Crown and Key: Chapter 4
by Kerythand Ginafae
Crown and Key
By Sandra and William Johnson
Chapter Four
Lara headed back from the bar, two glasses in her hands, bobbing and weaving around the crowds of teenagers filling the club. She narrowly avoided getting hit in the head by a pool cue as one of the men playing stopped to gawk at her as she passed. Used to this kind of attention, Lara smiled at him sweetly, her body swaying to the beat driven music from the stage. Lifting the drinks above her head, Lara continued to navigate through the gyrating bodies, which were dancing enthusiastically to the music from the techno band on stage. It was Lara’s kind of dance music. Lots of beat, and meaningless words about ‘moving to the beat of the Tribal Dance’. Lara laughed, and smiled, as she arrived back at the table she’d left Dawn at.
“Here you go Sunshine,” Lara said, handing a coke to Dawn.
“Thanks,” Dawn replied with a smile, her hand moving from the pendant around her neck. She’d been idly playing with it ever since Lara had the stone set in it. Dawn just couldn’t believe that this woman had taken such a liking to her already. Usually, older people looked at Dawn as Buffy’s Sister, but not Lara. She treated Dawn as just another person.
“So, what is this place called again?” Lara inquired, speaking up to be heard over the band up on stage.
“The Bronze. It’s THE place to hang out in Sunnydale”
“And you’re sure Buffy won’t mind us being here? She did say not to stay out too late after dinner.”
“Buffy and Giles and the rest will be busy all night researching that thing you found. But, if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll give her a call” As she spoke, Dawn reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Quickly she dialed home. After a few minutes, Buffy answered the phone.
“Hey Buffy. Lara thought I should tell you we’re at The Bronze. You don’t need us around right now, do you? No? Great. I promise, I’ll be home by Ten. I know it’s a school night. We’ll be fine. I’m with Lara, I couldn’t be much safer...”
As Dawn continued to speak with Buffy, the front door to the club suddenly burst open. Lara quickly leaped to her feet and stared through the now terrified crowd. As the people fled, Lara saw what had terrified them. Standing in the doorway, were four skeletons. Four MOVING skeletons. Four moving skeletons bearing curved swords and shields and wearing chain mail armor. And behind them, was a vaguely human shape that seemed to shimmer and glow with an unearthly light. The people continued to flee, the skeletons and the Luminescent being moving in and looking around offering Lara a glimpse of it’s face. The creature standing behind the skeletons was a young woman. Long brown hair fell down her shoulders and an attractive figure was covered in a pair of tight pants and a halter tops. Yet the woman continued to glow with that unearthly glow. Brown eyes scanning the crowd, they fell on Dawn, who was hastily telling Buffy to get down there, shouting something about ghosts. In a Caribbean accented voice, the ghost pointed at Dawn, “Never mind, I found her.”
As the ghost pointed, the skeletons began to quickly cross the dance floor. Lara hastily looked around, and grabbed a pool cue off the table, brandishing it like a quarterstaff, and wishing she had decided to bring her guns. “I don’t know who you are, but the girl is not going anywhere with you”
The skeletons replied by advancing on Lara, and swinging their swords. Lara rolled to the floor, the first two blades sinking into the wood of the pool table. The third swung at her legs as she leaped back to her feet. Lara leaped, narrowly avoiding the swing, and slammed her pool cue into the skeleton’s head. The bone crunched and shattered, even as the cue did the same. The skeleton suddenly fell to the floor, now nothing more than a pile of bones.
Lara nimbly grabbed the fallen skeleton’s sword, and raised it above her head just in time to parry the blade of one of the other skeletons. Lara’s eyes went wide, and she screamed in pain, as the other skeleton’s blade bit into her back. Lara bit down on her pain and rolled out from between the two skeletons. She quickly leaped to her feet, spinning around to face her attackers, her blade whistling through the air as it swept through the rib cage of the second skeleton. Quickly, she spun around to face the third, only to see it fall to the ground as Dawn swept it’s head from it’s skeletal neck with a well placed chair. Lara smiled, moving towards Dawn, who shouted, “LOOK OUT!” Lara quickly spun around, her sword at the ready, only to see more skeletons move in through the door. Then, suddenly, out of no-where, the ghost was next to her. With a laugh, the glowing woman grabbed Lara’s wrist, intense cold traveling up Lara’s arm, until her blade fell from her hand and clanged on the floor. “Now, enough games. I will kill you, and then take the Girl.”
“Now, now, that’s not very nice, is it?” came a female voice from in front of the stage. “I’d let her go, Lady, or else my brother and I are going to have to make you let her go.”
