Title: The Sword's Edge
Spoilers: Everything is fair game
Summary: The Keeper of Souls is in Sunnydale but will the gang have to sacrifice one of their own to stop it.
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story. Joss & ME own the characters, I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.
Author note: This fic takes place between the fourth & fifth seasons.
Author note 2: Thoughts



~Chapter Three~




Xander didn't understand what was happening to him. At the moment, only one thing registered in his mind. Pain. Blinding, almost overwhelming pain. That was all Xander felt.

His whole being hurt.

"Xander..."

He opened his eyes to find himself lying down on the floor of the Bronze. Standing above him was a familiar girl.

"Cordelia?"

"Xander. What's going on?" Her question had a slight frantic edge to it.

"I don't know," Xander replied.

Cordelia became livid She didn't understand what was going on and that scared her. "What do you mean you don't know? You must have done something," She walked by the stage, feeling the edge of it with her fingertips. "I was helping Angel research a new daemon in LA when suddenly, everything went black. When I can see again, I'm in the bronze and I find you curled up into a ball on the floor, shaking."

Cordelia grabbed Xander by the front of his shirt. "Now what did you do?!"

As he was about to answer, the entire building shook. Large cracks formed across each wall, creating what looked like a large spider web. A spider web that, in a matter of seconds, spread out to cover the floor. Xander watched in wonder as crack after crack appeared beneath his feet.

"Xander?"

Tearing his eyes away from the floor, Xander looked up at her. "Cordelia?"

The room shook again with a loud groan and the floor beneath Xander, collapsed.

"XANDER!"

Her scream echoed in the room. She was helpless to do anything but watch as Xander fell through the ruined floor and out of sight.

*~*~*


"Cordelia?"

"no.."

"Cordelia. Wake up."

Cordelia herself being shaken and opened her eyes a fraction, squinting at the bright light above her. "What?"

"Are you alright, Cordelia?"

"Wesley?" Cordelia moved her head from side to side. She could see Angel and Wesley standing over her. Each had a look of concern on their faces. Cordelia realized with a start that she was on the sofa in her apartment. Sitting up, she carefully cradled her head in her hands.

"Xander..."

Angel's body tensed up at her whisper. "Cordelia-"

Cordelia shot up, nearly knocking Angel over as she raced to the phone and started punching numbers.

Wesley threw a questioning glance at the vampire who only shrugged his shoulders in response. Making his way over to Cordelia, Angel could hear her desperately whispering for someone to pick up.

*~*~*


The warehouse was a mess. During the fight, one of the support beams was knocked out of place letting part of the roof collapse inward. Sunlight filtered into the building through the damaged area of the roof, illuminating the dust in the air. In one corner of the warehouse, a pair of yellow eyes flashed in the darkness.

Staying in the darkness allowed it to witness the battle between the two groups. Surprise had coursed through the shadow's essence when the young male human actually managed to free the soul sword from it's prison.

It could remember when the sword had reappeared in the human world centuries ago. Out of fear of what would happen if the Keeper of Souls were given free reign in the world, several humans who were powerful in the ways of magic sought to bind the sword in a way so no human would ever try to wield the sword. So, using the blade itself, they formed a shield around the sword's handle and every being that had tried to breach it, were consumed. Much like the human female should have been, had she not been thrown from it.

Keeping that thought in mind, the shadow watched as the remaining humans gathered together. The male human picked up the fallen female while the other two females held onto each other. It waited patiently for the humans to leave.

When the warehouse was empty, a thin tendril of darkness slowly extended from the corner to slide across the floor. Inch by inch the expanding black shape crept closer, ultimately forming a small pool of darkness around the mage's severed limb. Over a matter of seconds, it disappeared into the inky depths of the shadow.

Once the arm was completely submerged, the darkness retreated back into the corner and the yellow eyes faded from view.

*~*~*


Xander was frustrated, plain and simple. Things, like his surroundings, were changing faster than he could handle.

Xander currently found himself standing in the middle of a road. On one side there was only a dark fog while on the other side, there was a group of buildings that looked familiar to Xander. He couldn't make out any features because there were no lights on in or around the structures. A dim darkness covered everything.

Where is this? I remember falling down a hole and Cordelia was standing over the edge, screaming, and then - That memory stopped him cold. "Cordelia!"

"She cannot help you,"

Xander turned to see a vague human-like shape within the fog. He recognized the strange multi-layered voice. "What did you do to Cordelia?"

"We did nothing to her."

"Then where is she?"

"She is not here."

"What kind of answer is that?"

A deep, booming voice rang out from behind Xander. "The only kind you'll ever get from that creature."

