The Viking Hunter

Part 2
2 days earlier.


"Hurry up Xander! I want to get there in time to have a late dinner before the restaurant closes!"

"I'm going as fast as I can An. I had to shower first you know. Unless you want to drag me around LA smelling like sweat and sawdust."

"Eww, of course not! But your done now so hurry up and get the bags. It's dark outside and I want to leave now!"

"Alright I'm coming. Let's go, don't forget to lock up."

Xander headed down stairs to put the bags in the car with Anya following behind him. He never heard the silent footsteps approaching. When he felt a hand on his shoulder he turned around expecting to see his girlfriend. Instead he was met by deep blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. He watched as the man in front of him turned to game face. He looked over and saw Anya sprawled on the concrete, a vampire bent over her body. He could hear the slurping noise it made as it drained his lover. Resigned to his fate he inclined his head and offered up his neck to his killer. The last thought that crossed his mind was 'Funny, I always thought it would be Spike to kill me. I feel sort of gypped.'

Present day

Willow, Tara and Dawn entered the shop and found Giles sitting at the table with a cup of tea and several books in front of him. He looked up and smiled faintly at them before returning to his book. Willow and Tara exchanged a look and went to join him. Dawn shrugged her shoulders and followed.

"Where's Buffy? She sounded kinda urgent on the phone."

"I sent her and Spike to do a short patrol. It seems we have a new vampire in town. An old and powerful one at that. I would appreciate it if you girls could help me find any information on a vampire named Thor."

"Thor? Isn't that a Viking name?"

"Yes Willow, it is. It's rather fitting as that is what he was when alive. Or at least that's what the legends say."

"Do we know why he's here?"

"No, so far the only information we have is that he had some of his minions work Spike over pretty hard before releasing him. That and he has a companion with him. A Childe."

"Um, Mr Giles? Wh what's the bi big deal a about him h having a Childe with him?"

"Well, in vampire clans, one makes many minions, they are like foot soldiers. They exist to fight on your behalf, die in your stead, and well...warm your bed for lack of a better term. But Childer, they are only made very rarely. It's a heavy commitment to sire a Childe. Most vampires only make a handful of Childer over their lifetime. Angelus made two. Penn and Drusilla. Drusilla herself only made one, Spike. Spike has never made a Childe. He had the responsibility of caring for a damaged Sire to keep him busy. Angel's sire Darla only made one Childe. That of course was Angelus. I'm sorry if I'm confusing you Tara. To put it simply, if this new vampire is in town, and has brought his Childe along, it is likely that he plans on staying for a long time."

"Can't Buffy and Spike just hunt them down and kill them?"

"Under normal circumstances yes Dawn. But this is a very old and powerful vampire. His minions are stronger than most, and undoubtably his Childe is as well. We need to search for any weakness we can find before engaging him."

The four people at the table began pouring through the books. Meanwhile in another part of town a vampire and a slayer stalked silently through a cemetery. Hunting was poor this night, they'd only run across two vampires, weak fledges at that. They looked at each other, nodded, and headed back to the shop.

Four sets of eyes greeted them as they entered the shop. Buffy flopped down in the closest chair while Spike sat on the ladder that led to the loft.

"And how was patrol?"

"A couple of fledges, nothing else."

"You find anything in yer books watcher?"

"Ah, not as of yet Spike but I do have an idea of who it is we are looking for."

"Well? Come on Rupes, don't keep us in suspense."

"Er, I believe it is a very old vampire, goes by the name of Thor."

Giles and Spike shared a look that spoke of common knowledge and terrible things to come. Buffy saw the look and was at once scared and determined.

"Okay, so someone has 'Viking' issues. You research, I slay. No big right?"

"Yeah, sure slayer. No big."

"Uh Buffy? Thor is a viking. At least he was before he was turned. A very, very long time ago. If he's here, then it's not you who is in trouble."

"Then who?"

"That'd be me ducks."

"Uh why?"

Silence reigned again while Giles debated over how much to tell Buffy. He knew that Spike was a part of their group now, a somewhat reluctant part none the less, but still a part. However, Buffy was the slayer, and as such she would most likely turn her back on Spike if it meant resolving this conflict with minimum bloodshed.

