Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior)

By Kevin Beckett

Chapter V - Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est

(Knowledge Itself Is Power)

I met you again in my sleep last night,

these are days of slow boats and false starts.

Hearts remain under lock and key,

you will be the one to set them free.

Miles From Our Home

Cowboy Junkies, Miles From Our Home

wo women were asleep in bed; however, they were not getting the relaxation they needed since their sleep was troubled. It had been ten days since the vicious and treacherous attack on them and things would not be returning to what had passed until then as normal. The suddenness of the attack, combined with the events that occurred after it, was one of the primary reasons for their sleepless nights. Both women were also exhausted due to an expanded training regime that had been put into place four days previously. They had been told that time was no longer a luxury, and that they would have to begin the work that they had been called to do within days. They had both become very concerned when told that piece of news, and each had privately wondered if they would be able to survive the upcoming exertions.

They had nearly gone insane from the extraordinary events that had occurred as a result of the attack. This was due to the continuous presence of having both of them in each other's mind and memories. The ability to know what the other knew, feel what the other felt, see what the other saw was devastating to their psyches. What saved them from total psychosis was the deep and eternal love they had for each other, combined with the tolerance and understanding of the two mages, Amana and Grael, who had spent several untiring hours over the last nine days helping the women to develop stratagems for working with each other, and with the new gift that they had been given. As a result of this hurried work, the two were able to keep some parts of their mind and memories concealed from each other. In addition, they had been able to build filters so that they would not be overwhelmed by feedback from each other. However, when dreaming, emotions and worries had a way of revealing themselves.

Both women were now in fact dreaming, and as had happened in previous nights, they were sharing a dream. They were walking together, hand in hand, on an endless, sunny plain where soft spring breezes were blowing through their hair. It was a safe place, with no hiding places for demons or other evil creatures and no sign of anyone other than themselves.

<Where are we?> asked the red-haired women, now nearly unrecognisable from the person who had boldly walked into the portal just nearly four weeks previously. She had bulked out due to the intensive exercise program she had been following, while losing a significant proportion of her body fat, simultaneous with gaining an additional twenty percent of her body mass in muscle. She was, without a doubt, in the best shape of her young life.

<Somewhere safe it looks like,> replied the other woman. Buffy was still physically similar to the woman who had travelled with unquestioning love her soul mate into the portal, however, internally she had changed as much as Willow had. She had gained a deeper understanding of the magical forces, which surrounded the physical world, and she had gained some significant skill in the processes used to manipulate them. She had also learned several things about herself, not the least of which was that someone had deliberately tampered with her genetic material before she had been born. The most likely suspect in both of their minds was the watcher's counsel, if so, as soon as they returned home they would be demanding answers. More importantly she had discovered that her love for Willow was complete. She would literally trust her with her life, it was both a comforting and a worrying realization of the total dependence that they had for each other.

<How you doing Buff?> asked a concerned Willow, she too had come to realise that the other woman was the world to her, and that she would put everything on the line for her. They had, of course, discussed the attack and what Buffy had done, but words are often not enough to convey the depth of emotions they both felt for each other, <are we going to be able to cope with all of this?>

<No choice red,> Buffy replied tenderly, <at least we won't be automatic candidates for the room with the rubber wallpaper now.>

<But, I think we will start repaying them soon.>

Both women stopped their dream walking and sat down on the soft grass and began to drink from the glasses of wine, which had suddenly appeared in their hands.

Buffy was expressing her most deeply suppressed thoughts through their dream, things that she herself would not have acknowledged while awake, things that were primal to her personality, things that could only surface through her subconscious into her dreams.

