A/N: A friendly warning first. I'll still keep this a T for now, but there's some M-rated violence present here. Those who liked it, enjoy!
Right after you get rid of that annoying pest of a son of yours. And the wench, too.
"How can I hear your voice if-"
"I'm not moving my lips? I have the Gift! I can also read minds."
Two distantly familiar voices snapped through his brain like a whip, causing Gabriel to shudder and crack open his eyes. The air glimmered with a soft blue light, grime and pebbles covered the ground and ceiling appeared to be walled off from the sky... what had happened to the chamber, to the demon? Was he in a cave? And what were those noises coursing through his mind?
A low hiss parted his lips as the vampire hauled his body up and glanced around, befuddled. Eve and Trevor were nowhere in his sight, but... A young blonde in tattered clothes, an imposing giant clad from head to toe in a black carapace and a... a human warrior, standing just beside them both, obscured everything else. Himself. Horror, accompanied by daze and surprise, hitched Dracul's breath deep inside his throat.
"Who are you?" the man beside the girl asked with a genuine curiosity in his voice.
The blonde offered him a smile. "My name is Claudia and he," she gestured at the armored knight, "is my protector. He looks after me. In return, I catch evil souls so he could absorb their energy. Without them, he would stop working. But," she pointed jocosely at the man, "there's something different about you, yes? You seem good somehow, so we won't kill you." Claudia rocked from her heels to toes, grinning merrily.
Claudia? This must be a trick, an illusion! She couldn't be real! She is dead, her life cut short by a dagger plunged through her heart! And yet, there she stood, under the ever-wary eye of her guardian knight, conversing with himself, as if... nothing had transpired.
"I'm relieved to hear it." The sound of his own voice scraped against the elder's eardrums like sandpaper.
The corners of Claudia's lips stretched to the side as she opened her palm and reached out for the warrior's face. He recoiled and a frown momentarily crossed his brow.
"It's alright," the woman quickly reassured. "Let me read your thoughts." With this, she pressed her hand to the other Gabriel's face and shut her eyes.
A glimmering in the torchlight dagger whistles through the air. The Black Knight crashes his serrated sword into the ground, but the warrior in red dodges his assault. A monstrous lycanthrope is wrestled down by the same man. A tower collapses, the crow witch falls. A young dark-haired girl invites to play. The Queen sends out her unholy legions. Headless corpses claw their way to freedom. Desecrated titans shudder for the last time. Arcs of lightning crack around the hooded figure's arms. A ghastly man shrouded in shadow dons a heavenly veneer. The same pale child urges to step forward, into the seamless light. A shell-clad demon spins lassos of solid darkness. A putrid weakling chokes up his own blood. And finally...
Himself as he cuts through the ranks of squires and soldiers alike, sowing panic and death alike with the precision of the reaper's sickle. And laughing. Always laughing.
Dracul staggered back just as the blonde let out a startled no! and buried her face in her hands. Her vision... what was what Claudia saw the moment she touched him? She had witnessed her death, his downfall and kept on going. She had doomed herself... yet her bravery and determination was something to be envious of.
The vampire took a deep breath, a grimace of distaste replacing his surprise. "Your petty trickery won't work on me, abyssal spawn! Show yourself, Azazel, and let us end this here!"
His human counterpart twitched and a mad grin curved his thin-lipped mouth. "But, we're just getting started, Chosen of God," the malformed demon whispered from beneath the crisped surface of the ghoulish mask. He had been wearing it all along.
Blink, and a roaring blue inferno engulfed every other sound around them. Its shine had filled his sight, forcing him to bat it away. Cursing under his breath, Dracul spun on his heels, searching for the image of the fallen angel. He was here! He could hear the goat's gargled cackle despite whirring of the fiery whirlpool behind him.
A foul sound of something disgorging attracted his attention and the vampire cast his eyes downward. He summoned all of his considerable willpower to suppress a flinch at what had met his gaze.
A dark-haired young lass from Claudia's vision – Laura – had her thin arms wrapped around a much bulkier form, nearly cradling it. The man leaned against her support, retched and spat a mouthful of crimson liquid onto the stone below. The girl squeaked, and held his face in her hands, red eyes wide with worry and fear.
"Gabriel." She lightly tapped her blooded fingers against the warrior's face. One of her wrists was torn open, a severed artery poking through her translucent skin. "You must keep drinking."
"No..." A single gagged word left the warrior's mouth along with some spittle and blood. "Laura, please...!"
"Do so now, or you will die!" the vampire demanded, hopelessness creeping into her voice. "Free me of this miserable existence," she wailed, raising her hemorrhaging arm closer to his mouth. "I beg of you! Free me."
