<see Part 1 for disclaimers>

Dawn

Red Moon Series, Book 8

Frau Hunter Ash

www.hunterash.com

Part 6

Rating: R

# # #

“Wow,” Willow said softly when the small group returned the Giles-Summers home. What greeted them was a scene of destruction. The front door was off its hinges and the inside looked as if a football team had gone hand-to-hand with a platoon of Marines.

“Rupert! Dawn!” Joyce yelled, shoving past Willow as she and Tara stood staring at the destruction.

Buffy was already moving up the stairs.

“Joyce Mom, Buffy!” Tara called out, stopping mother and daughter. When they turned to look they saw her holding a note. “It was under the broken lamp. I thought it was weird that a lamp could be broken but sitting back on the end table. I’m rambling.”

“Will is wearing off on you,” Buffy teased, glad for the momentary distraction of both wives blushing.

Joyce ran over and grabbed the note anxiously.

“Joyce, Everyone; Dawn and I are fine. We managed to hide in the crawl space under the house when Praetorious came calling. Somehow I had just enough magic to shield us from being found. Please understand, I’m taking Dawn and we’re leaving Sunnydale. Praetorious’ time frame must be getting short. If we can stay one step ahead of him, he’ll run out of time. I love you all - you especially Joyce. I’ll call when I can. Giles,” Joyce read aloud.

“What do we do, Mom?” Buffy asked softly as her mother struggled to keep from crying.

“Wait until we hear from them,” Joyce sighed. “And pray.”

“That would be a good idea,” a strong masculine voice agreed from behind the witches, on the front porch of the Summers-Giles home.

Willow and Tara both squeaked and jumped in Buffy and Joyce’s direction, both with hands raised defensively as Buffy moved in front of them, protectively.

Standing on the porch was a medieval knight. At least that was Buffy’s first thought. Second one as well. The man standing in front of several others was dressed in what looked like cloth trousers, chain mail shirt, carrying a shield, a drawn sword, chain mail covering his head and a tabard with a large Maltese cross on it.

“Uh, guys, Halloween is kinda long gone,” Buffy quipped as she grabbed a floor lamp, breaking the base and hood off to give her a pole to fight with. “Did you do this to my Mom’s house?”

“No, the Beast did this,” the man snarled. “Looking for the Key to the Apocalypse.”

“Who the hell are you?” Joyce demanded. “Where’s my husband and daughter?”

“She is not human, she is the key to the destruction of the world,” the knight said calmly as he stepped closer to Buffy. “We are chosen by God to eliminate the threat.”

“What does that mean and where’s my dad?” Buffy demanded, moving out onto the porch, swinging the pole and backing the knight up.

“We are the Knights of Byzantium, an ancient order. And now your enemy if you stand between us and the destruction of the Key,” the knight replied. “As for the human male guarding the Key, they escaped but with injuries. You will tell us where to find them.”

“Fat chance!” Buffy growled, becoming a blur of action with the pole as the knight’s eyes widened and he fought to parrying her thrusts and blows, falling down the stairs in the process. Buffy held firm at the top of the stairs as the knights behind the first moved to try and rush her.

“Acutum! (Shield)” Willow shouted, joining Buffy on the porch with Tara beside her.

“Calor (heat)!” Tara shouted and the knights suddenly yelped, dropping their swords as if they were too hot to handle.

“You protect the instrument of chaos!” the first knight shouted. “You are now our enemies!”

“I’ll add you to the list,” Buffy snarled. “Dawn is just a kid! She’s human now!”

“The instrument is too dangerous too exist, no matter what form it’s been pressed into. I am General Gregor and we will find them,” the first knight declared.

“We don’t even know what the hell this is all about! Just that Pratty wants to kill my sister!” Buffy snapped as she moved to stand between Willow and Tara.

“The Beast ruled a demon dimension. Along with the beast there were two others. They were a triumvirate of suffering and despair. Ruling with equal vengeance. But the beast's power grew beyond even what they could conceive. As did his lust for pain and misery. They looked upon him, what he had become ... and trembled,” Gregor intoned.

