The Seventh SlayerBy Kantayra
Chapter Twenty FourWhen Isabelle awoke after a very uncomfortable nights (or was it days?) sleep, she found that Alex had returned and promptly rolled her eyes. Dont you have anything better to do than bother me? she demanded sarcastically.
He merely grimaced in response. Not exactly keen on hanging out with all these Watchers, he finally admitted. Youre the only on else here.
Isabelle let out a resigned sigh. Then you might as well be useful, she decided.
Alex gave her a suspicious look.
What? Isabelle inquired. You get to use me as a sounding board, but I dont get anything in return? How is that fair? Especially since you so owe me for the whole kidnapping thing
What do you want? Alex asked warily.
Well, knowing where I am would be nice for starters.
Why? His eyes instantly narrowed.
Because half of SCBI is listening in on the micro-recorder in my boot, Isabelle retorted sarcastically. Because I need something concrete to think about, she finally responded to his annoyed expression, and Im sick of thinking about you.
He almost cracked a smile at that. Fair enough, he agreed, obviously amused. We are in the lovely state of California. About two hours away from LA, little town called Sunnydale.
There are dungeons in California? Isabelle asked in disbelief.
There used to be a Hellmouth here, Alex responded. Youre be amazed at some of the things this town has.
Whyd they bring me here? Isabelle wanted to know.
Secret Watchers base, Alex responded. Caught me by surprise, too. You see, this is where SCBI was first founded. The Watchers figured no one would ever think to look for them back here, I guess. And they were right, too.
Just great, Isabelle sighed, banging her head back against wall. She though for a moment, then asked, How many?
Alex looked at her curiously. How many what?
How many Watchers? Isabelle clarified. We took a huge bulk of them out back in England, so how many can there be here?
Alex shrugged.
Isabelle rolled her eyes. You can stop being paranoid, she informed him. Its not like Im assessing the enemy troop numbers for when I break out
No, I mean, I dont know, Alex shrugged again. Theyre not exactly showing me charts of troop deployment. In fact, Im rather under the impression that Im under house arrest.
And these are the people you side with? Isabelle asked sarcastically. Oh yeah, theyre so much more trustworthy than SCBI
They carried out their part of the bargain.
To take out the Witches? Isabelle snorted derisively. Think about it. Their numbers are dropping, they no longer have a majority of Slayers the only chance they have is to attack through magic! Which means they needed the Witches out of the way, anyway. They were only doing it for themselves.
Maybe, Alex conceded, but I was involved, and thats enough.
Youre warped, do you know that? Isabelle sighed.
Its not warped; its vengeance! he insisted.
Yeah, whatever, Isabelle realized that the conversation had turned back to Alex again and let out a weary sigh.
He watched her silently for a moment, the expression on his face unreadable.
Finally, Isabelle spoke once more. What are they going to do to me? she asked almost timidly.
Alex sighed. I honestly dont know, he replied, but, whatever it is, I think youve got some time. Theres something else being planned here, something important
* * *
OK, Buffy said, pointing to the map in front of her, weve got no idea where Alex took Isabelle, so were going to use the trial and error method.
Oh, thas just brilliant, Spike scoffed. Well find em by the time Im two hundred, if were lucky.
Buffy favored him with an annoyed scowl. You got a better plan, wise guy? Cause Im taking suggestions
Spike conceded her point with a tilt of his head.
All right then, Buffy nodded, these are the known Watchers hideouts in the area. She pointed to several red dots on the map.
I dont mean to be pessimistic, Ajaya began apologetically, but do we even know theyre still in the area? Couldnt they be anywhere on the planet by now?
Buffy nodded grimly. Weve got every unit across the world on alert, she said, but a lot of them have other priorities at the moment.
What could possibly be more important?! Ajaya demanded.
That apocalypse starting in Korea right about now comes to mind, Buffy retorted.
Ajaya bit her lip. Im sorry, she finally said.
Dont sweat it, Buffy shrugged. Nicky, youll be piloting. Sun picked a hell of a bad time to come back out
Im fine with it, Nicolas assured her.
Good, Buffy nodded, well try Surrey first and then go north from there. With any luck, the Witchesll be getting back to normal sometime soon, and well get a bit of magical help. Now, get ready, people. We leave in ten minutes
* * *
Aha! Lily exclaimed victoriously as her finger pressed down into the center of the page of the book before her.
Dawn and Melissa both looked up from their own research curiously.
The Opprimitae were once a ancient race of dark Witches, she summarized the text. In the year 511, they were cursed by the last Order of white Egyptian mages. Trapped forever without form, they are mere shadows of beings, doomed for eternity to be powerless to effect the world around them, except
Except what? Melissa demanded.
Except to render void those like them, Lilys brow furrowed. One who has breathed the breath of an Opprimita shall become themself a shadow, another drop in the pool of blackness.
I give up, Dawn frowned. What does it mean?
I think, Lily began worriedly, that it means that if we dont get the Opprimitae out of the moms soon, theyll be transformed into them as well.
How do we kill them then? Melissa demanded.
