"That was The Dark of Blackthorn," I said as quietly as I could and still be heard over the wind that was whipping around us. "I'll never forget that sound as long as I live."
"Come on ... hurry up," urged Spike, now shuffling to the side in double-time.
I tried to keep up, but I was too afraid to take the huge steps that Spike was, my legs much shorter. The distance between us increased until he was nearly to the opening, and I still had a quarter of the way to go.
The roar came again, only this time closer. I looked off in the direction it was coming from but could see nothing but gray skies and mist. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, I'm gonna get fried, was all I could think as I shuffled left, left, and left again. My whole body trembled with fright and nervous anticipation of the appearance of a beast I'd laughed in the face of while waving its tooth at it. Stupid, stupid, stupid jerk. Why did you do that? Why did you have to taunt the dragon?
Spike's yell of distress nearly startled me off the cliff. My hands that had started to let go in the shock of it immediately clamped back down as the feeling of momentary weightlessness hit me, my body going from leaning forward to almost tipping back.
"Fuck!" I yelled, gripping onto the small rock bumps with my hands as tight as I could, hugging that cliff for all I was worth. I turned my head to face Spike, scraping my nose in the process, but too afraid to back it up out of the way.
The sight that greeted my panicked eyes nearly made me swoon. Spike was hanging onto the cliff with one hand and one foot, the other two limbs dangling out in the thin air with nothing to grab onto. He swung out like a door, his attached foot and hand its hinges. And off in the distance, on the opposite side of the cave's entrance, I could see a black speck in the sky. The Dark! He's here! A huge plume of orange flames shot out from that black speck, confirming that it was a dragon on the way, and he was all fired-up.
I had another ten feet to go before I was near enough to Spike to help him. His screams had turned to a combination of whimpering, laughter, and yelping.
"Just chill, Spike! I'm on my way! Just hang on!"
"Better hurry! I'm losing my grip!" he grunted, his free hand grasping around when it swung towards the cliff, trying to find something to get hold of. The wind was a problem, pushing him off of it.
Go, go, go, left, right, left, right. Find something to grab. There! Got it! Now go again! Left, right, left! I coached myself over the last few feet, closing the distance between us in record time, now more worried about keeping Spike from falling than falling myself. As soon as I got to Spike's side, I pushed my hand into the middle of his back, trying to force his body up against the cliff face.
Slowly but surely he angled in, and with the leverage I was giving him, he was finally able to find and grab a piece of rock sticking out. He rested his face on the side, looking away from me for a few seconds before building up the strength or courage to turn his head and face me. He was as white as a sheet and sweat covered his forehead and temples.
"You saved my life, Jayne."
"Not yet I haven't. The dragon is coming."
Spike's eyes bugged out. "How close?" he whispered in a high voice.
"Too close. Move your ass."
Spike took a deep breath and turned back in the direction of the cave. He took a shaky step to the left, sliding his body across the rock not letting even a single wisp of air between him and the thing keeping him tied to the land of the living.
I followed as close behind him as possible, avoiding the spot that had sent him almost to his death, and the two of us finally made it to a place where he could climb up into the entrance and reach down to get me.
Another roar and explosion of fire split the air.
Spike looked over his shoulder briefly before turning back to me, grabbing me by the armpits, and lifting me clear of the edge. I landed on his chest as he fell back.
I scrambled to get off of him, beginning my sprint into the entrance practically on my hands and knees. My sword scraped across the ground until I was on my feet, leaving drag-marks through the fine dirt and rocks that littered the ground of the dragon's lair.
Spike got up onto his feet and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him deeper into the entrance. We had only seconds before The Dark would make his appearance, and we had to find a place to hide, somewhere where Spike wouldn't get his face fried off by a pissed off dragon.
At the back of the large entrance cavern the cave split in two directions, one left and one right.
"Which one?" I whisper-yelled, coming to a skidding halt.