”Gods were afraid,” Buffy asked with a frown.

“Such was his power. They feared he would attempt to seize their dimension for himself, and decided to strike first. A great battle erupted. In the end, they stood victorious over the beast ... barely. He was cast out. Banished to this lower plane of existence, forced to live and eventually die trapped within the body of a mortal ... a newborn female, created as his prison. That is the beast's ... only weakness,” Gregor explained.

“Right, kill the prison, the human and the god dies,” Buffy nodded. “But Slayers don’t kill humans and he’s at least human.”

“A sacrifice that must be made or the Key destroyed,” Gregor shrugged. “Casualty of a war that we cannot dare lose.”

“What about the Key?” Willow asked as the knights picked up their swords and sheathed them, watching the witches warily.

“The key ... is almost as old as the beast itself. Where it came from, how it was created ... the deepest of mysteries. All that is certain is that its power is absolute. Countless generations of my people have sacrificed their lives in search of it, to destroy it before its wrath could be unleashed,” Gregor sighed.

“But the Monks found it first,” Tara said softly.

“Yes, and hid it with their magicks,” Gregor nodded, sheathing his sword as well.

“Why didn't they just destroy it? If the key is as dangerous as...” Buffy started to suggest.

“Because they were fools. They thought they could harness its power for the forces of light. They failed, and paid with their blood,” Gregor sighed. “Praetorious slaughtered all of them. Two escaped to the States to find a guardian for the Key. The last one died in your arms.”

“What does the Key actually do? What was it created for?” Willow asked.

“It was created ... to open the gates that separate dimensions. The beast will use its power ... to return home and seize control of the hell he was banished from.”

“Why don’t we just let him?” Joyce complained. “The Council believes things will go… wrong for a short time. Can’t Buffy handle whatever comes through during that time? Praetorious leaves and we go on?”

“You misunderstand. Once the key is activated, it won't just open the gates to the beast's dimension. It's going to open all the gates. The walls separating realities will crumble,” Gregor nodded as Buffy frowned. “Dimensions will bleed into each other. Order will be overthrown and the universe will tumble into chaos ... all dark ... forever.”

“How is the Key activated?” Tara asked, reaching for Willow’s hand. //Willow, join hands in case they have a magic user with them.//

"The blood flows, the gates will open. The gates will close when it flows no more,” Gregor answered.

“When Dawn is dead,” Buffy said, shaking her head.

“If Praetorious begins the ritual?” Joyce demanded from the knight.

General Gregor shrugged and glanced at Buffy and witches.

“Come on. Say it. Tell me to kill my sister,” Buffy snapped at him.

“She's not your sister,” Gregor countered.

The Slayer hesitated and then nodded. “No. She's not. She's more than that. She's part of Giles. The monks made her out of him. I hold her ... and I feel closer to her than ... if I had grown up with her. It’s not just that she’s human now. It's physical. Dawn ... is a part of Giles.”

“If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death,” Gregor pointed out.

“You try and hurt her and I’ll stop you,” Buffy promised.

“We will find her or the world will end,” Gregor shrugged, the knights behind him beginning to melt into the darkness.

Buffy waited until Gregor was out of sight before relaxing her body even slightly.

“We have to find Giles and Dawn!” she said urgently. “With the Tin-Man out there and Praetorious looking for them…”

“We’ll try a tracking or location spell,” Willow said quickly, still holding onto Tara’s hand. “We’ll be at the apartment, our stuff is there.”

“Hurry, Will,” Buffy said softly, kissing both of them. “Tin Guy said there were injuries.”

“Buffy, do you think… if Praetorious finds them that Giles could…?” Joyce asked, unable to finish the question as Willow and Tara trotted off to Buffy’s jeep.

“No, Dawn’s part of him,” Buffy shook her head, leading her mom back inside the house.

