Aspects of a Slayer
Over the next few weeks, Amanda worked out and trained to be part of Gideon’s underground gang. She was learning to use a variety of new weapons including a sword, but she still preferred her long stake for vampire hunting. Since she had joined, it seemed as if every day the monster threat was growing larger, but they still could not find the source of the infestation.
Amanda was still concerned about the Turok-Han she had encountered just after arriving, but she hadn’t met any others since. In addition, she was surprised at how fast she healed from wounds she received during battle. She knew Slayers were supposed to heal fast, but small wounds seemed to heal almost instantly while major wounds would become smooth skin again in only a few hours, though she hadn’t been hurt badly since the vampire had stabbed her in the library.
It was a rainy Tuesday night and Amanda had just returned from an all day patrol. She was active all day when it was raining because the blocked out sun gave vampires a lot of room to move around. She had dusted several of them and was feeling very good about it when she returned to the underground headquarters Gideon met her at the door.
“Amanda, welcome back,” he said, a neutral look on his face, which seemed to be typical of him no matter how excited he got. “How was the patrol?”
“Great!” Amanda exclaimed. “Bagged eight vamps. You were right; I think a nest was trying to relocate under cover of a sunless day.”
Gideon raised his brow. “Eight? All at once? That’s quite impressive.”
Amanda smirked. “Well, the sun broke through the clouds for a few minutes during the fight, which helped a bit.” She said as she walked over to the weapon chest and put away her crossbow, long stake, and three regular stakes.
“I see.” Gideon said. “And this was all in the south slums, right?”
Amanda gave him an awkward look. “Um, no. North side of town. That was where you wanted me to hunt, wasn’t it?”
“Interesting, I’ve gotten word that there has been some Slayer activity in the south slums today.” Gideon said, rubbing his chin.
“Well, I haven’t really been in the south slums since I’ve gotten here,” Amanda replied, “I mean, I was there once or twice on some errands, but I don’t think I’ve slain anything in the area. What kind of activity are we talking about?”
“Vampires dusted, demons dead. I apparently have overlooked the area; it’s infested with the undead. I didn’t realize because we don’t get much news from that area. I mean, none of my kids are really from the slums.”
Amanda looked strangely on her new mentor. Overlooking something like that didn’t seem normal for him. She shook her head to clear her mind. “Anyway,” she finally said after a few moments of silence, “Sounds like there’s a new Slayer in town. Want I should go meet and greet?”
“Yeah, I’d hate to ask you so soon after returning from patrol, but the sooner we get to her the sooner we can make a potential new friend.”
Amanda nodded. “No problem, I’ll take my bike.” She said, turning back to the weapons chest and retrieving her long stake.
Amanda walked to the parking lot, strapped the stake to her back with one of those neat harnesses Gideon was wearing and started up her bike. After it was damaged almost a month ago, Sammy had fixed it up as best he could. Amanda was pleased with the results, though it took him a couple weeks to find all the spare parts. Climbing on board she gunned the throttle and sped off toward the south end of Brasepoint.
She had never been in the slums at night. She had barely been in the slums at all since arriving, but she could immediately see it was a hangout of the more unsavory characters of Brasepoint. Amanda slowly road through the rainy streets looking for any signs of the supposed Slayer.
She passed a few “ladies of the night” standing on a street corner. She slowed down and pulled over towards them. “Hi.” She said casually, trying not to pay attention to the awkwardness of the moment. “Have you guys seen anything strange around here lately?”
The one in front, a redhead, though it didn’t look like red was her natural color, walked up to Amanda seductively. “You mean stranger than a cute little thing like you riding around in a place like this?” she said, licking her lips. “How ‘bout it darlin’? I won’t judge ya if you want a quick ride. I’ll even make it cheap.”
Amanda made a face. “No thanks.” She said meekly and sped off before the woman tried to convince her otherwise. Ok, no more talking to random people on the street. She made a mental note as she continued driving through alleys and some off-roads, but she couldn’t find any vampire or Slayer activity. Maybe she’s already gone…Amanda wondered as she started to turn around. At that moment, a human scream tore through the air. Young. Female. Amanda spun her bike in the direction of the scream and rode hard toward it.
