“Where’s the dagger, Slayer?” the man spoke coolly.

Buffy felt the sharp blade graze the tender skin of her lower back and cursed herself for not handing it to Spike.

“I don’t think you’ll be needing it anymore.” She tried to seem calm about it all, but deep inside, her heart raced and her stomach was tied in stiff knots.

“And why is that?” the masked figure asked.

“The girl is gone.” A man coming from one of the tunnels shouted.

“What?” the leader inquired. His tone changed immediately as he took in the information. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

“She’s no longer in the west cave.” The minion said in a faltering tone.

“She can’t be gone, we don’t have much time left.”

“Darn those pesky rituals. They always seem to have a deadline, don’t they?” Buffy mocked. “There’s always something about the planets, or the moon, the tides, the-“

She was forced to shut up when an invisible force smashed her against the wall. “So much for witty remarks.” She thought as she stumbled to her feet.

“Where is she?” the leader turned to face the Slayer.

Buffy stood in silence, refusing to answer.

“You will bring her to us or you’ll die.” He retorted.

“Been there, done that.” She said flatly.

Seeing that threatening the Slayer wasn’t enough he turned towards the Scoobies. He motioned in Willow’s direction, and in an instant she was thrown up in the air. As she freefell her face stopped inches from the floor. The leader pointed skywards and Willow flew back up and hovered over all of them at a frightening height.

“Willow!” Tara shouted.

“I’ll ask you once more, bring her to us!” he hissed in anger.

“Let her go.” Buffy demanded.

“The girl first.”

Buffy reached for the dagger and wave it in front of the masked man.

“Let her go, or the dagger’s history.” Buffy ordered with a steady tone.

The man seemed to ponder for a while and then let out a powerful laugh.

“You think you can destroy the Dungherjahar Ashesh?”

“You won’t believe how good I am at breaking stuff.” Buffy force a smug grin.

“Grab her.” The leader ordered.

In an instant, Buffy was surrounded by three hooded figures. As they tried to hold her down she swung her left leg and her foot connected with one man almost at the same time as her fist knocked the second one out.

Pretty soon, two of the men were unconscious on the floor, which left only one more. He hesitated before lunging at her, they tumbled to the floor and the man landed right on top of the sharp blade.

Buffy gasped as she saw the man slump next to her; the dagger buried deep in his chest.

“You will pay for that.” As the leader spoke Willow started to freefall once more and it was clear that this time he wouldn’t stop her.

“Willow!” Xander cried out as he saw his best friend fall to her death.

“Avolare!” Tara chanted and Willow stopped inches from the ground. Buffy sighed in relief.

“A witch!” the leader shouted.

“We prefer Wicca, if you don’t mind!” Tara mocked.

“Get them!” he shouted.

And with that all Hell broke loose.

Fists flew left and right as the sea of hooded men attacked them. Xander desperately tried to keep Anya from getting hurt, swinging his arms at everything that moved.

In the middle of all that pandemonium, It stirred as consciousness returned.

“Ick!” It squealed as he opened his eyes to meet utter darkness.

A lump formed in his throat at the thought of him being back in that godforsaken place, that… nothingness. As his eyes adjusted, he realised that he wasn’t and that the blackness came from the long black cloths that the men around him wore. He wiggled his way between them and was finally met by a very tired Slayer.

In one hand she held the dagger while the other clung to her right arm. From between her short fingers thick drops of blood streamed down to her elbow.

Buffy looked out of the corner of her eyes and realised that they were all in big trouble. There was no way they could fight all of them. She had only one choice – destroy the damn dagger, but how? She didn’t have the strength to break it with her bare hands. She needed some hard surface to smash it against. She looked around but was distracted by an agonizing cry.

She turned around to see Tara surrounded by a bright red light. Her arms were wide open, her head thrown back and an excruciating frown settled on her face. It was clear she was in pain as her whole body jolted every once in a while.

At her feet lay a waking Willow. As realisation washed over the Wicca, Buffy saw her best friend’s eyes turn black and she knew what was to come.

In a blink of an eye, the Slayer crossed the room and was standing next to the cage where the Scoobies had been imprisoned minutes before.

“Willow, no!” she shouted, then she turned her attentions to the man that was causing Tara’s suffering. “Let her go!” she yelled off the top of her lungs.

Everyone turned to see the Slayer. The blade of the dagger she held was now positioned between two of the steal bars that formed the entrance to the confined space.

Silence invaded the room as everyone froze to see what would happen next. Finally the leader’s cool and deep voice was heard:

“If you do that we all die.”

“Really?”

“The dagger encloses the powers of the ancient people, if you destroy it’s blade the energy released will be so great that it will cause the walls and ceiling to fall down upon us.”

“Let her go.” She repeated, breathing heavily.

The leader obeyed and Tara’s limp body was dropped to the floor. Willow immediately crawled her way to the Wicca and cupped her face in her hands.

“Tara… honey? Are you ok?” she asked concerned. To her relief Tara forced her eyes open and nodded. “Oh, thank God!” she sighed covering her lover’s face with soft kisses.

“Anya, Xander, help Willow and take Tara out of here.” Buffy ordered, her eyes never leaving the leader’s masked face. “It, go with them and show them the quickest way out.”

“What about you Buff?” Xander asked as he helped Tara up.

“Just go, Xander!” Buffy commanded.

“But-“

“Now!” she finally yelled and Xander understood it was best to do as he was told.

He picked Tara’s frail body in his arms and limped his way after It and out of the cave. Anya followed close behind. Willow, though, didn’t move, she stood in her place and glared at the black masked man.

“I’m staying!” she said in a cold voice, wiping away the salty tears that ran down her face.

“No, you’re not! Now go!” Buffy ordered once more.

“I’m not leaving you here!”

“Willow, GO!!!” the Slayer finally shouted, her eyes left the man to look at her best friend. As she saw the hurt and battered Wicca she forced a weak smile on her lips and added: “Please, I’ll be right behind you.”

Willow stared at her friend; she could always tell when she was lying.

“I promise…” the Slayer finally whispered.

Slowly, Willow turned around and headed towards the same dark tunnel the others had left before. Before she disappeared in the darkness she gave Buffy one last glance.

“Guess it’s just you and me.” She looked around to see the rest of the masked man that still stood behind their leader and added in a mocking tone. “Oh, and you guys of course!”

“You won’t get away with this.” The leader shouted and raised his hands in the air.

Buffy frowned when she saw the rest of the groups join in and imitate his movement.

“I call on the dark forces of ancient gods and ancient worlds. I call on the dark forces of ancient gods and ancient worlds. I…” they all started chanting. “Let the veil between this world and the darkness be lifted. Let the darkness prevail, let all lose form and become nothingness.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a dark cloud grow over the thick walls and slide it’s way to her. Only then did she realise what the Climes were trying to do. She couldn’t let the cloud approach her or else she would be trapped in limbo and then they would have the dagger. Her mind raced, as she was sure not enough time had passed for the Scoobies to find their way out of those caves. If she broke the blade now they would certainly be trapped amongst the rubble, if she didn’t…

“I call on the Dark Lord Aronh.” The leader finally chanted.

“Uh-uh there will be no calling any dark lord.” She mocked one last time and pulled at the dagger, forcing its blade to break in two.

In a flash the entire room was lit up as an intense red light emanated from the two pieces of metal that now lay on the floor. The ground started to shake beneath her feet and deep gashes travelled over the walls, splitting them in half. Soon after, the ceiling began to crack also and a rain of stones and rocks fell upon them just as the leader had predicted. She took one last deep breath as she saw a large piece of the ceiling come straight at her. There was no way out.

Next