FIC: Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior) Part 8/?

["Beckett, Kevin" <kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior) Part 8/?
K. Beckett © 2000 
 
Disclaimers:
Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show
belong to Joss Whedon, WB and Mutant Enemy etal. Everyone and everything
else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living,
dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.
 
This story contains descriptions of sexual acts between consenting adult
women, and was written in a jurisdiction where it was legal to do so. If
this offends you, don't read.
 
 
Rating:  
R
 
 
Other: 
The Latin and Gaelic are mine; I take the responsibility for any
translations of them. In addition, the descriptions of the rituals, spells
and other craft work come from my traditions, so please don't take offence
if something described here does not match your traditions or what you think
it should.
 
 
Archiving etc.: 
Ask and I will say yes.
 
 
Spoilers and other ramblings:
Everything up to the middle of season four - I diverge then.
 
 
Thanks to all who have commented, I appreciate everything that was said. As
before, all meaningful criticism, support and suggestions are welcome. 
 
 
Please be patient, it takes me awhile to get everything down, as I have very
little free time for writing.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five
acknowledge senses have been enclosed in < >.
 
mailto:kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
 
----------------------------------------------
A priori:
 
Willow's strike force has been successful in closing the first of the
hell-mouths, notwithstanding some unforeseen side effects. The demon forces
arrayed against them have begun to mobilize, since their leadership is now
aware of the great threat that Willow poses to them. Willow has learned a
bit more about the nature of the hell-mouths and what the demons may be
using them for.
 
 
 
Synopsis for part VIII:
 
Buffy and Willow will finally start to come to grip with their pregnancies,
and what it means to them, both individually and as couple. Willow will
continue her investigations into the nature of the hell-mouths. The demon
leadership will seek to neutralize the threat that Willow represents to
them. The four young women will strengthen their love for each other, as
humanity falterers under the demon onslaught.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Part VIII - Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori (Love conquers all, and
let us yield to it)
 
Right beside you I feel
Right beside you I am
Right beside you I kneel
Right beside you I stand
Right beside you I see
Right beside you I stay
Right beside you I'll be
Right beside you always

Driving into town with the top down
Sun sinking low into the water I can feel your speed
One hand on the wheel one hand on my knee
I can tell you what I want you can do what you need
Darling nights are getting cooler in the city so close
There's a place we can do it somewhere right along the coast
We'll arrive on time just a little bit late
It's not a matter of style just a lesson in taste
Right Beside You
Sophie B. Hawkins, Whaler
© 1994 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
 
 
The young blond woman jumped to her feet and looked around the clearing she
was in. There were bodies, both human and demon, scattered about like
matchsticks. Thinking to herself, "damn, that was exciting," she looked
over to where she had last seen Willow. She panicked, momentarily, when she
could not see her, and sent out a <Red, where are you?>
 
<Over here, with Aiofe on my lap.>
 
Buffy turned around and saw Willow, some twenty meters from where she had
been standing, <You ok love?>
<Yeah, but do I ever have a doozy of a headache.>
<It was one doozy of an explosion; I'm surprised that we are all still able
to function.>
<Not all of us, the demons are all motionless.>
 
Willow stood up and continued aloud, "down and out." She had noticed Daithi
and his guardsmen moving quickly between the comatose demons and cutting
their throats. 
 
Buffy, looking over her shoulder at the activity of the guardsmen added,
"messy, but necessary."
 
Within minutes, all of the demons had been killed and the strike force had
collected their mounts ready to head back through the forest to the road.
 
"Let's move," Daithi said, "I would prefer being out of these woods, well
before dark."
"You're not the only one," replied Amana, "as it is, we'll only get back to
the inn well after dark."
 
Grael turned to Willow and asked, "are you up to the disposal of the bodies,
or would you like to use a more conventional method?"
 
Willow sighed softly, looked deep within her reserves, and decided that she
did have the energy required and answered, "I can cope." With that, she
once again gathered energy, concentrated, and then reached out with her
power to reduce the demon bodies to their component elements.
 
Buffy came up beside her lover and asked, "love, how do you do that?"
"I evaporate the water in the bodies and return it to the atmosphere,"
replied Willow, the exhaustion evident on her face. "I got the idea from my
musings on what happens to the vamps when you stake them."
"Way cool," replied the slayer.
 
The strike force remounted then began to walk slowly towards the edge of the
forest, crossing its boundary with less than an hour to dusk. Willow,
paused for a moment and turned in the saddle to face the others before
calling out, "let's ride, and ride hard. We want to be a lot closer to town
before dark."
 
The group completed their ride back to town without any interruptions,
arriving in the stable yard of the inn, on exhausted and lathered horses,
well after dark. They roused the stable boys, and had them take the horses
off for a good rubdown and feeding.
 
"Food, or bath?" Willow asked the group in general.
 
"Bath," they all unanimously responded. Willow led them to the baths at the
side of the inn, calling into the common room as they passed by, "we
survived, we stink, we'll bath before eating."
 
The innkeeper met the group and replied, "yes, lord. Your rooms are ready,
and we have saved dinner for your return."
 
"Excellent," said Buffy as she followed the group to the baths, amazed once
again at the change in people, once you save their lives. Just as she was
leaving the room, she turned back to the innkeeper and said, "would you
please see that our travel bags are brought up to our rooms?"
 
"Of course," he replied and turned to summon servants to perform the various
tasks.
 
The baths were located in a series of buildings at the side of the main
structure of the inn. There was a room for changing and a series of baths
in the old Roman tradition, hot, cold and tepid. In addition, there was a
steam room and a massage room. Society in this reality had long ago
ritualised and formalized the bathing routine so that it not only cleaned
the body, but also relaxed both it and the mind.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Later that evening, after a long relaxing bath followed by a simple, but
hearty supper, Buffy and Willow were snuggled together in bed. The room
that they had been shown to after eating was best described as 'rustic'. It
was small, no more than four metres by three, and was dominated by the
king-sized bed which occupied the wall under the single window. Above them
on the pillows was, as usual, Shadow-cat who was pretending to ignore the
two women by grooming herself. 
 
"How you doing Red," Buffy asked as she burrowed deeper into her lover's
arms, the two women were spooned together with Willow curled up against
Buffy's back.
"Warm fuzzies," replied the other young woman, "clean, fed, and holding the
one I love."
"You sound like Shadow-cat, all you have to do is start to groom yourself."
"Mmmm, grooming," Willow replied as she turned Buffy around to face her, and
trailed her fingers through the streak of white hair in the middle of her
lover's head. She then began to softly caress the other's shoulders and
neck; then trailed her fingers over the tattoo on Buffy's chest and softly
caressed her tightening abdomen, "I like the sounds of that."
 
"Easy love," Buffy whispered, her breath beginning to catch in her throat.
"I want to talk some things through with you first."
 
"So talk," Willow said, as she continued to caress and gently kiss the other
woman's stomach.
 
"If you keep that up," the slayer commented huskily, "it'll be a long time
before I'll be able to speak, let alone think clearly."
 
