FIC: Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior) Part 13d/14

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

Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior) Part 13d/14
K. Beckett (c) 2000, with the exception of musical lyrics which are (c)
the individual artists / labels.

Disclaimers:
Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show
are (c) 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.

Rating: R - for sexual acts between women and violence. If this offends
you, don't read.
----------------------------

"We have just received new intelligence, Lord."

"Yes."

"One of our outlying tracking forces has picked up the trail of a large
group of humans, heading north from the capital towards the area where
the demon Hugh was found."

"How many?"

"More than thirty, lord. They are moving slowly and our forces 
should be in a position to intercept by tomorrow at the latest."

"Good," said the demon master, "that many humans moving towards a sparsely
inhabited region can only be the work of the slayer. 
Make sure that we capture at least half of them, so that we can 
find out where they were going."

"As you will, lord."

"One other thing."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Get the army moving north. I have a feeling that we will be 
finding our answers, soon."

"It will be done."

The lieutenant bowed, and turned away from the demon lord.

The demon master put down the reports that he had been reading 
and thought, "soon, soon I will have her eliminated; and the 
threat she poses to me will be gone."

----------------------------------
For Sonya, and the other slayers, the last three weeks had been 
successful, if not enjoyable. They had trekked for nine days 
through a winter storm before they had reached one of the small 
outlining towns that were around the capital. The town had been blasted,
by the demon army that overran it, and was now a 
collection of burnt-out shells. The pitiful remnants of the 
human population lived like rats in the runes, scurrying out of 
sight at the slightest sound, for fear of the demons returning to enslave
them, like they had enslaved the rest of the town's 
survivors. Sonya had noticed, peripherally, the scurrying as she and
the others approached the ruins. She decided that time was 
no longer on her side and was definitely not available to her for a long
search through the town; She therefore took up residence 
in one of the least destroyed buildings, and waited for the 
inhabitants to come to her, as she knew they eventually would.

They settled into their temporary camp by setting up a campfire, sleeping
and storage areas, and by posting sentries at all of the openings to
the structure; an hour later Sonya was rewarded when she was told that
there was someone approaching the building. 
Sonya went to a gaping hole in one of the blackened walls, and 
carefully looked out, to see the emissary from the survivors of 
the town. She saw a small girl, no more than ten, carefully 
picking her way through the rubble towards the newcomers.

Inwardly seething at the callousness of other humans, for using a little
girl as a stalking horse, she waited until the girl was no more than
ten meters away from the blasted door of the house 
before saying softly, "It's ok. We won't hurt you. We've come 
for information, and some help."

The girl slowly moved closer to the building her eyes constantly darting
from side to side, as if she could see through stone, 
saying nothing. She stopped about three meters from the door. 
Sonya, moved away from the side of the opening so that she could be seen,
then said, "It's alright. We won't hurt you. What is 
your name?"

The girl, looked up and focused all of her attention on Sonya. 
Her face was streaked with dirt and her clothing totally 
inadequate for the winter, and then whispered, "Sam."

"That's a nice name, Sam," said Sonya as she carefully exited the building,
all the while keeping eye contact with the little girl. She moved closer
to the waif and then said, "would you like to 
come inside and get warm? We have some food also. Then we can 
tell you our story, so you can tell the others."

That had been all that was required. The girl was intelligent; 
she had to be to have survived that long, and she knew that she 
had been sent because the others in the destroyed town thought 
that she was expendable. She thought the offer over, and decided that
the chance to get warm, and for hot food was worth the risk. She followed
Sonya back into the building, and became the liaison between the slayers
and the town's survivors.

Over the next week, Sonya, by using the extra clothing and food 
that they had brought as currency, was able to get the other 
survivors to scout the other towns surrounding the besieged 
capital and find the mages she needed. By the end of the week 
twenty-two mages, of various ranks, had made their way to Sonya's camp.
Sonya knew then that it was time to go. They were now a 
significant presence in the area, and that would be sure to draw demon
attention before long.

They had left the following day, the thirteen slayers escorting 
the mages, and Sam. Sonya had decided to bring the little girl 
back with her since both of her parents were dead. Since she had no
living relatives, she would have continued to be at the mercy of the
other survivors in the town.

