed to go on forever—it was so peaceful and comforting. The rational part of her brain was trying to scream at her to stay here, but it was starting to fade. It wouldn't be much longer, she'd seen so much in her short time. She hoped that whatever happened that she would see Michael in the next life or whatever came next. She wished that she could have seen him one more time.

Kylie and Stacy were both quiet and trying to stay calm. They were lost in their own fears and it took all their focus to not lose it. Kylie wanted to try and face whatever happened with some bravery and dignity. Their quiet contemplation was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of arrows and then gunfire. Hope flared for a moment as they realized that the gunfire indicated that a rescue was being mounted. The hope quickly died as they saw that their would-be rescuers were now trapped themselves.

Faith could barely lift her head registering the gunfire. Her mind was losing focus and starting to drift. She was still wishing really hard. She was wishing for a miracle…

oOoOo

The forest was making its normal noises. The sun was starting to rise. The animals were just getting ready to wake up or go to sleep. The wind was blowing a gentle breeze. Suddenly the animals woke up or looked up startled…

The air twisted and turned growing blacker than the night with streaks of lightning. The animals fled in terror as if a predator was coming…

A portal was opening up between two dimensions and as the animals had sensed—a great predator was coming…

The portal opened and Michael ran out of it not even breaking stride. He was on a mission and nothing was going to stop him—not in this dimension or any other.

"Adriana … Scan and set a NAV point for the castle … Quickest route."

"NAV point set." Adriana replied almost sounding happy.

She was getting a little concerned over how fast Michael was pushing his speed

"Are you sure you can keep this pace up?"

"No problem … Everything is five by five."

She spoke up again to voice her worry, "There is a chance that you could damage the suit and injure yourself … You are currently at maximum suit speed design specifications. Prolonged use—"

Michael cut her off, "We have miles to go … and I have a promise to keep." he replied as he tore through the forest at an unimaginable speed.

oOoOo

Adriana hated to distract Michael during his sprint, but she needed to update him, "Michael … I have finished analyzing these 'improvements' that have been made to your battle armor …"

She continued, "It appears that your computer storage capacity has been increased by a factor of ten, shield strength is up 35%, your armor lock systems have been improved to engage 3 times longer with 40% stronger output and your shield regeneration is now 44% faster."

"That'll be handy." was all that Michael muttered as he maintained his main concentration on his run towards the NAV point on his helmet display.

"That's not all ..." Adriana said with amazement in her voice. "your Forerunner friend has also increased the range of your sensor scanners out to 750 meters and made then 75% more efficient … Your suit neural interface has been modified and improved that your reflexes are now 22% faster than what they use to be!"

Michael was approaching a cliff edge. He could see the castle far off in the distance.

"You may want to take a detour, that cliff has at least a 150 meter drop." Adriana said worriedly.

"No detours …" he replied not even slowing down as he leapt off the cliff.

oOoOo

Buffy was pissed off and swearing to herself. They were so close to Faith and the other two potentials and a bunch of demons with arrows had them trapped. Buffy looked to Riley for anything that he could do.

Riley had heard Buffy swear as she'd accidentally keyed her headset mic open. He was thinking those same words about the situation they were in. He had been analyzing their situation and it sucked six ways from Sunday.

"Buffy, we can't hold out here forever. We can go forward or back. Either way we are going to lose people." he said looking at her grimly.

Buffy heard him and the thought of losing more people tore at her, but if they fled, then they would lose most certainly lose Faith and her team along with any others and she hated that thought just as much.

"We go forward!" she said with determination meeting Riley's grim look with one of her own.

Riley actually smiled when Buffy gave her answer. He didn't expect anything less from her.

"Forward it is then." he said.

Riley took control and quickly reorganized the survivors. He would take a small group of Potentials and head to the right and try to use cover to get to the platform. Buffy would take another small group and go to the left to do the same thing. The reminder of the group—including all the wounded—would stay in the gate entrance and provide cover fire.

Riley sighed as his plan all looked good on paper, but he realized it was at least 50 meters to cover—a long 50 meters. People were going to die and that was a fact.

"On my mark." Riley said.

Riley smiled as Buffy winked at him.

"Go!" he shouted.

The support group opened up with all their weapons—to give cover and draw fire for a few precious seconds to give the two groups a chance.

Riley and Buffy each lead their groups as they sprinted out from the gate area and moved forward towards their objectives and further cover.

oOoOo

Paymon watched from one of his castle towers. He had a spectacular view of the battle. He was mildly amused and not impressed by these humans. They had been easily lead into his trap and were now stuck at his mercy. Their breakout attempt caught him and his men momentarily by surprise, but all of his warriors were hardened veterans and quickly recovered redirecting their arrow barrage at the groups trying to make their way to the prisoners on the sacrificial platform.