"Think, you want to think?" Willow replied as she began to softly blow on
Buffy's soft blond pubic hair. She slowly manoeuvred between Buffy's thighs
and inhaled sharply through her nose. "Mmm, you smell wonderful, and very
excited. Sure you want me to stop?"
 
"Yes, No, I mean Yes-No," Buffy babbled as Willow began to blow softly on
her engorged clitoris. <Stop that you witch! Oh my...> Buffy's thoughts
trailed off into incoherent fragments as Willow began to suck and nibble on
her clitoris.  
 
Willow then increased her attentions on the slayer by creating mental
extensions and using them as additional hands to softly caress Buffy's
breasts and nipples, while her conventional hands remained busy stimulating
her vaginal opening and tracing intricate patterns through the slayer's
pubic hair.
 
Buffy quickly reached her climax. Shouting out as she did, "yes, love,
yes!" After a few minutes she reached down and pulled the arch-mage up into
a tight embrace, saying softly into her ear, "Goddess I needed that,
thank-you love."
 
"You're welcome," she replied with a canary-eating grin on her face.
 
"Now you really look like Shadow-cat, with that look on your face,"
commented Buffy as she softly kissed Willow. Staring deeply into her
lover's eyes she added, "have I told you today that I love you?"
 
"You have, but I never tire of you saying it." Willow stroked the fine
hairs on the Buffy's cheek, and continued, "I would be lost without you."
 
"Now, as I was trying to say, before I was so deliciously interrupted,"
Buffy said as she snuggled deeper into Willow's arms, 
"Yes?"
 
"It's just that I've been thinking about what's been going on over the last
few weeks."
"And?"
"I think that I understand, at least a little bit, why we are both
expecting."
"I think that you are thinking too much," Willow commented as she stifled a
yawn. "Go to sleep, we have to get up in a few hours and head back to the
capital, if we can."
 
"I a second love, I want to get this out while I'm thinking about it."
"Ok, give."
"When you nearly died," Buffy started, "I lost it, or nearly did anyway."
"Meaning?"
"I realized that you were the most important part of my life," Buffy
continued, "more important than slaying."
"And," prompted Willow.
"And, I think that subconsciously, at least, my body realized that and
decided to create a permanent expression of my need and love for you."
"If I understand where you are going," Willow said, "your subconscious mind,
using your powers and abilities, made real your desire to be a part of me,
and that somehow that translated into the formation of our babies?"
"I think so," Buffy paused for a moment to collect her scattered thoughts,
"its just that no matter how good we get with our control of magic and the
energies around us, I think that there is still a lot left to learn."
 
"I agree with your thought that we have a lot to learn," Willow replied,
"after all just look at this afternoon. I totally miscalculated the effect
of closing the hell-mouth."
 
"It was rather dramatic," agreed the slayer. At that moment her slayer
senses, kicked into overdrive, not to mention a slight burning sensation
coming from her new tattoo, <Hey witch girl. Look out, we've got company
coming.>
<Where?>
<Just outside, in the hall.>
<I think that we will be looking for a new innkeeper, come morning,> quipped
Willow.
<NOT FUNNY!>
<I'm not being funny. I'm terrified.>
 
<No need for terror, Super Slayer is here. I'll take care of it,> said
Buffy as she quietly got out of bed and began to search through her luggage.
<Where is it?>
<Where's what?>
<Mr. pointy.>
 
<Last I saw it you were using it to dispose of a vampire,> replied Willow as
she sat up in bed, watching her lover.
 
<It's ok,> responded Buffy as she triumphantly held up the object of her
search, <found it.>
 
Buffy began to move silently towards the door of the room when there was a
sudden knocking on the door.
<Go, ahead,> stated Willow, in response to Buffy's unvoiced thoughts,
<answer it, but be careful.>
 
Buffy paused for a moment then answered, in her best sleepy voice, "who is
it?"
 
The vampire on the other side of the door reacted in confusion. He was a
short stocky man with long greasy hair and was wearing dirty and patched
clothing. He knew now that he could not cross the threshold of the door
without permission, however having received permission to enter the inn
earlier that night was confused to find out that he needed additional
permission to enter this room to hunt his prey. The answer that he received
to his knock was not what he had expected. He was hoping that as had
happened previously that evening, he would have received a summons to enter
the room. He waited for a moment, trying to think of a plan, then replied
rather cleverly he thought, "um, it's the night servant. I just was just
checking to see if you needed anything."
 
<Don't you just love dumb vampires,> Buffy asked as she turned to Willow
with an incredulous look on her face.
<Makes your job easier.>
<That it does,> replied Buffy as she briefly thought over her options. She
could take the vampire in the hall, though a fight in the hall would be in
very cramped conditions, or she could invite him in and stake him in the
room, although the space in the room was not much better. Or, she thought,
"maybe I could use a new approach to this one."
<Know what you are thinking, I do.>
<Do you now, Yoda?>
 
<I do,> replied the arch-mage. <Besides, I'm not Yoda. For one thing, I'm
not green, and I think I'm a lot better looking. But that's just me
babbling. If I were you, I'd stake it in here.>
<Why's that,> asked Buffy, <It will get dust over everything.>
<Well, for one thing, you're naked.>
 
<Good point, pardon the pun,> turning back towards the door Buffy called
out, "ah, thanks. I think we could use some clean towels. Could you come
in and get these old ones?"
 
The vampire couldn't believe his luck; his little impromptu plan had worked.
He hadn't been a nightwalker very long, having been turned only a month
previously, and was still very inexperienced in the stalk and the slay. In
his previous life he had been a day labourer, and had been ignorant of the
dangers of vampires and other demons. His sire had taken him as a lark, and
had decided to turn him, more from amusement than need for additional
servants.  
 
He had just finished feeding heavily for the first time since he had risen,
on the unfortunate innkeeper and his wife, and had decided to retreat to his
lair after draining the two mortals who had just been foolish enough to
invite him into their room. He was thinking that he might just take them
back home, to feed on the next day, instead of draining them now. "Save me
from hunting tomorrow," he thought to himself.
 
He slowly began to open the door, expecting to see a darkened room with two
mortals on the bed. That was not what he saw upon opening the door. Just
as soon as he realized that the room was well lit and that only one person
was in, or rather on, the bed, he was pulled roughly into the room and then
picked up and flung across it, impacting on the far wall. The vampire
slowly fell to the floor, stunned by his violent reception.
 
"Surprise, bloodsucker," yelled Buffy as she slammed the door to the room
closed.
 
The vampire looked up from the floor to see a vision out of an erotic
nightmare. In front of him, barring the door was a naked young woman with
blond hair who had her face twisted in anger. In addition, she was holding
a very large, very sharp, stake in her left hand. To his left was another
naked young woman, who had jumped off the bed, and was standing at the side
of it. She too had an expression of pure hatred on her face. He leapt to
his feet yelling, "I'm going to get you for that you bitch."
 
"I sincerely doubt that," replied Buffy as she made a warding gesture and
called out "greimmey jouyil!"
 
With that spell, the vampire was bound to the floor, unable to move. He
also began to realize that in this totally unfamiliar situation he was
potentially in a world of trouble.
 
