By Kevin Beckett
(Let's Live While We're
Alive)
Take
me with you on this journey
Where
the boundaries of time are now tossed
In
cathedrals of the forest
In
the words of the tongues now lost
Find
the answers, ask the questions
Find
the roots of an ancient tree
Take
me dancing, take me singing
I'll
ride on till the moon meets the sea
Night
Ride Across the Caucasus
Loreena
McKennitt, The Book of Secrets
(c)
1997, Quinlan Road Music
|
D |
arkness, with a cold North breeze coming down from the
Artic, chilling the February air, was not a pleasant, or particularly safe,
time to be out in the town of Sunnydale California. The glow from the street lamps lining the pathways through the UC
Sunnydale campus did not penetrate very far since the night sky was a light
absorbing black caused in part to the low heavy overcast.
"Damn,"
thought the redheaded girl walking quickly across campus to her dorm room.
"Its four hours to midnight and with this sky, and with the moon being
nearly new, I'll have to trust my instincts and the clock for the timing of the
second part of tonight's ritual."
Watching
from the near-by shrubbery was shadowy, indistinct figure, definitely human in
appearance, but moving far more silently through the woods than a human
could. With a primal roar it leaped
from the bushes towards Willow.
"Ah,
damn!" she exclaimed turning towards the fully morphed vampire.
"Fifteen
minutes from the dorm and now I'm going to waste precious time dealing with
you!"
This
definitely was not the reaction that the newly risen, and hungry, vampire was
expecting, and he figured out pretty quick that his initial plan of attack, eat
and leave quietly wasn't going to work any more. So with typical single mindedness he decided to change his plan
to attack, eat and just leave.
"Little
girl, you are lunch!" He screamed jumping towards Willow.
"That's
what you think, fangy," Willow quipped as she sidestepped the vampire's
initial attack and quickly brought her hands up into a warding gesture.
"Soilshey
ny greiney!" Willow shouted and
drew her hands apart.
There
was a sudden explosion of light between her hands, which quickly formed into a
ball that she then cast towards the startled vampire.
"Eat
sunshine ass-hole!" She yelled as the ball of light enveloped the vampire
and he began to scream from the flames that were merrily burning his flesh.
A
few moments later, there was nothing left of the former bloodsucker but a small
pile of smoking ash, and a dancing ball of sun light.
Willow
stared, stunned, at the results of her work while quickly whispering "ec
kione" to collapse her spell back into the elemental realm she drew it
from, before it began to draw attention to her and her activities.
"Damn,"
she exclaimed, exhausted from the energy required for the spell. "I love it when something works right
the first time."
"Well,
it looks like you don't really need me anymore," a muscular blond figure
said; quietly leaving the woods where she had been watching the preceding
events and joining Willow on the path.
"Buffy!"
Willow exclaimed, "Need, I do, definitely, need, but you not here, vampire
here, spell new..."
"Willow,
I was just joking," she said, drawing the other girl into a close embrace
and whispering into her ear, "I know that you will always need
me." With her fingers softly
caressing the cheek of her closest friend and lover she added, "and I
trust, always want me."
"Of
course, I need, and want you," the redhead whispered back turning her lips
towards the other's soft lips for a passionate kiss.
"Ah,
that was just the energy restorer I was looking for," Willow exclaimed as
she broke away from the kiss after a couple of heart stopping minutes.
"How
did your patrol go?" She asked as
the two of them began to walk hand in hand to their room.
"Not
bad, one old-time demon and two other newby vamps aside from the one you
disposed of," Buffy replied, mentally re-hashing the evening so far.
"A
pretty typical evening then in the demon disposal business then," Willow
replied keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the object of her
love.
"Yep,
same old same old," Buffy
answered, sensing Willow's gaze on her and avoiding the temptation to return it
by keeping a sharp lookout for other potential, lethal, night time
distractions.
"Speaking
of vamp removal, that's a pretty powerful new spell you have there at your
disposal witch-girl."
Willow
stopped walking and sat down on a near-by bench.
"You're
right, Buffy. I've been working on this
type of spell for a while now, but I didn't expect it to work as well as it
did."
"What
did you expect would happen?" Buffy asked as she sat down beside her
friend.
