…..His breathing heaved against his chest as if his chest was not designed big enough to take in the volume of air that his body needed as he ran for his life. The beast was not that far behind him and he knew that it was gaining on him and much faster than he was comfortable with. Though he had to wonder if he would be comfortable in any type of situation where he was being chased by a beast powerful enough to tear him to shreds if it got its claws on him.
…..It was not that far now, the clearing it was up ahead and if he could only make it that far before the beast caught him, he would be fine. In the forest the beast had the advantage, but in the open, it would be to his advantage and he prayed that the beast had no idea that he was leading it into a trap. That he was in reality not the easy victim that he appeared to be, but rather the bait that would lead this wolf beast into a trap that would see it’s reign of terror finally end. Yes, just a little farther and he could relax as she took control of the situation. Europa would be there and she would stop the beast, after all she was the slayer.
…..Sir Crommel burst through the trees into the opening with the wolf creature not that far behind him and he ran towards the far side of the clearing just as Europa readied her bow from behind a rock waiting for the creature to emerge. Crommel fell to his knees in exhaustion just as was planned to make the werewolf believe that he was helpless and as the creature burst into the clearing, he had to question the sanity of his position for if Europa missed, he was done for.
…..The werewolf looked more like a wolf than human with thick mangy fur that was matted in places and darkened with mud. The creature’s eyes were aglow in a bright yellow and its white fangs gleamed in the light of the full moon as it made its leap towards the man, towards its meal. Europa stood up revealing her hiding spot in a single fluid motion pulled back the string on her bow and then released an arrow on a path that carried itself straight into the side of the wolf and into its heart. The wolf yelped once and then fell to the ground like a heavy rock and not a graceful animal.
…..”Is it dead?”
…..”Oh course it is dead, I am a good aim,” replied Europa as she smiled at her watcher. However, she had a bad feeling about all that had happened to her and how easy she had killed the werewolf, something just didn’t sit right with her. “Listen, there is just something amiss here. I don’t know what, but my slayer senses tell me that this is not over.”
…..”That is troublesome Europa as I have come to trust your feelings. Do you think that there was more than one wolf?”
…..”I don’t know, but I do think that we will be back here someday to finish whatever it is that is bothering me now.”
Cardiff, Wales 1552
…..Maggie closed up the bar as she headed off towards the path that would lead her towards the small shack that she lived in just outside of the city. She was not really thinking much that evening as it had been a very long day. She had mostly used up all of her energy fighting off the advances of her male patrons who tended to believe that their ales included a free feel of her butt when she served them. Perhaps if she were to wed the blacksmith, who had voiced an interest in such an arrangement, she could finally get away from the stinky old bar and perhaps raise a family as women were meant to do.
…..She could see the path very well thanks to the full moon and without even a hint that she was being followed, she headed off into the woods not noticing the shadow that fell across her path just behind her. So caught up in her thoughts was she that she failed to hear the animal sniffing the air as it picked up her scent and then it raised its head into the air. Maggie came to a complete stop as a howl ripped through the tranquility of the night and she knew that whatever had made the howl was practically a few feet behind her. She didn’t want to look back as her newly acquired fear made her run faster than she had ever run in her entire life.
…..The werewolf looked at the woman as she ran and readied itself for the attack. She was fast, but she was not fast enough, she was not like the one that had killed his brother a year ago, she was just a meal. He growled and then burst into a run that would overtake his prey in a few minutes, as he wanted to enjoy the chase a little before eating. He wanted the exercise from the chase, as he had to be in shape in case the special girl ever returned again. Something told him that she would return and that he would have the chance to avenge his brother’s death. This made him happy and he imagined that Maggie was the girl named Europa and as he leapt for her back he imagined that it was the slayer’s back. As he tumbled with the girl and he opened his massive jaws, he pictured Europa’s delicate neck and as he tore out Maggie’s throat, he tried to imagine that it was the slayer’s blood he tasted. However, the illusion ended there, as the girl’s blood was bland and not sweet like Europa’s would be.
Cardiff, Wales 1552
…..The man stumbled in the empty street as the alcohol threatened to pull him down to the ground where he would sleep if he let himself give in to the overwhelming tiredness that consumed him. However, he had to make it home to his bed so he could sleep before opening up his shop in the morning. Of course, he would open at midday, as he doubted he could wake before then, as he was simply that tired. He glanced up for a minute and there was a woman standing in his way, a very beautiful woman with fiery red hair.
…..”Good evening, Sir, my name is Europa. Would you by chance be Ronald Blake?” Europa smiled as she knew exactly who he was and that he was the man to talk to if she were to find the third Bloodstone. She had been surprised that the Bloodstone was in Cardiff as she had many not so found memories of the Welsh City from her last visit a year ago. However, she remembered that she knew she would be back and here she was.
…..”Yes, what do you want with me?”