Spike sat in silence waiting to see how much Rupert was going to tell his slayer. He knew why Thor was here, if it was indeed him. He really hoped it wasn't him. He didn't have a hope in hell if it was. Buffy would never risk herself or her little gang for him. He was in no position to defend himself, he couldn't make any minions, was estranged from his family, hell he didn't even know where his Sire was. And the closest thing he had to family was Angel. And that souled poof would probably stake him on sight. He decided to hell with it. He'd tell the slayer himself and let her throw him out.

"Sod it! He hunts other vampires. Only those not of his order, and only masters. I'm guessing tonight was about assessing my strength. He let me go only so he could hunt me down at his leisure."

Dawn looked like she was going to cry and the witches were holding each others hands tightly. Willow was the first to recover speech.

"I'll do what I can to help you Spike. There must be a spell or something that can help. Right?"

"I I I'm sure there is Sweety. D Don't w worry, we'll f find it."

Buffy was stunned. She had never heard of this 'Thor' guy before. And why did he hunt other vamps anyway?

"Spike, Giles? Why does he hunt his own kind?"

"Uh, for sport, or so I've read."

"He's old slayer. Strong enough that humans hold no challenge for him. He hunts vampires for the challenge it provides. That's why he only hunts masters, fledges are no better than humans, dumber even. As long as he doesn't kill his own order than he's not labeled traitor. Not that anyone would be stupid enough to call him that and live to tell."

This time Dawn spoke up.

"Um, if that's true than why do you get called a traitor? I mean you don't make vampires anymore, so it's not like you're killing within your order."

"Uh, actually bit, I am. Most of the vamps on the Hell mouth are Aurelias. The master was set up here for long time, then there was me an Dru, then Angelus made his grand reappearance. So yeah, I am."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Eh, no big deal luv, s'not like their my Childer or anything. Just a bunch of minions."

The group fell into silence again. Giles, Tara and Dawn continued to look through the diaries, Willow decided to go on-line and see if she could dig anything up, and Buffy sat thinking over the current problem. Spike was still waiting for the slayer to decide that he was too much trouble and ask him to leave. He was however surprised by the offer of help from the witches. Hopefully when Red buggered up this spell it would fall on Thor and not him.

Angel sat in the dark in his office. The phone call from Rupert had stirred up some rather unpleasant memories. He only hoped that Rupert was wrong, that Thor was in fact not in Sunnydale preparing to hunt his Grandchilde for sport. Spike was a pain in the ass, always was and always will be, but he was still family. His demon demanded he protect the boy. Luckily for his demon he was in control not it. Otherwise they would be in Sunnydale giving him a much better target. Spike was less than two centuries old, surviving on animal blood, living in a crypt and unable to even make minions to protect himself.

The last time he had seen Thor, about 75 years ago, he had been weak and pathetic, eating rats and hiding in abandon buildings. He hadn't even been worthy prey. Thor had spared his life, telling him he was weak and pathetic. He wasn't worth the time or effort to hunt down. The worst part was, Angel was disappointed. He wanted to die, saw this master vampire as his ticket to freedom, the death he so craved but was to cowardly to cause himself.

Angelus hadn't believed the legends. Darla and even the master himself had told him tales of the Viking hunter. The vampire that was so old and powerful that he could find no thrill in the torture of humans, compared it to hunting a rabbit in a pen. The tales they told of hunts that lasted months, years even if the prey were crafty enough. But in the end no one had ever escaped. The master's Sire himself had been rumored to have fallen victim to the Viking hunter. No one knew for sure, but he was never seen again, and the master assured his family that his death had been felt.

Now of course, Angelus knew better. He had looked upon the legend and been found unworthy. The demon raged at the memory, deeming the soul weak and inferior. It demanded that they prove they were worthy of attention, no matter the cost. It was thinking like that, that led to things like Acathala. Again Angel was glad that he was in charge. Hopefully Buffy would help Spike. Otherwise he would have to go to Sunnydale, and he really didn't want to do that.

Sighing, Angel picked up the phone and dialed Willy's in Sunnydale. The least he could do to help was see that Spike was at least fed properly. Maybe it would alleviate some of his guilt for not going to help. Or at least calm the demon a bit.

After a lengthy conversation, involving many threats of bodily harm, Willy assured Angel that he would see to it that Spike had a regular supply of human blood delivered to the Magic Box. And that the blood wouldn't come from questionable sources.
Feeling somewhat better about himself, Angel locked down the office and headed for his room to brood in a more comfortable environment.