Chapter 3: Hell Forged

Chapter 3: Hell Forged

Disclaimer: I didn't do it!

In the two weeks Xander had come to this world, things had changed. He had changed. It was impossible not to. There's nothing like walking through fire or dimensional portals to hell, for self-development. The old Xander might have joked about writing a self-help book, One Hundred Painful, Bloody Ways to Discover a New You!, but that wasn't him anymore. Thanks to the house's previous owner's meticulous documentation of the apocalypse, Xander now knew where he was. Or, more correctly, when he was. Although, he still couldn't figure out how he'd landed almost 30 years in the future in London, of all places.

Around 2025 what people called Hellgates began to open all over the world. These portals allowed demons and darkness to enter the world. It wasn't long before the various militaries of the world had bombed and nuked the hell out of the locations where the 'gates had opened. This did nothing to stop the flow of demons. They kept coming, not the least dissuaded by climbing over the bodies of their comrades. Every demon wanted into this new world, a new vista of mayhem and slaughter with plenty of prey. Nothing the government tried was working. Erecting barricades to keep the demons in a specific area didn't work for long. Humans were swept aside by their numbers.

The few who had known about the supernatural before this were killed in the opening skirmishes. Relying the magic of old, they attempted to seal the 'gates as they began to open. But it had no effect on the demons that come through. The physically enhanced fighters lasted longer but they fell under the powerful foes.

Xander had come to determine that the demons he encountered where completely different from any he'd known before. The majority showed at least human level intelligence, they had attack patterns and battle plans, and it was not uncommon for different demon types to work together under the command of several leaders. Higher level demons that had vaguely humanoid features, like hands and legs, carried projectile weaponry until anything on earth. There were spirit creatures that fed on magical energy and life force instead of flesh; often incorporeal they could only be forms of energy, magical or electrical. The undead, bodies of former humans reanimated by either sorcerers or the energy of the Hellgates, were more easily dispatched. Lizard creatures, similar to the one Xander killed on his first night were the animals. They were driven by hunger and attacked in packs.

Realizing that he was sorely unequipped to fight this battle, Xander had taken to looting the nearby homes and buildings. This had yielded several guns, five knives, a few cases of ammo, and one axe. The guns and knives were human make, but the axe was different. From the second Xander had seen it, he knew it wasn't from this world.

Although he'd found a few knives and guns, Xander knew it wasn't enough. Guns would eventually run out of ammo. Knives were close range weapons. The demons he'd encountered could easily over power him in brute strength at arm's length. Plus he had little experience with them. So, here he was looking for something else he could use. The weird humming in his bones was his first clue that something was going on. His time here had enhanced his senses; he could always feel the demons that were close by. This felt different, yet not.

Exiting the decaying supermarket he was searching, Xander moved slowly towards the area the humming was coming from. There was no movement, not that it meant much here. Drawing one of his knives, he approached a pile of rubble to his left. Still no movement. Xander circled the rocks until he was staring at the corpse of a demon. They never rotted, whatever killed them, however they fell, they remained that way. He didn't know why. Why was the body of a demon humming at him?

The glimmer was what caught his attention. Not much shined in post-Armageddon London. Mostly because there was no sun, just a forever red twilight, the center of our universe of slowly being devoured by the darkness the demons brought with them. So, no shininess here. Looking more closely, Xander saw an axe. It was double-headed with a slim axe blade on one side and a wicked curved pick on the other. At first, he thought the light from the sky had turned the weapon red, but the metal truly was a gleaming red. Symbols trailed from the head of the axe to the dense handle. Hesitating, Xander debated on picking it up. On one hand, a demon weapon from another dimension, on the other, a deadly weapon to kick demon ass with. Choices, choices everywhere, nor any a Giles to ask. Gathering his remaining bits of stupidity and bravery, Xander sheathed his knife and grabbed the handle. Big uh-oh.

It hurt. It really fucking hurt. And he couldn't let go. His teeth were chattering from the energy this bitch was giving off. Finally the pain and shaking receded, leaving a new awareness in its wake. An awareness of the weapon on that he had dropped on the ground. It wasn't sentient, per se, but it had a purpose, to kill. That was all it knew how to do. And it wanted to do its job. So it had searched for something, someone that would allow it to do its job. And that someone was Xander. It said something about him that Xander had enough darkness to wield a demon blade. Together they had a purpose, to rid the world of the demon plague and kill all who stood in their path.

It was a match made in… well, you know the rest.

Since then, Xander had hunted. Slowly, he had eradicated all the demons for two miles in every direction from his home base. And that was a lot of demons. The more he killed, the easier it was to use the axe. At first, it had been awkward and heavy, but he had gotten better. Xander thought it was all the practice, but one day he had learned that wasn't all it was.

During his 'down time', when not hunting or scourging for food/essentials or practicing with his weapons, Xander read. He had found an occult shop in the area and raided the books. Despite his searching, he couldn't identify the writing on the blade. The selection wasn't that great, but Xander had picked up a few useful tricks that worked with the magics the demons brought with them, like how to use the shadows and demon sight. The shadows absorbed the sounds of his footsteps, breathing, and heartbeat. He didn't travel in him, but they hid his humanity from the demons he hunted. Demon sight made all the demons in his line of vision glow, whether they were hidden or not. But he could find nothing about his axe.

Then one day, while he was cleaning the axe, Xander noticed he could read some of the writing. The first few lines of symbols were now legible. 'For one Purpose were we made, By blood we become one…' The rest was still squibbles. He was changing with the axe. As it had pledged itself to his cause, Xander was becoming better equipped to wield it. Nothing too extreme, it was just like having a natural gift or understanding of it. Xander had gleamed one final piece of information from the axe. Its name: Mortifera.

Mortifera had given him an edge, but it was difficult. Not to fight, that was natural, but to have nothing to go home to. The only things in this time he were himself and his axe. And Fera's conversation skills were limited. Xander thought he would have a hard time adjusting to this place. He did miss his friend and Giles, but there was something about it. There was something about this 'gated world that eased his way into the hunter lifestyle. Almost a week had gone by before he'd recognized it. It felt like home, the stench of death and despair with the vague aura damnation. Hellmouth born and bred, Xander was more sensitive to the feeling of the 'gates. In this new world, Xander was perversely comforted by that. Just goes to show how a few weeks of solitude in hell with fuck a person up.

Another week had gone by as Xander continued to expand his perimeter. He had now set up several mini bolt holes that he could stay in instead of retreating all the way to his main base everyday. Xander didn't have a watch, nor did the sun rise or set, so he marked the passage of time by flying squid. They passed overhead, by his estimation, once every three days. It was as good an approximation as any. His little holes contained a few days' rations, replacement weapons, and what first aid items he could find. Occasionally Xander would return to places he'd already cleared to make sure no new demons had set up shop.

It was during this week that Xander began to see signs of newly killed demons. You couldn't tell by the corpses but there were not bite marks from the lizard demons. Also, the fresh damage to surrounding areas was more consistent to human weapons. Xander followed the trail until in went too far into unexplored territory. He didn't feel comfortable walking into an unknown without more firepower, with he was sadly lacking at the moment.

For the next few days, Xander hung around the sights of the battles in hopes whatever had done it would come back. No one returned. He had to go back to his base to restock. Xander was running out of food. One more day, Xander promised. And his typical luck was with him: there were humans. And they were being attacked by a massive demon force.