Buffy, startled at the worried look of concern which crossed Willow's face, continued rapidly, <not that I'll be committing suicide any time soon, but that I would be so worried about you in any conflict that I would sacrifice myself to save you. I never want to see you taking another knife for me.>

Willow replied, completely certain of her response. She too was expressing unconscious thoughts, things that were now part of her innate being. She was internally amused at how calm the two of them were discussing this potentially life-threatening situation. She knew it was a product of the dream state they were sharing, but it also had to do with the complete and total insight that they now had for each other, which resulted in an immense depth of trust between them and faith in each other and their abilities.

continued the Slayer, <and I think that this potential conflict might allow others the time to hurt both of us.>

<Hadn't thought about that, but what can we do?>

The dream world they inhabited was now beginning to fade out as both women left REM sleep and drifted off into a deeper slumber. If there had been an observer, other than Shadow-cat, they would have noticed that the breathing of both was identical, and if they had the tools to measure them, that the pulse and heartbeat were also identical along with, to a certain extent, their brainwave patterns.

Shadow-cat had also suffered from the near psychosis of her human, she was almost not able to cope with the kaleidoscope of images she was receiving and had stopped eating for three days. Only when Willow had started to gain control of her mind, was Shadow-cat able to gain control of hers. She had spent the last few days resting and eating to regain her strength.

Shortly thereafter, the door to their suite was opened by one of the two guardsmen, who were now always stationed on duty, to allow the entrance of Amana, Grael, Aiofe and Bridie. The four quickly crossed the sitting room and entered Buffy and Willow’s bedroom.

Grael answering Shadow-cat’s questioning look with a quiet “shush, its ok.” They quickly arranged themselves around the bed.

“Is this going to work?” Amana asked, as she looked down on the two young women hoping that what the four of them were about to do would be productive, even if it skirted the edge ethically.

“It has to,” Grael replied, as he too privately wondered about what they were going to attempt.

“They need our help,” protested Aiofe, positive that what they were going to do was right. She had watched with first concern and then relief the internal struggles that Buffy and Willow had undergone. She now had even greater admiration and respect, not only for their formidable skills but also for their obvious love and devotion to each other.

“But,” continued Grael, “this still troubles me. We are doing nothing directly to them, but entering their dream could be interpreted as interfering with them.”

“It’s not like we are going to force our way in,” answered Bridie, “I mean, we are going to ask, doesn’t that make the difference?”

“Technically,” the older woman replied, “but it is an action which is very close to the edge.”

“Enough,” Grael interjected, his own internal worries settled, “we have thrashed this out in counsel for the last three hours and we came to the unanimous decision to proceed.”

What the four mages were about to accomplish was difficult under the best of circumstances. Given the current, unprecedented situation it could be impossible. However, the mage’s counsel had come to the conclusion that they had no choice in the matter but to proceed and hope for success. They were faced with potentially the greatest boon or bane their world had ever seen; they therefore needed additional information. Of primary concern to them were the intentions of the two young women; since, due in part to the attack on them, their magic potential had increased, not linearly as Amana and Grael had predicted, but exponentially. Willow was now more powerful than any of the mages who reported to the counsel, and Buffy was as powerful in her limited areas, since it appeared that she was able to draw on, in a limited manner, the abilities and knowledge that Willow had. Buffy was still very unskilled in the practice of her magical abilities, but that situation was changing rapidly.

The council needed confirmation that Buffy and Willow would continue to work towards the eradication of the demon threat. They had worried that the events of the past few weeks would result in them regretting their decision to stay, and would lead them to demand to return home. They also worried that neither Buffy or Willow would say they wished to return, even if they did, and that would result in less than attentive mages when it came to fighting the demons.

The council had decided to take the step of entering Buffy and Willow’s dreams; in order to obtain what they hoped was an unbiased and instinctive response from them to their questions. Amana and Grael were going to attempt to send Aiofe and Bridie into the dream, since they were familiar figures to the two travellers, while they stayed behind to conduct the transfer and to watch over them.

“Ok, Aiofe, Bridie get into bed with them, and make yourselves comfortable,” Amana ordered softly, “once you are settled in, Grael and I will put you under.”

Within moments both young women were in bed, one on each side of Buffy and Willow, since they had arrived already dressed for bed. Grael and Bridie with a soft “cadley trome” quickly sent both of them to sleep.

