Disclaimer: You know the drill. Buffy, not mine (sadly). The artefact mentioned in this story was heavily inspired by a similar one used in the show Lost Girl.

Author's Note: As promised, here we go with the next one. Enjoy! Feedback is, as always, highly appreciated.

Frailty of the Righteous One

The tremendously loud sound of shattering glass broke the silence of the night as the bulky, horned demon jumped through it, landing on the street with a loud thud, hard enough to set off the alarms of several of the cars parked along the sidewalk.

Ignoring the ruckus he had created, the demon clutched the package tightly and ran, his breaths sounding awfully loud through the night; and half a minute later, several more of the bulky, horned creatures came pouring out of the window, snarling and growling as they took up the pursue, fear showing in the first demon's eyes as he kept running, clutching the bundle of leather he had taken from them tightly to his chest.

"Stop!" the demon leading the chase yelled, in a language no one but them could understand, a language which had officially died centuries ago, "traitor! Give it back!"

"Never!" he shot back, somehow managing to speed up even further; sweat formed on his bumpy brow as he kept running, to the one place where he knew he'd find someone to help him, knowing he had to get there before his former companions would catch up with him and that they'd be there to help. He had given his best to figure out their schedule before he had made his move, but deep inside, he knew that he might have made a mistake, that they might not always stick to the same rotation as to not end up being predictable…

The cemetery gate appeared up ahead of him, and it gave him new strength, the demons behind him howling in outrage as they realized what he was about to do; the sounds and the thoughts of what they would do to him, now that they had found out whom he was running to, should they catch him, made him run even faster, the sounds of fighting soon reaching his spiky ears and giving him the energy he needed to keep going.

A minute later, he spotted the ones he had been looking for, relief filling him as he approached them; so far, none of them had noticed them, the deceivingly fragile looking blonde and the taller one he knew to be a demon busy with battling a group of vampires, while the third member of the group, the one he was looking for, stood a few feet away, magic swirling and dancing around her hands as she made sure that none of the vampires would sneak up on one of the two fighters from behind, blasting them with her spells the second they tried to do so.

"Slayer!" he roared, gaining the attention of all three, and even making the vampires pause and look, their eyes widening as they spotted him and recognized him for what he was, then turned and ran off as fast as they could, to the obvious surprise of the trio they had been battling.

"What the Fuck", the black haired demon voiced that surprise, earning a reproachful look from the witch he knew to be her partner; now panting heavily, he approached them, wishing that he could raise his hands to signal that he meant them no harm, but unwilling to let go of the package, knowing how much depended on it.

"I come in peace", he said instead, "you must believe me, Chosen One…"

"More of them coming up!" Buffy interrupted him, raising her fists as the group of demons approached; the one leading them howled in anger at seeing their companion talk to the Slayer, the look of fear which appeared on the demon's face in reply showing the three women that for once, they were not the ones the demons were after.

Still, they all were reluctant to let the demon carrying the oblong, leather-wrapped object behind them, knowing that he might end up stabbing them in the back in quite the literal sense; and thus, Willow kept an eye on him, a binding spell readied in the back of her mind for the second he'd make the slightest suspicious move while Buffy and Pat moved to stand in front of them, blocking them from the sight of the advancing group of demons.

"Get away from him", the tallest and bulkiest of them snarled, sounding as if he wasn't really used to speaking English, "he's ours! None of your bushness!"

"I think he means business", Buffy told her taller companion, making the demon smirk and nod – before fire burst from her fists, a malicious glint in her good eye as she glared at the advancing demons, mildly amused when they all slowed down noticeably, clearly knowing who she and the smaller blonde next to her were.

"We have no quarrel with you", one of the smaller demons spoke up, clearly more fluent in English than the big guy in front of him, "it is our companion whom we want. We have no business with your friends and you, Chosen One."

"The world will end if you let them get to me", the demon who had approached them first threw in from behind, prompting Willow to look at him in surprise and worry, "you must believe me, if they get this, it is over…"

"What are you talking about?" the witch demanded to know, making him look at her as if he was seeing her for the first time, his voice trembling when he replied. "They want to do what we never must, you have to—"

The arrow came out of nowhere and hit him right in the throat, cutting him off; startled, Willow flinched back as hot, strangely thick and almost black blood splashed onto her, the demon letting out a low gurgling noise as he slumped down, thrusting the package he had been holding out to her, his eyes wide and full of pain.

"Take", he whispered, blood bubbling from his lips and running down his chin, "give… Chosen One…"

"Where the Hell did that bow come from?!" she heard Pat curse behind her, but found herself unable to look away as the demon held her gaze; and then, he thrust the package at her, and without thinking about it, she took it, hearing the other demons behind her howl in rage and dismay at the sight.

"Get it back!" the tallest one of them yelled, already moving forward – only to be met with a burning fist straight to the face, enough power behind the punch to make him stumble back a few steps, howls of pain coming from him as his skin blistered and reddened where the flames had made contact.

"Whatever it is, we can't let them get it!" Willow called out to them, clutching the package tightly to herself; at her feet, the demon reached up to grasp her wrist, making her look at him again, a harsh cough escaping him as he tried to speak once more.

"Keep", he brought out, a shuddery breath following the single word, "Chosen…"

"We'll keep it safe", she gave back, even though she wasn't even sure yet what exactly the demon had given her; he managed a smile, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he died, his final breath drowned out by the sounds of fighting behind the redhead.