# # #

Dawn was almost frantic as she watched Giles try to drive. He looked way too pale, was sweating and leaning heavily towards his left.

“Dad?”

Giles shook his head and pulled over to the curb.

“Dad!” Dawn cried out as his head dropped forward. She opened the passenger door and pulled Giles over in her direction, her eyes widening at the spreading blood along his waist and left ribs. “Dad! Giles!”

She ran around to the driver’s side and pushed him until she could get behind the wheel.

They had thought things were momentarily alright when they had managed to hide from Praetorious. They had crawled out from under the house and packed quick bags, leaving a note for Joyce and the others.

Then things had gone wrong again.

Standing on the porch were guys dressed like medieval knights and they had their swords drawn. Giles slammed the door and yelled at Dawn to run, to use Buffy’s high school exit as the back door crashed in.

Dawn dashed upstairs and locked the door behind her. Climbing down the tree like Buffy did when sneaking out to go Slaying or to see Angel, Dawn jumped the back fence and waited, praying Giles would show up soon.

A few moments later Giles’ car screeched into the alley and he opened the passenger door, already moving the car before the door closed.

Now Giles was hurt and unconscious and she didn’t know what to do and neither of them had their cell phones.

“Giles! I’ve got to get you to the hospital!” Dawn said anxiously, starting the car. “Please don’t die! You can’t die! You have to be okay!”

The frantic teenager turned the car to head towards the hospital.

# # #

Buffy and Xander replaced the front door as they waited for word from her witch wives. Joyce sat at the kitchen counter with a cold cup of coffee in hand, staring at nothing.

Anya sat quietly, unsure how to help in the tense situation and squeaked when the telephone rang.

Buffy grabbed it as Joyce dashed into the room.

“Buffy here,” she said quickly.

“Buff, tracked them using your Mom’s wedding ring and it’s connection spell Giles put on his and hers…”

“Will! Where are they?” Buffy nearly shouted.

“Hospital, we just found out, they’re at the hospital,” Willow answered.

“Hospital,” Buffy repeated.

“But that’s where the doctor is,” Xander protested.

“And Praetorious,” Anya added as Joyce grabbed her keys.

“Will…”

“I know, we thought of that too,” Willow responded before Buffy finished. “We’re on our way, we’ll meet you there.”

# # #

Dawn watched from the doorway of the trauma room as Dr. Benjamin worked on Giles in the Emergency Room. The teenager winced when they cut away her father’s shirt and she saw the extent of the wounds. It looked like two of them, one a stab wound and another a slash.

The trauma team worked quickly and efficiently, inserting IVs, injecting medicine, handing the doctor instruments as she fought to stabilize the injured man.

“Alright, I’m taking him up to surgery,” Benjamin announced. “Juanita, you’re with me. Call them, tell them we’re coming up.”

“Right away, Doc,” one of the male nurses responded while another grabbed the IV bag and unlocked the wheels of the gurney.

Dawn trotted behind them as the doctor, nurse and her father headed for an elevator.

“Take the stairs or the next elevator,” Dr. Benjamin ordered, noticing the teenager.

“Uh huh! That’s my dad, I’m sticking with him!” Dawn said firmly, sliding into the elevator just before the doors closed.

The nurse, Juanita, pressed a button and watched Giles as the elevator began to move.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Dawn asked softly.

“He’s stable right now,” Dr. Benjamin said cautiously. “He needs surgery.”

Dawn reached out and held Giles’ hand, fighting back tears.

“Come on, Dad. Buffy will be really pissed at me,” Dawn said, trying to smile.

“Buffy? Your sister is Buffy Summers?” Dr. Benjamin asked with a frown. “You’ve recently come to Sunnydale, right?”

Dawn nodded, not looking up. “Yeah, found my dad.”

“And I found the Key,” a male voice smirked.

Dawn screamed when she turned and saw Praetorious standing where Dr. Benjamin had been.

