Wild Horses
Part 06
By Jeconais
It was a curious meeting, eight species of demons sat around a table. At the head was a Brachen half demon, who was currently appearing in his human form.
"So it has started then?"
"Yes. Last night, Andy was killed by the Slayer, at the direction of the Betrayer," the reporter, a Cluck'ta demon named Bill, announced. No one was quite sure what his real name was; when asked it had taken over fifteen minutes for the vaguely humanoid demon to recite it.
The Brachen demon, Simon to his friends, sighed. "The situation is becoming untenable. What happened to the Watcher and the Carpenter?"
"The Watcher is in New York, with the future Slayers. The Carpenter's influence has been removed from the Slayer."
"What?" Simon demanded. "How has this come to pass?"
"The Betrayer has become engaged to the Slayer."
"That's just sick! I mean, I know she's a Slayer, and looks human, but, EWWWW!" interrupted Micklornswath of the Deathwok Clan. He had moved to Sunnydale after working at his brothers club in Los Angeles for several years.
Soft laughter echoed around the table. "There's no accounting for taste. This does leave us with a problem, though."
"The Witch is with the Slayer and the Betrayer. Once again, she has abandoned the true path and strayed into the shrubbery. However, all is not lost. The Carpenter is now protecting the Key. The Key is very safe; she is in the Fortress."
Approving murmurs continued around the table. "What about the Carpenter's disciples?"
"The Security force is concentrating on Vampires only, and is under the Carpenter's direct control."
"Excellent! I'm sure we can all agree that killing the Cursed Ones is a good thing." Agreement was whispered from everyone at the table.
"I believe it is time for us to approach the Carpenter. Will he accept us, Bill?"
"The Carpenter is the One Who Sees. He has always been open minded about our kind, while he has a in-depth hatred for the Cursed Ones. Remember, he has had a serious relationship with Anyanka, one of D'hoffryn's demons."
Simon nodded, as Bill continued. "A truly unique opportunity has arisen. I obtained his Hospital report. The Betrayer caused one of the Carpenter's eyes to be completely removed."
A gasp went around the table, "That is why the Carpenter has left and is now protecting the Key. I believe that we should offer him the 'Orb of Isis'. He will truly become the One Who Sees."
"That is an extraordinary gift," Simon noted carefully.
"Agreed. The Carpenter will not be concerned with ordinary money. He has attracted the protection of the some of the Ultra Wealthy members of his race. However, a magical device, offered freely, as a gift without strings will inspire his confidence in us."
"How well protected is the Fortress?" a deep gravelly voice asked, his face shrouded in darkness.
With a small bow of respect, Bill replied, "Extremely so. The chance of a Cursed invasion succeeding is zero. The Key is protected."
"Excellent," the gravelly voice replied. "My vote is to offer the Carpenter the gift. He will need it in times to come, as we will need him."
"Anyone opposed to this?" Simon asked. No one replied. "Then I will arrange a meeting with the Carpenter, and invite him to our next meeting. I believe that any prevarication on our part will be disastrous in the long term.
"With that out of the way, shall we move on?"
The meal the night before had been excellent. Molly was a fantastic cook, and both Xander and Dawn had over eaten. This had caused them to drive home at a very leisurely pace. They had parked and walked up to the elevator together, with Xander nodding at the security guard. A trained observer would have noticed the guard fight the automatic urge to salute.
They had parted as soon as they had entered the apartment, both going to their respective bedrooms. It had been an emotional day, and they were exhausted.
Dawn climbed into bed, wishing for the time when they would retreat to the same room and would lay in each other's arms, falling asleep together. This romantic dream was enough to put her into a gentle slumber, a hauntingly beautiful smile on her face.
Before he went to bed, Xander checked in on her, as he had every night so far. He smiled tenderly, "What are you dreaming about, Dawnie?" he whispered to himself, unable to take his eyes from her face.
He had no idea how long he stayed there, watching her sleep. He could barely make himself turn away.
Eventually his tiredness overtook him, and he stumbled into his own bed, but sleep wouldn't come. His mind replayed the events of the last few days.
Dawn had changed; he had actually seen her grow up and mature, literally overnight. His anger at Buffy and Spike returned. They had stolen the last of her childhood.
