Monsters/ or Confessions of a Teenage Vampire Slayer
“Dear Diary,
“Ms. Morgan says I should keep a diary of my slayer activities so future slayers can read and learn from my mistakes and victories. It’s been only a week since she showed up here in Brasepoint. She’s tough, and she’s not making friends, but she’s growing on me. Gideon doesn’t care for her at all. The minute she arrived and started barking out orders, I could tell he didn’t like her. I’ve already learned a lot about my new power from her. A lot is instinct, but Ms. Morgan says instinct alone won’t be enough. I have to always be training and honing my skills. I’ve learned several new weapons since she arrived, though she’s trying to teach me to use a Halberd at the moment. It’s a really big, heavy weapon. I definitely wouldn’t be able to even pick it up if I didn’t have my Slayer strength. I asked Ms. Morgan why she wanted me to learn such a big weapon. She said it was one of the traditional slayer weapons and I should learn it anyway.
“Or to be prepared.
“Or something. I wasn’t really paying attention. I’ve had a lot on my mind. It just occurred to me I should be starting my senior year in High School. I’m only 17, legally I should still be in school. But I guess my destiny is more important than school…I was just so looking forward to prom, and graduation, and all that other stuff that comes with being a High School senior. Ha-ha, I was gonna torment Bobby until he asked me to the prom! But I don’t even know if Bobby is still alive…
“I’ve been having these strange dreams lately. I’ve been knocked out three times since I became a Slayer, once in the Hellmouth, once during that assault on the vamp infested library, and the last time while I was fighting that demon slayer-killer thing. Each time I’m on stage though, something different happens. I’ve already talked to Ms. Morgan about it, though she insists I call her Morgan or Angelina, and she told me dreams were common to a Slayer, but she admitted she was confused that I never have the dream while sleeping naturally. When I sleep at night, I usually dream of strange random things. Especially the battle in the Hellmouth. Lately those ubervamp things have been biting me and clawing my face. It’s terrifying!
“Anyway, Morgan is calling me. Sounds like something’s up! I’ll write more later.”
“What’s up?” Amanda asked as she entered the computer room, which was established in the hotel itself instead of the underground base. It was a large room filled with computers and phone lines. Gideon wanted to stay as connected as possible, so several of the computers had web cams and TVs hooked up to them.
“Amanda,” Morgan said, looking up from the computer screen she was seated in front of. “It looks like the vampire you interrogated was telling the truth. I just got word from the Slayer Council that they’ve had a few girls go missing.”
“Just missing?” Amanda asked.
“Mr. Giles told me there was a fight against a large group of demons a few days ago. A couple of the girls fell in battle, but the demons were still pushed into a retreat. But before they left, a few grabbed the bodies of the dead girls and left with them. He believes that the bodies may be on their way here, if they’re not here already. I need you to…”
“Find the bodies and find out where they’re being delivered?” Amanda asked.
Morgan smiled, nodding. “I think you’re up to it.”
Amanda nodded in response. “They took the bodies of those girls, like they were some trophy. I’ll get them back and try to find out who this Armand guy is and why he wants the slayers dead.”
“Amanda, these people, these creatures, are going to be hunting you as well…” Morgan started.
“I know,” she said nervously. “I need to be extra careful. What kind of demons are we talking about? And how do I track them?”
Morgan typed a few keys and a new image popped up on the screen. What appeared was a big brute-like demon. Humanoid, two arms, two legs, very big. To Amanda they looked like some of those wrestlers she had seen on TV. Big, bulky, and balding.
“The species is called Canathar. Not very intelligent, but very strong physically. It’s more likely that they’re working for someone who wants to collect the bodies, either the necromancer himself, or someone who wants to cash in the bounties.” She clicked away the picture and turned to Amanda again.
“If it’s the former, follow and do recon, if it’s the latter, you have my permission to kill whoever they’re working for. Though if it comes to that, try to find out any information you can about the whereabouts of this Armand fellow.”
Amanda nodded. “Right. So, do we have any idea of where these demons are now?”
Morgan shook her head. “Sorry, you’re going be on your own for this one. Ask around, Canathar demons aren’t known for great subtlety. If they’ve been through town, they’ve made a lot of noise. One more thing Amanda…”
“Yes?”