"I don't know. You pick." Spike was breathing heavily, his grip on my hand cutting off my circulation. I didn't mind, though. I liked the strong reminder that he was by my side and I was still alive enough to feel pain.
I lifted my nose and inhaled in both directions. "This one," I said, pointing to the left. "Less sulfur."
Spike nodded and took off running again, dragging me with him. I almost tripped several times, but he always spun around in time to catch me and set me back straight before I bit the dust. By the time I heard the roar of the dragon and a blast of heat at our back, we were well away from the entrance. We kept going, the eerie light inside this cave much like the one in the Overworld - only this one had a red cast and not an amber one.
We slowed down as we got deeper inside, moving to the walls instead of jogging down the center. We dropped our speed down to a walk for a few minutes and then just stopped, both of us tucking ourselves into a large crevice where we tried to catch our breath outside the view of anyone who might be coming down the tunnel in front of or behind us.
Spike reached over and petted my hair, stroking my head for a little while before pulling me into a huge hug. He wrapped both arms around me and just held me like that for a long time. I allowed myself to melt into him a little, now that we'd escaped what felt like the worst of the danger, and had found, at least temporarily, a safe place to hide.
He stroked my back as he whispered in my neck. "We made it. You and me together."
"Yeah. We did," I whispered back, letting his words warm my heart.
"I want it to always be like this." His warm breath touched my face, intimate, smelling sweetly of Spike. "You and me. Facing whatever we need to face. Doing what we need to do. Helping each other. Saving each other if necessary."
I thought about what I was going to say just before the words came out of my mouth, and realized as I heard them that they represented as true a feeling as I'd ever had. "I want that too, Spike. With you. Exactly like you said."
He leaned down and kissed my neck. "Why does you facing danger and kicking ass make me want to get you naked?"
I smiled, giggling a little as quietly as I could. "I have no idea. You're an adrenaline junky maybe?" The idea of him wanting to get me naked made me feel funny in a good way - almost like I could fly, just like that big nasty dragon that was just down the hall from us.
The thoughts of The Dark were like a cold shower. I pulled back from Spike, leaning in and up on tiptoes to kiss him quickly on the mouth so he wouldn't think I was rejecting him. "Come on. We have to get going."
Spike increased his grip on me. "What's the plan?"
"We need to find the others, make the deal with the dragon - not the black one but the red one - and then we need to get the hell out of here without running into Leck or any of his friends."
Spike nodded and gave me one more super-hug before letting me go, taking my clammy hand in his warm one. He stepped out of our hiding spot, following the direction of the tunnel, getting deeper and deeper into the bowels of the dragon's lair.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
WE WALKED FOR WHAT SEEMED like hours, occasionally hiding in one of the many crevices or behind piles of rocks to avoid the small bands of orcs and other various demons that roamed the tunnel of the dragon lair. Small branching tunnels led off left and right, but we stayed to the main one, afraid we'd get lost going any other direction. Eventually, noises led us to what was p
robably some sort of dining hall or meeting room. The sounds of a large gathering and the clattering of chairs or possibly metal plates echoed out into the tunnel.
We stepped into a nearby crack in the wall and put together our plan.
"I'm going to scout ahead and then come back and tell you what I see," said Spike. "You wait here."
"How come you're doing the scouting? Maybe I should be the scout."
"Can you bite an orc if it grabs you?"
"Probably. But will I ... that's the question."
"Right. Well, I will. I'll rip its throat out if I have to."
"I have a sword, though."
"Good. Keep it handy. You may have to come rescue me."
I sighed at his complete lack of logic. "Fine. Whatever. Don't get caught or eaten, or I'll never forgive you."
"I'll do my best." He leaned down to kiss me, lingering a little longer than necessary and warming me to my toes in the process. And then he was gone.
I had a few minutes to contemplate the ridiculousness of falling in love and snogging, as Tim liked to call it, in a dragon's cave in the Underworld. I was nothing if not consistent with my complete lack of appropriateness during most occasions. Spike returned before I could start regretting any of the kisses we'd shared.
