The Hellebore series (currently: 'Day by Day')

[Puff]

Oh this chapter was great and answered a lot of questions about Amalee's mother and how she was immune to the effects of the rod of command. I alos loved how Willow and Tara interacted as a couple with the child and how they are both thinking of motherhood eventually. It does not bode well that there is a lot of demonic background noise for Tara to wade through, I hope Willow was right about demons keeping away from water. I hope they reach Duncraig soon (and safetly).



Great update as always and I am really enjoying this story.

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So, the day started and I knew my name and had my pants on. So far, so good. Yay.
Amber Benson

[sabina]

Hey there



Great chapter



Willow and Tara's interaction with Amalee is just too sweet



And I have a feeling that Amalee will still be important in chapters to come



More please

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"I know I was born and I know that I'll die.

The in between is mine.

I am mine!" - Pearl Jam

[TemperedCynic]

Amalee's addition has been an important step in Willow and Tara's relationship. Thinking about kids is one thing, raising a wilfull and intellegent young girl is another. Interestingly, unless I missed it earlier, Amalee has yet to comment on Willow and Tara's obvious love for each other. Too much going on to comment I'm sure, but Amalee is a bright and curious girl - could be fun having her peppering the lovers with frank questions.



This chapter says little but hints at so much. What is the unseen danger? What will our heroines find when they reach Duncraig? Will Amalee's uncle take her in? Will the Carvers have been there first? What is Amalee's destiny? I assume that she has the potential to be a sorceress, and since she is immune to Rods of Command she would be a wonderful addition to the fold. Will Willow and Tara ever find a private room? This fic is always on my "must read" list Chris, and even if I don't post as often be assured that I am enjoying the ride as much as the other Kittens here.

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More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen (1935 - )

[FIRESIGN]

Excellent update! I'm very interested in the reason that Amalee/Esara were not affected by this magic...can't wait to read more!



-Cin aka FIRESIGN

[Grimlock72]

Hmm... I assume the Goreth incident was the first time Willow's order came into contact with a rod of command ? Because if it wasn't their intel-gathering leaves something to be desired . On the other hand, how did Esare know to destroy the rod then ?? Questions, questions... Silly Goreth, a simple sword would have sufficed but noooo he was soooo dependant on his magic, heh.



Since you're so worried about Amalee being to pushy (i.e. Dawn like:-), let me assure you if Amalee gets to close to Dawnie I'll tell you. Real quick too : -->



Amalee seems like a bouncy kid, interrupting Willow's story telling with questions and such :-). Willow's story does make me wonder if age has something to do with being rod-resistant. I hope Amalee doesn't feel guilty she didn't destroy the rod like Esare did. Speaking of destroying rods... Willow seemed to use a special spell for it, while a standard attack-spell also would have worked ??



Tara feeling evil in the forest is not a good sign, but it can as well be caused by lots of demons having passed through that forest. I'll keep thinking optimistic explanations . It's cute seeing Willow and Tara care for Amalee so much already.



Grimmy

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"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

[chilled monkey]

TemperedCynic raises a good point. How will Amalee react to Willow and Tara's relationship? She seems like a good kid, but she was raised in a remote village, quite far from more enlightened places like Duncraig.



Grimlock also has an interesting point about the dangers of relying solely on magick. Do sorceresses, mages etc have any martial arts training (which would make sense to me) or does it depend on the order they come from?

[bluemote]

hello chris,



amazing updates, i've been catching up.



glad they're out of the tunnels and into the sunshine, and amalee is great. but the ominous 'background evils' sound a bit scary....



looking forward to the next chapter

[Artemis]

Thanks everyone I've just been working on the next chapter, which will be ready tomorrow. Those of you who enjoyed seeing our girls taking on the Carvers all that time ago when the caravan was attacked will enjoy this too



Debra: When I first thought of including Amalee I had an idea that she'd have been off somewhere away from the other people, and thus not affected when the mage cast the command spell from the rod, but the more I thought about it, the more that didn't work - for the rod to work as efficiently as it's been shown to do, it'd have to be able to zap everyone all pretty much at once. Hence the proper explanation, and Amalee being immune to the rod. She is, in fact (this may be revealed much later, but I'm not sure if I'll find a place for it - it's not really a spoiler though), immune to demonic magic completely. Obviously that doesn't mean she's safe, demons can just as easily swing a sword as cast a spell, but it's certainly useful, and it saved her life here. It's a very rare gift, it just happens sometimes, for no apparent reason - not always in magical people either. In the broad scheme of things, I don't really want to divide the world up into 'mages' and 'non-mages', hence this kind of thing - there's all kinds of magic all over the place, in everyone to some degree. Sometimes it's the casting-spells kind of magic, sometimes it's other sorts.



I did (after thinking of Amalee in general) consciously intend to have her get 'adopted' (if only for the duration of this journey to safety) by Willow and Tara. They're just so cute with children



Arwen: There could be mage potential in Amalee - it doesn't always run in families (Willow's parents were farmers, for instance), and sometimes the gift just pops up in a child out of the blue. I'm not saying she *is* a mage, but she might be.



I was glad to get a bit of teasing into this chapter. I didn't want them to just forget they're hot for each other, just because they can't do anything much with a child hanging around - they can still *think* naughty thoughts



Puff: I actually meant to have this chapter and the next one be one chapter, but I thought it might work better to split them. Hence, to fill in the gap at the end of this one, Willow's story, which answered the question of Amalee and the rod of command - that was going to come later on originally, though I just made up the story for this chapter.



sabina: Careful of reading too much into what I write Often I do things for no particular reason - I wouldn't say it's a foregone conclusion that Amalee will be important to the plot, I might just have included her to give Willow and Tara the task of getting her to safety, and intended nothing more. That sort of unpredictability is a nice side effect of making most of this up as I go along



TemperedCynic: You're right, Amalee hasn't commented on Willow and Tara's relationship. She will, though (I've had that scene planned for a while) - she's a bright little thing, and doesn't miss much that goes on around her. And yes, there's lots of hints of things to come - I don't make *all* of it up as I go I can say one thing for sure though, if demons did wreck Duncraig, they'd have to be a lot bigger and nastier than Carvers. A band of Carvers - even a strong one, with dozens of them, led by a Shaman with magic - would have trouble taking on a sensibly-fortified village. Duncraig is a city of a million and a half people, the capital of Westmarch, with a decent army, and dozens of experienced mages living in the city. So when Willow and Tara look forward to finding safety there, the odds are definitely on their side



Well, I can reveal one other thing: yes, they *will* get their own room eventually



Firesign: Yep, I think I'll definitely have to elaborate on Amalee and Esara's magic resistance at some point.



Grimlock: A lot of the things you're wondering are things Tara is probably going to wonder about, and Willow will explain at some point. Briefly, Willow was telling the 'fairy tale' version of the Goreth story, which glosses over a few details here and there, but is basically true. That wasn't the first time a rod of command had been used - two were used (and destroyed) in the Sin Wars, but seeing as that was hundreds of years before Goreth, it was still a surprise to see a rod turn up. Like Willow said, it's a big risk for a demon to create one - it takes power and time, and if it's destroyed (which any reasonably powerful mage can do, if they get close enough) that demon can't complete the creation of another one for centuries. Goreth was a gamble on Belial's part, that would have paid off big in terms of chaos and destruction, if it hadn't been upset by a fluke before Goreth really got started.



Age might be a factor, I'll have to leave that for the further explanation when it arrives in the story (to tell the truth, I don't know yet). As for Esara destroying the rod with a firebolt, that's part of the fairy-tale version. What actually happened (probably Willow will explain this at some point) was that all the sorceresses, when they realised they were facing a rod of command, had readied their staves with the breaking spell. By firing the staff at the rod - using a firebolt, which was built into the staff, but simple enough that a new trainee could activate it - Esara unknowingly discharged the breaking spell as well, destroying the rod. It doesn't quite have the fairy-tale ring to it that way, and people tend to hear the simplified tale and remember it. Only a few sorceresses know the whole truth of the Goreth story, some of the background to it is intricately involved with Belial and his plans, and dangerous knowledge in the wrong hands. There's a fair bit that most sorceresses don't know about Esara, too...



I was just worried Amalee might be annoying in general - I've never really tried writing a child character, so it was new ground for me. I actually liked Dawn from day one - correction, she annoyed me on screen, but I always had a certainty (without much evidence, sometimes) that she'd be wonderful, if only they'd write her the way she 'should' be. Michelle Trachtenberg is a brilliant actor, I'm sure she could have done something pretty special given the chance.



chilled monkey: Some Orders and mage clans do rely solely on magic to fight, and have little or no training in physical combat. Zann Esu aren't so restricted - all sorceresses go through physical training, to defend themselves and keep fit, seeing as they believe (with some justification) that having a fit, healthy body makes magic easier to do. Fire sorceresses actually have a whole discipline that relies on physical combat, they have the ability to enchant a pretty impressive amount of fire energy into weapons like swords, which they then fight with. There are some cold sorceress magics that use fighting techniques (which you'll see soon), and lightning sorceresses are really the only ones among the Zann Esu who don't have any particular discipline that works with melee fighting. As a rule though, all mages (sorceresses or otherwise) much prefer standing back and bombarding the enemy with magic to getting up close and personal with them. In Willow's case, she has training in staff combat (traditional, as well as magic-augmented), and unarmed combat in case she needs it. The Zann Esu considers sorceresses too valuable to let them go around without being able to defend themselves in every way possible.



bluemote: I'm glad to be up in the fresh air too, I think all that dark underground stuff was starting to get to me



Thanks to everyone for your comments, and look out for the next chapter tomorrow around this time

[Artemis]

Hellebore



Author: Chris Cook

Rating: R

Summary: A headstrong sorceress and a young Amazon join forces to locate and destroy an ancient source of demonic power.

Spoilers: None.

Copyright: Based on characters from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', created by Joss Whedon and his talented minionators, and 'Diablo II' by Blizzard Entertainment. All original material is copyright 2003 Chris Cook.

Feedback: Please. Here, or to alia@netspace.net.au



Note: this has nothing to do with Hellebore, but... happy holidays from Santa Tara, her Scarlet Elf, and the feline Spirit of Christmas: alia.customer.netspace.ne...istmas.jpg



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Chapter Forty-Two

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The path wound through the trees, occasionally edging away from the stream to go around a clump of trunks, so that a wagon or cart could follow it, but never straying far. Tara strained her senses to their limit as the forest became more dense, trying to pinpoint movements or sounds. She was sure there was something in the forest with them, but she didn't think it, or they, were aware of her, Willow and Amalee. Willow was moving with admirable care, leaving little trace of her passage and making even less noise as she picked her way through the fallen leaves and occasional branches that littered the path. Tara wondered if she somehow did it unconsciously, or if she had been taught how to move stealthily - if so, certainly by Ember, and they both owed her their thanks. Amalee was doing as well as could be expected - Tara guessed her father had taught her how best to move, perhaps to avoid attracting the attentions of wild animals on their journeys. She was sure-footed, and barely made more noise than Willow, only occasionally brushing a leafy branch from a bush in passing, and even then never a brittle one that might snap or snag on her clothes.



"The clearing's up ahead," Tara overheard her whisper to Willow, and at the same moment a chill ran down her spine.



"Willow," she said softly. Willow gently drew Amalee to a halt, keeping hold of her hand, and looked back at Tara.



"Trouble?" she asked in a whisper.



"I can't be sure," Tara said with a frown, "but I've got a very bad feeling... there's something in this forest that shouldn't be here."



"Demons?"



"Maybe, but it's more... it's as if the land has been twisted, the rhythms are wrong. There's small movements, like animals but more fearful, the birds are flying in strange patterns, the sounds are... everything's just wrong," she finished with a shrug, "I'm sorry, I can't be more specific, I've never felt anything quite like this before."



"It's okay," Willow said, "I recognise it. There's demons here, and they've affected the land, their energy seeps from them into the ground and affects everything."



"It's interfering with my senses," Tara said, "it's difficult for me to tell exactly what's around us. I'm sure there's something here, I can't tell what exactly..." She glanced down at Amalee, who was absorbing all this with stern calm.



"It's okay sweetie," she said soothingly, "we'll protect you, whatever it is." The girl nodded, accepting Tara's assurance without question, and despite her concern Tara was both touched by Amalee's faith in her and Willow, and impressed at her calm in a frightening situation.



"I'm almost certain it's dangerous," she went on to Willow, "more than just animals like that blood hawk thing. Carvers, perhaps, or maybe something else. Damn, it's all distorted," she exclaimed quietly, frowning at herself.



"It's okay," Willow repeated, "tainted land is difficult for anyone, even a trained mage with years of experience, a-and you're probably still sensing a lot more than I am."



"I'm not sure if it knows we're here," Tara admitted, allowing Willow's words to soothe her frustration somewhat.



"Well if it does, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Willow said with a wry grimace. "We'll get through it."



"Yeah," Tara agreed, gripping her spear. They set off again, at a slower pace, now always cautious of what might be around the next bend in the path, or lurking behind the trees and bushes.



"Keep hold of my hand, honey," Willow said to Amalee, "if anything happens I'm going to cast a spell around us, but you have to be holding my hand for it to work."



"Okay," the girl nodded seriously.



"I don't want it to startle you," Willow went on, "you'll feel cold, and you'll see a sort of whitish-blue mist around you, like it's clinging to your body, so don't be afraid, that's just my magic. It's called a chill armour, it's what sorceresses use to protect themselves." She glanced back at Tara, and added quietly: "I can cast it around you, too."



"Can you cover all of us with the same strength?" Tara asked gently.



"No," Willow admitted, "it'd be easier with just two."



"Take care of her," Tara said with a nod at Amalee, "I should be okay. If I need help-"



"You'll get it," Willow said at once.



"I know," Tara smiled, "I won't hesitate."



"If anything sudden happens," Willow said, "like a fire spell, or arrows, I can do a flash-freeze armour around all three of us. It'll only last a few seconds, but it'll shield us against pretty much anything short of a catapult shot." Tara nodded.



They walked further, with the sun setting behind them, casting a red glow through the thick branches of the trees and giving the forest an eerie twilight quality. Tara became very aware suddenly of the stillness around them, as it seemed that all the tiny creatures of the forest were burrowing down and staying hidden in the fading light. Willow drew her attention to the trunk of a nearby tree.



"Those scratches," she pointed out, "too high for a Carver." The trunk was scratched in a crude pattern, two vertical marks and a series of horizontal lines crossing them. Tara glanced around as they went on, and noticed others here and there, different variations on the same patterns, and always with the same symbol underneath, a triangle pointing downwards, the scratches forming it continuing on after meeting at the shape's points, giving it a savage, jagged look.



"Do you recognise that?" Tara asked. Willow had seen the common marking too, and shook her head.



"Too generic," she said, "it could be any of a hundred things, depending on what made it. I don't think it's human, though."



"These marks weren't made by a knife," Tara said quietly.



"Stay close, honey," Willow whispered to Amalee.



"I will," she promised, frightened but controlling it admirably. "The clearing's after this next boulder."



They rounded the boulder, and Tara gasped quietly at the sight that awaited them. From the edge of the stream to the north, the trees gave way to the clearing for about fifty feet before closing in again, and those nearest the open ground had been decorated by more scratches, some even with reddish mud smeared on for effect, or branches nailed in place to create rough symbols, the inverted triangle being common. At the bases of the trunks lay various animal carcasses, in varying states of decay, some rotten and blackened, others still fresh. There were even a few primitive weapons here and there, spears and long two-handed axes, their blades dented and stained with blood.