“Giles said the girls faced something else there. He’s not quite sure of this, but he believes it was a young dragon.”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “A d-dragon? Those are real??”
Morgan nodded grimly. “Yes, now, I don’t know if they will still have it with them when you encounter them…” she started to explain.
“How do I kill a dragon Morgan? I’ve never gone up against anything like that…” Amanda said, panic rising in her voice. Some of the other people in the computer room were turning to look at her.
Morgan sighed. “If Giles is right than it’s a young one, so you won’t have to worry about fire…”
“Fire? They really breathe fire?” Amanda was in near panic.
“… older ones do, younger ones haven’t developed the glands necessary to produce flame. But it may not even be young; it may just be a small dragon, so avoid its breath…” Morgan continued talking but Amanda was now breathing heavily. Morgan stood up and put her hands on her student’s shoulders. “It’s just a demon Amanda, you’ve dealt with them before.”
“But a dragon! I’m scared of dragons!” She gasped.
“You’re what?” Morgan asked, confused.
“When I was a kid, I saw this movie about a dragon terrorizing people, and it freaked me out! My brother always picked on me about it, told me there was a dragon hiding under my bed…” Amanda tried to explain. Morgan took her gently by the arm “Come with me Amanda.” and led her out of the computer room, which had now stopped functioning as everyone in the room turned to watch Amanda’s reaction, and led her to the workout room and makeshift armory.
When they entered the room Morgan told Amanda to step into the center of the room while she walked to the various weapons laid out on the table. “A dragon is just like an ordinary animal, though much more, and it is just like an ordinary demon Amanda, except much less. Very few species of dragons are sentient, and those that are do not live on this plane. You are simply dealing with an animal. Do you understand Amanda?”
Amanda nodded, though it was obvious by the look on her face that she still wasn’t very convinced. Morgan calmly picked up a Halberd from the table. She spun it in a slow circle around her. “We’ve trained with this before, haven’t we?”
Amanda nodded again. “Yeah, but I wasn’t very good with it…”
“Yes, and you told me you didn’t see the reason in learning it.” Morgan reminded her.
Amanda nodded her head again.
“This is a weapon built for slaying large beasts. You will not only need this when dealing with a dragon, but also when dealing with the Canathar demons.”
Amanda swallowed hard and Morgan tossed it to her. She caught it easily from the air.
“A dragon is like any other monster. There is nothing magical about them, despite their mystic origins. Injure a major organ, either the head, heart, or lungs, and bring them to the ground. Take out the eyes, blind them. Despite common belief, they do not have a good sense of smell or good hearing. But their vision is near perfect. No eyes mean no threat.”
Amanda shut her own eyes and nodded before opening them again; trying to take in what her teacher was telling her. Morgan approached and put her hands on Amanda’s shoulders. “I know I haven’t been here for long, and I know a lot of the people around here see me as something of a tyrant who always wants her way, but trust me when I say I believe in you. You are the most promising student I have ever had. And I’m not just saying that to make you feel good.”
Tears started to well up in Amanda’s eyes and she wiped them away. She shook softly. “Okay, look Morgan, I’m really, really scared.” She said in a meek voice.
“Alright Amanda,” Morgan finally said, looking her student in the eyes. “Meet with the demons, find whatever information you can, and try to retrieve the bodies. If you spot the dragon, get out of there.
“Okay.” Amanda said, nodding. “But I may need some help.”
“Oh?” Morgan said.
“Yeah, I want to take Gideon and Cooper with me. They can help me get out if things get too hairy.”
“You sure? I thought we agreed no taking civilians out demon hunting.” Morgan said.
“Yeah, but I’ve seen Cooper and Gideon fight. They’re the only ones I can trust to not have to look after during battle, they can handle themselves.” Amanda said, looking up confidently at her halberd.
“Very well, go and ask them.”
“I will.” Amanda said, and walked out the door, still holding her halberd; she stopped at the door and turned back to her watcher. “Morgan… I’m sorry…”
Morgan shook her head, a look of disappointment on her face. “Just go complete your mission Amanda.”
Nearly an hour later Gideon was driving the van toward the local magic shop, where Amanda hoped to pump more information out of Mort, who was her first and so far only link to the demon underworld. They pulled up and Amanda told Gideon and Cooper to stay behind as she got out and entered the shop.
