summer_of_giles | Fic: Magister (R) Ch.4

More mayhem.

Warning: Murder

4. Selective Recruiting

Four days later, a young lawyer rushed into the office of one of his associates in the large building that housed Wolfram and Hart. The young man plopped a file on the desk and ran his fingers through his short, brown hair.

“Take a look,” he said to the woman behind the desk. “It seems we might have a new player in town.”

The stern looking woman picked up the file and glanced through it. “So, someone’s been taking out vamps around town. That’s nothing new, Lindsey. What makes you think it’s not just some wannabe demon hunter vigilante? Or even Angel going on a bender, trying to assuage some of that guilt the poor boy carries around?”

Lindsey’s eyes narrowed at her dismissive tone. “Don’t take me for a fool, Lilah. If you’d bother to look closer, you’ll see that whoever this is isn’t just killing random demons. He’s targeting would-be warlords and gang leaders. And once he dusts the boss, the rest of them follow him. Whoever this is, they’re building a vampire army.”

“Interesting,” Lilah nodded. “Sounds like something that might be fun to watch. But why share this with me? It’s not like we play nice together.” She gave him a wry smile.

Lindsey slid a hip up onto her desk. “The way I see it, this can go down one of two ways. We can try to contact this new ‘vamp king’ and convince him to join our little family. If that goes well, I figure the rewards from the higher-ups will be worth sharing. If it doesn’t, well… it might give me a chance to escape while he’s killing you.”

Lilah chuckled. “My thoughts as well. And the second possibility?”

“If we let this go unchecked, whatever this new player has planned might interfere with what the Senior Partners are working on, and if we don’t bring it to their attention, they might blame us for any unforeseen problems. I couldn’t think of a better scapegoat.”

“I see,” Lilah smiled. “Does anyone else know about this?”

Lindsey shook his head. “Just us.”

“Good. So, how should we go about making contact with this… possible asset?”

***

The mass of vampires that filled the dark warehouse watched, alert and poised for action, as a group of rival intruders strode confidently in and stood in a loose formation. The leader of the warehouse occupants smiled at the intruders and waved his men back from attacking, obviously amused at such audacity. It was easy to tell that this vampire lord was not just a loud, charismatic jock that attracted others like him. He bore the signs of a long life after death. Angry scars that hadn’t quite healed right, the poise and confidence of having seen and done more than most, the steady, steely gaze of one who knew all that was going on around him. He sat on his throne of packing crates and watched the newcomers carefully.

A young, well-muscled, dark-skinned vampire that stood a head taller than his fellows stepped out from the intruding number and addressed the room as a whole.

“We have come with a message for all of our kind,” he projected in a strong, sure voice. “There is a new future for those willing to accept it. A new way to live for those willing to make the change. There is a new kind of master for those willing to embrace him. One who will lead you from hiding in shadows while the humans rule this world. One who will teach you to hunt the strong instead of merely survive on the weak. One who will crush the chaos of this goodness-riddled world and turn it into a world built only for us.”

There were scoffs and huffs from around the room. Their leader finally stood and waved the young herald quiet. “I’ve been told you might be paying me a visit. Must say, I did enjoy the spiel. Change the vampire, change the world. All very inspiring. But, I’m afraid you’ll find that my chaps are very loyal to me. And we don’t take kindly to those who go around killing our own kind. So, I suggest you shove off. Because, even though you do look like you could win a few fights, I’m not impressed.”

The young vampire looked down at his aggressor with an easy smile. “It’s not my place to impress you. It is only my honor to bring you the message.” His eyes began to glint with anticipation. “Perhaps your…um…heart will be swayed be his… words. May I present the Magister.”

An older, distinguished looking man emerged from the group, flashing a charming smile. At eye level with the vampire he intended to dethrone, he was not a small man. But, as he came to stand beside his athletic spokesman, the impression he gave seemed less than impressive.