They had made good time back to the village, given that, for once the
weather appeared to be cooperating with them. This had 
resulted in their making excellent progress each day, even given the
reality that several of the mages had to move slowly due to 
lack of nutrition and injuries. Sonya had not seen any signs of demon
presence and hoped that their luck would hold just a little longer, since
she figured that they were only about a day or two from the village.
However, as they entered a small valley one 
morning, shortly before noon, disaster struck. Sonya could see 
that a force of demons already occupied it, a force over fifty 
strong.

"Goddess help us now," she said, "we were so close."

Sonya immediately arranged her slayers so that they formed a 
protective half circle around the mages, who, given their 
relative lack of experience, and condition, would not be in a 
position to offer any assistance. She then calmly waited for the demons,
who had already spotted her and were charging down the 
valley, to get close enough before she had her forces attack with their
bows.

"It's in the hands of the Goddess now," she said to herself 
before she focused herself for the upcoming battle and called out to
the others, "Fire!"

----------------------------------
Buffy and Daithi had pushed themselves as hard as they could. 
However, the storm that had passed just before they had departed the
inn had deposited several feet of snow in the passes. This 
had caused a significant delay in their progress towards the 
valley that Buffy had seen in the vision, and Daithi had 
recognized from Willow's description.

They had spent the previous night in an abandoned cottage, about a half-days
travel from the valley that Buffy had seen. As soon as they had awoke,
the two of them had immediately gathered their packs and headed out,
Buffy fearing that they would be too late.

As they entered the head of the valley, it looked like Buffy's 
fears were proving correct. For ahead of them was a massive 
force of demons charging towards a small group of humans.

"You were right," said Daithi, "we're too late."

"Maybe not. If Sonya and the others can hold them off for a 
couple of minutes, we should be able to hit them from behind."

Daithi looked over at the slayer, as if she was possessed, with a
disbelieving
look on his face. Buffy glanced over at him and 
said, reassuringly, "it's ok. I'm not that crazy. Besides, it's what
I do."

Just after Buffy finished saying a prayer to the Goddess, and as she
reached down to her chest to grasp her sword, which had 
migrated through the layers of clothing without burning them, 
they saw the front ranks of the demons fall to the onslaught of 
the slayers arrows.

"That's it," said Buffy, "now's our chance while they are 
distracted by Sonya and their wounded."

The two warriors made their way swiftly, but quietly, along the 
trail made by the demons in their rushing attack on Sonya and the others.
Within ten minutes, they were within striking distance 
of the demon rearguard. Buffy motioned for Daithi to head to the right,
while she would move to her left. This, would she hoped 
create additional confusion within the demon ranks once they 
began their attack.

Buffy quickly found a position from which to launch her attack. Thinking
over her plan of attack, she mentally cursed herself for not having arranged
for a signal to Daithi when she was ready. 
Thinking, "oh well, I'll just leap in and start slashing. 
Hopefully Daithi will see the effect I have and launch his own 
attack."

Buffy gave one more quick prayer to the Goddess then raised her 
sword overhead, causing it to burst into flame. Moving quickly 
to strike before any of the demons thought to look behind, she 
crossed the short distance between herself and three mottled, 
troll like demons, who were armed with heavy wooden clubs. She 
raised her sword and then swiftly struck a downward slashing 
blow, which sliced deep into the shoulder and chest of the first of her
opponents. 

Screaming, "time to die, scum bags," Buffy immediately pulled 
back her sword and then thrust it deep into her victim's back, 
killing it instantly by piercing his heart.

Pulling out her sword from the falling body, Buffy then leaped to the
right, to the side of her second target, avoiding the 
crushing blow from his club, which went whistling through the 
space that she had just vacated. Buffy pirouetted, ducked under the
return swing from the demon, and simultaneously slashed at 
his legs, slicing through one leg, and deeply into the other. 
The demon roared in pain, alerting several of his companions who turned
to see what had caused the trouble, and immediately 
dropped to the ground, to bleed out and die without causing any 
further trouble to Buffy.

Buffy paused for a second, to catch her breath, and saw that 
Daithi had indeed used her attack as the signal for him to spring into
action. She then noticed that her attack had drawn the 
attention of several other, at least ten, demons. Thinking, 
"time to be defensive for a minute or so," she moved back from 
her second victim and assumed a defensive pose, her sword moving back
and forth in front of her. 