"What'd you see?" I asked, anxious about the dangers we might face.
"It's a big room, filled with cages."
"Cages? Like ... what for? Like a jail? A zoo? What?"
"Maybe a little bit of both," said Spike, mysteriously.
"Seriously? Come on. Who's in the cages?"
"I couldn't see all of them. There are lots. Come on," he said, tugging my sleeve before leaving the safety of our hiding spot.
I caught up to walk next to him. "Are there any guards?" I whispered.
Spike held his finger up to his lips, signaling me to be quiet. I frowned, frustrated with his complete lack of scouting skills. Robin of the Green had told me at a minimum a scout should come back with locations of entrances and exits, estimates of firepower, and positions of threats and guards. I knew I should have gone to look. Stupid cube-eyes.
We reached a huge arch cut into the rock, a large, thick wooden door made to cover it standing wide open. We passed through and made our way inside the huge room beyond. It had a really high ceiling, and the entire surface of the floor was covered in cages made of thick iron or other black metal, the bars of most of them as big around as toilet paper rolls and close enough together that no regular-sized fae could fit through. There were some smaller cages interspersed in the mess, with smaller bars fitted closer together. It was in one of these that we eventually found Tim. His cage was sitting on top of the one holding most of our friends.
Spike and I made our way across the room, occasionally hiding behind a cage's occupant while a guard walked by. Most of the caged beings were asleep - or maybe dead, it was hard to tell in this light - and none of them made a sound when we came by. The ones who were awake watched us though, their heads moving slowly left to right as we passed by. It was creepy, not knowing if they were supporting our efforts or waiting until the perfect moment to raise a ruckus and get us trapped too.
"She's here! She's here!" yelled Tim. "I told you she'd come. I taught her everything she knows! My best student!"
I ignored Tim in favor of counting heads. My eyes scanned the group of our friends who'd all stood to greet us, noticing right away that there were two people missing. Samantha and Tony! Oh no, not Tony! I rushed up to the bars and grabbed onto them, pushing my face inside. "Jared," I whispered. "Where are the others?"
Jared came over, looking left and right to check for guards and said quickly, "Tony's in the Gray waiting to take us back. Maléna took Samantha."
I wanted to growl and nearly did, but Jared grabbed my hand. "They're coming! Hide!"
Spike was already on the move, taking my hand and pulling me in between our friends' cage and another one nearby. Jared, Finn, and Niles all went and stood in front of where we were crouched down, blocking the guards' view of us from the walkway.
I peeked between Jared's legs. The orcs who each held clubs in their hands stopped in front of the cage, gesturing to the fae inside and grunting in their language. After a few moments of what sounded like arguing, they moved on. Jared dropped down on one knee along with Finn so they could talk to us without us having to move. Niles stayed put, already at the perfect height to join the conversation.
"How'd you get in without getting caught?" asked Jared.
"We came in the front door," said Spike, flashing his pearly whites.
"Good move. We got suckered into the easy way in and got busted not twenty feet inside."
That would have been us if I hadn't listened to Spike. I reached out and gave him a fist bump for being awesome.
"How can we get you out of here?" I asked. "Where's the key?"
"We ain't seen it," said Finn. "By the way, it's great to see you, girl. I hope they don't catch you too. I think we're gonna be the dragon's dinner in here."
"Not if I can help it you aren't." I looked at Spike. "What do you think?"
"I think we need to follow the guards and find out where they're keeping the keys, and then take them off their hands." The red in his eyes swirled a little, blending a bit too perfectly with the red glow in the room.
"They all seem to be coming from that direction," said Niles in his gruff voice. It was softer now than I remember it being before. "I'd bet a box of tokens that they have some sort of quarters over there or a guard station, and that'll be where the keys are kept - easy access for all the guards but out of the sightline of the captives."