Lilys finger trailed down the page. The only way to kill the Opprimitae is to kill the host it has possessed before the transformation has been completed.
We cant kill them! Dawn exclaimed.
I have no intention of doing so, Lily nodded. Someone is controlling these things, using them. And Im willing to bet that we can somehow wrest that control away from them.
How? Melissa asked.
Well, Lily began, now we know what were looking for exactly. It should help us narrow down our search.
Im up for another library trip, Dawn agreed, grabbing her purse and keys. Absolutely everything weve got cross-referenced on Opprimitae? she inquired.
Lily nodded. For starters.
Dawn headed back to the mansion on her errand.
Its curious, Lily commented, opening up a fresh book.
What is? Melissa inquired.
First the modifications to the Magic Drinkers, and now controlling the Opprimitae The Watchers are focusing an awful lot of effort on defeating our magics
We know most of their top Mages are still on the loose, Melissa replied. Its probably just their strongest means of attack.
Probably, Lily said thoughtfully, but were so dependent on magic We have no idea what vulnerability theyll play off of next, and weve got absolutely no way of counteracting it with all our Witches gone.
Youre worried?
Immensely.
* * *
Nicolas landed the small aircraft in southern Virginia, the blackened windows of the cockpit protecting him from the suns deadly rays. He cursed the fact that he hadnt got his own Ring of Amara yet as he watched the rest of Beta and Gamma Teams disembark, Buffy and Spike taking the lead.
Watcher activity had been spotted in an old estate house just outside the small town of Chester, and it was stop number fifteen on their list. To say it had been a long night was an understatement, but no one wanted to rest until Isabelle was found and Alex involvement in her disappearance was cleaned up.
As they approached, this latest mansion looked at first to be as abandoned as the rest of them. Buffy quickly indicated that Jeren should take his team to watch the back door while Buffys burst in the front.
A strange tingle went down Ajayas spine as they approached the door. Somethings off, she said softly.
Spike nodded. Feel it too, Petal.
We still go in, Buffy declared. That could mean that this is the place
What they werent aware of was that, at that moment, Jerens hand had caught hold of the knob of the back door and was slowly turning it
The sound of the explosion that followed was deafening.
Fortunately, Buffys team had been almost twenty feet from the house when the explosion occurred. They all ducked for cover as fast as their reflexes would allow, but it wasnt enough to spare them from all the debris from the exploding house.
Ajaya took several sharp points of glass in the stomach and legs. However, it was nothing too bad given her Slayer resilience. She was on her feet again in a moment.
Spike and Monica had preceded her, both looking a bit dusty, but none the worse for wear.
Buffy shakily rose to her feet a few seconds later. A foot-long piece of metal shrapnel had embedded itself in her right shoulder, and she pulled it free with a wince of pain. Blood bubbled up in the wound, soaking her shirt a dark, sickly brown, and her arm hung limply at her side. But she was obviously still in the battle.
Xeris was a different story. The Velik Demon lay on his side on the ground, the massive gashes on his forehead and gut bleeding a thick navy-blue blood. Ajaya didnt know what it took to kill a Velik Demon, but if he were a human, shed have put his chances of survival at zero without serious medical attention.
Barring them from acquiring this medical attention were nine figures on the horizon. The three in the center and far to the back of the group wore the distinctive bright robes of Level 10 Mages. The other six Ajaya quickly identified as Watchers mercenaries. Only these six seemed to be surprisingly unarmed.
Buffy and Spike exchanged a glance at that, but their questions were answered as the three Mages began to chant.
Confirmate! the leader of the circle finally cried out.
Ajaya watched in horror and astonishment as the six mercenaries seemed to grow before her eyes. The muscles on their bodies rippled and expanded, their fingers elongated into sharp claws, and they towered up to ten feet.
I hate that spell, Spike complained as the six all rushed them simultaneously with a war cry.
You three hold them off, Buffy quickly ordered. Ill guard Xeris in case any of them get through.
Not gonna happen, luv, Spike assured her, shifting into game face.
Buffy hoped he was right and shifted as well.
Monicas pupils narrowed to black slits amid green-gold cats eyes, and razor-sharp claws extended from her nails.
Ajaya felt woefully under-armed with just her pike to defend herself. She gulped, and then dodged the first massive swipe as the first of the enhanced mercenaries reached her
Siobhan was the only member of Gamma Team to rise to their feet after the explosion. Having only been half-corporeal at the time of the blast, the shrapnel had harmlessly passed right through her. However, she was still significantly stunned, and it took her a moment to realize what had happened.
With a silent gasp, she saw Jeren lying closest to the blast, his face and torso mangled by broken glass and burns. She ran over to him, completely unaware of the Watchers that approached with laser rifles.
In despair, she collapsed to her knees beside him, her hand reaching out cautiously to stroke his one undamaged antenna. It was an intimate gesture shed never had the chance to make before, and the fact that he would never know how she felt brought the first tear to her eye in all her life. A second soon followed it, and then a third.
