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.
Feedback: Be my guest.
Author note: This fic takes place between the fourth & fifth seasons.




~Chapter Four~



Abandoned Building Outside of Sunnydale

Inside the barely lit room, Tharillos calmly sat on the floor. His black eyes never leaving the unconscious form of his 'Master' that was laying on the floor, in front of him. Every fiber of his host's being itched to kill the little leech. To rip him apart but the compulsion to obey was too strong.

"Uhhh." Ranier moaned and rolled onto his back. He glanced around to get his bearings and then, slowly, got to his feet. "Wow. That took more out me than I thought."

Ranier staggered to the only table in the room, scattering the few items that were on it onto the floor. "I need.. I.." Then he turned to Tharillos. "Come here."

The need to obey forced Tharillos to his feet. Woodenly, he walked over to stand by his 'Master'. Ranier placed a hand on his arm and then everything went dark.

*~*~*


Xander was lost. As soon as he began running, there was a flash of light and then he was here, surrounded by the same thick fog he saw when he first got here.

"Xander?"

Xander turned to the timid sounding voice. He found Crystal standing not far from him. "Crystal! Am I glad to see you."

The little girl approached slowly. "Are you still... you?"

Am I still me? Xander wasn't sure what made her ask that. "Are you okay Crystal?"

Crystal stopped a couple of feet from him. "Are you?" she asked again.

Xander took a step towards Crystal, intent on comforting the girl when he felt a weird pulling sensation. "What the.."

Then everything went dark.

"... yes that ... now lets ... why hasn't ..."

Xander fought to regain consciousness. A voice in the darkness offered Xander a piece of solid reality that he was able to cling to as he tried to wake up but.. he felt different. His body felt sluggish as if there was something weighing him down.

"Can yo ... up!"

Pain blossomed in his face as fireworks exploded in the darkness behind his eyelids. Xander forced his eyes open, squinting in the bright light. "Whaaa," Xander slurred, still not fully awake.

"I said wake up!"

Xander jolted to rest of the way to alertness as pain once again exploded behind his eyelids. Xander backed up until he hit a wall with his back. Xander franticly looked around, trying to figure out where he was.

"Over here."

Xander looked over at the only open door in the room and saw a familiar looking man.

"Weeelllllll?" the man asked.

That was when Xander remembered where he saw this man. Xander was back in his body and the man responsible for what he has been through was standing right in front of him. Anger flooded Xander washing away his exhaustion. "Where are they?" Xander growled.

Ranier's face screwed up in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Xander took a step closer, raising the sword in his hands. "Where are my friends?"

A look of shocked surprise fell over Ranier's face. Xander saw fear flashed briefly in his eyes but then Ranier started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"This," Ranier gasped for breath between fits of laughter. "This is too rich. Tharillos can't even keep a miserable little soul like yours under control."

"Where are my friends!" Xander demanded once more.

"You want to know about your friends, huh?" Ranier studied Xander for a second. "Fine. I'll show you what you did to your friends." Then Ranier's hand shot out and grasped the sword by the blade. A dull green light emanated from his hand, which traveled up the blade to Xander's hand and then quickly spread out to cover the rest of his body.

Before Xander could jerk the sword out of Ranier's grasp Xander felt a sharp pain in his head. It felt like someone was pounding on his skull, trying to get in. There was one final surge of pain and then images flashed in Xander's mind. Images of him attacking Tara and Giles, Of him holding a sword against Willow. Of him swinging that same sword at Buffy.

Xander could hear Willow pleading with him. He could hear Buffy scream his name.

A great pain lanced through Xander's heart as he found himself, this time, kneeling in front of a smirking Ranier.

"I.. I didn't.." Xander gasped

"Oh but you did, dear boy,"

"No, I.. I wouldn't.."

Ranier smiled proudly at Xander. "You would, could and did."

Xander looked up at Ranier, shaking his head in horror.

"That's right, my boy," Ranier rested a hand on Xander's shoulder. "One by one, you killed them all. It was beautiful,"

Xander violently pushed Ranier away from him. "NO!! You're lying. I would never hurt them."

"I showed you what I saw," Ranier then pointed to the sword in Xander's hand "With that sword, they never stood a chance against you."

Xander began to hear Buffy's and Willow's screams echo in his ears again. He could feel the fear in their voices as the screams continued to grow louder until Xander could take no more and his mind succumbed to darkness. The last thing he heard was Ranier's laughter.

*~*~*


Sunnydale
Home of Rupert Giles

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

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts for a time about the young man that had suddenly become their enemy. An enemy that they possibly would have to kill.

Willow wiped furiously at the tears that had fallen down her face. "No! We find a way to save Xander before he.. he.." a small sob broke through but then the redhead's posture firmed. "There has to be a way."

Giles set down the book in his hands and reached out for the young redhead. "Don't worry Willow, we'll find a way to save Xander."

"What about a spell?" Buffy quietly asked.

"What?" Willow asked as she pulled from Giles.

Buffy looked up at her best friend. "Xander is in this mess because Ranier cast a spell right?"

"Not exactly Buffy," Giles replied. "Tharillos was in the sword and all that was needed was for the daemon to establish a link between Xander and himself through the sword. All Ranier did was cast a summoning spell that allowed him to dominate Tharillos before the daemon could fully possess Xander."