The same little midget that had been there several weeks ago was still sitting on the stool. This time his face was turned downward and Amanda saw he was reading a dirty magazine. “Eww.” She said, causing Mort to do a double take before locking his eyes on her. “You!” he snarled. “Thanksss to you and your redheaded friend I lost a very valuable cussstomer! And now you’re going to what, ssstart judging me?! I don’t exactly have a great sssocial life, thisss isss all the action I ever get to.”
“Okay! Okay!” Amanda said, raising both hands, palms out. “I really don’t want to hear the rest of that! Just answer a couple questions and I’ll leave you alone.”
Mort gently folded the magazine and placed it on his lap. He than politely folded his hands on top of the magazine. “Why of courssse, anything I can do for the ssslayer.” He said with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
“I just need to know of any sort of demon movements through town lately, Canathar demons.”
Mort shook his head. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“You know Mort, I really don’t like torture, but …” Amanda started.
“Okay, fine! But you owe me a favor!” Mort said. “Word isss a group of demons are coming into town tonight. Might be your guysss. They sssay they have some dealingsss with the local lord.”
“Local lord?” Amanda said. “What do you know about him?”
Mort shrugged. “Very little. Powerful wizard, he’s holed up sssomewhere in town, don’t ask me where.”
“Fair enough.” Amanda said. “Do you know whose controlling these Canathar demons?”
“Yeah, sssome demon leader, namesss Trigesss, I think. Big on brain, little on brawn.” Mort said, picking up his magazine and beginning to thumb through it again. “Ssshould be no problem for a ssslayer sssuch as yourself. Of courssse, I’d watch out for hisss pet.” Mort chuckled.
“Oh great, I really hoped the dragon wasn’t real!” Amanda thought. “So where and when is this supposed to happen?” Amanda asked.
“Sssouth sssewers, Trigesss and his demonsss ssshow up, the lord’s minionsss ssshow up, make sssure everything’sss sssafe for him, then the lord ssshows up and they do whatever businessssss they came there to do.” Mort said, seeming rather pleased with himself.
“Why are you so cheerful all of a sudden?” Amanda asked.
Mort looked up at her with a wide grin. “Oh nothing, have fun on your little missssssion, ssslayer.”
Amanda frowned, wondering what he meant by that, then turned around and walked back toward the van.
When she got in, Gideon asked “How did it go?”
“South sewers, tonight. Some demon named Triges is in control of the Canathar demons. And, um, their pet.”
“Ah, the dragon?” Cooper said.
“Most likely.” Amanda said.
“Alright, south sewers it is.” Gideon said, speeding off to one of the southern sewer entrances.
Amanda, Gideon, and Cooper snuck through the sewers. It had been several hours since they had arrived in the south sewer. Amanda was carrying a mace, and had her halberd strapped to her back, Gideon was carrying his double bladed axe while Cooper had two long swords at his side. The halberd was a big, bulky weapon that Amanda was having difficulty walking with. She made up her mind to remove it if it looked like they were going into battle. She had no intention of using it on the dragon, but she would still need it if she ran into the Canathar demons, which was very likely.
“Remember guys, if we see the dragon, we’re getting out of here. At least, I’m getting out of here.” Amanda reminded them.
“Been down here nearly all day Amanda, haven’t even seen a demon,” Cooper reminded her.
“Mort said they’d be down here…” Amanda said, moving down a narrow walkway towards a large open area they had already passed through many times.
“And you trust this guy?” Cooper said.
“He seemed rather excited at the idea that we may be walking toward our demise.” Amanda responded.
“Great, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” Cooper said. “I’d rather be…”
“Shhh!” Gideon rasped. “I hear something.” He whispered.
Amanda, Cooper, and Gideon bent down and crawled slowly toward the entrance to the large area where they stopped, watching and listening.
A large creature, matching the description of a Canathar demon walked into site through one of the other entrances. Followed by another arrived, then another, and another. Soon half a dozen Canathar demons had arrived and were now standing in formation. Amanda watched as a small, skinny creature in long blue robes walked into the area next. After that, came two more Canathar demons, who were carrying large black bags. Body bags. Amanda realized as she watched four more demons join them.