He had a sense of satisfaction as he saw several of the humans get cut down by his archers. His excitement grew as he saw that these were females as well. He hoped that they would capture some more of them—that would give him more opportunities for entertaining himself. As he saw the groups advance, he realized that there was a small chance—a very small chance—that the humans or at least some of them could escape from his trap using their strange weapons. To rescue the prisoners and escape, that would take a miracle.

oOoOo

Riley made it to cover with only one of the Potentials in his group, the other two Potentials were lying in the courtyard bleeding out from arrow hits. He didn't know if they were alive or dead as he ducked as an arrow barely missed his head. These demons knew how to fight and they had him pinned.

Buffy found herself pinned down in much the same way as Riley was, except she had only lost one Potential. She now had a clear view and could see Faith and the other women on the platform.

Damn! We're so close.

oOoOo

Faith could hear the battle, the courtyard echoed with the roaring of gunfire—yelling and screams. Her head throbbed with the pain and noise. A part of her wished she could yell out to everyone to be quiet. She heard Kylie and Stacy screaming out for rescue. Faith didn't care about rescue—she had only one wish.

Lord Prince Paymon was tiring of these humans resisting against him. He was getting bored and felt that this battle had gone on long enough. He wanted this to end, before any more of those female were killed or too badly wounded for him to enjoy. He raised his hand and his archers ceased firing—it took a few minutes and the human weapons stopped firing as they sensed that something was happening.

He looked down at the courtyard and the humans there with complete contempt. His voice roared out over the courtyard—echoing off the castle walls, "Humans! You have failed! Surrender now or we will kill the prisoners!"

All the human would end up dying in the end anyway, after he and his warriors had their fun with them. He didn't care if he lied to them—they were only humans—weak creatures beneath contempt.

He had already planned to pick out the women that "interested" him the most and the rest would go to his warriors. When they had all finished with their "entertainment" then every last human would be sacrificed.

Lord Prince Paymon smiled with pleasure at the thought of it all…

oOoOo

Michael timed it right as he activated his armor-lock just before hitting the ground from his jump off the cliff. He landed with a loud crashing thud in a crouched kneeling position. His shields crackled with energy and the ground cracked and shuddered from his landing. He didn't hesitate or wait as he was up and running again—leaving a large crater impression in the ground where he'd landed.

He was getting closer to the castle. His audio sensors were starting to pick up the sounds of battle.

Michael found himself running faster…

oOoOo

Buffy was even more pissed off now. They had failed to rescue Faith and now they were now even more trapped. She heard the demon leader yell out its terms. She hated the thought of giving up. She had never given up—except that one moment and she swore she'd never give up again. She looked around again at her situation and it was bleak—what could she do? Buffy called Riley on her headset, "I'm sorry Riley … I wish … I wish …" she said finding herself at a loss for words as memories and feelings came flooding back.

"Buffy don't worry. It wasn't your fault … We got dealt a bad hand." Riley replied picking up on the tone on her voice. He felt a surge of conflicted feelings and emotions start to rise, but he pushed them down. He would need to focus in this endgame.

"I really don't want to surrender." Buffy said leaving the consequences unsaid.

"I'm with you." was all that Riley said.

Buffy snorted and smirked as she realized what she'd decided on sank in. She looked around once more at the Potentials with her and at the platform where Faith and the other women were. She didn't show any fear or regret in voice—only determination when she yelled out, "Hey Butt face! You know what you can do with your surrender … BITE ME!"

oOoOo

Paymon heard the human's response and was a little surprised at the tone from the female. He hoped that one survived.

"So be it!" he yelled back.

He waved his hand again and his archers resumed firing. He turned and made another signal with his hand. A group of demon priests came out of the building next to the sacrificial platform. They made their way to the steps and up on to the platform. The head priest drew a long blade and approached his victims…

Faith could see through her blurred vision the demons coming up the platform towards them. She saw one of the priests draw an evil sharp looking blade. She tried to focus as the demon moved closer towards one of her team members.

oOoOo

"Michael, we are 750 meters from the castle." Adriana reported.

He could see his motion sensors start to pick up targets. The threat analysis computer start coding all the hostile targets and the friendlies.

Adriana reported in an urgent tone, "We are on the wrong side of the castle, we have to go around to access the gate!"

"I don't need a gate." was all Michael said as he pulled the fully loaded M19 rocket launcher from his back, without breaking stride, and brought it up in one smooth motion aiming at the castle wall.