All of this was just background, however, for the great monolith that stood upright in the centre of the clearing. One side of it was smooth - Tara saw long gouges in the ground where it had been dragged from the stream - the rest of it was old, weather-worn and rugged, like a remnant of some old, broken mountain. For all of its fifteen-foot height it was decorated with savage icons painted in black mud or, Tara suspected, blood, and all over it was festooned with rotting ropes made inexpertly from vines and creepers, circling it like gaudy, horrible decorations, and from them hung dozens of skulls, human and animal, along with bones, broken tools and weapons, and pieces of armour.



"What the hell is that," she whispered half to herself, frozen in her tracks for a moment, Willow and Amalee likewise awed and horrified at the sight of the huge stone.



"Herd-stone," Willow said darkly, her voice trembling, "this is a goat-man camp, that's like the symbol of their clan, their strength... we have to get out of here!" Tara agreed, but the three of them had barely taken their first strides towards the stream before there arose a crashing from all around them, as heavy, strong bodies smashed their way through the forest towards them. Tara spun around, placing herself between Willow and the nearest sound in the sudden chaos, glimpsing out of the corner of her eye the blue flash of Willow casting an armour, but before she could find a target it seemed that the threat was closer behind them, and she turned again, spear aimed. Willow likewise had her staff raised, cradled in the elbow of one arm like a crossbow while her other hand held Amalee's, keeping her between them. As dark shapes began to loom through the sun-reddened forest, the three of them backed towards the herd-stone, circling warily, waiting for the first attack.



"Keep the stone behind you honey," Willow said urgently, edging in front of Amalee as they ran out of room to retreat. Tara glanced at her, now side by side, and saw fright and determination in her eyes.



"We'll protect you, sweetie," she said to Amalee, who was trembling visibly, her knuckles white around Willow's hand. "Damn it," she swore under her breath, looking back out into the churning forest, "they knew we were here and I couldn't sense it."



"Don't blame yourself," Willow said, and with a glance Tara could tell that, given the time, she would have spared no effort to calm her and ease away her frustration and the slight gnawing guilt. But they had no time, so all Willow could do was offer the few, simple words, and a look that spoke volumes. Tara set her shoulders and faced the oncoming enemy.



The goat-men made no effort, now that their trap was sprung, to conceal their presence. Bushes were shoved aside, branches snapped and the dry kindling underfoot was crunched and broken by their hooves. As one they seemed to step out of the trees into the waning light, at least twenty of them by Tara's count, carrying huge axes, halberds, heavy-tipped spears - long, heavy weapons, designed for smashing and tearing. Their eyes blazed with hatred of all things living, and the thick muscles in their arms flexed, making the patches of fur covering their upper bodies bristle. They gave no thought to care or caution in their advance, some walking straight through the discarded carcasses at the edge of the clearing, smearing blood and entrails across the dirt with their hooves, a couple even kicking aside the weapons lying unused at their feet. Their attention was wholly on the intruders standing against their stone, and the only caution in them came from the dim recognition of the weapons they held, which checked their charge, bringing them to a halt barely metres away. Some of them glanced from side to side at their companions, assessing their strength and finding it overwhelming, and they began to stir and growl, some taking a step or two further forward.



"How many can you take at once?" Willow whispered, so softly Tara could barely hear.



"Three," Tara said, "maybe four." She knew it wasn't enough, that the moment either of them attacked the goat-men would all charge, and after that first attack - a blast of lightning from her spear, and cold from Willow - it would become a bloody melee, in which their chances of keeping Amalee safe and protected were remote to say the least. 'Our chances of just surviving aren't great either,' she admitted to herself, though at least she gave them a chance. Willow was fast, and had her chill armour, and Tara knew she was good enough to defend herself, and in a close fight, against real fighters, rather than untrained farmers, the goat-men's numbers would be as often a hindrance as a benefit to them, getting in each other's way as they swung and charged. But the thought of them surviving such a bloody, hard-fought battle, probably both wounded, certainly exhausted, and having to look to the ground and see a tiny, fragile little body that should have been full of life and joy made still and lifeless... Tara honestly couldn't imagine how she could cope with such a failure.



A bellow made her and Willow both jump, and even the goat-men seemed apprehensive, milling around, looking about themselves rather than at their prey. Opposite Willow and Tara the demons shuffled aside, leaving a path for one more of their number to step out of the forest and confront them. It was no ordinary specimen of its kind, however. Standing a full head taller than its minions - for they were clearly subordinate to it, even feared it, to judge by their attitude - the goat-lord was a massive, terrible figure, its broad, muscled chest decorated with crude patterns of self-inflicted scars, as well as the marks of countless battles, its arms clad in rags and tatters of chain-mail and armour plates, bound on by straps wound around them, its legs long, thick and covered in matted, oily fur. The horns that grew from its head were longer than those of its fellows, coiled around and marked with black mud-paint, their tips bound crudely in iron, hammered on and sealed with long bolts driven into the horn, ending in barbed points. One eye was missing, the flesh of its cheek stretched across the cavity in a great mass of scarred skin, and its brow still held the end of the deep gash that had caused the loss. It opened its jaws, revealing flat, black-stained teeth, and roared again, this time producing something that was barely recognisable as speech of some primitive kind, and it flourished its weapons, a pair of double-headed axes, each held in massive hands with thick fingers and cracked, blackened nails.



"Did it talk?" Tara whispered.



"It said its clan is going to eat us," Willow replied, too soft for Amalee to hear.



"Uh-huh," Tara said. She glanced from side to side, seeing nothing but savage goat-men glaring at her as far as she could see, with the stone blocking her view to the far side of the clearing behind them. She tightened her grip on her spear, and turned back to face the goat-lord.



"If I challenge the leader..." she whispered tentatively.



"Sorry," Willow said, and even now there was a note of rueful humour in her voice - it gave Tara a flush of courage - "goat-men don't do honourable combat, they're just all going to attack us at once. You give the leader your best shot, I'll try to keep the others at bay for a second or two."



"Willow," Tara said, her mind whirling as a sudden idea came to her, "when I say, cast the strongest armour you can around all three of us."



"What-" Willow began to ask.



"Trust me," Tara said. Without further hesitation, Willow shifted her staff, holding it in her elbow, freeing her other hand to hold the hand Tara offered her. Tara's lips moved silently, reciting an ancient Amazonian prayer, one from darker times in their history when hope was scarce, and what a warrior prayed for was not peace or tranquillity, but the strength to slay anything that dared darken the lands of her loved ones.



'Goddess Zerae,' she thought to herself, letting her lips recite the ritual prayer by instinct, and hoping the demons would hesitate for just a few seconds, to give her time, 'goddess of storms, grant me your power, show your anger at these creatures who defile the land, who threaten my love, who would take the life of a child. Goddess of vengeance, for what this foulness has wrought, let the power of the storm cleanse them from the world.' At the same time she concentrated on her focus like never before, willing her weapon into an instrument of magic, crafting the shape of the power that she hoped would come, giving it form and purpose. She had never before called on Zerae as goddess of vengeance - the form of the goddess she admired was that of a bringer of justice, a judge whose power saw that the doers of evil never escaped the consequences of their acts, but now she thought of the destroyed villages, the dead, and the innocent, brave child whose whole life had been torn away from her, and she called on her goddess to show them the pain they had caused. She even allowed herself a tiny grin as she felt the power begin to flow, the first tiny crack open between her mortal world and the realm beyond.



"Now," she said to Willow, and held up her spear. Willow's hand in hers tightened, and an intense burst of blue light flashed before her eyes, and she felt a deep cold settle over her, like being suddenly immersed in freezing water. She had only a brief instant to wonder at the power Willow commanded before her own power was upon her, the red-tainted clouds above darkening and swirling into a vortex in the space of a heartbeat. Tara felt the first surge, and a bolt of energy leapt from her spear, straight up into the storm - that itself was more powerful than anything she had felt before - and on its heels, racing down the corridor the first blast had torn through the air, a thunderbolt of immense power, lighting the forest clearing like day, touching the silver tip of her spear for just a second before leaping from it into the herd-stone.



"Down!" Tara yelled, in the split second before a massive, thunderous crack obliterated all other sounds. She felt Willow hit the ground beside her as she threw herself down, and Amalee was lying flat against her leg, the intense chill of Willow's spell still covering them.



The herd-stone exploded with shattering force, casting jagged shrapnel, white-hot and steaming, all around itself. The mass of goat-men roared and collapsed as one, the lucky ones merely stunned and burned by the sudden blast of super-heated air, others suddenly torn apart by spinning fragments of rock, legs cut from beneath them, arms severed, bodies punched open and heads smashed to bloody pulps. Tara felt impacts on her back, but no pain - Willow's magic kept the whirling fragments of rock from doing any harm to them. As the thunderbolt faded away the air was filled with a din of braying and roaring, pain and anger mixed together, and above it all the voice of the goat-lord, a bellow of pure rage.



Tara squeezed Willow's hand for reassurance, and got shakily to her feet. The intense magic had weakened her momentarily, but she summoned her own strength as best she could, holding her spear in a firm, unwavering grip, aiming the point out around her at the demons staggering back to their hooves. Several lay unmoving, and most of those who rose were wounded, but still the fire burned in their eyes, and they tightened their grips on their weapons, ignoring the pain from shattered bones and torn flesh. When they looked up at the remnants of the stone, now a shattered stump, making little crackling noises as it cooled, and saw Tara, they hesitated.



'Thank all the gods,' Tara thought, intensely relieved, as for a moment she had wondered if the creatures were even able to feel fear. She raised her spear, and called on the tiny amount of magic left to her in her exhausted state, forcing a grim smile to her face as a ripple of lightning ran down the shaft and over the blade. She glared as formidably as she could muster, and released the energy. A bolt leapt from the point of the spear into the air ahead of her, dissipating quickly, but it was enough. With a clamour of howling, the goat-men fell back, turned, and ran. The goat-lord turned in dismay, bellowing at its fellows, but they paid it no heed as they crashed into the forest, shoving each other out of their way, collapsing and scrambling back upright, escape the only thought in their bestial minds. Finally only the goat-lord remained, roaring in rage at the flight of its clan, a huge gash in its stomach pumping blood, its face marred by a new wound across its cheek, one horn a broken stump, but the rage in its eyes when it turned on Tara was undiluted. Tara braced herself to receive his charge, praying for whatever power she could summon, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.



"I've got him," Willow said grimly, stepping in front of her. She walked out towards the towering goat-lord, circling to one side to draw him away from Tara and Amalee, who scrambled up behind Tara, clutching her waist, her eyes wide, fixed on Willow and the demon. Willow brandished her staff, which was turning dark, icy ripples running across a shaft that suddenly seemed much older and harder than mere wood. The goat-lord glared at her, took a step towards her - 'Careful, Willow,' Tara prayed - then hesitated, and looked back towards the other two humans in its domain.



"Hey!" Willow yelled. "Over here!" The goat-lord seemed undecided, looking dazedly between her and Tara. Willow glanced at Tara desperately as the huge demon took a step towards her and Amalee, then looked back at it.



"Soh cha beh!" she yelled at the top of her voice. The goat-lord jerked as if it had been struck, and seemed to forget anything but Willow existed, roaring and brandishing its two axes in a display of undiluted rage. Willow held her staff ready, the icy mist of her armour covering her body, and nodded deliberately as the beast stared at her.



"Yeah, that's right," she muttered to herself, "you heard me."



The goat-lord roared again and lifted the larger of its axes, plainly intending to smash Willow out of existence with a single blow. Tara saw Willow anticipate the attack and tense to avoid it, but still her heart leapt into her throat as the huge, battered blade swung down. Willow darted back out of its path and swung her staff, and for the briefest instant, just as the staff passed by the axe blade, the mist around it coalesced into a glimmering, icy blade on its end, like a pole-axe. The two blades struck together with a shattering clang, the ice-blade dissolving out of existence even as it broke against the iron, but Willow had a mildly triumphant expression, and the goat-lord howled in pain, hurling away its axe, which had turned white with frost. The weapon shattered as it hit the ground, and the demon flexed its hand, which steamed with cold, tiny fragments of skin blistering and cracking off, revealing frost-bitten blood underneath.



The goat-lord swung its other axe, but it apparently had the wit to learn from its mistakes, and jerked the blade out of the way as Willow again dodged and drove her staff at it. Willow didn't check her pace, instead continuing her missed swing, spinning in place, and whipping the end of her staff at the demon. The icy axe-blade flew free and shattered against its bicep, leaving a gash of frost, twisted armour and icy shards buried in flesh.



'Careful Willow!' Tara silently pleaded, as the massive creature went berserk with rage, charging her heedless of the injury, both arms swinging wildly. Willow danced out of the way - Tara recognised the fluidity of movement born of long hours of training, and thanked the Zann Esu for not neglecting the more physical aspects of combat - and aimed her staff as the demon thundered past her, the mist around its tip crystallising into bolt after bolt of ice that pounded against the goat-lord's tough hide, denting and buckling the scraps of metal covering its shoulders and arms, tearing at its exposed flesh wherever they found it. The beast was slowing, but it seemed to be oblivious to its wounds as it turned back towards Willow, swinging its remaining axe at her in a slow but devastating arc. Willow ducked and rolled out of the way, managing to keep her staff aimed all the while, maintaining the bombardment of ice that staggered and infuriated the demon.



"Stand back sweetie," Tara said to Amalee, feeling her strength return as the after-effects of her magic began to wear off. She planted her spear in the ground beside her and drew her bow, summoning what power she could - her ability to focus was still limited - aiming at the goat-lord's massive neck.



"Willow!" she called, choosing her time, when Willow could afford a quick glance at her without putting herself in danger.



"Fire away!" Willow replied, ducking back. She kept hold of her staff with one hand, the bolts merging into a jet of freezing mist that blinded the roaring goat-lord, and with her free hand reached to her belt and drew something from a pouch. She tossed it towards the demon - Tara had a brief glimpse of a tiny shard of ice spinning through the air - then the bowstring whipped its arrow forward, the arrowhead bursting into flame as it flew. The shot wasn't perfect - the goat-lord was reeling around, and caught the impact on its shoulder rather than in the neck - but the magic was stronger than Tara had hoped for, and a burst of angry flame tore out of the arrow as it struck, scorching the demon's skin and burning its fur. An instant later the shard Willow had thrown was enveloped in the fire, and the goat-lord was hurled back to its knees by a blast of ice, an unearthly explosion in cold blue hues.



Willow leapt forward before the beast could recover and slammed the end of her staff into its chest, impaling it on four razor-sharp points that appeared around the shaft an instant before it struck. The goat-lord howled in pain and reared up, raising its axe to strike down at her, but its strength failed and the heavy weapon toppled from its hand. Tara could already see patches of frozen white blossom from beneath its skin around the impact of the staff. It raised its other hand, grabbing the staff, trying to pull the weapon out of its body, but the instant its fingers closed around the shaft they too began to turn white and brittle. The goat-lord turned its mad, uncomprehending gaze on Willow as its wrist broke, leaving the fragments of its hand to shower to the ground and it jerked away the icy stump, and then the frost was racing over its body, blooming from within it all down its torso, along its limbs, and up its neck. It opened its mouth for one last bellow of fury, but its voice was cut off, frozen as was the rest of it. Willow jerked her staff back, leaving the demon a still, silent form of pure ice. She adjusted her grip and swung one last time, the end of her staff cracking against the demon's frozen head, smashing into it and toppling the lifeless ice of its body. The goat-lord's final fate was to shatter against the ground, scattering into a heap of shards which lay silent, slowly melting in the last rays of the sun.