“That makes a whole dozen, and the little guy, but what about the…” Gideon started and stopped as a low growl echoed through the sewers. Amanda watched closely as a snout appeared out of the sewer portal that the other demons had just exited. It stopped there so Amanda couldn’t get a good look at it. She started to shake and her teeth began to chatter.
“Amanda, quiet!” Gideon whispered to her and she tried to control her shaking, but her halberd was starting to knock softly against the floor as she trembled. “Amanda! Stop! They’ll hear us!”
Amanda stood and backed away a few feet. She reached around and grasped the shaft of the weapon, then undid the strap around her back, letting it fall freely from her back and into her hand. She gently placed halberd up against the sewer wall while trying to control her shaking.
She heard heavy footsteps and turned around quickly, afraid that they had been found out. Instead, she saw several more Canathar demons walking out of another portal. Now there were nearly three dozen standing around, waiting.
“Okay, we’re definitely not going in now.” Gideon said. “We need more people… and weapons.”
Amanda shook her head. “I feel guilty just leaving those girl’s bodies there to be bartered with.”
“So do I, but there’s no way we can take on so many.” Cooper agreed.
“We should wait and watch anyway, we might just get a look at this Armand fellow.” Gideon said, looking at the others, who nodded their agreement.
Nearly a half hour passed. The Canathar demons were looking restless, but the demon Triges seemed like he was enjoying the quiet. Amanda and her group remained completely still, it didn’t seem as if demons had good sensory perception, as several times Amanda could have sworn they were looking right at her but they didn’t seem to notice the three warriors.
Finally, figures began walking quickly out of the other side of the sewer. They were much smaller than the Canathar demons and wore red robes. Amanda could sense that several of them were vampires, and some were demons. The demons she sensed she could feel had strong mystical powers.
“Vampires mostly,” Amanda whispered to Gideon, “And a few demons. Though I think the demons are magic users.”
“How can you tell?” Gideon whispered back.
“Slayer senses, we can sense when the undead or the demonic are in our presence. Wait, I’m sensing something strong… and dark… it almost feels like…” She started, than stopped, her mouth falling open with a look of terror on her face. “Oh no! Not again!”
A very familiar all black demon exited from the portal, followed by a human. The human had mage robes and a full beard. He held in his hand some sort of blue mystical leash that was around the demon’s neck.
“Triges, how are you?” He said casually to the small demon leader of the other army.
“Armand, I do well. Please cut small talk.” The petite demon said in broken English. “I wish to leave after our transaction is done.” He looked at the SS that the necromancer had on his leash. “What is that?”
“Oh, just a little friend of mine. He knows the smell and taste of a slayer, he’ll be able to tell me if these girls are really slayers, or just some unlucky girls you picked up in an effort to fool me.” Armand said, smiling.
Amanda’s eyes widened at the revelation that the beast could smell slayers. The creature seemed to be looking around excitedly, toward the two body bags, and back toward her. Amanda took a deep breath and held it; as if she stopped breathing the assassin-demon wouldn’t notice her.
“You suggest I would try to trick you Armand? That is great insult! I will let it slide for now as long as you give reward!”
Armand spoke in a strange language and the slayer killer on his leash suddenly grew still and seemed less eager. He released the leash and it calmly walked straight through the line of demons and straight to the two demons holding the body bags. It turned back to Armand and let out a strange howl.
“Good.” Armand said, and spoke another word that made the creature return to him. “Now, for your reward.” He snapped his fingers and two demons from behind him came forward, dragging a large crate.
“Take it with my blessing.” Armand said and Triges walked forward to inspect it. He opened the crate and dug through its contents. “This is all?!” The small demon exclaimed. “I lost most of my demons fighting that group of slayers, and you insult me with this!”
Armand frowned. “It is the same amount I am giving everyone who brings me a slayer.”
“But I brought you two!” The skinny creature explained.
“You did, and I appreciate it, but this is the amount I am giving for the death of the slayers.” Armand said calmly.
“You will pay for this insult!” The small demon screamed and yelled to the group of Canathar demons, who than began to form a barrier around Armand and his lackeys.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and this Triges guy will finish him off for us,” Amanda said, watching closely.
“You dare threaten me?” Armand roared with anger. He snapped his fingers again and several more vampires and demons appeared behind him. “Kill this demon, and his lackeys. When you’re done deliver the girls’ bodies to me.”