Xander turned to the new voice. A figure came out from inside one of the buildings in the distance. As the figure came closer, the dim light slowly revealed it to be a man. When the man stopped just a few feet from the road, he was completely visible. Xander could see a set of horns that started at the temple and curled back around each ear. Where the man's eyes would be, only a single white dot existed with in the center of each of the black orbs.

Of all the man's features that Xander could see, none shocked him more than the simple fact that, other than the horns and eyes, Xander was looking at a copy of himself.

*~*~*


On the outskirts of town, several abandoned buildings marked a part of the city boundaries like a silent warning to anyone coming into Sunnydale. All who passed these empty structures felt a shiver go up their spines and a small spark of fear in their hearts. Both feelings were promptly dismissed as people got further into the town and, like most of the town's inhabitants, they forgot about what they saw.

The buildings themselves seemed to cloaked in darkness and even direct sunlight didn't lessen the evil that was felt radiating from them. It was in one of these buildings, that a light flashed in a window causing bird-like creatures on the roof to take flight out of fear.

Inside, Ranier impatiently paced the length of a small room. He was idly picking at the stump of his arm, at times drawing out pieces of flesh or an oily, black substance that disintegrated in his fingers. The only other occupant in the room was Tharillos in the currently possessed form of Xander Harris, sitting against the wall.

Ranier was troubled.

Normally the daemon assimilates the soul of the host it possesses, into it's own. Tharillos would then know everything that the soul knew and felt in this life. The mage had questioned Tharillos intensely, trying to learn what the boy knew about the Slayer and her group but so far the daemon could not find any information in the boy's mind.

Not only was Ranier's mind was distracted by the unexpected problems his slave was having with accessing the boy's memories but the daemon has also experienced problems in controlling the body which prevented it from killing the Slayer and her friends.

He watched as sweat started to pour down the boy's face. Ranier was amazed that Tharillos had to fight an internal battle for dominance over a human soul. A battle that Ranier believed, shouldn't be taking place. The daemon has possessed bodies of more powerful humans in the past with no problems. Why can't it complete it's control now?

Suddenly, a short, high-pitched noise shattered the silence in the room. A small black circle formed on the ceiling and an object dropped from it onto the floor. Ranier smiled widely and bent down and picked up the object. "Now this is more like it!"

Ranier held it up to Tharillos, who recognized it as Ranier's missing arm. Ranier was slightly disappointed when Tharillos showed little, if any, reaction. Shrugging his shoulders, Ranier reattached the limb to his arm and a dim light emanated from the wound, fusing the two together.

"Ah, that's better," Ranier said as he flexed his fingers. "Now all we need is.." Ranier felt a massive drain on his reserve energies. Surprise registered on his face before he lost consciousness and tipped forward, onto the floor.

Tharillos was oblivious to the fallen form of his master because his attention was focused on an internal conversation.

*~*~*


In the foggy landscape, two figures face each other.

"Who are you?" Xander demanded.

The evil looking version of himself made no attempt to answer, only smiled. Mournful howls could be heard coming from the buildings in the distance.

On the other side of the road, a melodious voice rang out. "Tharillos!"

Xander's evil-looking twin shifted his gaze to the far side of the road. A sneer appeared on his face. "Begone Lost Ones. This is between me and the boy."

"You are wrong," the unseen being answered. "Everything you do concerns us. Only the one before you keeps us from returning you to your cage."

Tharillos glanced at Xander. Laughter bubbled up from within the daemon. "Oh this is irony at it's best. I was wondering why you hadn't made your presence known before now." Tharillos turned to Xander and said. "Thank you boy."

"Laugh while you can," the voice echoed from inside the fog. "As all before him did, so will this human also succumb and your protection will crumble. Then you will return to your cage."

"Never!" Tharillos charged only to be forcefully stopped at the road's edge by an invisible wall. Tharillos fell back as more animalistic howls rang out from behind him.

Xander stared as his double continued to assault the invisible wall that prevented him from crossing the road. Each blow that Tharillos delivered left faint, but visible, ripples in the air. Xander didn't understand most of what they were talking about but one thing was clear. He needed to get as far from them as possible. He knew somehow that he was safe on the road but that only felt temporary.

"You can not breach that wall any more than we can," The multi-layered voice held an amused tone. "Unlike you, we will simply wait until the time comes when the boy will no longer be able to bar our way."

Nothing was making sense to Xander. Here he was face to face with an evil-looking version of himself. There was another, equally scary, person inside the fog behind him and there was also the misshapen dog-like creatures. The only good thing in this hell that Xander found himself in was the little girl, Crystal.