"Smooth move lover," commented Willow leaving the side of the bed and
joining Buffy in front of the immobilized vampire, "when did you learn that
little trick?"
"Oh, its just something that Amana and I worked on during the ride today to
and from the hell mouth," replied the slayer, "I wanted to have a method of
holding on to these slimy little devils, if I needed to ask a few questions
before the dusting. Not to mention that since you made me a warrior-mage, I
thought that I should really add some mage to my warrior." Buffy paused for
a moment then continued, "we haven't really finished working out the
details, and I don't think that it would work in a pitched battle, or
against multiple opponents. However, against a real dummy like this one, it
worked out just fine."
 
<Questions you have?>
<Yes, I do, and what gives with the Yoda impressions and with the whole
timid Willow routine? Where's my super mage, ready to take on all comers?>
<Shock, terror, fear, and the usual little things we deal with on a daily
basis; and, my utterly failing attempts to control the babble factor. In
addition, I think that I'm having a pregnancy induced hormonal attack.>
<????>
 
"Ok then," Buffy stated, leaving her questions as to her lover's hormones
until later, much later. She walked up to the vampire and stood face to face
with him, "I have a few questions, and you have the answers."
"Free me bitch so I can kill you," replied the vampire, not realizing that
his powers of persuasion were ineffective against a slayer.

Turing to her lover Buffy commented, "one track minds, that's all they
have." She balled up her hand into a fist and slammed it into the vampire's
sternum, cracking several ribs in the process and causing it to bend over in
pain. "Now listen stupid, and listen good. Your little tricks won't work
on me and I will cause you unbelievable amounts of pain if you don't answer
my questions."
 
The vampire's resistance collapsed, due in no small measure to the intense
amount of pain he was in. When he was able to form a coherent sentence he
replied, "what do you want to know?"
"There, isn't that better," answered the slayer, "first, who in the inn did
you kill?"
"Two," he replied, "the innkeeper and his wife."
 
"Ok, then," continued Buffy, "now, did you turn them, or just drain them."
"I just killed them, like I'm going to kill you two bitches."
"Why didn't you turn them," asked Willow, totally unconcerned at the
vampire's taunts and threats.
"Don't know how," replied the vampire.
 
<Ah,> commented Buffy, <freshly risen.>
 
"When did you die," she asked the now confused vampire. The two young women
in the room were not acting the way that prey should act.  
 
Until this point in his new life, he had been surviving on primal instinct.
He had died, then risen just the week previously. Somehow, he had known
that he had changed and that his diet would forever be liquid blood. He had
spent the first few days after rising feeding on small animals in the forest
where his body had been tossed by his sire. He had quickly realized that
part of his new abilities was the capability of causing his prey to become
motionless, and remain in that state while he drained them of their blood.
After gaining confidence on the forest creatures, he had only this evening
felt bold enough to venture back into town. He had selected the inn for his
deprivations, due in part to the indifferent treatment he had received there
at the hands of the innkeeper, when he'd still been mortal.
 
"Don't know," he replied, "maybe a month ago or so."
"Who's your sire," asked Buffy, "and where is it?"
"Don't know. Never seen him again since that night."
 
"Ok," said Buffy. "Let's review. One, we have a very new, and very dumb
vampire."
"Two," added Willow, "we have a deviant sire running around who makes new
vampires for the kick."
"And finally," continued the slayer, as she paced in the small space
available ending with her back to the trapped vampire, "we have some
disposal work to do, starting right here."
 
With that, she spun around quickly and flung Mr. pointy at the vampire,
missing him by mere centimetres.
"I missed," exclaimed a startled slayer, "I never miss."
"You missed," agreed her equally startled lover.
 
"So, you missed," sneered the vampire, "after-all you're only a woman and
probably couldn't hit the side of a barn."
 
"She's not 'just a woman' you stupid vampire," yelled Willow, "she's the
slayer!"
 
"So," mocked the vampire, "she's a slayer, so what?"
"This is what asshole," Buffy said quietly as she calmly grabbed the vampire
by his head and twisted it off. This had the result she was looking for, as
he immediately disintegrated into his component dust.
 
"Dust buster time," quipped Willow, "now what?"
"We might as well concede that the night is done and stay up to take care of
the innkeeper and his wife," replied Buffy, "and make sure that this dummy
was telling the truth."
 
Unbeknownst to the three, now two, occupants of the room the preceding
events had been observed by an entity through the room's window. The
creature was a very imp standing about one meter tall. He had been sent by
the demons Hugh and Junulak as an advance scout to find the troublesome
human mage. He had been give very specific instructions to observe, and to
stay out of sight. It had taken him the better part of the day and night to
fly to this little out of the way village, and from the various
conversations that he had overheard upon arrival had realized that he had
lucked out, and the humans he was searching for were in fact staying in the
village inn. "Nothing like a little excitement in the morning to get the
yokels talking," he had thought to himself after hearing about the attempted
robbery of the inn.
 
He had been spending the last hour or so going from window to window of the
inn trying to get a handle on the number of humans in the group, and an idea
on their abilities. He had watched with amusement, then horror, as the
vampire had come up to the inn; as he cajoled his was into the innkeeper's
room, and then the proceedings in this particular guest room. Unlike the
recently departed vampire, he was old enough, and knowledgeable enough, to
know about slayers. He was also aware that this was an entire new set of
problems that Hugh and Junulak needed to know about.
 
"Good Gods of Chaos," he mumbled to himself, "a slayer. We are in a deep
world of trouble if we don't find a way of eliminating her, but quickly.
Not to mention, what did she mean by being a warrior-mage." With that, the
demon flew off, hastily, heading in a south-westerly direction.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Later that morning Buffy, Aiofe, Bridie and Willow took up the threads of
the conversation that Buffy had started the night before. They were seated
in the common room of the inn, eating breakfast, while around them the staff
moved slowly, almost zombie like. They had been stunned when woken by Buffy
and Willow in the wee hours before dawn to learn that their employer, and
his wife, had been violently slain in the night. They were so shocked at
the news that none of them protested when Buffy insisted that everyone,
including Willow's strike force, stand in the stable-yard until well after
sunrise to insure that all of the persons present were in fact mortal.
After the test for mortality, Amana and Grael had arranged for the bodies to
be blessed, consecrated and burned. Daithi meanwhile had gone to collect
the innkeeper's brother who lived in the next village, so that he could be
told of the events, and so that he could come back to arrange the
disposition of the estate. They were due back later that afternoon.
 
"Ok," commented Bridie "lets see if I've got this straight." Bridie paused
for a moment to take a sip of her mead and then continued, "Buffy, you think
that the reason the two of you became pregnant was due to your anguish when
Willow nearly died?"
"That's right," replied the slayer, "and the events of last night only make
it more clear in my mind."
<Well at least you have a clear idea,> commented her lover, as she yawned
into her bowl of porridge.
<Wait for it lover. All will become clear.>
"Meaning," asked Aiofe.
"Meaning I have a high-risk lifestyle. I'm a slayer, and while I had an
idiot of a vampire last night to deal with, it hasn't always been that easy.
There hasn't been a slayer who's lived to a ripe old age, and I don't think
any have ever had children." <Have to check with Giles on that one.>
"So," asked Bridie.
"So," replied Willow, as she took and held Buffy's hand, "I think what my
confused lover is trying to say is that she was terrified of leaving me
alone, and to make matters worse I think what she is really trying to say is
she is now even more frightened of leaving me, and our children alone."
 