"Well,
I was hoping that the spell would go off, and distract the vamp long enough so
that I could run to safety."
"Good
plan Willow, but?"
"But,
as I cast the spell, I felt an enormous collection of energy being drawn
towards me, and somehow I suddenly knew that the spell would be far more powerful
than I thought." Willow paused and
though for a moment.
"Its
been happening a lot recently," she added softly.
"What's
that?"
"Its
just that my spells have been getting a lot stronger lately, ever since...
"
"Ever
since what?"
"Well,
you know, since...," she whispered.
"Give
it up witch, since when?" Buffy
prodded, having already figured out the reason for herself, but wanting to hear
it from her soul mate.
"You
know, since Christmas."
"Ah,"
the blond exclaimed, "since you
and I took our relationship to the next level, so to speak."
"Yeah,
since then, so to speak, in addition I guess to my becoming a 3rd degree witch
at the Solstice."
"Speaking
of witch business, what were you doing out on campus? Weren't you supposed at your parents getting ready for the big
event later?"
"Oh
my Goddess!" Willow said bolting from the bench and grabbing Buffy by the
hand, "time, no-time talk, herbs and stuff, dorm, robes, stuff, got to get
going..."
"Slow
down Will," Buffy said smiling at her friend as she was being willingly
dragged down the path, "we still have a few hours to go yet."
--------------------------------
About
a half-hour later, one very flustered witch and one very amused slayer looked
around their dorm room. It had the appearance
of having survived, barely, a close encounter with a hurricane, the hurricane
in this case being a frantic Willow.
"Ok,
double check time, you have my list Buffy?" Willow said in a panic while
looking though a massive tote bag.
"Right
here lover."
"Ok,
read off the items to me."
"Okey,
dokey, smooches toy, - item the first -
robes."
"Check. And stop being so, so flippant, even though
I love the sentiment attached to it"
"Ok,
holding onto the flippancy, - item two - purification herbs and oils."
"Check,"
holding out several bags of herb like substances and small bottles of essential
oils.
"You
mean we have to bathe in those?
Icky," the slayer said, screwing up her face into weird
contortions.
"Yep,
you'll love it, very good for the skin, on with the list."
"If
you insist, item three - wand."
"Check."
"Item
four - candles."
"Check,"
holding out eight pure beeswax candles.
"Item
five - sword."
"Check
- I know its at home, I brought it over earlier tonight."
"Items
six and seven - purified water and salt."
"Check
- also at home."
"Ok
then, that only leaves the last item - chalk."
"Right
here," she said holding out a bag full of multi-coloured chalk.
"Lets
go! Everything else I need, that's not
on the list, is at home," Willow quickly repacked all of the items in her
tote bag and slinging it
over
her shoulder headed out the door.
"Hurry
up Buffy, and don't forget to lock the door."
"I'm
coming, hold on to your horses, Willow."
"You
aren't even breathing hard," Willow quipped back as she headed down the
hall to the stairs.
"What
was that you said about flippancy?"
Buffy exclaimed as she hurried after her.
-------------------------------
Later
that evening, they arrived in front of Willow's parent's home. It was a bright beacon of light in the
gloomy night since there was a lit candle in all of the windows in addition to
all of the lights in the house being on.
"This
is ok with your parents?" Buffy
asked as they went in the house.
"Yep,
they're cool. They know what I am, what
we mean to each other and what we are going to do tonight," Willow replied
as she walked into the living room and saw that the other members of her coven
were already there.
"Hi
all!" She addressed the assembled witches in the room, receiving answering
nods and hellos in return.
"Hi
Mom! Sorry we're running so late,"
she said to her mother who was just bringing in more snacks to replenish the
empty platters on the coffee table.
"In
fact," she continued over her shoulder to Buffy who was still in the
foyer, "my dad helped with my work-room in the basement. He levelled the floor and installed all of
the slate and the wood floor and wall panels."
"Cool,"
the Slayer replied, "nice to have
understanding parents."
"Yep,
its great to have a pair of nice Jewish Pagans in the family," Willow
replied, as she dropped her tote bag on the floor and began to take items out
of it. "Mom even lit all of the
candles in the windows for me tonight at dusk," she said, smiling at her
mom who was heading back to the kitchen.