“Now we watch and wait for Buffy and Willow to enter dream sleep,” commented Amana after a few minutes of watching to insure that none of the four women would wake from the activities that had been going on.

Within the half-hour it became apparent that Willow and Buffy were about to enterer REM sleep again. The two senior mages quickly induced REM sleep in Aiofe and Bridie and then worked together to complete the spell that would transfer their sleeping consciousness into the dream world of Buffy and Willow. They then sat down and waited for the results. Hopefully their assistance would not be required further and that Aiofe and Bridie would enter the dream and then leave it, as planned, once the four women left REM sleep.

Willow and Buffy had returned to their shared dream world. This time however, they were back home in their dorm at UC Sunnydale. They were both sitting at their desks and studying, while listening to Celtic folk music on the radio. All was not quite normal however. For one thing, both women were naked, and for a second, both appeared to be twins. It was still possible, somehow, to tell Willow from Buffy, however, for all intents and purposes they were identical.

<Back home, I guess,> Willow commented, <not much has changed.>

<We're naked,> replied the Slayer.

<Well, that's true, but, this is a dream,> said Willow as she stood up from her desk and walked over to the other side of the room where Buffy was.

Willow proceeded to stroke Buffy, softly running her hands over her back and through her hair.

<Hey,> she said as she looked at the two of them in the mirror, <we look the same.>

Just then there was a knock on the door.

<Who can that be,> wondered the slayer.

<I'll check,> replied Willow as she went over to the door. As she approached the door it became transparent and the room's occupants could see that both Aiofe and Bridie were on the other side of it.

<Don't know Will,> replied a now fully clothed Buffy, <why don't you ask them.>

Willow, now also dressed, turned back to the open door and asked, <ladies, what are you doing here?>

Aiofe glanced over at Bridie, and receiving her go-ahead nod, replied with the traditional, <Lady, I beseech you to allow us entrance to your domain.>

<We have been sent to walk with you in your dreams,> replied Bridie, <but before we can enter, we must have your permission.>

<Why are you here,> asked Buffy figuring it was ok, so far, since her usually reliable spidey sense, which indicated nearby trouble, was not tingling.

<To ask you questions, and to seek clarification,> answered Aiofe.

<Well, Buff,> said Willow,

<Nor I, let them in,> she replied, trusting that the ladies only had good intentions.

With that the other two young women entered the room, which then changed to the mage's study in Castle Maldor.

<Weird,> commented the Slayer as she took a look around their new surroundings and sat down in her accustomed place before the fireplace.

<I'll say,> replied the arch-mage as she to sat down with the others. <Ok, what are you doing in our dream?>

<Amana and Grael have sent us, and are currently watching over us, to ask some questions of your subconscious minds,> replied Aiofe.

<Questions?> asked Buffy, <why don't they just ask us when we are awake?>

<Because the two of you are now so powerful, that when alert, you could mask untruths,> answered Bridie, <and the mage's counsel needs some questions answered before we start on your assignment.>

<What questions,> asked Willow, thinking "what 'we'."

<Simply, if you both still share the desire to purge this world of the demons who plague us,> replied Aiofe, <or do you wish to abandon us and return to your own world?>

<And why ask in our dreams,> asked Buffy still not totally paying attention to the situation.

<It's felt that in ones dreams, the subconscious wouldn't lie,> replied Aiofe.

<Oh,> replied the Slayer, <well I guess this is an easy one, right Will?>

<Yep love,> answered the redhead, <what we started, we will finish.>

<Excellent,> commented Bridie.

<Besides,> continued Buffy and Willow simultaneously, <everyone here has given us so much to be thankful for, and we've learned so much, we just couldn't leave you now.>

As they finished their conversation, the dream world once again faded out as the four women went into a deeper sleep.

Grael and Amana had watched the four women very carefully, and when the breathing of all four had become synchronized they knew that they had been successful in inserting Aiofe and Bridie into the dream state of Willow and Buffy. Once it had become apparent that the four women had left REM sleep and had fallen back to normal deep sleep the turned away and left the bedroom.