"Not exactly my thought process," injected Buffy, "but I think that deep
down you may be right."
"Not to worry love," replied the arch-mage embracing the other woman and
giving her a gentle kiss, "you and I will live to see our grandchildren, and
I promise you that."
 
"I'm going to hold you to that," said Buffy softly into Willow's ear. She
then said aloud, "if I die before you do, I'm coming back to haunt you.
There's also one other little matter that's bothering me though."
"And that would be," asked Aiofe.
"The miss."
"Ah," exclaimed Willow, "the miss."
"What miss," asked a confused Bridie, "what miss did I miss?"
"Buffy was going to stake the vampire last night," replied Willow, "and she
missed."
"And I want to know why," added the slayer, "after all..."
"You never miss," replied the other three women in chorus.
"Well, I don't," Buffy concluded with a slight pout.
 
"I don't think it's a major issue," commented Aiofe, "it was probably due to
a combination of factors."
"Such as?"
"Well," the dark-haired young woman continued, "the massive changes in your
body due to the little visit we received the other night; and the reality
that you haven't been able to train properly for the last few days combined
with your pregnancy is starting to change your centre of balance."
"But," interjected Buffy, "I'm not even a month along. How can that be
affecting my timing and balance?"
 
"You'll probably have to talk to Amana about it, but I think that it has to
due with the fact that you are, in essance, an incredibly well trained demon
killing machine. Any little change in your body is going to have an effect
on it. In addition, although you haven't begun to 'show' yet, the fact is
your body is going through massive internal changes in order to facilitate
the pregnancy."
"So what does she do," asked a very concerned arch-mage.
"Make every effort to train consistently," replied Buffy, "and concentrate
on always working on the skills that require the most of my balance and
timing." Buffy proceeded to re-fill her plate with fresh fruit and cheeses
and commented, "enough of this work talk, lets eat and gossip about our
elders."
 
The four young women then proceeded to complete their breakfast discussing
lighter topics, leaving weightier matters to later.
 
As they finished their meal, Willow turned to the others and commented,
"Since it looks like we will be here for at least one more day Aiofe, why
don't you and Bridie make arrangements for our rooms and stuff. Since I
doubt that the staff have thought much about anything today."
"Will do," replied Bridie.
"Now lover," Willow continued turning her attention to Buffy, "I suggest
that you go find the other guardsmen and workout, perfecting your stake
throwing techniques, to compensate for the changes in your body." 
 
"Sounds good Will," replied Buffy, "what are your day plans?"
"I think that I'm going to spend some 'skull time' with Frankel, Amana and
Grael to try to get a better understanding of the hell-mouths. I goofed on
the first one, and I've been thinking that if I have to travel to each one
it will take months, if not years, to get to them all."
 
"Ouch," observed Buffy, "We're certain to run out of luck long before then."
"Not to mention a little issue like having a baby in nine months or so,"
added Aiofe.
"Don't remind me," replied Willow, "I've been craving chocolate all day."
"That's got nothing to do with your being knocked-up," Buffy said smiling,
"but with your life long chocolate addiction. At least the advice Amana
gave us has stopped the morning sickness."
 
"That's one blessing," replied Willow. With that, the four young women went
off to start their day.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Willow gathered the three senior mages in the office of the former innkeeper
to discuss the primary, magical, topic on her mind. The office was small,
windowless and no more than two by two meters. It was located in an
interior space just off the kitchen and therefore had no windows. It was
packed with a desk, four chairs and two bookshelves; not to mention four
bodies.
 
Grael locked and barred the sturdy door and with a questioning glance to
Amana, who had already had a brief discussion with Willow that morning,
yelled out a quick "cur ny host shamyr!" which had the effect of creating a
sound proof barrier around them so that their discussions would not become
knowledge to any prying ears.
 
"Ok, Willow," said Amana, kicking off the conversation, "now that you have
us all in here, what's up?"
"I wanted to brief you all on what I saw, and did, yesterday at the
hell-mouth, and to pick your brains on how to proceed."
 
"Well," replied Grael, "why don't you start by telling us what you saw and
did yesterday."
 
"Ok," replied Willow, "this is how it all went down." Willow then proceeded
to spend the next half-hour or so briefing the other mages on what she did
and saw while she was in the magic realm. She concentrated on her
perceptions of the hell-mouths and how she felt that they were not only
transport portals from universe to universe, but that somehow the demons
were draining energy from this world to feed another one.
 
Frankel was stunned by the information that Willow had given them and after
a few minutes to collect himself commented, "in all of my investigations
into the hell-mouths and the nature of the multiple worlds, I never
experienced or conceived of something like this being possible."
 
"Perhaps," added Amana, "it was because none of us ever fully entered the
magic realm to investigate the transfer portals."
"Why not," asked Willow.
 
"None of us had either the power, or frankly the desire, to do so," replied
Grael.
"That answers that particular question," said Willow softly, "however, what
I really want to talk about is how to proceed from here. I don't think that
going from hell-mouth to hell-mouth closing them one at a time is very
viable. For one thing it's going to take a long time, and the demon
hierarchy is sure to resist heavily."
"And," asked Amana, "what else?"
"And," replied the arch-mage, "in a few months both Buffy and I will be very
pregnant making travel more difficult, and then we will be mothers."
 
"I understand the problems," said Grael, "but how else can we proceed?"
"That's what I want to brainstorm about with the three of you," replied
Willow. "Maybe between us we can think of some way to stop these demons and
close all of the hell-mouths simultaneously."
 
The four mages then began to discuss several options, ranging from
whole-scale attacks on the demons, to infiltration of the demon hierarchy.
All were proposed, discussed and rejected for one reason or another and as
the day wore on, they began to despair of finding a solution.
 
"We've been at this for hours," complained Willow, "we've looked at least
twenty options, dissected them and ultimately discarded them. Now what?"
"Now we get out of this stuffy room," replied Frankel, "and get some food
and news from the others. Tomorrow morning we'll leave for the capital at
first light and then we will have access to the research and the libraries
in the castle."
 
"Sounds good," said Amana as she and the others stood up and left the little
office.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, not to far from the little village where Willow's party was
staying, three demons stood in a small clearing next to a creek. They were
standing away from the bulk of the force that had been tasked with
destroying the two world travellers and their party.
 
"Are you certain Talor," asked the demon Junulak.
"Positive," replied the small imp who had watched the proceeding at the inn
on the previous night.
"How can you be so positive," continued Junulak, throwing a worried glance
at the other demon present.  
 
The third member of their little party, the demon Hugh, was listing to the
conversation with growing confusion, not comprehending any of the finer
details being discussed.
 