Juanita Hernandez started to move around the gurney, unsure of what to do and unaware of what had just happened. Praetorious raised his hand and a lightning bolt flashed from his hand and the nurse hit the elevator wall and slid down unconscious.

Dawn’s eyes widened as she moved to stand between Praetorious and unconscious Giles. “W-what? Who?”

“You know who I am and I know what you are,” Praetorious grinned, reaching out to stroke Dawn’s cheek. “Too bad we don’t have time to get to know each other better. I was getting really worried! Tomorrow night is my last chance to get home.”

“W-what are you going to do?” Dawn squeaked, realizing she couldn’t reach the alarm button.

“We’re going to hang out for awhile and then tomorrow you’re going to help me get home,” Praetorious shrugged. “We’ll take him along to ensure you don’t try anything stupid.”

“No! Leave him here so they can help him! Please!” Dawn begged.

“Nah, he’ll make a good hostage,” Praetorious said. “Lights out.”

Running his hand over Dawn’s face, she fell to the floor unconscious.

“This night is improving,” Praetorious declared before the three of them disappeared, leaving an unconscious nurse to try and explain.

# # #

Buffy felt Willow’s hand grabbing hers and Tara’s arm around her shoulder as Joyce nearly shouted at the hospital official and police officer.

“What do you mean my husband and step daughter just disappeared?!” Joyce Summers-Giles demanded. “He was hurt bad enough to require surgery and you lost him?!”

“Mrs. Giles,” the hospital administrator stammered, clearly uncomfortable. “We… we’re still trying to determine what happened. Not only are your daughter and husband missing but so is a valued doctor from the hospital.”

“I don’t care about your doctor! I want my husband and daughter found now!” Joyce shouted. “How badly was he hurt? Do you know that much?”

Buffy stared at the floor, her eyes blank as Willow and Tara exchanged worried glances. Xander and Anya hovered near the door of the Waiting Room looking uncomfortable and Spike leaned against the wall, frowning.

“He was apparently seriously injured. A puncture injury that might have damaged some internal organs and a slash wound that entailed a loss of blood,” the administrator said, looking down at his shoes.

“You’re telling me my husband is mostly likely dead because you lost him on the way to surgery?” Joyce shouted.

Another ten minutes of yelling, attempts at reassuring the frantic wife and the Scooby Gang was finally left alone with Joyce. She knelt in front of Buffy and raised her daughter’s chin.

“Buffy, Praetorious has Giles and Dawn,” she said softly. “We all know it. Please, we have to get them back. I need you strong, baby.”

Buffy shook her head, eyes filling with tears.

“I can’t do it anymore, Mama,” she said softly.

“You have to,” Joyce said gently. “We all do. We need to think and figure out how to find that little bastard. He’ll keep Giles alive to keep Dawn from escaping.”

“You sure?” Buffy asked, her voice small sounding.

“I have to be,” Joyce said firmly.

“Well, I was thinking…” Willow said slowly. “To open a gate, a dimensional portal, Praetorious would want room. I mean real space for…” she hesitated, trying to put her thoughts into words.

“For the heavens to open and be torn away,” Tara finished, quoting from Giles’ book.

“Up high then,” Xander ventured. “Tall building?”

“Mountain?” Anya added.

“Building maybe,” Willow said, frowning in thought. “Not a mountain, need space up and down so he can… get through the gate.”

“Bloody little bastard has to dive into the portal and the portal can’t be on solid ground,” Spike explained, exasperated with the humans.

Xander snapped his fingers and grinned. “Radio tower! It’s the highest object in the city and there’s nothing around it except the station below it. Wide space above and below if you get up high enough.”

Buffy looked up, her face now determined. “Let’s go,” she said softly but firmly.

# # #

Dawn cling to part of the metal bars that made up the radio tower with one hand and her other was on Giles, trying to keep him calm as he thrashed in a fevered delirium. The view from the tower was amazing, it was also scary, mainly because the addition to the tower felt as unstable as the insane victims of Praetorious who had made them. A plywood platform had been added near the top of the metal structure. At the edge the platform was Praetorious, watching his insane servants and troll-like creatures scurrying below.