The scream was coming from a nearby alley. Amanda parked her bike a few yards from the alley, turned off the engine and dismounted, taking the stake from behind her back. As she ran toward the alley, she heard another scream split the air. This one sounded inhuman.
As she turned the corner, she nearly ran right into a vampire who looked to be running for his life. He dodged out of her way and continued running. Amanda turned to watch him as a small object suddenly flickered through the air and lodged into his back. He groaned in pain; fell to his knees, than turned to dust.
Amanda turned back to the alley. A young girl was standing there, very young, maybe 12. Is she the Slayer? Amanda wondered, but as she got closer, she saw the girl was shaking in fear. Much too frightened to accurately kill a vampire.
“Hello, you’re okay now.” She said, bending down to the girl. “Do you know who did this?” The girl nodded, still whimpering slightly and pointed into the alley. Though she could hear footsteps approaching, Amanda couldn’t see very far into the dark alley.
And than there she was; a young woman with short red hair stepped from the shadows and into the moonlight holding a long curved knife. Amanda recognized her immediately.
“Vi?!” Amanda exclaimed.
“What? Who are…? Amanda?!” The redheaded Slayer responded, sheathing her long knife. Amanda put her weapon back in its harness, ran to Vi, and the two Slayers embraced.
“Vi! You survived? I didn’t know who-”
“I’m more surprised to see you! I thought you were dead—” Vi said, relaxing her grip on her friend.
“Nope!” she responded, laughing as she released the other Slayer.
“Jessica? Jessica!!” A woman ran into the alley, closing in on the young girl. “Oh thank God!”
“Mommy!” the little girl cried, running to the woman and hugging her. The woman picked up the child and looked at the two Slayers. “Wh-what happened? What did you do to my daughter?! She was with me one moment then-”
“It’s okay, your daughter’s fine now,” Vi said. “You should take her home. And don’t walk these streets at night.”
The woman looked like she was about to say something more, before she turned and ran, clutching her daughter tightly.
Vi turned to Amanda. “Cute kid. Would have been dinner if I hadn’t shown up. So where are you staying? I just got here this morning.”
“With a group of local monster hunters. Come on, I’ll take you there.” Amanda said, gesturing for Vi to follow. Amanda rolled her motorcycle to Vi and got on. “Hop on back, you can stay with us.”
“Alright, just a sec.” Vi said, turning and running back into the dark alley. She emerged a moment later holding a blue duffle bag. “Some supplies Giles lent me.” She said, putting the bag around her back and getting on the bike behind Amanda. She put her arms around the brunette Slayer’s waist and they sped off back toward the hideout.
“…So after the weird dream I just woke back up. I was still in a lot of pain but I managed to get out of the Hellmouth and the school before everything collapsed. I found a bike with keys still in it, left over from one of the former teachers, and managed to get out of Sunnydale before it turned into a sinkhole.” Amanda finished.
She was sitting alone with Vi in her hotel room, cross-legged on the bed. She had already introduced Vi to Gideon and told him that she would fill them in after her and Vi caught up.
“Wow…” Vi said when Amanda had finished. “That’s… amazing.” She didn’t seem all too convinced that what Amanda was saying was true.
“What… you don’t believe me?” Amanda said with concern in her voice.
“No… well… it’s just…” Vi looked down at her feet.
“Vi, what’s wrong?” Amanda asked.
“Look, I’m not going to lie to you Amanda,” Vi said, sighing. “You weren’t knocked out. I saw you fall. I…” she smirked, “I got the vamp that knocked you down. He was really tough. But I killed him for ya.”
Amanda laughed. “Thanks, I appreciate it. But what do you mean ‘not knocked out’?”
“I… I bent down and checked your pulse afterwards, Amanda. You were dead.”
Amanda sat back, shocked. “W-what? No I wasn’t. I got back up…are you sure?”
Vi nodded her head. “Pretty sure. If you weren’t I would have dragged you out when we escaped. Has… anything strange happened lately? I mean, with you, physically?”
Amanda leaned back, hugging a pillow. “Well… yeah, I mean, sort of, let me ask you, how fast are we like, supposed to heal?”