"Because her companion, the one that you were all so initially worried
about, called her a slayer," replied the imp, "and I watched her toss a
vampire across a room like a rag doll and then proceed to rip his head off
like it was made of tissue paper."
"This complicates things," Junulak added after a moment's reflection.
"How can one young woman, a 'slayer', complicate things any more than that
witch girl is already doing," questioned Hugh.
"That's right," replied Talor, "you wouldn't know."
"Know what?"
"About slayers," replied Junulak, as he began to pace back and forth across
the small clearing, "the last one on this world was eradicated decades ago.
Well before your time here."
"So," continued the humanoid demon, "I ask again, what's the complication?"
 
Junulak stopped his pacing and looked over to where the imp Talor was
standing by the creek, with a look that asked "you or me?"
"You enlighten him," replied the imp, who then proceeded to turn his back on
the other two and stare out over the creek to where the rest of their force
was billeted, wondering if over five hundred demons was going to be enough.
 
Junulak then proceeded to tell Hugh about slayers and their preternatural
strengths and abilities. Their fanatical mission in life to slay those
intelligent creatures that were not human, in particular those that would
harm humans. The fact that they were often able to defeat numerous foes at
once, and that they were able to detect the presence of their enemies long
before they were seen. He also indicated that slayers were able to gather
to themselves a group of helpers, and that when the group was able to bond
together it was then able to defeat enemies many times their size. How the
first mission that the demon leadership undertook on a new world was to
isolate the slayers and defeat them, even though they realized that it would
cost them hundreds of lives to do so.
 
Both Hugh and Junulak fell silent at the end of the short lesson on slayers.
Finally, Hugh turned to the other two and asked, "ok, I now understand why
this may, and I repeat, may, complicate things. What do we do about it?"
"Talor," Junulak called out, "I want you to fly back immediately to our
master to inform him of this development, don't forget to mention this thing
about her being a 'warrior-mage', maybe he has some idea about what that
means."
"At your command," replied the imp as he immediately leapt into the air.
 
"That solves the delivery of the bad news," commented Hugh, "what do we do?"
"We, my dear friend, will immediately break camp and head to that village,"
replied Junulak, "with any luck we will be able to strike tomorrow at dawn
and catch them all before they know we are there."
 
"Sounds good," replied Hugh as the two demons crossed the creek to give the
news of the forced march to their lieutenants, and to begin the process of
breaking camp.
 
-----------------------------------------------
Daithi arrived back in the village, with the former innkeeper's brother,
with less than an hour to dusk. They were exhausted and riding equally
exhausted horses. In addition, both men looked as if they had been dragged
though the mud. Riding up into the stable yard, they met with the rest of
Willow's strike force, who had become more than a little worried about the
delay.
 
"Daithi," called out Willow, "what kept you? We were expecting you hours
ago."
Daithi stared blankly for a moment, as if unable to comprehend the question,
then replied in a drawn voice, "demons."
 
"Where? How many? When?" Asked various members of the group surrounding
Daithi in a confusing babble.
"Quiet," yelled Buffy, "let him off his horse, and let him get cleaned up.
We'll have time to question him over dinner."
 
The group then helped the two men to dismount from their horses and then led
them to the baths. They also took the opportunity to introduce himself or
herself to the brother of the innkeeper, and to offer their condolences for
his loss. Later, as Daithi was finishing his dinner, Willow walked over to
his table to ask the questions that were on everyone's mind. In the hour or
so since he had ridden into the village, he had regained a lot of his energy
and composure. He had bathed and was now in the process of finishing off
the consumption of a large amount of food and drink.
 
"I'm sorry to break into your dinner Daithi," she said, as she sat down at
the table across from him, "but I need some information in order to figure
out what we are going to do next."
 
"That's ok," replied the guard captain, "I understand fully."  
 
"Why don't you then tell us what happened," continued Willow, "take your
time, but let us know what is going on outside of this village."
 
"Ok," answered Daithi, "this is how my day went from bad in the morning to
unbelievably worse by the afternoon."  
 
He then began to relate to the group the events of his day. He had risen
with the others to the knowledge of the vampire attack the previous night,
and after watching the sunrise with everyone else, he had obtained
information from the staff that the former innkeeper's brother lived in the
next village, named South Bend, which was located to the south-west, about
two and a half hours away on horseback. He had cleared his trip with Willow
and after gathering some supplies and two horses had ridden out of the
village about two hours after dawn, expecting to be back shortly after
lunch. The morning had passed without incident; he had, however, noticed
that the road was devoid of all life, both human and animal. Once he had
reached the village, he sought out the brother, who happened to be the
blacksmith for the village, and broke the tragic news to him about the
innkeeper and his sister-in-law. The man, named Hubert, had taken the news
calmly, after all death was a common enough occurrence in rural life.
However, it had taken until well after lunch for the two men to leave to
make the journey back. The delay was caused by Hubert having to find
someone to watch over his forge for the three days or so he estimated he
would be gone. As they left South Bend they could see that ahead on the
side of the road were signs of demon activity, burning fields and murdered
farmers. Believing that the road was blocked they decided to leave it and
travel cross-country to the village of Peters Forge where Willow and the
rest of the team was waiting. That had been a mistake since as soon as they
had entered a small thicket they had stumbled on a band of twenty or so
demons, presumably the ones who had been doing the ransacking of the
farmsteads.
 
"What happened then," asked Aiofe who like the others had taken up places at
or around the table during Daithi's narrative.
"We ran," replied the guardsman simply, "with only a civilian to help, and
facing twenty opponents we took off as fast as we could."
 
"How did you get away," asked Grael.
"By riding as hard and as fast as we could away from them."
 
Daithi then continued the account of their adventures. How they had had to
ride hard away from both towns in order to find somewhere in the woods to
shake off the demons who had immediately begun to chase them. How they had
finally lost their pursuers only after they had ridden down a small river
for nearly two kilometres. By that time, it was well into the afternoon and
after pausing for a moment to rest the horses they had ridden hard for the
village knowing that the demons were sure to report their presence and be
waiting for them tomorrow.
 
"That decides it," said Willow as Daithi finished his report, "We'll get up
three hours before dawn and head directly for the capital. I know that it
took us two days, and a little demon problem, to get here, but I hope that
by leaving early and by riding hard we can do it faster. With luck any
demons we meet will be either sleeping or just getting ready to attack us."
 
With that pronouncement, everyone began to head up to their various rooms to
try to get as much sleep as possible in the remaining hours before they
would head back to the capital.
 
Just as people were starting to head up the stairs Willow called out, "hold
on a second. I have another idea."
<What's that love?>
<Slush now, I'll tell you with the others.>
 
As everyone paused at the foot of the stairs Willow continued, "I think for
safety sake we should be in as few rooms as possible tonight. So, Grael,
Amana and Frankel, you take one room. Daithi, you and the other guardsmen
take another, while Bridie, Aiofe, Buffy and I will take a third. Finally,
Daithi I'm going to ask that the other guardsmen, along with Buffy, patrol
tonight. We defiantly do not want any repeat surprises tonight."
 
