Part 1

"I heard we have a new psychology professor."

Buffy barely listened to Willow, too occupied with her own thoughts. God, how could she ever have fallen for a guy like Parker? Her record with boyfriends wasn't all that good, but a slimy bastard like him ...

"Did you hear me?" Willow asked.

"What? Sorry, I was ..."

"Brooding about a certain bastard we know?"

"That's about it, yes."

"You know he is not worth brooding about, don't you?"

"Yes, I know. It's just that ... Willow, why can't I ever meet a guy that does not suck? I mean, Scott, Parker, David, Riley, they all seemed so nice at the start. Am I a poor judge of character?"

The two girls walked on until they reached the class room and sat down. Their old psych prof was dead. Twice dead in fact, as Buffy had put a stake through her heart a few nights ago. She had wanted to do that since the evil bitch monster had given her an F for her last paper. Okay, she hadn't wanted to see her dead in quite that way, but ...

"There he is, look!" Willow whispered.

Buffy forgot all about Parker, her dead professor, and just about everything else for that matter. Her eyes were glued to the man walking into their class room right at this moment. He walked across the floor, taking of his black leather jacket in the process, and sat down at the edge of the desk.

God, was he a hunk, Buffy thought.

She let her eyes wander over his body, tight black jeans and sweater showing off his trim figure, then took in his face. He had wonderful dark eyes and spiky hair. She wanted to run her hands through it, down that chest and below the sweater.

"Good morning," he said. She loved his voice, "my name is Angel Fitzpatrick and I'm your new psychology professor as of right now. Any jokes about my first name will get you an immediate 'F', unless it's one I haven't heard before."

He smiled while he said it and most students laughed. He continued talking, but Buffy found she had trouble concentrating on the words, she just listened to the sound of his voice. Never before had a man caught her like this. She had to restrain herself from bouncing down the steps right at this moment.

"Think he is married?" She asked Willow, unable to tear her eyes away.

"I don't see a ring." Willow smiled. One didn't need to be a witch to see what was going on inside her best friend right at this moment.

Buffy's heart leaped. Then she chided herself. What was she thinking? This guy was her professor. She knew for a fact that relationships between professors and students were strictly forbidden. Why did she have such a hard time caring?

"You're starting to drool!" Willow remarked.

Buffy's hand flew to her mouth, her cheeks flushing a bright red. God, had anyone noticed? Her eyes couldn't turn away from him. Angel, he said his name was. Angel Fitzpatrick. Had he seen her staring at him?

He looked her way and she felt like drowning in those dark eyes. It seemed to her that his gaze rested on her for half an eternity, but it couldn't have been for more than a few seconds. He continued talking, making eye contact here and there, seeming unaware of her stares.

"God, Willow! Look at that guy!" She whispered.

"Good looking, I have to admit."

Buffy smiled. Willow liked to check out the guys, but she was up on cloud nine with Oz. Which left the road free for ... for what? He was her professor, she reminded herself once again. With a sigh she slouched back in her chair, wondering how she was supposed to improve her marks here when she had such a hard time concentrating.

#

Angel walked home after his last class ended, having enjoyed himself. He loved teaching and Sunnydale was a nice town. Nice and quiet. He needed that right now. After all that had happened he wouldn't be disappointed if this place turned out to be the dullest place in the world. That was what he needed right now.

The apartment he had rented was on the small side, only until he found something better. He did plan to stay for the long haul. Of course he had planned the same in the last three towns he had lived in. It never worked out. Maybe this time.

Maybe this time he would finally remain free.

He didn't notice the dark figure that followed him. Didn't see crimson lips curve into a smile as amber eyes glowed in the darkness.

#

A few weeks later Buffy had a very strange dream. At first she had dreamed silly stuff, like opening a coffee shop with Giles somewhere in Kansas with Drusilla as the waitress. She often dreamed stuff like that, it was the only way to stay sane with all the things going on in her life.

