by Mel Odom
“Don’t think so.”
Painfully, Xander hooked his elbows down onto the floor, pushed with his heels, and inched back toward the wall. With a lot of work and groaning, he finally managed a sitting position.
Oz sat only a few feet away. One of his eyes was nearly swelled shut. He sat against the wall, looking pale.
“Man, you should see your eye,” Xander said.
Oz nodded carefully. “Yeah, well, you should see your lip. Actually, you probably can.”
Xander glanced down and could see his lip. It was all puffy and swollen and blood-crusted, and wasn’t something he generally saw unless he was making monkey faces. His jaw still ached and he thought a few teeth were loose. “How long have you been awake?”
“Conscious, you mean? Maybe ten minutes before you.”
“Any idea where we are?”
“Besides a cave?” Oz shook his head automatically, but quickly stopped, eyes narrowing in pain. “I figured, if we woke up at all, we’d be in a dilapidated warehouse or a crack house, or just a really seamy part of Sunnydale. Something that a gangbanger might call home. A cave, now that’s where monsters or guys with savior complexes hang out.”
“I’m thinking we got stuck with the monsters. Any sign of them?” Xander tried to work his wrists against the rough stone wall at his back, hoping to catch a projection sharp enough to cut what felt like duct tape.
“Not yet.”
“Think they just abandoned us?”
“No. Thinking a lot about how that guy in the theater was speared through the head by that tongue.”
“Gives a whole new twist to brain food,” Xander said. The tape around his wrists caught on a rough surface. He kept rubbing against it, hoping to wear through the tape, and gradually began to feel it give.
“What are you doing?” Oz asked.
“If I’m lucky, getting my hands loose. I found a jagged piece of rock back here.”
“Let me know how it works out. I can’t even feel my hands anymore.”
The closer Xander got to the top of the tape, the more the rough stone abraded his wrist. The pain became torture, made even worse because he was doing it to himself. But he felt certain that if they were going to escape they were going to have to do it on their own. No one knew where they were.
After another moment, the tape binding his wrists parted. “Okay, I’m free.”
“If you’d been Harry Houdini, you’d have drowned,” Oz said.
Xander pulled at the tape around his ankles and freed his legs, then went over and did the same for Oz. Leaving the cave immediately wasn’t an option. After being tied up for so long they were barely able to stand for the first few minutes. A quick exploration of the cave’s only exit showed them a narrow tunnel carved through stone.
“Weapons,” Oz said, lurching around the room. “Going empty-handed would be totally lame. There’s nowhere to run.”
“Weapons would be good,” Xander agreed. “Kinda lends to that can-do attitude.” Only the room was barren of accessible weapons. The chairs and desks were made of steel, neither of which was very useful in fighting vampires. He opened the desk drawer and found a compass, pens, pencils, and a wooden ruler. He picked up the ruler. “Hey, I found something.”
Oz looked at him. “It’s a ruler.”
“It’s wood.”
“Okay, it might scare them if they were raised in Catholic schools.”
A glance at his watch told Xander it was almost eightforty. Night had fallen over Sunnydale while they’d been unconscious. There was no telling how many Bad Things were going on back home by now. He shoved the ruler and pencils into his back pocket stubbornly. Wood is wood, he groused to himself.
Oz took the lantern from the desk he searched. He walked to the wall and played the light over the papers hanging from bulletin boards that had been affixed to the stone with masonry nails. “Have you looked at any of these papers?”
“Don’t get me wrong here,” Xander said, “but the last time I looked, paper was a little less lethal than even, say, a wooden ruler.”
Oz ignored the sarcasm, moving slowly down the line. “They’re maps of Sunnydale. Areas around Sunnydale. Some of this stuff goes back to the 1830s.”
“Terrific. Really old paper is probably even less dangerous than new paper. The chances of getting even a decent paper cut out of old paper are probably astronomical.”
“It’s new paper, Xander.” Oz continued looking.