Willow whirled on the ex-Watcher, hope illuminating in her eyes. "What if we cut the connection between Ranier and Xander or even better, between Xander and the sword."

"It's possible," Giles said carefully, trying not to get her hopes up.

"Really?" Buffy perked up a little.

"What about a transference spell?" Willow asked.

"That might be a good place to start," Giles moved to a shelf of books, selecting several titles and handing them to the girls. "Start looking through these volumes while I-"

Giles was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Glancing briefly at the girls, he went to answer it. "Hello?"

*~*~*


LA
Cordelia Chase's Apartment

"Damn!" Cordelia slammed the phone down in frustration.

"Calm down Cordelia." Angel took the shaking girl by the shoulders and drew her into his arms. She stayed there for a few seconds before withdrawing and sitting down on her couch.

Wesley sat down beside her. "What happened? In your vision I mean."

Cordelia took in a deep breath and began describing what she saw. From finding herself in an empty Bronze, seeing Xander on the floor in pain, and ending with the Bronze falling apart and Xander falling into large hole in the floor.

Angel and Wesley were silent after Cordelia finished her tale. Each were caught up in their own thoughts about what she had witnessed. The new Seer herself had picked up the phone and was quickly dialing a different number.

*~*~*


Sunnydale
Home of Rupert Giles

"Buffy. Riley's on the phone."

The Slayer looked up at Giles as he held the phone to her. Getting up, she took the phone from him and answered. "Hi Riley."

[ Buffy? You don't sound so good. What's wrong? ]

Buffy felt her spirits lighten a little at the sound of her boyfriend's concerned voice. She wished that he was here instead of the debriefing with his superiors. "Remember me telling you about the new bad guy setting up camp here?"

[ Yeah, but you said that it would be a piece of cake. ]

"That's what I thought too but..."

[ Buffy? ]

Buffy carefully watched Willow as the witch tended to her girlfriend. "The guy was more powerful than we thought, plus..." The Slayer paused.

[ What? ]

"He's got Xander."

The line went quiet for several seconds.

[ Look Buffy, I can't promise anything but I'll try to get back as soon as I can. The debriefing should only last a couple more hours and then I'm on my way. ]

"I can't wait for you. Xander can't."

[ I know. Be careful. ]

"I will."

[ See you soon. ]

"Okay. Bye."

*~*~*


Sunnydale
Summers' Home

*RING*

Dawn bounced into the kitchen and grabbed the phone before her mother could. Joyce went back to washing her dishes as her youngest daughter answered.

"Hello, Summers residence,"

[ Dawn?! Oh thank god you're there. ]

Dawn's face scrunched up as she tried to identify the familiar voice. "Cordelia?"

[ Yeah, is Xander there? ]

"Xander?" Dawn asked, "No. He left with everyone else to deal with some bad guy. I didn't hear much on account that I got sent out of the room by 'Little Miss Slayer'. Did you try Giles?"

Joyce Summers stopped what she was doing and listened in on the conversation.

[ The phone's busy. ]

Joyce took the phone from Dawn. "Cordelia, this is Joyce. What's the matter?"

[ Hello Mrs. Summers, I'm trying to find Xander. I think that he's been hurt. ]

"How do you know this?"

[ I get.... visions and I had one about Xander. ]

Joyce was quiet as she digested what Cordelia was telling her. Every since learning about Buffy's destiny and the supernatural forces at work in Sunnydale, she knew that it was better to just accept things as they were rather than try to look for logical explanations. "And you say that you couldn't reach him at Giles'?"

[ No. I hate to ask but could you go over there and check on them. ]

Joyce heard the younger woman's normally steady voice, tremble. She's really worried.

Without a second thought, Joyce promised to check in with Giles and wrote down Cordelia's number. After hanging up, she got her car keys and started for the door.

"Mom?"

Joyce turned to her daughter and for the first time, noticed that Dawn had paled considerably since hearing that Xander might be injured. She took the frightened girl into her arms. "Dawn, I'm sure that Xander will be okay. Now I want you to stay here and don't let anyone in."

Dawn just nodded and stepped away from her mother. She went to the window after Joyce closed the front door and watched as she got in her vehicle and drove off. Her young heart was beating fast as she prayed that Xander was alright. If anything happens to Xander then -

That's when she remembered Anya. Quickly she ran to the phone and dialed the number that Xander had made her memorize in case of emergencies and to Dawn, if Xander being in danger wasn't an emergency than nothing was.

*~*~*


Elsewhere

"Xander?" Crystal called out as she ran through a field of tall grass that was covered in a light fog. She knew that he was here, could feel that he was here but she could not find him.

"He's fading and soon the change will happen."

Crystal turned to find a humanoid figure standing behind her. The person's body was concealed within a swirl of cloudy vapors that hid their identity. Only the yellow glow from the eyes could be seen from the outside.

"No he is not!" the small child spoke defiantly. "He is a good man and does not deserve what is happening to him."

"That does not matter." the melodious voice said. "No matter who the wielder is, the end is always the same. They either join us or the hounds."

"You could help him Wisp, if you were not so afraid!" Crystal spat before running off.

Wisp watched Crystal disappear then spoke with a singular, female voice. "That was never my task Crystal, it was always yours." Then Wisp too, faded away.

Hidden within the tall grass not too far away, Xander lay on the ground curled up in a ball. Tears coursed down his face as the cries of his best friends, Buffy and Willow, rang in his ears .

*~*~*