Vi shrugged. “Depends on the injury. If we survive the initial injury, we usually survive, I think, according to Buffy. She was shot once and would have died if she wasn’t a Slayer.”
“Well, see, a few weeks ago I was stabbed, I mean, really, really bad. They didn’t think I would live, but in a few hours the wound had closed up entirely…it was like I had never been injured.”
Now it was Vi’s turned to be surprised. “Wow… that’s not… that’s not normal.” She scratched her head and than snapped her fingers. “Oh! Right! I almost forgot!”
Amanda raised her brow. “Forgot what?”
“The Aspects of a Slayer. Mr. Giles was the first one to realize it. Although we all have the same basic inherent abilities, Willow’s spell had a nifty side effect. It made several of us stronger in certain areas. Some mentally, some physically, some spiritually.” Vi explained.
“So… my rapid healing…” Amanda started.
“Is your gift, your aspect.” Vi finished. “It’s different in each one of us. Though that still doesn’t explain how you got up in the Hellmouth. We may be rapid healers, but as far as I know we can’t come back from the dead.”
Amanda squeezed her pillow tighter. “Than why did I wake up?” she said, her voice trembling.
“I don’t know… I’ll ask Mr. Giles when I get back.” Vi said. “I bet he’ll know why.”
“Right.” Amanda said. “So why are you here anyway? In fact, what happened after the Hellmouth collapsed?”
“Ah, that’s kind of a long story…” Vi started.
“I’ve got time. I wanna know. Where is everybody now?”
“Well, after we got out on the school bus, there was a bit of an argument of where to go next. Giles wanted to restart the Watchers council, and Xander and Andrew wanted to help. Buffy was quite excited about the idea of not being the only Slayer anymore, so she went off to ‘find’ herself. She took Dawn with her. I think they’re in Europe somewhere now. Faith and most of us new Slayers followed Giles to learn about our new powers. Mr. Wood wanted to get right back into the action though, so he took off to Cleveland, where there’s apparently another Hellmouth.” She laughed.
“Cleveland? Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed…” Amanda said.
“Yeah, I guess there’s been a lot of demonic activity there for years. A couple of the new Slayers went with him, including Rona.” Vi continued. “Willow and Kennedy are still at the new Slayer headquarters, which we’re calling the “Slayer Council” but I have a feeling they’re going to leave soon as well.”
“Oh really? How come?”
“Well… Willow doesn’t want to leave but Kennedy’s mad because Faith has been put in charge of training the new Slayers instead of her.”
“Er, why shouldn’t she?” Amanda said, a bit confused. “She’s far more experienced than Kennedy.”
“Yeah, well, people are kind of split. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m staying at the SC no matter what they decide. You should come with me Amanda!” Vi said.
Amanda smiled shyly and shook her head. “Nah, there’s a lot I have to do here. This Town needs a Slayer almost as much as Sunnydale did. So, where’s this new um, ‘Slayer Council?’”
“Missouri at the moment.” Vi said. “Giles found a great abandoned school practically in the middle of nowhere! There’s plenty of room to study and train without having to worry about someone suddenly stumbling into it.”
“Wow, all the way in Missouri? How did you get here?” Amanda asked.
“Bus. It’s the regular means of transportation for us now. We don’t have nearly enough vehicles to go around, except for trips to the bus station. Giles has been trying to keep a balance between training and sending us out on missions. He wants to start sending us to permanent locations at various, erm, well; he called them supernatural ‘hot points’ around the world.”
“Ah, is that why you’re here? Did Brasepoint come up?” Amanda asked.
Vi chuckled. “No, this town is on the list, but low priority.”
“Well,” Amanda said, “Not to be rude or say I don’t want you around or anything like that, but, why are you here?”
“We recently got some information that a demon is trying to summon something very old to deal with the new Slayer, er, threat.”
“Something old?” Amanda asked, growing concerned.
“Yeah, some sort of demon fell beast that hasn’t been in this plain of existence since the Dark Ages. A powerful enough wizard would summon this thing if he wanted a Slayer killed. It’s basically a Slayer Hunter.”
“What’s it called?”
