| Name - Dream a little dream of me. Author - Don't make eye contact E-mail - [email protected] Disclaimer - Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, etc. Morpheus and Matthew the Raven belong to DC comics, Neil Gaiman, etc. Rating - I dunno, nc-17 probably for gratuitous freudian imagery Spoilers - Up to 'Who are you.' Summary - Willow is trapped in another realm and the only way out is through the dreams of a comatose slayer. Dream a little dream of me. Prologue As the demon�s hand passed insubstantially through Xander�s head, Willow could see the terror erupt in her old friend�s eyes. Xander was brave. Braver than she was but he collapsed backwards, his mouth open in a silent scream. The Scoobys hadn�t exactly done things by the book. They had traced the rash of madmen back to this demon. Rather than more research as Giles suggested they had decided they knew enough to defeat it. They had stormed its lair with Buffy, Xander and Giles rushing in to defend Willow as she cast a spell to banish it to its home dimension. They should have known something was up when the demon was so unafraid. It was in the form of a massive man dressed all in black with a billowing cloak but as it flowed towards them it reverted to a formless black mass. Claws extended out of the mass to swipe at them. Giles was felled in seconds. His sabre passing harmlessly though it. It moved towards Willow as she started to chant. �Ablocare cariosus sopor abasse...� She held the Onerion amulet out before her like a ward, focusing the spell through it. Xander had leapt in front of her, trying to protect her from the creature. He held out a cross but it didn�t shrink away. Instead simply passing one hand insubstantially through his head and slamming him aside with the other. Willow chanted quickly, trying to find her magical centre but then it flowed over her and she was gone. * * * * * Buffy had caught Giles as he fell. She looked up to see the thing bearing down on Xander and Willow and ran towards it. She saw Xander fall and felt a tight, sick feeling in her stomach as it flowed over Willow. She howled in rage and rushed forward but her axe passed through it. Anger brought out the best in her but her weapons did no good. She dodged its fast but clumsy attacks but it flowed towards her inexorably. She felt an impact in her spine and realised she had backed into the wall of the crypt. She wondered if she could dive through it but she couldn�t bear to do anything suicidal. She wanted to live. She was still defiant and wouldn�t give up. She prepared herself to dodge aside as its next blow came but it seemed frozen. Its inky black shape rippled and pulsed and Buffy wasn�t sure if she imagined a high pitched scream. With a final pulse it seemed to implode into itself. It�s entire body sucked into itself. As it vanished Buffy saw something clatter to the floor. She picked it up. The amulet Willow had been using. Giles and Xander were waking now and getting to their feet but she didn�t notice them. A pack of vampires could have attacked and she wouldn�t have noticed them. She clutched at the amulet. She knew now that Willow had still been alive inside the demon and had managed to finish the spell. Willow had sacrificed herself for her friends. She felt pain in her hand and looking down realised she had cut herself on the amulet. She felt wetness on her face and realised she was crying and as she felt herself sit heavily on the dusty floor of the crypt she realised she couldn�t stop. Part 1 - Enter the Sandman |