For the first time in all the years they'd been together, Adriana found herself almost speechless.

All she could say was, "Oh…"

oOoOo

The demon prince was watching everything unfolding. He smiled feeling happy, it was all going as planned. Things were as they should be. He heard a strange sound in the distance he'd never heard before.

Faith saw the blade getting closer to the throat of the woman—someone that she was responsible for. Her head throbbed and she was wishing for the darkness to come and take her. She resigned herself to what was going to happen. She didn't care anymore what happened to her. She only wished that…

oOoOo

Michael had the rocket launcher up aimed at the castle wall, while still running. He used his targeting computer to pick the best point to breach the walls. The aiming reticule locked on.

He didn't hesitate as he fired both rockets in quick succession. He dropped the rocket launcher and sprinted even faster for the breach point.

Adriana's voice cried out in alarm and surprise, "Michael! Warning … You will get caught in the back blast and explosion from the rockets!"

"We're about to see how good these new shields really are." he replied in a matter of fact tone.

oOoOo

Buffy saw the demons on the platform approaching Faith and her team. She saw the flash of the knife blade and could only look on helplessly as the demon got closer to one of the woman. She got a sickening feeling in her stomach as she knew what was going to happen. She just didn't have a clear shot to take. It was bad. It was—

Two huge explosions ripped through the castle wall. Everyone in the castle stopped and stared as they were in shock and surprised by these turn of events. There was dust, smoke and debris filling the air. No one could see what was going on and no one knew what was happening.

Buffy was coughing trying to clear the smoke and dust from her eyes. She could see that everything was starting to settle. She looked towards the wall where the explosion had occurred. She saw the breach in the castle wall as the smoke and dust was still heavy there and was slowly settling. She thought she saw someone standing in the breach. She could start to make out a form standing there and it was becoming clearer. Her eyes widened in shock as her mind couldn't believe what she was seeing…

oOoOo

Lord Prince Paymon saw his castle wall explode. He was as shocked as everyone else in the castle. He had never seen anything like that in his entire existence, nothing had ever taken down his castle walls. The humans couldn't have had anything with them that could do that to his fortress.

He looked towards the breach and he saw a form in the dust and smoke. It was man shaped, but larger than any man he had ever seen. As the dust cleared the form was clearer, it was someone wearing armor and a helmet, but it was armor of the likes he had never seen before. The helmet covered the whole head of the being and you could not see its face. The face was just a single large gold eye.

The creature appeared to be glowing. It had a crest on the left side of its chest. Paymon could make it out as it was such a strange crest. It was a number—113.

Buffy blinked. She couldn't believe what she was looking at. Everyone in the castle stared in disbelief and shock. The only person that wasn't shocked was Faith—she thought she was dreaming. She found the strength and lifted her head to look towards Michael. She saw him glowing. She looked at him and smiled…

oOoOo

Michael's armor and shields had taken the blast and had held.

"You do know how to make an entrance…" was all that Adriana could say.

He used the time from the explosions and everyone's shock to quickly analyze the situation. He quickly determined the priority targets and how he was going to neutralize them.

He had determined the immediate primary threat was the platform with Faith and the two potentials. There was a demon holding a knife just getting ready to cut the throat of one of the Potentials—

He drew his side arm in a motion so quick that it was done in the blink of an eye and he put a bullet in the demon's head. He quickly followed in succession taking out the rest of the demons on the platform with head shots.

Michael saw Faith chained to a post on the platform. His augmented vision could see her clearly and he could tell she was in bad shape. He had flashbacks to Sunnydale and the memory of how he'd felt when he'd thought she'd died and her voice over the com channel flowed through his body like a tidal wave of emotion. He saw her in bad shape—looking barely alive—she was smiling at him.

He looked around the courtyard and castle walls. He saw all the red hostile targets on his motion sensors. He felt the anger and hate build up and start to engulf him…

oOoOo

Riley couldn't believe that he was actually looking at the Spartan. He saw the Spartan looking at the platform where Faith and the others were chained up. He shook his head as he saw Faith smiling towards the Spartan—Michael. Riley blinked as he heard single shots echo across the stunned and silent castle. He saw all the demons on the platform now lying dead there. He had a flash as he recalled the drone video of what had happened at the Battle of the Hellmouth. He remembered the conversation—the tone and intensity in their voices. He remembered what Michael had done there when he thought Faith had died.