“I do apologize for the enthusiasm of my young entourage,” he said cordially with his smooth British accent. The strange man lifted his right hand and stroked his herald’s cheek with the back of his fingers, as if rewarding a loyal dog. “They always get a bit excited when we are about to welcome new recruits.”

The vampire crime lord shook away the disturbing image before he spoke. “Listen, I don’t know if you’ve got a block or something, but I already said you and your… pets… can shove off. You don’t want to try my temper, Mag… whatever he called you.”

“Ah yes, the pretentious name,” the gentle face smirked. “I guess that’s what I get for having a professor of dead languages join the ranks. They always want to give everything Latin names. My young men have taken to using it for me, though, if you like, you may refer to me as Teacher.”

The other vampire looked at him and blinked. Suddenly, he began to roar with laughter, the others in the building joining in. As he laughed, Magister simply watched him with what could only be called a kind, sympathetic expression. The laughter soon died down and the vampire boss suddenly took on a very dangerous look.

“Are you planning to teach us something?” With a wave of his hand, his men began to close in on the smaller group. “I think I’d rather just refer to you as dust.”

On his threat to their master, the small group drew back unexpectedly, leaving the Teacher completely undefended. This was something the vampire lord didn’t understand, as his men moved into positions to lend him aid and protection.

The stranger cocked his head to the side and stated simply, “I like your coat.”

Behind him, his followers smiled and gave expectant and excited grunts and chuckles. All of this was even more disconcerting to their leader’s opponent than their previous behavior. But Magister’s followers had come to know that statement well. They had watched him strip opponents of this garment, one after another. It was his trophy, the skin of the slain beast, the crown of a fallen king. So they waited, knowing that their interference was far from needed and, even if they tried, it would only incur his dangerous wrath.

The eyes of the older vampire lord suddenly flashed with fear as he began moving back. He shouted an order, and six of his men descended on the intruder from all directions. Magister dropped to one knee and threw his hands out to each side. With a shouted incantation, he was encircled by a blaze of fire that his six attackers could not hope to avoid. As the bright flash faded in the dark room, he stood alone and slowly advanced on his intended target.

“What the hell are you?”

“I like your coat,” he repeated in a low growl.

“My coat? Yeah, sure,” the older leader was visibly shaking as he quickly shrugged out of the dark, heavy overcoat, “It’s yours.” He began to look more confused as the vampire sorcerer before him did not immediately take it. With a sudden realization, he dropped to his knees offering the garment up with both hands. “It’s all yours.”

A cheer erupted from his followers as the Teacher took the offering and turned to return to them. He tossed the won tribute to his young lieutenant, and muttered, “I cannot abide cowards.”

As if on a cryptic order, a stake flew past, nearly grazing his arm, and drove into the fallen vampire’s heart. Even before their leader turned to dust, the new recruits were following their strange new master out the door.

***

“What is he doing?” Wesley asked Angel as he slammed a newspaper onto the stack that covered the counter. “Attacks on a university? Only professors and athletes targeted. The police don’t even know if anyone was killed because no bodies were left behind. Does any of this make sense to you?”

“They’re all dead,” Angel whispered sadly. “All turned. He’s making soldiers. Selectively recruiting for strength, skills, and intelligence. He’s building his army.”

“But it doesn’t make sense. Why hasn’t he attacked us yet? I thought we’d have an opportunity to stop him before he started killing innocent people.”

“He finally has the chance to go into a battle with the odds on his side. It’s something the man never had in life and he’s savoring the power of it. Trust me, he knows we’re watching and waiting for him. I just wish I could find him first and spare Buffy and the others.”

***

“What do you think, Boss? It’s perfect, right?”

The vampire Watcher looked up at the castle-like structure of the large hotel. “Is the building as sound as it appears?”

“Solid stone. The story is some rich freak a while back decided he wanted a castle. So he bought one in the old country and shipped it here piece by piece to be rebuilt into this place. Never survived to move in though. But, I figured, where better than a castle to serve as the home of our immortal king.”