"We'll have to wait until morning now," commented Amana as they knocked softly on the suit's door to signal to the guardsmen to let them leave, "we will check with Aiofe and Bridie once they have awakened."

"That should not be too long now," answered Grael, yawning as he did so, "its almost dawn now, and Buffy will probably wake just at dawn as is her usual practice."

"We still have to meet with Daithi and the other military commanders before breakfast and get an update on that urgent dispatch they received just as the counsel meeting adjourned," continued a very tired Amana, "I will be very thankful once we get going, at least you and I will have a chance for a decent nights sleep then."

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Buffy, as was her practice, woke up with the sun, yawning and thinking that she was still not getting a good nights sleep, what with all the strange dreams she had been having. As she woke, she realised that she and Willow were not alone in bed, and that maybe the bizarre dream she had had with Aiofe and Bridie in it was not so odd after all. She carefully disentangled herself from Aiofe and Willow, who had both wrapped themselves around her, and sat up in bed.

"Strange," she thought, "maybe the dream wasn't just Willow's and my subconscious performing tricks again, and it looks like they did actually come to visit us last night."

Buffy then sent a mental inquiry to her lover, <Will, wake up sleepy head, we have company.>

"This telepathy stuff can be useful," she thought, "If we weren’t so principled, it could be really useful in tests."

<Bad Buffy,> interjected Willow still semi-sleeping with her eyes closed and snuggled into Bridie, <you know that isn't even something we should even be thinking about. What guests?>

<Aw, some times lover you are a party pooper.>

<We don’t know if they are into that, you unquenchable you,> Buffy commented dryly.

With that, the two travellers separated themselves both physically and mentally and started to get out of bed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they made enough sound to rouse the other two women.

“Good morning ladies,” Aiofe said as she sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “did you sleep well?”

“Yes, we did,” replied Willow, “I take it then that you two have been keeping secrets from us?”

“Huh,” cut in the now confused Slayer, <Willow, love, what are you talking about?>

<Later, besides its not polite to talk, even this way, behind other's backs,> “It’s just that in order for the two of them to enter our minds Buffy, even if we were asleep at the time, they have to be mages.”

“Oh,” replied Buffy, “I guess that makes a certain amount of sense.”

“Yes, we have been a wee bit reticent,” answered Bridie, who had just woken up, “and we beg you apology for not revealing this to you earlier.”

"Ok, what gives," asked Buffy?

"When you came over,” answered Bridie, “it was felt by the mage's counsel that since you were a totally unknown quantity, it would be best to have a couple of mages assigned to you as your servants."

"It was felt," continued Aiofe, "that since you were going to require servants, and most likely bodyguards, that two mages, albeit apprentice ones, would be better than two normals."

"We just began our instruction a year ago," added Bridie, "and we are not even half as talented as even Buffy is."

"So," asked a more than slightly irate Willow, not that mollified by knowing she was dealing with very junior mages, "just what have you been reporting back to the council?"

"Nothing that you weren’t already telling Amana and Grael," responded Aiofe, "in fact, it was your complete lack of guile about what you were doing that led us to our little adventure last night."

"The council needed to have one last affirmation of your intentions," continued Bridie, "before today's briefing."

"Ok," replied Willow, "I guess," she was still not totally happy with the news they had received. However, she reasoned that she would have probably done the same thing if she had been on the mage's council.

"Briefing," asked Buffy, "what briefing?"

"After your morning routine, and breakfast," replied Bridie, "we will be given a briefing in Amana's workroom. To begin to get us up to speed on what we will need to know in order to get ready for the mission you came here to do. Before we head out in three days or so."

"Head out," squeaked Willow, "I thought we had at least a week or so, we aren’t ready, I'm not ready."

"Easy, love," said Buffy, as she wrapped her friend and lover in a warm and supportive hug, "lets get the day going, we will talk about all of this later with Amana and Grael."

"May we join you," asked Aiofe.

"Fine with me," replied Buffy as she headed out to the sitting room to begin the day with the usual exercise routines.

