Sunnydale High's parking lot was teeming with activity as parents and teachers checked on all of the students. Several parents had cornered Snyder, demanding to know what had happened to their children tonight. The little man stated vehemently that he believed that someone given tainted candy out causing mass hallucinations and cautioned everyone to take their kid's candy to the hospital so it can be checked for drugs.
Xander Harris relaxed against Sunnydale High's front doors. He was finishing off a pack of twinkies as he waited until the last kid in his group was picked up by his parents.
All in all, Xander felt like the night was a success. The kids were safe and despite everyone being possessed by their costumes, no one that he knew of had been injured or died. He chuckled, remembering how upset the kids were over losing all the candy that they had gotten. That was when Xander had decided to take a detour on the way back to school. A detour that led them through the local supermarket where he bought several bags of mixed candy for his group. It wiped out what little money Xander had but he didn't care and the candy cheered the kids up considerably.
Now with all of the kids safe and on their way home, Xander decided it was time to head to his as well but he wanted to check on Willow first. He still couldn't believe what she was wearing earlier or how attractive she looked. In fact, that mental picture of his childhood friend had kept him so occupied that he walked past her house and two others before realizing where he was.
"Damn!" Xander cursed as he quickly ran back to Willow's home. He quietly went around to the back of the house and sighed in relief when he noticed that a light was on in Willow's room. He watched for a moment as shadows caused by Willow played across the closed shades of her window. Several minutes passed by before he decided not to disturb her.
Xander walked around the house and back onto the sidewalk. He wanted to talk to Willow about her interesting choice of costume but for now he was just glad see that she was home and safe. He was even half tempted to check on Buffy too but the last thing he wanted to see was a kiss-fest between her and Angel so he headed home.
Halfway there, Xander came to a complete stop as a memory from this night surfaced in his mind. < I beat Larry? > He stood there rooted to the spot, sporting an insane grin as he relived his, or rather his alter ego's, fight with Larry. < I beat Larry! >
Xander stiffened suddenly as he heard a faint sound. < What the.. > Xander quickly scanned the area but there was no one around. Xander thought he could hear a voice over and over again; like someone was chanting. He looked around a second time but still found nothing. He didn't hear the voice anymore either so he dismissed it as just being tired and continued home.
Xander entered his house quietly, finding his dad watching TV and his mom cleaning in the kitchen. Neither noticed him as he walked up the stairs to his room. Just as Xander entered his bedroom, he was assaulted by a powerful wave of vertigo. It was like the whole room shifted to his right and then back while his body stayed where it was.
The sensation made Xander feel like throwing up but before he could, the room shifted again and then a third time leaving him lying on the floor. Using his bed for support, Xander slowly climbed to his knees and laid his head on the blankets. < What's wrong with me? >
Xander opened his eyes and noticed his phone, sitting on the bed next to his pillow. Slowly he climbed onto the bed and reached for the phone with a shaky hand but before Xander could call for help, he was hit with an even stronger wave of nausea. This time the room itself didn't shift, his body did. To Xander it felt like someone was tugging at his soul. It was sharp and it was painful, causing him to fall unconscious.
The last thing Xander saw was the picture of him, Willow and Buffy that was sitting on the table next to his bed.
˜eee....˜
˜eeeeee........˜
˜eeeeeeeee............˜
˜eeeeeeeeeeee................˜
˜EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE˜
Xander shuffled over onto his side at the high pitched sound of his alarm clock. Absently he raised his hand and dropped it on top of the clock where the snooze button was but found nothing. He felt around but he couldn't find his clock, only what felt like grass. Xander's eyes shot open. < GRASS! >
Sitting up quickly, Xander was surprised to find himself in the middle of a forest, still dressed in the Army fatigues that he had worn for Halloween. Looking around, he realized that it was still night out and what little light he had came from the nearly full moon that could barely be seen through the dense treetops.
"What the -"
The screeching sound increased as a small white light weaved it's way through the trees. Xander tried to follow the erratic behavior of the light, losing track of it several times. The light suddenly appeared less than twenty feet away from Xander and made a direct bee line in his direction. Xander quickly ducked out of the way hoping to avoid the bright light.
Suddenly everything was quiet. Xander slowly turned his head from side to side as he tried to see if that light was still around. It seemed to have vanished when the screeching stopped. Xander also noticed that he didn't hear any animals or insects either and for some reason that worried him.