Riley almost felt sorry for the demons…

oOoOo

Michael used his speed and moved like a flash through the courtyard. He'd holstered his magnum and had now drawn two M7 submachine guns in each hand. He had analyzed that the secondary threat was to clear the walls of demons. He opened up on the demons spraying the walls with his submachine guns. He changed clips on the fly, so fast that no one noticed his fire slacking. He moved in a flash for the stairs to go up to the ramparts. He leaped up the stairs taking them at least six steps at a time. He went to work on securing the walls…

Paymon was in stunned shock. He couldn't move and didn't know what to do or how to react. One moment he was getting ready to kill the humans and the next there is this strange creature who is killing all his warriors. The speed that this creature moved at—none of his warriors could stand against it and arrows bounced harmlessly of its armor. This creature was showing no mercy as it cut down everyone whether they stood to fight or tried to run away.

He finally regained some of his composure and screamed for his personal guard to join in the attack. The Lord Prince's personal guard was made up of his best warriors, they jumped to obey their Lord Prince. They flowed on to the walls to attack the creature.

Michael was in the zone. He sprayed short bursts from his submachine guns cutting down demons all around him. He was on the last clips—he watched as his ammo counters for both weapons ran down to zero. He'd cleared the walls of archers, cutting down the last one with the last of his ammo as it tried to run away.

He saw more demons carrying swords and spears coming up the stairs towards him. He dropped his submachine guns—there was no more ammo for them. He reached for the other weapon that was attached on the magnetic hard point on his left side.

Paymon watched as the creature dropped its weapons. He sneered as he his confidence grew, the creature was now weaponless. The Lord Prince was more than confident that his personal guard would cut down this creature.

Buffy was puzzled as she watched Michael drop his weapons and move towards the attacking demons. She had no idea what he was going to do. She knew that he was strong, but taking on all those charging demons by hand would be pushing it—especially with them armed with swords. She saw him take something off his suit and hold it in his right hand. She didn't have any idea what he was up to, and she was getting too busy killing those few remaining demons in the courtyard and get to Faith and the others on the platform.

Michael felt the polished shaped piece of metal in his hand—it was a souvenir that he'd "liberated" from an Elite on that Forerunner planet. His hand gripped it tightly—he was no novice with this weapon—he had learned how to use this weapon quite effectively over the years. His hand tightened its grip as the demons rushed towards him. He smiled in anticipation and activated the sword…

Buffy stopped and watched in stunned amazement as Michael suddenly had a glowing sword in his hand. All she could say was, "Well that's new…" as she watched him cut two demon warriors in half with one slash.

Riley was also having a hard time concentrating on the fighting in front of him as he was also stunned watching the Spartan suddenly carrying what looked like a "light saber". But whereas a light saber looked somewhat elegant—this was more evil and gruesome looking—designed to kill with deadly efficiency. He watched in awe as the Spartan decimated the demons attacking him. He was slicing or impaling them with the sword in one hand and with his free hand he would pick up other demons and throw them off the walls. Riley could hear the demons' bodies hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

oOoOo

Paymon was in complete shock as he watched his best and most loyal warriors die to the very last one. He could only watch as his warriors were sliced in half or impaled by the "sword" that the creature was carrying. The creature would also pick up his warriors and throw them with contemptuous ease from the walls to their deaths.

Worse yet, the humans trapped in the court yard had resumed their attack and the few warriors that were left were being cut down.

He watched in growing despair and shock as the creature finished killing the last of his personal guard—taking his head off—then the creature looked directly at him.

The Lord Prince Paymon shuddered as he felt fear for the first time in his existence. He was stunned and didn't know what to do. He did something he had never done in his life or in battle—he ran.

He ran as fast as he could. He retreated into his castle and made his way down into deepest recesses of the castle.

His fear was erupting and was consuming him as he ran trying to hide from this creature. He staggered and stumbled in a panic as he tried to stay ahead of the creature. He entered into the deepest caves under his castle—where he'd been born so long ago. He retreated there vainly looking for shelter and safety from this creature's wrath.

He kept running through the damp dark caves, he'd spent so much time above that his eyes had a hard time adjusting to the darkness. He tried to feel his way as he hurried through the darkness. His fear had completely consumed him now. Every sound was right behind him…he was lost and alone in the dark. He stopped to catch his breath, but he heard a noise and started running again. He heard something coming up fast behind him—how could this creature find him so easily in the blackness?

Paymon ran for what felt like was an eternity until he tripped and fell. He hit the cave floor hard—his fear almost caused him to curl up in a quivering ball, but he found a last morsel of strength—that desire to survive. As the Lord Prince started to get up. He looked up he found himself looking up at the creature—the nightmarish man-creature wearing armor with the one big golden eye, that seemed to glow in the darkness, instead of face and with the number 113 on its chest…

Paymon's screams echoed through the caves for what seemed like a long time and then there was only the silence again.