Title: Ride the Lightning Author: Babbles4twillow
Summary ~ Tara Maclay escapes her abusive family and finds herself wounded at Rosenburg Castle, home to Willow, who has never known anything but loneliness. AU
Disclaimer ~ The characters are not mine and belong to their respective owners. I just play with them. The story, however, is mine.
Feedback ~ Always welcome and cherished.
Thanks ~ To my bestie, Astron, and those of you who are reading this
Notes: If there is anyone still reading… thank you. It’s been a rough year, and I’m sorry for not posting. This has not been beta’d as a surprise, so if there are any errors, please PM me. Here's to changes!
Thoughts and Catspeak in Italics. ******************************************************************************
Chapter 22 – Bits and Pieces - Part 2 ************** Their feet hit the ground hard as they started to run, battle-cries pushing from their mouths. The cries sounded like feral screams. They felt like goodbye. *************** As they ran, Tara and Willow threw bolts of their magic at the approaching army with their free hands, spooking horses and knocking men from them. Sera was in the back of the running group, mumbling incantations from her scrolls. Donny ran beside the two other men, telling himself he would get through this for his wife and unborn child, who were waiting back at a safe room in the castle. Charna adjusted the wind around them, making it easier for her group to run, and tiring the other army faster. Calah and River ran beside each other, not sure what they were doing, but knowing it had to be done. Rei tried to pace herself so that she did not run completely in front of everyone. Glancing around at the magical army, she noticed the men running just behind her, Buffy right beside them. Just in front of her were two women, and watching them run beside each other, watching the way they ran, it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended; it was hard to tell which one actually had the cat inside them, since they both ran with the grace of one. Rei pulled her bow up and aimed as they got closer to the enemies and fired off a few quick shots. They were still moving too fast, there were too many of them. Willow had that thought the same time that Rei did. “River, give them something to run through!” She yelled, thankful that she’d had at least a small amount of time to learn the new group’s abilities before the battle came. River stopped for a moment to concentrate, pulling water from the ground below, causing the ground just in front of the running horses and men to become soaked, more and more water coming aboveground as they ran. Rei and Calah both helped her, drawing water from the air making it rain just above the growing puddle. Willow watched and waited until the men started splashing through the water, then let loose a stream of lightning at the water. The men running through it screamed as their bodies were attacked by the electricity. They kept coming, now realizing what was happening and going around the puddle, ignoring the pile of men and horses that lay in the middle of the road. “Weapons!” Tara called out, and everyone raised their weapons. Those that had the ability and the training had magic flare and line their weapon. Her eyes scanned the men, not seeing the face she was looking for. The wall of horsemen were blocking her ability to see the full army behind them. A small smirk crossed her face as she noticed Riley go rushing forward with his sword, slashing at the horsemen as he reached them. Astron and Faith gave each other a nod, raising their long swords and joining Riley. The rushing army slowed down as their fellows were cut down, men falling from their horses left and right. Tara could hear soft noises from behind her, then noticed as arrow after arrow flew over her head and started bringing more men down. Rei was letting arrows loose as fast as she could, but her quiver was already starting to run low on arrows. The army in front of them was thinning, but there were still many of them. The horseman were downed, and a lot of the footman. Even with this, something was telling all of them that there was still more horrors to come.
A man ran at Tara with his sword raised, a scream in this throat and murder in his eyes. That scream died before it was even fully let loose; Willow sliced him down before he could reach the woman she loved. She had the knowledge that today was the day she died; she was no longer afraid for her own life, just Tara’s. Tara would survive today so that one day, they could be together again. Willow looked back at Tara, trying to hide that knowledge from showing, but the moment their eyes connected, she could tell that Tara could see something dwelling there. With that connection, she almost didn’t hear the sword behind her.
“NO!!” Tara screamed, a blue stream of fire racing from her hand, killing the man before he could get close to her Willow. She looked at the redhead, her jaw clenching in determination. “Not today, my Willow-tree. Not today!”
With that said, her and Willow turned to the remaining men of the army, swords raised and a fight in their hearts.
************************************* Donald looked over the battle, his face not giving any hint to what he was feeling as he sat atop his horse. He looked over at the three who stood near him, commenting, “They’re winning.” “Do you want us to start?” Angelus asked.
“Yes,” Donald replied calmly. “Let’s move in.” He lightly nudged his horse and started moving towards the battle. He could no longer stand back and watch his daughter, the witches, and his betraying son win. They would all go down. It was his demand. This day would end in blood, and no more of the blood would belong to him or his.
William looked over at Drusilla and grinned. She was going to love making all those bodies dance.
***********************************
The group was moving fast, bringing down man after man as they cut through the army, trying to fight their way to their true enemy. They still could not see Donald, even after half of his army was lying dead at their feet.
“Something is happening,” Tara whispered, as a dark foreboding feeling settled in her gut. She sliced down another man, saying a prayer for his soul as she did. Suddenly, there was a cry of pain from somewhere behind her. She spun quickly to see Mr. Giles sputtering blood from his mouth, a look of shock on his face as he stared down at the sword that had been lanced through his stomach. Everything seemed to come to a standstill as even the army stopped moving to watch Rupert fall to his knees, then his face. The sword stood up from his back, quivering at the jolt of the fall. A man stood behind him, a bloody grin on his face, even though his torso was ripped open from left shoulder to right hip.