His features slipped into a soft smile at the unabashed flattery. “It seems easily defendable and large enough to accommodate our needs. You did well, My Boy.” The young vampire visibly shivered at the praise. “Now, shall we make ourselves at home?”

The sun had set outside, and the lobby was busy as employees worked to please their visitors. An assortment of patrons hurried about the large space, men and women in business attire, couples on holiday, and families who looked as if they’d saved for years to afford such a decadent place. All different, yet their reactions very much the same as the room quickly filled with strange and dangerous looking creatures.

“Please,” the kind, accented voice filled the room, “there’s no need to fear. My children will not harm you. We have only come to see about making this fine establishment our new home.”

True to their master’s word, the others simply stood around the perimeter of the room and watched.

“Hey!” a uniformed woman approached. “I don’t know what’s wrong with these… people. But you look like trouble to me, and I don’t like trouble in my…”

The manager froze and her words failed as she was captured by the intense green gaze. “I’m sure you do your job quite well,” the Teacher said softly, “but this place is no longer yours.”

“Yes sir,” she mumbled numbly.

The vampire’s gaze fell upon another in the room. This man was much older. He wore a plain green sweater and his short grey hair was covered by a cap that proudly displayed the insignia of a battleship. He leaned on his cane and regarded the newcomers with much more annoyance than fear.

Magister smiled cordially at him. “I sense a warrior in our midst.”

“You could say that, young man. Career navy.”

“Then you are owed much thanks. Those who willingly stand to fight against the evils of this world seldom get the praise they are due.”

“Didn’t do it for praise.” He swung his cane around indicating the strange newcomers. “And I sure didn’t do it to spend what’s likely to be the last vacation of my life being harassed by you and your gang of miscreants.”

“Quite right. You may go about your business with no interference from us. May I ask one question before you go?” The old man gave a quick nod. “Will you permit me to know what your NEC was?”

His brown eyes lit up at the use of the military term. “A fellow soldier, are you?”

“In a way.”

“I was a radio man. Spent my first couple of tours on battleships. Finished out my career as an instructor. I can still do anything you’d ever want with a radio. The bastards retired me when my hands started shaking too much to work with all the tiny components.”

“But I see a well worn wedding band on your finger. Surely, you are happy to spend the rest of your days with your lovely bride.”

The old man sighed heavily. “She was certainly the best part of me. Married me when she was seventeen and followed me around the world with not so much as a grumble. I always meant to bring her here. Been over a year now since she died on me.”

“I am sorry for your loss.” The old man shrugged. Magister stepped in closer, his voice low and sensual. “They took away your students and your wife has gone on ahead of you. It seems wrong that a man such as you should live out his days with nothing, when you obviously have so much left to give.”

The old man cleared his throat, emotion threatening to show through his tough veneer.

“What if I could offer you more? What if I could offer you a never ending line of students eager to soak up the knowledge you can give them? What if your legacy and teachings can go on forever in this world? And what if, at the same time, I can send your soul to reunite with your lovely wife? You will never feel the pain of losing her again.”

The old man chuckled, but the tears in his eyes said he wanted to believe the penetrating and seductive words. “How do you propose to do all that?”

The vampire raised a beckoning hand, and a beautiful, young, blond woman approached them. “My Dear, will you please show our new friend here the wonders of our immortal life?”

“I would be pleased to, My Lord.” She raised her chin to receive a sensuous kiss from her master before turning her full attention on the enraptured old man.

Magister turned his attention back to the room. “Let this be today’s lesson. Never underestimate value based on appearance. Wisdom is just as important as strength.”

“Yes sir,” his followers shouted as one from around the room.

“Now go. Turn those who would be useful. Feast on the rest. Clear the building.” He disappeared into an elevator with a wicked grin as the glorious sounds of fear and death echoed throughout the lobby.