The demons facing her decided that their best option would be to rush
this foolish human. Moving slightly apart, to try and flank Buffy, they
then rushed at her with a roar. Buffy didn't wait. Seeing the start
of their rush, she jumped to the left, to the 
extreme edge of the group of demons, and thrust into the belly of her
closest opponent. Using his scream of pain as a distraction Buffy then
leaped forward and rolled over her sword in midair; as she exited her
manoeuvre she slashed out, hitting the second 
demon in the skirmish line, who had just begun to turn to follow her,
in the side cutting into his lungs, and putting him out of 
action for the rest of the battle.

Knowing that she was finished if she remained in a stand up fight Buffy
continued to move quickly, slashing at various opponents, 
then using her superior strength and speed to move on. She 
worked her way across the rear of the demon force until she met 
up with Daithi. He had followed a similar strategy, moving 
gradually toward Buffy. Once they had met, Buffy took another 
quick breather, to allow Daithi and herself to regain some 
energy. They then resumed their attack, moving back and forth 
across the demons who were now confronted with attacks on both 
sides.

Meanwhile, Sonya attacked in strength. She had immediately 
noticed when the demons eased off their attack on her group. 
Surmising that she had somehow received assistance, from where 
she wasn't too concerned about, she paused for a few moments, 
allowing her group of slayers to regain their breath. Once they were
ready she led a charge into the now very demoralized demons. That was
enough to turn the tide; the demons were routed, and 
began to flee the valley leaving their wounded, and most of their weapons
behind.

Buffy and Daithi then busied themselves, dispatching the demon 
wounded, while Sonya and the other slayers patched up their 
wounded. Once the grisly job of finishing off the demons was 
completed, Buffy came over to where Sonya had set up her 
impromptu first-aid station.

"Hi Buffy," said Sonya, looking up as she approached, "excellent timing."

"Thanks," replied Buffy, sitting down on a dead log, "need any 
help?"

"Your healing skills would be appreciated," said Sonya, "for a 
couple of the more critically wounded, that I could do nothing 
for."

"I'll see what I can do."

Buffy and Sonya went to the area, which had been set aside for 
the more seriously wounded. Buffy saw that she was too late for three
of the group. Two of the mages, and one on Sonya's 
companions had been killed; they were now in the hands of the 
Goddess. However, Sonya did indicate that there were a number of serious
injuries amongst the slayers, serious enough that if 
Buffy did not act quickly the number of the dead would grow.

Buffy approached the young woman who Sonya indicated was the most seriously
injured. She looked down at the girl, and recognized 
her as Alya. She was one of the youngest of the new slayers, no more
than fifteen. She was crying softly, in obvious agony from the five
parallel gashes that had cut deep into her side and 
across her belly.

Buffy bent down and picked up one of the woman's hands, and said softly,
"Alya. I'm going to do my best, but you know that I've 
not got much experience at this?"

"I know," choked out Alya, "but you are the only hope I have."

"Will you allow me to use my gift to heal you," asked Buffy.

"I will," replied Alya, completing the ritual that would allow 
Buffy to use her magic on a human.

Buffy took a closer look at the wound, as she carefully unwrapped the
blood-soaked cloth that had been pressed against it, in a 
futile attempt to staunch the bleeding. She saw that the flesh 
had been mangled, as if by a series of serrated knives, and a 
yellow-green pus was oozing from the slashes.

"I hope you got the slime that did this," said Buffy, as she 
gently began to wash away the worst of the pus with a warm cloth. 

"He died just as he was hitting me," said Alya, wincing as Buffy cleaned
the wounds, "I just didn't leap back fast enough."

"You will next time," reassured Buffy, as she tossed aside the 
cloth she had been using to clean the wound. Buffy then paused, focused
her attention entirely on the young woman on the ground 
in front of her. She translated her sight into the magical 
realm, and looked for the energy ties that bound Alya to the 
material world. As expected, Buffy saw that the ties were 
dimming, as the life force drained away from the wounded woman. 

Buffy thought to herself, "got to give her the energy to stand up to
the healing," and began to use her feedback tools to pump 
energy back into Alya. She then called up the new skills that 
she had been training with, and laid her hands directly on the 
young woman's wounds. She concentrated, and focused her 
attention on the damaged tissue, convincing it to accelerate the bodies
natural repair process. She maintained her focus on her 
task, her knees rapidly stiffening beneath her until she could 
see the wounds close under her hands. As Buffy finished her 
healing accomplishment, Alya collapsed in exhaustion, and due to her
relief from the pain.