Vi shook her head. “You know what? He told me, but I don’t see how he could possibly pronounce it without like, removing his tongue,” she laughed, “so I just call it the SS.”
“The SS?”
“Slayer-slayer.”
“Clever.” Amanda said, rolling her eyes.
Vi grinned. “I thought so too!”
“You realize I was being sarcastic, right?”
“I did, but I chose to ignore it.”
Amanda laughed. “Fine. So I suppose I could help you track down this demon? What’s it called? Or can you not pronounce that either?”
“Rastrack, it’s not a race, it’s his name.” Vi explained.
“Odd name. So do you know the race?”
Vi scratched her head. “You know, I wasn’t 100% clear on that…”
“Well thanks Miss Well-informed. Any ideas how to track it and kill it when we don’t know what it is?”
“Giles gave me some tips, I should be able to track it easy enough, with your help.”
“And killing it?”
“I thought we could give violence a try.”
“Fair enough, but what if we’re too late and it’s already summoned the, ah, SS?”
“Well, Giles considered that and gave me a contingency plan.” She said, reaching over behind the second bed, which Amanda had lent her, insisting they share the room, and pulled out the large duffle bag she had brought with her from behind the alley.
“Now, Giles told me not to bring this out unless absolutely necessary, and not to show it around, or play with it, blah, blah, blah. But since you’re a fellow Slayer I think I can risk it.” She put the bag on the bed in front of her and unzipped the duffle bag.
“What is it?” Amanda asked.
“You’ll see.” Vi said, she fiddled with something in the bag. Amanda could hear something being pulled from something else, almost like a blade against something metallic. After a moment of struggling, she pulled out a very familiar red weapon. Amanda’s jaw dropped in surprise.
“The Slayer Scythe…” she said in awe. This was the very weapon, forged in ancient times to be wielded only by the Slayer, which had been used to bring forth the multitude of Slayers into the world. Although called a Scythe, it looked more like a large axe. The crimson blade took up almost an entire half of the pole it was attached to and the hilt was a wooden stake, giving it three deadly edges. “Giles let you bring it all the way over here?” Amanda said in surprise.
“What’s the matter, think I’ll lose it or something?” Vi laughed. “He said this was a big enough threat to warrant the use of it, and if the SS was summoned he wasn’t sure how to stop it. That’s why the use of heavy weapons.”
Amanda grinned wickedly. “You are going to let me use it, aren’t you?”
Vi laughed. “We’ll see.”
“I think I earned the right to use it! I pretty much died and came back to life, and I’m here all by myself in a town full of hostile vampires, as if there were any other kinds, and besides, I haven’t gotten to use it yet!”
“Heeey, girl, easy,” Vi said, replacing the weapon back to its place in the bag. “I haven’t gotten to use it either. And as for you being alone here, well, I did offer to take you back with me.”
Amanda laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Maybe I’ll join you guys some day, but right now, I want to stay and help the people in this town. After we find the source of the evil activity, and destroy it, I plan to move on.”
“Move on to what?” Vi asked, stretching and yawning.
“To whatever comes afterwards. My destiny has brought me here, you know? I don’t know where it will lead me next.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something else, but if not, a room is always open at the Slayer Council. I’ll tell Giles about what’s going on here, maybe he’ll send someone to help.”
“I’d like that, thanks Vi.” Amanda said, smiling.
“No problem.” Vi said, putting the bag away and stretching again. “Now might I suggest we get some sleep? We have a demon to hunt tomorrow.”
It was midday and Amanda and Vi were driving through the slums again in Gideon’s van. He had insisted that they take it in order to be able to carry more equipment , which couldn’t be carried on the bike. Gideon had taken the group’s trunk of weapons and placed it in the van after hearing about the threat, insisting the Slayers could use all the weapons they could get.
“So how are we planning on tracking this thing?” Amanda asked her friend.
“Well, last night, before running into you, I found out who sold the materials to the demon so I was tracking him down.” Vi said as she drove. “It’s down here… somewhere.” She said, turning a corner and riding down a row of shops. “I think it’s supposed to be in here… somewhere.” She scanned the store names. “Ah, Magicians’ Boutique. Here it is.” She said and turned the van into the parking place out front. Vi took out her long knife and hid it in her belt; Amanda didn’t go in armed.
