Ethan groaned as his head slammed backwards against the wall. He had forgotten quite how fast Giles could move when he wanted to. Training a Slayer seemed to have kept his reflexes sharp - if anything he’d got more dangerous. Ethan doubled over as a fist landed in his gut. He knew what was coming next but he couldn’t avoid it. He collapsed to the ground as the knee hit him in the face. So far things were not going the way he had planned. He wondered if he had made the wrong decision to come here.
Buffy woke up when Robert shook her shoulder gently. She could hear the sounds of guards coming down the corridor. He took the manacles off and helped her to her feet.
"Good luck." he said briefly.
"Luck isn’t going to come into it."
"That’s the spirit. When we get out, remember that Lord Rehyat and his captains understand English."
The cave where the rite was going to take place was thronged with demons, in full battle dress. Buffy looked around at them and calculated the odds. Her heart sank. She could see Lord Rehyat and his captains waiting for her at the front of the army, next to a cage with manacles attached to the bars.
"Comfortable." she said softly. "Which way’s out, Robert ?"
"Behind us."
Buffy risked a quick glance "The passageway on the left ?"
"Yes. Ready ?"
"Ready. How do these things fight ?"
"Viciously. Watch for the claws."
He took her hand and looked at her. Buffy gulped. His eyes had gone entirely black, nothing visible in them except darkness. Then he said one word :
"Sightless."
He reached out his other hand and took a sword from one of their escorts, who had stopped and was shaking its head from side to side. He slammed it into the gut of another demon, before pulling it out with a vicious twist and giving it to Buffy. He dropped her hand and began to chant, motioning Buffy to follow him. She did, realising that the demons near them were milling around, blundering into each other, beginning to strike out. Here and there some of them had got hold of each other and were fighting. Others cried out in their own language, afraid and confused. Further away, at the front of the army, the demons could still see, but they couldn’t get to Buffy and Robert because of the confusion around them. Buffy sliced at demons as she went past, killing every one she could, trying to even the odds. They got a little nearer to the way out. Suddenly there was an explosion outside and Buffy could hear screaming and the sounds of fighting from the passageway.
"I think the cavalry just arrived." she said. Robert nodded, but didn’t stop chanting. Buffy didn’t know what his spell was but she could see demons dropping dead around them. It was as though an invisible hand was touching them, stopping them from working, like puppets with their strings cut. It was having an unnerving effect on the other demons - they were hanging back and having to be forced towards her by their officers. That meant that she could, just barely, hold her own against them. Suddenly Robert grunted loudly, as though someone had knocked all of the air out of his lungs. Buffy looked at him and saw that his eyes were back to normal and that his nose had started bleeding. Up at the front, one of the demons with Rehyat was chanting and gesturing. Buffy turned and threw her sword with all of her strength, hitting it in the chest. It looked down, shocked, and then toppled forward.
Another demon rushed at her, seizing its opportunity. Then Robert was between her and it, fighting it with two swords, managing to cripple it before turning to the next one. Buffy picked up a sword from the ground and joined in. Side by side they battled their way towards the edge of the cave, towards safety and the outside. Robert was pale and visibly tiring. His nose was still bleeding and he was trembling, in some kind of pain. Buffy slowed down so that he could keep up with her and he managed to take enough time to glare at her.
"Go. Go now ! I’ll follow you."
"No." Buffy said "Both of us or neither of us."
"Please. Slayer. Not for me."
She grinned as they got to the wall and managed to set their backs against it. "Hey, I’m the Slayer. Protecting people is in the job description."
And then, as they worked their way around the wall, they met the others, who had been fighting their way towards them since the beginning. Giles and Wesley were fighting with swords, Ethan was chanting softly and Xander was doing rather well with an axe. Buffy would have been more impressed if there had been any way of not hitting a demon every time he swung it. The demons saw what was happening and began to fight more fiercely. The humans tried to begin a move back towards the cave mouth and found that they couldn’t get away. They had their work cut out just holding the demons off. The nightmarish battle went on for a blurred, painful time. Robert stepped back and dropped his remaining sword. He ignored Ethan screaming at him that it wasn’t safe, pressed both hands to his forehead, and began to speak in a precise, calm voice.
Buffy watched the colour drain from both Giles’ and Wesley’s faces. Xander saw the same thing "Oh, this is so not good." he said.
"Tell me about it." Ethan agreed.
"What’s the spell ?"
Ethan ignored her and picked up a sword. Buffy grabbed his arm. "What’s the spell ?"
"It wipes someone from existence. Lord Rehyat, I think."
"Changing my mind here. Why didn’t he do that before ?"
"Because ...." Ethan sliced a demon’s throat open "There’s a chance it’ll wipe the caster out instead." He kicked at another’s knee and stabbed it in the face. "About fifty fifty, actually."
As he said that Robert deliberately held out his hand towards a demon, which sliced his palm with its claws. His calm voice didn’t change. He held his hand palm down over the floor of the cave. The blood began to smoke where it hit the ground. There was a brilliant flash at the other end of the cave and Lord Rehyat vanished. The demons who had been fighting them stopped and turned towards the light. They seemed stunned by what had happened.
"Run !" Ethan shouted. Buffy grabbed Robert and almost carried him out of the cave. She could hear the rest running with her. As soon as they got out she did a quick head count to make sure they were all out. Behind them they could hear the roaring as the demons woke from their shock and began to come after them. Buffy cursed, aware of what a battered state they were in. They had killed no more than thirty of the demons and they were all nearly exhausted. Beside her Robert stood up and grabbed Ethan’s arm.
"Did you do it ?" He asked hoarsely.
"Yes." Ethan said "Can’t you smell it ?"
Buffy frowned and sniffed at the air. Her eyes widened as she realised that the air did smell. Of gasoline. Some of the earth caked to her trainers smelt strongly of it. She vaguely remembered slogging through mud just after they had got out of the cave.
"Good." Robert said. He looked at the ground, eyes bloodshot in a grey face and pointed with his bleeding hand. The first demons had just cleared the exit. One word, again, Buffy noticed. She supposed it must be how he did his magic.
This time he said "Fire."
The ground exploded in front of them. Demons screamed and twisted as they were caught in the flames. The entrance to the cave became impassable as the magically enhanced fireball roared into life, its heat beating them back. Beside Buffy, Robert fell to his knees and vomited as the exhaustion and pain finally overcame him.
"I see." Giles said quietly. "Those who aren’t caught in the flames will suffocate in the smoke when it fills the cave."
"Exactly. Just like Algeria." Ethan said. He stalked over to Robert and pulled him to his feet.
"You silly young bastard ! That spell could have killed you."
"It didn’t" Robert said thickly. Ethan pulled back a fist, ready to hit him, then stopped as Giles caught it.
"I don’t think so." Giles said. Silently, he handed Robert his handkerchief. Robert nodded, and wiped his mouth.
There was a shout as Willow ran over to them, with Oz following more slowly. Willow was wide eyed with excitement. "You do magic !" she said to Robert.
"Sometimes. You did the petrol ?"
"Yep." Oz said.
"Thanks."
"What do we do now ?" Xander asked "Because, I’m thinking Emergency Room, personally."
"We wait." Buffy said. She looked at Giles. "We wait until we’re sure they’re all dead. Then we blow up the entrance to the cave."
"Am I sensing a theme, Ripper ?" Ethan asked.
"Don’t push it." Giles said between his teeth.