***

Angel rushed out of the office with a loud bang, making Dawn jump and stopping the sparring match between Buffy and Faith. Well… Faith was sparring, Buffy was trying to work out some of the fear and anger balled up in her chest.

“I just got a call from Cordy,” Angel answered their questioning looks. “She’s had another vision.”

Buffy swallowed hard, the drink she had taken from her water bottle going down her tight throat like a rock. “Was it about… him?” she asked with trepidation.

Angel nodded slowly.

Dawn sat up straight, preparing for the coming news. “What did she see?”

“Cordy said it wasn’t clear. She sensed that the city around her was burning… And she saw a great battlefield, us on one side and Giles surrounded by vamps on the other. We fought, and at the end we were all dead… or worse, and he was moving on to the rest of the world.”

“So it seems you were right,” Wesley said soberly as he descended the stairs, closing the book he’d been reading. “He is building an army.”

Unable to find a suitable release for her anger, Buffy threw her water bottle across the room. “So your ‘Powers’ send a vision telling us he’s got help and we’re all gonna die. Two things we already know. What good are they?”

“There was more,” Angel said in a rush of breath. “According to Cordy, when the vision seemed to finish, everything rewound and played again. Only this time we won.”

Wesley removed his glasses. “What was the difference?”

“The only thing she could tell was that there was one more person standing with us. She tried her best to make out who it was, but she said every time she looked straight at them it was like everything went haywire, the whole vision turned to chaos.”

“Chaos,” Buffy repeated in a whisper.

“Does that mean anything to you?” Wesley questioned.

She shook her head, “I don’t know.”

“Well…” the ex-Watcher replaced his glasses. “Willow and I have been making progress upstairs. We will soon be ready to attempt a spell to locate him. The one problem is that we are not sure how his energies were changed at the time of his…uh…death. However, it should be simple enough to find the location of the soul, and thus him. That is, assuming he has it with him and has not… destroyed it or anything.”

Dawn couldn’t restrain a quiet sob at the thought. Sliding down next to her, Faith wrapped an arm around the girl. “No worries, Chick. Never gonna happen. Even if he is just a glow-worm in a jar right now, our big guy has more guts than any demon out there.”

“I know,” the girl whispered. “But what if the vision is right? What if we figure out who this other person is and we win? Does winning mean we get Giles back, or we kill him?”

“I don’t know about you,” Faith grinned, “but getting our super-Watcher back is the only thing I’ll ever count as a win.”

Wesley approached Angel and whispered low enough to keep his thoughts from the others. “You said that we were all dead or worse… I’m assuming that tells us he means to make… allies out of some of us. Do we know who he’ll be targeting to join him?”

“Cordy didn’t say.”

He glanced back at the three girls in the room and sighed. “We don’t even have the luxury of assuming he’s thinking like the Giles we knew anymore.”

***

“What’s up with you, Justin? You’re so jumpy tonight.”

The young man with jet black hair smiled at his friend. “I don’t know. You ever get the feeling you’re being watched?”

“Of course you’re being watched, you’re the Sensei.”

Justin glanced around at the members of his advanced class with pride. Some he had already seen achieve the honor of earning their black belts; most were on the verge of doing so. After devoting all his life to the study of martial arts, it still amazed him how much pleasure it gave him to pass that knowledge on to children in a city where he had never expected to end up.

“It’s not like that,” he whispered. “I know how it feels when the class is paying attention. This started earlier this evening during the beginner’s class and hasn’t gone away.”

“I think you’re paranoid.”

“Hey. Just because I made you my assistant, doesn’t mean you’re too good to run laps.”

The tall girl straightened her white tunic under her black belt and bowed with a smile. “Pair up for sparing!” she called.

A large, plate-glass window at the front of the dojo shattered and three men with strangely distorted faces rushed in.

“Get them out!” Justin ordered as he halted the progress of the first with a spinning leg sweep.

“What about you? These freaks must be on drugs. You can’t fight them by yourself!”