Xander took a deep breath, knowing that he had to calm down. From his experience, Xander knew that getting too emotional and careless in an unknown situation would only result in him getting hurt or worse. Plus none of his friends were with him which meant he had to be extra careful since he had no backup.
As Xander slowly stood up, he heard a loud crunching sound emanate from the forest around him. A second crunch followed and then a third. Each one getting closer until a large body burst into the small clearing. Xander stared in shock at the being before him.
Xander guessed that the creature was over seven feet tall and had to be pushing more than five hundred pounds. It had a man's body but face resembled that of a wild boar with two large tusks that stuck out the sides of it's mouth. It's head swung from side to side, it's huge nostrils flaring as it apparently tried to find it's prey's scent.
When it's beady eyes focused on Xander, the large creature roared and took a step in his direction. Suddenly the small light from before, shot out from the darkness and circled the giant's head. The creature tried to catch the light in it's huge hands but missed. The tiny light easily evaded the creature's clumsy attempts and flew back into the night. Roaring loudly, the giant forgot all about Xander and ran after the light leaving behind a trail of broken branches and tree limbs.
Xander moved to the where the giant disappeared. He tried to get his heartbeat under control and listened intently for any indication that the creature might return.
"Is it gone?" a tiny voice said from directly behind him. Xander jumped in fright and whipped around only to find nothing. Turning around again, Xander still couldn't find who had spoken.
"Where are you?" he asked.
"Is it gone?" the tiny voice asked again.
Xander still couldn't locate the voice's owner so he decided to play along for now. "Yes it is. You can come out now."
"Really?"
Xander felt a soft breeze on the back of his neck and he watched as a small creature flew around the left side of his head and stop just a few inches from his face. Xander was struck dumb as he stared at what looked to be a small, dark-haired girl that was no taller than the length of his hand. She was just floating in the air before him wearing a filmy white gown as a pair of nearly transparent, butterfly wings lazily flapped in the air behind her.
< A.. Fairy? > Xander thought, remembering the description of the Fairy folk from one of Giles' books.
She looked around and turned back to Xander, asking. "Where did it go?"
"Uhh.. small light attack it.. flew off that way.. monster chase light.." Xander tried to answer. He even pointed in the direction that the creature ran, but his mind was still fuddled from everything that has happened to correctly form a complete sentence.
The small girl's eyes widened in comprehension. "Oh no, Joril!" She looked at where Xander pointed. "But that means that-" The girl stopped when she heard a scream off in the distance. Her golden eyes grew large with fear. "MISTRESS!!"
Xander watched as the little girl flew a few feet away before returning to him, stopping next to that hand that was still pointing to where the mammoth creature went. She gathered the finger in her tiny arms and tried to pull him with her. When Xander didn't budge, the little girl raced up his arm and grabbed his ear.
"Please kind sir," she pleaded. "Please help. My mistress is in danger and Joril isn't with her."
Xander winced as ten tiny finger nails bit into his ear but the fear and worry that radiated from the small creature struck a cord deep inside of Xander. He reached up and pulled the her from his shoulder. Xander looked down at the minature girl standing on his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll help you."
The small girl's face lit up with happiness. A high shrill escaped as she jumped up and down in his hand. "Thank you. Thank you." Then she jumped off his hand and flew off into the night leaving Xander to follow.
As Xander weaved though the various trees and brush, he was struck by a memory.
( He was somewhere in a deep jungle tracking something or someone in the night. Suddenly he stopped moving and breathed shallowly. Sounds of breaking limbs and other plants reached his ears seconds before a large group of men passed in front of him just a few feet away. He watched silently as they moved away. )
"This way Sir."
The sound of that tiny voice snapped Xander from the images that he was witnessing. It took him a minute to clear his mind before telling the impatient Fairy to continue on. As he followed, Xander let his instincts to guide him through the underbrush while his mind was wrestling with questions like where he was, how he got here and how was he going to get home.
Before Xander realized what was happening, he crashed though a dense patch of shrubbery and into a scene straight out of a swords and sorcery movie. Dead bodies were strewn about a large campsite and in the center of the carnage was two people, a woman standing protectively over the form of a fallen man, surrounded by three large humanoid creatures like the one he saw earlier.
The woman looked tired as she held a sword in her hands. Her clothes were torn, dirty and covered in blood. Xander didn't know if the blood was hers or her companions but it was clear that the creatures were playing with her. They easily towered over her by a good two feet and when she swung her sword at the creature in front of her, another one of the creatures that was behind her at the time, gave her a not so gentle shove that sent her stumbling to the ground.