He was a lot more worried now, since Dawn had told them about the original argument last night. Spike's mysterious lady sounded far too much like Drusilla for comfort. The last thing they needed was an insane super vamp in town. The only thing that consoled him was that Dawn was safe. This apartment was practically impregnable. And he only added the 'practically' because 'impregnable' was too much like 'unsinkable' for his liking. And he was very much afraid of the icebergs represented by the vampires.
It didn't help that Dawn's metamorphosis had turned her into a beautiful young woman. She had impressed him more and more each day, with her intelligence, wit and humor. While she continued to act like an adult, he was determined to treat her as such. He really wanted to see how she would react to more responsibility.
When he had arranged for the mortgage on the Summers’ house to be paid off, he had also arranged for a debit card to be produced for her, under his bank account. It would be very interesting to see if she would act like a teenager and go wild, or would show the restraint a mature adult would. He was betting on the second.
He tried to analyze why he was finding himself touching her a bit more, her shoulder, her face, her back. He was incredibly comfortable being tactile with her, and that was a little unusual for him. Growing up, sudden movements would cause him to flinch minutely; he'd try and avoid getting into those situations. This was the result of the numerous beatings his father would give him, for any minor infraction of his rules. But when Dawn touched him, it was as if his subconscious had decided that it was ok for her to touch him, and he didn't react.
With a sigh of confusion, he fell asleep, Molly's words to him on his mind. "Don't let her go."
The next day passed normally. Well, it did for Xander, anyway. He spent the day doing paperwork and looking over blue-prints. The reports from the preliminary testing of XTech security group's armory division were extremely promising. Kyle hadn't been lying when he had talked about the originality of the people involved. Anything that kept his people safe was his top priority.
XTech was a wholly owned subsidiary of PJH Construction, but was run by Xander alone. His bosses had stumped up the cash and the technical and legal backup, but had left him to run it. It was a little strange, as far as he was concerned, but they had insisted.
What he didn't realize was that the running of XTech was his final test; if he made a success of it, the three partners were going to force a partnership on him. The construction company was expanding fast, their reputation was unparalleled at the moment, and their new security concepts were attracting much attention from both sides of the thin white line.
Dawn's day was much the same as the day before, extremely confusing and bizarre. To people who cared about the school's social structure, it was as if the long haired girl had stepped outside of the known, and had somehow ended up at the very top.
Chrissy was proving invaluable; it was fair to say that the small blonde knew everyone in the school. As people approached Dawn, she would whisper their name to her best friend. Dawn would then use that info and talk to the person one on one. She quickly got the reputation of being extremely nice, friendly and fun to be around.
At lunch, she had sat down in her usual seat, opposite Chrissy on one of the tables to the side of the cafeteria, and had immediately been swamped by people, all jostling to sit on the same table. She had taken it with good grace, offering apologetic glances to those who had been shoved out the way.
The Queen of the school was supposed to be above talking to mere peasants. She was supposed to set the standard in dress and looks that others aspired to. She was supposed to put down anyone who crossed her as quickly as possible, and rule with an iron fist.
Dawn was not a Queen. She had no wish to be. All she wanted was to get through the day as easily as possible. If that meant being nice to a lot of people, so be it. Geek, Jock, Nerd, Cheerleader, it didn't matter to her. Everyone was treated the same way, everyone got the same direct look, the same full attention.
A lot of the senior hierarchy didn't like it. She was mucking up the traditional high school hierarchy, the people at the bottom were starting to realize that they didn't deserve to be at the bottom and were starting to stand up for themselves.
The problem was that the group of jocks and cheerleaders, who had been at the top, suddenly found themselves powerless. Like many dictatorships, the minority had ruled over the majority through fear and intimidation. With the fear being effectively removed, the majority realized a very valuable point - *They* were the majority, and intimidation would not work when you had numbers on your side.
It wasn't just numbers; Dawn's army consisted of people who were becoming fanatically loyal to her. She was one of their own who had reached dizzying heights, then not forgotten where she had come from. The school paper was already planning an article on her, the student government was meeting to decide how to try and get her to run for them. Even the chess club was planning on asking her to sit in one of their meetings.
People knew that they could approach her, and even if she said no, they wouldn't be shot down, there would be a valid reason for her refusal.
In the afternoon, a rumor swept through certain quarters that the old guard, the jocks and cheerleaders, were planning a confrontation. With out Dawn's knowledge, a large group of students had congregated and decided that it just wasn't going to happen.