“Get the kids out! They’re more important!”

She quickly obeyed, ushering the students out the back door as their Sensei defended their exit. Justin continued to fight, holding his own against the three vampires with a variety of effective fighting styles. He was quickly getting frustrated, these guys kept coming back from blows that would have knocked a normal person out, when he noticed a strange gentleman leaning against the wall and watching the fight.

With a snap of the stranger’s fingers, the vampires halted their attack and stepped back. He slowly walked up, letting the young Sensei catch his breath.

“It is an admirable quality in a man. The willingness to give up his life for the sake of his charges,” the gentleman said, as if to a friend.

Justin looked at him suspiciously and panted, “I have no intention of giving up anything tonight.”

Magister grinned. “Yet you send all possible backup away and stand to face multiple and superior opponents alone.”

A small smile settled on Justin’s lips. “Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory.”

“Sun Tzu,” the vampire chuckled. A distant look passed over his face. “I believe none of my students have ever quoted The Art of War to me.”

“Yes, well… I find the student to be a good reflection of the master. What are you people anyway?”

Magister laughed out loud. “True. But I intended to remedy their shortcomings very soon.” He slowly circled the young man. “These are mere foot soldiers. I have no doubt that if they’d not been called off, you would have found a way to defeat them. One tiny bit of knowledge that might help you, though.” He tapped his chest with a pair of fingers. “A bit of wood through the heart. The most efficient way to dispatch one of our kind.”

“You mean like a vampire?” Justin laughed.

“I’ve been watching you for a while now. The way you patiently correct and instruct your students. The way you subtly demand their attention.” His green eyes sparkled as he stopped in front of the young Sensei. “I have been looking for one like you. I’ve found willing and skilled soldiers, but a commander to stand at my side has been hard to come by.”

“What, so you attacked my class to test me? If you wanted to know my skill, why not try me yourself?”

Magister smiled. “To quote Sun Tzu once more… Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

“And yet, when I look at you my mind drifts more toward Gandhi,” Justin smirked. “It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”

“Your abilities of perception defy your youthful looks.” The gentleman bowed. “Shall we start with Judo?”

The vampire attacked and Justin held him at bay with an array of skillful holds and throws.

“Tae Kwan Do!” the younger man shouted, and both shifted to a style consisting mostly of high aerial kicks.

The vampire agilely flipped away from a strike yelling, “Capoeira!” His three followers cheered as both combatants performed beautiful, dance-like flourishes of acrobatics.

Justin tumbled to a wall and grabbed a pair of short, wooden staffs. “Nguni Stick-fighting!” Magister quickly found another pair of weapons and defended expertly against the onslaught of fast and sharp attacks. Finally, an impossibly hard strike snapped a staff and the weapons were thrown aside.

“Krav Maga!” the vampire roared, and they descended into what looked to be the
most deadly effective street fighting any of their spectators had ever seen.

The action suddenly halted with Justin wrapped up in the long arms of the larger man standing behind him. It was the most unbreakable hold he had ever felt in his life. He panted hard for breath and was amazed that his opponent didn’t seem to be breathing at all.

“I have to hand it to you,” he managed between gasps. “A man that looks like you shouldn’t be able to handle all of that. But I still don’t know what you want from me.”

Magister’s whisper was low in his ear. “I want you to be my strong right arm, to stand beside me for all eternity and lead my army to victory. I want you to be mine. Because there is one more thing I remember from The Art of War. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.” The demon showed his true face as his teeth grew into sharp fangs. “I mean to sire you, and you will stand with me as a son.”

Justin trembled at the first prick of the fangs carefully piercing his neck and almost tenderly beginning to drain the life from his body. The fiery, yellow eyes of his sire grew bright with joy as he feasted on the young, strong blood. He smiled around his fangs when the young man began to take the offered blood from the cut on his arm just before going limp in his embrace.

Chapter 5

Fic: Magister (R) Ch.4

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