One of the main things Xander had learned in the year and a half of watching Buffy fight is that the best way to fight someone larger than yourself was to bring them down to your height. Without thinking, Xander grabbed a discarded sword and ran to creature closest to him. In one swift motion, Xander dragged the sword across the back of the creature's legs, severing the hamstrings.
A pain-filled roar rang out from the injured giant attracting the attention of the others. Xander used the distraction to attack his next target. Xander hopped up onto the fallen giant and jumped over the woman, swinging his sword down at the face of the giant across from him. The giant tried to block the strike with it's forearm but with all of Xander's weight behind the blow, the sword cut right through the muscle and bone of the arm and continued on to split the creature's head down the middle.
Xander was stunned at what he had just did. He just stood there staring blankly, not noticing the oversized fist that was rapidly descending towards his face. The force of the blow sent Xander sliding across the ground, scraping up his back in the process. Xander struggled to stand up as the remaining giant lumbered towards him.
The giant suddenly jerked in mid-stride and stopped, reaching up with one hand to feel the back of it's head. Slowly, it's eyes rolled upwards and the towering creature fell forward onto the ground. Xander stared at the fallen giant for a second before realizing that there was an arrow sticking out of the back of it's head. Looking around Xander noticed that several more men had arrived with swords and long bows drawn.
One of them was talking animately to the woman in a language that Xander didn't understand. Some of the others finished off the injured giant while others were checking out her fallen companions. Two of them grabbed Xander by the arms and pulled him up to his feet.
"Umm... What's going on here?"
The woman turned to him, giving Xander his first real look at her. She wore a long, flowing dress that was shredded in several places. She had blonde hair, most of which was tightly held in a braid that fell down to the middle of her back, and steel-gray eyes but what really caught Xander's attention was her ears.
Her pointed ears.
< Where the hell am I? >
Looking at the others, Xander realized that all of them, or at least the ones he could see, also had pointed ears.
"What are you people?" Xander demanded before one of the 'men' backhanded Xander across the face hard enough to knock him unconscious.
Xander woke with a start, head pounding in pain. The first thing to pierce through the red haze in his mind was the fact that he was tied to a tree. A thick rope was wrapped several times around his body, pinning his back against the tree with his arms at his sides. Shifting his body from side to side would not loosen the ropes, not even an inch.
Looking around, Xander recognized the area. < This is the same campsite where I fought those creatures in and that woman... > He whipped his head back and forth, taking in the small number of people standing about, dressed in strange clothing. The creatures, and the bodies of the dead, had been moved and the fire was built back up. Casting his eyes up, he could see the full moon, setting low in the night sky.
< It's like I just stepped into a scene straight out of some fantasy role playing game. >
Then the scene before Xander sparked a memory.
"Hey Giles," Xander looked up from the large, open book in front of him. "What's this"
Giles crossed the library and looked at the image at the top of the page Xander was pointing at. "Well... If had to hazard a guess, I would say that looks like a picture."
Xander gave the older man a very flat look, clearly ignoring the giggles coming from the other side of the table where Buffy and Willow sat. "Ha ha." Xander pointed at the girls. "And you two should stop encouraging him. Making with the jokes is my job."
"I thought pizza delivery was your job." Willow asked with a hint of a smile.
Xander raised his hand up at Willow, as if to tell her to shut up, which only elicited more laughter from the girls. "Giles, if the peanut gallery over there will be quiet," Xander threw a glare at the still laughing girls. "maybe you could please tell me what the people in the picture are."
Giles straightened his glasses in an obvious attempt to cover the light smirk he was sporting. He bent over to take a closer look at the drawing that featured a number of odd-looking people in a woodland scene. "Those would be Elves Xander."
"Elves are real?" Buffy asked.
Giles stood back up. "Yes they are," Giles thought for a second. "or were. There are numerous legends about Elves. Myths about them exist, in one form or another, in every culture on Earth,"
Willow stretched across the table and pulled the book to her. She studied the picture for a second. "But I thought that Elves were shorter than humans."