As they walked into the store they caught a glimpse of a small man behind the counter. “Um, hello?” Vi asked.
“Just a sssecond, just a sssecond,” came a small, wheezing voice. The man climbed atop a tall stool until he was in plain view of the two girls. He was a midget, almost balding with stringy black hair done in a comb-over to cover his bare scalp. When he saw the two slayers he grinned. “Why hello ladiesss…” he said, drawing out the Ss in each word. “What can ol’ Mort do for ya? Love potion for that boy who ssslipped away? I can sssupply that! Cheap too!”
Amanda and Vi looked at each other, than back at Mort.
“Not interested,” Vi said. “What I am interested in is a demon named Rastrack, who you sold…” Vi took a piece of paper from her pocket and read out loud. “…dragon eyes, troll blood, and a summoning book.” She replaced the paper back in her pocket. “Remember any of this?”
“I do, but sssalesss are always kept in the sssstrictest confidence. I’m sssorry, I can’t help you ladiesss. I have some Raven eye. Your friend there looks like ssshe could use sssome.”
Amanda narrowed her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?!”
Mort sat back, holding up both hands in defense. “Nothing, nothing, I just mean sssacrificesss ssshould look their bessst.” He turned to Vi. “That isss, unless you’re the sssacrifice…”
“Sacrifice, what are you talking about?” Vi demanded.
“You don’t know? The sssummoning ssspell requires a human sssacrifice. It is consssidered a great honor to be sssacrificed as part of the %a$d@!rj&x@ sssummoning.”
“The what?” Amanda asked and Vi turned to her.
“The SS.”
“Ah.”
“The… what?” Mort than got off his chair. “Oh my, I have sssaid too much, I thought that’s the reason you were looking for Rassstrack.”
Amanda bent over the counter and grabbed the little man, lifting him up to eye level. “Mort, you are going to tell me where Rastrack is, now!” She spat.
“Ah!” he cried out after seeing Vi’s weapon hidden in her belt. “Ssslayerss! I had no idea!”
Amanda started to shake the small shopkeeper. “Tell me where he is Mort! Tell me now!”
“Let me go!” he cried. “Let me go and I’ll tell you!”
Amanda stopped shaking him and let him stand on the counter. “Your demon is at 162 Sssummer Ssstreet. Three blocks down, take a right, then another right. You can’t missssss it!”
Amanda released him and turned to leave, Vi already practically out the door. “You ssslayerss think just because there isss a lot of you it givesss you the right to pusssh usss little guysss around! It’s going to ssstop! You hear me?” Mort shouted after them. With that, Amanda turned around and started to march back toward the little man again. He cried out in terror and covered himself with his arms. Amanda was a few feet away from him when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.
“Come on.” Vi said. “He’s not worth it, and besides, we have a job to do. We have to get there before the demon gets a sacrifice!”
Amanda stopped, considering it, than finally nodded her head grudgingly in agreement. The shopkeeper was still shaking in fear when they left.
“We have to hurry!” Vi said as they ran to the van. Vi once again got in the driver’s seat and started up the car while Amanda got in the passenger side. As they sped toward the address, Amanda dug through the weapon crate Gideon had lent them. She eventually pulled out a sheathed long sword and put it in her lap.
The van finally came to a stop outside the address. The building was large and run down; it didn’t look like anything had lived there in months, maybe years. It looked like an old hotel building. Vi and Amanda slid out of their seats, but before Amanda left the car she grabbed her long stake. She carried the stake in her hand while she put the sword and its scabbard around her back.
“I hope we’re not too late!” Vi said as they ran to the front door of the abandoned building. The large double doors in front were locked, so both Amanda and Vi stepped back, and as one they kicked down the doors. Nothing in the lobby.
“Let’s split up.” Vi said, turning to Amanda. She had the blue duffle bag in her left hand while holding her long knife in her right. “I go left, you go right, we should meet somewhere in the middle. If you see him, kill him.”
