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Turning from the now blank wall in Buffy's bedroom
Giles sighed. "And
you saw and heard nothing?"
Buffy glared at him. "Do you think I would have let them take it if I
had?"
Giles shook his head. "No, of course not. I'm sorry." It had
been a
stupid question. One he wouldn't have asked if the news of the theft
hadn't left him so flustered. "Was anything else taken?"
"No, nothing."
That's what he'd feared. "So they were definitely after the Axe
then."
"It seems that way but who would take it?"
"And why?" Willow asked.
They were both good questions and ones that he would dearly love to
have answers to but at the moment he was at a loss. He looked at
Willow. "Your wards weren't set off either?"
The young witch shook her head. "They're still there actually and
completely undisturbed." She smiled grimly. "You can test them
if you
want."
"Thank you but no, I'll take your word for it." Giles knew all
about
the traps she had woven within her wards and he had no desire to
spend half the day paralysed or worse. "It would point to someone
well versed in the magical arts then."
"Or some type of demon," Willow suggested.
"Maybe," the ex-Watcher agreed. There were a number of demons
that
had a resistance to magic, not that he could think of any off hand
mind. "I'll hit the books and you can do a goggle search
thingy."
Willow laughed. "You mean a google search?"
"Exactly, that's what I said." Bloody computers.
"Of course you did Giles," Buffy said, patting him on the back.
He cleared his throat. "Anyway, if we can get back to more important
things. I think one of the first things we need to do is come up with
a list of possible suspects, people who knew of the Axe's existence
and have the wherewithal to pull it off."
"You mean someone like the Council?" Buffy asked.
"Or Angel," Willow said, and then ignoring the Slayer's angry
look
continued, "what do we really know about what's going on at Wolfram
and Hart?"
"But it's Angel," Buffy protested.
"Yes, yes and he's got a soul, blah blah." The young witch shook
her
head. "You've really got to stop letting that blind you, Buff."
"Willow's right," Giles said quickly. This whole Wolfram and
Hart
thing was just too good to be true and he was actually quite
surprised that Angel, and Wesley for that matter, had chosen to play
along. He shook his head. Not only had they entered the lion's den
but they were playing with his cubs as well. He feared it would end
badly. "We can't rule out anyone at the moment."
Far from happy she may have been with that idea but Buffy wasn't
naive and she nodded. "I still think it's the Council though,"
she muttered.
Giles turned to Willow. "Have you been able to re-establish your
connection with the Axe?"
The redhead sighed. "No, I haven't and that's not all." She
looked
from Giles to Buffy. "I can't sense the Slayers anymore either."
Buffy gasped. "None of them?"
"Not even you, Buff," Willow replied dejectedly.
"Interesting," Giles commented. "Well it is," he
insisted when both
young women turned curious looks in his direction. They knew so
little about the Axe that anything they learnt about it was
interesting. At least to him it was. And now they knew that Willow's Slayer sensing ability was linked to the weapon.
"Have you tried scrying for it, Will," Buffy asked.
"No, not yet. I was going to do that next. The spell I want to use
needs two people though."
"I'm sure Giles will help."
"Unfortunately the spell I want to do is very powerful and since I…er…drained the coven's power from him, Giles just isn't as strong as
he once was," she explained uncomfortably.
Buffy frowned. "If not Giles, then who? Who else has the ability to
help you?"
"Well…" Willow looked at Giles and he nodded, a gesture that
Buffy
didn't miss.
"What's going on?" she demanded.
Giles sighed. It was time. "Willow was talking about Dawn,
Buffy."
"Dawn!"
"Yes, I've been teaching her for a couple of months," Willow
admitted.
"You've been what!" Buffy was livid.
"Teaching her, she's very talented."
Buffy flopped down on her bed, her head in her hands. "I can't
believe this."
"Please Buff, don't be mad."
"Don't be mad. How do you expect me to be? I expressly forbade Dawn
to learn magic and you…" she looked at Giles "…you two go
behind my
back."
"Dawn was always going to learn magic, Buffy," Giles told her.
He
wasn't trying to excuse their actions just stating a fact. "Nothing
you could say was ever going to stop her."
"And we thought that it would be better if she learnt properly before
she hurt herself," Willow added.
For several minutes Buffy said nothing, just sat on her bed in
silence alone with her thoughts. And going by the look on her face
Giles was glad he couldn't read those thoughts. Eventually she
sighed. "I know you were only looking out for Dawn for which I'm
grateful but I'm so not happy about this."
"I'm sorry Buff." Willow looked wretched.
"It was for the best," Giles told her. The last thing they'd
needed
was for Dawn to go off the rails.
He could tell by her face that Buffy still wasn't convinced but she
nodded. "I just hope you're right. Let's find the Axe then."
Far from the harsh light of the bright yellow sun,
Talda-Kal liked the sewers of the human cities. Though they bore little
true
resemblance to the tunnels of her homeland they helped to ease her fears
about the world above, and with the surface and it's humans out of her
mind she was usually able to relax. But not today.
By now, her job complete, she could have been well on her way home with
the human world nothing more than a memory. She could have been looking
forward to seeing her pack-family and planning the best way to spend her
payment.
Greed though had always been one of Talda-Kal's weaknesses, it was one of
the reasons why she came to the human world, and the previous night's work
had put into her possession two items she was certain were of immense
value. Even on its own the bag would have tempted her greatly, the ability
to mask the magic of an item was amazing, but combined with the weapon the
opportunity was almost too much to pass up.
There was only one thing that stopped her from opening the portal back to
her home world and her beloved tunnels, and that was fear. Fear of her
employer. There was no denying that he or she would not be pleased by her
betrayal and, with the magical abilities they had already shown, more than
capable of doing something about it. Could she evade someone with that
much power? Talda-Kal wasn't sure. Were they capable of tracking her down,
even to her own dimension? The Suritan had been wrestling with that
thought ever since arriving in the sewer not long after she had made her
escape.