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Later that morning four young women were relaxing in a hot bath having just finished a demanding morning workout. The shared exercise had allowed them to start to bond with each other. Buffy and Willow had also realised during the workout routines that the other two women were very fit, they had learned that before they had become mages, Aiofe and Bridie had first trained as guardsmen, a practice that most of the mages had followed. The four women had passed the time while doing the various exercises discussing their lives and various experiences. They were all keyed up, by both the morning's activities, and by their shared realization of the future. They all knew that in at most a few days they would be leaving the security of the castle and be heading out to face battle with untold numbers of foes. They were joking and laughing, and indulging in a little harmless horseplay, resulting in a rapidly flooding bathroom.

"Aiofe, you witch," yelled Buffy as she was splashed with soapy water, "I'll get you for that!" Buffy moved over to where Aiofe was sitting and proceeded to try to dunk her underwater.

"Bridie, help," Aiofe called as she tried, mostly unsuccessfully to avoid being dunked, "I'm losing."

"Coming," the other dark-haired women said as she moved across the bath to help her comrade.

With that a general free for all play battle was underway in the bath. Within a few minutes it became apparent to all of them that they were getting more than a little excited by the play. In fact, the atmosphere in the room was becoming charged with sexual excitement and tension. Willow paused for a moment then, suddenly kissed a startled Aiofe. She broke the kiss with a soft, "you ok," and moved a short distance away.

"Yes," Aiofe said slightly confused, unknown to Willow and Buffy she and Bridie had been lovers for years, but she was now feeling an unbelievable attraction to the red-haired woman before her, "confused, but I'm ok."

"Confused," Willow continued, "I can deal with confused." Willow proceeded to softly caress the silky-smooth cheek of the other woman, "I guessed that you had done that before."

"Yes, I… I mean we, have, but why?"

<Yes lover, why,> Buffy sent as she was suddenly confronted with Bridie moving towards her, arousal in her eyes.

<Later,> Willow cautioned as she embraced Aiofe, "Instinct," she answered Aiofe, "I mean that, well, I guess what I want to say is that you two will be coming with us, you are supposed to help, and I guess, look out for us, and I needed to trust my instincts about you," Willow looked questioningly into the other woman's jade eyes, hoping to find the needed understanding.

Bridie had taken the opportunity to take an unresisting Buffy into her arms and continued with a passionate tongue-entangling kiss. Buffy decided to throw caution to the winds and started to stroke the other woman, working her fingers down from her neck to the soft sides of her breasts. She cupped a breast in each hand and then began to kiss and lick the aureoles, gently teasing the nipples erect. Bridie was not stopping her attentions towards the slayer, she moved her fingers down the blond woman's body and continued around her sides to reach underneath and grasp her firm, muscular buttocks. She proceeded to gently squeeze each in turn while she reached down with her mouth to find once again the soft lips of the slayer.

Willow had proceeded to tenderly attack Aiofe, she had sat the other woman on the edge of the bath and was proceeding to kiss her way up the inside of her thighs, alternating from one leg to the other. She reached Aiofe's cleft, and began to tease her, by tenderly kissing and licking each of her labia in turn, being cautious to stay away from her rapidly engorging clitoris. Aiofe began to quietly whimper from Willow's actions, and tried repeatedly to manoeuvre her clit into the others mouth, however, the arch-mage was able to anticipate her every move and stay away from the sensitive spot, in order to delay her climax. Finally Aiofe could take no more and begged, "Willow please, please, I have to come, please let me finish." With that soft pleading, Willow relented and sucked the enlarged clit into her soft mouth, gently scraping it with her teeth while stimulating its tip with her tongue. Aiofe exploded with a series of body pulsating orgasms, wave after wave of vibrations surged through her body as she nearly passed out from the experience.

Willow looked up at Aiofe, licking juices off her face, "happy," she asked with a little smile on her face.

"Ecstatic," the other woman replied, "here, let me help you," she continued as she bent over and began to lick Willow's face clean, "now its my turn," she said as she gently forced the red-haired woman onto her back on the bathroom floor.