"That
was really nice of her," Buffy replied, also smiling and waving hello to
Willow's mother, as she joined the group in the living room, settling down on
the floor since there were no chairs left.
"Yeah. Will, what's the deal with the burning wax
anyway?" Asked one of the
assembled witches who was sprawling over a good portion of the sofa with snack
crumbs liberally covering his t-shirt.
"Well
Xander," the redheaded witch replied, without looking up or stopping what
she was doing, "if you had done any of your studying, you would have
remembered that since tonight is the festival of light returning, and since the
Goddess in her incarnation as the young maiden Goddess presides over the day
and the festival, and since in that incarnation she is the Goddess of light,
healing, poetry and smith craft we burn the candles in her honour and to bring
forward the hope for Spring in the darkness of Winter."
"Oh."
The dark-haired apprentice witch replied crestfallen and returned to his
previous occupation of trying to eat all of the snacks Willow's mom had put out
on the coffee table without anyone else noticing.
"I
told you to do the work, dummy," his girlfriend Anya stage-whispered to
him, while surreptitiously feeding him more cheese and crackers.
Swiftly
standing up, Willow looked over her assembled friends, some of whom like
Xander, Anya and Giles she had known since High School and others she had only
met since starting university. She was
very nervous, since this would be the first time she had led so many in a
ritual as the High Priestess.
"Ok
folks," she said, addressing her coven.
"Let’s
get to work folks. There is a lot to do
before we start, and only a little time left to do it in."
"Right
boss," a petite brunet replied standing up with the rest, "what do we
do first?"
"Well
Carol," Willow replied, "first we all need to take the ritual baths
with the herbs and oils I've brought."
"Then,
we all need to robe and make our way down to the work area." She continued
as she handed packages of herbs, bottles of oil and robes to several members of
the group.
"Lets
go everyone," the former watcher stated as he received his package from
Willow, "I'm assuming boys in one room, girls in another?"
"Yep,
I hate to spoil everyone's fun, but with time pressing we will have to wait
till later for jollies and smooches," Willow replied slightly red-faced.
"Don't
forget to say your blessings as you bathe and dress," Willow called out as
the group began to head out of the living room.
"We
won't mother!" called out several of the witches as the group separated
with Giles, Xander and the other five men heading to the upstairs bath and
Anya, Carol and the other four women heading to the other bathroom leaving
Willow and Buffy alone for the moment in the living room. As soon as the others had left the room
Willow collapsed to the floor shaking un-controllably.
"Willow! What's wrong?" Buffy asked rushing to her
and wrapping her strong arms around the trembling redhead.
"It's,
It's just that..."
"What
lover?
"It's
just that this is the first time I'll lead alone, and the first time since
Brightstar left go back to Chicago, and I want everything to be perfect and
special and..." Willow continued breathlessly.
"Will,
it's going to be ok, honest," Buffy reassured her. "You've done everything you can, we all
are going to help, and we all trust and love you."
Buffy
began to softly massage the other's tense shoulder and back muscles as she
gently kissed the neck of her friend.
"Lie
down for a second, and let me work out the kinks in your back." She
whispered as she gently, but firmly pushed Willow to the carpet.
"But,
we have no time, we have to get ready Buffy," Willow weekly protested.
"Chill,
dear,” replied her lover as she
continued to work on the muscles in Willow's back, “the others will be bathing
and dressing for at least the next twenty minutes. More than enough time to work some of the tenseness out of
you. After all, if you are tense you
might make a boo-boo or two."
"Boo-boo's
are definitely a no-no," the other
replied as she admitted defeat to the other's firm fingers by closing her eyes
and starting to relax her tense body.
For
the next few minutes, neither woman said anything as Buffy continued her soft
massage, slowly working her way down Willow's back. Finally, after hearing the noise of the others working their way
down to the basement, she stopped her ministrations and drew the other up from
the floor into a gentle hug.
"Its,
time sweetie," she said as she
gently kissed the other.
"I
know," she replied, "lets grab our stuff and go get naked and
wet."
"Willow!"
Buffy exclaimed in mock shock, "I thought that we were going to do that
later."
"Stop
it," Willow said smiling, as she gave the slayer a mock punch on the arm.
