Never Alone Again
Chapter 5
It took them a week. A
week spent backtracking while slowly making their way towards the Order of
Taraka. A week spent on constant
alert – so much so, that both Buffy and Spike were ready to snap at each other
in annoyance. Nerves drawn taut as
they tried to remain one step ahead of the Order’s assassins.
At times, Spike felt like someone was out there.
Watching them. He figured it was Daniel.
After the two had spent that day going over everything the demon
remembered – every little secret passage, every booby trap, every manned
outpost inside the stronghold – he’d disappeared without a trace.
It was just this last night, as they’d begun the final leg of their
journey that his senses lay quiet.
Their ghost had disappeared.
The full moon illuminated the arched stone entryway into
the fortress. Like Daniel had said,
no less than ten armed assassins guarded it.
Not a difficult feat by any stretch of the imagination – if you
didn’t mind having your cover blown. No,
the front entrance was definitely out. Instead, his amber gaze honed in on the side door some
distance along the wall, closer to the “fingers” that comprised the reputed
exact duplicate of King Solomon’s temple.
The secret servant’s entrance.
That would be where he and the Slayer would slip inside.
He glanced down at the girl by his side, taking note of her
determined expression. Her heart
was beating away in her chest, her body beginning to flood with adrenaline.
Good. She’d need every bit
of it and then some. They had a lot of ground to cover, and once inside, it
wouldn’t be long before they were discovered and set upon by any available body
housed within. He just prayed
they’d have the stamina to see that done and still have enough energy to take
on Desdem and Sylam.
“You must be prepared to give up everything to defeat
him.”
The words taunted him still. Night after night this past week he’d woken, instantly
alert and reaching for Buffy – if she wasn’t already curled up close to his
side. If she thought his behavior
was strange, she didn’t comment on it. When
he became a bit possessive in his lovemaking, she’d just hold him even closer
in the aftermath – reassuring him that she was still there.
They timed their entrance to coincide just an hour or so
before the few guards that stood sentry in front of the servant’s entrance
were relieved. Exhaustion would
have set in from having to stand so long. That,
and their senses should be dulled enough that they wouldn’t sense his and the
Slayer’s approach. It was the
best plan of attack – the only thing that could have helped more would be the
absence of the full moon.
At a signal from him, Buffy slipped from his side and made
a circuitous route towards the door. Spike
went in the opposite direction. The
plan was to come at it from either end at the same time and prevent the guards
from escaping or sounding a warning.
~*~
Buffy reached the side of the wall without incident.
Slowly, she began making her way towards the door.
She was exposed now, but hoped that the tired guards wouldn’t have need
to turn her way. If she could just
remain quiet…
She paused suddenly, thinking that she sensed someone in
front of her. She squinted her eyes
to concentrate on the empty wall that lay between her and the guard.
Though the full moon illuminated her way, she didn’t have Spike’s
enhanced senses. Nothing seemed
out of place, but her Slayer senses were screaming all kinds of warnings at her.
She waited another five minutes, but nothing jumped out at her.
And though the tingles on the back of her neck were still present, she
started forward once again.
After another handful of soundless steps that brought her
closer to the entrance, she stopped again.
Spike had almost reached the two guards from his side.
He seemed to look straight at her and nod.
Surely he knew that she wasn’t close enough yet to—
She blinked in wide-eyed amazement, as if she couldn’t
actually believe what she was seeing. A
set of arms seemed to reach out from the door, a knife held in one hand.
As one closed around the guard’s mouth, another well-placed jab of the
knife slipped through the assassin’s ribs and punctured his heart.
At the same time, Spike attacked the other; some claws and fangs, and the
second guard dropped soundlessly to the ground.
Buffy hurried forward, her mind still trying to wrap itself
around what she’d just witnessed. Then,
a figure separated itself from the wall, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She wasn’t going crazy!
“Say hello to Daniel, luv,” Spike murmured once she’d drawn
near.
She watched the man, head cocked to the side.
She’d seen him before, but couldn’t place where.
At least she thought she had. Shaking
the nagging thought off, she offered a hello.
“What are you?
I thought the building had grown arms there for a second.”
Daniel chuckled.
“I’m a Q’lathnyack demon.
It’s our gift. Though,
since the Order’s persecution, it’s more like a curse.”
“Oh…it’s uh…nice to meet you.” She turned to Spike saying, “Spike, we gotta go.”
“You comin’ with us, mate?”
“No. From
here, you are on your own. Just
remember what I told you. Make the
temple work for you. The assassins
here will not lower themselves by taking the slave’s paths.
That will help you until you reach the entrance to Jachin and Boaz.
Take the left entrance. The
trials are harder, but fewer. Good
luck to you both.”
He was gone a second later.
Slipping inside the building and immediately disappearing from sight.
Spike followed the demon inside. He could still feel him, but it was getting more and more
faint as the seconds passed. Eyeing
the door at the end of the chamber, Spike figured the demon must have been
heading in that direction.
