FIC: REPOST: Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior) Part 7f/?

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

Militat omnis amans (Every lover is a warrior) Part 7f/?
K. Beckett (c) 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 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.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five
acknowledge senses have been enclosed in < >.

mailto:kevin.beckett@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Just before noon Willow's strike force was ready to leave, albeit belatedly.
They had spent the balance of the morning being interviewed by the local
police, each of them having to give a statement. Buffy and Daithi were
required to answer numerous questions regarding the fight in the kitchen.
Before they could depart, everyone had to promise to return the following
week when the magistrate would set the accused bandits down for trial.

"That's if there is anything around next week," commented Willow to the
group as they gathered their horses and prepared to continue their mission.

Willow then turned to her mounted force and said, "ok folks, the day is half
gone, but the good news is that the hell-mouth is only about three hours
North-West of town. We have already arranged for rooms back here tonight,
so that is one less worry." Willow reigned over her horse and headed out of
the stable yard with the rest of the party following.

"We don't know what the demon forces are like at the hell-mouth, nor do we
know the precise location."
"What do we know," asked Buffy, echoing the thoughts of most of the group.
"Basically," replied Frankel, as he began to perform the task that he had
given himself, "that this particular transfer point has not been used that
often by the demons. In addition, there has been historically little
activity by demons in this general area."
"Hopefully," continued Willow, "the demon force that Buffy dismembered,
literally, yesterday was the only major force in the area, and therefore I
will be able to do my job without any major interference." 

During the conversation, the group had left the town boundaries and had
started out on the northern road. After an hour on the road they came to an
intersection, the main road continuing north, with a badly overgrown
secondary road heading in the direction they needed to go.

"Why do I get the feeling that this road is trying to tell us something,"
commented Buffy as she examined the road that had obviously not seen any
traffic for days.
"You're just a pessimist," replied Willow, "after all, we don't know for
certain that only demons live up this road now do we?"
"I wouldn't bet against it though," commented Aiofe dryly to her lover.
"Nor I," Bridie replied.

"Pessimists, I'm surrounded by pessimists," said Willow as she turned her
horse onto the side road, "Daithi, you're not worried are you?"
"Um," Daithi replied choosing his words carefully, "worried isn't the word
I'd use."

They continued on the road for another hour, with the road getting rougher
and the undergrowth along side of it thicker. Suddenly after going around a
corner in the woods the road widened and the undergrowth had been cut away
leaving a pleasant clearing.
"I think we should pause here and discuss our plans," said Amana as they
rode into the clearing, "we need to get some idea of how you plan to proceed
Willow."

<Here we go,> commented Willow to Buffy as she paused for a moment to
collect her thoughts.
<You'll be fine,> replied Buffy in encouragement, <remember what I told you
last night.>

"You are right Amana," replied Willow, "It's just that I've been formulating
my plan and checking for problems before I was willing to discuss it with
everyone."
"Are you ready to discuss it now," asked Grael.
"Yes," answered Willow as she dismounted and walked around the glade
stretching her muscles. "My basic idea is to permanently seal the transfer
portal. To do this I'm going to link with Aiofe and Bridie and use them as
anchors while I shift my awareness and attempt to destroy the links and
sources of energy that support the portal in the magic realm."
"Ambitious," commented Frankel, "what are your plans for the rest of us?"
"Simple," replied Willow, "Buffy will guard the three of us, while you,
Grael and Amana will use your magic to keep any unwanted nasty things at
bay. Daithi and the guardsmen will watch the horses and protect your, and
the other mages, backs while you do your stuff."

"Have you been able to get a fix on the location of the hell-mouth," asked
Grael.
"I think so," replied the arch-mage, "It should be about three kilometres
north of here."
"No road," commented Aiofe.
"Nope," replied Buffy, "time to travel through the woods. Someone bring the
pebbles?"
"Huh?"
"Don't worry Aiofe," said Willow, "its an in-joke."

Everyone took the opportunity to dismount and stretch before heading into
the woods. Daithi and his guardsmen took the lead since they had the best
chance of finding paths and trails through the forest that would lead in the
direction that they needed to go. The others followed closely behind, with
Willow and the other mages using all of their senses to attempt to find
potential trouble, before it found them.