"You
know what I meant."
"I
know, but it's nice to see you smiling."
With
that, the two friends headed to the bath to start their preparations for the nights
work.
---------------------------------
A
short while later the two lovers assembled with the rest of the group in the
basement of Willow's parent's house. A
portion of it had been recently transformed by her efforts, with the able
assistance of her father and her former teacher Brightstar, into an area
suitable for her to do her rituals and other work. A large area of about 30 square meters had been sectioned off
from the rest of the basement and walls had been raised creating an octagonal
workroom. The concrete floor had been
taken up in the area to reveal the earth underneath and then slate and wood
pieces had been laid on the earth in a complex interwoven parquet pattern. In addition, the eight walls had slate and
wood panels hung on them. The area was
brightly lit with four-armed candelabras on four of the walls; there was no
unnatural lighting used at all.
The
group was waiting for Willow dressed in the ritual working robes that they had
made from hand-woven cotton. Each robe
had been embroidered in traditional Celtic patterns by its wearer, and
reflected the personality of each member.
The robes were tied in front of the members with a long white cord, some
wrapped once around their body, others two or three times. The assembled coven wore no clothing, other
than the robes, and none of them were wearing any jewellery. Buffy felt practically naked, the robe was
very comfortable, but the lack of anything else other that the once wrapped
rope holding the robe closed made her a little self-conscious. She had spent several nights since the
Solstice embroidering her robe, using Willow as an aid for ideas and
inspiration, in looking around at the other’s robes she felt that she had done
a fairly good job, certainly better than Xander's effort.
Willow
moved into the room and with gestures and eye contact began to assemble the
coven at one end of the room.
"Ok
all, its about an hour to midnight, lets get started," she said as she sat
down in an antique oak chair that was in front of an equally old desk and
bookshelves placed at the South end of the room near the entrance. The other members took up places on the
floor in front of their high priestess and waited expectantly. At this point, a large, grey and white,
self-possessed feline wandered into the room, looked around and proceeded to
jump up on Willow's lap, as if it was her rightful place. With a contented purr, it tucked its head
down and proceeded to go to sleep.
"Shadow-Cat,
about time you showed up," Willow said stroking the cat and scratching it
behind the ears.
Willow
then turned to the group and began the nights work with the traditional
"Blessed be" opening.
"Blessed
be," replied all of the assembled witches.
"Even
though most of you will have done your reading," Willow continued with a
mock glare at Xander, "it is traditional in our path to spend some time
discussing the work to be done, why we are doing it and what we are hoping to
accomplish."
"Tonight
is the festival of Imbolg which we also call Candlemas, Lady Day and
Bridemas," Willow continued,
launching into lecture mode.
"It
is one of the four lunar festivals in our calendar, which are dedicated to the
Goddess, in one of her incarnations,"
Willow looked up at Giles, "sorry Giles, you and Dagda are in the
background tonight since the God is in his young boy aspect."
"That's
ok Willow," the former watcher replied.
"I'm happy to let you do all of the heavy early work. My part will come latter." He and Willow had discussed the nights
schedule earlier in the day. Willow had
been looking for reassurance that she hadn't forgotten anything, and Giles
looking for reassurance that Willow was up to the challenge.
"The
Mother Goddess has recovered from the Solstice birth of the Sun, and is being
transformed into the maiden of spring,"
Willow continued with her lesson.
"As
I told Giles the God is in his aspect as the young boy so most of his power is
currently dormant. This is the
traditional time of year for initiations and the renewal of vows, and we will be
doing some of those later. It is the
time to honour the Goddess for her gifts of healing, smithcraft, and poetry,
these gifts represent the mysteries of renewal, transformation, and
inspiration." Willow finished her
mini-recap of the importance of the nights work.
"Ok,
now for the work," she said, placing Shadow-Cat on the floor and standing
up with the rest of the coven. "First we get out the brooms, and perform
the ritual cleansing of our work area, we will then prepare the circle and this
room for tonight's work. Then, starting
at midnight we will do the Imbolg ritual, with a slight modification. After that has been completed, I plan on
conducting a number of initiations.
Later we will have a second special ritual," Willow continued,
feeling much stronger and focused now that she had started.