For a moment everything was still, then Willow turned towards Tara and Amalee, and Tara realised it was over, and ran to her side, barely remembering to snatch her spear from the ground as she went. They embraced tightly, almost desperately, burying their faces in each other's hair and taking heaving gasps of air, between relief and sobbing. They looked down as a small pair of arms went around them both, and they sank to their knees, including Amalee in their hug. Tara finally lifted her head to look at Willow, overjoyed but also worried, sensing the exhaustion in her.



"A-are you okay?" she asked. Willow nodded, tired but unconcerned.



"Just a bit of magic drain," she said with a grin, "I'll be fine. It'll wear off in a few minutes..." she yawned, "...I don't usually cast that many spells so quickly. You?"



"Okay," Tara smiled, "same as you, tired from the magic, but getting better." She looked at Amalee. "Are you okay sweetie?"



"Yes," the girl nodded, a stunned expression on her face. "Is the beast-man dead?"



"Yes honey," Willow said, "it's pretty definitively dead."



"Good," Amalee said with a relieved smile, hugging them both again. Willow smiled at Tara, then glanced around.



"How're you for walking?" she asked.



"Ready when you are," Tara said, "rest a moment, though, wait until you're recovered."



"I'm okay," Willow insisted gently, "I was always quick at recovery. It'll probably be a few minutes before I could do all that again, of course, but it's not like walking's strenuous, and I kind of think we should get out of here."



"Alright," Tara agreed, "sweetie, are you okay to walk some more?"



"Yes," Amalee said promptly, "I don't like this place."



"Me neither," Tara said with a grin. "Okay, let's see how far we can get before the sun sets completely."



Tara helped Willow to her feet, which wasn't strictly necessary - true to her word, Willow was recovering from her magic with impressive speed - but she didn't protest being helped up, nor when Tara held on to her for a moment, gently touching her lips to Willow's cheek. Amalee dutifully took Willow's hand as they crossed the clearing, and allowed Tara to carry her as they crossed the shallow stream, to keep her thin boots from getting soaked. She pointed out the start of the trail that ran by the north side of the stream, and the three set off with the setting sun on their backs.



"Are you sure you're okay, honey?" Willow asked Amalee tentatively. The girl seemed absorbed in her thoughts, a marked contrast to the inquisitive enthusiasm she had shown earlier in the day. Tara wondered how many nights she would wake from nightmares because of what they had gone through. Amalee looked at Willow, paused in thought, then smiled faintly.



"I'm okay," she nodded, "I was frightened when all the beast-men came out of the forest, but I'm not now. You beat them, just like the heroes in stories." She paused again, glancing away in thought, and when she looked back at Willow her eyes had regained their curious gleam.



"What did you say to the beast-man to make him angry?" she asked. Willow spared Tara a glance, sharing her relief that Amalee had accepted their escape - victory, perhaps - without being too troubled by the prospect of what might have happened.



"Actually, yeah," Tara put in, "what *did* you say?"



"Um," Willow looked sheepish, "well, assuming I got the language right, and I think I did, given how he reacted... I called him a woman." She looked vaguely embarrassed. "Not that *I* think that's an insult, no way, but goat-men are kind of fixated on pure physical strength a-and masculinity, some of the texts I've read suggest that they don't think women are capable of fighting, really, and basically for a goat-man fighting is all that there is in life, so because of that they think women aren't really 'real' people... I kind of hazarded a guess that taking a stab at his masculinity would annoy him..."



"He looked mad," Amalee said.



"He did, didn't he?" Willow agreed. "Probably half of it was from Tara defeating the rest of the clan, I think seeing them get decimated by someone they wouldn't have considered a 'proper' warrior, well, that put him in a bad mood." She smiled at Amalee, and then glanced over her head at Tara and mouthed 'really pissed off'. Tara laughed quietly to herself.



"So now they know women are proper warriors?" Amalee asked.



"Maybe," Willow guessed, "but then again, goat-men are pretty thick, so maybe they'll just get confused and forget it ever happened."



"*I'm* not going to forget it," Amalee said vehemently, "when we get to the city I'm going to tell my uncle and everyone else all about it, how you weren't afraid of them at all, and how you," she looked at Tara, "made the lightning strike and blew up the lot of them, and how you," she looked back to Willow, "fought the biggest beast-men and froze him and how you," to Tara, "shot him with the fire arrow, and it went *boom* and there was all ice and fire and..." she paused. "I'll write it down properly so everyone knows how it was," she promised.



"How about that?" Willow grinned at Tara. "We've got our own bard now."



"I saw a bard once," Amalee said, "he told stories about the old wizards and heroes and how they defeated the demons in the big war a long time ago. But he couldn't have seen it for himself, because no-one could live that long. I bet he just heard the stories and remembered them, and then told them like he was there. But I'll tell stories about you that I actually saw, because I was there when you defeated all the demons."



"Well... okay," Tara said with a bemused shrug, "sure."



"I'll write it all down when we get to the city," Amalee went on.



"Back to normal, huh?" Willow said softly to Tara.



"I was worried," Tara admitted quietly, "I mean, I was worried about *all* of us, but especially her, having to go through that... I don't know how I feel about being a 'hero', but it's probably good for her to think of it all like that."



"Well, I know how *I* feel about you being a hero," Willow smiled, "I feel very, very proud of you."



"You too," Tara replied warmly. "We should go on as long as we can," she went on, her expression becoming more serious, "the goat-men that got away will probably be scattered for a while, but if they're as single-minded as you describe them..."



"Yep," Willow agreed, "they'll regroup before long. It'd be best if we're way away from here before that happens. Probably, with fewer of them, and no leader, we could fight them off again, but I'd rather not have to."



"There'll be enough moonlight for me to see well tonight," Tara said, glancing up at the scattered clouds in the darkening sky, "if you wear the amulet, we could both keep going well into the night."



"What about Amalee?" Willow asked, keeping her voice down so the girl wouldn't overhear and insist she could manage. "She won't be able to keep walking that long..."



"I'll carry her," Tara said, surprising Willow, "I've been trained for long distances, remember? She's not that heavy, and some of the training I did was carrying extra loads, just to get used to it. Just promise me you'll give my arms a massage when we stop?"



"Done," Willow nodded, "I'll take your pack? It's not that heavy."



"Okay," Tara agreed. "How far do you think you can go?"



"I'm feeling pretty good," Willow said, "a bit tired, okay, but you know, after the drain wears off, doing magic does kind of give me a boost, like I've gone swimming in cold water. Well, I guess that's not surprising, cold magic and all..."



"Good," Tara said, turning to Amalee, walking in front of them. "Sweetie, we think it'd be good for us to keep going during the night, and try to get to the river in one go. Now I know you're okay to keep up with us-"



"Of course," the girl insisted.



"But just in case we need you rested and alert tomorrow, would you let me carry you in a little while, so you can rest a little?"



"Well... okay," Amalee allowed.



"Thank you sweetie," Tara smiled. "Well then, we'll keep going as long as we can, and then you can take a nap while I carry you, and we'll keep on to the river. And then, we'll find a safe spot to wait, get on the next boat that passes, and we'll go all the way to the city."

[SuperMandy13]

I never praise your stories enough, and I really should. You always manage to combine action and romance and all that other great stuff to create some of the best stories I've ever read. And this last chapter was especially wonderfully with the incredible battle scene! It was awesome reading about Willow and Tara in action, and you wrote it so well that I could clearly visualize it in my mind. I can't wait 'till the next chapter!



-Mandy

[Puff]

Wow now I really don't like the goatmen. They sounded nasty and I am very glad that Tara and Willow were able to get away from them so successfully.



The action and the fight were wonderful to read and all the description that include make it very easy to visualize. Of course Willow and Tara can't reach safety and Duncraig soon enough for me. I am really enjoying this adventure though and I can't wait to read and find out what they encounter next. Great story Chris

---

So, the day started and I knew my name and had my pants on. So far, so good. Yay.
Amber Benson

[Grimlock72]

Hmm... I wonder how the goatmen managed to avoid detection from either Tara or Willow so long. Never had the impression they were that smart or inventive, just a notch above carver-fodder really .



I like that Willow killed that older goatman but was all that effort really needed ? Surely if Willow can freeze as well as she says she could just freeze mr. Angry Goat and smash him the first time around ? Reminded me a bit of scenes from Terminator 2 by the way :-). The final strike with the staff I thought was rather risky, magic should be used on long-range, not that close. Goaty beasties are dangerous at close-range, best avoid that. Good thing Willow was trained in 'normal' combat as well.



Appearantly mr Angry Goat-leader was rather tall and big but didn't do magic ? Would have thought that might be a risk since even leading carvers do magic sometimes.



Good thing those other goatmen aren't too bright or they would have attacked right after that big spell. I wonder how often Tara can call upon power like that, seems mighty handy but if it was so easy to call on amazons wouldn't be in danger very much... interesting....



Heh, Amalee the Bard... she's sure enthiousiastic enough for the job . Liked how she stubbornly said she could walk on for some time but then did agree that Tara could carry her a bit.



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

[Arwen276]

Yay! a kick-ass update!



All the fighting and magicks and blood bath! well it's very energizing and greatly written, It's like I actually was there!!

This is better than tv! I can picture it the way I like it, and it's wow-like!



Okay I know I'm not making any sense...But THE POINT IS, BRAVO!

Tara was WONDERFUL! Willow, Amazing! Amalee, so brave!



are the long awaited Rest and relative Safety finally dawning ?



~Arwen

Hear That Baby? You're My Always... Willow

[JustSkipIt]

Hey Chris,

And I think you were a few hours ahead of schedule too! Great update! You did a wonderful job of building tension before the encounter and then a great job of describing the horror of the scene. You make it clear throughout that demon horror is very different from human horror. The battle was great, again spotlighting the strengths of each girl. I’m glad that Tara called on Zaere for vengeance. It’s interesting that she is the god of both vengeance and justice. I know someone who says that justice is just a nice word for vengeance and frequently I think that’s true. In a way, I guess they are two sides of the same coin. I did worry initially that they let some of the goat men run off and now they seem a little concerned about it too. Good that they are getting out of there. Willow fought so well and I love the imagery of freezing the goat-lord so that he shatters. Very awesome. Amalee is just adorable and doesn’t seem fazed by anything. Go girls!

---

"I was working on a proof of one of my poems all morning and took out a comma. In the afternoon, I put it back in again." - Oscar Wilde

[TemperedCynic]

An incredible display of disparate magicks from our heroines. Lightning and ice make for a brilliant strategy to stay alive one more day. But the danger remains. Such a huge cell of goat-men means that all is not well in the world - that there is a concerted effort to corrupt the world with demonic energy. Willow and Tara have just begun their journey, and their little Amalee will have many tales to write of her heroines. Chris, I would easily be lulled into reading this story/epic for as long as your muse feels inspired. Wonderful.

---

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly. Woody Allen (1935 - )

[Axel Avalon]

Bravo

Amazing. That was was so wonderful.

Possibly the best one yet.

Can't wait for the next part

- - - - - - - - The greatest human accomplishment is being able to go to ones grave knowing that at some point in your life you loved someone completely............... that and that you had some good fucks.

[FunGirl]

Excellent update!

You built the tension in the forest as they moved through it knowing something was wrong very well. I'm glad our heroes kicked booty.

Hopefully they will make it to the river and on to the city where that private room awaits....

[sabina]

Hi there



Great update as always



I was a little surprised that goat-men were clever enough to trick them and make them fall into a trap... I always thought they would be more like attacking in an unorganized, clumsly, brainless fashion as soon as they saw Willow and Tara

It appears that the older goat-man actually learned something in all his battles



The whole battle scene was very well written, I loved to see them working together, relying on each other, trusting each other...



I'm curious to know what will happen to them next

---

"I know I was born and I know that I'll die.

The in between is mine.

I am mine!" - Pearl Jam

[chilled monkey]

Really good update. Well done!



Once again we get to see what a great team Willow and Tara make. They were amazing.



Glad to see Willow getting to use hand-to-hand combat skills as well as magick. Perhaps later, we'll get to see Tara do the same?

[Artemis]

Thanks everyone I've just written the first couple of pages of the next chapter, so more writing tonight, more tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be done tomorrow night.



While I'm here, this has nothing to do with Hellebore (yet, heh), but I've launched a new website inspired by Debra's 'Please', featuring stories along those lines, called Mistress/Kitten Fantastico. You can find it here: alia.customer.netspace.net.au/kitten.htm , and there's a bunch of fics there ranging from deep and meaningful D/s, to meaningless smutty fun. It's all good. As well as Please, there's also The Sex Journals, Coming Out of the Bedroom, Experimentation Is, Midnight Stretch, The Unexpected, and Show Me. I'll be adding more as I find them, and seeing as it's me operating the site, you can be assured that Willow and Tara are happy, healthy, loving and together no matter which story you pick. Enjoy



(And, just to tease you all, once Hellebore is finished I've got a Hellebore short story that will be going onto M/KF. Something to look forward to )



Mandy: Thanks I'm always glad to get feedback, so don't worry if you're not a regular poster, I don't sit here grumbling in the meantime I tend to visualise stories very strongly, far more than I spend time planning which themes and bits of dialogue to use. I guess it shows. (Well, what it shows is that I actually want to make it into a movie, or at least a comic, but I haven't got money and can't draw. Oh well, this ain't so bad.)



Puff: I've never liked goatmen. Every time I run into them in Diablo with a new character they end up chasing me all over the place, so I've developed a bit of a grudge. That's as individual monsters though, I thought it would be nice to give them a sense of being a group - they are supposed to live in 'clans', after all - hence the tribe and the herd-stone (borrowed from Warhammer's beastmen), and the goat-lord, which is something you don't really see in the game, aside from random champion goatmen - there's never a 'leader' goatman, bigger and more armoured than the others. That said, I don't think he was any brighter because he was the boss - I imagine he was leader purely because he could kill any other goatmen who challenged him. Like you say, goatmen aren't nice



Grimlock: A bit of inadvertent luck on their part. Goatmen (I find myself alternating between 'goatmen' and 'goat-men', once all this is finished I'll have to go back and edit it for consistency) are smart enough, in an animal kind of way, to leave prey alone so long as it's moving towards their lair rather than away - they believe they're stronger around their herd-stone. But the reason Tara couldn't sense that they were being watched was nothing the goatmen did on purpose, it was just (as she said) their presence, and that of other demons, had thrown the rhythms of the forest out of whack, and made it difficult for her to sense subtle things very accurately.