"Yes that would be the general belief. Some texts describe elves to be no taller than a small child while others reference that elves tower over man by at least a foot and a half.. But while no culture agrees on the exact physical dimensions of elves, they all agree that elves share one defining characteristic; They have pointed ears"
< Pointed ears. > Xander shook his head, almost in disbelief.. < Fairies.. Elves.. What the hell is going on? >
Heated voices caught Xander's attention and he twisted around in his bonds to see what was going on. To his left was the 'woman' he had helped earlier. She was arguing with two 'men', one of which was the one that hit him. They were talking among themselves in that same strange language that he couldn't understand. The one that had hit him stared balefully at him as he argued. Just from the intense looks he was receiving from most of the elves, Xander could tell that they didn't think too highly of him or humans in general.
"Umm, excuse me but could somebody explain why the hell I'm tied up!"
Xander's question got everyone's attention and then the one that had hit him before, marched to him. "Be quiet human or I'll rip out your tongue."
"That will be enough Tynillius."
Both Xander and Tynillius turned to the elf maiden. Xander kept his face neutral despite being glad to find that they could speak english. Tynillius on the other hand, wore a mask of anger and frustration. He said something in their language and was immediately, and severely, rebuked by the female elf. Tynillius took one more look at Xander and then stormed off followed closely by two others.
"Alexander, please forgive Tynillius. I'm afraid the he doesn't respond well to humans." she said, motioning for Xander to be released from his bonds.
Xander just sat there and stared at the blonde above him for a few seconds before sputtering, "Who.. Where.. How?"
The elf maiden smiled knowingly at Xander and for a second she reminded him of Buffy's mom. Joyce would always give him that same indulgent smile whenever he would ask if she had any bags of cheezy chips to snack on. That memory helped to somewhat ground him against the obvious insanity of his current situation. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"My name is Annilyse. I am what you would call a mage and hopefully in time, your friend."
Xander felt an odd calmness come over him. From within that calm, Xander studied the elf before him. Something about Annilyse screamed that he could trust her, unlike some of her companions like Tynillius. He spent several seconds, deep in his thoughts before he realized that the beautiful elf was waiting patiently for a response from him. "Anything's possible," Xander said, waiting for them to finish untying him. "Do you know what time is it?"
A small, relieved smile appeared on her face which told Xander that she almost feared that she would get a different kind of response. He filed that away when she started speaking again. "Thank you. I believe it's shortly after midnight, and as for how I know you, I used magic to..." Annilyse's voice faltered as she stared at Xander.
Xander's face became hard and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Annilyse. "You. Brought. Me. Here."
The frigid tone of Xander's whisper sent shivers up and down her spine. The other elves seemed to sense Xander's anger and quickly drew their bows, notching arrows that were pointed at him. Annilyse stood up and placed herself between Xander and her people. She quietly spoke in her language. Her voice was soft and melodious but Xander could hear the authority in every elvish word.
"What did you say to them?" Xander asked, overcoming his distrust slightly as each bow was lowered. The calmness of his voice surprising even him.
Annilyse turned to answer him, a wary look on her face. "Please stay calm. I only told them that you are under my protection and that you would not harm me." Annilyse took a step closer and lowered her voice. "Please understand, I am not the instigator of your current plight. I only used my magic to determine who you are."
"And what did you learn?" Xander was cautious but had to admit that, despite his anger, he was curious.
Annilyse breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that the human's change in attitude only confirmed her personal opinion of him. "Through a sampling of your soul," she paused to gauge his reaction. Her spirits lift to find that he wasn't angry over such an invasion of privacy, he simply motioned for her to continue. "I know that your name is Alexander and that your from a faraway place where you, along with a number other humans, battle vampires and other evil creatures. That you are a good man with a strong sense of duty other qualities that would do a Paladin proud."
For some reason, her words invoked a sense of worth that Xander hadn't felt in a while but he schooled his face to not show any emotion.
"I apologize for using such an invasive spell but there is a great darkness covering the land and I needed to be sure that you are not part of that darkness."
"Why would you think that I was evil?"
Annilyse hesitated. "There is trouble brewing between my people and a dark wizard that rules a neighboring kingdom. A human wizard."
"So you thought that since I'm human, I was working with this wizard? Even after I-" Xander snapped his jaw shut, stepping away from her. His previous anger, at his assumption that she brought him here, flared back into life. "What is it that you want from me." Xander spoke through clenched teeth.
"All I asked of you is to trust me and not prove me a liar to my people by harming me."
"I find it hard to trust when I get knocked out for just trying to help." Xander stared hard at Annilyse, noting for the first time that she was about the same height as him. They continued to stare at each other until a small light zip through the air between their faces, breaking the contact.