"What
will the second ritual be for?" Asked a tall, blond witch.
"Well,
it's for Buffy and me, Sam," Willow answered.
"How's
that?"
"You
all know that Buffy and I have committed ourselves to each other," Willow
said, taking Buffy by the hand. "Well, this ritual is to commit our vows
to each other and to set the stage for our hand-fasting at Beltane."
"Sounds
good to me," replied another of the witches.
"Me
too," said another.
"About
time," Xander and Anya said simultaneously.
"What
is the modification to the Imbolg ritual?" Asked a woman who was slightly older than the majority of the
group. Like Willow, Giles and three
others she had her cord wrapped three times around her body, signifying a 3rd degree
witch.
"Well,
Susan," Willow answered,
"because of the second ritual, I'm going to have Buffy in the
centre with Giles and me, even though as you all know, she isn't a witch."
"Hey,
I'm an almost witch," Buffy retorted, "after all, you will be initiating
me before our ritual tonight."
"Hey,
its cool with me," Susan replied, "in fact, having Buffy in the
centre, with her innate power, will probably help in raising the sphere."
With
that the witches got to work, some collecting the ritual brooms for the
cleansing of the work area, others to collect the candle stands for the
quarters and others to ensure that all of the required tools were in place on
the Alter.
"Ow!"
Xander exclaimed, as he was wielding a broom over the work area, “these floors
are cold on bare feet.”
"Stop
complaining and get working," Anya answered, while working her own
broom. "You'll warm up once you
get busy."
As
soon as the floor had been swept Willow and Giles went quickly to work
inscribing glyphs and other symbols on the walls and on the floor, using the
chalk Willow had brought from her dorm.
Soon
it was time for the real work of the night to begin. Willow called them to the circle, and forming them into the
traditional male/female pairings at the cardinal points with the remaining four
taking up their places between the compass points. She also took pains to balance the circle with experienced and
less-experienced witches in each of the four quarters. Everyone, while taking their appropriate
places, took great care to insure that they did not erase any of the chalk
markings on the floor. Giles lit the
candles on the four candle stands, as Buffy extinguished the candles on the
walls. Willow lit the candles that were
on the Alter and made one final check to insure that all of the working tools
she would need were present. Giles,
Buffy and Willow then took up their places in the centre of the circle.
Willow
then started the coven in the ritual chants and breathing exercises, which were
used to focus and ground them for the night's magic. In the effort to concentrate on what she was doing, Willow failed
to notice a grey and white figure quietly enter the circle and take up
residence under the Alter. When she
sensed that the group was ready, she and Giles took the Sword, Salt and Water
and cast the circle. When they had
finished, she returned to the centre, and holding firmly onto Buffy's hand
began to draw in the energy from herself, Buffy and her coven, to create the
shields that would protect them, and the mundane world, from the power she was
going to bring into the circle as part of the night's work. As had happened earlier in the evening,
Willow noticed that she was drawing up a tremendous amount of energy.
"Oh
boy," she thought to herself, "with this amount of energy to work
with, I'll be able to handle anything that comes up tonight."
------------------------------------------
Interlude,
Another
time, another place.
In
a brightly lit room, several people, both male and female were sitting around
an old oak table waiting for one of their members to return. The room was lit with candles and lanterns,
and a merry fire was burning in a large fireplace that had been set into one of
the stonewalls of the room. There were
several tapestries hung on the walls and the stone floor was covered with
rushes. Despite the fire, all of the
room's occupants were clothed in heavy wool garments, several layers of them,
and they all had heavy fur lined boots on.
They were passing the time by reading from large tomes, eating and
conversing quietly amongst themselves in small groups.
Suddenly
the door swung open and a man, dressed liked the others, rushed in.
"Its
time," he exclaimed, "I have
felt the raising of power by the Chosen one."
"Can
it be true, Grael?" asked one of the women in the room as she and all the
others rose from the table and made ready to leave.
"Yes,
Amana, for the first time I think we have a chance to bring over the one person
who will be able to help us in our desperate struggle," Grael said as he gathered up some items from
the table and headed back out the door.
"But
we must hurry, if she manages to finish the Invocations we won't have another
chance for a long time, maybe forever!"