The wrath of her employer was not the only thing to consider either, there
was the owner of the weapon as well. She may have appeared little more
than a child but Talda-Kal knew that her knowledge of the ways of humans
was limited and anyone who possessed such a weapon should not be taken
lightly.
Where she had left it, the bag rested just a few feet away, and the shape
of the weapon was clearly visible beneath its dark cloth. Not once had she
taken her eyes from it. Could she possibly renegotiate her payment and
somehow acquire the bag? Possibly, but that path had risks of its own.
Talda-Kal hissed. Time was running out and she was still no nearer to
deciding her course of action. Flowing smoothly to her feet she grasped
the bag tightly. Fear or greed, it was a simple choice really.
Unfortunately as she made her way along the sewers it was one she was no
nearer making.
Willow leant forward. "Concentrate Dawn," she
whispered. Seated cross legged opposite the witch, Dawn nodded. That was
easy for her to say, she didn't have Buffy's angry gaze burning holes into
her back. She still couldn't believe that they had told her. It was for a
good reason she supposed but still she wished that she'd had some warning.
Shaking her head she put all that to the back of her mind and looked down.
On the floor between them and held flat by a large blue candle at each
corner was a map of the world. It wasn't very detailed but Giles said the
Axe could be anywhere by now and they had to get a general location before
trying for more accuracy.
"Now you know what to do, don't you Dawnie," Willow asked.
"Yes," Dawn told her. Did she think she was stupid or something?
"Repeat the spell then sprinkle the sand over the map."
How hard could that be? Sensing her annoyance Willow smiled. "I'm
sorry, I just don't want anything to go wrong."
Dawn nodded. "I'm ready."
"Give me your hand then, now take a handful of sand." Then
closing her eyes Willow began to sing softly…
"Gaia, mother of all, here my plea,
That which was stolen reveal to me,
Show me where the Axe now lies,
On the map before my eyes."
As she'd been told to Dawn repeated the words line by
line and when she'd finished she let the sand fall onto the map.
"Now we wait," Willow announced.
For nearly half minute nothing happened but just as Dawn began to fear
that she might have done something wrong the sand began to stir. "Is
this supposed to happen?" she whispered.
"Yes, now shush."
In front of her the movement of the sand had become more violent as what
appeared to be miniature dust storms swirled over the map.
Despite the grains of sand stinging her face Dawn continued to watch as
the storms became bigger and more frenzied until finally all the sand was
swept up into one large maelstrom. Howling like a tornado the sand surged
across the map from corner to corner leaving no place untouched and then
with a screech that set her ears ringing it was gone. Deprived of its
driving force the sand began to fall and spreading over the map once more
was still.
Buffy stepped forward and looked at the map curiously. "So where is
it?" she demanded.
Looking downcast Willow shook her head. "I don't know."
"But you said this was a powerful spell."
"And it should have found it."
"So what are you saying?"
Willow was silent for several moments before she answered. "I'm
saying that I can't find it. If it's still in our dimension then it
is too well hidden."
Still sitting at the edge of the now useless sand covered map Dawn
frowned. Never had she expected to hear Willow admit to failing at
anything magical. Whoever had stolen the Axe must be powerful indeed.
The bag containing the Axe still clutched firmly in her
hand Talda-Kal waited patiently for her employer to appear. Fear had
ultimately won out over greed and all that she wanted to do now was leave
this strange world far behind. Though the bag and what it contained were
worth so much more than her payment it just wasn't worth the risk. To
spend the rest of her, and what she feared very short, life looking over
her shoulder was not one she desired.
"Welcome Talda-Kal."
With senses naturally sharp and honed through years of study and practice
the Suritan was very rarely surprised but this was one of those occasions.
There had been no warning whatsoever.
Growling deep in her throat Talda-Kal looked towards the sound of the
voice and again saw the familiar haze where only moments ago there had
been nothing.
"My apologies if I startled you," the voice continued.
"Startled not," she lied, not for one moment thinking she was
fooling anyone, least of all herself.
"I see you have the item."
"Of course, said I not fail." She never failed.
"Payment?"
"Beside you. Put the bag on the floor and go."
Talda-Kal looked and saw a small chest, where none had been before. The
lid open she could see that it was full of small gemstones, rubies,
emeralds and above all sapphires. Unknown in the tunnels of Dalgacchi or
indeed the whole of Gaaracia the blue corundum was highly prized. With
more than a little relief she allowed the bag to fall to the ground and
scooped up the chest. "Deal over," she announced and then made a
series of clicks and high pitched whistles.
As the sound of the last whistle died away the air began to stir and then
with a whoosh the air in front of her tore open. The portal back to her
own dimension was small, not much bigger than the Suritan herself, but
through it she could see the cliffs of Aradacci and the entrance to her
beloved tunnels. Vowing silently to herself that it would be along time
before she returned to this world of humans, Talda-Kal strode through and
closed the portal. As soon as the Suritan and the portal were gone the
haze that had resisted her probing gaze disappeared and a man stepped
forward.
Tall, with untidy brown hair and unremarkable face the man was young but
had an air of confidence about him. Reaching the bag he paused then
bending down he picked it up. Looking at it curiously he still found it
hard to belief that the item inside was worth what had been a small
fortune in gems. Maybe he should have a look, he decided and began to open
the bag but then stopped. `Do not under any circumstances open the bag.'
The warning had been most insistent and from someone who genuinely scared
him. Did he really want to ignore his instructions? He looked around
nervously. Perhaps not. If there was one thing he didn't want to be, it
was in the bad books of Austin Carruthers.
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