Then the dream changed and she found herself standing in an old mansion in front of a burning fire place. She found herself wearing a long, white nightgown, her hair hanging loosely down her back. The room was cold, a bitter cold that seeped right into her bones. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

There was a man sitting in a large leather chair in front of the fire, reading a leather-bound book. She could just make out some of the words on the page that he had open. Blood red letters depicted the words "Butcher Knight". Below it there were four lines in smaller print, too small to read.

A large sword was leaning against the chair beside him, the blade gleaming as the light of the flames played across it.

The man looked up, his gaze falling on her, and she froze. A Vampire. Or was he? Somehow she wasn't quite sure. Amber demon eyes glowed as he studied her.

"So you are the Slayer that has been giving us so much trouble." He smirked at her and rose off the chair. He wore tight leather pants and a black shirt fluttered loosely around his chest, unbuttoned. Buffy tried to step back, but her feet wouldn't move.

"Must be something special if they sent me." He said as he closed the distance, rubbing his cheek along her hair like a cat. A purring sound came from his throat and Buffy found herself unable to so much as breathe.

"We'll meet soon!" He whispered, his fingers brushing along her cheekbones. Then his fangs sank into her neck and Buffy screamed.

"Buffy! Wake up!"

She opened her eyes and found Willow leaning over her bed, studying her with worry in her eyes.

"Are you all right? You screamed like ... like ... I can't think of something gruesome enough right now, but you screamed like that."

Buffy found that she was panting heavily, her entire body stained with sweat.

"Just a dream," she muttered, "just a weird dream."

Or so she hoped.

Part 2
 

###
 

"Butcher Knight." Giles said, his voice trailing off. Buffy knew that look on his face. Any moment now he would start searching for a book and wouldn't rest until he found it. Then he would open a certain page and say something along the lines of "Here it is!" or "Aha!".

She exchanged a glance with Willow and the redhead whispered "Five minutes or less". Buffy frowned, then whispered back "Three minutes. Tops"

"You're on!" Willow said, looking at her watch.

Two minutes and twenty-six seconds later Giles came back with an open book in hand.

"Here it is!" He announced. Buffy grinned at Willow, who scowled and handed her five dollars. Giles didn't notice and set down the book on the table in front of them.

"The Butcher Knight. According to lore he is a warrior of darkness, created sometime in the middle ages."

"Created what for?" Xander asked, upset that he hadn't participated in the bet.

"Apparently the Butcher Knight was created as ... as a countermeasure to the Slayer."

"A countermeasure?" Buffy asked, not liking the sound of that.

"Yes. During the middle ages there was a long succession of very powerful and long-lived Slayers, resulting in a severe decline of the Vampire population. The Butcher Knight was, ah, was created for the sole purpose of seeking out Slayers and eliminating them."

Giles turned the book around and showed her a painting of a large, dark man in black knight's armor, sitting on a monstrous horse, wielding a heavy broadsword. There was no face to be seen beneath the black helmet, no way to know whether that was the guy she'd seen in her dreams. The sword looked vaguely like the one she had seen leaning against the chair in front of the fireplace, but she wasn't sure.

"Okay, so if this guy is coming for me," Buffy said, trying to sound unworried, "what can I expect? What can he do?"

Giles took back the book and scanned the pages.

"There is a lot of contradiction here. Some legends say the Butcher Knight was a Vampire of exceptional strength, yet those same legends say that he also rode in daylight. Others state that he was a one-of-a-kind demon. Still others say he was a man who pledged his soul to evil and received tremendous power in return."

Giles sighed.

"There are not a whole lot of eyewitness accounts. The Butcher Knight would set out searching for the Slayer and, ah, slaughter everyone in his path. Entire villages were razed to the ground because the Slayer was suspected to be there."

"Hence the 'butcher' part of the name?" Xander asked, trying to lighten up the mood a bit and not succeeding.

"Giles, if this guy is such a bad ass and has it in for Slayers, how come you never told me about him? And anyway, I've been the Slayer for over three years now. Why didn't he seek me out before?"

"The last recorded sighting of the Butcher Knight was over a thousand years ago, Buffy. While there have been some rumored sightings of him scattered throughout the last millennium, the, ah, general consensus is that he has been destroyed somewhere around the tenth century and is no longer to be considered a threat."