"Oh, goody!"

Bridie meanwhile had taken a different approach. She had continued her attentions to Buffy's rear, and had begun to suck on each of the slayer's nipples in turn. Buffy was thoroughly enjoying the attention, and the alteration of slight pain and pleasure. What happened next, surprised the slayer; Bridie took a deep breath and plunged her head under the water. She proceeded to move between Buffy's thighs and then blew onto her clit. The sensation of having air, bubbles and moving water on her clitoris caused her to squirm in pleasure.

As Bridie came up for air, Buffy pulled her towards her, kissed her softly and whispered, "lets go to bed, I want to be comfortable."

The two women quickly dried off, briefly noticing the activities of the other two, before heading off to the bedroom. Once there they quickly arranged themselves into a sixty-nine and proceeded to simultaneously stimulate each other. Bridie had one more surprise for the slayer, as she was taking long, cat-like licks of Buffy's labia and clitoris she carefully inserted one of her long fingers deep into her vagina; when she had lubricated the finger she then moved her hand between Buffy's ass cheeks and, after pausing for a moment to spread the cheeks apart, slowly penetrated her asshole.

"Ooh," Buffy exclaimed into Bridie's crotch, "that's nasty, nasty but it feels amazing."

"Ah," the other woman said as she paused her digital assault for a second, "a virgin."

"NO, yes, I mean," babbled an increasingly excited Buffy, "I'm not a virgin, but that is the first…"

"Shush, dear," soothed Bridie, "I'll be gentle."

Buffy was suffering an avalanche of emotions and sensations, she was being penetrated anally for the first time, and was torn between the pleasure of the new sensation and feelings of shame from her upbringing which said that the actions of the other woman were wrong. She was also receiving feedback from Willow, and the waves of pleasure she was going through; since everything that she had learned in the past few days about filtering the flow between them was shattered from her own rapidly dissolving self control, all in all a very confusing mental picture which rapidly dissolved into a chaotic jumble of thoughts as she experienced a titanic climax, simultaneously with Bridie.

"There," Bridie said softly, "that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"No, but," Buffy said, still confused by all the reactions she was experiencing, "I'm not sure why I feel both pleased and shamed."

"It's probably due to the way you were raised," commented the other woman as she turned Buffy around and enveloped her in a loving embrace, "most people are told anything to do with your rear is dirty, and shameful, but it is awfully nice sometimes. You will decide if you like it or not, after all it is your body."

"Well, mostly," replied the Slayer, "now, with the little incident we went through, I share my body with Willow and she shares hers with me."

"What's that love," replied a very satisfied looking Willow. She looked like a red-haired cat that had just eaten the canary; a canary which was currently holding her hand. "I trust that you had a good time, at least you seemed to from the feedback I was getting." Willow and Aiofe proceeded to get into bed with the other two women, each giving their respective soul mates a deep kiss and hug.

"Yes," replied the Slayer a few minutes later, "all in all a great way to start the day. But, I have to ask, why did you start this?"

"As I told Aiofe," answered Willow, "I just went with my instincts."

"Good instincts," replied Buffy, "now, however, ladies, I think that we better re-bath, and get the day going, after all we probably have a couple of senior mages or so waiting for us not so patiently at breakfast.

With that the four women got out of bed and quickly washed themselves. As they were drying off, and getting out clothing for the day, Willow turned to Aiofe, and commented, "I trust that the 'fiction' of you being maids can be dispensed with now and Buffy and I can go back to dressing ourselves?"

"Yes, and no," replied the other woman, "I mean that after today we won't be your maids, however, all of us will have servants, so you will get two real servants to help you."

"Joy," replied Buffy sarcastically, "I do hope, however, that after this morning's activities that you two will move in here with us?"

"If you'll have us," replied Bridie.

"You bet," bubbled Willow, "it will be great, x-rated sleepovers."

The four women quickly finished dressing and headed off to breakfast and the rest of the day's activities.