Jared nodded. "I agree. That's the most likely scenario."
Spike looked at me, putting his hand on my neck. "You ready to do this?"
"Hell yes, I am." I put my hand over Spike's for a moment before pulling it away from my neck and holding it down at my waist. "Okay, we're going to head off in that direction. If you guys could give us a few minutes and then maybe cause a bit of a fuss or something. Make some noise. Maybe that'll draw them away from their station or whatever and leave the keys out in the open."
"Good plan. I can see not all of our training was wasted on you," said Niles.
I smiled at his backhanded compliment. "What can I say? Some of the trainers at the compound knew what they were talking about." I stood before he had time to noodle through the fact that it wasn't he who'd taught me this stuff, but Robin. Jared's wink and Finn's snicker told me they'd figured it out, though, and my step was already lighter knowing I'd gotten one over on the crusty old dwarf.
Spike and I retraced the path of the guards who had recently passed by. Some of the fae and demons in the cages made noises as we went by, but none of them the sounds that would alert the orcs that we were coming. I tried not to make eye contact with any of them, but it was tough. All of them were condemned to die as a dragon meal, and all I could think about was that giant pile of poo outside. I did not want to go out of this realm in poo. It was just too undignified, even for me. I told myself after I got my friends out, I was going to let those beasts take the keys and free themselves, too. Let the dragons catch their food like everyone else. I deliberately ignored the fact that most of these dinners were probably evil creatures who deserved to be here and maybe even deserved to be meals for smelly serpents. I was no judge and certainly no jury. I'd let destiny and chance figure it all out for us.
The room wasn't as big as it seemed, most of the volume taken up by the very high ceiling. In no time, we reached the edge of the room that had a doorway leading into another smaller room. Spike and I stepped behind the last stack of cages, peering through the bars at the place where we thought the keys might be. Spike motioned for us to get closer to the room, but I shook my head no. There was nothing to hide behind, and it was too risky to stand out by the entrance to the room with no cover. Guards could come out or in at any time, and we'd have nowhere to go.
A bunch of yelling and banging c
ame from behind us, the distinct sound of redneck hoots and hollers telling me it was the distraction we'd asked for. Four orcs came running out of the room, the last one pausing in the entrance to grab a heavy ring of keys that were hooked just inside the door. He took off behind his cohorts, his leathery feet slapping on the stone, the sound fading as he got farther away.
I grabbed Spike's arm, and he nodded, showing he'd seen it too.
"What do we do now?" I asked. "They took the damn keys with them!"
"Ambush," said Spike, sneaking out from behind the cage, jogging over as quietly as he could to the guards' room. I was a few feet behind him, and then alone for a moment as he disappeared inside.
"Psst!" came a whisper behind me.
I spun around, half expecting someone to be standing there ready to bite my head off at the shoulders.
"Elemental! Over here!" came the voice, three cages down.
I warred with myself. Part of me wanted to follow Spike, needed to follow him in there to save our friends. But the other part of me wanted to know what Underworld creature was calling out to me in this place - one who knew who I was.
I crept over to the source of the voice, finding a demon standing alone in the cage. Something about him looked familiar. I stopped in front of him, eyeing him up and down. "Do I know you?" I whispered.
"I am the demon who was once known to you as Spike. I possessed his body and mind."
Suddenly, I remembered where I'd seen him before. "Holy crap ... what are you doing here? I thought you were in the Here and Now."
"I returned. It is the natural Order of Things. I want my opportunity to come back in the correct way."
I looked around the room. "But why are you here?"
"I was selected."
"Who does the selecting? That doesn't seem fair."
"The guardian does. We have no choice. It is part of our penance."
"Do you mean the dragon chooses? And what penance? What did you do?"
"Yes, the dragons. There are two of them. And many of the demons in this realm were responsible for the uprising and the deceit that eventually led to the closing of the portals and the condemnation of the guardians to this realm. It is only just that we pay the price."