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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 snapping 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. Hoped it was, at least. 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 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 sneak inside.

He glanced down at the girl by his side, taking note of her determined expression. Her heart was beating away inside 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 and slowly 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 tentative 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 his 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 eyes 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 it 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 sink 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, the sound of steel on steel ringing throughout the room. ‘Has 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…”

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