Spike felt the others reach his side; he didn’t turn to acknowledge them, keeping his focus on the group before him instead. “Well this looks like fun.”

He heard a chuckle from his left; glancing to his side, he smothered a look of surprise when he realised that it had come from Xander, who was standing at his side, sword clutched firmly in his hand, a look of delighted anticipation on his face.

Xander quirked an eyebrow as he noticed Spike’s look. “Hey, can I help it if I’m picking up on my inner blonde pest.”

Spike’s burst of laughter echoed around the chamber, the sound seeming to unsettle the heavily armed band before him.

“So any plans on what we’re going to do now?” Buffy let her eyes flit around the room, taking note of any entrances that were hiding in the shadows.

“I think it would be safe to say a surprise attack is out of the question,” Giles added dryly.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Anya stepped to the front, followed by Willow, Tara and Dawn. “We think we can shake them up a little.” She turned her attention frontward. “Be ready.”

Anya nodded to the other three, each of them focusing their energy forward. The small ball that Willow had used as an anchor for the moving barrier hovered in front of them, the soft glow that seemed to pulse from it suddenly brightened as it zipped forward, directly at the armed men ahead.

Before it had even reached them Buffy and Spike had started to run forward, closely followed by the others.

They heard shouts of surprise coming from the men ahead as the ball darted deep into the group; the force of the barrier as it collided with them at speed, knocking several to the ground.

Behind the group the air seemed to shimmer as a wide portal opened before them, allowing Buffy’s fighters to pour in and surround them.

The battle was over surprisingly quickly, Buffy laughed as she heard both Spike and Xander complaining about the easy fight. “If it makes you feel better, we still have to find Travers and you know that his guards won’t go down very easily.”

“So what will it be, luv?” Spike gestured to the large opening which led into another cave containing two smaller tunnels. “Should we take what’s behind door number one or door number two?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Quentin Travers sat in the small dark room, surveying the preparations before him. Glancing around the room, he noted how the flames from the candles dotted around the room danced across the rough stone. A wide stone bench stood in the centre of the room; the stone was marred at one end with deep gashes. Its surface seemed to glisten in the firelight making the bench seem alive.

Travers knew that it was a simple trick of the light, shadows playing with the remnants of past rituals, the blood of a hundred of his past children soaked deep into the stone. The blood of his past wives had never marred the sacred stone of the altar; there were, instead, cold rough manacles embedded firmly into one of the walls for that. At this very moment a terrified Milla was restrained by the steel bands, her soft cries adding to the atmosphere of the room.

He turned his attention from his newest plaything to his son as he was being forced onto the stone altar. Justin was struggling against the hands which tried to restrain him, disbelief shadowing his eyes as he tried to comprehend that this was all his father’s doing. Travers laughed as Justin tried to reassure Milla that somehow they would both be fine.

He paused for a moment in his musings, his feeling conflicted. One part of him was proud of his human son, his resistance showed that he would be a strong vessel for him to inhabit, he was growing weary of the aging body he now wore. The other, stronger part of him was getting annoyed though; he was irritated that the boy wouldn’t just shut up and submit to his fate. Travers wanted his new body; he wanted to take the lithe, beautiful Milla to his safe house where he could play with her at his leisure. He wanted to go find his human wife and take her there too, so that he and his mate could feed as was part of the ritual. But, most of all he wanted the disguise so he could hunt down the bane of his existence and make the blonde slayer and all her friends pay. It didn’t even have to be a slow death, he would be satisfied with quick and painful; as long as they all ended up dead he would be happy.

“Really, Justin, would you just shut up!” he finally snapped. “I really don’t want to have to hurt you, it’s a pain to have to wear the bruises for days afterward and I so want to be at my best when I get acquainted with our lovely Milla here.”

Renewed struggling and crying drew his attention to the wall behind him. “Now, now, Milla, my dear, there is no need for all that.” Travers moved to stand in front of her, running a hand roughly across her body. “You will soon learn to accept your fate, if you really need to blame anyone you should direct it toward our annoying Miss Summers. She is the one who has brought all this about, after all. If it weren’t for her you would have never known that our dear Justin was no more, and you were married to me. We would have had a long and happy life; you would have been treated like a queen. Well, that is until I needed to take on our own son’s body then you would have had a few weeks of pain as my mate and I devoured you alive. But that is all inconsequential now, I will become Justin shortly, and you will get to spend the rest of your days tucked away for me to play with at my convenience.”

“Sir.”

Travers waved his hand. “Yes, yes. It looks like everything is finally ready.” Leaning forward he pressed a deep kiss onto Milla’s mouth, pressing himself firmly against her body and enjoying the feel of her body as she tried to sink away from his touch. Laughing, he bent his head and bit down hard on one of her breasts before walking to take his place at his son’s side. “Now, Justin, I promise this will be very quick for you, you’ll lose your head for a minute, but it won’t last long at all.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Buffy studied the two tunnel entrances, one of these would lead to Travers, or at least in the same direction as Travers. They didn’t have time for mistakes, she could feel the others watching them as well, could hear the musings in her mind as they debated the most likely choice. Concentrating, she pushed their thoughts aside, closing her eyes as she tried to sense the right path.

“Perhaps it is time we put this to use?”

Slowly Buffy opened her eyes, not looking at the old man in front of her, but at the large roughly shaped box he held in his hands.