They liked the new way, and wanted to keep it. These people weren't the geeks or the nerds, they were the normal people, who just wanted to get school over with as soon as possible and get on with their lives. They had no pretensions about being overly popular or successful, they had plans to go to college and then get a job. None of them knew exactly what, but they knew they would do something.
They had laughed amongst themselves at the popular kids, the ones who were being big fish in a small pond. They had consoled each other with the knowledge that when they went out into the big world of college, they would suddenly become small fish in a huge pond. They had been resigned to the status quo, but now that had been broken, and they seized their chance.
Under the watchful, but unseen, eye of Robin Wood, who stood hidden at the back, they walked over to the gym and separated. In a classic pincer movement, the students had entered the large hall through every entrance, blocking all avenues of escape.
Adam Walker was the current editor for the Sunnydale Journal, the weekly student newspaper. He had been elected spokesperson, since his ability with words was not just limited to text.
He had moved to the front and looked at the much smaller group.
"Greetings," he said urbanely. "It has come to our attention that a certain group of students have nefarious designs on another student."
"So, what?" Lance Michaels demanded aggressively.
Adam sighed theatrically, and shook his head. "You hardly noticed, did you?"
"Notice what?"
"The whole school changed over-night, the old order has been made redundant. You are no longer relevant."
"I'm the captain of the football team," Lance said, as if that made all the difference.
"And we're all very proud of you. Your ability to throw and catch a ball is extremely impressive." The sarcasm flew straight past most of the elite group; it did, however, cause a ripple of amusement amongst Dawn's protectors.
"You can't stop us," Porsche snarled, joining the conversation.
"Au contraire, we have stopped you. You've just not realized it yet."
"Lance, knock this dweeb out."
Any move Lance was going to make was instantly halted by a slight rearrangement in front of them. Half of the football team stood behind Adam, as well as prominent members of the school boxing team, the school karate team, and scariest of all, the school psycho.
Ian Walker was a fighter, who had been introduced to Sunnydale's 'night life' at an early age. It had left him with a couple of visible scars, and a lot of mental ones. He had been found one night, fighting a couple of vampires, and *winning*, by a member of XTech. As a result, he had been invited back to the main office, where he had met Xander. The two of them had talked all night, swapping stories and telling bad jokes. It had been one hell of a relief for Ian to realize he wasn't alone in his battle. His semi-psychotic nature had been curtailed, after counseling had been arranged by Xander, but he had decided to keep up his reputation at school. It kept him out of the way of the elite arrayed before him now.
He had been invited to join the XTech force as soon as he left school, if his grades improved. Xander had sat in during a meeting between him and Principal Wood, where everything had been explained to the Principal. It had been a great shock for him to find that the new Principal had been fighting the dark as long as he had been alive.
Although his grades might indicate something different, he was exceptionally smart. You just don't stay alive in Sunnydale at night without it. He had seen Dawn's sudden elevation and had put two and two together very quickly.
He had noticed that Dawn's pictures were all over Xander's office. Xander was extremely wealthy, and had known the girl for a very long time, and rumor had it that he was protecting her at his apartment, which he knew from experience was the safest place in the city.
Dawn's mysterious boyfriend was obviously Xander. Whether or not they were actually going out, he didn't know. What he did know was that the one man who had treated him normally, who had helped him far beyond the call of duty felt that this girl was worthy of protecting. As a future member of XTech, and a close friend of Xander's, he had decided to protect Dawn at school, where his brown eyed friend couldn't. He hadn't bothered to pass this information on to anyone, it simply wasn't necessary.
He had approached Dawn that morning, just to say 'hi' and see what sort of person she was. He was used to being ignored, to being insulted behind his back, to people being scared of him.
Dawn had looked him up and down, smiled at him warmly and simply said, "Hi, Ian." She had offered him her hand to shake, which he had, and had almost been stunned as he took it.
Ian believed he was slightly psychic, something to do with the Hellmouth, probably. When he touched the brunette's hand, he had felt just how much she loved his friend. It was something so pure and almost innocent that he had felt a smile come over him. The first in many, many years.
