Dawn & Hermione

The demons would have killed the girls outright, but they needed them alive for a ritual. They were waiting for another of their kind to arrive who would actually perform the ritual. After the ritual they could do whatever they wanted with them.

The scoobies reached the outside of the cave Willow felt certain the demons were in. They approached the entrance as quietly as they could. They could hear the demons talking amongst themselves and then heard one of the demons hit one of the girls and the scream than followed.

Willow and Tara had already joined their hands and put up a protector barrier at the entrance to the cave to keep anything from getting in or out. When the scoobies got close enough they could see the demons and the girls hanging a few feet further in.

Willow and Tara began reciting a spell and ran towards the demons who were more than surprised to see the two witches almost upon them. The Willow and Tara through their powder and uttered a word together, “decate!” and the demons vanished.

Spike and Buffy were at the girls instantly and within a few minutes managed to have them down. Dawn and Hermione were a mess. Ginny was somewhat better off. Xander and Spike carried Hermione and Dawn and Giles carried Ginny. Buffy collected the wands and they headed towards the entrance.

Suddenly there was a loud and deep laugh. “It worked, I cannot believe it worked so well.” The laughter continued.

At the entrance to the cave they found that another barrier had been set in place.

The girls were put down while the scoobies tried to decide what to do.

Suddenly, “I can help.” Hermione stood up. “Please give me my wand.”

She then walked towards the entrance, pointed her wand at the invisible barrier and chanted some words. The barrier seemed to turn colors then there was a loud POP! and the barrier was gone.

“Dawn and Ginny, get your wands.” Dawn and Ginny picked up their wands and stood beside Hermione. “Whatever is out there is about to get a big surprise. Point your wands at the entrance and put your hands on my shoulders.” Dawn and Ginny did as they were instructed. Hermione once again began to chant and suddenly the wands became alive with streams of power shooting out of them and hitting something outside of the cave. They could hear a loud groan, the sound of something hitting the ground, followed by the smell of burnt flesh.

“My god,” whispered Buffy.

The group walked out of the cave to find a huge Rugui Demon laying on its back with its mouth open and eyes glazed over. It was smoldering.

Both Dawn and Hermione were taken to the hospital to be checked. Buffy had a helleva time trying to convince those in the ER that the condition of the girls was not due to some kind of perverted child abuse. Although they were all allowed to leave, Child Protective Services showed up the next day to ask some questions and interview the girls.

TBC