"Like the Judge?" Xander asked. "Like Akathler? Like ..."

"That's enough, Xander!" Giles interrupted him. "Though you're right. If Buffy has had a prophetic dream about the Knight, there might be a chance he is still alive and on his way here. We will have to research and find out more about the Knight's capabilities. Buffy, we should probably intensify your training. Come by after patrol!"

Buffy sighed. Being the Slayer never gave her a break. She had looked forward to go to a special lecture at college tonight. Not because she was anxious for more study time, but because of the man who would hold the lecture.

She guessed she could write off catching another few looks at Angel tonight. Life sucked.

#

Angel walked onto the stage of the auditorium. A lot of students had come and he guessed that had more to do with the topic of the lecture than with their desire to learn. That was okay with him. Learning shouldn't be an end in itself, after all.

He was amazed at how quickly he had come to fit in here. Being asked to hold this lecture had surprised him, as colleges tended to be touchy about stuff like this. Being told that he was already considered one of the most popular professors at SCU had made him blush.

"Thank you all for coming tonight," he greeted them, "I am sure you're anxious to get started."

He took the chalk from the desk and started writing on the blackboard.

"As you know our topic today is," he completed the last of the three letters, "sex!"

As expected he received numerous enthusiastic yells and some applause, as well as someone asking whether they could be given some practical demonstrations. Angel smiled.

"I'm not gonna be starting with the bees and flowers here, as I can't seem to shake the suspicion that the largest number of you people already has seen some action in that field."

Again he had to wait for the cheers to die down. He found himself smiling. What could be greater than teaching young people? He loved doing it.

"We're here to talk about doing it the right way." More cheers. "Now don't get your hopes up! I'm not talking about the right positions here!" Some disappointed boos. "Just a note on the side, though, there is no such thing as a wrong position." More cheers.

Angel continued to give a lecture about respecting the wishes of the partner, about the dangers of AIDS, about pregnancies and responsibilities, always making sure to keep the mood up while not making a joke out of a very serious topic.

He knew that most of his colleagues were uneasy talking about said topic. Americans were such prudes, he thought. Besides, most of them didn't want to realize that these weren't children anymore, but young adults. He would be surprised if there was more than a handful among these students that had yet to lose their virginity.

"Questions anyone?" He asked when he finished the lecture.

"How many positions do you know?" Laughter sounded through the room.

"Somewhere high up in the two-digit range." He answered with a straight face, earning a few shouts of disbelief. "More questions?"

Most of the questions coming at him were jokes and inquiries into his own love life, but some students did have serious questions and he did his best to answer them. It was already late, but Angel didn't feel tired. He could have continued this for hours.

He found he was a little bit disappointed not to see the petit blonde, who was always undressing him with her eyes in psych class. Her name was Buffy, if he remembered right. Beautiful girl. Angel, he told himself, you're a dirty old man.

Suddenly he saw someone else standing at the door and his blood froze.

"Professor?" A student had asked him a question, but he hadn't heard a thing.

"Sorry," he began, barely able to get the words out, "I just remembered I've got to get going."

He grabbed his jacket and hurried on out, ignoring the questioning looks of his students. He needed to get out. Get away. His car stood outside. Maybe if he just hopped in and drove right out of town, then ...

A woman was leaning against the side of his black convertible, looking his way. Her eyes bored directly into him and the chill of resignation filled him. Why did he always believe he could get away? She always found him sooner or later. Always.

He walked toward her, trying to keep a neutral face.

"Hello, Angel," she greeted him, "you weren't trying to hide from me again, were you?"

She caressed his chest with her hand, pulling him in closer.

"Hello, Darla!" He said, not resisting. It was pointless anyway.
 

Part 3
 

###
 

Buffy had hurried through both patrol and training and was now running towards the campus grounds, hoping to at least catch a little bit of the lecture. She didn't know why she was putting herself through this. It wasn't like there was a chance Angel would ever ...

She skidded to a stop outside the auditorium as she saw the object of her thoughts standing in front of his car ... talking to a woman? What was he doing talking to another ... she shook her head. Buffy, you're behaving like a school girl.