Amanda nodded and took the right hallway in a sprint. A roar greeted her as three vampires appeared from the shadows.
“She’s here to stop the summoning!” One shouted.
“Kill her!” Another said in response.
The first took a swing which Amanda ducked and responded but twisting her stake into its heart. It trembled and fell to dust at her feet. The second attacked but went too wide so Amanda could easily dispatch it. The third vampire began backing up quickly.
“You can kill us, Slayer! But you’ll never stop the summoning in time!” It cried out before charging her.
“We’ll see…” Amanda said as she casually staked the vampire. As it turned to dust, she ran in a full sprint down the hall. Soon she had traveled the length of the building. As she came around another corner and nearly ran right into Vi.
“Find anything?” Vi asked, panting.
“No.” She responded, also panting. “Just a few vamps.”
Vi cursed. “Same here.” After catching her breath, Vi stood up straight and looked around. “Hey, have you noticed something kind of odd about the center section of this building?”
“You mean you haven’t found any doors in either?” Amanda asked.
“Exactly.” Vi replied.
“Maybe it’s being covered by a spell or something.”
“Yeah, thinking the same thing. So, how do we get in?”
Amanda shrugged. “I say we make a door.”
Vi nodded. “Good idea, get ready…” She said, as she got ready to charge the solid wooden wall.
“Hold on.” Amanda said, putting her long stake down and getting into position as well. “Ok, let’s do it.” Both Slayers stepped back several feet, than rushed forward and slammed into the wall. Instead of running into the wall, they crashed right through it and into an open area.
The room was all dark except for the middle area, which was surrounded by candles. There was a large pentagram drawn in red in the middle of the room. A robbed figure stood in the middle, chanting and sprinkling something in the middle of the demonic circle. Something was lying hunched up against a pillar. Amanda nudged Vi and pointed toward it. It looked like a homeless man. His innards and been pulled out.
The figure in the middle stopped chanting and made several quick motions with his hands. It looked like he was giving orders.
“The ceremony mustn’t be stopped.” A voice said next to the two Slayers. Amanda and Vi turned to see two demons in dark robes walking toward them from both sides. They both held long curved blades longer than Vi’s.
Amanda turned toward the one nearest her and swung her sword. It lifted its blade to block the blow and then swung low at Amanda, trying to cut her across the legs. Amanda twisted her blade to catch the blow and pushed in against the demon, trying to work him back while Vi fought with her assailant.
The demons were not experienced fighters Amanda realized, noticing how easy they both were to finish off. Amanda and Vi then turned to the demon in the middle.
“Rastrack!” Vi called as both Slayers rushed toward the pentagram. “Give it up Rastrack!” The demon ignored them and continued chanting. As Vi and Amanda reached the perimeter of the circle they struck an invisible wall and were thrown back with great force. Amanda dropped her sword as she was thrown onto her back. She lay still for a moment, stunned, and then began to get back up. She glanced over at Vi, who was also starting to rise.
“Now what?” Amanda said, panic edging her voice.
“Looks like we may have to fight it.” Vi said, running over to the duffle bag that had been thrown from her.
Amanda retrieved her sword and returned to the barrier. Gently she pressed the sword into the perimeter of the pentagram, and just as before, an invisible force repelled it.
Amanda raised the sword and struck the barrier hard again, and again. Still no effect. Vi was now holding the slayer scythe and tried to cut through it with the enchanted weapon. Her eyes widened in surprise as it cut right through the barrier.
“The barrier’s dropped! Now Amanda!” Vi yelled as she charged toward the center with Amanda right beside her, raising her sword in the air. The demon cried out in an unknown language and both slayers were thrown back once again to the outside of the pentagram.
The demon turned toward them and laughed. “You’re too late! The summoning is already complete!” He said, throwing back his hood. The demon was yellow, with what looked like flesh hanging from his face with two small horns on his forehead.
A black hole began to tear open in the middle of the pentagram and the demon stepped away from it. Vi and Amanda once again got to their feet and charged the demon. The demon cursed in a strange language and began to chant again. A ball of fire appeared in his right hand and he threw it at the two slayers. Amanda and Vi dodged opposite ways and then rushed him, trying to flank him.