“Oh, good, then we’re talking modern technology here. Moving right on into the nuclear age.” Still, Xander’s innate curiosity about things that didn’t fit, coming from long periods of wondering why he didn’t fit in with different groups and events, claimed him. He gazed at the wall.
Oz waved the lantern at the rest of the cave. “The rest of this place puts me in mind of the old bomb shelters people built back during the Cold War.”
“Or a smuggler’s cave. Lots of Barbary Coast pirates in these waters at one time.” Xander could tell Oz liked the bomb shelter idea, so he went with it. “But the Cold War’s over. So why new maps?”
“Exactly.” Oz tapped the maps in quick succession. “Geographical. Topographical. Street. Inside Sunnydale. Outside of Sunnydale.”
Xander tapped one of the street maps. “Look. There’s my house.”
Oz gave him a look.
“Okay,” Xander shrugged, “probably not important.” Then he looked at the bulletin boards. “But this is.” He yanked the bulletin board from the wall, stepped through the center, and pulled the wooden framing apart. “Stake kits. Some disassembly required.”
“Go ahead,” Oz said. “I’m going to take a few of these maps. If we make it out of here, maybe they can give us a clue about what they’re doing in Sunnydale.”
Xander had finished deconstructing the second bulletin board when they heard approaching footsteps out in the hall. Oz returned the lantern he was carrying to the desk. He grabbed four of the bulletin board stakes from Xander and sprinted to one side of the doorway.
Breathing hard, heart pumping frantically, Xander hid on the other side of the door. The footsteps grew louder. Xander gripped a makeshift stake in each hand. Does wood work? he wondered, remembering how the swordswoman had used the flintlock pistols and the sword. Or are we just gonna piss them off?
Three Black Wind gang members strode into the room. They stared at the shadows at the other end of the room, then spread out. They didn’t turn back to the doorway.
Xander swapped looks with Oz, not believing the gang members were moving on to search the empty room. Oz jerked his head toward the door. Xander led the retreat, bolting through the door, turning the corner, running up the high, shallow stairway, slamming back and forth between the walls because the way was so narrow—
—and running into one of the biggest feet Xander had ever seen.
The foot was attached to the Black Wind gang member on guard at the top of the stairs. Grinning, the gang member kicked Xander in the chest, driving him back into Oz.
Together, Xander and Oz thudded, thumped, and thundered back down the narrow staircase. At the bottom, fully aware of all the new bruises and cuts he’d added to his collection, Xander got to his feet. There was nowhere to run, but there was no denying the fight or flight instinct.
The Black Wind gang member at the top of the stairs shook his head, grinned, and lifted the mini-Uzi in his scarred fist. Xander could have sworn malevolent orange light glowed in the gang member’s eyes.
“No escape,” the gang member promised softly.
Chapter 19
STANDING ON QUIVERING LEGS, XANDER HELD ONTO THE angry frustration that filled him as he stared up at the big Black Wind gang member blocking escape at the other end of the stairwell. It wasn’t a true berserker mad-on, but it overpowered the part of him that was so scared. “Hey, Oz,” he said in a shaking voice, blowing bubbles in the fresh blood streaming from his nose and busted lip, “you ever see Butch and Sundance?” “Yeah,”
Oz replied behind him. “I always hated the ending.”
“Every now and then, I used to think maybe they made it.” Xander glanced over his shoulder and saw the three gang members inside the room where they’d been imprisoned were walking sedately toward them. Like we’re nothing.
“I really don’t think they’re going to just let us go.”
“Follow me.”
“Fol—”
Before Oz finished speaking, Xander screamed, “Yaaarrrggghhh!” and sprinted back up the steps. He knew the move had to have surprised the gang member because the guy didn’t unload.
Instead, the gang member stretched out a hand, intending to grab Xander’s head. Xander ducked and forearmed the mini-Uzi away. He hit the gang member like a football linebacker, planting his shoulder in the guy’s crotch. At first he didn’t think the guy was going to fall, then there was a demonic scream of agony.