Xander's eyes followed the light as it zipped through the air. Within the light, he recognized the small fairy girl and genuinely smiled at the obvious happiness that could be seen on her face. In the light coming from the campfire, Xander noticed that the fairy's hair wasn't as dark as he first believed. It actually was a mixture of reds and browns that reminded him of the changing colors of leaves in the Fall.
Oblivious to Xander's scrutiny, the fairy flew onto Xander's shoulder and hugged his neck. "You're awake!" then the fairy let go and flew up and kissed the tip of his nose. "Thank you for saving my Mistress."
Xander could feel his ears turn red under the fairy's praise."Please don't be angry with my Mistress. She did not know that she could trust you even though I told her that you were nice." the fairy said before landing lightly on Annilyse's slim shoulder. The little creature smiled at him and Xander found his anger being washed away under the onslaught of happiness that shown in her small golden eyes.
"Yes you did, Lanea." Annilyse said, gracing the fairy with an apologetic smile before turning her attention back to Xander.
Xander sighed heavily and looked at Annilyse. He sat down next to the fire and casually observed the rest of the elves. Everyone wore a wary expression as they kept watch over the area. Something inside of Xander recognized the look of a battle weary soldier in the face of each elf. < It looks like they've been fighting for a while. >
Xander turned back to Annilyse and saw the same look lurking just under the surface. He could see the necessity of her actions, she didn't know him and wanted to be sure that he wasn't an enemy but it still didn't sit well with him.
Not wanting to think about it, Xander cast his gaze back over to the other Elves. Most were either talking among themselves or watching the forest around them. Xander noticed that a few of them were staring him, including the one that had hit him and unlike Annilyse, hatred shown in their eyes. Hatred for him.
"Annilyse, I'm obviously in the dark here," Xander watched the other Elves carefully. "What exactly were you doing out here?"
"We were investigating a rumor that the wizard was massing an army of humans along the border of this great forest when Tynillius saw a brief flash of light. He thought it was best that part of the group would investigate the light and the rest would stay here."
Xander snorted loudly but otherwise kept his opinions about Tynillius to himself. "What were those creatures that you were fighting."
Annilyse studied Xander briefly before answering. "Those were Orcs. They're strong as an ox but just as slow-witted as one too."
Xander then turned to Lanea. "What about your friend? What was the name... Joril?"
The fairy jumped up and down all excited. "You should have seen it. Joril lead that dumb orc into a cave."
Xander didn't understand what was as funny about that. "So?"
The little one grinned mischievously at Xander. "Oh, did I forget to mention that there was an angry mother bear with cubs inside." The fairy jumped off Annilyse's shoulder and hovered in the air. "It was fun watching that big lummox running away like a frightened human girl at the sight of a spider."
Xander lapsed into his thoughts as Lanea continued to float in front of him. He considered his situation. He was in a world that had fairies and elves as well as other creatures. And as far as he could tell, there was no modern technology here. Finally, he was alone here with no friends but he knew that if he wanted to find a way back home, he was going to have to trust someone here.
Looking once again at Annilyse, he could sense the goodness in addition to the connection between them that he felt earlier, he believed that she could be trusted. "Annilyse," he started, "Can you send me home?"
The elf maiden shook her head. "No. I do not know how you were brought here." Xander's shoulders sagged causing her to speak up. "But maybe the Elders of my people can-"
"NO!"
Annilyse, Lanea, and Xander all turned to the outraged Tynillius. He was flanked by two others as he stalked up to the three of them.
"He will not be allowed to meet with our Elders."
"We need to go to them to find out why he's here. Why now." Annilyse spoke as she stood up to Tynillius. Xander realized that the hostile elf towered a good half foot over her, and him as well.
"How do we know that this human isn't working for our enemy?" Tynillius asked looking at each elven warrior around them.
"Because I say he doesn't!" Annilyse exclaimed.
"And I say that the human is too much of a risk. We should kill him now and move on."
Annilyse drew herself up, fully intent on putting Tynillius in his place. She went to speak but stopped and tilted her head to the side, as if listening to something. Xander then noticed that the other elves were doing the same thing. That was when he felt it.
A tug.
A tug at his soul.
The sensation was almost exactly what he remembered feeling in his bedroom right before he ended up here. Almost, except it wasn't quite as strong. This time it felt more like something was calling to him. Ignoring everything around him, Xander closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was feeling. Suddenly he found himself standing in a white, circular room. There was a wooden door behind him and at the center of the room was a body, a man, floating in the air.