She couldn't help but watch, though. The woman, who just had to be very beautiful, of course, seemed pretty casual around Angel. She ... she was stroking him. One of her hands was on his chest. Buffy turned away, she *so* didn't need to see this. Angel just stood there, seeming neither to encourage nor to rebuke her. She couldn't see his face.

Something about that woman was giving Buffy the creeps. Maybe it was just jealousy. Come to think of it, it probably was jealousy. Still, there was something about her ... Buffy crouched down in the bushes and continued to watch.

Maybe she should go a little closer. She couldn't quite hear them from here.

#

"I see you haven't forgotten me." Darla said.

"It was not for lack of trying."

"Now you're trying to hurt my feelings." She pouted mockingly.

Angel wanted to run. Run as far as his feet would take him and then continue to crawl on his hands and knees. He knew it wouldn't avail him anything. She always found him.

"I'm so glad to see you here," Darla said, "I was afraid I would have to search half the world for you, just like last time. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you were here already."

"Here?" Angel asked, not understanding.

"Of course here, where else?"

Angel looked around. Perfectly normal American town. Okay, he had noticed it had its share of creepers running around after dark, but what could Darla possibly ... no! Anything but that!

"I see you know." Darla smiled, content.

"I will not do this! Never again!"

She leaned back against the hood of his car, crossing her arms.

"Oh, Angel! Are you still not over fooling yourself? You know, I've been here for a few weeks now, watching you. Nice little setup you have here. College professor in suburban America, lots of little students looking up to you, probably looking for nice girlfriend somewhere down the line."

She stood up again to drape her arms around his neck, leaning in closely.

"Haven't you learned after all this time? It never works!"

A tremble went through Angel's body. Was she telling the truth? He had tried so often, in so many different places. It had never worked. Not once. Yet what else could he do?

"Be that as it may," he said, his voice almost steady, "but that doesn't mean I will do your dirty work again. I'm through. It's over!"

"Is it?"

She shifted into her demon face, amber eyes staring at him. Her lips spread into a smile, showing her gleaming fangs.

"I think I know a few words that will make you rethink things."

"Don't do this, Darla!" Angel whispered.

She smiled broader, enjoying the terror she could feel welling up inside him.

"Please don't!" He pleaded with her. "Don't you remember what happened last ..."

"By Bond of Blood I call the Might" She began.

Angel turned away from her to start running, even though he knew it was too late. Darla made no attempt to follow him, but her voice rang in his ears, even as he could feel his innards start to come apart, his lungs refusing to draw in the air.

"Of Fire From Hell, Inferno's Light"

He stumbled, pain lancing through his body. He could feel the buildup of power around him, the air was thick with it. No, it mustn't happen! He wouldn't allow it! He needed to do something! Anything!

Suddenly there was a loud thump and Darla's next words turned into a yelp or surprise. The magic around him evaporated, Angel could breathe again. He came to a stop, looking around to see what could have made her stop the incantation. He was more than a little surprised to see a blonde woman straddling Darla's prone body, raining blows down on her.

He was even more surprised when he found that he knew her.

"Buffy?"

She looked up at him and he was sure. That was the little blonde from his psychology class. What was she doing here? Why was she ...? Oh, no!

#

Buffy looked up, seeing Angel looking at her. Before she had time to make sense of the strange look upon his face the Vampire she held down became active again. A fist impacted against her chin and lifted her into the air.

"Well, what have we here!" The Vampire got back to her feet the same time Buffy flipped back up and fell into a fighting stance. She drew a stake from her jacket.

"I got something here, all right!" She said, focusing on the Vampire.

Amber demon eyes just looked past her at Angel and fangs flashed as lips curved into a smile.

"She's cuter than the last one, isn't she, Angel?"

Buffy resisted the impulse to turn around and look at Angel.

"Can we fight now?" She asked the Vampire mockingly. "I need my beauty sleep."

She just laughed and then turned to run away. Buffy was so surprised that she didn't make a move to follow her.

"I'll leave her to you, Angel!" The Vampire yelled over her shoulder, then disappeared.