Caught by the stairs behind him, the gang member toppled forward. But he went too slowly. Before Xander could get to the top of the stairs, someone caught his foot, tripping him.
Driven by his own momentum, Xander skidded over the top of the fallen gang member, kicking out at anyone who tried to grab him again. He pushed himself to his knees, spotted the mini-Uzi in the gang member’s hand, and dove. He fisted one of his stakes and drove it into the Black Wind member’s arm. When the guy released the mini-Uzi, Xander scooped it up and turned back to the stairway.
Oz was just stumbling to the top stair, his pants legs in tatters, bloody scratches covering his ankles. The gang member behind him grabbed his foot and tripped him.
Reacting instinctively, totally locked in Army Guy mode, Xander grabbed Oz’s shirt collar and yanked him the rest of the way up the steps. “Go!” Xander said, and squeezed the trigger, causing the Black Wind members to dodge back.
Click.
“Click?” Xander asked, staring at the machine pistol in disbelief. “All I get is click?”
“You’re right,” Oz said. “I thought yaaarrrggghhh had more style points.” He grabbed Xander by the arm and hauled him to his feet.
Together, they ran down the passageway, following the incline. Two more turns and about a million ragged breaths later, they reached a large cave where three black cars were parked under rows of electrical lighting that hung from the cave ceiling. Other Black Wind gang members stood at work stations around the cave or talking in groups. Oz pointed toward the double doors to the left. They ran.
A harsh voice yelled out behind them. Immediately, all the gang members headed in their direction.
Don’t have to be bilingual for that, Xander thought. The doors were locked when they reached them. There was no opportunity at all for trying to get through before the enemy overpowered them.
Xander tried to cover up as best as he could, but the gang members didn’t hesitate about scoring extra punches and kicks as they dragged him and Oz to the center of the big room. One of the Black Wind members took control and spouted orders.
Two of the gang members brought over chains that were hung from slotted tracks attached to the ceiling. Xander guessed the chains were used to transfer heavy cargo or work on the vehicles. All of the equipment looked new.
In less than a minute, Xander and Oz were trussed up in chains, then pulled off the ground, hanging upside down. The position left Xander on the brink of unconsciousness as blood pounded through his head.
The lead gang member held up the blue and white yin/yang necklace. “I want to know about the girl you got this from.”
Dreading what was going to happen, Xander said, “So do I. I think she’s really my kind of girl. Do you know how many of you guys she took apart last night? Things were moving so fast I kind of lost count. But I bet it was a lot. I mean, she didn’t even slow—”
One of the gang member’s slapped Xander.
“If we have to do this the hard way,” the leader said, “we will.”
“Man, you’ve been watching way too many action flicks,” Xander said, still swinging at the end of the chain. “Tough guy talk isn’t needed here. I’d tell you if I knew. I just don’t—”
The gang member hit Xander again. This time blood from Xander’s split lip struck the leader, who turned and yelled at the other man. However, the blood also landed on the yin/yang necklace he was holding. Immediately, the leader began screaming angrily and trying to wipe the blood from the blue and white stones.
Pale, green smoke drifted up from the necklace, curling and dancing against the bright lights overhead. The gang leader’s hand suddenly turned liquid and the necklace dropped through fingers that just oozed away. He screamed in pain. The other gang members drew back.
Still swinging at the end of the chain, Xander watched as the gang members drew their weapons, all of them looking like living shadows at the edge of the light. He glanced at Oz, who was swinging only slightly.
“Can’t be good,” Oz commented.
The necklace continued to smoke and the scent of heavy pollen filled the air.
The two doors at the cave mouth blew inward and hung haphazardly from the hinges, followed immediately by a thunderous boom that echoed within the cave. Xander could see the sea beyond the small dirt road that led to the cave. The waves rolled in, silver-tipped by moonlight, pushing a gray fog cloud. Cold wind whipped into the cave, pricking Xander’s skin with goosebumps and whipping his hair. He squinted against the wind, thinking something was moving inside the fog that shoved into the cave.