Xander walked along the wall of the room, keeping an eye on the figure in the center. The man was covered in a dark, hooded cloak looked like a piece of the night sky. He could see the stars and comets moving in the fabric. Coming to a stop in front of the man, he tried to lift the hood that was covering the face but before he could, a soft but powerful voice echoed in the room.
"No, my little one, you shouldn't be here right now," the feminine voice said, stopping Xander.
Xander quickly turned around in a circle, scanning the room but found no one else there. When he turned back to the center of the room, he saw the floating figure fade away.
"And that is someone that you shouldn't worry about," she spoke again. "yet, but you should know that you are in grave danger."
Not understanding, he simply asked, "Danger?"
The white room disappeared, leaving him suspended in a sea of darkness.
"Alexander."
The voice sounded familiar. It didn't sound like whoever spoke to him in that white room, but he knew it from somewhere.
"Alexander!"
The sheer panic in the voice snapped Xander back to the present. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was still at the campsite but it was in chaos as somehow, more of those orcs had arrived and started fighting the elves. The fairy, Lanea, was fluttering in the air in front of him.
"Thank the moons you're awake," Lanea said in relief. "We need to help them."
With a glance, Xander took stock of the fighting, noticing first that Annilyse was holding back several orcs with what looked like a wall of green mist. Every time one of the creatures made contact with that shield, they would become stuck to it. < Like a fly on flypaper. > This let Tynillius, along with a few others, kill the orcs with little risk to themselves.
"They don't need us," Xander said as his gaze swept over the other elves. Most of them had already finished off their own opponents and were joining the ones still fighting. "What happened here Lanea?"
Before the fairy could answer, a voice came from behind them. "I happened."
Xander turned around and found a weathered old man standing a couple of feet behind him. He had long, gray hair and he was dressed in a blood red robe with a short, wooden stick in his hand. "And you are.."
For a couple of heartbeats, the man stood still with a shocked expression on his face. Xander thought that he saw fear in the older man's face. Fear of him. But before he could wonder more about it, the man regained his composure and sneered. "Your new Master, my boy," he stated as he turned to leave. "Come along."
"He's not going with you," Lanea stated.
"Away gnat." the old man said, waving his hand at her. Before the fairy knew what happened, she was sent streaking, into the night. "Much better. I've always hated insects." The old man turned his attention back too Xander. "Now come, MY Master wants to meet you."
Xander felt that same tugging sensation but he was able to ignore it. "No."
The man was surprised for a moment. Then he reared up, standing a several inches taller than Xander and looked imperiously down at him. "You will not resist my commands. We are leaving."
Xander fell to his knees as a tremendous weight settled on his mind. He desperately fought the compulsion to obey the old man. Suddenly memories started popping up in his mind's eye. Images of Willow as a child came first, and with those images came the urge to protect. Even then, Xander wanted to protect Willow, and he felt the same need to protect for Buffy, Giles, and Joyce when they came into his life. He really didn't understand it then but after spending part of a night as a soldier, he did now. That sense of duty, to protect, to provide, was deeply rooted in his soul. He knew that now.
He could almost hear his friend's voices screaming for him to hold on, that he could beat this man. That alone gave Xander the strength to, once again, say, "No."
As soon as Xander spoke, he felt something brush against his mind, searching.
"Impossible." the old man said, shocked.
Before he could say anything more, a ball of fire shot out from the darkness, hitting the man in the chest. He was quickly engulfed in flames as two more hit him. Xander just stared blankly at the burning man until he felt a pair of hands grab his right arm, and pull him away.
"Come Alexander. We need to leave," he heard Annilyse say. "That won't stop Baderos for long."
"Baderos?" Xander turned to Annilyse, who started running.
"The wizard you were just facing. He's very powerful, more so than I. Actually I was very surprised that those fireballs worked against him."
A hand shot out from behind a tree, neatly grabbing Annilyse by the neck. "They didn't." Baderos stepped away from the tree with Annilyse dangling in his grip. "I admit, you caught me off guard a moment but I can guarantee that won't happen again elf."