Every Queen needed a Knight, someone to do the dirty work for them, someone to protect her and accept her challenges, to protect her honor. In that moment, Ian had sworn to himself that he would be Dawn's Knight. When the Queen got her King, he would serve them both. As far as he was concerned, the Innocent Queen and the Warrior King were the most important people on the planet.
They were good people who fought to protect others, not for rewards, not for fame and glory, but simply to help others, to help the ones who could not fight, to help the weak and the needy. Xander and Dawn were two people he could look up to.
"If you take one more step, I will end your football career. Dawn is under my personal protection." He told Lance in a quiet, matter-of-fact tone of voice.
Two years before, a vampire had almost crushed his larynx; it left him with an eerie, quiet voice that seemed to fill the auditorium without really trying. He walked slowly to the front, aware that he was the center of attention, and actually enjoying it, for once. Having been shunned, feared and hated for so many years, it felt incredibly good to be on the right side.
Standing next to Adam, in front of the more physically able protectors, he glared at the old guard and shrugged off his coat. The scars on his arms looked like the sort that you would receive in knife fights. They had been caused by the claws of vampires. What people had thought was a slightly fat body turned out to be a hugely muscled torso that had been hidden by his trench coat. His nose had been broken too many times for him to count, and his hair was long and pitch black. He looked down at that vast majority of the school from his full 6" 2' height. He had slouched for so long, that he had given the impression of being much smaller.
There were two opposing thoughts running through the opposing groups, and one identical.
The opposing thoughts were, "Thank god he's on our side," and "I wish he was on our side."
The similar thought was, "How the hell did Dawn win HIM over?"
Lance looked nervously at Porsche, looking for direction.
Ian grinned, as frighteningly as he could, the same expression he used with great effect on vampires. "Porsche, Porsche, Porsche," he said mockingly. He had phoned XTech at lunch time, and had heard a very interesting rumor. That Dawn and Xander had been invited to dinner at the Michael's mansion last night, and that Miranda had adored the girl.
Gossip about Xander was one of the few vices that XTech had. They all followed him, trusting him implicitly, but they also loved to exchange stories about him. They knew about the Slayer, the Watcher, the Witch and the others, but they were more impressed by Xander. He didn't have any super powers, he didn't have any destiny, he just did what was right. To the ex-policemen, this said more about his character than anything else could have. The control center had picked up his car entering the mansion; the long range security cameras had seen them leave, after Molly had given Dawn a huge hug.
"You do know where Dawn and her Boyfriend ate last night, don't you?"
"What are you talking about?" Only the fear of the psycho kept the trailing insult from leaving her mouth.
"Kyle and Miranda Beauchamps-Michaels. Auntie and Uncle are extremely fond of Ms Summer's boyfriend, and I'm sure she'd hate to hear that you were doing anything against the girlfriend of one of her very close friends. Doesn't Miranda control the purse strings in your family?" His voice was mocking and carried around the room,
Porsche blanched. It was a very frustrating fact that her mother had to obey the rules that Miranda laid down. She bemoaned this fact frequently, but never to her sister's face. The two siblings were very, very different people.
Ian sighed audibly, "You have been replaced. There is a new Queen. Any threat to the Queen will be dealt with, by me, and by everyone else here. I am Dawn's first knight, and I have pledged my allegiance to her and her boyfriend."
Lance rolled his eyes; he had no idea what this jerk was going on about, but decided that a short display of his physical superiority would cower the others. He took a couple of quick steps forward, his football skills coming to the fore, and threw a haymaker as hard as he could at the psycho's head.
Only Ian's head had moved; the football player's speed was remarkably slow, when compared to a Vampire. Ian then moved, so fast that only the Karate team could follow his movements. He skipped to one side, jumped and drove a devastating kick into the lumbering giant's stomach. As the air violently exited Lance's lungs, he bent forwards, presenting the dark haired vampire fighter with an easy opportunity. A short, but incredibly powerful, punch impacted on the football player's jaw, knocking his body to the ground, and his mind into next week.
A second later, he was standing in his original place, not even having the grace to look out of breath. "That was your only warning."
Everything changed suddenly. Not a single word was said, but the old guard surrendered. It was felt by everyone. Ian and Adam nodded at each other, and turned around. Their backup followed them, emptying the sports hall, leaving a shell shocked formerly elite group and one person unconscious on the floor.
