Crouching spider, flying dragon

The first thing Buffy learned about giant caterpillars was that it was extremely difficult to make two of them go in the same direction for any considerable length of time. Heck, it seemed as if Buffy would have had far less trouble herding cats.

Fortunately, Spider-Eve was able to help but even she was sometimes more of a problem than a solution. She was very good at swinging from branch to branch and at leaping back and forth between Buffy and the caterpillars -- but she was not always as attentive as she should be. Buffy constantly feared that Spider-Eve was going to fall or run into something but she evidently had some guardian angel looking after her because she never did.

Buffy soon discovered that if she flew low enough to get the caterpillars' attention, she could make them follow her. But she had to fly slow enough for them to see her -- and fast enough to avoid their attempts to snare her in their webbing -- or their cocoon threads, as Spider-Eve had insisted on calling them. And that got old very quickly.

Fortunately, the edge of the woods was not far away and Buffy soon saw the lights of the village shining in front of her.

She also saw something else -- a small dragon roughly her size flying toward her.

"Oh, look!" said Spider-Eve as she crouched on Buffy's back. "Another dragon is coming to help you."

"That's funny," said Buffy. "I don't remember Amelia mentioning anything about creating another dragon."

"Oh, really?" asked Spider-Eve. "In that case, I'll go check it out."

And just like that, Spider-Eve was gone from Buffy's back -- and swinging herself into mid-air just above the oncoming dragon. Buffy held her breath till she saw Spider-Eve drop upon the dragon's back. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Perhaps things will go out for me, after all, Buffy thought. I just hope Spider-Eve stays safe in the meantime...

xxx

Sister Lilith smiled. The Slayer was dead ahead and she seemed to have no clue that Sister Lilith was a thing to be feared. Good. That would make killing her all the easier.

Once the Slayer was dead, Sister Lilith could go back and kill the two witches and their friends. Then she could join up with Brother Linden again, have Erasmus Rayne turn her back into a human and go home with a clear conscience.

Then Sister Lilith felt a heavy weight land upon her shoulders and a feminine voice said, "Hi, I'm Spider-Eve. Are you here to help Buffy and me kill the big dragon?"

Sister Lilith tried to resist the impulse to smirk and said, "Why, of course, I am."

Then Sister Lilith turned herself upside-down and felt the weight upon her back ease up as her would-be passenger fell off. She waited until she heard the scream of a young girl, then turned herself right-side-up again.

One ally of the Slayer down, she thought. At least three more to go.

Then Sister Lilith felt something attach itself to her belly.

After that, she felt a quick yank as if she was attached to a rope that someone was tugging on.

After that, she felt another weight land upon her back.

Then the same voice she had heard before said, "Hey, that was fun, Miss Dragon. Let's do it again!"