From the shadows near the shattered door, a muscular blonde haired man appeared, “I’d listen to her if I were you. My sister never makes open threats.”
In response, the ghost released Lara and spun around with a growl, ghostly hands swinging for the man, who easily rolled out of the way. Lara grabbed her dropped sword, even as the man pulled an intricate looking greatsword from his back. For a second, Lara wondered who these two curiously dressed people were, but was then swept up in the melee.
“I don’t think she understands Sis” the man said.
“Well, then, Brother, let’s show her why it’s not nice to attack innocent women.” Leaping from the stage, a sword almost identical to her brother’s in her hands, a blonde haired woman landed on her feet next to Lara, “Could you use a hand?” she asked, with a smile
Lara nodded, wondering if every blonde in California was some kind of wisecracking superhero. However, she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she swung her borrowed sword at the nearest skeleton. As she fought, Lara continued to move back to where she’d last seen Dawn, fully intending to protect her new friend. However, Dawn had things well in hand. Having grabbed the sword from the skeleton she had killed, she was doing a fairly good job at collecting bone piles around her.
Adora watched the dark haired girl move back towards the young girl defensively, and swung her sword at the skeletons before her, cutting her way to her brother. Adam was busily dodging the ghosts glowing hands. The ghost gestured at Adam, and suddenly, several bar stools took to the air and flew at him. Adam easily dodged them, rolling along the floor, “I’m sure glad Teela insists on those daily sparring bouts.” He lunged at the ghost, his sword leading the way, just as Adora arrived behind it.
“Need some help Brother?”
“Always could use a hand from you Sis”
Adora smiled. It felt good to do something beside brood over the loss of the gem from her sword. She nodded at Adam, who swung at the ghost’s head. The thing laughed, dodging Adam’s blow, only to fall into Adora’s descending blade. The ancient blade bit deep into the ghosts glowing body, and with a pop, the ghost vanished. However, the woman’s voice echoed, “You have succeeded for now, but the Girl will be mine”
Dawn glanced over at Lara briefly, catching a glimpse of their two sword wielding saviors, and then re-focused her attention on the next skeleton advancing on her. These things seemed to never stop coming. However, her recent training with her sister was paying off, and she was doing a fairly good job of holding her own.
Lara grimaced in pain, the gash on her back freely bleeding and throbbing with pain as she fought her way to Dawn, just as the ghost was popped by the two blondes. As the ghost vanished, a cloud of oily black smoke began to issue from the floor between Adam and Adora. The two blondes began coughing, struggling to escape the smoke. Simultaneously, the remaining skeletons crumbled into piles of bones, their swords and shields clanging on the floor.
Quickly, Lara looked at Dawn, “You alright?”
“Yea, I’m OK. Though, I think you’re going to have to replace that shirt after tonight.” Dawn smiled, and Lara smiled back. She then looked over at the two new arrivals, who had gotten out of the smoke, and had ceased coughing “I don’t know who you are, but thanks for your help.”
Dawn smiled, as Lara headed towards the two, “Yea, if you two hadn’t shown when you did, those things might have made a real mess of us. I’m Dawn. Dawn Summers. And this is my friend Lara.”
Adora remained bent over, hands on her knees, still coughing some. Adam, however, smiled, extending his hand, “Glad we could help Dawn, Lara. I’m Adam.”
Adora finally ceased her coughing, and smiled as she stood up, “And I’m his sister, Adora.” Adora looked at the two women, then stopped suddenly, staring at the pendant hanging around Dawn’s neck The young girl was wearing the missing gem from her sword. However, before Adora could ask her about the gem, or where she got it from, four more people ran into the room. “OK, no one move!” Buffy shouted, brandishing a battle axe in her hands. Xander and Giles flanked her, each holding a crossbow. Behind them stood Willow, All four of them looked ready to kill.
“It’s ok Buffy, it’s all over. Lara took care of the ghost and the skeletons. Well, she did with the help of these two. Adam, Adora, this is my sister, Buffy, And Xander, Willow, and Giles. Everyone, this is Adam and Adora. They helped us out.”
Buffy looked at Lara even as the rest of the gang scanned the room. “Uhhh, Dawnny, who are you talking about?” Buffy said
Dawn stared at the spot where the two blondes were only minutes before. “They were just here. Lara, you saw them, didn’t you?”
Lara put an arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “Don’t worry Sunshine, you’re not imagining things. Our rescuers have seemed to vanish into the same smoke the ghost did.”
Buffy sighed, lowering her axe, her friends following suit. “Dawn, why can’t you EVER go out and not have some catastrophe happen?”



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