…..”I need to find a stone that you may know by the name of Quzar. I need directions to it from you and then you may head on home and do whatever it is that you do there, sleep from the looks of you.”
…..”That stone is haunted, the forest in Cardiff is cursed. You would be wise to forget about the stone and leave this place, but do so in the day time as the night is not safe.”
…..”Well, that may be true Robert, but you see I am not afraid of the night. In fact I love the night and well you will tell me what I need to know or I will teach you a new definition of how unsafe the night is,” replied Europa as her eyes beamed yellow and her ridges flared across her forehead revealing the demon inside.
…..”What are you?” He wanted to run but his body would not obey him as he was frozen in his spot with pure fear.
…..”I am the night and you are my supper if you do not prove to be useful in any other way.”
…..”You want the stone, fine it is cursed as you are and you both probably belong together. It is about a mile from here to the south just behind an old barn that burned to the ground once. You find the barn, you cannot miss the stone.”
…..”Now that wasn’t hard and perhaps I will eat you anyway for the insult,” said Europa with a sneer. She was about to say more, but stopped when a howl echoed across the night sky, a howl that she had heard before, the howl of a werewolf. “Go, seek shelter as you are right about the night not being safe,” she said as the man ran off towards his home.
…..So, the werewolf she killed seemed too easy and she had been right, there were two beasts and she had been duped into killing the easy one while her true enemy lived on. She would get her Bloodstone, then she would find this beast and finish what she had started a year ago. She also realized that if the Council knew of the werewolf, then Alasha would be coming and that would either help or complicate things as if Alasha saw her and another Elemental together that would no doubt reveal her quest for the Bloodcharms.
London, England 1552
Gordon’s House
…..Silvae stirred from her sleep as she heard someone knocking on Gordon’s front door. She had to wonder who it could be, but then it dawned on her that it was most likely Alasha as she was pretty well the only one who ever visited them. Well, occasionally a messenger from the Council dropped something off or picked something up, but other than that, Alasha was pretty well it.
…..”Tonight is the full moon and we should be able to make it there if we hurry,” said Gordon as Silvae wondered out to the main hall where Alasha and Gordon were talking. “If not, tomorrow night is also good as the beast is in control for three nights a month.”
…..”I get that part, but I am a little concerned with the fact that we have to hunt down a non-demon monster,” said Alasha with a hint of sadness in her voice. “Isn’t it a human for 27 days of the month?”
…..”Well yes, it is. However, the Council feels that if he were a pure man, this werewolf would find a way to avoid killing such as locking itself up on the nights in question. The Council is sure that we are dealing with evil men and have authorized you to use whatever force is necessary to stop the killings. Alasha, it is extremely rare when the Council allows such a thing to happen as killing humans is usually never acceptable in any case.”
…..”I think I get that. However, I can not kill this beast without knowing that he is evil. I think we need to contain him and then determine if he is evil while in his human form. If he is, then I will kill him tomorrow night when he changes again.”
…..”We can drug him tonight,” added Silvae as she calculated what she would need to make a potion capable of putting a large animal asleep.
…..”Oh hi Silvae,” said Gordon as he pondered her suggestion. “I suppose you know of a formulae as well?”
…..”Well actually I think I do and I guess I can mix it on the road. When do we leave?”
…..”Right now and I guess you just got an invitation to go to Wales with us,” added Gordon.
…..”Well, I like having her along, she is the one good at magic and she has saved our butts a time or two,” said Alasha with a smile at her former servant. She missed having Silvae at home, but her father was adamant on the fact that Silvae was no longer welcome on the estate.
…..”Okay, I’ll go and bring around the carriage and then we can be off,” said Gordon as he headed for the door.
London, England 1552
Watcher’s Council
…..Jonathon Pepper looked around the table as the other member’s of the council sat down to begin yet another meeting of the Council. He didn’t look forward to the meeting as they had a lot to discuss and had some decisions to reach that would effect Alasha and perhaps not in a way that would make the girl happy.
…..”Okay, we have quite a bit to talk about as we all know,” said Jonathon watching the others nod. “First of all, the Bloodstones. I know that Alasha reported two of the stones destroyed. However, I believe that one of the stones may well reside in Cardiff, the location of our current werewolf problem.”
…..”If Alasha were wrong and if Europa somehow has the two stones, then she will show up in Cardiff,” said Boyd Waters with a look of concern on his old face. “If you will all remember, Europa had quite an ordeal in Cardiff a year ago and I find it more than a mere coincidence that things are taking us back there. Anyway, if Europa gets that one too, she will move on the fourth that I believe is in England. Now if that happens, she still needs the fifth and that will not be an easy task for her.”
…..”Why is that? I know Europa and she was one of the more resourceful slayers we ever had,” said Franklin Tupper.