“Yes Master.” One of the demons said. He then turned to the Canathar demons and roared an order. The group of demons and vampires charged the Canathar demons and Armand disappeared in a cloud of smoke, along with his fell beast. The two groups of demons ran forward and crashed into each other, punching and clawing and biting. The two body bags were dropped by the demons as they ran into battle.
“This may be our chance.” Gideon said. “We can grab the bodies and run while they’re distracted.”
“Wait until they thin out a little more.” Cooper said. As they watched, it was obvious that the Canathar demons had the advantage as far as strength, and they easily began to knock aside the vampires who charged them. Armand’s demons either joined the fight, or began to cast spells at the attacking army. Quickly the tide began to turn more toward Armand’s group as the demon mages gave the vampires great strength and power that helped them easily knock aside the Canathar horde.
“Okay, let’s go!” Gideon said and charged into battle; Amanda followed holding the mace in one hand and the halberd in the other with Cooper right behind her with both of his swords drawn. They were completely ignored until they reached the bodies. As they approached, the dragon came into plain view. Amanda immediately froze up. It roared at Gideon and Cooper as the two men grabbed the two body bags.
“Amanda, let’s go!” Gideon said as they began to run back toward the entrance, but Amanda didn’t move. The dragon began to approach her cautiously as the battle around them raged. It hissed at her and bent back, getting ready to pounce. Amanda shook in fear. “Amanda, come on!” Gideon yelled.
“…And then some of Armand’s vampires attacked the dragon, they just tackled it! Gideon used a free hand to grab me on the shoulder, which snapped me out of the shock I was in. I feel so bad about it too, I totally froze up! Me and Gideon and Cooper ran for it! Surprisingly enough, Armand’s guys beat back the Canathar demons. By the time they must have realized the bodies were gone, we were already running through the sewers the opposite direction. Cooper said he thought he heard them running through the sewers after us by the time we made it back out on the street.
“Fortunately, it was still day time, and no matter how powerful those demons’ spells were, the vampires couldn’t follow us, so we made it out. We got the bodies back to the hotel, and Morgan said there would be someone here in a day or two to return the girls back to the Slayer Council, where they would receive a hero’s funeral.
“Still, I feel so useless. When I saw that dragon, I just froze. Morgan told me it’s all a part of the learning process and that all Slayers have that moment of weakness. She said as I trained and grew more confident I would eventually overcome my fear. I asked her if any other Slayer had slain a dragon and she admitted it was very rare. Though she mentioned a Slayer by the name of Olivia in the 13th Century who killed a full grown dragon with a sword and spear she had forged herself. Though she admitted that Olivia had died shortly afterwards due to her wounds in the battle, so that wasn’t too reassuring. When her Watcher found her he noted that the dragon had died before she had, so he wrote that she did actually kill it first. It would be nice if someone had actually witnessed the battle; than I could study what happened so I could avoid, um, whatever had finished off this Olivia gal.
“After dinner tonight I had a real long talk with Cooper, who I haven’t really gotten to know very well since arriving here, despite the fact we’ve fought in a lot of the same battles. He sure had an interesting life up until now. Twenty four, former helicopter pilot for the Navy. He said he grew up here in Brasepoint and has lived here his whole life except for a few years in the Navy. I wonder what was so interesting here that made him want to come back when his service ended. Could it be the demonic hordes? Ha-ha-ha. Still… something kind of attractive about a former military man… perhaps I’ll have to “pick” on him some time! Boy, I miss that…
“Anyway, back to Slayer stuff. Ms. Morgan was impressed the way Gideon and Cooper handled themselves while I was, erm, frozen in terror, heh. Anyway, she suggested that maybe they, as well as some other members of Gideon’s gang might be able to accompany me in patrolling from now on. That would be real good, I think. It would be much more effective to have them spread out around me so we could cover more of an area and kill more vamps and other undesirables that way.
“Ms. Morgan also said she wanted me to scout out the area in the sewers where we fought earlier today, to see if any bodies were left over. She’s hoping that the dragon, the Canathar demons and the leader, Triges, are all dead. I really don’t want to go back down there, but if the dragon is dead then I guess I really don’t have much to worry about.
“Something’s in the air, and I suppose it’s my job to find out what. I really miss school.”
Amanda
08-29
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