Buffy looked over to Willow in desperation as the knife neared her body, but Willow wasn't doing much better. The demon had caused her to pass out when he had grabbed her by the throat. The only thing that could save Buffy now was a miracle.

Suddenly Buffy heard a voice from above her.

"Oh look! A Demon!" the voice shouted. "Finally, something I can kill!"

The demon was then forcibly pushed from Buffy's body and after a series of strong punches, kicks and blows, Buffy heard the sound of a sword enter the demon's body and then she felt it slump to the ground next to her. She got up off the ground to meet her rescuer.

The rescuer, meanwhile, was looking down upon his work, while clutching his side, where the demon had hit him hard.

"Bloody hell!" he said. "I've kicked some demon butt in my time, but he was bloody strong!"

"Spike," Buffy spoke aloud, then paused. For the first time in her life she had been pleased to see the pitiful vampire. "Spike," she continued, "I never thought I'd say these words, but thanks, you just saved my life."

"Oh it was noth…" Spike stopped. What was he doing? He'd just saved the vampire slayer's life, and he was a vampire! He was the notorious Spike who everyone had feared for over a century, not Spike the hero!

Oh God, he thought, I'm turning into Angel!

Spike shuddered at the thought. He had to think of a good comeback. What would the notorious Spike say?

"W-What I mean is…huh, I had no idea you were under the demon. Had I known he was about to kill you, I would have let him finish the job…cause I'm evil."

There, he thought, that showed her.

Buffy tried to disguise her smirk and went to Willow who was regaining consciousness "Do you know what demon it was?" Buffy asked Spike as she helped Willow to her feet.

"No," Spike replied, "never seen it before it my…" he paused again and frowned, "…and even if I did know what it was I wouldn't tell you…I'm the Villain remember."

"Right you are," replied Buffy and turned to Willow. "Come on, let's get to Giles. See if he can tell us more. Are you coming with us Spike?"

"No bloody way!" he shouted. "You go have a cuppa tea with Mary Poppins. I'm going back to my crypt." With that Spike marched off, tripping up over a gravestone on the way.

Willow and Buffy set off for Giles' apartment.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'!"

They were in Giles' apartment now. Buffy and Willow sat on his couch. Opened books were spread about on the coffee table and Giles paced back and forth in the front. Buffy was frustrated with the lack of information coming out of Giles' mouth.

" I mean 'I don't know'," replied Giles. "What else can that phrase possibly mean?"

"Oh," replied Buffy. Giles always seemed to outsmart her one way or the other. "But you always know these things…cause your smart…and you read a scary amount of books."

"Buffy I've looked in the books, but to be frank I don't have a clue what I'm looking for. All you've told me is that it's strong and has hairy feet."

"Well it was strong," answered Buffy defensively, "and it did have very hairy feet."

Willow suddenly remembered something. "What about the symbol?"

"Symbol?" repeated Giles

"It looked like a crown," added Buffy, "except that it had another point underneath."

Giles' eyes widened. He said nothing and sat down in his armchair. His eyes were full of worry.

Buffy noticed her watchers change in mood. "Giles, what is it?...Do you know the symbol?"

"Only from stories," Giles replied. "They're some kind of servants…to keep people in line."

"To keep people in line?" asked Willow. "To keep people in line for what?"

"I don't know," replied Giles. His voice was distant and his expression was grim. "But…" his voice trailed off and he got to his feet, making his way towards the bookshelf.

Suddenly the door burst open. Xander entered, closely followed by Anya. His head was bleeding and he was panting, like he was running from something. Anya appeared to be unhurt.

"Xander! Oh my God! What happened! Are you alright!" Willow got to her feet and inspected Xander's head wound.

"We were attacked…by this demon…in the cemetery…it had hairy feet."

"Join the club," said Buffy as she shifted up on the couch to make from for Willow, Xander and Anya to sit down beside her. "What were you doing in the cemetery anyway?"

Xander was a bit stuck for words. "Oh…er…um…you know, we just fancied a stroll, didn't we ahn?"

"What!" replied Anya. "No we weren't…why do you keep winking at me like that?.. You said it'd be sexy if we made out in a crypt… but I never got to find out because that big hairy footed demon whacked you on the head…and you screamed like a sissy girl and ran away, dragging me with you…and it really wasn't very sexy Xander."

Xander was now bright red as Willow and Buffy laughed at him, but they were interrupted as Giles handed Buffy an open book.

"Here," he said as he handed her the book. "This is the codex."

Buffy felt the heavy, leather bond book in her hands. She was familiar with the Codex. They had prophesied he death before, and she had died. If there was one thing she didn't doubt, it was the reliability of the codex.

She scanned the page and found the symbol she had seen on the demon's forehead earlier. Next to it was a single sentence. Buffy read it aloud.

"The ruler will summon his servants and the world will fall dark."

All five of them were silent for a moment. Xander was the first to speak. "Gee, that sounds jolly doesn't it."

"Xander, do shut up! This is not the time for jokes," sniped Giles. Buffy hadn't heard Giles so serious for a long time.

"Giles," she said softly, "what does this mean?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm calling the council." He took his phone and went in to the other room."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Anya after he had left. "He needs some sex. Sex makes people happy."

"Anya…" moaned Xander.

"But you said…"

"Anya not now ok."

Ignoring Anya and Xander's bickering, Willow turned to Buffy who was still engrossed in the book. "Do you think it's serious?"

Buffy turned away from the book. "I don't know Will, but I haven't seen Giles like this for a long time. Willow…what if I can't fight it?"

"You will," Willow tried to reassure her friend. "I know you will."

Some time later Giles emerged. His mood hadn't improved. "The council won't take any of my calls. Idiots! I'm going to have to go there myself. Even if the council refuses to help they have the books that we need, if we want to find out anymore information about this 'ruler'. I'll see if I can get a flight to England tomorrow."

Buffy look up at him sadly.

"I'll try not to be gone for long," he added, "so that…"

"Giles," Buffy interrupted, "this 'ruler' or whoever he is…I'll be able to fight him right?"

Giles avoided his slayer's eyes. "I don't know."

To be continued...

AN: please review! Tell me what you think!