Buffy was confused, turning around to face Angel. What had she meant with that last one? Angel stood some meters away from her, his eyes glued to her. She had wanted to be the object of his attention for some time now, only she hadn't really wanted him to look terrified at that moment.

"Are you all right?" She asked him. "Look, this might seem pretty strange to you, but ..."

"You're the Slayer!"

Now she was dumbfounded. He knew? For a moment a terrible suspicion crept in to her mind. The Vampire hadn't bitten him, even when she had the chance. She had said she'd leave Buffy to him. Could he be ...?

No, she shook her head. She had seen him in daylight. They had shaken hands one time after class and she had felt the warmth of his skin, the blood pumping beneath it. He was no Vampire.

"How do you ...?" She began, moving toward him.

Angel flinched back from her, pure fear in his eyes, sweat glistening on his forehead.

"Stay away from me!" He whispered.

"What? Angel ... Professor Fitzpatrick, it's me! Buffy Summers! I'm in your psych class! I won't hurt ..."

"Stay away!" He screamed and started running toward his car. She could only look after him as he jumped in and hit the pedal for all it was worth. The black convertible jumped onto the street and vanished.

"Was it something I said?" Buffy wondered.
 

Part 4
 

###
 

" ... and then he just ran away like I was the devil or something. A girl could really get insecure here."

Giles nodded, going through Buffy's report in his mind once more.

"And the name of the Vampire was Darla, correct?" He asked.

"I think so. That's what he called her. How come he knows a Vampire by name anyway?"

"Maybe ... maybe he knew her before she became a Vampire?" Willow offered, looking up from her notebook.

"Unlikely." Giles said, reaching for a book he had handy, starting to flip through the pages. "Unless I am mistaken this Darla is ... ah, here she is."

He put the book on the table and Buffy saw a painting of the woman she had seen earlier. The painting showed her with longer hair and she wore a dress, but it was her. No doubt about it.

"I bet this dress works like a wonder bra." Buffy remarked.

"Does a good job if that's so." Xander added.

Darla," Giles said, ignoring the comments, "is one of the most infamous Vampires in history. She is also at least a thousand years old. Sired by none other than the Master."

"The Master?" Buffy asked. "Well, seeing as I dusted him two years ago she can't be all that tough."

"The Master was the most powerful Vampire in creation, Buffy." Giles reminded her. "You were able to kill him because he was still chained to the Hellmouth when you fought and still he almost killed you."

Buffy remembered that fight. The Anointed One had lead her down into the Master's lair. If Giles hadn't figured out that the old Vampire would be unable to cross the boundaries of the Hellmouth unless he fed on Slayer's blood ... she didn't want to think about it.

"Okay, so she's probably a bad ass. That still doesn't explain what she has to do with Angel, ah, I mean Professor Fitzpatrick."

"From what you told us the two seemed quite, ah, intimate with one another. He knew her name and she didn't bite him when she had the chance."

Buffy didn't like the word 'intimate' in this particular instance, but she tried to concentrate on the important stuff.

"There was something else," she said, "just after she vamped out on him. He didn't look afraid when she went all demony, but then she started saying something that sent him running. Sounded like some kind of rhyme."

"A rhyme?" Willow asked. "Maybe ... maybe some kind of spell?"

"Yes, and when she started he seemed to be in pain."

"Can you remember the words?" Giles said.

"I ... I'm not sure. Something about bonds of blood and hellfire, I don't remember every word. I don't think she got to finish it. I ... I sort of attacked her somewhere in the middle of it."

"Bonds of blood ...," Giles muttered, "there is a possibility. Powerful Vampires have been known to, ah, to use living humans as slaves, use them for daylight work. They feed them their blood, but not enough to initiate the change."

"You mean like that guy in the Dracula movie?" Xander asked. "Renfield?"

"Yes, close to that. A Master Vampire's blood is highly addictive. Unless the human has a very strong will he will do anything to, ah, to get another fix."

Buffy leant back on the couch, trying to wrap her mind around it. Could it be? Angel a slave to this vampire bitch?

