disclaimer in part 1
Swan Song
By Diane
-----
THE DESTROYER'S JUDGMENT
The warm stench of death wafted across his face as his eyes
lifted slowly open. Huge sweat covered hands gripped around
his abdomen, almost cutting off his air. Boa constrictor.
The space before him was blurry, but he saw the eyes. Red,
peering at him, unblinking.
He coughed, feeling dizzy.
"Angel!" Spike called.
He was backed up against the Gothaim, plastered against it,
just out of the wing radius of the thing that had Angel in
the air.
"You have been here before," it growled, its eyes narrowing
as its lips peeled backwards into a disgusting leer.
"Spike..." he whispered, but it sounded more like a wheeze.
Couldn't get enough air into his lungs. Couldn't...
The beast's index finger pressed against his forehead, and
Angel shut his eyes. Waiting for his fate. He remembered
this... He remembered this with such haunting clarity, he
started to shiver.
< YOU ARE NOTHING. >
A claw raked down his cheek, biting into the skin like acid
as it left a streak of new blood behind it, but he was
running out. He wouldn't bleed much longer... The dizzy,
mushy peace that was descending over him like a warm, fleecy
blanket told him at least that much.
< YOU ARE NO ONE. >
But suddenly, he was sent tumbling to the ground. A broken
toy. Tossed out. No good. He gasped as waterfalls of
blackness cascaded before him, and not the blackness of the
landscape either. The scent of brimstone wafted into his
nostrils. The evil, rotting stench of death. Fire.
< YOU ARE NOTHING. >
The large creature let out a wail, a terrible, screeching
wail that grated over his ears like nails on a chalkboard.
Harpy. Piercing.
< YOU ARE NO ONE. >
Collapsing into the sooty, craggy earth, he clasped his
hands weakly over his ears, but his one arm was too messed
up. He couldn't get a good grip. Couldn't even flex his
hand. He felt his innards roll, threatening to spill out in
a heaving torrent of vomit.
< YOU ARE NOTHING. >
Wind swam across his face as the creature's flapping wings
beat harder. He could hear the thump, thump, thump, as they
reached their apexes and fell once again. Black. Rotting
feathers fell to the ground in a torrent of sooty snow
flakes.
"YOU ARE PURE! YOU CANNOT BE HERE..." It boomed.
The air rattled around him with vibration, practically
sending him into convulsions. His chest felt like it was
turning to goo. A subwoofer, up too high. Too high...
"WHAT POWER HAS SENT YOU HERE?"
Angel coughed, stumbled onto all fours. "We fell..."
Coughed again.
"WHAT POWER?"
"None..."
Angel was relieved that Spike answered for him, because he
didn't think that he could muster the strength to. Wheezing
and choking in the growing oppressiveness of the atmosphere,
the blood loss was finally getting to him. He blinked,
noticing for the first time that his damaged arm was still
weeping copious amounts of blood. Drops of the sticky,
coagulating fluid fell to the blackened earth like rain.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The creature growled again in frustration, and Angel rocked
under the force of it. Earthquake. "YOU HAVE BEEN
PURIFIED."
This was a good thing, Angel took it, because the dark,
hulking beast looked rather unhappy. The leer was gone.
It stood, arms outstretched as a white glow began to develop
at its fingertips, wings spread outwards in the flaring
light like Phoenix rising.
Angel blinked and started to shake as the earth began to
rumble. A huge golden portal spiraled outwards into the
black air, tendrils of light clawing apart into the
brimstone atmosphere like spider webbing.
"Spike..." he called, trying to stumble to his feet. The
first few attempts nearly sent him sprawling again, but he
managed to wobble into an upright position. Spike leapt
forwards from the obelisk, the fear in his eyes completely
undisguised as it dripped unbidden like tears.
The creature laughed and slapped the blond vampire back into
the Gothaim. "THIS ONE IS NOT PURE. HE STAYS."
"No," Angel whispered, grunting as tears of pain came to his
eyes.
"I RELEASE YOU FROM THE ABYSS."
He felt the air around him tingle and morph, and bubble.
"NO!" he screamed hoarsely, launching forward like a cheetah,
desperation driving him where strength could not.
Dematerializing. He hurt. All he had to do was let go...
Be released. The portal was sucking him in.
He resisted, moving towards his childe with heaving, shaky,
faltering steps.
Spike, seeing Angel's intention, leapt atop the back of the
creature, gripping at the charred hollow between the massive
black wings. The creature spun around, pivoting on a clawed
foot. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Flames spewed from its gnarled hands and smote Spike to the
ground, who rolled, flailing, to put the licks of fire out
before they incinerated him. Angel kept running, gaining an
inch or so at a time against the terrible force pulling at
him, pulling him back towards the glowing portal.
"Will, grab my hand!" he called, wheezed, barely.
But Spike heard it.
The big demon stepped on Spike's legs, claws sinking into
his calves like knives, but Spike still reached out, muscles
shaking and straining as he tried to give himself more
length. "Sire..."
Their fingers brushed.
But that was all.
Spike reached back and clawed at the foot that held him
down, snarled, let his demon forth. Bit at it wildly.
The creature roared in pain and lifted his foot reflexively
as Spike came back with a blood covered mouth, oozing and
black from his lips. Bony, molted wings swung around like
wrecking balls. Spike ducked, barely in time as he tripped
and scrambled forward like a gecko across the torrid rocks.
The beast clawed Spike's back and dragged him backwards,
scraping against the flesh with an audible tearing sound.
Spike wailed, but, with shaking muscles, he launched out
again, ripping himself from the demon's claws, leaving
strips of his skin behind.
He stumbled forward.
The beast belatedly grabbed his foot, but it was too late.
Screaming. The beast was screaming.
Angel felt Spike's frantic hand clasp his, and then he
succumbed to the whiplash as it pulled him backwards into
a bath of white light.
continue