Robin Wood smiled to himself, watching them go. His school was changing, for the better, and was being done in a way that he had never experienced before. Lance had attacked Ian, so he could hardly blame him for defending himself. He had been impressed with the restraint shown. The sort of punches you had to deliver to affect a being so much stronger than you would cause serious damage to a student.
The thing that amused him the most was that the catalyst for this was blissfully unaware of what was happening in her name.
Sunnydale High School had just undergone an, almost, bloodless coup. And all it had taken was one pretty girl. It had started when the girl had slipped out of a new SUV, taken off when the girl had refused to accept an insult from the previous regime and had shown she could stand up for herself, both physically and verbally, and had been finished when she had not let it go to her head, and had been extremely friendly to anyone and everyone.
She had shown people that there was a different way, and everyone had followed her quickly.
As for Dawn, she received the final seal of approval at the end of the day. She'd met the Principal on the way out, who'd given her some paperwork for Xander, and she'd given him a hug goodbye as she walked out, to find him hugging her back, in full view of the student population.
"Honey," Buffy said quietly. She was lying in bed, with Spike. He'd just started to wake up as the sun had set.
"Yeah, ducks?"
"Did we do the right thing, with Xander?"
"Of course we did. We didn't do anything wrong. Droopy should have been happy for us."
"But his head was so heavily bandaged."
"I know, but he banged his forehead, that always bleeds heavily. I could smell the blood on him, it was old and stale. He'd already started to heal properly."
She sighed softly, idly running her hand over his chest, tracing intricate patterns. "It's just…I don't know." Her voice was low, mirroring her uncertainty.
Spike's voice became warm and caring. "You thought this would happen - that he wouldn't be able to handle you being happy for a change. He wanted to take away your chance for the future. He's not worth you being upset about it.
"Like Giles did, like Riley did - he left you. He abandoned you. It's not your fault, that they stole you back from heaven. They dragged you from where you were warm and safe, then they tried to stop you from moving on." He spoke with a level cadence, timing his words to the rise and fall of her chest.
"When you came back, there was one person always there for you. One person who helped you try and regain your life. One person who didn't care that you came back from the place they ripped you from, different. One person who was willing to love you more than anyone else and stick by you no matter what happened. And when you decided to make that person the luckiest guy in the world, by marrying him, they wanted to stop you. They wanted to take away your happiness."
He slid his arm under her and pulled her closer to him.
"I love you, Buffy. I will never abandon you; I belong to you as you belong to me. I'll never leave you. I even willingly had my soul returned, suffering eternal regret for what I have done, to prove myself to you.
"I'll never leave you," he said again. "I'll always be here for you. You'll never be alone again. You've done nothing wrong."
He felt her slowly relax against him, and bury her face in his neck, seeking the comfort she seemed to believe she was somehow destined to always be denied. Spike smiled to himself, a smile that grew into a grin as she slid over him, straddling him.
She lifted herself up, and smiled down at him. "You're right." Those were her last words for sometime, as she started to move atop him.
Simon walked up to the entrance way of Xander's apartment building, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say.
The doors opened for him, and he entered confidently, only to suddenly freeze. The security guard was pointing a very large gun at him, and scowling.
"Sir, do not take another step," the guard demanded in a firm voice. "If you do, I will activate the buildings defenses."
The guard spoke in a very firm manner - that of one accustomed to command and being obeyed.
Simon had yet to move a muscle. He had heard that this building was protected from vampires, so he hadn't expected any trouble, being only a half demon that appeared human. His sharp eyes suddenly focused on small metal tubes that weren't quite flush in the far wall. He gulped nervously; suddenly very aware that a wrong move would end his life very quickly.
"Sir," the guard continued, "Please state your business."
"My name is Simon Verkochnar, I am here to see Alexander Harris."
"Does Mr. Harris know you are coming?"
Simon shook his head. "I am not here to cause him any harm."
"Please wait, where you are, Sir." He picked up a phone, pressing 1 on the keypad.
"Mr. Harris, We have a Brachen half demon down here. He would like to see you." He paused, obviously listening to the reply.
"Yes, Sir," he said, putting down the receiver. He pressed a button, and a second later another guard appeared and silently took his place.
"Come with me, Sir," the guard said. It wasn't a request.
"Aren't you going to check me for weapons?"