-----------------------------------------------
Three young women, and a cat, lay sleeping intertwined. Buffy stood in the
doorway to the bedroom and looked in at her lover, and the two other women
who had become almost as important to her. Upon retiring for the evening,
and before Buffy had to leave on patrol, the four women had stayed up
talking and sharing their lives together, discussing not only the tremendous
events of the last few days but also their childhoods and families. Both
Buffy and Willow had been fascinated by the way that the other two had been
raised, in the absence of all the comforts that they had had. Aiofe and
Bridie had been equally absorbed by details of shopping malls, airplanes and
other items that until very recently both Buffy and Willow had taken for
granted. The woman had made this time to talk and interact, since recent
events had left little opportunity for them to share their thoughts and
feelings in order to learn more about each other.
 
After talking and sharing for nearly three hours, Buffy had left on patrol.
The others were far too tired to do anything but collapse into a deep sleep,
each of them praying to the Goddess that they would be able to get back home
safely.
 
She had decided to look in on her lover and their friends, not from any
sense of duty or worry, but to satisfy herself that everything was ok. She
knew that the link that she and Willow shared would have instantly alerted
her of any problems, but, greedily decided that looking wasn't going to do
any harm.  
 
She thought back to the day, not too long ago, just before Christmas, when
she had realized that Willow was the most important person in her life. She
had just returned from a particularly uneventful patrol to find Willow still
awake and working on her computer. Thinking that she was studying for a
test she had looked at what Willow had on her screen to find that her friend
was in fact researching demons.  
 
She had then asked, "what you doing red?"
"Oh, hi Buffy," replied Willow, "how was your patrol? Any baddies? Just
checking out some stuff in case you need it someday."
"Fine. None. Thank you," replied the slayer thinking, "she's always been
with me, always willing to help, to sacrifice for me. I can depend on her
for anything."
 
Buffy had been disturbed by her thoughts and continued thinking as she
stripped for her usual post-patrol shower, "Why? Why does she stay with me?
I've practically ignored her recently and yet I find that even when she's
not with me I think of her constantly." 
 
Buffy had continued her musings during her shower, and began to realize that
if was stranded on a deserted island with only one person it would without a
doubt be Willow. She was confused by these feelings, and the not so subtle
effect they were beginning to have on her body. "My body has never reacted
this way before," she thought as she began to unconsciously masturbate
herself to an orgasm. "Am I gay?" Suddenly Buffy realized that labels
meant nothing; gay, straight, whatever. It was the person who mattered, and
that if she ever lost Willow it would be as if a part of her soul had been
ripped out.
 
Buffy went on to remember how she had come back from her shower confused,
frightened and self-assured. Confused from what her mind and body was now
telling her, frightened that the one person who mattered the most to her
wouldn't understand, after all she had just lost Oz, and was still healing
her wounds from that relationship. But, most of all she was self assured,
realizing that what she had experienced in the shower was a revelation, and
regardless of the reaction she had to discuss her feelings with Willow.
 
Still it had been with some trepidation as she finished drying off, wrapped
her hair into a towel, changed into her nightshirt and walked over to where
Willow was lying on her bed.
 
"Will?"
"Yes Buffy?"
"I've been thinking," started Buffy. She then proceeded to pour out her
heart to her friend, hopping for understanding, preying for acceptance.
Buffy needn't have worried, for the discovery that she had come to in the
shower, had happened recently to Willow. The two young women then spent the
next several hours pouring out their hearts to each other. Discussing their
hopes, fears and ambitions, for themselves and for each other. Just as
their long night was ending with the first hints of light in the pre-dawn,
Willow leaned forward and softly kissed Buffy. That first, tentative, kiss
had led to more passionate ones and shortly both women were helping each
other remove what little clothing they had on. They paused in their
lovemaking to examine each other's bodies. They had, over the years, seen
each other naked. But they had been the furtive, 'not supposed to be
looking' viewings, while changing for gym or on sleepovers. This time they
starred at each other, each drinking in the other's body.  
 
Willow noticed all of the scars from Buffy's various combats, for while
slayers heal quickly wounds still leave scars. She proceeded to softly kiss
each of Buffy's wounds, which resulted in her exploration of other, more
tender areas. She softly caressed Buffy's pubic mound with her lips then
kissed it before moving her head between the other woman's thighs. Buffy
arched her back, more from surprise at that point; however, when Willow had
begun to nibble and suck on her clitoris she had gasped and stiffened in
pleasure. After bringing her life long friend to climax Willow climbed to
lie beside her, at which point Buffy began her exploration. She followed
the curve of Willow's neck to the hollow beneath her neck. She had cupped
each breast in turn while alternately sucking and manually stimulating them.
She then brought one hand between Willow's legs and began to rub and
stimulate her clit, while she was rubbing her own on Willow's leg. Within
moments Willow, followed shortly by Buffy, had an orgasm. Both women had
not been sated and had spent the next hour exploring, stimulating and loving
each other.
 
As dawn broke in the eastern sky Willow had turned to her best friend, and
now lover and said sleepily, "I don't think we're going to class today."
 
Buffy remembered how the two of them over the two weeks till Christmas had
spent very little time in school and quite a bit of time together in bed
learning how to love and pleasure each other.
 
Just then an owl hooted outside of inn bringing Buffy back from her
reminiscences. She looked over at her friends, and noticed that Willow was
deep in REM sleep. She also realized that she was able to follow along with
her lover and see what she was dreaming.
 
"This is beyond weird," she thought to herself, "Willow will be so psyched
to find out about this little wrinkle in our abilities."
 
As she followed along in the dream Buffy realized that Willow was thinking
about the other two women, and how they had become essential to her. They
had taken the place of the support group that they had had back home, and
the more that Buffy thought about it, the more she realized that she too was
becoming more than dependant on the other two women. She also realized that
it was becoming very apparent that the dependence was two way, and the other
two were becoming equally dependent on Willow and her.
 
"If we ever get to leave this world, it will be very hard to leave them,"
she though, "maybe Willow or Amana will be able to think of something before
then."
 
Buffy softly closed the door and went back to patrolling the inn and the
various outbuildings, however, no one or nothing disturbed the tenants that
evening and the group was able to sleep without any interruptions.
 
Buffy and Padrick waked Willow's strike force in the wee hours well before
dawn. Rubbing the sleep from their eyes they dressed quickly and assembled
in the common room of the inn. Willow turned to the group and said quietly
while trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn, "ok folks, time to make tracks
for home. We will want to be as quiet and as quick as we can, so make for
the kitchen, grab something to eat and then get out to the stable."
 
Within minutes all of Willow's force was in the stable-yard, waiting for the
tired grooms to bring out their horses. They mounted and slowly walked
towards the edge of the village, not wanting to disturb anyone, or anything,
else that morning. They were just about to reach the edge of the village
when they saw a blood-red glow over the horizon to the south.
"That's not the dawn," commented Aiofe, "I mean, my geography may be bad,
and I think that I'm actually still asleep, but I do know the sun rises in
the east."
 
