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Chapter 16
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Spike looked out over the field in front of them and blew out a breath. "Seein’ how our band of buggered is gettin’ smaller each god we fight, I reckon we
better make short work of this, if we want to have a reason to use those hearts Charlie boy donated. You know, the world was a lot simpler place back when
there was a manageable number of gods to deal with. Now there’s one on every street corner. Liked the old C.O.E. standard a bit better, more straightforward." He turned to Xander and quipped, "Remind me to nick one of them green-feathered headgear to take back to the Bit as a souvenir. Okay, once more into the breach, ‘eh?"

There was a good-sized army of painted and feathered Aztec warriors, primed and waiting for the interlopers to descend the ridge and engage in battle. The Jaguar
Knights had spotted them when the portal opened and had signaled with their bird calls to the Eagle Knights. In response to the signal, the Eagle Knights began chanting as the Jaguars moved to encircle the small invasion force.

"Bit of overkill, don’t ya think, Watcher?" Spike asked as he saw how badly they were outnumbered. "Must have been expectin’ an army a tad bigger than we are."

"Remember they rely on their priests to determine battle strategy and timing. Also, don’t forget that they are more interested in capture than in the kill. We
are too valuable a sacrifice to be overrun on the field of battle." Giles had studied the Aztec battle methods thoroughly on the plane from LAX to El Paso.

"And yet I don’t feel comforted," Xander replied.

The first wave of warriors met Spike, who had taken point position for the trio. Spike was wielding his favorite battle axe in a frenzy of bloodlust.
Watching the violent vampire, Giles was reminded of tales of Berserkers who lost themselves and became one with the battle, going into near madness as they attacked. Surely Spike had the spirit of them in him this day. The Aztec warriors were armed with spears they had been well trained in using, but they had never before come up against such a warrior as the whirling, screaming axe-wielder they now faced.

Spike had taken out a good dozen before the unit of Jaguar Knights completed their movement to surround the trio. Xander began to imitate Spike’s movements and sounds, working on those warriors to the right of the vampire. Giles took up a position behind and to the left of Spike and was firing off volleys of arrows
from the crossbow he commanded. Whether it was the element of surprise or just the strangeness of their fighting methods, the rescue team was able to take out one full unit of Jaguars before taking any hits themselves.

It was fortunate that the Jaguar Knight’s vanity had caused him to have his spear made completely of silver. If it had been merely metal-tipped wood, Spike would have dusted. As it was, the spear went into his heart but didn’t turn him to ash. Xander lopped the head off of the startled Knight as the rest of the unit fled the sight of the man still upright and fighting with a spear through his heart.

Spike pulled the spear from his chest and tore the bottom of his t-shirt, bunching the material to shove into the wound to stem the blood flow. He was going to have to eat something to heal as quickly as possible. With a growl, he latched on to one of the recently killed Knights and went game face.

The remaining Knights screamed in terror, "Night Axe! Call for the priests!"

Giles continued to rain arrows from his crossbow at the retreating army, while Spike fed his way back to fighting form. Xander looked at the scampering warriors and asked, "Not that I mind, but what just happened?"

"I believe there is a legend of a creature that is dead yet roams the earth with a gaping chest wound. It eats people. They call it the Night Axe. It would seem that Spike has just brought the creature to life, if you will. Clearly they weren’t expecting any such thing. I would assume they will consult with their
priests as to how to proceed, and when. At best this incident will buy us some time and perhaps gain a bit of a reputation for us to inspire fear."

"Good thing for you that spear was metal, Bleach Boy, or the only thing we’d inspire would be a good sweeping up." Xander clapped Spike on the back in a
show of friendship.

"Right then. I’d say we use the time we have and scout about. Not liking the ratio of us to them and the element of surprise is gone now." Giles picked up
his rucksack with the arrows and headed the rest of the way down the hill. "I think there is shelter in that grove of trees there. We can rest and get a feel for the lay of the land."

Spike had already gone a fair way towards healing thanks to the strong human warrior blood he had taken. He was rather surprised that neither of his companions said a word at what he had done. "All right, which one of you’s gonna say it? Not used to you lot turning a blind eye to a vamp feeding."

"Under the circumstances, it’s a great deal like medicine, isn’t it? Besides, the warrior was already dead. I’m afraid I just don’t have it in me to complain." Giles looked Spike straight in the eye and didn’t flinch when Spike knelt and drained another of the fallen Aztec Knights.

"’M not gonna make a habit of it, so don’t start lookin’ for some sharp wood. Figure you still need me in battle‘s all. I’m still off the human on regular
days and still got the soul." Spike had heard the Watcher but still couldn’t shake the idea that there would be hell to pay for his instinctive actions.

"Spike fighting on our side is of the good. I vote you help yourself to all the Aztecs you can eat, provided they’re already dead, that is. Just one thing
… when this is all over, are you gonna be like some junkie going through withdrawal when you go back on the pig variety?" Xander looked genuinely concerned at the
thought.

"Don’t go worryin’. It’s just a matter of self-control and whether you believe it or not, I’ve got plenty of that. Okay, Tiny the Guardian said we’d need the battle to get in. We’ve done that and we’re in right and tight. I’m thinkin’ the less battlin’ we have to do from here on in, the better."

"I second that!" Xander had no desire to have to face scores of angry Native Americans again. His track record with angry Native Americans often resulted in funny syphlis. They weren’t likely to get lucky a second time.