Xander sprang forward but Baderos simply stopped him in mid step with a wave of his hand. "That's enough out of you boy. I don't know how you're able to ignore my commands but I'll find-"
*THUNK*
Baderos was interrupted by an arrow embedding itself in his chest. The shock of the injury caused him to release Annilyse and she scramble to Xander's side even as several elven fighters charged at the wizard. She recognized one of them and called out his name. "Kerrian!"
The warrior in question, knelt by Annilyse. "You must escape. The elders must learn about what happened here," he said, nodding meaningfully at Xander. "We will try to keep him occupied but you must leave now."
"But-"
"No," Kerrian said gently, touching his forehead to hers. "You must do this. Now go."
Annilyse watched as Kerrian raced to join the fight between the elves and Baderos before turning back to Xander. With watery eyes she took his hand and said, "Let's go."
Baderos idly walked among the scattered remains of the elves. They managed to distract him long enough from the female to escape with his property. That alone infuriated him to the point that he recklessly cast a particularly draining spell that caused each elf to explode from within.
The weakness he felt from that ill cast spell forced him to let his slave go for now. He would have to retreat and regain his strength, but he swore that he would make his slave understand that he wasn't to be disobeyed. Then he touched the ring on his index finger and disappeared in a flash of light.
Xander followed Annilyse as they ran through the forest. He was able to keep up with the elf even though he did lose sight of her from time to time. They were in a particularly dense part of the forest when Xander tripped over a large tree root, planting himself, face first, into the ground.
"Alexander!"
Xander groaned in response as he turned onto his back. He watched in a daze as all the trees began swirling in his vision. Then a big, fuzzy looking insect flew up to his face and started waving all it's arms at him. He tried to bat the insect away but it kept dodging his hand.
He then felt a sudden flash of heat which left his mind clear. Looking up Xander realized that his head was in Annilyse's lap with her hands covering each side of his head.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
Xander propped himself on his elbows. "Like Buffy just used me for a punching bag."
At Annilyse's confused look, Xander just shrugged and got to his feet. Lanea then landed on his shoulder and hugged his neck. "Are you sure you're okay?" the fairy asked in a tiny voice.
Before Xander could answer, several men carrying torches came into view. Some of them were running towards them, waving swords. Xander could see that, as the men got closer, they were wearing a mismatch of armor. "Uhh.."
"Brigands." Annilyse looked around calmly. "This way," she said grabbing Xander's hand once again.
Arrows sailed past them as they ran. Looking back, Xander spotted five men following them on foot. Another half dozen were riding their horses off to the side, firing arrows at them. < Where are the rest of them? >
As soon as that thought occurred to Xander, the sounds of several horses came from directly in front of them. < Damn! They somehow circled around us. > Both human and elf skidded to a halt as the brigands surrounded them. A large human stepped down from his horse.
"Well, well. Look what we got here boys," the man said, leering at Annilyse. "Looks like we get to some have fun tonight."
Before Annilyse could respond, Xander stepped between her and the brigand. "Alexander?"
Xander ignored her and concentrated on the man before him. "Leave us alone."
"Hey Larek, the little man thinks he can order us around," one of the men yelled.
The leader, Larek, laughed loudly. "Boy, Look around you. I have more than a dozen men with me. I seriously doubt that an elf and a mere stripling, such as yourself, will be much of a problem for us."
"Let go of me!"
Xander spared a glance to find Lanea, firmly in the grip of one of the brigands.
Before Xander could move, the sound of howling erupted all around them. The men completely forgot about Xander and Annilyse as they nervously watched the woods around them. Several wolves could be seen moving in the darkness but stayed out of arrow range.
"Stand your ground!" Larek bellowed. "It's just a couple of mangy wolves."
There was a startled gasp behind Xander. Turning, he saw an expression of surprise and understanding in her features as she looked at him. Xander wanted to ask what was wrong but was forcefully knocked out of the way. He watched as Larek grabbed Annilyse by the clasp of her cloak and lifted her up.
"Call off your mutts, elf," the man sneered, back handing her hard in the face. "I may not be allowed to harm the boy but staying on my good side will be the only thing that might keep my men from using you like a whore."
The others laughed as Xander literally shook with rage at the thought of these idiots forcing themselves upon Annilyse. Suddenly, more wolves were spotted with some of them coming to the edge of the light given off from the torches. Those wolves sat down on their haunches and watched.
Larek barked orders for his men to kill the beasts before turning back to his captive. "I warned you. Order your pets to leave before I decide to get really nasty."
Annilyse just stared defiantly at him. Larek snorted and then lifted his sword up, to deliver a mortal blow.
