The Slayer, the Berserker and the Demon

Disclaimer: Buffy belongs to Joss Whedon and 20th Century Fox. Conan and the World of the Hyborian Age was developed by Robert E. Howard (and butchered by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp), they now belong to Conan Properties International. Everything new is MINE!
Warning: Violence ahead!

The Slayer, the Berserker and the Demon

“It was very brave of you, to enter one of the haunted black pyramids of the Eastern Desert. Brave and foolish.” The Æsir had stopped to laugh and looked at Buffy with a dark expression. “Girl, don‘t you know, which creatures are haunting these places? Vampires and unnamed horrors of forgotten ages. They are stronger and more dangerous than those guards. Girl, you are really a fool.”

Now, it was Buffy‘s time to laugh. “And what are you?” Buffy taunted him. “I know that I can deal with vampires and demons. But you‘ve to be a fool, if you fear them and still enter this place.”

“I fear nothing!” Askel screamed angrily. “I will defeat you, have fun with you and drag you back to the caravan, slave!” He raised his axe and entered the hall.

“Eek,” disgust showed upon Buffy‘s face. “You think you‘re so irresistible? You with your funny beard. Have you never heard about shaving?”

The pseudo-viking got really angry. “You will pay for your insults.” Then he notice the other girl. A lecherous grin appeared on his face. “Whom we have there?”

“You won‘t get her,” Buffy bellowed and placed herself between the Æsir and the girl. “I did not rescue her from those bastards only to have her raped by some one like you.”

“Who do you think you are?” Askel asked her. He got cautious after he realized that Buffy must have killed eight men singlehanded and that she did not seem to be tired from the fight or scared by the mention of vampires.

“I‘m Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.” That was her only reply as if it would explain everything.

But before the Æsir could reply the girl Buffy had rescued raised her voice. “I don‘t know who you are and what problems you two have with each other, but don‘t you forget something.”

Buffy and Askel looked at each other and then a the girl and look of surprise at their faces. “What?” they asked in unison.

“Me!” the priest said with a deep and disturbing voice while he circled around the altar. A pale dead body lay on it. It had been bled dry. The priest removed his mask revealing a normal human face. “Kuk-Apophis, grant me the power to destroy these infidels.” he called to the ceiling. Then something happened to him. Something he did not expect. The priest howled out in pain as a red mist rose from the black altar and engulfed him. The cult leader started to change. He grew and his robe tore. His muscles got bigger. Within moments he got at least a foot larger than the Æsir who was around six and a half feet. His hands turned into claws. But the change in his face was the change that freaked Buffy out. Ridges appeared on his brow, fangs appeared in his mouth and his eyes turned from black into an evil yellow. With one claw he tore the remnants of his robe from his enlarged body and cast them aside.

“By Ymir!” Askel called out. “What is that?”

“In Isis‘ name!” The girl whispered. “He really dared...”

“Oh my god!” Buffy swore. “A master vampire.”

“I am Kuk-Apophis, Master of Darkness, Sire of thousands.” He stood in front of altar spreading his arms. “I have returned from the dark place beyond this world, to where the priestesses of Isis had banished me centuries ago.” Then the vampire walked towards them and they fell back trying to get out of his reach. “The sacrifice was not perfect.” He pointed at the girl. “You, priestess of Isis, should have been the offering. I‘m hungry.”

The vampire stepped over the dead bodies of the guards and reached down to where the only surviving guard still lay. The guard woke up as Kuk-Apophis grabbed him. The guard screamed in horror as he was bitten in the throat. The guard died as the vampire tore out his throat and drank his blood. The red liquid ran down the demon‘s face. “That‘s much better.”

Kuk-Apophis tossed the dead body away. It flew directly towards the priestess and would hit her if Buffy had not pushed them both out of the way. The slayer landed on top of the other girl looking in her beautiful eyes.

“Thank you.” she said and kissed Buffy on the mouth. “I‘m Teje.”

With a battle cry Askel stormed towards the vampire holding his double-bladed axe with both hands above his head. Rage and blood-lust burned in his eyes. He had turned into a berserker. He brought down his axe and would have cleaved the Master of Darkness in two, if that demon had not stepped aside. So his mighty blow missed Kuk-Apophis by more than a foot. A backhanded blow of the vampire hurled the berserker across the hall and against the wall.

Meanwhile Buffy had grabbed the broken shaft of a spear and rammed this improvised spake into the demon‘s chest trying to pierce his heart. But she missed it. The vampire‘s counter-blow was easily dodged by the slayer. Then tore out the stake and threw it at the slayer who could barely deflect it with her khopesh.

“How do you kill this demon?” she heard Askel asking. The berserker had survived the vampire‘s blow without injury and attacked again. But all of his blows were either ineffective or missed him.

“Burn him, stake him, behead him!” was Buffy‘s reply while she evaded claws and a scimitar, the demon had picked up, and kept herself between Kuk-Apophis and Teje.

It was not an easy fight. Either Buffy nor Askel could wound the vampire while he pushed the girls further and further back. The only way for them to could kill him was with a clean decapitating stroke, but all their tries had been either parried or dodged.

Then Kuk-Apophis muttered something while pointing at her with one claw. Suddenly the air around her got freezing could and she could not move. Buffy had not noticed that the demon had cast a spell at her holding her in place.

The Æsir‘s axe came down at the vampire‘s neck. But the cut was not deep enough to kill him. In retaliation the scimitar came around and ripped up Askel‘s belly. Shock and pain appeared on the berserker‘s face as he went down.

“Isis, hear my call and repel that evil spell!” Teje prayed to her goddess and Buffy could feel that warmth replaced the cold. This happened timely enough for the slayer to leap out of the way of a stroke that would surely cleaved her in two. She rolled across the floor and found herself near the altar. Her dagger lay there.

Coming back at her feet and clutching both dagger and khopesh in her hands Buffy looked around. The Æsir lay on the ground trying to stop blood from flowing out of the deadly wound in his belly with both his hands. He knew that he was dying. Teje had removed a burning torch out of its holder in the wall. She swung the torch around trying to keep the demon away. The priestess were muttering prayer to Isis. Buffy could only guess that she was casting spells. Spells that seemed to have no effect. Because Kuk-Apophis was also muttering the whole time. And his spells also seemed to have no effect. It had become a duel of magic which the vampire would surely win because Buffy could see that Teje was already tiring.

“Hey! Cookie!” Buffy taunted. “Take a girl of your own size! Like me.” This was really not meant serious, because Teje was three inches taller than Buffy. It was also a distraction and it worked. He turned around to face the slayer.

In that moment Teje stuck him with the burning torch. In that moment Buffy made a roll across the floor and used again the wooden shaft of the broken spear she picked up along the way as a stake. This time she did not miss.

With an infernal howl Kuk-Apophis‘ unlife ended. Red mist engulfed the body again. His body changed back into the human form of the priest his spirit had possessed before it crumbled to dust. Then the mist dispersed. The battle was over.