They walked into the elevator, the guard pressing the buttons. "You have a small round object in your left pants pocket. You have 75 cents in your right pocket. You have no other metal on your body. You are a half demon, whose demon form has Spikes. If you attack me now, the other security guard will flood this car with gas, knocking us both out instantly."
"Oh." Simon was impressed. He didn't have a clue how they had identified him so easily, and suspected that if Xander had replied differently, he would be walking home now. If he were lucky.
A small knock on the door to the Apartment was swiftly followed by Xander opening it.
"Please come in, Mr.?"
"Just call me Simon," he said, accepting the hand that Xander offered.
They moved into the living room, where Dawn was sitting in the corner of a couch, curled up, a laptop on her legs. Out of Simon's sight, her screen had a full schematic of the Demon's physiology, and complete instructions on how to take him out easily and quickly. The guard already knew this, and was standing at a discreet distance, his hands by his side, hanging loosely, his gun in easy reach.
"What can I do for you, Simon?" Xander asked. "We don't get many house guests here."
Simon looked at the young man, who still had a large bandage wrapped around half his head. He had heard rumors and reports about him, about everything he had done since he had found out about the night, and had been suitably impressed. Now, standing in his presence, he felt a lot more impressed, as he realized that Xander was quite capable of having him killed if he offered any sort of threat.
"Not all demons want to rule the world," Simon started, his standard introduction.
"Please," Xander interrupted politely, "get to your point. I am well aware of the fact that there are good demons as well as evil demons. I do not judge on race, only on behavior."
"Sorry," Ian said, off balance. "We have a problem, and we are going to need your help. The Betrayer is trying to take over the underground, with the help of the Black Lady. He has started to move against us, and with the Slayer on his side, we can't get to him."
"The Betrayer being Spike?" Xander asked, only guessing because of the mention of the Slayer.
"Yes, he came to us offering his help first, then decided that he didn't need us in his way. The Black Lady has arrived, and some of our numbers have started to die. Last night, the Slayer killed a Garloch Demon on his behalf."
"Garloch Demons are pacifists, aren't they? Willow would have known that."
"The Witch was not there. The Slayer took directions and executed our friend."
Xander frowned. "What do you want from me?"
"The Dark Lady wants control; she wishes to open the Hellmouth, and bring death to all."
Xander laughed softly. "Sorry, but I've heard that a few times."
Simon nodded. "I know. Many times. With our council gone, all the demons here will be forced to join her, instantly swelling her ranks by around a thousand."
"There are that many in town?" Xander looked slightly surprised.
The Brachen demon nodded. "Yes. All living peacefully as they have for many years."
"Why come to me?" the carpenter asked.
"Because you are the One Who Sees. The person who has started up the first practical plan we have seen for making this town safe at night. You are the one with the open mind."
Xander nodded slowly, aware that Buffy still operated on an "Attack first, and hope to get answers from a Corpse" basis.
"Who is the Black Lady?"
"We do not know," Simon said softly, looking down. His lack of knowledge irritated him; he didn't like not negotiating from a position of power.
Xander thought for a second, then made an instant decision. "How many people do you need protecting?"
"Eight," Simon replied.
"Ok, I will find accommodation in PJH Construction buildings for each person, it's about as safe as anyone can be in this time. However, I will want to meet them first."
"What do you want in return?" Simon asked, curiously.
Xander shrugged. "Just keep your people in the light and there won't be a problem."
Simon smiled, "I thought you would say that. We do not ask for favors, we pay our own way. Originally, we were going to offer you money, as a thank you. However, we know that you are friends with the Ultra Wealthy, and as such, have no need for it. Instead, as proof of our commitment, I offer you this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ball. "The Orb of Isis."
Xander looked up at Dawn, who was already tapping furiously on her keyboard. A few seconds later, a password and IP address restricted search engine returned several hits. She skimmed through them, and raised her eyebrows.
"An expensive gift," she said softly.
Simon nodded in agreement, "but I think that it was meant to go to Xander. He is the One Who Sees."
"Sees what?" Xander interrupted.
The same blush of embarrassment appeared on Simon's face. "Again, we don't know."
"Dawn, what have you found?"
"Xander," her voice was commanding. "Remove your bandage and hold the orb to your eye socket."
He trusted Dawn implicitly; she had the knowledge in front of her. Turning slightly, he removed the bandage and lifted the Orb up towards his eye.
A second later, he started to scream.