Willow's engaging the goat-lord in combat was necessary to an extent - she could have gone for the killing spell as her first attack, but it was safer to wait until the goat-lord was wounded and slowed. I didn't want her freezing magic to be too simple or powerful, hence the need to get close and cast it through a solid conduit, the staff, joining her and the target. It's to do with the kind of energy it is - it's 'magic cold', rather than 'normal cold', so while it's easy to freeze water or anything inanimate, freezing a living thing has to be done powerfully, because it can be resisted. The more powerful (in terms of life force, natural or demonic) the target, the harder it is to freeze and damage it. That zombie she zapped way back during the Carver ambush was a lowly undead, and thus easy for a sorceress of her considerable skill to ice in one shot. Freezing a strong, powerful goat-lord takes a lot more effort. I also limited the range, partly in keeping with not making Willow too powerful - if she can do *everything* at long range, she's only vulnerable to demons with bows or other ranged attacks, and that cuts down on the possibilities for interesting dangers. I'll admit I also did it because I adored the idea of her using magic to create blades on her staff. It's something they don't do in Diablo, but I like it, because it's unusual, not just the traditional 'mage throwing spells' image.



The goat-lord didn't have any magical ability - goat-men never do. But that doesn't mean they're not a threat - as you saw, they're fast and strong, and can shrug off the effects of a reasonably powerful spell, unless you seriously bombard them. In a fight between a goat-man and a Carver old one ('shamen', the game calls them, but I haven't found a spot to drop the name in yet), the Carver would let loose a fireball, but the goat-man would survive it with superficial wounds, and kill the Carver.



You're quite right, it is a good thing goat-men aren't bright. For all sorts of reasons But that's how they were created, they're foot soldiers by design. Their job, as part of a demonic army, is to charge in one massive wave, start up a horrendous melee between themselves and human troops, and give the spell-casters and really vicious fighters room to move and pick their targets.



As for Tara's spell, it's not something she can do whenever she likes. She can call on lightning at will, but the degree of power varies depending on a number of factors - how hard she concentrates, how much she believes in the cause she's fighting for, the symbolic importance of the target in her mind, and of course whether Zerae favours her and her cause. In this case - about as pissed off as Tara can get because of the destruction the goat-men and their kind had caused, with Willow and Amalee in danger, against a bunch of demons with no redeeming features or moral grey areas, attacking the symbol of the goat-men's clan and strength - Tara managed to call up almost the most powerful magic she could ever manage. In other situations, even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to do as much - against humans, even enemies, she'd always hold back a little, because few humans are *totally* evil, or attacking a single goat-man out of a pack of them, rather than the symbol of the whole clan.



Nonetheless, that does show why the Amazons - who have a very small population, all things considered - have managed to survive against entire fleets of pirates, slavers and conquerers, and hordes of monsters trying to destroy their islands. They're pretty much always outnumbered, but each warrior is worth a lot of enemy troops.



Amalee the Bard was a little nod to Xena (well, to Gabrielle), but also to Diablo 1, which had bards in its expansion pack, or so I'm told - the expansion wasn't very popular, and pretty much vanished when Diablo 2 arrived. Amalee's full of enthusiasm though, so she imagines herself as whatever she wants when it takes her fancy - bard, sorceress, guide, whatever. She is a stubborn little thing, though some of it is a genuine desire not to be a burden to Willow and Tara. Hence Willow and Tara putting the idea of carrying her, or taking a rest in the chapter before, in a way that lets her 'save face', rather than admit her limitations. She's pretty much aware of this herself - she's not *really* convinced she can walk non-stop to the river on her own - and I think she knows Willow and Tara are humouring her as well, but she's playful as well, so it doesn't bother her.



Arwen: Amalee is a brave girl, isn't she? She hasn't had what you might call a hard life (up until now), but she's been active and lived out on the frontier, so she's by no means sheltered. I've known all along that this story wasn't going to follow the Diablo idea of warriors becoming godly powerful with magic, seeing as that lessens the threat of the demons, but I did want to have at least one scene where both Willow and Tara really got to show what they can do when their backs are against the wall. There may be more big fights like this, I haven't planned everything out yet, but for the moment, yes, safety nears.



Debra: I find Zerae an interesting goddess for the Amazons. I imagine she's got a dark side to her, and sort of skirts the line between justice and revenge now and then, but always in the end does the right thing. Kind of like Xena She's also got some interestingly conflicted elements to her personality - she's goddess of storms and vengeance, yet she's married (happily, one assumes) to Hefaetrus, the god of farmers, who is by all accounts very gentle and peaceful (not to the point where he won't help his favoured defend his people - he's responsible for the fire Tara can call on for her bow). So Zerae must be in between light and dark, which always makes an interesting character. When I had Tara mention her a while ago, when she was telling Willow the legends of the beginnings of the Amazons, I had her start to tell Willow about the freeing of 'Zerae the gladiator'. I've got a vague idea of her being initially revenge-driven and dark, and being redeemed by Hefaetrus, who managed to get through to her very deeply-hidden gentle side. So, again like Xena, she's now a good and noble person (or goddess), but still has the kick-assness born from her younger, darker days. But anyway, enough about goddesses (I get carried away with background a lot)...



True, it probably would have been safer to wipe out the goat-men, but it wasn't practical to do so. Tara's lightning couldn't have hit all of them - it's a one-target attack, though with a strike like that it'd be likely to leap from the first target into a couple of others nearby and zap them as well. But lightning, in that form, isn't great for crowd control. All in all, safer to drive them away than risk a melee to kill them. And, as you say, Willow and Tara have no intention of hanging around until the goat-men get their nerve back.



TemperedCynic: All is indeed not well with the world, and Willow (who through her studies knows the ways of demons quite well) will be wondering about that. A clan of goat-men that large, showing up in such a short space of time (Amalee and her father went through the forest, safely, just two months ago), is indicative of something more than just random demon activity. Lightning and ice are a good combination - fire and ice as well. It's not just emotionally that Willow and Tara make a good team



Axel Avalon: Thanks



FunGirl: Yep, the cozy bedroom does indeed await. I'm thinking (hoping, anyway) it'll be a nice change of pace after all this wandering through the wilderness



sabina: Well, goat-men have *some* brains - they can wait to attack until the prey is in a more vulnerable position. Overall, though, you're right, they're not big thinkers In some ways that's down to the goat-lord, they get more cunning with age, but even so, they're still pretty one-track-mind-ish (that track being 'kill things'). Pity for him the goat-lord never learned that Carver trick of running like hell when things go bad



chilled monkey: We will get to see Tara fighting with her spear, I've got it all planned Willow's staff fighting was inspired, as well as by a desire (like I said above) not to just have her be the typical mage standing back and hurling fireballs (or icebolts, in this case), by the fire sorceress 'enchant' spell, which puts all a sorceress's power into a weapon, a sword for instance. That pretty much demands she knows how to fight with conventional weapons (it's no good having a masisvely powerful fire-enchanted sword if you can't hit anything with it), so I figured that all sorceresses, not just fire, would be trained. Besides, even a Prime Evil like Diablo himself can be defeated by a plain old sword, if you hit him enough (and don't get killed in the meantime), so I figure the Zann Esu would train their sorceresses in traditional combat, just in case. Plus it looks good



Edited to add: Silly me, I forgot to mention it - for the benefit and enlightenment of those of you who aren't tremendous dorks (as I am), the language the goat-men speak (as roughly used by Willow), which would be the tongue of their creator Baal, Lord of Destruction, is in fact Klingon. In my defence, I don't actually know the language, and did have to look it up

Edited by: Artemis at: 12/20/03 7:47 am

[Artemis]

Hellebore



Author: Chris Cook

Rating: R

Summary: A headstrong sorceress and a young Amazon join forces to locate and destroy an ancient source of demonic power.

Spoilers: None.

Copyright: Based on characters from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', created by Joss Whedon and his talented minionators, and 'Diablo II' by Blizzard Entertainment. All original material is copyright 2003 Chris Cook.

Feedback: Please. Here, or to alia@netspace.net.au



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Chapter Forty-Three

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Tara was tired and sore by the time the first glimmers of sunlight spread across the morning sky. Her legs dragged as though she had encased them in heavy iron armour, the soles of her feet were hot and chafing inside her boots despite the soft linings, and her arms, bearing their precious cargo of a restlessly sleeping girl, felt liable to drop off at any moment. Nonetheless, something inside her managed to cause a spark of joy when she and Willow rounded a rise of stony ground that diverted the stream they followed a little way south, and saw the Kingsway river laid out in front of her.



The sunlight, peeking over the flat eastern horizon, was fresh and fiery, casting its hue into the rippling waters of the river and bringing them alive with colour. Tara paused for a moment, gazing at the view before her, and glanced sidelong at Willow, who looked as tired as she herself felt. When Willow gave a weary smile back at her, Tara noticed her eyes were still feline.



"Take off the amulet," Tara said quietly, "this is worth seeing in colour." Willow gave another smile, this time more at Tara's gentle voice than the relief of seeing the end of their long journey in sight, and undid the delicate chain around her neck.



"Oh wow," she said in a small voice, tired but still with a hint of her usual liveliness, "that's a sight..."



The stream they had followed out of the forest had been joined by many others during the night, swelling to a reasonable size and depth - not a river in its own right, but at least a body of water that it would be impossible to cross without swimming. It snaked down across the last traces of the highlands and joined the Kingsway in a modest delta, its final end concealed by a collection of reeds and long grasses. As they two women walked down towards the riverbank, the sun was still low enough to cast its gleam over the length of the stream, turning it into a trail of gold running through the lush grass.



"How're you feeling?" Willow asked ruefully as they wandered along beside the stream.



"Tired," Tara said honestly, "I could use a bite to eat... I'm not sure my arms are ever going to be the same again," she added with a grin.



"I think your pack's been getting heavier overnight," Willow replied, getting a soft laugh from Tara. Even fatigued as they were, the morning sun was lifting their spirits, the grasses brushing softly against their legs, and the knowledge that rest was near at hand, were giving Willow and Tara a measure of energy.



Just north of the stream's mouth was an old, sturdy pier and a shack. Willow wearily raised her staff just in case, carrying Tara's spear and bow in her other hand, but as they neared it became obvious that there was no danger. The river side of the shack was completely open, revealing nothing lurking inside beyond a couple of old wooden chairs and some boards laid between two short tree stumps, a makeshift bed. The pier started its length on dry land for a few metres, continuing straight as the ground dipped beneath the water, and stretching out several metres into the river, supported by ancient wooden pylons, moss-covered but strong. Without prompting Willow quickened her pace a little, reaching the shack first and sliding Tara's pack from her shoulders. By the time Tara arrived Willow had unrolled their blankets and spread them out on the wooden bed, and Tara gently laid Amalee down on it. She stirred as Tara set her down, and blinked wearily in the sunlight.



"That's the river," she yawned, "you..." another yawn, "walked all night?"



"Yep," Tara smiled, "we're a long way from the forest now."



"Oh... good..." the girl nodded sleepily. "If there's a boat... the fifth board," she pointed lazily towards the beginning of the pier, "flags... red is for trading... use the white one. It," she paused for another emphatic yawn, "means we want to talk. The boat'll stop for you."



"Thanks sweetie," Tara said.



"Get some rest now," Willow smiled, stroking the girl's tangled auburn hair, "we'll wake you when a boat comes along."



"Okay," Amalee agreed, "g'night... thank you..." she added as she drifted off to sleep. Willow and Tara glanced at each other and shared a smile, then Tara looked away down-river.



"Nothing in sight yet," she said, "but with the river traffic we saw at the dock, something should be along before nightfall. One of us should stay awake anyway-"



"I will," Willow said.



"You're sure?" Tara checked, doing her best not to look too tired.



"Sure," Willow nodded. "I'll wake you after you've had a nap and we can swap. Come on, I'll give you that massage I promised, and you can doze off for a while. It doesn't make sense to do it the other way around, you'd get all relaxed and then have to stay awake."



"Okay," Tara allowed, smiling slightly as she realised she sounded like Amalee, reluctantly giving in to reason when part of her wanted to take all the burden on herself. "I guess I could use it," she added, flexing her arms, "heh, that's odd... my arms feel all springy."



"Yeah?" Willow asked, laying out the last remaining blankets on the soft ground beside the pier for Tara to lie on.



"Well, I've been holding them up against a weight for so long, now they just want to push upwards... I try to relax and they just sort of drift upwards." She demonstrated with a grin, as her arms refused to fall to her sides.



"Lie down, you," Willow said fondly, "let's see what we can do about these tired muscles of yours. It can't be more than a day or two to Duncraig by boat, and you're going to need to be in top condition once we get there."



"Oh?"



"I bet there's a big, warm, cozy bed waiting for us," Willow grinned, "and I intend to make full use of it for more than just sleeping."



"Oh..." Tara smiled as she lay down. While she settled herself, Willow peered at the first few boards of the pier, which this far back were laying directly on the ground, and lifted up the edge of the fifth one along. Just as Amalee had said, there were a pair of wooden poles with oilskin wrappings around their tops, and coloured material peeking out from underneath, as well as an old, roughly-made fishing rod and a couple of reels of line.



"There's our flags," she noted, turning to Tara, who was lying flat on her stomach, her head tilted sideways to look up at Willow.



"Oh baby, that's an inviting sight," Willow purred, surveying Tara's back and legs. Without quite shaking off her devilish grin she swung herself astride Tara's hips, leaning forward and reaching out to wrap her fingers around Tara's upper arms.



"Ahhhh..." Tara sighed, as Willow's hands went to work, kneading the tired muscles along the length of her arms.



"I read a book about this once," Willow said softly, "see, it's just as well I read so much, isn't it? You never know the kind of useful information I could pick up."



"Mmm," Tara agreed, "useful... and divine... is it some kind of magic?" she asked with a chuckle.



"The best kind," Willow joked.



"Feels like it," Tara sighed happily.



"Don't get too worked up, you're supposed to be relaxing," Willow chided her tenderly. "You've had a big day... and night... hey, I meant to tell you, you were really great back there, during the ambush. All strong and sure and, and powerful... that was some magic you did too, any lightning sorceress would be proud to master a spell like that."



"Well," Tara said indistinctly, "it wasn't... just me..."



"Yeah, I know, your goddess too," Willow nodded, "but that doesn't mean *you* weren't amazing. Gods forbid that sort of thing happen to us on a regular basis, but you know, I can't think of anyone, not even the most powerful sorceresses in the Zann Esu, I'd feel safer beside. When you did that spell, the determination, what I saw in your eyes... I knew we'd make it."



"Thank you," Tara murmured, "love... you know, that was... something I've never felt before... and when it was over, the feeling then... oh that's nice," she sighed as Willow squeezed her forearms lovingly, "the feeling when they'd scattered, and you'd defeated the leader... I think maybe I understand how people can choose to live their lives as soldiers, or adventurers... knowing the cause was good... standing there, just you and me, against something evil, and holding it back... quite a feeling."



"Yeah," Willow admitted, "I felt it too. They say victory tastes sweet."



"Mmm," Tara nodded slightly, "yeah... not that I'd make... a habit of it. Couldn't be a soldier... I couldn't do that, fight like that, unless I chose to... not because of orders... you'd have to," she yawned, "to trust... your commander, completely... to make the right choices... I can only trust... you like that..."



"Thank you, baby," Willow murmured, leaning down to nudge Tara's hair out of her way and place a kiss on the back of her neck. "I trust you too, completely. You know that, don't you?"



"I know," Tara sighed contentedly, "you didn't hesitate... when I told you to cast your armour over us."



"When you say 'trust me', there's nothing to hesitate about. Especially when you say it in that take-charge voice," Willow sighed at the memory, "you know, not that fighting is a good thing, necessary, sure, sometimes, but not what I'd really want to do with my life, or for you to do with yours, but..." she paused, and a smile spread across her face, "the way you were back there, that was actually a bit of a turn on."



"A bit?" Tara asked slyly.