They moved stealthily towards the temple area. The tiered structure towered over the landscape, dominating everything in its shadow. "You know, I think I prefer
this stuff as ruins. Less overdressed guys with pointy sticks, more with the cool crumbling statues and skulls." Xander spoke in a whisper to Giles.

"Yes, I must agree with you there. Archeology is fascinating, but not when it comes to life like this."

"Ssssh, thought we were supposed to be sneaking up on the locals here while we’ve got the chance. Can’t sneak up with you two yappin’, Spike glared at the other two.

As they neared the edges of the settlement, they noticed a cage with a figure in it. It appeared to be a makeshift jail of sorts. The lone guard was dozing,
clearly in REM. Giles whispered to the others, "As this appears to be the equivalent to prison here, I suggest we poke about this area for our missing. I
would imagine their being sent here against their will would make them prisoners of sorts."

They located a stone building, barely more than a room in size. There they could see Angel, heavily manacled and looking as if he’d had more than a passing acquaintance with a Knight or two himself. Giles and Xander headed for a hidden location to wait as Spike went in to free Angel. Daylight would be coming soon
and they wanted to be in a secure and dark place before it made their entire trip an exercise in futility.

"Yo! Come on, ya bloody wanker, wake up!" Spike shook his sire to bring him to alertness.

"Spike? Damn, are you going to follow me everywhere for eternity?" Angel’s smile proved his words to have been meant in jest. "Took you long enough to get here. They have Illyria at the palace. I think she’s enjoying being around her own kind again. At least she’s kept them from killing me so far, so I can’t complain too much. Did I get the dragon?"

"Yeah, Puff went poof. I’ve got Giles and Xander here with me. We need to get Buffy and get out of here. If Blue wants to stay, okay by me." Spike was
unchaining Angel as he spoke.

"Buffy? What are you talking about? It’s just me and Illyria here. Buffy wasn’t in that alley. Why would you think she’s here?"

"Look, lots of stuff’s been happenin’ while you’ve been soakin’ up history in this reenactment dimension. We were hopin’ they put all of you in the same place, but no such luck, huh? I’ll explain what we know after we get away from the snoozin’ guard out there, okay?"

Stealthily, Angel followed Spike to the small cave chosen by Giles for them to hide in. It was easily defended and would provide all the shelter they would need. They were still counting on the priests to be dithering about what to do about the three intruders that had routed their best warriors.

Spike made one quick trip to the battlefield to bring back a fresh body for Angel to feed from. They would need everyone in their party to be in top condition if they hoped to survive. The Whelp and Giles had enough food in their backpacks to hold them for a while.

"So you’re saying that The Immortal took Buffy somewhere at roughly the same time we were snatched from the alley? Does that mean he works for the Senior Partners?"

"Can’t put nothin’ past you! Yes, you bloody git, the Immortal’s in the employ of your former bosses. Has been from day one. We probably should have figured
that one out when we had that whole game of ‘who’s got the head’ last year. Pretty obvious, lookin’ back on it."

"And you don’t have any idea where they’ve taken Buffy? We have to do something."

"Want to state the obvious, Dead Boy? That’s what we’re doing here. You can’t think I’d take on the great feathered army to save your sorry ass, can you?"
Xander glared daggers at Angel. Nope, no love lost there!

"We assumed she might be here with you as your disappearances seen to have coincided. Obviously, we were incorrect. Since we are here, we’ll complete
your rescue, and possibly this Illyria’s, return to our own dimension and look for fresh clues." Giles was tempted to just leave Angel and the demon god there, but since the ultimate goal was to defeat the Senior Partners, the captives had to be removed from their influence.

"I don’t know if Illyria will want to go. She’s even taken to reverting to her original form for public appearances. Scares the hell out of the locals, I
gotta tell you. She wasn’t happy in our world, Spike. You know that."

"Yeah, but I also know that you don’t have a clue of how to talk sense to her either. You can’t just give her orders and expect her to fall in line. Gotta use
psychology on her."

"And you’d know about psychology how?" Angel asked with a smirk.

"Seein’ how you left me with your Dru-shaped mess to take care of, let’s just say I learned the hard way." Spike gave his sire look bordering on hatred at the memory of the woman Angelus had destroyed and then abandoned. Dru was dangerous and a loon, but she had once been a sweet and pious girl with her whole life ahead of her. Even after getting a soul cursed on him, Angel had neglected the girl he had ruined, leaving her survival to the fates and Spike.

"He has a point", Giles stated.

"All right. Look, when night falls, I’ll take you to where she’s been living. You can give it your best try. If she wants to stay though, I say we leave her and go find Buffy." Angel was already trying to take charge of the operation.

"Yes, well, we’ll see about that when the time comes. Right now, I suggest Spike take the first watch. You’re still peppy from the fresh blood, right?" Giles assumed command again.

"Yeah, I’ve got it. Don’t need much sleep anyway. I’ll wake one of you if I start to fade. You picked a good spot here, Watcher. Proud to serve under you." Spike said that last deliberately to put Angel in his place. He missed the flush of pride on Giles’ face at hearing the words though. ‘There, take that, you
manipulative ponce. You’re the one getting rescued, that doesn’t make you the bloody General. Your fault we’re in this mess’, thought Spike.

Tomorrow, Illyria’s pet would make a pitch she couldn’t turn down and the five of them would get back to their own world. They had their Slayer to find and rescue.
Blue would be a big help if the battle got as dangerous as Spike feared it would before it was all over. For now, Spike would watch as the others rested.