Tormanixon watched through the crystal ball as the alpha-male and the rabbit arrived behind him. He showed no signs of awareness, rather he began the chant to seal the animal transference permanently. The male had been injured in his abrupt arrival into the central chamber although he seemed to be desperately trying not to let it hinder him at all. When he dropped into the chamber it seemed that the transference had taken full effect and the human spirit was gone. Within seconds however, the gleam was gone from his eyes and the ever so human emotion of self-doubt was back.

The demon watched, fascinated, as his newest subjects took in their surroundings. Over the years his collection had grown to the extent where even he could no longer keep track of the number of subjects he had under his control. The girl began moving around opening the cages and releasing the captives, Tormanixon wasn't worried however, no matter how many there were he still had them all well and truly cowed.

Still chanting, with the vague hope that the act of transference might yet work, he watched as the alpha-male slowly stalked towards him. No choice in the matter, Tormanixon summoned the beta-male. Perhaps now would be the perfect time for a power struggle within the pack structure. Losing the abilities of the alpha-male would be vexing, but Tormanixon had overcome worse obstacles in his path. The other male appeared instantly, tackling the alpha and knocking them both into an ugly sprawl. The demon laughed cruelly as the pain etched itself onto the alpha-male's face. This was going to be a short fight.




Xander curled into a defensive ball to get away from his attacker. The blackness around his vision was seriously impairing his judgement but he fought against unconsciousness desperately. It was Kyle, Xander swore at himself for having forgotten about the boy so quickly. His eyes were glowing and Xander somehow knew that there was very little of Kyle left in there; he was mostly animal now.

He twisted his head around frantically, trying to spot anything he could use as a weapon. What he saw made him wish he hadn't looked. The creatures, he couldn't bring himself to call them human any longer, that Jen had released were steadily advancing on him with murder in their eyes. Kyle's hand lashed out and scored three deep scratches down the side of Xander's face. He rolled away from the other boy and struggled to his feet. Kyle came at him swinging and managed to land a couple of punches that should have had Xander reeling, but he was running on adrenaline now and the other boy didn't seem to actually have any strategy, he was content just to keep swinging for the moment. Xander dodged this way and that, only retaliating when there was no obvious way out of a frenzied attack.

Waiting, ignoring the sounds of the others closing in on him and trying not to worry about Jen, he watched warily as Kyle prepared for another attack. He could see what the boy was going to do probably before Kyle even realised it. Kyle came at him, a low growl coming from deep within his throat, he swung wildly with his left and tried to follow up with a jab from the right but his target was no longer there. Xander had side-stepped quickly and come around to use the violence of Kyle's attack against him. He let the boy swing again and used the momentum of the punch to propel him forwards, straight into the rockface.

He danced back a few steps, preparing for the next onslaught. Kyle snarled at him and was preparing to leap. Xander didn't give him the opportunity however, putting all his strength behind it he aimed a kick at Kyle's head and the boy went down instantly. Out for the count.

A pain-filled howl instantly filled the chamber. It was deafening and seemed to be coming from all sides at once. Clutching his hands over his ears, Xander looked around wildly for the source. The demon was hunched over Kyle's prone body and wailing; and then it struck Xander, all of the other manimals had stopped in their tracks and were either howling along with their demon master or were clutching at the sides of their faces. Gradually the howl changed pitch, became more human and the voices he's heard begging him for help came back - it had been the demon's captives! Puzzled for a second, Xander noticed the eldritch green light was fading from the area around them, it seemed to be shrinking into an area around the demon and Kyle. That was when he spotted the shards of broken glass on the ground. Apparently when he'd dropped Kyle, he'd knocked the boy into some kind of magickal glass thing.

The demon sure seemed to think it was a big deal and finally Xander put two and two together, that must have been how it had been controlling the animals in the cave. Without the crystal he was on his own. Xander looked around him cautiously, not letting his guard down for a second. Those people nearest him looked a bit dazed and confused sure, but they looked like people again. Nearer the demon however, they still retained their feral nature and Xander thought that might be that case so long as the demon survived.

Steeling himself, knowing what he had to do, he stepped forward picking up a large chunk of rock as he did. The wailing began to subside as the demon tried to gather its strength, but it was clear that without the props it was nothing. Sprawled on the floor it looked up at him and mumbled something under it's breath. It sounded something like "Nyumba Ya Sanaa" but he couldn't be sure. For a second, Xander felt pity for the creature, but then he looked around at the dank cages and the terrified expressions on the slowly reawakening kids around him. No room for compassion here, he raised the rock above his head and brought it down with all of his might. Again. Again. The demon twitched a little and then all movement stopped.

By the time Xander dropped the rock, there wasn't much left that was recognisable. Nor was there much left of his rage. He looked around him but most of the kids had made a run for it. He couldn't blame them, he must look pretty awful with demon blood dripping from his arms and splattered across his body.

Taking a deep, pain filled breath, he turned to leave. A rattling of metal from behind him caught his attention however, and he turned to see where the noise had come from. In a dark corner, there was one occupied cage. Jen! He rushed across and unlocked the catch. She came flying out of it at high speed and grabbed him a huge bear hug. The pain was excruciating but he'd never felt better in his life! She explained how she'd gotten so scared when the captives had turned on her that she'd locked herself away and then she couldn't get out again, could he take her with him when he left? He laughed at that, as if he could leave anyone behind in a place like this! But then he saw the edge of fear in his eyes and he mentally kicked himself, she was still frightened of him and after what he had just done to the demon he wasn't surprised. He looked her straight in the eyes and told her everything was going to be okay, she didn't have to worry. An idea began to form in his mind, she was a street kid and he knew of a few places that would take her in back home, at least then he could keep an eye on her. "In fact, if you've nowhere better to be you can come back to Sunydale with me. How would you like that, Jen?" She smiled up at him, the fear completely gone from her eyes and he realised she was actually quite cute with that long near-white hair.
"Sounds good! Just one thing, my real friends don't call me Jen." He cocked his eyebrow.
"Oh? What do they call you then?"
"Sunday."

The End?