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Breakfast that morning was strained and hurried; the four women noticed that most of the people present were eating very quickly, not like a normal morning. In addition, the staff was all looking very apprehensive and were doing their jobs with the minimum of attention required.

"What's up," wondered Buffy aloud.

"Don't know," replied Aiofe, "but the servants usually know something is up before anyone else, and they all look very worried."

After breakfast the four women were approached by a page and asked to assemble in the mage's study, along with all of the other mages in residence in the castle, instead of going to Amana's workroom. Once they had settled in, with mugs of hot mead, Grael and Amana moved to the front of the very crowded room and began the meeting.

"Welcome all," Grael said as everyone else turned to face him, "We have called this meeting to bring you all up to date on events that have been happening throughout the country overnight."

That had the immediate effect of focusing everyone's attention on the older man. Grael was haggard, it appeared that he had not slept in days, and lines of worry etched his face, if anything Amana looked worse, her eyes were bloodshot and her skin was pasty white.

Everyone had known for days that something big was about to happen, what with the constant meetings between the senior mages, the counsel and various military officials in addition to the time that Amana and Grael had been spending with the two visitors. It now appeared that they were going to be provided with details on what had been happening.

Amana now took up the briefing, "the senior council has been in meetings with our military advisors," she said as she pointed out two obviously military men at the back of the room, "and can tell you this. The demon forces arrayed against us have appeared to have started a major initiative designed to disrupt our society totally, and perhaps even lead to the annihilation of humankind."

With that statement soft murmurings of excitement and worry broke out in the room. Grael let the room continue its discussions for a moment before continuing; "I have asked General Peter Humphries to continue the briefing for us."

"Sirs and Ladies," began the General from the back of the room as he slowly made his way forward. He was a tall, nearly two hundred centimetres, and wiry man with short-cropped silver hair. Every centimetre of him screamed military, from his bearing to his battle hardened eyes. "Last night the enemy began a massive staged attack on the costal plains south of us, with the obvious intent to draw out our main forces for a pitched battle; in addition several groups of demons have begun guerrilla operations in what we thought until now was our secure rear."

He moved to the front of the room where he uncovered several maps that had been set on easels. The maps were covered with obscure symbols representing the various force distributions and the direction and strength of the major demon attacks. "However," he continued, "it appears that they have been rushed in their preparations," he looked over tellingly at Buffy and Willow, "due to the botched assassination attempt on our visitors earlier this month, and the realization that we now knew that our security had been compromised." He pointed out several areas on the map which had had limited, if any, demon activity, "from what we know so far it appears that the demon leadership has taken the 'strike now, strike hard and hope that we were unprepared strategy…' unfortunately for them, we were ready."

"Can you give us some additional details?" Grael asked.

"Some," replied the General, "in most cases we have been able to at least hold back the demons long enough for the civilian population to retreat to safe areas," he pointed out these areas on the maps, "in other areas we have been able to stop them cold."

"However, there is one area of concern."

"That is," asked a concerned Amana.

"Here," he said pointing out one area of the map where a red arrow, indicating a major demon offensive, was pointed like a dagger at the Capital, and the castle, “we were totally caught out of position for this attack, and it appears that they have massively increased the pre-attack forces available for it."

"Why have they done that," asked a very alarmed Slayer.

"You," replied the General.

"Oh."

"So what are we going to do," asked a troubled Frankel, "are we evacuating, or are we fighting?"

"We fight," answered Grael for the General, "that has never been in question, however, we will do two things."

"They are," asked another of the senior mages in the room, a small woman with flowing purple hair.

"We will evacuate as many civilians as we can, and we will launch a series of diversionary attacks to slow the demons down," replied General Humphries, "in addition, we have accelerated our plans to use our visitors, we will be sending them out to start sealing the transfer portals as soon as we can. This will have three desired results, one it should demoralize the demon leadership, two it will start to stem the flow of their reinforcements and three it will let them know that the objects of the attack on the capital are no longer here, that we hope will result in their breaking off the attack, and allow us additional time to regroup."

"How soon is soon?" asked a worried Willow.