Please, an otherworldly disembodied voice entered the scene, filling the air with its emptiness, you must not know.
Laura's voice...? But, she never uttered a word after her plea!
The dimensional rift is the abyss, an image of Hell on this earth, the voice continued, but the Forgotten One's power was not enough to corrupt the sanctity of the Founders' spell. They had conjured this prison a lifetime before their ascension, before evil had ensnared their hearts. The plane can be breached by any creature, be it good or dark in nature. Even a mortal could challenge the one imprisoned there.
A bitter wrinkle appeared near the edges of Dracul's mouth. "Laura..."
You would not have dealt the final blow, if I had asked you directly, the child raised her head, looking through the older vampire as if he were a ghost, so I had to... I had to make you partake. Just like you, I had no choice. You've taken everything from me: my Mother, my life... I am alone in this world. You will be, too.
Azazel's faint chortle echoed in his ears and the vampire bared his teeth in a snarl.
"Laura would never say this!" he roared at the giggling demon – wherever he might be. He ignored the harmful whiplash of the castle's influence. "She was weary! Weary of her cursed life and craved for an end. She was a lost soul and I set her free."
"Haven't you paid attention?" Azazel's voice rustled in response. "Did you, by any chance, forget that the Sovereign had told you? That everyone you killed, be that for a purpose, or by accident, are sentenced to exist the rest of their days within the castle's belly, slowly devoured away, piece by piece. The most cruel fate of all. Of course, any victim would desire to inflict the same agonizing torture on you for this."
"The Forgotten One had stated that he became the first," Dracul hissed.
"This does remind me. For how long, do you think, he will be able to keep up his facade? It's no secret that the prince of demons yearns to annihilate you, turn you inside out and leave your rotting carcass outside Sheol to further aggravate my master. Show the arrogant Lucifer that, when planning your revenge, patience is rewarded."
"He knows better than to attack me, if he values his hide." The vampire hesitated before replying.
"Oh, does he?" The demon's gnarled face emerged from the darkness. "Look at yourself, mighty Prince of Darkness. You, a vampire, willingly turn down the only source of nourishment, refuse to kill and saturate your being. Your body may support you for a bit longer feeding off the reservoirs stored inside, but it won't take long before it begins to fail you. Soon, you will revert to the same moldy cadaver, a husk you were reduced into after Crissaegrim pierced your heart. And then, even the lesser of demons would have no problem of mounting your head on a spike. Again."
A second, and the ruby-red foliage around them stirred from its slumber, taking over the ethereal glow of the open rift. Ill at ease, but doing his best to seize control over his emotions, Gabriel tread forward. A heap of golden leaves whirled around the vampire in their autumn dance, and the thick, moist leafage carpeting the ground, hushed out the former knight's uneasy steps.
Three human figures – two of them armed – came into his view and Dracul stopped in his tracks. There, under the shade of an ancient oak, his doppelganger stood together with a silver-haired man. Zobek. Their gazes were fixed on a large slab of stone in front of them and on that boulder a woman in white lay with her eyes closed and muscles stiff.
"Marie!" A stifled gasp left Gabriel's throat and he dashed towards the scene, unaware of his actions. He knew well enough what was about to happen.
The necromancer offered the vampire's double a massive poleaxe and Gabriel accepted it. His fingers curled around the shaft of the weapon, and raised it into the air.
"No!" the vampire nearly shouted, but none reacted and no matter how quickly his legs had carried him, an unknown force had pushed him away from the trio under the oak.
Zobek gave his companion an indulgent nod.
Dracul instinctively shielded his eyes.
A chomping sound of metal meeting flesh howled through the air with the anger of a thousand demons, upsetting a murder of crows nesting in the crown of the oak. The bloodstained blade soared into the air once more, and the fiendish sorcerer let out a satisfied chuckle. Zobek graciously patted the knight on the shoulder, still laughing. Soon, the soldiers departed, their figures disappearing under the golden canopy of trees.
A severed head, dribbling with ichor, lolled off the slab – the vampire could not tear his eyes from it. Marie remained resolute and serene, even in death. Butchered in cold blood by his own hands... a wife-killer. A murderer...
Eve, behind you!
But, no, wait. She was not dead, not lost even. She was waiting. Waiting for him to succeed, just like all those years ago! Marie's soul rested within the castle, he conversed with her, learned of her condition... She had given up her spot in Heaven just to be with him! He'd been given a chance to save her!
Trevor, dammit! Do something, he's your father!
I can't yank the mask off! He's not letting me approach him!
The... the mask? The Devil Mask? Trevor, Eve... where were they?! Gabriel whirled around, trying to pinpoint the voices, but only the ripple of the leaves answered him.
