The Wheel
Book Two: The Chariot
by Cynamin

Just as the demons were gathering inside, various weary and heart sore fighters began to gather outside one of Sunnydale's numerous cemeteries. A couple of the Initiative soldiers had been there since before nightfall, watching the Cult of Spikura began to assemble. If the situation had been less dire, they might have been fascinated by the sudden teamwork between various types of demons that usually avoided each other.

The demons and fighters had both begun to gather as soon as the sun set completely. It was not 10:00 at night and the last of them were assembling. The ritual that had brought them all here would occur at the moment when the moon was at its fullest, 11:40 pm precisely.

The fighters were obviously nervous about the coming battle. It didn't matter how much training any of them had, this wasn't like anything any of them had ever faced before. There were amazing amounts and types of demons teamed together. And this battle would truly decide the fate of the future.

In contrast to the fighters still gathering outside the cemetery, the demons were confident. If they even noticed the humans at all as they gathered, they ignored them. They could afford to be over confident based on sheer numbers. They also sported none of the numerous injuries that the humans bore from the battles leading up to this point. It was definitely an uneven match.

The only advantage the demon fighters had was that the demons didn't seem to have any clear leadership. They had a common goal, but no one of them had taken control. On the other hand, with three groups of demon fighters coming together, they needed a clear plan and at least a nominal leader.

Since Buffy was the usual leader of one of the three groups and her death had been what introduced them to this situation, and Angel wasn't exactly in the right mind at the moment to be leading anyone, that task fell to the only other one in the group that was used to command: agent of the Initiative, Riley Finn.

"Report," he said to one of the soldiers who'd been there since well before sunset.

The tired young man looked up seriously. "They stopped gathering about ten minutes ago, so we think that every creature that's going to be here is here. We've seen a good twenty vampires, plus another twenty or so assorted, stronger hostiles. And there may be more within that have been there since last night."

Riley tried not to show his chagrin. It was no surprise that they were grossly outnumbered. Still, he'd hoped that there would be slightly better odds than three to one.

"So when do we attack?" another of the soldiers on watch asked impatiently.

Riley looked at everyone that was gathered on the edge of the cemetery. The remaining soldiers of the Initiative - barely a squad - were helping each other suit up. They bore the latest in high-tech anti-demon weaponry. Standing in a smaller clump a short distance from them were Buffy's friends. They, in contrast, were arming themselves in a more *traditional* manner - stakes, crosses, and medieval weaponry. Riley still wasn't certain about fighting along side them the two groups didn't exactly mesh well. Still, Buffy's friends would no be dissuaded from avenging her death. But then, neither would he.

"We wait until everyone is here," Riley said to the anxious soldier.

The group was quiet and tense. They all knew that any second they would be entering a battle that they might never leave alive. But it was something they had to do. It was what Buffy would have expected…would have wanted.

Footsteps on the road leading into the cemetery startled the gathering. Riley watched as the group of people hunkered down behind headstones and what little cover they could find, drawing weapons and waiting for whoever - or whatever - was coming.

Three figures separated themselves from the surrounding darkness and Buffy's friends relaxed visibly. Riley recognized the vampire and his two friends, all three calm and well armed. The members of the Initiative stayed alert with their hands on their weapons until Riley waved them off.

Angel stopped in the midst of the group. He looked for all the world like he hadn't been in whatever passed for a coma in a vampire just days ago. His eyes met Riley's across the gathering, and Riley could see a momentary pain before it was replaced with cold determination. Both men acknowledged each others presence and the battle they were about to enter with that look.

No one smiled. Angel looked over the gathered crowd. "What's everyone waiting for?"

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