The ground began to shake as Vi, swinging the scythe, reached the demon. The demon tried to dodge the blow but Vi was too fast for him and he was cut down instantly. Amanda ran to the portal opening in the ground.
“Is there anyway to stop the summoning?” Amanda called to Vi as the rumbling grew louder.
“Not that I know of! But maybe two slayers can kill it while only one would fail!” Vi responded, joining Amanda near the portal. “I’ll run to the other side, let’s see if we can trap it between us.” Vi said, leaving Amanda’s side and running to the other side of the portal.
A black, almost shadowlike hand tore through the fabric between worlds. Black flame rose from the hand and red smoke began to fill the air. Suddenly the dark figure leapt straight in the air as the portal closed behind it, and than landed on the ground where the portal had been a moment before.
Amanda and Vi looked on at the creature, waiting for it to make the first move. It was all black, faceless, and crawled like a beast with two long curved horns jutted from its head. It was breathing heavily and black fire seemed to pour out of its mouth with each breath. It also had a long tail covered in barbs.
It turned its head between the two slayers, first Amanda, then Vi, than Amanda again, as if deciding which to pay attention to first. It looked again at Vi, then leapt toward Amanda in a flash. Amanda swung her sword to meet it but the creature blocked it with its bare hand and the blade bent.
Amanda dropped the bent weapon and went to hand-to-hand. The creature swung its fist, which Amanda blocked with her outstretched arm then retaliated with a kick the beast seemed to sense coming. It blocked it with its other hand and did a standing back flip. It performed so fast that it caught Amanda off guard when it struck her under the chin, flipping her over backwards. She spun twice in the air then landed hard on the ground, belly first.
Before she hit the ground, she saw Vi was almost upon it swinging the scythe. The creature stood ducked under each swing of the mighty weapon and spun, knocking Vi back with its barbed tail. Amanda got back to her feet and rushed toward it, while Vi regained her composure at once and also rushed it, swinging her weapon.
The demonic assassin stood on one leg and spun, flailing its other three limbs and its tail out horizontally in a deadly blossom like display that knocked both slayers through the air. Vi hit a wooden pillar, which cracked under the pressure, and dropped her scythe. Amanda slid to a stop only a few feet away from another pillar. Her face bled badly and it felt as if one or more of her ribs were broken. She looked up to see the demon running toward her on all fours, like a galloping horse. She tried to rise to her feet but the creature pounced on her and began to beat her across the face and body. The last thing she saw before passing out was Vi running toward her with the slayer scythe, once again trying to hit the demon from behind…
She slowly rose. She was back on the stage. She remembered being trampled by the spectators from her last battle, but nothing else. Now it was deserted. Beyond the stage, she could see what looked like a multitude of seats, now abandoned. It was like coming to a concert hall late at night, when everyone had left. She found herself alone again.
She got to her feet and stood up straight, wincing slightly from the pain in her side. She began to walk around circular stage, looking for any movement at all in the multitude of empty seats.
“They’re all gone now.” A deep voice said from behind her. She spun, looking for the source of the voice.
“You can’t see me, not yet anyway. I haven’t revealed myself to you yet. You’ve foiled my plans slayer, for the last time. Or so I thought.”
“What? Who are you?” She asked, and she saw a shadow move calmly and quietly toward her. The shadow spread out across the stage, but she couldn’t see where it was coming from. She couldn’t see the source of the shadow.
The voice seemed to sigh impatiently. “Didn’t I just tell you? I haven’t revealed myself to you yet, and I don’t plan to. Not at the moment anyway.”
“Huh?” She said, confused. “Don’t taunt me, either show yourself or go away!” she said, trying to summon up as much courage as possible.
The voice laughed softly. “You have spirit slayer. I like that. It’s a shame we have to be enemies, we could very well be allies and both rule this town, and one day, the world.”
“How do I know whether or not we’re enemies if I don’t even know who you are or what you want?” She said.
“Haven’t you figured it out already? I pretty much just told you what I wanted.”
“Still,” she continued, “you haven’t said specifically what you want.”