"Having second thoughts?" Azazel's sharp features warped before him. "Does your deceased beloved no longer pique your interest?"
The vampire turned away from the demon's glimmering snarl, but Azazel reappeared before him.
"Butchered by her own loving husband," the goat intoned. "But I see you couldn't care less... You erased her name from your memory, didn't you? Did you find salvation in another's arms? So be it, insult the thought of your childhood sweetheart ever further, vampire."
"Azazel. God's Arrogance. You can pry into the life of the Champion, but a fallen one can't read the secrets of an angel," Dracul replied calmly. "And Marie is one. Her life was given back and yours... is about to be extinguished."
"I will crush your mind, mongrel!" the fiend screamed on the top of his lungs. "You will serve me!"
"No, it will be you who is going to be crushed under Satan's boot for betraying him." Gabriel smiled and ripped at his own face.
The demonic mask plastered against his visage peeled off, flaying some of his skin in the process. It hurt, but that pain could be endured. Bereft of Azazel's magic, the forest crumbled into ash, melting away like snow on a hot day, and the familiar Mirror of Fate room blurred into view before him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Alucard, together with Eve, come alongside him.
"I hope I did not harm any of you," the elder vampire said. "Did I attack you?"
"You did." Eve nodded solemnly. "But we managed to evade most of the blows. Glad you regained your senses without us resorting to beat them back into you."
"Much appreciated." Dracul let out a chuckle and let his eyes linger on the hooded demon in front of them. "Azazel. Time to die, serpent."
The demon gnashed his teeth. "Perish, meat!" he roared, acidic spittle flying in every direction. "Perish and meet your maker!" With this, he lunged straight at Eve, all four hands with hideous claws open.
The elder fully expected for Azazel to tip the beam in his favor and go after the female of their group. So did Eve, apparently, and she was prepared for it.
"Wrong choice, asshole." An imbued with crimson flames chain thrashed into the demon's face, sending him squealing and reeling. Before anyone could react, the woman unleashed a series of shredding strokes against Azazel's back. The demon's carapace cracked soundly and he let out a pained yelp.
A slight smile touched the vampire's lips as his own infernal gauntlets wreathed around his wrists. From the corner of his eye he could Alucard grin as well and invoke his fiery Igneas blade. The three exchanged brief glances and circled around the fell demon, akin to a pack of wolves stalking its prey. For someone, this was more than just a simple comparison and Dracul heard his son let out a barking laugh. He had thought of the same.
Still, this had to be handled quickly and with care: the domain's lifespan was nearing its end, and, at any moment, they could be wrestled out this plane and thrown elsewhere. He couldn't allow it. Not with the second piece in his plain sight.
Realizing that he was surrounded, the goat-demon cried out and stomped his hoofed foot. A fissure cracked the ground beneath him, and familiar green flames rushed out, snapping at the party's legs. A blazing tendril coiled around the vampire's shin, but he was quick enough to swat it away. Alucard's longsword kept them at bay, while Eve spun her spiked chain around her, cutting the crawling flames down before they could ensnare her.
While they battled the sentient fire however, Azazel's figure winked out in a lime flash and appeared on the other end of the chamber. There, the demon began to bombard the group with globs of viscous matter, spewing them right out of his mouth. One of them hit Alucard right in his shoulder and the younger vampire hissed as the acid chewed on his armor like a ravenous animal.
Another brushed against Eve's thigh and she elicited a colorful curse. The matter eroded the cloth of her pants, revealing a sickly green burn underneath. Thankfully, she appeared to be alright.
The fallen angel breathed in and, this time, barfed out three fist-sized balls of acid directly at Gabriel. Without a second thought, the vampire dug his claws into the ground and released a wave of chaos in their direction. The hellish energy engulfed the blobs, consuming them, yet some of the acid ricocheted into Dracul's face. He winced with pain and pinned down a powerful desire to wipe the purulence off his skin.
Seeing his attack only delay his opponents, Azazel shifted his glare from a Belmont to a Belmont and, with a growl, launched himself at Alucard, acid dribbling out of the mouth and claws outstretched. A bad decision, indeed.
Crissaegrim's flaming blade carved a cut into the demon's torso and abdomen. There, with an ardent cry on her lips, Eve jumped forward and lashed at the fiend's exposed back. At the same time the elder rammed his claws into the demon's thigh, dissevering the muscle beneath the hide.
The fallen angel gargled and, coughing up blobs of putrid blood, mauled at the vampire. His brutish, yet precise – one hand scraped against the elder's cheek – attacks only encouraged Dracul to bury his hands deeper into the demon's hip joint and earn himself an asphyxiated shriek. The hellish flames around his gauntlets melted the flesh and bone alike and, with a sickening crunch, the vampire sundered the fiend's femur.