Buffy continued to stare at the box, she knew that this was the answer; she felt it inside her. The pulses from the box began to hum like a thousand voices whispering their secrets.

“Look at the top, pet?” Spike waved his hand across the dial in the centre, frowning slightly as he felt the warmth that radiated from it.

Buffy frowned as she studied the top, gasping when she finally saw the pattern that was etched into the circle. She looked up, studying the cave again before twisting her neck to study the box from a different angle. She brought her hand up to hover above the dial, hesitating before resting it flat against the surface and turning it to the right. The dial gave a click is it settled into place, sinking into the surface of the box, the etchings now a perfect image of the cave they stood in.

All present stood silently watching the misshapen box as the edges began to shift and move, as though becoming something else.

Samuel carefully placed the box onto the ground, stepping back as the box continued to transform. After a few minutes the centre dial began to spin, slowly at first then picking up speed until it was a blur of light. Colour began to spill from its centre until it bloomed upwards, images forming at its heart.

Deep in its core was a dark swirling mass. “It looks a bit like the well from the caverns,” commented Xander.

“Buffy, look,” Dawn gasped as she studied the glowing image; a thousand young women stepped from the dark core to bathe in the light.

“They’re slayers.” Buffy smiled as she watched the girls before her. “Or they would have been if Travers hadn’t murdered them first.”

“Why are they here, though? In the box, I mean.”

Anya spoke up, “Because he trapped them here, in the well Xander told us about—the place where the souls of Travers victims are bound.” Anya paused, waiting for Dawn to understand what she was seeing.

“The box, it’s a portal isn’t it?” Dawn peered at the box more closely. “It’s a direct doorway to the well.”

“All those lives.” A tear escaped from Buffy’s eye. “All those girls tortured and killed for one man’s pleasure.”

“I think they want a little payback, luv.” Spike noted the fierce look on the ghostly figures in the light.

“I know what to do.” Buffy turned suddenly, snapping her Redwulf together, she raised it above her head and brought the large mace end down violently on the box, shattering it with one blow.

Small pieces of amber light flew around in the air, as though caught in a wild wind. No one seemed surprised when each of the pieces seemed to erupt in a shower of light, a ghostly figure left stand in its place.

Buffy turned to survey her army—a mix of human, demon, and warriors of light. She felt a surge of power course through her; it was time to find the one who had destroyed so many lives. It was time to make Quentin Travers pay.

“You like to do things big, huh, Slayer?” Spike grinned at the golden girl beside him.

Buffy shrugged. “Hey, who said that you can’t do things with style?”

“I think its door number two, slayer.” Spike pointed to the tunnel that had begun to glow the same golden colour as the ghostly slayers.

“Oh pretty.” Buffy began to stride toward the entrance, her hair bouncing lightly in step as she twirled her weapon in anticipation.

“And you say I have too much fun fighting,” Spike gripped as he followed after.

“Oh, dear god, they’ve started again.” Giles shook his head as he and the others entered the glowing tunnel.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy and Spike stood shoulder to shoulder before their army. Soon after moving into the illuminated tunnel mouth, they had been met by a seemingly impenetrable darkness. Even drawing on Spike’s enhanced vision, they had been unable to see much further into the depths before them.

As they started to move forward, the glow from the golden warriors began to fill the tunnel and Buffy breathed a sigh of relief; soon after, the Solarians also began to illuminate their path, shifting the walls of the tunnel outwards until Buffy and Spike were joined by the others. Not one of their group made a noise as they finally came upon the bulk of Travers’ army.

A sea of faces met them, human and demon alike, stretching back deep into the tunnel. Without having spoken a word, Buffy felt those around her move back slightly, the ranks loosening.

Buffy turned to Spike. “I love you.”

Spike gifted her with a smirk, running his hand across his chest, his whole demeanour signalling that his reply would be something typically egotistic.

“An’ I love you, Buffy.” His attitude changed in a breath, and he ghosted a kiss across her lips.

The masses before them seemed puzzled by the scene; those behind them took it in their stride.

Suddenly a figure broke from their ranks, Xander rushed forward and dropped to his hands and knees in front of the enemy. Spike followed swiftly, planting one foot squarely on Xander’s back as he propelled himself over the wall of bodies and into the throng, Redwulf swinging even before he landed in their midst. His battle cry urged the others into action, and they soon followed suit, flying over and into the enemies’ ranks.

As Xander rose from his place, he wielded a cutlass that had gone unnoticed, slicing it neatly through the man who stood before him; the sounds of battle drowning out the man’s cry of surprise.

Buffy wielded her weapon with ease, pausing occasionally to survey the battle and direct her forces.

The golden warriors misted through the enemy ranks, working their way to the rear, their brilliance turning some of the vampiric number to instant ash, others turning to stone at their touch. Sh’Ralens began to appear from the shadows, drawing some into other dimensions while the Solarians shimmered brightly, changing the structure of the tunnel and encasing those who ventured too close to the walls in prisons of stone.

After what seemed like hours, Buffy finally stood in the silent tunnel, ash and bodies littered the ground around her. At first glance, Buffy could see no obvious causalities on her side. Spike moved to her side, a deep gash marring his cheek; even as Buffy lifted her hand to trace its path, the Amaran gem Spike wore healed it before her eyes.

“Think this is it, luv?” Spike motioned towards the rough wooden door recessed into the cold stone.

“He’s here.” Buffy turned her attention to the door. “I know it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*