At
that, he and all of the others left the room and headed down a long
corridor. The entered another, larger,
room which was very similar to the workroom in far off Sunnydale.
"Quickly,
to your places," Grael said, "I've left a gate in the circle so that
time is saved, once we are in, I'll re-seal it."
The
group quickly arranged themselves into a working circle. Once all of them had taken their places
Grael took a long-sword from the Altar and moved to the gate. As he said the ritual words "co-healal
dorrys" to re-seal the circle blue flames chased up the blade of the
sword.
"Now,
to work," he said, as he took his place along side Amana in the centre of
the circle, "this woman is the
most powerful person I've sensed in a long time, even if she has been poorly
trained."
With
that, the group began a complex, multi-part chant that soon had visible effects
on the air in front of the Alter. A
visible thickening of the air was happening as the group worked together to
form a portal. Only this was going to
be no ordinary portal, for their aim was to bridge the fast distances of
space-time and dimensions to reach what they prayed would be their saviour.
Suddenly
Grael let out a shout "dorrys brishey magh!" And with those words, a gaping hole appeared
in the air before the Alter. The hole
was rimed with blue fire and appeared to be without depth.
"Now
to cast out our plea for help," Grael said to the group.
As
one, they shouted out, both mentally and orally their plea for assistance, "Chosen one, help us! Save us from the demons that are killing our
people!"
"Now
we wait and pray she will answer us," Amana said quietly.
------------------------------------
Back
in Sunnydale, Willow and Buffy were still holding hands as Willow was beginning
the process of calling out the Invocations to the Guardians, when she felt a
mental pressure on her mind. "Chosen one, help us...." Willow tried
to brush off the thoughts, thinking that she was just tired, when the pressure
returned, " Chosen one, help us!
Save us from the demons that are killing our people!"
Willow
stopped what she was doing stunned. She
had heard and read about telepathy, but she had never expected to experience it
first-hand. Tentatively she replied
mentally "Who are you? And why do
you need my help?"
"She
replies," Amana shouted out to the group of mages before responding
mentally, "we are plagued by all types of demons, and nothing we can do
helps."
Willow
thought for only a second about what she should do. She was consecrated to help others, and duty and honour bound to
respond to those who asked. She swiftly
came to a decision.
Tuning
to the coven she said, "Giles, Susan, take over here, I've been
called."
As
soon as Susan entered the centre of the circle Willow passed over to her the
web of power she had raised saying to her, "quickly Susan, as soon as I'm
gone finish the ritual for tonight."
Responding to Susan's questioning stare she said, "no time for
questions and answers, we'll be back as soon as we can."
Mentally
she then cried out, "we come," for she understood that if those who
were calling her for help had demon problems, there was no one better than the
slayer to help them.
"We?"
Asked a bemused Grael.
"Don't
ask questions!" Amana replied, "quickly all of us, the transfer
spell." With that, the group began another complex chant, which had its
immediate results in Sunnydale.
"Quickly
woman, you must activate the portal from your end," Grael sent mentally to
Willow.
Willow
knew, somehow, to call out the spell, "dorrys brishey magh," and
suddenly in the middle of her workroom the gate appeared. Like its twin, it was rimmed with blue fire.
"It's
ok Buffy," Willow said to a stunned Slayer, "our help is needed
elsewhere on demon disposal. Trust
me." With those words, Willow took
Buffy by the hand and walked into the portal.
As
soon as they entered, the portal collapsed and disappeared.
"Well,
that was certainly an interesting start to the evening," deadpanned Giles.
------------------------------------
Nothingness,
pure-black without the hint of light, the two women travel though the dark
without sensing their movement. Since
without reference points, how can you measure speed and distance. Suddenly the black is pierced with a blue
flame in the far distance, and the two women can now tell that they are moving
swiftly towards it.
Quickly
they are through the portal and tumbling to the floor, surrounded by chanting
people in heavy robes. The temperature
is bone-numbing cold, especially for someone wearing nothing but a cotton robe.
Buffy,
innately able to quickly recover from just about anything took a quick look
around the very unfamiliar room, turned to her lover and friend, and said
quietly, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
"Meow!!" Agreed a very confused Shadow-Cat.