Turning away from the door, he reached down and grasped the
Slayer’s hand. “This way,
luv.”
~*~*~*~*~
Swords and other miscellaneous weapons in hand, Buffy and
Spike slipped back into the servant’s passageway as they snuck out of the
weapon room. So far, their cover
had yet to be blown…something that made both eternally grateful.
Surprisingly, the passageway was empty – it was as if the servants were
privy to information the assassins weren’t.
Spike just prayed it was Daniel’s doing, and not a trap getting ready
to be sprung.
They finally reached the end of the long corridor and Spike
stopped, signaling Buffy to do the same. He
cocked his head to the side and listened intently, trying to determine if it was
safe to exit. Nothing came back to
him, so he placed his hand on the latch and inched the portal open.
His head poked around the edge, and amber eyes confirmed what his ears
had determined – no one lurked about in the area.
He stepped from behind the door and gestured for the Slayer
to follow. Daniel had said to take
the left side, so that’s where he headed.
There was no door at the entrance to the Boaz corridor, no
lights either. Not so much a
problem for him, but could prove difficult for the Slayer. He snagged her hand again and whispered for her to stay close
then took a few tentative steps forward.
His sensitive ears picked up the near-soundless click, and
he dropped to a crouch bringing the Slayer with him just seconds before the hiss
of a giant blade cut through the air where their heads used to be.
“Nice reflexes there, Spike,” Buffy managed to get out
around her erratic breathing, eyeing the blade embedded in the far wall.
“You too, luv. Come
on.”
He helped her to her feet and started off again.
~*~
“Next time we’re taking door number two,” Buffy
mumbled once they reached the far door. Both
were a little worse for wear. Buffy
had a few nicks and bruises where they’d been a bit slow in their reactions;
Spike sported a few burn marks, the most notable one on his hand that he got
when he’d had to shove it through a wall of fire to turn a crank and prevent
another booby-trap from springing. “Here,
lemme see.”
“It’s nothing, Slayer.
Just a scratch.”
“Scratch my ass. Let
me see.”
She snatched his hand and held it up for her inspection.
Her gaze took in every mark, and while nothing appeared to be life
threatening, that he’d done it for her warmed a place inside her heart.
A smile softened her expression as she gazed up at him. A second later, Spike snatched his hand back, and the moment
was lost.
“Told ya was just a scratch. Now, come on,” he huffed.
“And keep your voice down, don’t know what’s on the other…”
He pushed the door open, his voice trailed off, only to be
replaced by a bellow of pain as a sword was run through his abdomen.
“You really didn’t think it would be that easy, did
you, vampire?” The demon
twisted the sword causing another scream to tear from Spike’s throat.
“Spike!”
Buffy launched herself at the demon, and winced in pain
once
she collided with it. She did
manage to dislodge the sword from Spike’s stomach and noticed him sagging to
the ground before she was backhanded by the behemoth and sent hurtling further
into the chamber.
‘Is seven feet a height requirement?’ she
thought, rubbing the back of her head as she regained her footing.
The demon was huge, easily the tallest thing she’d ever encountered.
She pulled her sword out and prepared to take on, whom she could only
assume, was Desdem.
“Ah, so the Slayer wants to play too?” The demon chuckled as if amused by his question.
His eyes gleamed an unnatural shade of yellow when he charged.
~*~
Buffy struggled to maintain her defensive stance as Desdem
rained down blow after blow. ‘Had it only been a few minutes?’
She was weakening. Fast. And she
knew it. Though possessed with
Slayer strength, she seemed no match alone against the top assassin’s
right-hand man. She needed Spike.
She couldn’t take much more…
Her sword went clattering after a bone-numbing block and
she closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow.
But it never came.
Spike had managed to stop the demon’s downward thrust at
the last moment, the clank of steel as the two swords clashed rang in her ears.
“Nobody messes with my girl, you overgrown git,” he
growled and went on the offense. This
time it was Desdem in full retreat as Spike’s rage fueled his attack.
Buffy scrambled to her feet and retrieved her sword.
Then it was two on one, until finally, Spike pierced the demon’s heart
and Buffy finished with a swing to his head.
She risked a smile for the vampire standing beside her as
she rested the tip of her sword against the ground.
“Wasn’t so tough, was…he…”
Her eyes grew wide and she stared up at Spike before they
glanced down to see the sword protruding from the front of her chest.
She looked back up and noticed the horror-stricken expression on
Spike’s face. Watched in a kind
of slow-motion haze as he reached out to catch her when the sword was ripped from
her body. She didn’t feel the
arms that caught her before she could crumble to the floor.
Didn’t hear the bellowed denial of the vampire when blood pooling from
her mortal wound coated the front of his duster.
Using the last bit of strength she possessed, she raised
her hand to his tear-streaked face.
“Sorry…S-Spike…”