“You’ll see.” The voice said. “I’ve decided to let you live for the time being, well, you’ll live assuming you survive this battle you’re in. But at least I’ll give you a fighting chance.” The shadow turned humanoid for a brief second, than snapped its fingers. Amanda fell to the ground again, blacking out once more.
The first thing Amanda noticed, as she weakly opened her eyes, was the taste of blood in her mouth. She was still in pain, but she felt she could stand again. She slowly got up and then heard a scream. She snapped back into reality as she remembered the battle she had just left.
She quickly looked across the room and saw the SS hunched over a limp form. Vi. As her eyes adjusted, Amanda noticed the slayer scythe had fallen over a few feet from where she had fallen unconscious. She grabbed the weapon and moved as quietly as she could toward the beast standing over her friend, its back turned away from her. She was only two feet away when she attacked, swinging the axe-like weapon with great force into the SS’s back. The monster screamed in rage and pain as it fell forward on top of the still form of Vi.
It moaned and rolled, trying to get a look at its attacker. The last thing it saw was the slayer scythe lodging itself into its skull. It let out a horrible shriek of pain and disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.
Dropping the scythe, Amanda knelt over the broken body of Vi. The redheaded slayer had bruises all over her face, and her eyes were swollen shut. Her clothes were torn and her right leg was bent in an awkward position. Amanda felt her neck. A faint pulse.
Standing, Amanda took the scythe and replaced it in the blue duffle bag, which she then threw around her neck before gathering her wounded friend in her arms and running for the door that now appeared, the spell broken due to the demon’s death.
Three days had passed since the battle and Amanda was standing at the bus station with Vi, who was on crutches.
“Are you sure you have to leave so soon?” Amanda asked, knowing how much pain she was probably still in. Vi’s face looked better, most of the bruises had healed, but her leg had been shattered by the demon. It would take months to heal for most people, but Amanda imagined it would be a lot less for the redheaded slayer. She had already made great progress since her leg was put in a cast two days before.
Vi smiled. “Yeah.” She turned; a few of Gideon’s people were getting off the bus. They were helping Vi store her belongings on the bus due to her hands being otherwise occupied. “Thanks for the help Amanda, I would have failed if it wasn’t for you.” She snorted. “Heck, I wouldn’t even be alive…”
Amanda smiled shyly. “Oh! I almost forgot!” She said, suddenly remembering what she had encountered only a few short weeks prior. “I ran into a Turok-Han! A live one! It was hiding in a van—”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry.” Vi said, shaking her head. “We’ve encountered a few of them ourselves. Giles thinks some might have escaped through other openings in the Hellmouth. But their army has been broken; they’re no longer a threat.” She explained. “They’ve only been in small groups, just be careful. They’re still tougher than normal vamps.”
Amanda nodded. “Right.”
The bus honked.
“Well, I guess this is it.” Amanda said, and the two slayers hugged. “We’ll stay in touch.”
Vi nodded. “You betcha! We just got a computer set up at SC.”
“Oh, yeah, I think we have a computer somewhere….” Amanda said. She remembered hearing about he computer system in Gideon’s group, but she had yet to see it.
“Anyway,” Vi continued, “I’ll let them know that you’re here so they can hopefully send whatever support or supplies you need.”
“Right. Take care Vi, and get better.”
The two friends embraced again and Vi boarded the bus. Amanda stayed at the station watching until the bus was no longer in sight. Two figures in dark cloaks watched her from a distance.
“We cannot ignore her anymore.” The first figure said. “The master knows of her, and yet he toys with her!”
“You of little faith,” the second figure said. “He toys with her as a cat playing with a mouse. He wants to know the extent of her power before he devours her.”
“I do not deny that the master is strong…” the first figure continued.
“… Then say no more.” The second figure interrupted.
“…I am simply saying to underestimate her would be foolish!” The first figure finished.
“Do not worry; the master will destroy her soon.” The second figure said.
“I hope you are right!”
“Of course I am, now, would you like to have lunch?” The second figure asked.
The first figure hesitated. “… Yes, but not that Chinese place we went to last time, it did not agree with me.”
“You of little constitution…”
“Oh quiet! We always go to where you want to eat, I want some steak!”
“As you wish…”
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