The Watchers surrounded the spectacle of the pale, waif-like woman mourning the wounded demon and prepared to fire, and
A sound escaped Siobhans lips. A desperate sob, followed by a wail.
The Watchers were instantly on their knees, clutching at their ears in pain.
Siobhans wails increased in intensity, and she noticed the presence of her loves murderers for the first time.
Cold, blue, pupil-less eyes narrowed on the weakened men. She slowly rose to her feet, deliberate purpose in her gesture.
You have brought pain to the bean sidhe, she said in a musical, lilting voice that was so beautiful it was deadly. Death shall be your reward.
The Watchers let out one final cry before their faces went slack and they collapsed on the ground, dead eyes open wide in wonder.
Siobhan returned to Jerens side and was amazed to see that his hand had moved slightly since shed last been beside him. As she watched, his fingers twitched once more, and she barely repressed her yelp of glee when she realized that, despite the horrible odds against it, he was still alive
Ajaya hissed in pain when one of the enhanced mercenaries claws ripped into her side. The second mercenary shed been fending off took the opportunity to slip past her and rush at Buffy.
Ajaya realized that she didnt have time to stop it, so she turned back to her remaining opponent, clutching her injured side with one hand and stabbing at him with her pike in the other.
He leapt back from her first stab, but then promptly fell for her feint to the left. She took the opportunity to skewer him hard in the shoulder.
The man-turned-magical-beast roared in pain and came at her all the more ferociously, teeth gleaming yellow in the brilliant sunlight
Spike saw the mercenary get past Ajaya just as he ripped the throat out of the first of his opponents. He turned instantly to the second, eager to finish this battle fast so that he could go help Buffy.
However, mercenary number two was a lot better fighter than number one had been.
A strong fist to the jaw sent Spike flying backwards across the battlefield. He crashed right into a tree and felt one of his ribs snap. Had he been human, there was no way hed be conscious right now.
His opponent was on him in an instant, claws slashing.
Spike barely managed to catch hold of the man-creatures hands before they sliced his head clean off. The two opponents stood there for a moment, hands locked between them, each using their full strength to try to force the other down.
For a second, they matched each others strength perfectly and then, slowly, Spike began to give way
Monica flipped backwards to avoid the rush of one of her attackers and, by the time she landed, was in full jaguar form. She leapt at the throat of attacker number one and sunk her teeth in deep before attacker number two threw her off.
She quickly scrambled to all four feet to see the two of them both rushing her from the same side, unfortunately.
There was no way she could leap to the side far enough to avoid both of them
Buffy frowned in concern at the chanting Mages well out of the way of the battle. Whatever spell they were casting, it was taking a lot of power.
However, before she could do anything about it, the mercenary that had slipped past Ajaya was upon her. Buffy spun to the right just in time, cradling her injured right arm up against her side.
The mercenary-beast skittered to a halt and turned back around to face her. His face was promptly met by the heel of her boot, and his head snapped back, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Buffy landed three sharp kicks in quick succession before he could recover. The rapid sequence of blows knocked him quite thoroughly out.
Buffy stood over his body and searched for a weapon to finish him off. Unfortunately, hers had been in her hands at the time of the explosion and shed lost them.
Reach for your weapon. Ive already got mine, she quoted before grimacing in disgust. God, I hate doing this
With that, her fangs ripped into the mercenarys throat, ending his life in an instant.
Can we say ew? Buffy exclaimed, spitting the foul-tasting blood from her mouth.
She looked around to see what was happening around her.
Spike seemed to be caught in a battle of brute force against his attacker. Buffy felt a brief pang of worry when she saw his knees give way, but it promptly turned to a proud smile when he used the opportunity to tuck and roll, his claws slicing the mercenarys chest open in a lightning-quick maneuver. She should have remembered that his power didnt lie so much in pure strength, but in speed and finesse.
He instantly turned to her and raised one scarred eyebrow in inquiry when she gestured to the corpse before her.
What? she teased. You think I cant take care of myself?
Youre a bleedin menace, luv, he replied fondly.
He quickly turned his attention to where Monica still faced off against twin opponents. However, she quickly transformed back into her human form and pulled two daggers from her belt just as the pair reached her.
One got a blade straight in the gut, the other in the arm.
Monica winced in pain as one set of claws grazed her side, but undoubtedly shed come out of the exchange the victor.
Her remaining opponent backed off a bit, eyeing her cautiously, his shoulder bleeding copiously.
Ajaya had her opponent similarly at bay since it was now keeping well back and out of the range of her pike.
The Mages! Buffy quickly informed Spike now that the immediate dangers were over. Theyre up to something
But even as she said those words, the Mages finished their casting, and a blinding flash of red power entered the chief Mages eyes.
May that which was cast be undone! she cried aloud. Janus, lord of beginnings and endings, I besiege you now: end that spell which has been begun! End the magic of the Rings of Amara!
As she cried this out, twin lightning bolts escaped from her fingers, aiming directly for Buffy and Spike.
The magical counterspell wrapped itself around the rings on their fingers, all while the bright Virginia sun beat down on them in a very lethal way
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