Slayers: Academy Years

“Liz! Kelleigh, Mary! Everyone up and report!” Diana’s voice rang loudly through the common room of their dormitory quad. They’d all had a late night, out slaying until five that morning, and it was only nine now. None of them were likely to appreciate this wake-up call. “Squad, report!” The dark-haired girl poked her head into Kelleigh’s dorm and growled at the sight of a second lump under the covers. “Morning report, get up O’Donnel….” She started to close the door and shook her head, glaring once more. “And no guests in the room after curfew.”

The first lump looked up slowly, uncovering purple hair shorn pixie-short, and bright green eyes. Her pale skin shone in the glare of the morning light that was shining through the window, and she looked over at the lump next to her. “Up…Up, up, out! Breaking code twenty-nine – four.” She stumbled out of bed, her Gaelic accent thick, reaching for her pack of cigarettes and seeing the set of clothes on the floor that were definitely not hers. “And take your laundry with you this time. I don’t know how to get that magick gook out of your shirts…” The second lump squirmed and peeked out, glaring at her for being so rude. One of the new blonde magick students… a promising young witch.

Mary was already stumbling around her room, looking for her boots, and when Diana peaked in, jumped with surprise. “Have you seen my favorite stake?”

“Get a move on, morning report.” Diana growled, slamming the door shut after her, only to turn and see Liz coming out of her own room with a yawn and stretch. “Morning report, Summers.”

Another yawn, and the skinny girl reached for a cup of the coffee that was already brewing on the central table. “I know…” yawn “I know. Fuck, why’s it so early today?”

As the other two girls filed out, Kelleigh still in her pj set, the blond witch student quickly ran out the front door… and their assigned Watcher walked in immediately after. “Code twenty-nine – four in violation?”

Kelleigh only smiled contentedly as she flopped down on the couch, Mary timidly following. The other two girls groaned, Liz yawning again, and followed suit. The watcher, Victor Dunn, didn’t say anything else about it, and moved over to the large crystal that was just below the bright window at one end of the room. “Your morning report…”

“Five vampires, one non fledgeling. Two demons.” Diana immediately replied, holding out a small stack of papers, and a black plastic baggie of something. “The heart of the Deithor Demon.”

Victor looked at the papers being handed to him, and tossed them absently on the table next to the crystal, politely ingoring the slightly aggravated look on Diana’s face. Likely the girl had spent what little was left of her night and morning writing them up before receiving his call about the early briefing. “Slayers…” he looked around at all of them, then traced a pattern on the crystal, an illusion of a computer’s holographic display showing up then. “The reason why I’ve called you out of bed after an inevitably late slaying night, is that there has been a sighting of a notorious Boss in our sectors. Your squad has been chosen for investigation.” Diana’s eyes seemed to light up at that, and he suppressed a smile. “The boss known as Brennon Talon has been sighted in the area again.”

That seemed to elicit gasps amongst three of the four girls assembled, and the so-tired Liz finally came fully awake. Brennon Talon? The Brennon Talon, here? In Crater City, where the former Sunnydale once sat? What the hell was she doing here? She hadn’t been seen in this area for six years. As they all reacted to it, Mary finally reacted and let out a frustrated breath. “Will someone tell me who this Brennon Talon is?”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Diana looked disgusted, but was cut off from continuing as Victor began the briefing. They could all use a refresher.

“Brennon Talon… born to the name Brennon Ashley Smith.” He said, touching a part of the illusion to bring in a closer, if fuzzy, image of a girl, perhaps a young woman, with long, dark hair. “A half-demon, her demon lineage unknown, she has been known to this organization since it’s second-decade mark, when she was but ten. Talon, due to her bloodline, grew slowly, but has been raised by agents of her father, the demon, or he himself for years. Since his fleeing to the western coast of the United States, she has apparently taken over his territories here, and rebuilt them. No true end-of-the-world scenarios have been produced from her own agents here, but the wisest and most long-lived are those that plan well and long. It is believed that she is only waiting for some unknown celestial or economic event to make her move. Talon controls half of the demon bars in the state, and a good percentage of those in the surrounding state areas. It’s said that her forces also control sixty percent of the… poker games… gambling, and loan sharks.”

Diana sneered and Liz turned green, though Kelleigh didn’t react at all. Mary, as per usual, was just confused. She wasn’t the best of students in her demonology and demon society classes, and thus had no clue what exactly happened at poker games, and what gambling bets were usually made with. “Okay… so she sounds like a demon version of a Mob Boss… what’s the big deal?”

“Demon bosses rarely extend such a far reach, and maintain control. Demons are notoriously greedy and deceitful. Yet all of her underlings, every single one of them, is loyal to her, and uphold her rules to the letter.” Victor said, pinching the bridge of his nose and wishing that he had glasses to imitate the rather soothing motions of wiping them that his own mentor had always done when stressed. “It is suggested, though not proven, that she hand-picks all of them.”

“Wow…” Mary slowly thought that over as the other girls tried to think of what exactly they were going to do. “Um… I guess that means she’s really powerful and… um… leader-like.”

“Not even her own father controls his underlings so completely. I’ve heard reports that his own territories out in the west are slowly deteriorating to smaller and smaller areas.” He smiled slightly at that. At least there was some good news. “Brennon Talon holds this area in a firm grip however, and is seconded by this man.” He touched the illusion again, images and information having scanned over it throughout his lecture. Now another picture showed itself, more clear than the one of Brennon herself, of what looked to be a completely human young man, of about twenty-five. “This is Kevin Alvin Smith, her half-brother, and completely human. He is her most loyal underling, and an accomplished warlock. Talon has looked after him from his time as a teenager, and they’ve been rather inseparable since her introduction to his life. Both have been sighted.”

“But… what’s such a big deal. Yeah, she seems powerful, they both do…” Mary trailed off, thinking that this was just another powerful demon that, if not just their squad, then a good deal of Slayers could take down. What was so different about her?

“There have been a few excursions into her domain since she was first recognized as a true threat ten years ago.” Victor explained in a very dramatic voice, making Mary want to roll her eyes. However, as the other girls looked rather serious too, she focused on what he was saying. “In those times, no Slayer has engaged her, and lived to tell about it.”

“Oh my god.” Mary’s eyes widened. Even with so many Slayers running around, it was still rare that one demon could claim having killed more than one Slayer, if any. They were a tough breed. For her to have faced several, and defeated them all?


TBC