"Okay, a lot," Willow admitted with a chuckle.



"Luckily," Tara murmured, "I don't have to be in a fight to take charge... I can do it just fine in a bed, too..."



"I've never been in any doubt of that," Willow assured her.



"And you know," Tara went on, "when you were fighting the leader..." she looked back at Willow and raised an eyebrow seductively.



"Oh... really?" Willow grinned, suddenly too pleased with herself for words.



"Mmm-hmm," Tara nodded, laying her head back down, "I was worried of course... to see you fighting that thing... frightening... but at the same time... wow..."



"Oh," Willow grinned, surprised, "me? Wow?"



"Always wow you," Tara replied sleepily. She lifted her head, with some effort, and glanced over her shoulder as she felt Willow loosen the laces of her armour.



"Relax," Willow said lightly, "I'm just making sure I earn my wow... besides, it's calm here, nothing to threaten us... it's broad daylight and I can see easily a mile back up to the highlands before it gets rough, so nothing can surprise us... and Amalee's fast asleep," she added, checking quickly with a glance over her shoulder. "And you, my luscious Amazon, are lying beneath me, and your skin feels *so* good underneath my hands... if I didn't get amorous thoughts from a situation like this, something would be wrong with me."



"Heh," Tara chuckled, "well then... I'm in your hands..."



"Uh-huh," Willow agreed, gently sliding the unfastened armour out from beneath Tara, folding the last available blanket over her waist, ready to cover her when she was done. She lay her palms on Tara's naked back and slowly dragged them down to her waist, curling her fingers just enough to scratch lightly on Tara's skin.



"Ohhhh," Tara sighed, "do that again..." Willow complied, earning another dreamy sigh.



"Arms feel good," Tara commented lazily, crossing her forearms beneath her head as a pillow as she relaxed under Willow's hands.



"Good," Willow said, "that just leaves the rest of you..." She leaned down and kissed Tara's back here and there, finally making her way up to Tara's ear while her hands continued to stroke and knead their way around.



"Go to sleep," she whispered, "and dream of what else my hands might do with you."



"Mmm," Tara murmured, "love you... thank you... beautiful..."



"You're welcome," Willow said, sensing Tara falling asleep even as she spoke. She continued lovingly stroking her back for some time, occasionally pressing firmly but mostly just enjoying the feel of her, marvelling at her perfection and thanking all the gods she could think of that they had come through the nightmare behind them unscathed. Her stroking became lighter until finally she was merely running her fingertips across Tara's skin, and, careful not to disturb the sleeping Amazon, she swung herself off her hips and pulled the blanket up over her back.



"Sleep well," she whispered, "I'll be here when you wake up." She sat for a moment, watching Tara sleep, then with a last smile got up and wandered around a little. She checked on Amalee, who was fast asleep, but with a tiny, worried frown marring her face. Willow sat down beside her and stroked her hair for a moment until the frown disappeared, then got back up, not quite trusting herself to relax for fear she might fall asleep without meaning to. She wandered a little way out onto the pier, where the breeze along the river brushed against her face, making her feel a little more alert. Frequently gazing back at Tara on the grass and Amalee in the little shack, she paced lazily to and fro along the pier's length.



'Not such a bad little adventure, all things considered,' she mused, stepping off the pier for a moment to kneel on the riverbank and splash a little water on her face. 'We're both still in one piece, plus we've got a bunch more blankets, some torches, a couple of books, and hey, an adorable little girl. Considering we started out running for our lives across unknown territory with no time to prepare, things turned out pretty well. Now there's just the vengeful demon queen to worry about.' On that thought, she meandered back to the shack and picked the summoner mage's diary from her satchel, leafing through the pages as she walked back along the pier.



'Okay, we're not in imminent danger, and I'll be damned if I'm waking Tara up before, oh, an hour before midday, she deserves a decent nap. Might as well put this old brain of mine to work. Lemme see...' She found the pages detailing the mage's preparations to summon a storm caster, and took careful note of the equipment he described using, the rituals he prepared, and the steps he took to cast his spell and protect himself.



"How did you contact a demon like Shadai?" she muttered to the book, reading it closely. That had bothered her ever since she and Tara had gone through the mage's room and found out his plans, and the fate that had befallen him, and ultimately driven him to death. 'Mage plans to summon some minor demon to do his foul bidding. Okay, fine, no problem, it's a classic in the ambition-before-wisdom tales. But how do you go from reaching out to a storm caster, a crummy little construct entity that's half-bound to the mortal realm already, to accidentally making contact with one of the most powerful demons in history, trapped in the deepest realms of the burning hells? You can't *do* that, it takes too much energy... I mean, the summoner in Entsteig turned out to be a Vizjerei prodigy, according to their records he'd been casting twentieth-tier elemental and druidic magic by the time he was five. And this guy here is just some lowly Ennead scholar who was jealous of his masters' powers. If he'd *wanted* to reach Shadai he shouldn't have been able to, not with twenty years' preparation and a hundred apprentices assisting him.'



She sighed, and remembered one of the lessons Ember had taught her: collect your information first, *then* form conclusions. She went over the details she had gathered and pieced them together. 'Okay, our guy had the Black Tome, so he knew where to find a fracture point in the mortal realm barriers. Let's see... he used a threefold circle with split points and a pentagram binding pattern, that's all pretty standard for this kind of thing. He had a pair of strangler blossoms, so that might've helped extend the extra-planar range of the spell... let's be generous and say he was aiming for a fifth-tier storm caster, and the spell would've worked... add up the power bases... factor in planetary forces... planar shifts...' She spent a moment doing esoteric magical calculations before reaching her conclusion:



"No way," she said out loud. The conclusions were quite clear - even using the most optimistic projections, the mage should have been absolutely incapable of projecting his spell's energy deep enough into the realms beyond the mortal plane to contact a demon like Shadai. 'Even a demon one-tenth of her power,' Willow mused, 'it's just not possible. What am I missing?'



Another of Ember's teachings came to her. 'If it's not working,' she had said once, speaking about one of Willow's early attempts to decode a manuscript in the Order's vaults, 'remember it doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong. Just one minor detail can upset an otherwise perfect structure of logic. Find the detail, and it'll work.' Just as she had said, Willow had discovered two nights later that her translation notes were partly based on an old Horadrim scroll that, it seemed, had been rewritten itself by a none-too-careful translator at some stage. Once she had discovered that, the manuscript she was working on practically decoded itself.



'Okay then,' she thought, 'let's see what we're basing all this on. Our summoner was in contact with Shadai, do we know this for sure? He called the demon 'Mistress', that means it's a female, and there aren't many. She created a rod of command, only two female demons could really do that, and Andariel was soundly defeated during the Reckoning. Let's say we're ninety-nine per cent sure it's Shadai we're dealing with. That's sensible; besides, Andariel is *more* powerful, that just makes the whole problem more illogical. Okay, our mage was in contact with Shadai, let's call that a fact. That began during his summoning ritual, fact. Therefore the ritual reached Shadai. That's all solid. How could the ritual reach her? A third party boosted the spell? Never heard of anything like that happening. In fact, no, a split-point circle can't be externally influenced without disturbing it and collapsing the spell. Okay, so the ritual must, from our mage alone, have had the power to reach Shadai.



'And that's impossible. What's the detail that's wrong? Our mage had that kind of power? No, if that were true he wouldn't have needed a storm caster, that'd be like a soldier ignoring his sword and searching for a penknife to fight with. Shadai dwells on, what, the fortieth arc of the sixth circle of hell? And this spell, at most, could have reached the first arc of the tenth boundary, not even the first circle. But he reached Shadai. His spell had the range to get to her...' Willow felt a chill race down her spine that had nothing to do with the lively breeze blowing along the river.



'Shadai was within the spell's range. She wasn't where she should be, she was somewhere closer. Some other part of hell, an outer boundary region? No, if a demon is banished, they're banished back to their proper place, that's never failed, not in any banishing that's ever been recorded. So... she wasn't sent back to hell. She wasn't banished!'



"Aw crap!" she said out loud, snapping the diary shut.



'Okay, calm down, think logically,' she admonished herself, 'she's not walking the earth, you *know* that. People tend to notice a huge demon queen who makes the sky burn and water turn to blood. If she'd escaped from the hospice somehow, we'd all know by now. Something else happened. She wasn't banished, but she didn't escape, she went... somewhere else. Where else can you go?' She paced back and forth, thinking furiously. 'Trans-planar regions? No, too discordant, any consciousness that stayed there for more than a few seconds would be broken apart, and she'd end up being banished back to hell anyway. Dimensional bridging? No, not with a demon, no matter how powerful. Ethereal realms? The ethereal realms,' she fixed on the thought, sensing a possibility, 'it'd be dangerous... the risk of failure, of being banished, maybe even diminished in power as a result... a demon would have to be desperate...'



An image formed in Willow's mind, of Shadai in the hospice, roaring in desperate rage as her form was torn apart by fire, ice and lightning. A demon bent on inflicting pain and torment on the living, bound in hell for centuries upon centuries, brought to the mortal plane against all odds, and facing banishment before the last strands of her summoning spell had even worn off.



'Yeah, she was desperate enough,' Willow thought glumly. She glanced at Tara, sleeping peacefully on the grass. 'Oh damn, I have to tell her, don't I? Damn it, of course I have to tell her, she's not a child. I can at least let her sleep, though, and tell her when I wake her later. No sense disturbing her now, a couple of hours won't make a difference. It's not like there's anything we can do about it now, except get to Duncraig and contact the Order, and whatever mages they have there.' She sighed, and returned to her pacing, nonetheless trying to work out what rituals would need to be done, how Shadai might safely be found and banished properly, what complications would arise from trying to deal with a demon trapped in an ethereal realm compared to one clad in flesh and blood.



-----



Tara stirred and woke slowly, smiling at the feel of Willow's hand against her cheek. She leaned her head sideways to kiss her palm, then opened her eyes and blinked in the light from the sun, now high in the sky.



"I can see a sail off to the south," Willow said as Tara rolled over and sat up, forgetting she was half-naked until the blanket fell off her.



"A boat?" Tara asked.



"Wha? Oh... yeah, yeah, heading up river, it'll be here in maybe ten minutes or so," Willow said, recovering from her distraction and forcing her eyes up from Tara's breasts to her face. Tara smiled slyly and demurely held the blanket over her chest, reaching her other arm around Willow's shoulders to draw her close for a kiss. Willow, already distracted, forgot everything for a moment as Tara's lips opened hers, and both enjoyed the kiss wholeheartedly until Tara finally leaned back a fraction.



"I was a little sleepy before," she purred, "did I remember to tell you I love you?"



"I-I think you did," Willow said, grinning from ear to ear.



"Well, no reason not to say it again," Tara smiled.



"I love you too," Willow said. "Oh," she realised, "heh, that proves it, you really *do* make my brain switch off when you kiss me, I forgot completely... anyway, I'd better tell you before we wake Amalee, it's not really happy news."



"What?" Tara asked, concerned as she pulled on her armour.



"Um, I was doing some thinking," Willow explained, "about the mage and Shadai, and how they were able to do what they did, you remember I was saying it shouldn't have been possible... well, I figured out how to explain it..."



Tara listened carefully as Willow outlined her theory, and even as Willow felt mostly regret at having to burden her with the knowledge that all was not well, she was nonetheless impressed at how easily she seemed to grasp the mechanics of summoning and banishing as they were explained to her.



"Okay," Tara said when Willow had finished, "so Shadai is in an ethereal realm. You said trapped?"



"Yeah," Willow nodded, "yeah, if she could get out she would have, and everything would be, you know, world-wide chaos and destruction, the dead rising, demons marching to war... it'd make the last few days look like a holiday, so yeah, I figure whatever realm she hid in, she's stuck there until someone else breaks her free. Which is what Hydris tried to do, and what the mage at the monastery was going to do."



"And that summoning would be much easier than summoning Shadai from hell?" Tara asked.



"Oh yeah," Willow agreed grimly, as Tara, now fully-dressed, walked with her to the end of the pier, where Willow held up the white flag in the breeze for the distant boat to see.



"Yeah, in dimensional terms, the ethereal planes are right next door to us," she went on, "summoning something out of them is... well, it's tricky, but it takes expertise, not power. Most mages could learn how to do it, if they wanted to. It's just that normally the ethereal realms don't have anything in them that anyone would want to summon - not that anyone in their right mind would want to summon anything, I mean, but... well, it's just disembodied anger and misery. It's happened now and then that a disreputable mage would summon and bind a spectre or a wraith, which live in the ethereal realms, to guard their secrets from intruders, but they're pretty unreliable, difficult to really control, not very bright... prone to not noticing things happening around them. If you're lucky, you could walk right through a wraith without it noticing, they're pretty crude consciousnesses."



"But now Shadai is trapped in an ethereal realm," Tara said, "that's how she snared the mages we've encountered?"



"Probably," Willow said, "a summoning, for a storm caster for example, would reach through the ethereal realms to the planes beyond, and eventually to the various regions of hell. So... well, in spiritual terms, she's got a big rope trap out waiting for any fool who tries to summon anything, and when she catches someone, she tries to bend them to her will, and make them summon her."



"What can we do?" Tara asked, her face hardening into the determination that Willow was coming to recognise, and put much of her faith in.



"Here and now, nothing," she said, "but when we get to Duncraig I'll talk to their mages, and send messages as fast as I can to the Order. They'll start working on detection spells, to find out where exactly she is - if no-one's sensed her presence, that means she's hiding pretty deep - and once they find her, probably a bunch of the most powerful sorceresses will work together on a banishing. The Vizjerei will work on it as well, and the other clans. The clans don't always get along, but when it comes to demons we all know which side we're on."



"Alright," Tara said, "so there's no immediate danger?"



"Yes and no," Willow said with a miserable shrug, "judging by what's happened so far, Shadai can't actually reach out into the world and do anything by herself, so we're safe from her directly. But there's always a couple of idiots in far-flung places dabbling in summoning. As long as this goes on, any one of them could reach her, and bring her back. And," she paused and looked sadly at Tara, "it does kind of seem that whenever that happens, they're going to come after me." Tara quickly wrapped her in a tight hug, pressing herself against Willow.



"We'll be okay," she whispered in her ear, "we've survived so far, and now we know what we're up against, and we're just a couple of days away from the biggest city in Westmarch. She won't get you Willow, I promise you that." She pulled back just far enough to meet Willow's gaze.



"You're mine," she said tenderly, "and I'm yours, I'm not complete without you. There's no way I'm going to let some horrible bitch of a demon take you away from me. I promise."



"I..." Willow hesitated, heartened by Tara's words, yet still distraught. "How do you do that? How can you make me feel safe when there's this, this thing out there, waiting for a chance to get at me? Oh gods, this is... it's not fair, you don't deserve this... hell, *I* don't deserve this, we don't..."



"No, we don't," Tara agreed, "but this is what we've got, so we'll deal with it together."



"How can you be so strong?" Willow asked, tears streaking her face.



"Because I have you," Tara said gently, "no matter what happens, I have you. It'll be alright," she soothed Willow, hugging her again, "we're not alone... we'll have your Order, and the other mages, all of them with us, working to defeat her and send her back to hell where she'll never be able to hurt us again." She smiled, then laughed joyously.



"What?" Willow said, grinning despite herself. It felt good, no matter what, to hear Tara laugh.



