Title: Well of Realms Author: Nightmelody email: nightmelody@hotmail.com Season: post Chosen Summary: Yet another human-Spike- post Chosen fic. Pairing: S/B Rating: R Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon Chapter 21 The Castle by the Sea "So, to summarize, all you really need to do is make sure everyone gets sprinkled with this liquid. It will act like a magnet and return you to the well." Willow held a small glass decanter before Andrew and Xander. "Uh, potential problem, Wil." Xander said. "That is one tiny bit of liquid. And we have to sprinkle how many people? We could run out!" Willow grinned. "That's the beauty of magic! If you pour this liquid into a large jug of water, the whole jug takes on the magic magnet property!" Andrew jumped up. "Oh! OH! The Extreme Exterminator three thousand! Mine's at my Aunt's house! Let's go get it!" Xander's jaw dropped."You have an Extreme Exterminator three thousand? I tried to get one and they were sold out. What color did you get?" "Blood red with black and silver accents. It's the coolest." Willow, Sylvia and Kate looked at each other, bewildered. "What's an Extreme exterminator three thousand?" Willow asked. "Only the best super soaker ever designed," Andrew said. "Yeah, designed by NASA engineers. Plastic and aluminum parts. It's made to last a life time." Xander shook his head in awe. "You mean, a big squirt gun?" Willow asked. "Well, yeah." Andrew and Xander spoke in unison. She smiled brightly. "That will work, perfectly." *** Spike and Kyri traveled overland through farmland, pastures and forest, until evening, when they finally crested a hill overlooking a valley. A white stone castle sat on the opposite hill, backed to the sea... They heard it before they saw it. A battle was engaged in the valley, but the fighters wore the same colors, had the same weapons and armor. "Who's who?" Spike asked. "I don't know," said Kyri. "I'll have to find someone I trust." "I'm heading for the castle. Where the girls will be." "Wait--shouldn't we stick together?" "That," Spike waved his arm toward the battle, "has nothing to do with me and mine. You do what you need to do, Fairy boy. I'm finding my family." Now that he was so close he could almost feel Buffy's presence, and he was tense with anxiety about Buffy and Dawn and Emma. "If we stay in these trees we can get fairly close to the wall," said Kyri, "And I know an entryway that is not one of the public entrances." Spike raised his eyebrows. "How do you know this handy piece of information?" "This keep is in my family. I was a page here as a lad." "So you're related to the king?" "To the Queen, actually. She was my Aunt. She and my mother and my three sisters all died a few years back. During the Plague." They headed toward the castle, keeping hidden in the trees. Spike was nearly panting in the anticipation of seeing Buffy again, and Dawn and Emma, his family... **"Spike?"** A voice rang in his mind Spike nearly fell off his fairy steed. "Wha...?" He garbled. Kyri gave him a strange look. **"Can you hear me? I had a dream that you could hear me....I'm scared, Spike. Don't know what to do about Emma....Answer me if you hear, please..."*8 He could feel her fear and desperation. Her voice filled his mind with a presence that made him shiver. **"Buffy, I can hear you. Are you all right? Where are you?"** Could she feel his relief and his love? ** "Spike! Spike! Where are you? Are you near the castle by the sea? We're in the north tower. I can't get the girls out. Emma is unconscious. There's a fight happening down stairs. I could carry Emma, but then my hands wouldn't be free for fighting, and Dawn would have to juggle little Marie, and a sword..."** He could feel her frustration like a burn. ** "I'm on my way."** "They're in the north tower. There's a battle inside the castle, too." He told Kyri. Kyri's eyes widened. "How do you know for sure?" "My wife and I share a bond." The bond they had forged on the same night their child was conceived, a vampire blood bond. How it worked now, he had no hope of knowing. He was just happy it did. "You mean you can talk to her?" Spike was silent for a moment, communing with his Buffy. "Yeah. She can't get them out because Emma is unconscious, and of course, there's little Marie." "The pregnant girl from the Well Of Realms, and her toddler." "You know who they are, you've seen them?" "At the well. Sometimes I was one of the ducks." They were at the castle wall now, and would have to leave the cover of the forest. There was a skirmish not far from the area the needed to get to, so they decided to wait a few moments to see if the fighters would move back toward the main battle. Kyri studied the fighters. "That's Gon, my second cousin. He is apprenticed to the Mage. So is the small fellow next to him. This must be an uprising of the Mage's doing." "Why aren't they using spells and magic?" "Rules of war. Can't use fae magic against the fae, only against outsiders." "And you think they're going to follow the rules?" "Of course. For fae to magick another fae-- that is breaking our First Law." "First law?" "The one where fae don't do magick against another fae," Kyri spoke to him like he was an idiot childe. Spike snorted. "Don't learn Fae Law where I come from." "Perhaps you should. I'm sure it would benefit your sorry world." "At least my world doesn't have to steal unwilling women for wives." Spike shot back. Kyri gave him a dirty look. While they were speaking, they failed to notice a group of fighters on silent steeds, coming right at them. *** In the tower, Buffy slumped back against Emma's bed. Spike had heard her! He was near! Dawn was sprawled on a pillow with little Marie in her arms, half a sleep. She had had to hold Marie in order to get the fractious child to nap. "Dawn, good news! Spike is near. He and I--we can talk. In our minds. It was a Slayer's dream!" "The dream that you had when you dozed off a little while ago? It was a dream about Spike?" Buffy nodded, eyes shining. "Yeah. We can talk telepathically." "That is so cool! We'll get out of this mess, I just know it." "Don't be too sure about that." An old man floated into the room, followed by floating, silent soldiers. He waved his arm and the room suddenly became cold. The girls stuggled to move but were unable to. It was as if they had turned to ice.