…..”That may be true,” replied Boyd. “However, the final Bloodstone is hidden not in a place, but as Legend has it, it is hidden in time.”
…..”Hidden in time, what do you mean,” asked Brent Gilbert?
…..”Exactly that, the final Bloodstone is hidden somewhere in either the future or the past for that matter. If Europa is to reach it, she will have to bridge time and as you all know, only the strongest magic can do that and she does not have access to that level of magic.”
…..”That is good to know Boyd. Now we need to move on to the next issue which is Alasha’s family,” said Jonathon with an uneven smirk. “I read the reports on Anyanka and ‘The Wish’ and more importantly the chaos that occurred in the Slayer’s family. I am concerned with the situation and we will need to cause a few changes to prevent them from interfering with our slayer.”
…..”What do you have in mind?” Franklin had to ask though he was afraid that Jonathon’s answer was not going to be anything that they were going to like.
…..”It is simple, we need to remove Alasha from her parents and as far as I can see the only way to do that will to find her a husband, at least on paper. Brent, I will leave that to you as I am sure you can find a suitable suitor, a young watcher perhaps that will fill the position.”
Cardiff, Wales 1552
…..Europa had no trouble finding the Bloodstone as it was exactly where the drunkard had told her it would be and she was glad of that. Time was of the essence as she still had a werewolf to hunt down after she released the water elemental and converted the Bloodstone into a Bloodcharm to add to her necklace. If luck was on her side, she would be able to do all of that and leave before Alasha or the Council even realized she had been there. Sure there would be a water elemental for them to content with eventually and that was fine as they would not have any proof that it was her handiwork nor would they even know that it was associated to a Bloodstone.
…..Europa looked at the old brooding stone and she emptied all thoughts of the werewolf from her mind, as magic tended to work better if one’s mind was perfectly focused on the task at hand. Europa was hoping that that would help her to compensate for her lack of experience, which amounted to the odd battle against a witch or two when she had been the slayer. Sir Crommel had been the one who understood magic whenever they needed it and she had been grateful for that. It had been his most enduring quality as a watcher.
…..Demos, the Vampire Lord who had killed her and made her into a vampire, had been strongly involved in magic and Europa was lucky enough to gain possession of all of his books which contained many of the secrets of magic that she would learn. In fact, she had forever to learn them and maybe even longer if she learned to master some of the stronger time spells that according to Demos’ notes would be needed to acquire the final Bloodstone which was located in the future. According to Demos, the fifth Bloodstone could be found in a place called Sunnydale in the year 1999. Demos had also inked in two names next to Sunnydale and Europa had to think that they would be important in some way. Phobos and Buffy, whoever they were, they would not stop her from gaining the final Bloodstone.
…..Europa began to chant using words that Demos had written would entice the water elemental to leave the stone and wreck its chaos on the lands as she would be able to effect the stone’s transformation into a charm so that she could then add it to her necklace. At first it seemed like her spell was not working and Europa had to ignore the feelings of failure that threatened to overwhelm her. She pushed them aside and persevered through her spell and her determination did indeed pay off as the stone gave up it’s elemental as water rushed out of the stone as if it were sweating the water out through pores. The water pooled together and then coalesced into a rather large humanoid elemental that was totally made out of water. It turned and headed north towards the city sloshing as it walked.
…..Europa didn’t waste any time and immediately moved on to the spell that would transform the Bloodstone into a Bloodcharm. This time, she noticed the spell take effect almost immediately and she simply smiled as she finished the spell while the stone shrunk. Once she completed the spell, she walked over and picked up the Bloodcharm, which she added to her necklace that tucked beneath her tunic. Now she had her Bloodcharm and now she could deal with the werewolf. This time she would kill the right wolf and nothing would save it from her revenge.
Cardiff, Wales 1552
…..The carriage pulled into the city of Cardiff about an hour after sunset which was very good timing as Alasha was determined to capture the werewolf that night and thanks to the potion that Silvae had prepared on the way, such a feat would be possible. All she had to do was find the werewolf and than get close enough to pour the potion down its throat. It would have been easier if the potion could have been used in a blow gun, but Silvae only had the ingredients for a mild knock out drug and thus the wolf would need to ingest some of it, too much for a simple dart.
…..”Okay, I’ll hunt the werewolf and you two will stay here as I don’t want to have to worry about either of you while I am dealing with this beast,” stated Alasha simply.
…..”Well, you are probably right,” replied Gordon. “However, be careful as the forest is its domain and it will not be holding back like you plan to, it will kill you if you give it the chance.”
…..”I am well aware of that and I will be careful,” said Alasha as she walked towards the forest and the darkness contained within carrying the flask, which contained the potion that Silvae had prepared for the werewolf. A howl tore through the night as she disappeared from site and Gordon prayed for her safety not noticing the splashing sound that was approaching them.