"This is it," Tara said, "don't you see? We didn't know why she was causing all this, how she was reaching us, but now we know how to stop it!"



"You're... you're right," Willow said with a sheepish smile, "gods, I didn't think... we can put a stop to it. You're right, it's a good thing. Definitely a good thing." She wiped her tears away and smiled properly, then she hugged Tara again, and kissed her passionately, feeling her heart lift at the prospect of an end to their troubles. Tara leaned back against one of the pier's upright pylons, fully enjoying the feeling of Willow sucking on her lip, darting her tongue into her mouth, kissing her way across her cheek and finally licking and sucking her earlobe.



"Mmm... oh," Tara sighed as Willow's tongue flicked against her ear, "oh baby... okay, gotta stop now," she panted, "boat'll be here soon... any more and I'm going to drag you into the long grass right now..." Willow leaned back with a thoroughly gleeful smile on her face.



"You've certainly got a way with those lips of yours," Tara grinned.



"And that's after more than a full day on my feet," Willow replied, "just imagine what I'll be like fully rested and ready to play."



"If I imagine that I don't think I'll be able to stay standing up," Tara said, reaching out to give Willow a squeeze on her hip. They both giggled, then glanced along the river towards the sail, which was rapidly approaching, enough that they could both make out the shape of the boat beneath it.



As the boat neared they saw it was actually two hulls, with a wide deck spanning the gap between them, deep enough to be a cargo hold. It had two masts, the taller one bearing a slanted triangular sail, fully unfurled and rounded with wind, the other one smaller, set forward of the main mast, and with its sail rolled up. Tara, with her keener eyesight, made out the designs on the two flags flying from the main mast, and from her descriptions Willow identified one as the flag of a Duncraig merchant trader, and the other as the city flag of Lut Gholein, the capital of the desert realm of Aranoch. A tiny figure waved at them from the prow of the nearer hull, and the craft slowed, the sail rippling as it spilled wind, and two people made their way down to the rear of the hull, where they busied themselves about a small launch tethered there.



"I'll go wake Amalee," Willow offered, now that it was evident the boat was stopping for them. Tara nodded, and a moment later Willow rejoined her, carrying their bags and weapons, with Amalee in tow, wiping the sleep from her eyes.



"It's the Genie," she said, "daddy used to trade with them sometimes. I think we can trust them," she added, glancing up at Willow and Tara.



"Good," Willow smiled, putting an arm around her shoulder, keeping her other around Tara's waist on her other side. The small launch eventually detached itself from the boat, overtaking it easily with its single sail full and speeding towards the pier. There were two men aboard: one, who seemed to be the captain, stood on the prow, dressed in a long, bright blue coat with a grey sash across his chest. The other was dressed in a similar coat, though less colourful, and stood further back, keeping hold of the sail ropes and the tiller.



The crewman brought the launch sliding up to the end of the pier with some precision, and tossed a rope which Tara caught and looped loosely around one of the pylons. The captain stepped up off the prow onto the pier and gave the three women standing there a measured stare. He was not notably tall or heavily-built, but he had an air of easy authority about him, something that suggested a steel edge beneath his genial smile and casual manner. He wore a blue turban, matching his coat, which Willow and Tara now saw was delicately embroidered with geometric patterns along its edges, and beneath it, on a wide belt, was a sheathed sword, a curved scimitar with tiny jewels glinting on the hilt. He had a long, carefully cut moustache and a devilish-looking pointed beard, and his skin was coffee-coloured, which offset his eyes, pale blue and lively, moving across Willow and Tara's faces, pausing on Tara's spear and the bows across their backs. The other man, similar-looking but broader across the shoulders, and with his face clean-shaven, stayed on the launch, tightening the mooring rope and keeping the tiller steady.



"Salaam," he said, nodding and touching the fingers of his right hand to his forehead. "What might- wait," he interrupted himself, staring at Amalee, "I know you, don't I?"



"Hello," she replied with a smile. The man smiled in return, then looked back at Willow and Tara.



"But I don't know you," he said, cautiously but not impolitely.



"Salaam," Willow said, touching her forehead, "I'm Willow of the Zann Esu, this is Tara of the Amazons," Tara copied the greeting gesture, "we need your help."



"There is trouble?" the man asked. "The girl's father...?" he added, his voice quieter, for form's sake, though there was no way to keep Amalee from hearing, standing so close. Willow shook her head.



"The villages and monastery inland were destroyed," Willow explained quietly, "our caravan was attacked further west, and we were making for the river. She was the only person we found." The man's face fell, as he made no effort to conceal how he was struck by the news.



"Oh, little one," he said to Amalee, "I am sorry. Your father was a good man."



"Willow and Tara saved me," Amalee said, nodding sadly in acceptance of his sympathy. "They fought off the beast-men and carried me all the way here."



"Can you take us to Duncraig?" Tara asked, as the man looked back at them with a more open gaze.



"That was a noble thing you did," he said, "I am Solaris Ibn Meshif Ibn Teshren, my vessel is the Djinn. I will take you to Duncraig."



"Thank you, Solaris," Willow said.



"Thank you," Tara echoed, accepting the man's help at getting down into the wide body of the launch. Together they helped Amalee down, and once she was seated Willow passed across Tara's pack, her satchel and their other belongings, with Amalee dutifully stowed behind her seat.



"All set?" Solaris asked as Willow took her seat after lifting the mooring rope clear of its pylon. "Don't stand up, we'll be there in no time. My first mate," he added, gesturing to the crewman holding the tiller, who salaamed to them.



"Refash Ibn Jurel Ibn Nerriv," he introduced himself.



"I'd heard talk of some trouble in the lands south of the city," Solaris went on, "but it was just talk, you know how it is. I never imagined it would be so bad... all the villages?"



"I'm afraid so," Willow said, "it's... there was a powerful mage, he died, but there's still demons and creatures everywhere."



"Hmm," Solaris frowned, "sounds like the army will have a job to do when they finish securing the eastern border. And these beast-men, they are demons?"



"Goat-men," Willow said, "there was a clan of them in the forest between here and Kotram."



"Goat-men," Solaris said with a frown, "yes, I've heard of their kind. And you fought them? Then the stories of Amazons and sorceresses don't exaggerate!"



"A whole tribe of them attacked us," Amalee put in enthusiastically, "but Tara made a thunderstorm and the lightning blew up their stone and they all ran, except for the leader, and Willow fought him with her staff, and she froze him and he broke into bits all over the ground!"



"I see," Solaris said, impressed. "Well, this is a story I must hear... but later, perhaps," he added, glancing at Willow and Tara, "you look like you've had a long journey."



"They carried me all night," Amalee offered.



"There were still goat-men around," Willow explained, "it wasn't safe to stay."



"You've earned your rest indeed," Solaris said seriously, "I'm sorry I can't offer you a cabin, but the Djinn has little in the way of luxuries. You'll have mattresses and blankets though, and if a corner of the cargo deck isn't too meagre by way of accommodations, it'll be yours until we reach Duncraig, and I'll see you're not disturbed."



"Thank you," Tara said gratefully. Willow nodded, suddenly feeling the weight of her fatigue.



Once the launch nudged up to the stern of the Djinn's port hull and its crew climbed aboard the larger vessel, Solaris proved as good as his word, pausing only to tell his helmsman to tighten the sails before he and Refash busied themselves preparing a place for their guests. The cargo deck was slung between the two hulls, with a raised walkway on either side and a pair of tiny cabins to the rear, which Solaris said apologetically were already occupied. Nonetheless he provided admirably for Willow, Tara and Amalee, digging out mattresses, blankets and padded cushions from storage lockers, arranging them in a space at the front of the deck, with the starboard hull on one side, a tall crate behind, and the metre's clearance beneath the walkway providing a sheltered space in which to set up a temporary bed. Refash fixed a tarpaulin in place over the gap between the crate and the forward rail, giving them some privacy, and offered to find another for a makeshift roof, though he promised he would make sure no-one went forward on the starboard walkway, from where they might be able to look down on the little sleeping area. Solaris vanished for a moment, and returned with three simple cotton shifts, a bowl of dried fruit and bread and a bottle of juice.



"We always carry extra stores," he said, "just in case, and we're only a day from port now, so there's food to spare. If you need anything I'll be aft."



"Thank you," Tara said, as Willow and Amalee disappeared behind the tarpaulin to prepare for their rest.



"God bless you both," Solaris said, "the girl's father will be glad that she is in your care." With that he turned and walked back between the crates towards the aft deck. Up above the mainsail filled with air and the boat picked up speed, sending a breeze across the deck. Tara lifted the corner of the tarpaulin and crawled through, finding the space beyond sheltered from the wind for the most part, letting in only a little draft from the open area in front, where the river stretched out ahead of them.



Amalee was already asleep, curled up beneath some blankets against the side of the hull. Willow was wearily undoing her armour, which Tara helped her with, receiving a grateful smile as her fingers quickly undid the buckles and straps holding the leather in place, while Willow switched her attention to pulling off her boots. Willow reached for a shift once Tara finished taking her armour off, but Tara touched the back of her hand, stilling it, and enfolded her in a warm, tender hug, laying her head on Willow's shoulder.



"We made it," she whispered, loving the feel of Willow's almost-naked body in her arms.



"We did," Willow agreed. She glanced down into her lap. "Silly underwear and all," she added with a quiet chuckle. Tara looked at the thin silk which was Willow's only clothing at that moment, and joined her gentle laughter.



"I'm going to get something like that when we reach Duncraig," she said idly as Willow pulled on a shift.



"Ooh, promise?" Willow sighed.



"Oh yeah," Tara smiled, as Willow lay down. Tara took off her own armour and boots as Willow arranged the bedding around herself, reaching an arm out on top of the blankets to rest around Amalee's waist as she slept, which brought a little smile to the girl's face. She glanced back over her shoulder as Tara settled down behind her, her arm staying under the blankets, hugging Willow.



"I love you," she whispered. Tara smiled and kissed her shoulder.



"I know," she replied, "I love you too. Sweet dreams, my Willow..."



"Mmm-hmm," Willow agreed, as both of them fell asleep.

[justin]

The last couple of parts have been very good



The battle with the goat men was very exciting. It was good thinking on Tara's part to scare most of them off by destroying their head stone.



It was also good thinking of Willow to be able to figure out what was happening, using the old idea of once you've discounted all the impossible ideas, whatever's left must be correct.



It seems that they have something of a deadline since at that very moment there could be a fooldhardy sorceror falling under Shadai's sway.



Looking forward to more

I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. - mad world

[sabina]

Hi there



Great update



It's good to finally see them safe and resting

And I think them realising why the other mage was able to summon Shadai was a huge step in defeating the demon Queen. Now at least they have a plan of action



More, please

---

"I know I was born and I know that I'll die.

The in between is mine.

I am mine!" - Pearl Jam

[FIRESIGN]

Excellent update! It's exciting to see them getting closer to their destination at Duncraig. I'm anxiously awaiting the next update!



Happy Holidays!



Cin aka FIRESIGN

[JustSkipIt]

Ahhh.

I hope I'm not breathing my relief too soon but I'm so glad to see them on the boat. They can get some rest and food and are a day from Duncraig (or maybe another port). Yeah to Willow for figuring the situation even if it's bad. And very good writing. Deb

[Grimlock72]

It's still two days by boat... I'll reserve my breath of relieve once they are IN the city AND have sufficient sorcerers and amazons/soldiers around. A deck on a boat doesn't qualify as 'safe' to me.



Good thing that Willow figured out what's likely happening, took her long enough. It's not all *that* difficult to reach the conclusion that if the mage couldn't get to the demon, the demon got to the mage .



Shadai is a bit stupid by using her contacts with stupid summoning mages to get back at Willow. In that area Willow is one of the very few mages actually capable of doing something against Shadai (or to even know who/what she is dealing with).



If Shadai were just to kill lots of people well out of Willows way (indirectly through a silly mage) she would have pretty much free reign for a long time. That way she could even get enough momentum to summoned back into the real world. But noooooo, revenge is clouding judgement here for sure... which is good for the world and bad for Willow. The good part being that it's fairly easy to trace Shadai since she always seems to come after Willow.



Demons aren't very bright now are they ??



Now if they can just get to Duncraig and, more importantly, get lots of compentent mages to help them banish Shadai more permanently (and don't be so sloppy this time please, check where the banished demon went to). Good thing about the place Shadai is thought to be is that it will cost her a lot of energy to get back from being banished from there.



Well at least Willow will sleep a tiny bit better now that she has figured out a likely reason why/how Shadai came to be summoned by such a low-life mage .



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

[chilled monkey]

A good update. Nice to see Willow using her intelligence and problem-solving skills to try and find answers.



Out of interest, you said that pure demons can never be destroyed, just banished back to Hell. Does this mean that in Hell they are invulnerable? Do they exist in spirit form or something? Basically they all hate each other, but can't kill each other?

[Artemis]

Thanks everyone It was actually a bit of a jump to get back into writing mode after the holiday and watching something like 40 hours of Alien DVDs... but the next chapter is underway and I hope to have it finished in a couple of days' time.



justin: It's true that they're in a slightly precarious situation, with the risk of a really powerful demon being summoned by any damn fool who tries, but there are steps that can be taken by the Zann Esu are other orders to counter that possibility. There are a lot of mages who spend their time trying to keep demons from gaining a proper foothold on Sanctuary, and given the sudden risk of Shadai turning up, they'd be likely to turn their attentions specifically to her, to get rid of that threat as soon as possible. Well, I'm sure some of this will show up in the story at some point.



sabina: Yep, it's good that have a better idea of what's going on. They still don't know everything, of course But this does mark a turning point from reacting to acting. It's always better to prevent whetever the enemy is trying to achieve, rather than waiting for it to happen and then trying to stop it from continuing.



Firesign: I've been thinking about Duncraig a lot recently. I'm looking forward to it, I think it'll be an interesting change to write after all this remote stuff. I've found it very different recently to be writing Willow and Tara with essentially nothing but passive scenery to react to, compared to earlier when there were other characters and situations.



Debra: Well, you can probably relax, they're on their way to Duncraig, and though the danger isn't truly over, the chances of an ambush on the river are remote, what with the speed it reaches under sail. Plus, the river trade is vital to Duncraig's wealth and prosperity, so even now, with areas of the highlands overrun, it'd be a brave demon who'd try to mess with the merchant shipping - that'd get an expeditionary force down on them in no time.



Grimlock: I think you'll be able to relax at Duncraig, there's lots of mages around, plus a big standing army - it's a really big city, equivalent to London just before the industrial revolution. It'd take more than a pack of wilderness demons to cause trouble there. Of course, I'm not guaranteeing that everything will be nice and easy from now on - you *know* there's more adventure to come. But it's nice to take a rest now and then.



Demons aren't very bright sometimes (just between you and me, neither are the angels). A demon like Shadai is strongly motivated by revenge, on everyone really, but at the moment certainly Willow would be high in her mind. But she's also a crafty demon, so don't suppose that we know *everything* yet about why she's done what she's done.