Letting out her breath in a soft wheeze Buffy stood up, stretched out
her legs, turned to Sonya, and said, "she'll be ok now. She will sleep
for the next few hours and wake up hungry as a bear. Now who's next?"

Buffy spent the remainder of the afternoon going from patient to patient,
healing each as best she could. Meanwhile, Daithi and 
Sonya got busy preparing and fortifying a campsite, since it was obvious
that they would not be able to proceed any further that 
day.

As dusk fell, Buffy sat on a log before the campfire, exhausted 
beyond belief from her healing efforts. Barely recognizing the 
dish that was put into her hands as food, she began to 
mechanically eat the meal that had been prepared. Before she was finished
her plate, she collapsed in exhaustion and had to be 
carried to her tent by Daithi.

Buffy awoke, just as the blankets were being tucked around her to whisper,
"Thanks."

"Sleep well. You deserve it."

Buffy had one more thought just before dropping into the arms of Morpheus
for the night and sent out a, -found them love. We'll 
be back in two days.-

She was reassured to hear Willow's, -love you, miss you, will see you
soon,- in reply.

----------------------------------
The demon master was pacing in his command centre, impatiently 
waiting for news about the attack on the group of humans heading into
the mountains. Suddenly, as his back was to the door, he 
stiffened then tuned and made obeisance.

"Lord," he said to the demon who was his commander and his master, "how
may I serve?"

"Talaker," said the huge, over three meters, demon. "You've been keeping
secrets again."

"Yes, master," said the demon Talaker, knowing it was pointless to try
to lie to his master.

"Where is she?"

"We don't know, yet, my lord," replied Talaker, beginning to 
wonder if these were his last moments alive.

Just then, a demon lieutenant approached the two demon lords. He bowed
and waited for permission to speak. Finally, the demon 
overlord gave him leave to speak.

"Masters," he began, "we've received word."

"Yes," said the overlord, "what is it?"

"Good news, my lord, the force that was tracking a group of humans into
the mountains, who we thought would have knowledge of the 
slayer," he added in clarification, "has been nearly destroyed."

"And why exactly is this good news," asked the overlord, wondering if
everyone on Talaker's staff was brain damaged.

"They were destroyed by the slayer," replied the lieutenant.

"That is good news, and it would be even better, if they found out where
she went."

"They did, lord," replied the lieutenant moving towards the main battle
map. "They are here," he said, pointing to the town of 
Morning Breeze.

"I trust, Talaker, that you have a plan?"

"I do lord."

"Please explain."

"In anticipation of news about the slayer from this group of 
humans I had already moved an army north, towards that very town." 

"That is good news, how large?"

"Nearly seven hundred, lord."

"Excellent. Now, I think that you had better get to them, and 
lead by example. I needn't tell you that failure is not an 
option, now do I?"

"No, my lord. I'll leave immediately."

----------------------------------
Two days after Buffy and Daithi had linked up with Sonya, they 
made it back to the village, and immediately plunged into a 
frantic series of preparations for Willow's attack on the hell-
mouths. Willow concluded that the demons who had survived 
Buffy's rescue mission would immediately alert their lord as to 
the location of the humans, and that the demon leadership would 
then be in a position to rapidly deduce Willow's location and 
launch an attack.

Willow knew, however, that she could not rush things. She 
therefore spent a precious week with the new mages, and the 
townspeople who would round out the circles, practicing the 
rituals that she would use to attack the demon's energy 
transportation network. Grael, Frankel and Amana spent the time preparing
an area in one of the barns, which would be big enough for Willow's
purposes,
by cleaning and arranging for a suitable 
source of heat. Buffy and Daithi worked on the defences of the 
town, and prepared for an attack all hoped wouldn't come, but 
knew that would arrive all the same.

Finally, just as the month was ending, Willow announced at 
breakfast that everything and everyone was ready, and that she 
would perform the ritual that night, after everyone who was 
involved had had a chance to prepare. 

Turning to Buffy at the breakfast table Willow then said, "that's it
then, we're committed to this course of action."

Just as Buffy was about to reply the door to the inn burst in, 
followed by an exhausted Padrick, gasping for breath, who called out,
"My Lady, demons! Demons are about to attack the village in strength!"

Finis Part XIII
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To be continued, and concluded, in Part XIV....