"No, I can't imagine that. He was resisting her. He tried to get away. And if he were bonded to her by her blood, why would she need to recite some kinda spell?"

Giles nodded.

"Granted, it doesn't sound like it adds up. First order of business should be to have a long chat with Mr. Fitzpatrick. If we can find him."

"I got his address!" Willow said. Buffy moved over to where the redhead worked on her notebook.

"I hacked into the university records. Angel Fitzpatrick, born in 1969 in Boston, made his degree in psychology at the university of Michigan, moved to Sunnydale two months ago. And here is the address."

"You're great, Willow!"

Buffy was halfway to the door when Giles held her back.

"You shouldn't go alone, Buffy! The last time he saw you he ran for his life. It might be better if, ah, the rest of us were there as well."

Buffy sighed. The thought that Angel was terrified of her made her cringe inside.

"Okay, you guys come along! But let's hurry! He didn't look like he planned to stay in one place for too long."

#

Buffy broke open the door when knocking didn't work. Angel's apartment was on the small side and looked like it had been left in a hurry. Several books were strewn on the ground, a few shirts still hung in the open closet.

"Guy didn't waste a lot of time packing!" Xander said.

"Scared people tend to run fast."

Buffy looked around the room, trying to get a sense of the man she'd lusted after these past few weeks. She felt like she knew him, which was an illusion of course. Except in class they'd never so much as exchanged a word.

Still, she had never felt this way for anyone before. It had to be more than his really good looks. Maybe it had been the way he'd looked at her just hours ago. Never before had she seen a man so filled with terror. She wanted to make the fear in his eyes go away.

"He is not here!" Giles said, coming over from the other room. "And it does not look like he will be coming back anytime soon."

"Hey, look at this!" Willow called from the bed.

She was lifting a long, wrapped bundle out from under the bed. Judging by the look on her face it was pretty heavy. Buffy walked over to take it from her hands. It *was* pretty heavy and something about it was giving her the creeps. She undid the wrapping.

"Isn't that ..." Willow began.

Giles came over to take a closer look. He took off his glasses, sighing.

"Yes, I'm afraid this ... this looks exactly like the painting we saw."

Buffy held a gleaming sword, nearly twice the length of her arm.  The blade was polished to a shine, giving her a warped reflection of her own face. Buffy imagined she could feel cold seeping into her hands from where she held it. There was a blood-red ruby embedded into the handguard and it seemed to twinkle at her menacingly.

"The sword of the Butcher Knight." Giles muttered.

Buffy felt cold.

Part 5
 

###
 

Angel drove through the dark, never paying attention to the speed limit. The sign that said he was leaving Sunnydale vanished into the night behind him. Stupid! Shouldn't have stopped by his apartment before he left. Waste of time. Nothing there that was worth taking with him anyway.

His foot had never left the pedal but still it felt like a crawl to him. He had to get out. Get as far away from here as he could before it was too late. Sometimes he had managed to stay ahead of Darla for several years before she found him. If he just went far enough away from here, far enough away from the Slayer ...

There was a thumb behind him, the car bucking under him as if he'd driven over a hole. He looked into the rear view mirror and saw nothing.

"Nice idea! Now we can have some privacy."

He swiveled around and saw Darla sitting in the back-seat.

"Where were we?" She asked him, smiling.

He hit the break for all it was worth, the tires screeching across the concrete, the seat belt biting into his flesh. Darla was thrown forward and went right through the wind shield.

It took Angel a few moments to recover. He would probably be bruised from the seat belt tomorrow, but if that was the only price to pay, he would do so gladly. He looked up through the shattered wind shield and saw Darla rising to her feet in front of the car.

"Now that wasn't very nice!" She chided him, holding her side.

Angel stepped on it and the car roared forward again. He knew he couldn't kill her this way, but if he just managed to slow her down long enough ...

Darla leapt up before the car could hit her and grabbed him while in midair. The seat belt nearly cut him in half as she swung back into the back-seat of the car. Next thing he knew her arm snaked around his neck from behind. Desperate, he threw the car into a tailspin, but Darla held on.