Willow’s face went slack with shock, and then twisted in horror when she looked around and saw all of the dead beginning to rise again. Dread settled in her gut, but just for a moment. Grim determination came over her, and a need to survive long enough to get Tara through this fight. Internally, she swore to Tara that she wouldn’t let her die. With that oath in her heart, her magic flared and began shooting too fast from her hands for the eye to see.
“It’s not working!” Tara yelled, as her magic burned a dead body, but it kept walking.
They kept fighting, but nothing was stopping these monsters. Every live person that they felled just came back, mouths gaping and innards escaping. The group was growing tired, wearing down by attacking enemies that wouldn’t stay down.
“Watch my back!” Faith yelled, and immediately the group circled her. From behind them, they could hear her moaning, and bones cracking, but she fought through the momentary pain to change into what she now knew was her true form. Transformation completed, Pura let out a fierce roar and followed her instinct. The white tiger broke through the circle of her friends, jumping right for an enemy’s head. Catching on, the group followed her lead, slicing off their attacker’s head and slightly rejoicing in the fact that they did not rise again. They were still surrounded, and the entire enemy army was closing in, but the group had their fire back.
The battle seemed to go completely still for a moment when Pura let out a roar that echoed throughout the area, trembling inside every person around.
They’re coming, Pura said to them all, leaving it at that before tearing into another man. Unsure of what she meant, everyone looked around, and froze. Exploding from the surrounding forests were all types of animals. Wolves, lions, tigers, boar, bears, and more, were running beside each other, with only one thing on their mind: to help their Amháin íon.
Before they knew it, limbs went flying. The swarm of enemies was cut in half quickly. With the prospect of victory close at hand, they all fought with renewed vigor. Their blood boiled with the urge to cut down all of the walking dead, and the new men that had joined them, determined not to let these men destroy their magic. Each step that they took into their swings, each step away from one enemy for a spell, each small breather they took… It was separating them all, and they didn’t realize it. They were all too far away from each other at this point to quickly reach another to be able to come to their aid. Calah realized this first. Her gurgling scream made the others realize it. In her rush to help, Rei had the side of her leg split open, a sword getting just too close while she wasn’t focused. All the sounds of the battle raging around them, screams from their enemies, and their own people, the group took a moment to find each other with their eyes before getting back to the fight.
“Regroup!” Riley yelled, getting back to Buffy’s side, both of them fighting with their back to the other. He saw Charna give a small nod as she fought off two men while Sera was casting a spell from behind her. An arrow shot through the head of the man in front of Buffy, and she looked in the direction it came from to see Rei give her a bloody grin, River at her side covered in mud. Astron and Pura joined the growing circle after they did.
Almost everyone, Tara thought to herself as she did a mental checklist, her eyes searching for Willow. Even while swinging her blade, fire spitting of the end of it, Tara felt a smile spread across her face as her eyes met her love’s. Then, her heart stopped and her eyes grew wide. Her father was standing right behind her smiling Willow. When she realized why Tara was looking at her with fear, it was too late.
Willow heard a laugh from behind her as a ripping pain went through her chest. Looking down, she saw a rusted blade coming from her chest, and it seemed to be getting longer. Why? Willow thought. Coughing, blood sputtering from her mouth, Willow looked again for Tara, tried to scream when she saw Tara fall from a blade sliced across the back of her legs as she was running. With her body going numb, she didn’t even feel the jolt to her knees as she fell, as the world started going dark. Her eyes barely open, Willow could see Tara dragging herself towards her. Her heart started to slow and she felt all her pain completely leave her, all her worries floating away as Tara grabbed her hand.
“Willow,” Tara gasped. “Please, no.” She could beg all she wanted, but Tara could not change what had just happened. Beneath her hands, Tara felt Willow’s soul leaving her body, and felt the ripping in her heart. She let out a scream, unable to control the flame that leapt from her heart to the paint the sky.
The group looked at them when they heard Tara and saw the sky on fire. Their hearts sank as they saw their leaders on the ground, Tara weeping over Willow’s body. Pura howled as she saw the person who helped her change everything laying there with no more breath in her lungs, no more songs in her heart. As she howled, she ran towards them, and all of the other animals cleared the path for her. Before he could realize what was happening long enough to stop laughing, Donald was down on the ground with the great white tiger on his chest, pinning him, teeth to throat.
“You think you won, old man?” A silky voice said in his ear, demanding his attention. “All you did was make us stronger. You placed a fire in our hearts, the kind of fire that you will never feel. Magic will live forever. Even when we all leave this world, our magic lives on. It comes from love, you imbecile.” The tiger backed far enough away that even though he was still pinned, he could see the woman who had been speaking. She started to move from her kneeling position, and for the first time in a long time, he felt fear.
Astron shifted, pulling her Sais from her thighs, and crossing them over his throat. “Magic always finds a way,” she whispered. “We are never completely gone.” With that, she moved her hands like lightning. His throat split open, Donald was gone.
The group didn’t even notice that the battle was dying around them, that the animals were chasing away and killing who was left. All they could see was Willow’s still body, and Tara’s tears. They held on to each other as they moved to join Tara in her grief, stood there for hours, their own tears flowing as the night grew cold but didn’t darken. Until the dawn, they stood guard over the witches, Tara’s grief lighting the sky.
************************* TBC!!!!
_________________ ~Allie - Ride the Lightning"Not a word is ever needed to excuse you loving me." Willow to Tara in Katharyn's Sidestep Chronicles
Last edited by Babbles4Twillow on Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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