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Ancient shades by Kur
 
26
 
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Thanks to Melissa, my extraordinary beta. And to her mother as well! (I should have thanked her earlier!)

CHAPTER 26

The tall trees were wrapped in a wandering mist and a cloudy moon lit the forest glade with twinkling spots. A bonfire shed light on the five corpses lying on the damp grass. Their heads had been placed one next to the other and their fixed eyes stared at the six people gathering around the flames.

“The Vessel of Thorns is gone”. The Mayor looked as if he had been tugging his hair as a hysterical patient. His features, cast in shadows, emphasized the wild spark in his eyes. “Bet that’s a relief for you… But our Sorcerer… A simple wolf, a lesser creature stole her from me!” He put out his hands as if grabbing an invisible figure. His fists clenched clutching a cold gust of wind.

“She is not important.” Faith watched at the rows of demons standing on the valley. She personally had beheaded their leaders and now they were all hers to command. She could picture herself in front of her new armies, roaming along the streets of that stinking city, destroying and conquering everything at her path. “She is of no use now. Powerless. And we still have the sceptre.” Her voice chimed with a sinister glee. That stupid Buffy… She had really thought she was a cunning chick, saving that fucking Englishman and his Chest. She could have saved the effort, though. Her smile widened at the image of a weeping Slayer gathered by her friends with a brand golden sceptre that would be of no use. The artefact was even more cunning than her. Once it was used, it copied itself just in case somebody could have the heroic idea of stopping its deeds. Only a powerful warlock… no, a bunch of powerful warlocks would be able to close the doors of those realms that had been opened. Only a cleansing ritual would destroy that object that still shone with a dark glint at the City Hall dungeons.

That worthless sceptre of hers would be her death. Faith swore to herself she was going to stab Buffy’s heart with it. And Spike would be there to watch. She would force him to drink Buffy’s blood and then she would beat him so hard that he would never leave her. Maybe she would even cut one of his legs. Or both. She really didn’t need them. In fact, she was going to keep him on a leash. As those ancient Emperors with wild cheetahs as their pets. Walking along the corridors of their palaces with a chain in one hand and a whip in the other.

“They can’t defeat us. We have our armies and they are eager to engulf this weak world. Their realms are already ours…” Was that true? Angelus looked around feeling a little restless. He would have been sitting on a throne right now. All those creatures would be begging for his mercy instead of being standing there, waiting as bunches of wolves expecting them to be distracted enough to jump on their heads. And this pathetic human… He was only worried about his beloved witch, a tiny insignificant piece in this grand scheme. The horny Slayer by his side… He knew what was on her mind. She didn’t understand the greatness of having a whole world at her feet. Only anxious over an obnoxious bleached vampire that would be dust as soon as he put his hands on him again. They were too human… They didn’t deserve glory. That dark sceptre at the City Hall… He would wield it. He would rule all those demonic beings and lead them to splendour. And then… There would be only one King. Only one. Him.



“So we can’t rip that sceptre out of wherever it is before the whole ritual is complete…” Buffy tapped on Giles’s table feeling a little disappointed. After all she had done, things couldn’t just be simple. Like things were for heroes in the movies. Three punches, five kicks and they walked away happily with the girl in tow. And the ritual… She thought that it would be for closing those doors and shoving demons’ butts to their respective worlds… But that would be easy, wouldn’t it? Only for stopping the cracks from widening a little more. What’s done is done and if you want this new dark sceptre you have to pray for the ritual to work to allow your hands to touch it. In the meantime… why don’t you fight the thousand of demons that are gathering under Faith’s orders?

“What’s the real sceptre for then? I mean, she had gone far and beyond for nothing.” Buffy could have kissed Xander.

“Once the ritual is complete the real sceptre will… engulf, sorry for the expression but I can’t find any more suitable, the dark one.” Lord Haney explained while sipping from his whisky glass. “And you must be there, wherever the dark one is, with this real one.”