In the Zann Esu's defence, it wasn't sloppy to mistakenly believe Shadai had been banished - they did everything right, and what with the backlash from the summoning and banishing, it was probably weeks before any subtle detection spells would work anywhere near the site of the encounter. And hiding in the ethereal realms is pretty much unprecedented - there'll be more about that later. While it's a good thing to have a bunch of mages, in Duncraig and elsewhere, working on the case, you just *know* Willow's going to be keeping herself in the middle of it all



chilled monkey: 'Pure' demons, like angels, are basically immortal. Spiritually, it is impossible for any mortal force - might or magic - to damage a demon. When they manifest on Sanctuary they can of course be destroyed in the physical form they take, but this just sends their soul back to their proper place in hell. Hell itself is a pseudo-physical realm, so it is possible (as happened during the Reckoning) for a human to venture into hell and do battle there. Demons can exist immortally in their proper places within hell, but in order to actually *do* anything, like move around or fight, they take pseudo-physical forms, which can be destroyed. It takes time for a demon to form a new body for itself, so in essence, in the short-term, demons in hell can be fought and killed. Just don't hang around, cause they'll be back soon



It's not *completely* impossible to kill a demon, but I'll leave that topic for now, I suspect Willow is going to elaborate on that point sooner or later.



Happy holidays to everyone

[Artemis]

Hellebore



Author: Chris Cook

Rating: R

Summary: A headstrong sorceress and a young Amazon join forces to locate and destroy an ancient source of demonic power.

Spoilers: None.

Copyright: Based on characters from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', created by Joss Whedon and his talented minionators, and 'Diablo II' by Blizzard Entertainment. All original material is copyright 2003 Chris Cook.

Feedback: Please. Here, or to alia@netspace.net.au



--

Chapter Forty-Four

--



Tara awoke gently, to the light breeze off the river and the slow swaying of the deck beneath her, and most importantly to the feel of Willow in her arms. She had turned over in her sleep at some point, cuddling up against Tara with her arms tight around her, one leg thrown over Tara's waist, her calf pressing in behind Tara's thighs, holding her close. Her face was buried in Tara's hair, pressed against her neck, and Tara could have sworn she could feel the smile on her lips.



She slowly let her hands roam up and down Willow's back, one staying high on her shoulders, holding her, the other teasing aside the shift which had ridden up around Willow's waist, stroking her naked skin. Tara felt the breeze on the backs of her arms, and realised that their blankets had been pushed down, probably somewhere in the process of Willow rolling over and wrapping herself around her, so that only their hips and legs were covered by it. Tara sighed as she felt a cloud pass over head and sunlight fall on her and Willow, then her lips widened into a gleeful smile as she felt Willow's kiss against her neck.



Willow murmured sleepily as Tara gently crept her hand over her hip and down onto her stomach, rolling her onto her back even as she continued nuzzling tender kisses onto Tara's neck. Tara smiled as Willow's lips found her ear, and for a moment she contented herself with caressing Willow's stomach, sneaking the tips of her fingers beneath her shift now and then, and feeling the results conveyed to her through Willow's nibbling and sucking on her earlobe. She pressed her hand flat against Willow's abdomen, fingers splayed to touch as much of the warm, smooth skin as she could, truly felt Willow's lips curl into a smile against her neck, and dreamily opened her eyes to see the smile for herself-



Amalee was sitting up against the boat's hull, just on the other side of Willow, watching curiously, with a mildly perplexed look about her. Tara's eyes widened and her hand jerked out from beneath Willow's shift, which in turn startled Willow awake.



"Wha? Huh?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep. Tara felt herself go bright red with embarrassment, but made herself meet the girl's curious stare levelly.



"Hi," Amalee said, and Tara relaxed a little to hear the familiar brightness in her voice - no condemnation, no accusation. If anything, the girl seemed to be slightly gleeful at having caught her off-guard, as if she had been sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack.



"Um, hi sweetie," she replied with a sheepish grin.



"Hm? Oh... hi," Willow said, finally waking up enough to follow Tara's gaze and see Amalee. She looked back at Tara for a moment, then her eyes widened as she caught up on recent events, and she fought to keep her blush down, and not smile too much. 'Busted,' she mouthed to Tara, and it was only Tara's anxiety over how their young companion wound react to what she had seen that kept her from giggling.



"Are you in love with each other?" Amalee asked.



'Right to the point,' Tara mused, 'but what do I say? She's young, she's from a little village, probably educated by the church mostly... does she think this is a sin or something? What do I say? Oh well...'



"Yes sweetie," she said, "we're in love." Really, what other answer was there? To Tara's relief Amalee just nodded to herself, accepting this the same way she had accepted everything else she had learned since they had found her. She felt Willow relax, and realised they were still wrapped in a tight hug.



"Can women be in love with each other?" Amalee asked. "Isn't it just men and women?"



"Well... no," Tara said, taking a deep breath, "women can be in love with each other. Usually it's a man and a woman who fall in love, but not always. I-I know that the church doesn't agree, but where I come from it's normal for people to be in love with whoever they feel that way about, whether they're men or women." She cringed a little, studying Amalee's face as she tried to work out how she was taking it. Was she explaining too much... or being condescending?



"Oh," the girl said, "okay."



"A-are you okay?" Willow asked, disengaging herself gently from Tara. "Does it bother you that we're-"



"I don't think so," Amalee said, her expression changing to thoughtful introspection - Tara had to smile at how adorable she looked, she had a little of the same quality as Willow did when she was mulling over a problem.



"I don't know," she went on, "are Amazons different to other people? Or is everyone the same?"



"Um, well, we believe different things," Tara said hesitantly, "but otherwise, I think we're just the same as everyone else. It's not just us that... where women are sometimes in love."



"What do they think in the city?" Amalee asked warily. "Do they think it's okay, or are they like the church and think it's wrong?"



"I don't know," Tara admitted, "I guess we'll find out when we get there." She gave a little shrug.



"We're not going to hide how we feel, though," Willow added, straightening her shift and sitting up.



"They shouldn't think you're bad for being in love," Amalee said indignantly.



"Well, I hope they don't," Tara said. Amalee nodded decisively, then stood up and looked around.



"Mister Solaris said they had some bread rolls and stuff if I got hungry before dinner, is it okay if I go get one?" she asked.



"Sure sweetie," Tara said, "just be careful not to go near the edge of the deck."



"I won't," Amalee replied, in a 'don't be silly' tone of voice. Tara and Willow shared a smile as she buttoned up the neck of her shift and scuttled off between the crates.



"Should one of us stay with her?" Willow asked. "Not that I'm worried or anything, just, you know... heh, I guess I've sort of got into this way of thinking where it's us and everything else, and everything else is out to get us."



"It did seem like that for a while, didn't it?" Tara agreed. "I think we're safe here. I mean, so long as we don't run into, oh, pirates, or whatever they have on rivers to mess up your day. The captain's an honest man, I'm sure, and honourable. I got a very strong sense from him... I don't think a little girl like Amalee would have anything to fear on his boat."



"Good," Willow said emphatically, "she deserves a break... poor girl. Oh, heh, um, sorry about earlier... you know, the snuggling and all that... I didn't realise she was watching."



"Neither did I," Tara shrugged, "still, it didn't seem to bother her, so no harm done. And hey, it's not like you were the only one doing the snuggling."



"Yeah, that's true," Willow smiled, "even half asleep there's no mistaking the feel of Tara-hands getting adventurous." She shot Tara a grin. "There's just no stopping you, is there? That little lake a few days ago, and then in the catacombs," she shrugged helplessly, "any time you get half a chance, you're all over me."



"And you love it," Tara purred, sitting up behind Willow and slipping her hands underneath the material draped over her hips.



"Mmmyeah," Willow agreed, covering Tara's hands with her own, "yeah, I do..." Tara caressed her hips for a moment, playfully squeezing and kneading at Willow, then kissed her on the back of her neck and gave her a light swat on her bottom.



"Hey!" Willow protested, turning to face Tara. "Now you're deliberately turning me on."



"Uh-huh," Tara nodded, "pity this isn't really private." She stretched languidly. "I guess you'll just have to restrain yourself for a little while longer."



"Just you wait," Willow warned gleefully, "the moment I get you alone somewhere..." Tara met her stare, and in unison their smiles broadened, and broke into laughter.



"About Amalee," Willow said, a moment later as she and Tara were donning their armour, "you don't think the might get into trouble? I mean, from what I've heard Duncraig is a pretty liberal place, but... well, I don't like the thought of her telling people about us, and our adventure, and, you know, if she leaves in the part where we're in love, and someone objects... not that it's something *we* should be hiding, but, well, she's just a kid..." She gave Tara a worried look.



"She's a smart girl," Tara said, "more than most children her age, I think, especially from such a remote upbringing. I think she'll be okay. Besides, it's not like she's going to be on her own. This uncle of hers..."



"We'll see what he's like," Willow said, "make sure he's, you know, that he'll take care of her properly. She deserves a proper family, not just someone who keeps her fed and clothed because it's an obligation, or something like that."



"We'll make sure she's got a good home," Tara promised. She stood up and reached out a hand to Willow, pulling her to her feet and into a hug.



"See?" Willow pointed out. "Any chance you get..."



"Oh, you know how it is," Tara replied with forces casualness, "you're too luscious for me not to take every opportunity..." She leaned closer and kissed Willow, enjoying the little whimpers that came up her throat as she parted her lips and explored within, and the way Willow's hands clutched reflexively at her back as their tongues met and mingled.



"Oh yeah," Willow said breathlessly when their lips parted, "I know exactly... how it is..." They walked out onto the cargo deck, hand in hand, finding Amalee sitting with her back against a crate, looking out over the river ahead of them.



"It'll be dark soon," she explained, "Mister Solaris said you can see the city's lights when it gets dark." She resumed her scrutiny of the horizon, munching happily on a slice of nutbread. Willow hopped up onto the crate, swinging her legs off its edge, and Tara leant up against it, one hand lazily trailing up and down Willow's thigh.



"So is 'Solaris' the proper name for our captain?" Tara asked Willow. "I wasn't sure how to address him, after he introduced himself."



"Oh, he's from Lut Gholein," Willow explained, "they go in for long names there. That was sort of a formal greeting, but yeah, in normal conversation he'd be just Solaris. Or 'captain', it he wants, I guess."



"Is the rest a family name?" Tara asked.



"Ancestors," Willow said, "on the male side... they're a little patriarchal in Aranoch, though the current Lord is supposedly big on making everything equal. But the names are an old tradition - 'ibn' means 'son of', so he's Solaris son of Meshif son of Teshren. Sometimes they include their ancestral land, or their tribe if they're descended from nomads, but families who've lived in the cities for a while don't always bother with that. I guess in this case, maybe he'd consider the boat his home, but there isn't a naming tradition that includes boats. They're a desert people originally." Tara nodded thoughtfully.



"Actually," she said, "those naming traditions are a bit like what we use for ceremonies back home."



"You have extended names?" Willow asked. "What's yours?"



"Well," Tara said, "the ceremonial name is, like you'd expect, only required in ceremonies - during worship, or formal occasions, we don't use them for introductions. The tradition is that an Amazon's name, as spoken in a ceremony, says who he or she is, what... what defines them, as a person, what makes that person who he or she truly is. So they can change, as people change, and depending on the ceremony being conducted the name might change as well. Only the Amazon herself - or himself, you get the idea - can speak her name in full, or give permission for others to speak it. Names used to be a lot more important and significant, mostly no-one thinks of them nowadays unless they're needed for a ritual or a ceremony. The last time I spoke my full name was when I began my training, years ago. Then I gave my name as Tara nela Selena."



"'Daughter of'," Willow translated, and Tara nodded.



"I didn't become a warrior just to follow in my mother's footsteps," she explained, "but her memory was part of my decision, and the most important influence on me then, as a warrior trainee. It's common nowadays, at least until you become an adult, to have your mother or father as part of your ceremonial name." She paused, and smiled up at Willow.



"But now," she said her voice softening, and growing more serious at the same time, "my full name, by which our gods and goddesses call me, is Tara lal Willow, and you may call me that whenever you wish."



"'Lal'...?" Willow asked, searching her memory, a smile already forming on her lips.



"'Beloved of'," Tara translated. Willow bit her lip, and her eyes filled with moisture.



"Of course, it's just an old tradition," Tara went on, smiling and reaching up to wipe away the joyous tears that rolled over her cheeks, "if you hadn't reminded me of it I probably wouldn't have thought of it. Still, it's important, even today, to allow another person to speak your full name. I-I'm glad you reminded me of it, actually..."



"Tara lal Willow," Willow whispered. Tara put a finger on her cheek and gently guided her down, bringing their faces level.



"Just the way you say 'Tara' is enough," she murmured, "I feel so loved..." They kissed again, slowly and tenderly at first. Willow was the first to reach her fingers through Tara's hair and hold her close, delving into her mouth, while Tara cupped Willow's cheeks in her hands and blissfully surrendered herself to Willow's lips. They stayed together, foreheads touching, even after their lips parted. Amalee, who had glanced back at them, rolled her eyes, gave a theatrical sigh, and turned back to the view of the river. Both Willow and Tara fought an attack of the giggles.



"Well then," Tara said, putting a hand to her cheek to calm herself, "I don't know about you, but I could use a meal."



"Sounds good," Willow agreed. "I'll say this, travel by river is a lot better than on the open seas. All that tossing about, the *last* thing I wanted was to think about food."



"This boat doesn't roll much," Tara commented, taking Willow's hand as she hopped down from her perch on the crate.



"I haven't ever seen one quite like this," Willow admitted, "the name is from Aranoch - a djinn is a spirit, sort of like a, a fairy, or a sprite. Those slanted sails are the kind they use on the merchant ships out of Lut Gholein, but the hull I don't know. Back in Kurast they use twin hulls, but I've only ever seen them on small boats, like the launch, never one this big."



"My father designed it," said Solaris from behind them. "Sorry," he added sheepishly, seeing them both jump slightly.



"Your father?" Tara asked politely, as Amalee got up and joined them on their way back to the rear of the deck, where the cabins were.



"Meshif," Solaris said, "a great man. He runs the docks in Lut Gholein for Lord Jerhyn now, but back in his younger days he was a great sailor and boat builder. He built this boat for me, for my coming-of-age."



In front of the boat's small cabins a table had been set up, surrounded by chairs, all with slightly splayed legs that kept then steady as the deck swayed slightly. One man was already seated, pouring wine, while a younger man, barely out of his teens, was unwrapping preserved food and setting it out.



"My night-crew," Solaris said, "Taryn, master of the watch, and Vatif, his deck-hand - his first year before the mast, and a fine crewman he's becoming." Both paused, Taryn getting to his feet, and introduced themselves, extended names and all.



"Sit, sit," Meshif said, "we usually dine on deck, it's too cramped inside, and the weather's good for it. Eh Taryn?"



"Good for today and tomorrow," Taryn said, in a thickly-accented voice, "but the day after, big storm."



"Well, none of our concern, we'll be safe in dock by then. Taryn is never wrong about the weather, you know," he added to Willow and Tara, "why, one time - you remember, last time we sailed up the peninsula? - he looked into a clear sky, not a cloud from horizon to horizon, and told me we had three days before the biggest storm we'd ever seen. And you were right, weren't you?" Taryn shrugged modestly, then looked somewhat bashful as Amalee sat next to him and peered intently at the stylised tattoos on his arm, left showing by his sleeveless tunic.



"What's that one?" she asked, pointing to a circular design.



"Oh? Ah, well..." he said, "this here is the name of a ship, see? That's the writing we use back home in Aranoch, though not usually in a circle like that. It says 'Dragonfly', she was a very famous ship..."



"Just don't show her the one on your shoulder," Solaris murmured good-naturedly, "she's not old enough to hear *that* story. Ah, here we go," he said, as Vatif set a platter down in the centre of the table and took a seat himself.