As they watched the sky get redder they noticed that a steady stream of
people, outlined against the sky, were fleeing towards them. It appeared
that all of humanity from the surrounding area was heading in their general
direction.
 
"This doesn't look good," commented Buffy quietly. "I don't think it takes
rocket science to figure out that something is driving these people this
way."
"I don't think you'd get any bets on that something," added Aiofe.
"You're probably right on that one," replied the slayer, "now what?"
 
"I don't know," replied the arch-mage, "Daithi, ideas?"
"Let's wait a little while," replied the guardsman, "and see if we can get
some local help."
 
"I agree," commented Grael, "this running has got to stop. We have to find
somewhere that we can make secure so that we can rest up and plan any future
moves. But I don't think that we will have time to organize any local help,
after all it looks like most of them are heading for the hills."
"We can't afford to stay here," replied Willow, "but where can we hole up?
I mean this is your world, albeit very similar to ours. What about the
mountains to the east?"
"I grew up around here," replied Padrick, "and there are some small hamlets
in the mountains, rough living though."
 
"Not as rough as dieing is," answered Amana, "how do we get there?"
"There's an old trail to the east of us," replied the young guard, "it will
lead to an old logging road which will get us to where we are going."
 
"Lead on then Padrick," said Daithi, "the mages in the middle with the other
guards and I in the rear to keep any demons off our tail."
 
"What about the people fleeing the demons and the people in town," asked
Buffy, "can't we stay and defend this village?"
 
"I wish we could," replied Grael, "but I'm afraid that this time we are
going to have to just stay out of the way."
"But why," asked Bridie, "we defeated over one hundred demons the other day,
what's the difference now."
"Two things," replied Daithi, "first, when we fought the other day the
terrain was on our side, here its way too open to control the fight like we
did there."
"And second," continued Willow, "last time there were no civilians involved
and therefore both Buffy and the mages had free reign. This time we would
be severely limited in what we can do, in order to limit casualties among
the non-combatants."
 
"I understand, intellectually," replied Buffy, "but it still sucks."
<We all agree with you, but our vows will not allow us to harm the
innocent.>
<Isn't it harm by inaction to allow them to be butchered by demons?>
<Fine line, but I promise that they will pay for everything they have done
to this world, and to ours."
<Revenge is sweet, but I'm going to want to kick some serious demon but
before this day is done.>
 
"Wars have always been hardest on the civilians," responded Frankel, "but if
we are to defeat the demons, we can't afford to be trapped and killed here
and now."
 
"I understand," replied the slayer, "but don't ever ask me to like it."
"No-one likes the idea," commented Amana, "but, if Willow and you don't
figure out a way to defeat the demons totally, all of humanity will be
lost."
 
"Ok," interjected Willow, "lets work our way slowly to the other side of
town, without disturbing too many people."
 
The small group walked their horses around the edge of the village, trying
to insure that they made as little noise as possible. After twenty minutes
of careful travel they reached the small trail that Padrick had mentioned
and brought their horses from a walk to a trot, in preparation for a hard
days travel.
 
"Let's ride as hard as we can," said Willow, "for as long as we can. Once
we hit the foot-hills of the mountains we won't be able to push the horses
much beyond a trot."
 
-----------------------------------------------
Just south of the town, Junulak, Hugh and the imp Talor, who had arrived
back from briefing the demon leadership just as the army was moving out that
morning, were driving their force of five hundred demons as fast as they
could. The major problem that they were dealing with was the hoard of human
refugees. They were causing serious delays in the ability of the army to
travel, already that morning they were at least an hour behind schedule.
 
"Damn these humans to the seven hells," said Junulak in total frustration,
"they are keeping us from reaching that village before dawn as we had
planned."
"One good thing though," replied Hugh, "they are also keeping the slayer and
the witch from heading back to the capital, not that that would have done
them any good with the siege fully in place now."
"It's also going to warn them about our army," replied Talor. "Oh, well, I
never thought we were going to achieve surprise anyway."
 
"You certain that you informed the leadership of our problem," asked
Junulak, "I don't want to be unfavourably surprised later."
"Yes," replied the imp, "for the tenth time yes I told them. They were, as
expected, stunned by the news and have authorized you to deal with the
problem." The imp thought for a moment then continued, "I think though that
this is only one of our master's problems."
 
"How's that," asked Hugh.
"It's just that he seemed very preoccupied when I gave him the information,"
replied Talor, "almost as if he was expecting the news somehow. When I
mentioned the part of the slayer also being something called a
'warrior-mage' all he did was mumble, 'looks like the Gods have decide to
play dice with this little game', whatever that means."
 
At that point one of the demons who had been in the advance of the army rode
up to the three leaders and reported, "lords, I have news."
 
"Yes lieutenant," replied Junulak.
"Good news. We have broken through the last of the human refugees and now
have a clear path to the village."
"Excellent," replied Hugh, "maybe we have a chance to catch them asleep
yet."
"I'm afraid not lord," continued the demon, "we have spotted a small group
of humans on horseback riding away from the village to the north-east."
"Curse those humans," replied Hugh almost spitting out each word as he said
it, "they knew we were coming somehow and have escaped."
"Not yet they haven't," continued Junulak as he turned to address the
lieutenant, "lieutenant, take fifty of your fastest men and give chase. I
don't care what it takes but make sure that you kill them all. I don't want
any alive, for any reason."
"At your command," replied the demon as he turned his mount and rode off to
the north at the gallop.
 
"Hugh," continued Junulak, "you and Talor turn the focus of the army to the
north-east, bypassing the village. If the force I've just sent after that
escaping party of pesky humans fails to eliminate them, we will have to go
into the mountains and dig them out, even if it means turning over every
rock on the mountain one at a time."
"We have no other choice," agreed Hugh, "failure is not an option."
 
-----------------------------------------------
Willow and her team had ridden hard all morning and had decided to break for
lunch just as they were entering the foothills of the mountains. They had
chosen for a picnic spot a small glade, next to a stream, so that they could
also water and feed their horses.
 
"My butt will never be the same," complained Willow as she walked around the
clearing trying to workout the stiffness in her muscles.
"Not to mention your thighs," added Aiofe helpfully, "if you keep riding you
will eventually develop riders thighs."
"What, in the Goddesses name are those," asked Buffy. Buffy, in contrast to
her lover, was feeling no effects of the hard morning ride. The 'tune-up'
that the Goddess had given her body had obviously given her the muscle
conditioning of an expert rider.
"Oh," replied Bridie, "not much. Mainly heavy duty muscles in your thighs,
combined with really ugly calluses."
 
"Joy! Bliss! Happiness," replied Willow with more than a hint of sarcasm in
her voice.
 
The four young women then joined the rest of the party eating their lunch.
As they were finishing, Willow turned to Daithi and asked, "Daithi, before
we head out could you send out two of your men, maybe all three, to scout
out the area and see if we have any problems?"
"Do we have the time for that," Daithi asked. He was fully aware of the
correct answer and was wondering if the pleasure he was having in seeing the
development of this young woman into an intelligent and thoughtful leader
was warranted.
"Better to spend a half-hour looking around to avoid trouble," replied
Willow, "than spending hours dealing with it later."
 