The swordswoman stepped out of the fog as coolly as if she was walking down a fashion runway. Her heels clicked hollowly against the stone floor. She wore the same outfit Xander had seen her in last night, except that now she had the hood up on the cape, shadowing her features.
“Is that your girl?” Oz asked.
“Yeah,” Xander said, smiling in spite of the pain he was in. “Makes a hell of an entrance, doesn’t she?”
“I guess so,” Oz replied. “But she’d better have an army at her back if she’s going to come in here.”
Xander lost some of his smile as he realized how many gang members there were around them.
“And this isn’t exactly a primo location for us either,” Oz added.
The swordswoman spoke clearly, but it was in Chinese. And even though Xander didn’t know what the words were, he knew an ultimatum had been given.
One of the Black Wind members screamed an order, and time seemed to slow down as Xander watched. The gang members brought their weapons up, leveling them at the young woman.
“Noooooo!” Xander screamed, but he knew it was already too late.
“Found it.”
Giles looked up at Cordelia’s triumphant announcement. “What did you find it in?” He crossed the library to look at the book she was holding.
“Fleming’s An Eccentric Guide to All Things River Daemon. ” Cordelia tapped the gilt lettering as she read it, underscoring the words. “It says here that the blue and white yin/yang did not become a symbol for this group until the inception of the yin/yang and Taoism in the Han dynasty. Major score, huh?”
“There are some who believe that the symbol and Taoism actually began in the Shang and Chou dynasties nearly thirteen hundred years earlier,” Giles said, peering over Cordelia’s shoulder.
“Hey, don’t rain on my success here.”
“May I?” Giles asked, opening his hands for the book.
Cordelia passed the heavy book over reluctantly. “The group the symbol seems to represent is loosely translated into Spirit Guardians. They were associated with the Celestial Dragon, called . . . let me see. It will come to me.”
“The Tien Lung,” Giles said as he continued reading. “You know, there is some thinking that belief in dragons springs from sightings of the few demons still left in this world before the arrival of mankind chased them into other dimensions. The early history of China was shaped by much of the flooding that ran rampant throughout the country. There are stories in that book about Yu the Great, the ma
n who is believed to have conquered the flooding problems by cutting inland channels and building dams to control the flooding.”
“That’s in there,” Cordelia said.
“I see that. He was also thought to be the first king of the Xia dynasty.”
“Fleming makes a definite case that Yu was,” Cordelia said. “He goes on to state that Yu’s father, Gun, was first placed in charge of the flooding problems. Gun was supposed to have ascended to heaven and stolen a handful of magic earth—or something like that. Anyway, the magic earth worked well, growing into huge mounds that blocked the floods. Unfortunately, the theft was discovered and the Emperor of Heaven sent the god of fire down to bring back the magic earth. Like you’re going to get away with something like that. Right!” She shook her head. “Gun was executed as a sign of the Emperor’s wrath, so that all would know to never try such a thing again. Major bummer.”
Giles nodded and sat down. As much as he had studied and learned and read, there were still so many aspects of the world—especially the hidden parts of it—which he hadn’t heard of.
“The Chinese people believed dragons were responsible for all the rains that flooded their lands,” Cordelia said. “Since some of earliest human civilization took place in those areas, maybe the floods were caused by the demons struggling to hang onto their territories.”
“I understand that,” Giles said. “But what has that got to do with what’s going on here now?”
Cordelia shook her head. “Beats me. I suppose that will be answered when we discover what the Black Wind gang is doing here in Sunnydale.” She paused. “But whatever it is, you can rest assured that the girl Xander seems so ga-ga over isn’t exactly what she appears to be.”
“No,” Giles agreed quietly, looking over the material, “I would say she isn’t at all.” And that would have to be Xander’s luck. The Watcher only hoped that Xander didn’t get in so far over his head that he actually lost his head. He glanced at Cordelia. “Well, come on. We’ve got work to do here.”