"Is Refash joining us?" Willow asked. Amalee was absorbed in Taryn's story, prompting him for details now and then.



"He's on helm watch," Solaris said, "the Djinn's a fine boat, but she doesn't steer herself. He'll join us once these two finish up and go on duty."



"You keep sailing at night?" Tara asked. "I thought you'd drop anchor, or something?"



"No need on the Kingsway," Solaris said, tucking into a sandwich, "you've never seen the river at night? Well, it's quite a marvel, you can look forward to it."



"I've been meaning to ask, if I may," Tara said, "your name, Solaris... you're not Amazon, but that's an Amazon name...?"



"It is an Amazon name," Solaris agreed, "but no, I'm not Amazon. Born and raised in Lut Gholein. But named for an Amazon. You see," he settled back in his seat, pausing occasionally to take a bite of dinner, "twenty years ago, when I was just an uncomfortable passenger in my mother's womb - don't look so surprised, I don't look that much older, do I?"



"It's the beard," Willow offered.



"Ah yes," Solaris smiled, "I think if I shaved, none of these Westmarch captains would take me seriously, they'd say 'go fetch your master, cabin-boy,' as if I haven't been on the water for more years than I've been on land! Hah!" he laughed jovially. "Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes, the time of shadows, what they call the Reckoning nowadays. A great evil lay over the land and the seas, and there was not a captain in Lut Gholein who would risk the crossing of the Twin Seas to Kurast. They say unnatural creatures, huge beasts of the deep, had risen up and were swallowing whole ships in one gulp!" He became more animated, noticing that Amalee was listening in as well.



"A shadow lay over Lut Gholein," he went on, "the work of a foul creature that dwelled out in the desert. Many brave men of the city guard ventured out, but none returned, and even the city itself became dangerous, with evil stalking beneath the ground, in the old sewer tunnels, and venturing out at night. They say even the day became as night, with the sun shrouded in blackness. But," he held up a hand, smiling at Amalee, who was on the edge of her seat, "when all seemed lost, there came a band of warriors from the west, a master of strange magics, a tall Amazon warrior, and a quiet young woman from Kurast. They had fought great battles together back in the west, and were following the trail of evil, undoing the work of the dark creatures as they went.



"When they discovered the terrible plight out city was in, they ventured into the desert, and for days nothing was heard of them. But then, when all had given up hope, the sun returned, and the day after the city had finally seen sunlight again, they returned from the desert, and sought passage across the Twin Seas, where they believed the evil they followed had fled. Well, there were few ships in dock, and few captains brave enough to try their luck on those seas, but my father went to them and said to them, 'you have saved all our lives, so my ship is yours.' And on board they went, the mage keeping to his cabin alone, and the Amazon with the Kurasti woman, tending to wounds she had taken during the battles they had fought in the desert, nursing her back to health. My father did not pry into their affairs, you understand - they said a great demon had been defeated, and he left it at that, and prayed for the woman's health.



"Now, it seemed the voyage was going well, but in the centre of the Twin Seas, they say the sea bed is split by a great trench, so deep that the bottom reaches through the world and into darkness that has never seen light. Perhaps it is so, for as my father's ship crossed the middle of the sea, a huge creature rose up, a giant beast the size of a ship itself, with a dozen tentacles, each as thick as a great tree. My father's crew had never seen such a beast - the bolts of their crossbows bounced off its hide, and when they turned the deck ballista on it, and buried a steel bolt five feet long in its belly, it seemed only to make it angrier. The man came on deck from his cabin and began to weave some arcane magic, but before he could complete his spell he was hit by the beast's waving tentacle, and knocked out against the mast - it was a mercy he was not sent overboard, for the ship was being tossed around as if by the mother of all storms! Then..." he paused, and looked at Amalee. "Do you know what happened next?"



"The Amazon fought the sea monster?" she guessed.



"She did," Solaris said, "my father saw with his own eyes the Amazon fire her bow at the sea, and freeze it solid for a hundred yards in every direction! And the monster thrashed around and smashed at the ice, trying to get free, but every time it broke through it set free a huge mass of ice, which swirled in the water and crashed into it. Only ahead of my father's ship was the water still warm, and so they escaped, as the great beast was crushed by its own struggles." He sat back in his seat again and grinned at Amalee, who was quite satisfied with the monster's grisly end.



"So, the Amazon woman saved my father's life, and the life of his crew, and never asked for anything in return. He took her and her companions to the Kurast docks, where they said their farewells to him, but he remembered the Amazon woman's heroism, the fearlessness with which she faced that titan from the deep, and so he named me after her. Her name was-"



"Solari?" guessed Tara.



"You know her?" Solaris asked wide-eyed.



"She would have been twenty-four, twenty-five?" Tara asked. "Blonde hair, brown eyes, carried a bow with blue steel tips?"



"Exactly how my father described her to me," the captain nodded.



"She was my weapons instructor," Tara said, "she taught me archery and spear-work, and how to wield Amazon magic."



"Ah," Solaris nodded, "then, it's no surprise you came through unscathed from your encounters with the creatures inland, eh? You have heard this story of the sea beast?"



"No," Tara said, "no, she used to tell us - her trainees - stories now and then, but usually not about herself."



"Of course," Solaris said, "such is often the way. The brave have their fill of adventure, and then leave the telling of their tales to others - so it's no surprise you two tell of your journey across the highlands as if it were nothing, eh? But I think we may hear that story nonetheless, from one who is eager to tell it?" He grinned at Amalee, who was bouncing in her seat with good-natured impatience.



She described, at great length, their journey from the ruins of her village to the river, talking animatedly as dusk became evening, and Vatif lit a handful of oil lamps fixed to the deck railings for light. Tara shared glances with Willow now and then, feeling herself blush as Amalee described her calling on the lightning in terms that made her seem to be some mythic demi-goddess, and she found herself smiling at Willow's matching blush as her fight with the goat-lord was recounted in heroic detail. The girl's vocabulary and grasp of story-telling was impressive to say the least, and Tara noticed that, though she invariably cast her two protectors in the most noble, heroic light, she was faithful to the events she had witnessed, and never truly exaggerated their feats, or omitted their worries and hesitations along the way.



"You know, she *would* make quite a bard," Willow murmured softly, after Amalee had finished holding the attention of the three sailors, and dinner had drawn to a close.



"She would," Tara agreed, "she had my attention, and I already knew what happened. How does a girl from a rural village learn to tell stories like that?"



"She's smart, that's for sure," Willow said, "I noticed phrases here and there, and ways she constructed the scenes, that sounded like the mythology she probably heard in church lessons. I guess she used the same techniques, and adapted them to the story she was telling, but to do it that well, pretty much by instinct... whatever she eventually decides to do with herself, the future looks bright."



"You're proud of her," Tara observed, leaning up against a rail.



"Yeah," Willow agreed.



"I am too. It's funny, isn't it? We've known her for, what, two days, and we're carrying on like proud parents..." She and Willow shared a smile, then Willow turned around and leaned back against Tara, covering Tara's hands with her own as they went around her waist.



"The future looks bright," Willow said again.



"Ladies," Solaris called, "if you'd like to come up to the helm for a moment, I think you'll want to see this. Yes, you too," he added to Amalee, who had begun to open her mouth to ask. The three of them followed Solaris and Taryn across to the far side of the cabins, up a ladder onto the small deck on top of them, where Refash stood at the wheel, surrounded by a set of instruments, each fixed in a wooden pedestal in the deck.



"There," Solaris said, gesturing out ahead of them, "the Kingsway river in all her glory!"



Willow, Tara and Amalee looked, and were duly impressed. As far as they could see - two or three miles, to the next bend in the river - the water was alive with starlight, reflected brighter than the night sky itself. It was as if some god had laid out a glittering trail of diamonds for them to follow.



"It's beautiful," Willow whispered, unconsciously catching Tara's hand and holding it.



"Ten years ago, they invented this in Duncraig," Solaris said, "the alchemists brew up a potion that reflects the lights of the night sky, the stars and the moon, so brightly they say you cannot look upon the mixture in its pure form. They put it into the river, so on a clear night like this, with a good helmsman, you can navigate as surely as if the sun was shining. And we have good helmsmen, of course - Refash knows this river as well as he knows his own ancestry, and Taryn-" he turned to Taryn, who had taken the wheel from Refash, "when you were a mere boy, you were a deckhand on the first boat to sail this river guided by starlight, weren't you?" He turned back to the river ahead, and put both hands on the forward rail.



"It is a sight, is it not?" he said, with more than a little awe in his voice. "Aye... some apprentice in a workshop awakes one day with an idea, goes to his chemicals and powders, and then this... such a thing of beauty. And the world is changed - in good weather, a fast ship can reach Duncraig in three days from Kingsport, travelling day and night. We're not *that* fast, but under this clear sky, I promise you ladies, when you wake tomorrow it will be to see the city growing near."



"So soon?" Willow asked.



"No doubt," Solaris said earnestly, "by midday tomorrow you will be enjoying lunch in the gardens of the Duncraig markets, and I- hah, I'll probably be haggling with some wizened old goods trader who wants to charge me five crowns a barrel for dragon oil! They have many miracles in Duncraig, and believe me, their businessmen are surely one of them. Are we close enough... yes, there!" He pointed to the horizon, just to the right of the glittering river, where the night sky was lit with a faint, warm glow. "You see it?"



"What is it?" Tara asked. "Torches?"



"A beacon?" Willow suggested.



"That," Solaris said proudly, "is Duncraig itself! Even in the dead of night the lights shine, and the city is alive with people. It'll be light by the time we reach the city proper, but to approach it at night... a man could believe he was sailing towards the towers of heaven. The spires reach high, glittering with lamps and torchlight, and always there are bursts of light from the wizards' quarter, from their experiments I'm told."



"Flare light," Willow said, "burning off excess magic... always?"



"I have seen it," Solaris said, "ten minutes do not go by but there is a silent jet of light rising from the rooves of the mages' workshops and studies, reds and greens and blues, like majestic fireworks. They have metal rods, you see, fixed in place, to guide the power into the sky... well, you would know of this better than I, of course."



"I've seen that kind of thing," Willow nodded, "but to be flaring that much... gods, they must be busy. How many mages are there in the city, do you know?"



"Many," Solaris said, "how many I do not know, but they are always around, in their robes, buying strange things for their work. I get good prices for bringing in preserved powders and plants, when we come back from Kurast, or out to the western coast. Many mages, but then again, in that city, there are a great many people of every kind. Ever since I was a boy, there has been talk of Duncraig, and how the wealth of the world is flowing there. Many people make the long journey to get their share of the prosperity - from all over Westmarch, Khanduras, Aranoch, Kehjistan, Entsteig, and a few from even further, from countries that most here have never heard the names of." He shook his head in wonder, then stretched and yawned.



"Well, if you'll forgive me ladies," he said, "it's time I turned in. If you need anything during the night Taryn will be here, and Vatif will be around and about. Don't trouble yourselves if you feel us stop for a moment during the night, if she's on schedule the Lioness is somewhere up ahead, coming downriver, and we'll pause to exchange news. The captain is an old friend of mine." He yawned again. "Oh, excuse me... this is what I get for waking early for morning watch. Well... goodnight ladies."



-----



"I'm not really sleepy," Amalee protested later, when Willow and Tara were laying out the blankets for the night's rest. "I practically slept all day."



"I know sweetie," Tara said, "but we could all use a proper rest, without waking up all the time. And besides, you want to be wide awake for the city tomorrow?"



"*I* do," Willow said emphatically, "I had no idea there were so many mages there, I'd thought- I mean, trade and commerce okay, and of course the place is growing like you wouldn't believe, but the way Solaris described it, it sounds like it's the western capital of the magical world. Sort of like Kurast without the tropical heat," she mused to herself, "I could actually get to like that, I never really liked the heat *that* much, and mosquitos, ick..." she yawned.



"Are you looking forward to it too?" Amalee asked Tara.



"Oh yes," Tara said, "I'll be able to see my friends from the caravan again - at least, we should do," she added, her face darkening with a tiny amount of worry, quickly dispelled by Willow's comforting smile.



"And I'll get to meet the Duke," Tara went on, "and see the palace."



"Wow, you know the Duke?" Amalee asked.



"Well, no," Tara admitted, "but that's what I'm doing on this journey, meeting all the rulers on behalf of the Amazons."



"Bedtime, honey," Willow reminded Amalee gently, patting the blankets she had laid out for her.



"Okay," she said, with only a small sigh. All three of them sat down on the blankets, Willow and Tara busying themselves with removing boots and unstrapping their around in preparation for bed. Amalee paused, and looked at them for a moment.



"What's up sweetie?" Tara asked, noticing a moist gleam in the little girl's eyes. Without warning she flung herself at Willow and Tara, hugging both of them fiercely.



"I'm so glad you found me," she whispered hoarsely, "I'm going to miss you two when we get to the city."



"It's okay honey," Willow soothed her, stroking her hair, "we'll visit you all the time, won't we?"



"Of course," Tara confirmed, "after all, you'll be our best friend in the whole city, you'll see plenty of us."



"Promise?"



"Promise," Tara smiled. Amalee loosened her hold, and Willow coaxed her into the blankets, while Tara finished taking off her armour, again donning her borrowed shift to sleep in.



"Sleep well, honey," Willow whispered to Amalee, "sweet dreams." She watched over her for a moment, patting the back of her hand, until the girl's breathing became the slow rhythm of sleep. With a last smile she turned back to Tara, who was kneeling close to her, smiling seductively.



"Oh, well," Willow whispered, "I know what I'll be dreaming of."



"Dream all you like," Tara murmured, so close her breath warmed Willow's cheek, "tomorrow night, I'll make sure you get everything you've dreamed of."



"Everything?" Willow asked, sliding her arms around Tara's waist, pulling up the bottom of the shift to press her hands against her skin.



"Well, not the dancing fish, or whatever you come up with this time," Tara grinned, "but all the good bits... all night." She nipped playfully at Willow's ear, then helped her out of her armour and on with her shift, her hands straying over Willow's sides and thighs until at last they were covered.



"Goodnight, my sweet Willow," Tara whispered.



"Goodnight my love," Willow replied. She turned and began to lie down next to Amalee, hesitating half-way and turning back towards Tara.



"You two can cuddle if you want," Amalee said.



"Thank you honey," Willow laughed, sitting back up and hugging Tara tightly. As she lay down again, Tara went with her, adopting her customary position, curled up against Willow's back, as Willow gently lay a hand on Amalee's arm.



"G'night," the girl said sleepily.



"Goodnight honey," Willow replied.



"Goodnight," Tara added, "sweet dreams... both of you."

[justin]

That was an interesting update.



I'm glad that Amelee didn't pitch a fit when she found out about WIllow and Tara.



The details about the river were interesting, but also worrying. I can't help but think that someone has dumped a load of the fanatasy equivelent of uranium into the river just so that it'll be passable at night. Has anyone done any studies into the numbers of fish in the river before and after this was done, and whether the fish have started growing three eyes.



Also some of the details about Duncraig were worrying. It seems that the mages theire are constantly venting magical energy into the aptmosphere. Aside from the question of what this magical polution is doing to the planet, is it possible for someone to collect this excess energy and use it for nefarious purposes?



I'm glad that they're nearing the safety of a large citty but something tells me they aren't home, free yet.



Looking forwards to reading more.

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