The day had been maddening and Dawn was nearly at the end of her own sanity. All day she had begged the Hell God to help Giles or send him back to the hospital but Praetorious had refused. Continual pestering had finally caused the demon god to snap that he was a Hell God, not a nurse or healer. Dawn had the impression there were more limitations to Praetorious than he had revealed before.

Giles had fallen in and out of consciousness from the infection spreading through his body. He was sweating and trembling or totally limp all day. Now they were high in the air with no guard rails, no harnesses and no help in sight.

“Let him go now! We’re up here, I’m not going to fly away!” Dawn shouted.

Praetorious turned with a smile. “You’re right, it’s time.”

Dawn’s eyes widened when the Hell God pulled out a dagger from behind his belt. She began to consider trying to climb for it but saw three of the nutcases about fifteen feet below, clinging to the tower.

“No! Dad!” Dawn screamed.

Below Joyce’s head snapped up at the scream. She gripped the baseball bat in her hands tighter as she waited.

“That’s it! Let’s go!” Xander shouted, a bat in his hand as well. Anya and Spike emerged from behind a dumpster on the opposite side of the tower, both with bats in hand. Detective Santiago moved out of the shadows of some trees with a police baton, clearing a way through the insane crowd for Willow and Tara towards the tower.

Joyce looked around and saw Buffy taking two trolls and bashing their heads together just before moving to climb the metal.

# # #

Dawn whimpered and clung to Praetorious as he held her close to the edge of the platform. Even though he had just cut her wrist, he was keeping her from falling off the structure.

The teenager’s eyes went wide as she watched the first drop of blood fall away from her body into the air. Suddenly lightning cracked across the sky and a thunder clap almost knocked her off the platform. She squeaked and clung to the Hell God.

It seemed like the centre of the air just below them turned black and then purple. Colours of energy began streaking towards the centre, like a kaleidoscope merging. In each “quadrant” of colour figures swirling inside.

A closer look at some of the figures made Dawn want to vomit in disgust or curl up in fear. The creatures waiting for the dimension walls to collapse.

Praetorious laughed and pulled Dawn away from the edge, tossing her next to Giles. “A few minutes and I can go home! Leave this sorry realm in chaos and destruction!” he shouted. “Who knows, maybe it’ll be nice enough for me to come back in about twenty years and take over!”

“Stop it! This is insane! You’ll destroy lots of worlds!” Dawn shouted, trying to stop the flow of blood from her wrist.

“Don’t bother,” Praetorious grinned, moving closer to her. “You can’t stop it once it’s begun. Only your death or the passing through that portal will end the collapse of the dimension walls.”

“Master! We’re under attack!” one of the trolls yelled from somewhere on the tower.

Praetorious looked over the edge with a frown and then back at Dawn.

“Say goodbye to your father, he’ll follow you shortly.”

With that he was gone leaving Dawn with a semi-conscious Giles high in the air with the world collapsing around them.

# # #

Buffy’s eyes narrowed as she backhanded an insane attacker and Praetorious appeared in front of her. Before she could react, he in turn backhanded the Slayer, sending her flying ten feet back knocking down Spike.

“Buffy!” Spike cried out, helping her back to her feet as Praetorious stalked towards them.

“Get Dawnie down! I’ll play with this little bastard!” Buffy yelled, grabbing a sledgehammer from the vampire. She didn’t stop to wonder where he had gotten it.

Buffy turned, swinging the sledgehammer as Praetorious charged her, sending him flying backwards. The Slayer grinned, it felt good to at least knock the Hell God on his ass for once. She glanced up at the changing air above them.

“Tara! Willow!” she yelled and dashed up to Praetorious and slammed the sledgehammer into his chest. The Hell God grunted from the blow and actually looked pained.

