They were hiding behind a mausoleum. Buffy and the guy called the Immortal were talking strategy while Lisa watched them interestedly from a few meters distance. They had greeted each other with a brief kiss on the cheek, which hadstrangely outof place in this dark and dang cemetery with the scary moans of the undead floating on the night breeze mixed with the clipped orders of the demons who were roaming the perimeter.
Lisa cocked her head to scrutinize the man more closely. The second she did it she realized it was a mannerism she had picked up from Spike. His name echoed in her mind and she couldn't help but wonder where he was right now. This Immortal guy certainly wasn't her cup of tea. He looked like one of those muscled men who leer down at their avid female readership from the cover of sometacky romance novel.
He seemed to have noticed her inquisitive stare and turned his head to favour her with a mischievous wink, much to Buffy's dismay. Lisa shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly, as if she wanted to say, "What the hell do I care?"
The slayer waved her closer with a sour look on her face. Apparently it was now time to talk tactics. "You better stay her. This way we won't have to worry about you," her words were well-meant, but also contained a considerable amount of arrogance.
"See, I'm not so much of a fighter, but I'm good at my job. Let me take care of the zombie problem and the conjurer, while you get back the head from the demon guys," Lisa suggested.
"Cara (My dear), I don't see any harm in letting her do it," the Immortal laid his hand on Buffy's shoulder in a soothing gesture.
"Alright. Fine! Do your thing. Just don't get yourself killed!" the slayer said before she disappeared in the dark, shortly after followed by her lover.
Lisa got to her feet as well and slowly, but steadily sauntered out from behind their hiding place. She had done this many time. It was like walking into a cage full of tigers. You had to keep your calm or the beasts would eat you alive. Fear made zombies go into a killing spree. When she had finally rounded the mausoleum, the battlefield came into full view. Someone had messed badly with the balance of things; a fact which made Lisa unconsciously frown in discontent.
Buffy and her lover were currently fighting their way through a small army of living corpses. About a dozenzombies had been called from their graves, all in various states of decay. The first time Lisa had seen a zombie she had reacted by spontaneously emptying her stomach contents on the grass. With time every lost its terror even staring death quite literally in the face.
Lisa drew out her dagger and put its tip to the open palm of her hand. Only the ever so slightest pressure let the blood flow from the newly created wound. Blood magic was the oldest and most powerful magic of all. She muttered a little prayer to Osiris, asking for his assistance in the task that lay before her.
Slowly she walked up to the zombie closest to her. Its clothes were torn and hanging from his shrivelled body in rags. Judging from the fabric and its colour it were the tattered remains of an once elegant suit. The hair on his head look dusty, much like straw on a scarecrow. He turned around and stared at her with hollow eyes, seemingly mesmerized by the presence of the young woman. His body swayed back and forth ever so slightly. Skin as thin as paper stretching over bones, all water drained from this corpse. There was disbelief and something like silent accusation in its eyes. She stretched out her hand and lay it on the bony shoulder. The smell of decay invaded her nostrils, but she did not flinch, did not budge an inch. "Rest," Lisa said softly and the zombie collapse, simply fell down on the earth like a discarded doll.
When her attention shifted from the corpse she had lain to rest to her surroundings she noticed Buffy looking her way with an appreciative glance. The blond woman briefly nodded at her before she focused her attention on the demons that were overlooking the whole scene from their place on top of a nearby slope.
Lisa continued her way in the same fashion she had begun and with every touch of her hand a zombie was put back to eternal sleep. The worrisome thought that this conjurer would eventually turn out to be a tougher nut to crack than your average-Joe-necromancer briefly crossed her mind as she walked across the lawn. If he had been powerful enough to raise this many zombies it meant that he was at least her equal. Maybe Lisa had taken her mouth a little bit too full once again or maybe Spike's cockiness had been rubbing off on her. She brushed the thought off like a buzzing fly, it made her uncomfortable even to think of him right now. It was neither the time nor the place.
She stopped briefly…that had been the last zombie. Apart from the distant fighting noise that came from the other side of the slope, that was where the demons had retreated, the graveyard was engulfed by an eerie silence. Lisa grabbed the hilt of her dagger that was still in her hand a little bit tighter. Think, old girl, think! Where would you go if you wanted to survey the whole situation yetkeep enough distancenot to be dragged into something as nasty as a physical confrontation? She scanned the perimeter with squinted eyes. Unluckily Lisa had forgotten her glasses. Being short-sighted and the greyish darkness that surrounded her, didn't add up to the success of her mission. There was a huge gravestoneon top of the hill – maybe there. That was at least the place she would have chosen. As silently as possible the young woman approached the spot.
Coming closer and closer the gravestone turned out to be something like an obelisk. Lisa noticed the conjuration circle on the floor at once. The necromancer had to be close by, but where? She didn't have much time to think about this question, when suddenly she heard a twig snapbehind her. Lisa swirled around, the adrenalin rushing through her system like electricity bolts. Hand to hand combat was not her area of expertise and although she had been taught by he-she-currently-wanted- neither-to-name-nor-think-about, she was still a lot of moves away from being quite menacing. She exhaled –it had been false alarm.