"Now that we will not be disturbed again ..." She whispered into his ears.

Angel tried everything to shake her off, but she didn't even budge. His eyes found the tree line on the side of the road and he turned the car toward it.

"By Bond of Blood I call the Might" Darla began.

The trees loomed closer, the car screeching toward them, still accelerating.

"Of Fire From Hell, Inferno's Light"

Angel closed his eyes as the car jumped off the street and skidded toward the edge of the forest.

"I Curse Your Soul with Satan's Bite"

The sound of the crash cut through the silence of the night.

#

Buffy knew she was dreaming. She knew that she had finally gone to sleep after searching for Angel had turned out to be fruitless. She had been tired and wouldn't be much use to anyone until tomorrow, so she had slouched down on Giles' couch while the others tried to find out more about Angel and the Butcher Knight.

She knew she was dreaming. It didn't help much.

There was screaming all around her. She could see people running, running like the devil himself was chasing them. They were dressed mostly in robes and primitive homemade clothing. The town Buffy found herself in looked like something out of the middle ages. No, that wasn't exactly right, because at this moment it looked like a loud corner of Hell.

Several of the buildings were burning, smoke curling into the dark night sky. The stench of blood was thick in the air, almost enough to make her gag. People were yelling, shouting for everyone to get away. A little farther away she heard the screams of the dying.

"Quickly! We have to get her out!" Someone yelled.

Buffy found herself grabbed and saw two men with gray beards, wearing battered-looking suits of battle armor, who were quickly herding her toward a waiting carriage. Only now did she become aware that she herself was dressed to fit the scenery. Silver armor, fitted to her slim figure, stained with soothe and blood.

"What is going on here?" She yelled at the men.

"Chosen One, we need to get you to safety!" One of them said.

The screams seemed to be coming closer.

"He is almost here!" Someone shouted.

They ran past a hut and moments later the wall of it blew outwards. Buffy had an image of something huge and black rushing past her, a flash of silver in the air. Something wet touched her face and the man to her left suddenly let go of her arm.

A headless body fell to the ground. She could see the head roll away down the street.

Shuffling hooves, the heavy panting of a huge horse. She turned around and saw him.

"Slayer!" The Butcher Knight growled.

He sat high on a giant black horse. His body was covered in black battle armor, the light of nearby fires playing across the obsidian surface. His armored fist held a heavy broadsword, the blade stained with blood. Splatters of blood also covered large parts of the armor and the flanks of the horse.

His face was hidden behind a black helmet. She imagined she could see two eyes somewhere inside it, burning a demon amber.

"Run, Chosen One!" The other bearded man said. "I will delay him as long as I can."

The Knight laughed and the horse started toward them again. Her bearded protector raised a sword to meet the onslaught. It didn't even take a second. The huge broadsword flashed through the air, cutting clean through steel and flesh, black armor glistening as more blood was added to the existing stains.

Buffy was frozen. She couldn't move a muscle, she could only stare at this nightmare creature that was now slowly coming toward her. She finally noticed that her right hand was clutching a battle ax, one that had seen use today it seemed, but she didn't find the strength to raise it.

The Butcher Knight climbed off his horse and came toward her, towering over her by at least two feet. Now she was sure, two amber demon eyes were looking at her from somewhere inside that black helmet.

"And so another Chosen One dies." He growled, raising his sword.

From the corner of her eyes Buffy saw two figures coming around the corner of a nearby hut, fighting against each other. The Vampire known as Darla stood there, wearing black battle armor as well, a sword in hand, and smiled broadly, half her face smeared with blood.

The figure fighting her looked like a fairy tale knight. Silver armor, long hair, fighting against the Vampire with sword and battle ax. She could see his face, his eyes focused on the enemy in front of him. Swords clashed, sparks flew. She knew that man.

"Angel?"

He looked at her for a second, his eyes widening in terror.

"Elia!" He screamed, pushing Darla away and starting toward her.

The Butcher Knight's sword arced down.

Buffy woke with a start, her body covered with sweat.

"Angel?" She whispered. There was no answer except the concerned glances of her friends.

Go to Part 6