//Time to zap him, guys// Buffy yelled mentally to her wives. //The ritual started, how do we stop it?//

//I’m not sure we can// Willow responded in her head. //Only if Dawn dies or Praetorious goes through that gate that’s forming//

//We’re not killing Dawnie!// Buffy shouted back and felt Willow wincing mentally.

//I’m just repeating what the rules are// Willow shouted back.

Tara and Willow ran towards Praetorious from opposite sides as Buffy hit him again with the hammer.

The witches knelt and placed their hands on his head and face, both muttering.

Praetorious screamed as they closed their eyes and continued mumbling.

//Go!// Tara shouted at Buffy as the Slayer stood by, uncertain.

Buffy smacked a troll creature with the hammer and ran for the tower. She could see Spike fighting with some of the insane humans. “Dawnie!” Buffy screamed.

“Buffy, help us!” Dawn shouted from above. “We have to stop it!”

Buffy wondered how the hell they could do that since the ritual had already started.

# # #

“Dad! Giles! You gotta help me!” Dawn yelled, shaking her father as tears ran down her face. “We have to stop this! A dragon just headed for Los Angeles!”

Giles moaned and clutched at his side. Dawn could see blood seeping through the bandages and shirt Praetorious had dressed him in.

“Giles! How do we stop this?” Dawn yelled.

“Only stopping the flow of blood through death or the doorway being used too soon,” Giles mumbled.

“Doorway used? You mean if someone goes through it before Praet?”

“Yes, I believe so,” Giles said softly, coughing and wiping at his lips, blood showing on his hand.

“If I went through that door?” Dawn demanded, watching the dimensions beginning to bleed into each other.

“You die,” Giles mumbled. “Too… hard on… human body… we think.”

The Watcher’s head dropped forward as Dawn moved him into a sitting position.

“Dad! Listen to me! I have to do this! I love you,” Dawn said quickly and turned to move to the edge of the platform.

# # #

Praetorious screamed again as Tara and Willow pulled back from him. He clutched at his head and curled up into a ball as the witches moved, touching as many insane victims as they could within a minute’s time.

Xander and Anya stopped in mid swing each when the insane people they were fighting suddenly stopped. Stopped fighting, stopped ranting and stopped wandering around aimlessly.

The insane people touched by Willow and Tara blinked and began to wander off, looking very frightened.

“What happened?” Xander yelled as he kicked a troll creature.

“We took their minds back from him,” Tara smiled as she helped Willow move to a wall of the radio station, both looking suddenly exhausted.

“What about the gate thingy?” Anya shouted, pointing at the sky.

Everyone looked up and saw Spike and Buffy fighting their way towards the makeshift platform and a small figure at the edge of it.

“No, Dawn!” Willow screamed.

# # #

Dawn heard the screams below her and closed her eyes. “I love you guys,” she said softly and held out her arms. She took a deep breath and leaned forward, letting her weight carry her forward.

A moment later and the teenager blinked and then yelled in frustration and threw herself at the end of the platform only to fall backwards, as if she had hit an invisible shield.

“No!” she shouted and got to her feet and pounded at the barrier.

Dawn was surprised when she felt strong hands touching her shoulders and squeaked.

“I’m here, luv,” Giles said softly.

Dawn turned, hugging him tightly. “Dad! How do I stop this?”

“We stop it,” Giles said firmly and turned her around, putting his back to the gate.

“Dad?”

“I won’t leave you,” he promised, holding her close.

“Giles!”

Father and “daughter” looked over at the tower and saw Buffy and Spike tossing trolls from the metalwork of the tower, reaching the platform.

“Buffy… remember, I love you all,” Giles called to his Slayer, his step-daughter. “Live and be there for Joyce.”

“No! Don’t even think about it!” Buffy shouted and then screamed as Giles closed his eyes and fell backwards off the platform, Dawn in his arms.

Spike had to use his vampire strength to stop Buffy from rushing after Giles and Dawn as they disappeared.

Vampire and Slayer could hear the screams of protest below them as the others realized what was happening.

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