Spike snorted and poured another glass for himself. Third in a row. Giles scowled at him for a brief second but didn’t say anything. Too important guests deserve the best Watcher’s manners, it seemed. “I really hope you know what you’re doing here, snotty boy. We’re all going to be puppy food if you don’t. So… -he gulped the amber liquid- let’s have a fight then…”

“What about the Ascension?” Willow asked with a thread of voice. She hadn’t said anything for hours and her eyes had been locked to the carpet as a repentant pilgrim.

“One thing at a time, Red.” Spike gently pressed her shoulder. So much he said with that simple gesture! Willow smiled back and her fingers squeezed Oz’s. “Let’s get rid of the bloody rubbish first. Then we can go for the wanker himself. You do your hocus-pocus and let’s us clean the road, yeah?”



The moon had disappeared behind strange purple clouds when Giles arrived at the school, escorted by his relative – odd thing that of meeting someone you weren’t supposed to know but from old family portraits – a reluctant Willow and a dogged Anya.

There was a stinking smell as they approached the library doors. Like something rotting. Wafting along the empty corridors as a silent punch. His hand flipped the light switch and it stayed there while his eyes grew wider at the sight of torn bookcases and fallen chairs. The door of the cage where he kept his special weapons was wide opened. Splashes of red tainted the walls. The smell was even more wicked there. As if he had entered an abandoned slaughtering house. Filthy and putrid. Giles retched as the sight that waited for him at the cage. A beheaded body. One of his broad axes was lying on his chest, its blade stained with a thick nasty dark splodge. The corpse’s hands clutched the handle as if he would rise in every minute to search for one head to replace his. Giles stepped back without a word and looked for something to cover the poor guy. Obviously, he had been Buffy’s Watcher in this strange mixed world. He had nothing at hand. Maybe it would be better to just drag the fetid thing out. The mere thought of pulling from one of his legs made him retch again.

His mind was a rushing mess. He would have liked to be everywhere. Here to help with the ancient languages, in the streets helping her Slayer fighting an unfair battle. Wherever that Mayor was to cut his throat as soon as he achieved his new demonic status. But he couldn’t. He just had to stay among dusty tomes, yellow flaking scrolls, dozens of red, violet and black candles.

“We have now to summon the book.” Lord Hanley said in a feeble voice. He looked so out of place under the electric lights. As an actor rehearsing a period play. “For the ritual…” He explained when three pair of eyes stared at him. “You didn’t think I had…” He shook his head and there was something in his manners that made Willow smile a little. If he had worn glasses he would have been rubbing them with a white handkerchief right then. “Let’s start, please.” A roaring thunder echoed inside the school. Wild flashes of lightning bolts blazed outside the windows.

An ancient chant filled the air. The words seemed to flow to the ceiling and fall over their heads as a powerful, electrified wave. Through their joined hands flickered such energy that Willow fidgeted uncomfortably on the floor, her mind wrapped in disturbing memories, feeling that known and overwhelming sense of power filling every nerve in her body. But she could control it now. She could feel the power building inside her like a new star. Her hands left those of Giles and Anya and shot out, wrapped in a strange glow.

Bright green tendrils trailed over the floor to form a green orb that grew wider till it only outlined the shape of a disturbing figure. The snakes on his head danced and hissed furiously, sometimes stretching out to bite the frayed fabric of his greyish shroud. His hands were nothing but bones, yellowish and decayed, as if they belonged to an ancient mummy. Still, they were powerful enough to hold a thick tome in them. He held Lord Hanley’s gaze for a long minute before disappearing leaving only the book on the ground and a green spark which still floated above their heads as a little dwarf.

A little blind by the strong light, Giles could see the tremor in his relative’s hands when he reached out to grab the bizarre volume. There was something disturbing in its brownish cover. It seemed it would flake in any minute leaving only the creamy pages. Although they didn’t look like paper. As much as he could see, only two or three corners that showed briefly under the thick covers, that wasn’t ordinary paper but some sort of rigid papyrus.
Giles turned to Anya. She was shaking like a kid.