"Strange," commented Amana after twenty minutes of travelling through the
dark, dense forest, "I'm not able to sense any sentient creatures within
kilometres of us. Could they be masking us somehow?"
"I don't think so," replied Grael, "I think that somehow we happened to
choose as our first target a sparsely populated area, and an underused
portal."
"Let's just hope this luck holds for the rest of the day," said Frankel,
echoing the hopes and fears of the entire party.

The reached their destination without any incidents, with Willow bringing
everyone to a halt at the edge of a clearing in the middle of the forest.
The hell-mouth was an invisible, evil, presence that they could all feel
located in the centre of the clearing. The mages were however, able to
'see' it using their ability to see into the magic realm.

"We're here."
"Can we do this now, or do we have to wait for a specific time," asked Buffy
as she swung out of the saddle.
"No," replied Willow, "we'll start as soon as everyone has had a chance to
eat, call it twenty minutes or so."
"That will leave about an hour or so to sunset," commented Amana, "is that
enough time?"
"Plenty, I hope," answered Willow.

Within thirty minutes everyone was ready. Willow, Aiofe and Bridie took up
their place facing the portal and about twenty meters away from it. Buffy
was with them, keeping a close eye on the edge of the woods. Daithi and the
guardsmen had staked the horse's reins into the forest floor, with two of
them watching the horses and the other two the remaining mages. Frankel and
Amana had taken up a position about ten meters behind and to the left of
Willow with Grael on the other side.

<You ready love?>
<As ready as I'll ever be.>
<Luck, knock them out of the park.>

Willow took the hands of the other two women and began her breathing
exercises. Within minutes all three were breathing in an identical rhythm.
As soon as they were comfortable, they grounded themselves and prepared for
Willow's expedition into the magic realm.
"Here we go ladies," Willow called out, "remember, no matter what happens,
at least one of you has to hold onto me, or I could be lost."
"Don't worry," replied Aiofe, "we won't let you go."

Willow took one last deep breath then translated her awareness into the
magic realm. As soon as she did, she could see the hell-mouth for what it
was, an evil construct pulsating with malevolence, and sucking energy from
the surrounding area. "This thing is two way," thought Willow as she
surveyed her surroundings, "they must use them to transport energy back to
their home worlds."

As Willow was beginning her work, Frankel noticed movement at the edge of
the woods and he yelled out, "we've got company," as a band of twenty demons
burst from the woods heading directly for Willow and company.
"Got them," replied Buffy as she moved to intercept them before they could
disrupt what Willow was doing. The other mages and the guardsmen all began
to fire missiles and spells into the demons, trying to keep them from their
target.

Willow meanwhile had begun to gather energy into herself. She detached
herself totally from the real world, trusting that she would be able to use
either Aiofe or Bridie to return. She focused the energy into the centre of
the hell-mouth and yelled out "co-healal dorrys!" The result was
spectacular. There was a titanic explosion in both the real, and in the
magical realm. Somehow, Aiofe was able to keep her grip on Willow as the
three of them were blown back twenty meters by the force of the explosion.
The effect on the others was equally dramatic with bodies both human and
demon being blown in every direction.

As soon as she could regain her equilibrium, Aiofe called out, "Willow,
return to us, return to the ones who love you."

Willow slowly regained awareness of the real world, sitting up, she shook
her head and commented, "got to think of something else for the next one."

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The effects of Willow's spell were felt far away from the hell-mouth. In
the demon masters situation room the closing of the hell-mouth was felt
immediately, since all of the demons in the room immediately collapsed in
pain. After a few minutes the demon master got to his feet and yelled out,
"Hugh, I want you here now."

Running into the room on still unsteady legs Hugh replied, "Yes lord, your
will?"
"I want you and Junulak to leave immediately and deal with those humans."
"Yes lord, but may I ask why?"
"That damn human has figured out a way to close the transfer portals
permanently. If she keeps on closing them, our existence both here and at
home will be threatened. Now leave me, and don't return without proof of
their deaths."

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Finis Part VII

To be continued...