"I agree," said Daithi, pleased to have had his assumptions about Willow
proven out once again. He then walked over to where his guardsmen were
sitting, finishing off their lunch. Within moments the three men were
heading out; one to check ahead along the trail they were planning to take,
another to check the way they had come to see if they were being pursued,
and the last to check the flanks to see if there was any force attempting to
outflank them, in order to ambush them latter.
 
The remainder of the group spent their waiting time grooming their horses,
and packing up the remains of their impromptu picnic. After twenty minutes
they heard the thunder of hoof beats as one of the guardsmen returned. It
was Colin, who had been tasked with checking out to see if they had been
followed.  
 
As he brought his tired horse to a walk he shouted out, "we've got company!"
"How many, and how soon," asked Daithi.
"Fifty or so now, and they'll be here in the next ten minutes or so,"
replied the exhausted guard, "but a lot more soon."
"How many more, and when will they get here," asked a suddenly very
concerned Willow.
"About five-hundred," replied Colin to a stunned group, "and they will
probably get here some time tomorrow."
 
"We have two options," said the arch-mage, "stay and fight or get out of
Dodge."
"As much as it pains me to say this," replied Buffy, "I say we get out of
here." Buffy then continued with her explanation, "this place sucks
defensively, and we are all way too tired to fight properly."
"I agree with Buffy," continued Grael, "we need to find somewhere to hole
up, to preserve our strength and to work towards a permanent solution."
 
"That settles it then," added Willow after a moment's reflection, "Padrick,
do you know somewhere we can lose our tail?"
"Yes lord. About half an hour from here there is a narrow bridge over a
gorge. If we can cross it, then drop it, it will give us at least a day's
lead, since the only other way across is at least a eight hour detour in
each direction for a small group, for an army it would probably take days."
 
"Let's go," said Willow as she turned to mount her horse, "we will collect
the other guards as we go. Buffy, you stay back, just in case they get
close."
<Don't worry love,> replied Buffy, <we will find a place for R&R soon.>
<I'll always worry, it's in my nature to worry. Besides if you can't worry
about the one you love, whom can you worry about?>
 
The group quickly remounted and headed up the trail towards their
destination. 
 
Within the half-hour Frankel and Willow exited the woods they were
travelling through and entered a small clearing which was in front of the
small bridge heading over the gorge. They were leading the majority of the
group by some five minutes or so and paused at the edge of the bridge
listening for the remainder of their band coming up the trail; in the
distance they could hear the sounds of battle from back along the trail.
 
"Sounds like they are getting close," commented Frankel.
"That it does, and it looks like they have company with them," replied
Willow who then turned to look at the bridge. It was a meter wide bridge
spanning the ten-meter wide gorge. It had narrow wooden planks, set close
together, but with gaps visible between them. There were only rope railings
and spindles. The entire also structure dipped ominously in the middle.
"This bridge only looks sturdy enough for one person at a time, and then not
on horseback, so why don't you head across and set up on the other side."
"No problem," replied the senior sage, "see you on the other side."
 
Over the next few minutes Willow watched as more of her strike force came up
to the bridgehead and crossed over to the far side. First Amana and Aiofe,
followed by Bridie and the guard Colin. Finally Grael, Daithi, Padrick and
David approached the bridgehead, casting worried glances behind them.
"Where's Buffy," she asked worriedly, "what's happened to her?"
"She's ok Willow," replied Grael, "her 'gift' kicked into action about five
minutes ago and she is holding the remaining demons back while we cross."
 
"Alright," continued Willow, still very worried about her lover, "the rest
of you get across, I'll wait for Buffy."
"I can't allow that," replied Grael, "you are too important to us, I'll
stay."
 
Reluctantly Willow agreed with Grael and proceeded to follow the rest of the
party across the river. When she arrived on the far side she turned to
Daithi and said, "Daithi, get ready to drop the bridge as soon as the others
cross I don't think we'll have all that much time."
<Lover, how are you doing?>
<Not too bad this time. At least I'm not in a berserk rage.>
<Point. How much longer?>
<Five minutes top, get everyone else across. I've sent on my horse. It's
easier to deal with these demons on foot. Make sure it gets across.>
<No problemo lover, see you soon.>
 
After her brief, mental, conversation with Buffy Willow looked over the
gorge and yelled, "Grael, wait for Buffy's horse, then get across pronto."
Just as she was saying this Buffy's horse appeared at the edge of the small
clearing before the bridge, heading directly for Grael.
"No problem," replied Grael, "her horse is here, and I'm coming across now."
 
Just as Grael reached the end of the bridge Buffy burst from the edge of the
woods. She was covered in blood and gore and was breathing heavily from the
effort of running for space, then turning to fight, then running again. As
she approached the bridge four demons came out of the woods heading right
for her.
 
Buffy turned to protect the bridge and called out to Willow, <drop the
bridge, now.>
<Are you NUTS,> replied the arch-mage, <how will you get across?>
<Don't worry. I'll get across as soon as I deal with these four. The
problem is that there is ten more coming.>
<I will not drop the bridge, we will deal with whatever happens once you get
across.>
<Just keep your eyes open for the rest of them, ok lover?>
 
Just then Buffy turned and slashed violently at the lead demon, who just
barely jumped back. Although he had avoided the killing slash, Buffy had
still managed to inflict a deep gouge across his chest, which immediately
began to bleed profusely. Ignoring that demon for the moment, she leapt to
the right and delivered a roundhouse two-handed swing to her second foe,
which resulted in the demon trying to stand on one blue leg while the other
twitched on the ground. "two down," she thought to herself, and spun to
meet the remaining two demons.
 
The other demons, both of whom were in excess of two meters and each
weighing over three hundred kilos, having seen what had happened to their
comrades, decided that staying and fighting was not a survivable option.
Since the slayer was by that point blocking their retreat to the path, and
the remainder of their force, they made a break for the bridge. The bridge
had not been built to handle that much weight running across it at one time
and as the demons reached the middle of the span, it collapsed spilling the
demons into the river, two hundred meters bellow.
 
"That just does it," yelled Willow as she watched the bridge collapse,
trapping her lover on the other side. Meanwhile, she noticed that at the
edge of the clearing the remaining demons were just leaving the woods,
heading for Buffy.
 
<Buffy, the rest of them are here. What are you going to do?>
<Watch,> replied the slayer as she quickly surveyed the edge of the gorge
and then placed her sword against her chest, which resulted in its being
reabsorbed into her skin.
 
She took about ten steps back, and with a brief "Goddess aid me now," ran to
the edge of the cliff and jumped.
 
 
I took a walk in the rain one day on the wrong side of the tracks
I stood on the rails till I saw that train
Just to see how my heart would react
Now some people say that you shouldn't tempt fate
And for them I would not disagree
But I never learned nothing from playing it safe
I say fate should not tempt me
 
I take my chances, I don't mind working without a net
I take my chances, I take my chances every chance I get
 
I Take My Chances
Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Come On Come On
© 1992 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
 
 
Finis part VIII
 
To be continued...