Crystal! Xander mentally slapped himself for forgetting about the girl. Remembering the look of sadness in her eyes when she spoke of everyone leaving her alone caused Xander to decide to be there for Crystal and protect her. Despite what was happening to him, he needed to help her first then he could worry about his problems. Xander realized that if he was going to find her then he needed to get out of there, fast. Without sparing a backwards glance, Xander began running down the road.

He didn't go far before he was surrounded by an intense bright light and vanished altogether.

*~*~*


Giles was pacing in his home with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. Tara was lying on his couch. Willow was sitting next to her girlfriend, tear streaks were visible on her face. Buffy walked out of the kitchen with a damp washcloth that she handed to Willow. She then set her sights on the only man in the room. "Giles, what the hell is going on? What happened to Xander?"

Giles sighed heavily. "It would appear that Xander has been possessed by a powerful daemon."

"Well duh! That was kinda hard to miss," Buffy's voice was heavy with sarcasm. "What I want to know is what can we do?"

Giles set the book he was reading down and faced the upset Slayer. His face betrayed the frustration he felt. "Right now... I don't know what we can do."

"What?!"

Willow's voice cut through Giles like a hot blade. He looked down at the book on the table, avoiding the shocked stares coming from the two girls. He took a drink from his cup and tried to put into words the situation that they now faced. "The daemon now in Xander's body is called Tharillos, The Keeper of Souls."

"The Keeper of Souls?" Buffy asked.

"Yes. It is a very old and powerful force. During times long past, Tharillos has consumed thousands of souls in battle and destroyed many kingdoms of old. No one knows what Tharillos' true form looks like because it is written that he assumes the identity of the sword's bearer."

"Meaning that he possesses the body of the person holding the sword," Willow commented.

"Yes," Giles said. "The sword has the ability to absorb souls of people but Tharillos uses the sword's powers to rip the soul from the person bearing the sword and assume control of the body giving him complete control over the body and the mind."

Willow silently held the washcloth that Buffy gave her to Tara's forehead. She knew, deep down, that it wasn't her lifelong friend that had struck her girlfriend and threatened her with a sword. With determination, she asked the question that had been plaguing her. "If Xander is no longer in control of his actions then why couldn't the daemon kill Buffy when Ranier order him to? How could Xander stop him from killing her or the rest of us?"

Giles drug his hands through his hair. "I'm not sure how he managed to accomplish such a feat. From every mention of the daemon that I've read, Tharillos should have complete control over Xander's body not to mention having access to his memories."

Buffy jumped at that last part. "What, you're saying that the daemon knows everything that Xander knew about us. Then why are we still here Giles? We should be warning our families. The daemon could-"

"Do nothing, I think." Giles said, interrupting Buffy. "Don't you remember when he tried to kill you?"

"That's not something that I'm going to forget Giles," Buffy said icily. She was sure that she would have nightmares of that for a while just like she had bad dreams about Giles after the Master had killed her.

Giles ignored her tone as he continued. "Tharillos showed no knowledge that he knew any of us. If he did then I'm sure he would have tried to use Xander's memories against us." Giles resumed his pacing. "I do not understand how he accomplished it but Xander somehow managed to block his memories and be able to exert some, if little, control over his body."

"That means it will be easier to get him back." Willow exclaimed.

"Maybe Willow," Giles cautioned "We have to come up with a plan of action first and I'm not sure if we have a lot of time before..."

Buffy didn't like the way Giles trailed off like that. "What Giles? Before what?"

Giles looked at the two girls intently causing them to shift slightly under his scrutiny. "I'm not sure what Xander has done but it is said that the souls that Tharillos absorbed changed slowly until there was no difference between them and the daemon."

"So what you're saying is that soon we will lose Xander forever?" Buffy asked but Giles just turned away from her and picked up the book again. Buffy felt like she was kicked in the gut. She slowly sat down and stared into space.

Willow gazed down at Tara for a second then turned to look at Giles. "How was Tharillos defeated the last time?"

"What?" Giles asked absently.

Willow stood up and grabbed the book out of Giles' hands. "I said, how was the daemon defeated the last he possessed someone?"

Giles pinched the brow of his nose in thought. "The last time Tharillos was released, it is said that a coven of witches banded together with several warlocks to seal the daemon within his crystal sword. I-I haven't found out how they did it. Yet." He moved to the table and opened another book. "One researcher claimed that according to various sources, each time Tharillos surfaced, the daemon remained in power for shorter periods of time. There are eyewitness accounts from survivors that Tharillos was constantly distracted as if he was fighting an internal battle."

"But you said that the souls never survived," Buffy came back into the conversation.

"Yes the host body died after the soul either was destroyed or was absorbed by Tharillos. When that happened, the daemon was returned to the sword."

"You mean that to send the daemon back to the sword, Xander has to die," Buffy said weakly.

No one had anything to say after that.

*~*~*