Salvation of the Fallen

Written by Ashen Ravenwing

Fool's Paradise

" Well well well... Look what the rain washed in..."

Spike cringed at the dusky voice that chided over his shoulder. He bristled further as the warthog type demon slumped into the barstool beside him.

" You look like fresh carrion bloodsucker... Good enough to eat."

The creatures wide maw was slick and oozing with saliva, large dagger-like tusks protruding from it's bottom jaw and it's round wet nostrils flaring as it scented the blonde.

" That so? Too bad for us that I'm kosher, eh mate?"

Spike grumbled back without amusement. The vampire tilted back his shot, letting the burning sting tickle his throat. It wasn't blood... but it kept him steady for awhile until he could find someone for dinner... The hairy beast let out a series of snorts and grunts that Spike assumed was laughter. It clasped a cloven hoof type appendage over the leather of Spike's jacket covered shoulder, giving a slight squeeze. It's dark beady little eyes stared with obvious foul intention at the young night breed, small pointy ears twitching.

" Come now pretty one... I'm sure we could have some 'fun' if you made an exception this one time..."

The boar demon leaned forward quickly, dragging a slick tongue along the groove of one of Spike's healing gashes on his cheek. Spike reeled in disgust, throwing the pig back off the stool and sending it tumbling to the bar floor. Lifting a hand to his face, the blonde let out an enraged roar as he wiped away the wet trail.

" How dare you, you bloody swine!" No one touches me with that kind of familiarity unless i want them to! Filthy pig!"

Spike felt his face shift into the mask of the demon within, his fangs bared and eyes blazing. The smaller demon squealed in protest, standing back onto it's hoofed feet to stand off against the younger vampire. Although short and stalky in comparison to the tall and lean blonde, Spike knew better then to take the boar demon for granted. Those large tusks alone could deal out some lethal damage... Not to mention that this particular race of animorphs were known to be quite resilient in a battle.

Spike easily slid into one of his many martial arts stances, tilting his body profile to the hairy demon so as to best block body blows and create the most amount of counter movement. His foot pushed forward a bit to balance himself in a classic 90 degree 'L' shape. The demon which possessed him grinned maliciously, edgy for another fight despite his physical body already aching from his last rumble with a gang of Bardock demons. He felt all manners of eyes on him... human, demon, spirit, and even a few sparse animorphs that happened to be in the joint. His attention was lazily drawn back to his quarry as the boar demon screeched strings of curses at the vampire. It's cloven hoof stamped the floor impatiently and it let out a wild battle cry before charging at Spike.

The next moment was a blur of movement that all happened so fast that it made even Spike's head spin just a little. When the bar quieted down again the boar demon was once more on the floor, pinned under the knee of a stunning brunette. The fem looked like a model, but with better curves that were full and spoke of true female essence. Her smooth skin was the color of honey cream and her almond shaped eyes as bright and glowing as a harvest moon in the heat of an October night when in the arms of a new lover... She looked human enough, but the strength in her toned muscles and the predatory stance she held over the struggling pig all spoke otherwise.

" Not bad luv... Though it's a bit of a chip off m' shoulder to be shown up by a woman like this..."

Spike smirked as he relaxed, resting his hands casually on his waist. The brunette looked back at him, eyes flashing with a playful challenge and a smug smile pulling at the corners of her lush lips.

" Believe us Sir William... but it was hardly our intention to offend you by this... interruption. If we have, we do apologize..."

The blonde turned at the smooth and richly accented voice. His cornflower eyes widened a bit at seeing an animorph he hadn't noticed earlier emerge from the shadows. The male was tall and built... but hardly classifiable as burly... He came up at about 5'11"... A good two inches on the vampire, and the two long gazelle type horns sprouting from his head added at least another five inches to his height making him look quite threateningly large. An ash gray fur pelt covered the visible parts of his body, a black furred mask that resembled the markings of the African Oryx Spike had seen many years ago structured this new creatures wolfish head and maw. Heavy split hooves clomped on the hard floor while a long whipish tail swung lazily behind him and a pair of large leathery wings flexed and relaxed back down against his trench coat. He was stunning looking in his uniqueness, even among his own race.

Spike shook his head at stop staring at the strangely elegant male. he blinked, face still holding the demon facade.

" H-how? How do you know my name...?"

The vampire stepped back as the new creature moved further in to the light The beast smiled softly, lifting his pawed hands up in a non threatening manner.

" We know much about you... You are William the Bloody. Childe of Drusilla the Dark, and grandchilde of Angelus the Betrayer..."

A murmur rose through the bar at the mention of Angel's name. Though the demon Angelus may have been laying dormant within, Angel was still a feared and despised member of the hell spawn community. Spike grit his teeth in anger. More than the comments he could hear, the fact that this creature seemed to know more about him than he would desire put him on edge.

" Alright... you've got my attention 'beast boy'... What do you want with me?"

A shill scream broke out followed by the chilling snap of bone. Both Spike and the male he'd been conversing with looked back at the toned fem as she stood up from the now slaughtered boar demon. The young night breed cocked a curious eyebrow at her and she shrugged as she walked past Spike to stand beside the other male.

" He started to feel me up... So I taught him a lesson..."

Spike let out a snort of laughter at her total lack of finesse... The bint was blunt... and deadly too... Quite the turn on actually. Spike looked at the two.

" Just who the bloody hell are you people!"

The male stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

" My friend, William the Bloody, I am Abyssinian, and this lovely creature at my side,"

He straightened up and gestured back at the fem.

" This is Kahlja. She is princess and the heir to the Vorreck tribe."

Spike sat back on a barstool, all too aware of the silence that had fallen over the bar and all the eyes that were on them.

" Vorreck tribe? The lycanthropes? I thought they'd all been wiped out in the wars years ago..."

The night breed thought back to those ancient battles, the most recent of which had taken place in Ireland on the land of which Stone Henge would one day stand. Stories told by the druids that would now stand as mere myth and folklore in today's world... Angelus had often retold stories of these ancient wars fought between the lycanthropes and the vampires... Sworn enemies by some long forgotten misunderstanding between the two racial tribes... He flashed a glance at Kahlja, noting her tension as she too must have been reminiscing. He felt a bit bad, knowing that his own 'kind' had fared far better then hers... Vampires could multiply far more quickly, while lycanthropes, unlike werewolves, were born shape shifters and could not simply bite a mortal in order to strengthen their numbers... And although known to have substantial life spans, they were still mortal. In the end, it was only a matter of time before their numbers had been decimated by the vampire clan...

Abyssinian cleared his throat and nodded.

" Uh... well... yes, many were... Only a few spare remain... However, that subject is not the matter on which we have sought you out Sir William."

" Jeeze mate, just call me Spike would ja? the whole 'formality' thing is kinda freakin' me out here... I haven't been called Sir nothin' in over 140 years, and I prefer it stay that way if it's all the same to you pet..."

The animorph blinked curiously, but nodded his head in agreement, if not full understanding.

" Very well 'Spike'... We have a proposition we'd like to offer you... an alliance or 'kinship' as it were... Our employer would like to hire your services... She requires you 'expertise'."

Abyssinian smiled almost impishly at the vampire, the air of a confident negotiator surrounding him. Spike perked up with interest.

" Alright mate... I'm officially listening..."