“Take a long look at that.” The finger that pointed at the tome trembled as a leaf. “I saw it once, only once, and it was only a dream.” She whispered with such a mixture of fear and respect that Giles felt a sudden and freezing shiver running along his spine. Shuddering, he followed his relative to the table and it was his time to gasp. “Yes, it’s skin. Human. And the pages are made of bones…”

“And every time the book is used, another page is added to it…” Lord Hanley stated in a low voice. “Hope he will be satisfied with our poor friend at the cage…”

“Let’s start with the ritual.” Willow almost begged.

“Yes, I think we should do that…” Giles agreed turning round to look at the tiny green spark that look back at him as a minuscule spying device.




The moon was a big, reddish sphere watching at them like the eye of a cross god. In spite of the clear sky, bolts if lighting spread their myriad of bright white fingers across the dark sky and the echo of roaring thunders followed them as they walked along the streets.


Buffy’s eyes still gazed in awe at the mess her city was now. It seemed as if an army had bombed it for ages. Yet, the army hadn’t appeared, though. And she didn’t even want to think about that moment. How many could they defeat being only five? One of them having only one arm. Sort of speak. She took a glimpse at Cordelia carrying a crossbow with her good hand and couldn’t help frowning. Maybe she could tell Willow to cast a spell just to bring this Cordelia to her reality.

“Next time you aim at me with that bloody toy I’ll shove it up your ass!” Spike yelled suddenly, releasing her hand. “And I’ll pull the trigger just to send your head flying to the moon!”

“Please, don’t start.” Buffy stopped her pace to glare at her friend. “We’re in an important mission here, not wandering around trying to find a nice bar.”

“G.I. Jerk started!”

“He’s been whispering idiot things at your back!”

“Can you behave like grown up people just for once! Xander, you’re a moron and Spike… How old are you anyway? Two hundred or two years? Gee, grow up!” Cordelia rolled her eyes and glared at Xander. “Where did you get that oversized gun anyway?”

“It’s a shotgun, okay? A special one.” He sighed angrily at being admonished like a kid. That fiend had been teasing and teasing all the way with his annoying remarks and he was the moron! Freaking unbelievable! “And I… found it. Seems worthless now. The whole place looks like an empty trashcan!”

Buffy couldn’t shut her mouth. She definitely was going to beg for that spell. “Yeah, it’s a little quiet, isn’t it? I mean, where are the armies of hell?”

“Maybe at the City Hall…” Cordelia shook her head at Xander’s loud laugh. “All I say is that I think there’s something there. They were having a meeting that day, weren’t they? Either that or they were having tea at the Mayor’s office, which I doubt.”

“That… -Spike smirked at Xander while entangling his arm around Buffy’s waist, - is a smart idea. How come you never have one…? Too busy with your own little pistol? Doesn’t leave much of your noggin, ah?”

“Bet you escaped from those dungeons using that long tongue of yours. Probably licking all the way out. And maybe Mr. Pryce as well, didn’t you Dead Boy?”

Spike smirked widely. One step and he shortened the gap between them, till he was only an inch from Xander’s face. His fangs shone bluish under the streetlights. “See, little prick, you’re learning fast. Very good retort.” He laughed before stepping back to follow the two girls that had left them behind.



The City Hall stood in front of them like a sinister icon with dozens of bright eyes. The bolts of lighting that quivered in the sky ploughed on the roofs wrapping the whole building in a white glow.

“Do you hear that buzzing?” Buffy stopped for a second trying to pierce the horizon. Something in the air told her they were not alone. Yet, the streets looked as empty as a graveyard.

The humming grew stronger as they approached the double doors. The ground rocked softly underneath them as if a thousand of feet were marching nearby. A black thick line seemed to waver in the distance. Spike vamped out and his yellow eyes widened in disbelief. “Slayer… I think we should run inside now.”

“The doors can’t be opened… But there’s a window…” Xander ran first followed by the tiny crew. The bright blast of the shotgun shut down the welcoming growl in the hallway. “The dogs… I thought you…” He stared at Oz.

“We must go down the stairs… To the basements…” Oz leaded them along the boggy corridors they had passed through days before. The few lights that were still on, flickered and sparkled till they went out with a strangled shriek. A powerful thump crept upstairs and ricocheted against the walls. One after the other like the heavy steps of a giant.

tbc...
 
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