"Tomorrow, and I must add, if you fail we may not be able to stop them from overrunning the castle, and the balance of our forces."

"Oh," replied Willow, echoing the comment of her lover a few minutes earlier.

"What's the plan?" asked Buffy, now going into full battle planning mode, all worries submerged back into her subconscious for the moment.

Grael answered, "I believe that you now know that Aiofe and Bridie are mages and have also been assigned to guard you," receiving answering nods from the two travellers he continued, "well they will accompany you on this little adventure. Also, Amana and myself will join you and we will have a company of Daithi's guardsmen along as backup."

"Ok," replied the Slayer, "that answers, who and when - we already knew why, now what and where?"

"You already know the what we have to accomplish," replied Amana, "and the first location we will try is about two days North of the castle."

"Now for my question," Willow asked softly, "How?"

"That is for you to decide," Grael answered carefully, "based on what we find at each site."

"Oh," replied the Arch-Mage.

"I take it you will be leading this circus," Buffy asked, only slightly sardonically.

"Oh no," replied the older mage.

"Who, then?" asked Willow, already fearing the answer.

"You will dear," replied Amana, "you are after all, the Arch-Mage."

"Oh," replied Willow for the third time that morning.

The meeting immediately broke up into smaller groups to discuss specifics of the defence of humankind. Willow and Buffy meet with Daithi, Amana, Grael, Aiofe and Bridie for the rest of the morning discussing specifics of the route they would be taking, the supplies they would need and spending some additional time in the library hastily researching the transfer points and any weaknesses about them. They decided that travelling fast and light would be their best defensive move. Willow had also taken her first command decision and decided, after much debate and argument from Daithi and Grael, to limit the number of guardsmen coming along to four, reasoning that with fewer people travelling together it would raise less attention to their activities. When he was finally convinced of the argument, Daithi decided that he would be one of the four guardsmen.

After a hurried lunch, which they all ate in the study, Willow's strike force went down to the training halls in order to requisition their arms and armour. They had already decided on leather body-armour, swords and light shields. Buffy also made arrangements for her usual supply of stakes, and a crossbow. They had decided to travel by horse, and therefore carried only the minimum amount of supplies that they would need. Grael believed that they would be able to find shelter most days, since no two villages or towns were more than a day apart.

The conversation at dinner that evening was subdued, few people wishing to bring work to the table, yet reluctant to discuss anything else. Most people ate quickly and headed off to obtain as much sleep as they could. In the morning the majority of the mages would be heading off to provide support to the various battle companies, the balance would be remaining behind to advise senior members of the government and the military. Aiofe and Bridie told the other two young women that they would prefer to sleep in their own chamber that night. Neither Buffy or Willow had to be told why; they knew and felt the same way.

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Later that evening Willow and Buffy lay awake in each other's arms. They had made quiet gentle love and were now in the semi-wakeful period before sleep.

<You ok,> Buffy asked her soul mate, wanting to use the intimacy of the mind-to-mind contact.

<No,> replied her very flustered lover,

<Worried?>

<Nine,> replied the Slayer, unhelpfully.

<Eight, you I would worry about even if I weren't leading this show.>

<You will be fine,> reassured Buffy, <you will have Grael, Amana and Daithi to help, and I will always be there to support you.>

<You'll make mistakes, hopefully nothing major, and you'll learn. I will trust your judgement and help you with everything.>

The two lovers began to slip off to sleep, just before she went under for the evening Willow sent one last question off to Buffy, <hey, slay-girl, you still conscious?>

<Yep.>

<Dangerous.>

<So am I,> replied her lover, with a sudden realization of the obvious.

<Oh,> as the two finally drifted off to the arms of Morpheus for the evening, the unanswered questions would have to wait until morning.

"Meow," called Shadow-cat as she jumped up onto the bed after having successfully hunted for the evening. She happily thought to herself as she burrowed into her usual place on the pillows, "Meow, my human is having a kitten."

Deep within the bodies of both young women a ball of rapidly dividing cells lodged into their uterine walls.

Continued in Chapter 6

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