"NO!" Xander leaped and grabbed the man's sword arm.
Larek managed to pull his arm from the boy's grasp but ended up dislocating his shoulder in the process. The pain he felt caused him to drop his sword. Annilyse took advantage of the situation and wrestled herself free.
Xander then grabbed the Larek's discarded sword off the ground and leveled it at Larek. Annilyse moved slightly behind Xander and started to chant softly.
Larek kept his mind in the fight despite the pain he was in. He noticed the elf right away and got the attention of one of his men. "Mikel, kill the Elf!"
Mikel quickly drew his longbow and notched an arrow. Less than a heartbeat later, he released an arrow aimed straight for Annilyse.
Lanea bit hard into the hand that was holding her, causing the man to release her. She shot across the ground towards the arrow.
Time slowed down for Xander as Lanea grabbed the feathered end of the arrow. He watched as the feathers jerked free from the end, causing the arrow to change its direction and then, to Xander's horror, bury itself in the elf's side.
Turning back to Larek, Xander, in his anger, raised the sword and charged. Larek ducked below the wild swing that was meant to behead him and planted his shoulder into Xander's gut. Winded, Xander stumbled backwards and collapsed on the ground next to Annilyse.
Larek reclaimed his sword and held the point of it under Xander's chin. "Stay down boy."
Xander looked at Larek, then over to Annilyse. She was mumbling under her breath, her hands were shaking from shock. Then her eyes shot open and she screamed. The wolves immediately ran away as a wave of red energy erupted from Annilyse. The wave spread out from her in a circle and every bandit that came into contact with it fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
After the wave dissipated, Annilyse collapsed. Xander quickly scooped her up and started running. Lanea flew silently beside him, a worried look marring her face.
< I officially have no idea what to do now. > Xander thought to himself as he carried Annilyse through the forest.
It hadn't been long after he fled with the unconscious elf maiden in his arms before Xander stopped, claiming to need a break. Lanea had told him rest and, after promising to be right back, disappeared. A few minutes later, the fairy came back and told him to pick Annilyse up and follow her.
And that was what Xander was currently doing. He silently followed the fairy as she led them for a good half hour, to the edge of the forest where he saw the remains of an abandoned farm. Without a second thought, Xander quickly entered the farm house with Annilyse in his arms. He gently set her down, against the door frame and thoroughly checked out the rest of the house. The front room contained an open fireplace, a poorly constructed wooden table and several chairs. There were two doorways in the back of the room which led to two bedrooms. All three rooms were covered in a thick layer of dust.
Xander dusted off the bed in the larger bedroom, revealing it to be a loose assortment of animal skins instead of a mattress causing Xander stared at it for a second, thinking about how different this world is. To Xander it was like he had went back in time to a place where there was none of the modern comforts that he grew up with.
"Alexander?" Lanea said quietly, popping her small head around the door frame.
"Xander." he replied absently as he continued to study the bed.
Lanea came completely into the room and flitted over to him, landing on his shoulder. "What?"
Xander still hadn't moved. "I go by Xander, Not Alexander."
"Oh.." Lanea jumped off his shoulder and landed on the bed. "Yes, this will do. Could you bring Annilyse in here? She'd probably feel better in a comfortable bed than on the floor."
The mention of the elf broke Xander out of his thoughts. He wanted to slap himself for forgetting all about her but instead did what Lanea asked and fetched Annilyse. He carefully carried her to the bed and set her down. Lanea instructed him to pull out the arrow. With that done, the fairy placed her tiny hands over the wound and concentrated. Her hands began to glow and after several minutes, she pulled away. Lanea used a corner on an animal skin to wipe away the blood to reveal unbroken skin.
"That should do it for now," Lanea yawned loudly.
"Will she be okay?"
"Yes," Guilt filled her voice. "No thanks to me."
"Lanea," Xander cradled her in the palm of his hand. "It's not your fault. In fact if it weren't for you, Annilyse might be dead right now."
The fairy just shrugged and flew from his hand, over to Annilyse. She then nestled herself within the elf's hair. Xander sighed. He knew that only Annilyse would be able to lift the guilt from Lanea's tiny shoulders and only if the fairy would let her.
Xander went out into the front room and brought one of the chairs back and sat down where, for the rest of the night, he watched over them, not knowing that through the open window in the room, several luminous eyes watched them from forest. Eyes that gleamed with the light from the full moon.