"Take them down!" the leader demon snarled, performing a series of complicated looking gestures and causing both Buffy and Pat to raise an eyebrow in almost perfect unison as a sword appeared in his hand all at once; the other demons repeated the gestures, and moments later, they all were holding an assortment of weapons, ranging from spears to clubs and axes.

"Interesting", Buffy commented as she ducked the first clumsy swing made at her, "perhaps Willow can teach us how to do that."

"No need to", the taller woman gave back, sidestepping the spear which had been thrust at her just as clumsily, the moves of the demons showing that, even though they knew how to summon weapons, they weren't very adept at using them, evidenced by the look of surprise the demon using the spear showed when Pat easily grabbed it, then jerked it out of his hands and using it to swipe his feet out from underneath him, the weapon already turning while he was still falling, the sharp tip being rammed into his throat seconds later, his eyes going wide as he realized too late what had happened.

Not wasting another second on the dying demon, the black haired woman pulled the spear back out easily, using the thick shaft to block an axe coming at her head, a malicious smirk curling her lips when Buffy took care of the demon wielding said axe by ramming the sword she had taken from yet another one through his midsection, a pained cry escaping him as he went down.

"Fools!" the leader demon cried, his voice a mixture of anger and panic as his companions fell one by one, their rather undeveloped fighting skills no match for a Slayer and a former assassin with decades of experience, "we can't just lose against them!"

"That's just what you are doing", Buffy smiled, taking down yet another one; and moments later, as Pat finished off one more of them, he was the only one left, his gaze moving from the Slayer to the taller woman and back to the blonde, then focusing on Willow, a low snarl coming from him – before the sword in his hand changed into an already loaded crossbow and he fired at the redhead, his eyes widening in disbelief when the bolt got stuck in the spear's shaft instead, a low growl coming from Pat as she glared at him.

"Mistake", she then grumbled, the spear turning in her hands, "big mistake." And with the last word, she let it fly, a shocked and pained gurgle coming from the demon as it hit him in the stomach with enough force to drive him back a few steps before he fell over, another grunt escaping him as the impact drove the spear back out, his hands clutching at it helplessly, as if he could keep himself from dying by just holding on to the wood tight enough.

"Alright", Buffy stated, already dismissing him as dead and gone, "now that this has been taken care of… Willow, what did he give you?"

"Not sure", the redhead gave back, carefully unwrapping the leather, both the Slayer and Pat looking on curiously, not sure what to expect; they both ended up mildly disappointed though as the final layer of leather finally fell away and revealed a mere wooden stick, prompting all three women to frown.

"What's so special about that?" Buffy wanted to know, poking the stick with her index finger, her frown deepening when nothing happened; curiously, Pat moved closer to mimic her, and the moment she touched the stick, blue sparks flew up, a surprised "Ow!" coming from the demon as she jerked her hand back.

"What the Hell", she then complained, "it shocked me!"

"Why did it shock you and nothing happened when I touched it?" Buffy demanded to know, frowning; after looking at her partner in concern for a moment longer, just to make sure she hadn't taken any damage from the brief shock the stick had given her, Willow focused on her best friend, recalling what the demon had said before he had died.

"He told me to give it to you, the Chosen One", she explained, "so perhaps only you can touch it. Should I try touching it, too, just to make sure?"

"Go ahead", Buffy nodded, "but I wonder what I'm supposed to do with it if nothing happens when I touch it and it only shocks other people…"

"Time to find out", Willow let her know, then reached out, already anticipating the brief pain of the shock her partner had gotten, almost squeezing her eyes shut; then, the tip of her finger made contact with the wood, and before she knew what she was doing, she had grabbed the stick at the thickened base with a tight grip, both Buffy and Pat letting out a gasp when a strangely green mist swirled away from her fingers and down the length of the stick, the wood groaning audibly as it lengthened and thickened, until it was three times as long as it had been before, almost as tall as the witch herself.

"…whoa", Buffy finally brought out, breaking the stunned silence which had formed at the unexpected and rather spectacular sight, "what just happened? Why didn't it do that when I touched it?"

"No idea", Willow gave back, eying the staff suspiciously, "but… it feels odd to hold this. I can feel a strong magical energy within it…"

"Maybe that's why it reacted to you that way", Pat commented, looking at the staff as well, "because you're the one with the strongest magic here… Still doesn't explain why it shocked me."

"We better get this thing to Giles", Buffy decided, making the other two nod, "maybe he can tell us what this is. Should we wrap it up again?"

"If it shrinks back to its former size once I let go of it, yes", Willow nodded, looking at the staff in amazement; she could still feel the energy from it, pulsing through her, a pure and white kind of magic, untainted by any evil and darkness.

"Let's try then", Buffy suggested, and after a moment, the witch nodded, letting go of the staff; and while it still was falling to the ground, it already was shrinking again, until it had turned back to the size it had been before Willow had touched it, now barely as long as her forearm.

"Alright", she then mumbled, taking hold of the leather the stick had been wrapped up in and carefully covered the piece of wood with it again; and once it had been hidden beneath the layers of leather once more, the trio got moving, leaving the cemetery and heading for the Watcher's home, eager to see if he could provide some answers.