So there she was. Still alive, which was a plus. The traces proved that a ritual had been performed here probably just a couple of minutes ago. Dried brownish spots of blood dotted the grass and were even visible in the twilight, the lifeless bodies of two chickens lay carelessly discarded on the graphite pedestal of a nearby statue, their heads bent back in an unnatural position. Slowly it began to dawn on Lisa that she had come totally unprepared with no weapon to defend herself except that ceremonial dagger, no backup…nothing. The thing was that the dagger was with exception of the tip totally blunt. It was not meant to serve as a weapon, at various occasion she had used it as letter opener, but that had nothing to do with the problem at hand…. She was screwed. Suddenly it seemed very likely that she would end up like those poor birds. Not a very encouraging prospect.
Her heart began to speed up and her mouth went dry. The rustle of foliage behind her announced the presence of another person or creature or whatever it was that roamed the graveyard at this nightly hour. Again she cursed herself and her stupidity, this time a little bit more emphatically.
"I owe you respect," Lisa said, with her back facing the newcomer. Still she made no effort whatsoever to turn around. Her strategy basically consisted in trying to act as if she had the situation absolutely under control, which would buy her some time to come up with a plan. Of course, it was all a bluff. She only hoped that the other conjurer would not realize it too soon.
"Respect where respect is due," female voice answered in heavily accented English. Lisa could hear the sound of fabric brushing over the blades of grass as the other woman rounded her. She was not yet in her range of vision.
"Excellent work…take it as a little compliment from one expert to another. But demons? I mean seriously…you could make so much more money if…"
"Oh, believe me the pay was more than sufficient, but maybe we should renegotiate later, because of the addition trouble you're giving me," the 'r's were rolling of her tongue very strangely. The conjurer was now leaning against the statue casually. Her composure radiated confidence. The moonlight shining down on the scenery gave Lisa the opportunity to scrutinize her vis-à-vis more closely. She didn't seem very threatening. Lisa figured she could take her on, when it came to a physical confrontation. She had to be at least one head smaller than her. Of course, it was hard to make a correct estimation about that, because the hooded cloak the other woman wore did not only hide her face, but also neatly covered up any weapons that she could be carrying.
"I was not planning on giving you any trouble," Lisa raised her hands defensively, trying hermostconvincingsly smile. "The thing with your zombies…well, that was nothing personal. I just don't fancy being killed."
"You turn up with the slayer and the Immortal and you expect me to believe that that doesn't mean any trouble?" the conjurer let out a disbelieving chuckle, which didn't sound very friendly. Lisa saw the other woman's hand move under the cloak. She is probably reaching for her weapon, a strange tingle in the pit of her stomach told her.
Out of mere instinct she ducked and not a second too soon. From the corner of her eye she saw the metallic glint of a gun and shortly after a bullet whistled over her head. Great, a necromancer with firepower. 'Enough to make my day perfect,' Lisa thought as she quickly dived for cover behind a nearby gravestone.
"Not playing by the rules are you?" she called out to the other woman. "Neither am I," Lisa added under her breath. She pressed her still bloody palm to the floor and quickly whispered the words: Bind her.
A hollow moan filled the air and Lisa could hear the earth cracking up where her adversary stood. She risked a brief glance over the edge of the gravestone and saw two skeletal hands shoot out of the ground were the other woman stood. They grabbed her tightly around the ankles, immobilizing her temporarily. The woman let out an angry howl which filled Lisa with a mixture of relieve and pride.
"You're a vile coward. A shame to our trade," the enraged necromancer screamed.
"Our trade? I beg to differ, what I do is not about dark arts, but about restoring the balance. And I don't think it's cowardly to doge bullets, just proofs that I don't think I'm Supergirl."
"You know that these bounds won't hold me much longer and when I get free I'll…," her voice suddenly died away and shortly after a loud thumping noise could be heard.
"Bad guys…all talk no substance," a voice, which Lisa recognized as Buffy's, said casually.
Lisa stood up slowly- not without a certain sense for the theatrics- and brushed off the dirt from her clothes. "About time," she mumbled grumpily, "I told you I'm not a fighter." The blond slayer looked at her, grinning smugly in response, whichmade Lisa curse inwardly. The fact that the Immortal turned up beside Buffy added to her dismay. Somehow she couldn't stand this guy. What ever happened to dying honourably in battle? Guess that's why they call him the Immortal, 'cause he keeps coming back and back and back…Lisa sighed. How frustrating.
"So what are we going to do about the trigger-happy necromancer lady?" she asked finally.
The Immortal grinned, "She's human so killing her is out of question, but I've already got some ideas about what to do with her," he drew out his cell phone, pushing a button on speed dial. Lisa didn't understand the conversation that followed, because it was conducted in Italian, but from his tone of voice she understood that he was talking to an official.
"What was that call about?" Buffy asked, when he seconds later he put the phone back into his pocket.
"I've called the police and informed them, of course, anonymously, that I heard a gunshot coming from the cemetery. They won't like what they'll see. Defiling graves in Rome of all places…not a very clever thing to do."
"Do you have the head?" Lisa asked matter-of-factly.
"We're all set," Buffy held up an old-fashioned black leather bag, that looked like it could house at least a bowling ball…or a demon head, Lisa added in her thoughts. "But before you go all buff on us, I'd like to have a word with you."
"But first of all we should get out of here, before the police arrives," the Immortal interjected.
"Agreed," Lisa nodded.