…..Alasha kept moving and she simply knew that she was heading in the right direction, as it almost seemed like the werewolf wanted her to know where it was. Perhaps it had become overconfident and feared nothing at all since it was at the top of the food chain. If that were the case then it would work to her advantage and she would have no trouble capturing the beast.
…..The werewolf knew that another slayer had entered its territory and had done everything to lead the girl towards its trap as the last slayer had led its brother into a similar trap. He had to admit that it was ingenious to use the girl’s own tactics against her and pretty well ensnare her in her own web. However, this slayer was different, it was not the one who had killed his brother. Nonetheless, it was a slayer and would be handled with care and when her blood flowed into his mouth, it would be sweet.
…..Europa had very little trouble tracking the werewolf and found that it was behaving very strangely and this was reason for alarm. She was not afraid of the animal, but she wanted to make sure that she got the right one this time so a little bit of observation was due. Whatever the creature was up to, Europa was going to be there to crash its party.
…..Alasha moved quietly and she was beginning to think that the beast was playing with her as she was certain that it knew she was there and it was leading her somewhere though she couldn’t figure out where or why. It was a werewolf and by its nature alone it should have attempted to attack her. However, it didn’t and this was troubling as it suggested that the animal might have retained some of its intellect in its wolf form. If that were so, perhaps it could be reasoned with, trained or something. Alasha knew she was grasping at straws, but anything that would save the human part of the werewolf was a good thing as far as she was concerned.
…..The werewolf crossed the clearing where its brother had died and then turned waiting for the slayer. He sniffed briefly and could smell her approaching and could also smell the scent of his sister who was waiting to join in the trap. Yes, the slayer might have been prepared for a werewolf, but she would not be expecting two, he didn’t think so. She was unaware and would soon be a meal for the siblings.
…..Europa spotted the second werewolf and smiled knowing that she would get the chance to kill them both as long as she could handle two at once. If either of them managed to chew through her neck, then she would be dead. That was probably the only way either of them could kill her and she was not going to let that happen. However, she stopped where she was as she saw a third factor, it was Alasha and she was walking into a trap.
…..Alasha found herself walking into an open space and it was too late to retreat when she heard a dual howl and the two werewolves pounced at her. She quickly dropped into a crouch as the male werewolf sailed over her head and then she rolled forward so the female werewolf would also miss her. Alasha then immediately leapt back to her feet and did a back flip up and over the male werewolf who had tried a second attack. As she landed, the female smashed into her and she was able to roll with the impact and use that momentum to throw the werewolf free from her as the male werewolf landed on top of her. Alasha was able to grab him by the throat and push at him enough so that his jaws just missed her nose at he snapped at her.
…..Europa hissed at the female werewolf as she pounced on it from behind catching it completely by surprise. Europa was sure that the werewolves were unable to smell a vampire, as they had not had a clue she had been there. The female tried to turn its snout to bite Europa, but the vampire had her in a headlock and seemed to be trying to break her neck. She howled one last time and then went silent as the bones in her neck snapped severing her spinal column and ending her life. Europa smiled and the werewolf on top of Alasha howled and left the slayer so that it could charge Europa.
…..Alasha was fighting for her life in one second, and the next it was gone, the werewolf just left her and then it became clear, it was Europa. Europa was there in Cardiff and Alasha was dumbfounded as to why. She then noted that one of the werewolves was dead and this saddened her though she only had enough potion for one anyway so it would have had to have happened or she would have been dead herself. However, she had to stop Europa from killing the second werewolf.
…..”Europa, don’t kill it, we need to drug it,” shouted Alasha as the werewolf landed on the vampire. Europa threw the werewolf free from herself and then threw it up against a tree.
…..”What? Don’t kill it, you have got to be jesting.”
…..”No, I am serious. I have a potion to knock it out so that we can perhaps save the human.”
…..”I see,” said Europa as she caught the werewolf again and this time by the throat like she had the female werewolf moments ago. “That is a bad idea Alasha, this beast dies,” stated Europa as she snapped its neck.
…..”No,” screamed Alasha feeling anger welling up inside of her. “You heartless bitch!”
…..”Alasha, I can understand your reaction though you do not understand the history and why I had to do what I did.”
…..”The history, nothing you can tell me will make what you did right.”
…..”Don’t be so sure. You see a year ago I was the slayer and I was sent to Cardiff to deal with a werewolf problem. Well, I came here with my watcher as well as with a young witch who was actually a friend of mine. Well, I thought like you did and I was going to capture a werewolf and try to save the humanity trapped within. I drugged it and was successful in containing it. Well the man seemed nice and I was so certain that I had made the right choice. Well, I was indeed very wrong and the man killed my friend to escape so that the wolf would be free to kill me. You see, the man was evil in this case and my mistake cost me dearly. So when I killed that werewolf, I was doing you a favor and if you hate me for it that is fine at least you do not hate yourself for it.”