A deafening howl swallowed the air in the chamber as Azazel's left leg was torn out, leaving only a bloodied stump in its place. The goat-demon toppled down and sprawled onto his back, choked grunts escaping his throat. The Dragon tossed the disjointed limb away and approached the fallen angel, with his family behind his back.
"Now, the Trumpet," he whispered, eyes not leaving the demon's battered pathetic form.
Azazel rose his horned head and let out a hoarse giggle. "Ah-hah, I can already see your precious blood magic failing to conceal your wounds, Gabriel."
"I don't have time for this," the vampire muttered and stepped on the fiend's shattered bone, and the angel's chuckle molded into a yelp. "Give us. The. Trumpet."
"Here it is!" Alucard pulled out the tapered fragment out of Azazel's cloak. "Appears authentic enough."
"Better be safe than sorry," Dracul replied and offered his son the first scrap, the one procured from the Brotherhood's enclave. "See if it mends."
Trevor took the mouthpiece and carefully rested it against the narrow end of the pipe. The brass bits sizzled, sparkled as they melded into one – a slender horn with a broken off bell. The white-haired warrior inhaled sharply and grinned, while Eve cocked her to one side, a curious glint in her dark eyes.
At the very moment, Azazel sprung at them on his only leg, many hands grasping for the artifact. Loathsome creature.
The elder moved aside, letting the demon's vicious fingers fruitlessly claw past him, and brought forth his blade. Once Azazel fell forward, obeying inertia, Gabriel snarled and sunk the void sword through the fiend's occiput. Bones gnashed as the nether blade came out of the fiend's mouth, and then ruptured as the weapon ripped through the parietal bone, cleaving the skull in half between the horns. Tainted blood, bits of brain tissue, and mucus, all burst out of Azazel's toothy maw, freckling the floor in front of him.
Only when the demon's lifeless body collapsed to the ground with a wet thump did Dracul allow himself to relax his muscles. Behind him, he could hear Eve hiccup nervously.
"A part of me is going 'ew', but... I keep telling myself the demon deserved it," she said, pulling out a small box out of her pockets and placing a thin cylindrical object into her mouth. "Mind if I smoke? I need... need to calm my nerves."
"A thoughtful idea," the vampire replied. "I thought he'd killed some of your brethren. Why should you feel guilty?"
"I dunno." Eve shrugged and her brow furrowed. "This is a problem to me. I can kill. Lash out, but it's almost always in self-defense. At any other time, it would just... paralyze me. Why do you think we call ourselves the Innocent Devils? I guess, knowing the track record of our lineage, it's a plus. Sorta."
"It is a plus," Gabriel mimicked, smiling. "You fight well, and," he glanced at Alucard, "this time I say this without scorn."
"Yes, I noticed." Trevor let out a quiet chuckle.
"Aw, thanks." Eve watched as Azazel's body slowly withered away and tapped her cigarette against her arm. "I bet Lucifer will have a blast disciplining his rebellious hireling."
Dracul pondered over her words. "Hm, yes. And, before I forget..." He turned around and paced around the room, searching for the... there it was! The ghoulish mask stared back at him and the vampire could not hold back a grimace of disgust. A moment, and the vile artifact was incinerated in a burst of crimson flames, leaving only a pile of ash behind. "Now it will never ruin any more lives," he explained without glancing at his companions.
Just as his words escaped his mouth, the world around him blurred, waltzed, and crumbled, giving way to a familiar vortex. Their time was up. As the destructive wind surged around them, fragmenting the chamber they were in, stone by stone, Dracul heard Eve address him.
"Hey," she said and took a puff of her cigarette. "Take care, Gabriel, and know that, no matter the cost, we will trust your judgment."
"Trust my judgment?" the former knight repeated, perplexed. "Wait, could it be... Eve, do you have a son?"
The woman startled a little, obviously caught off guard, but in the end offered him a shy smile. "Yes. Victor. He's three years old." The corner of her mouth twitched. "How do you know?"
"Your son will be a hero, Eve," he said with a note of bitterness in his voice. "But even his prowess could not overshadow what you accomplished here today. Perhaps... perhaps, we will meet again. Goodbye and good luck."
"Thanks, but good luck has a habit of running out. A saying of mine." Eve's soft voice reached his ears for the final time as he stepped onto the shore of infinity and let the Maelstrom ferry his form elsewhere.
The violent transplant back into the original world made Dracul stagger for a moment or two, but, at least, this time no pain or lethargy assaulted his mind. He simply paused, gathering his bearings, before a whole orchestra of new sounds came down upon him.
A myriad of shrill cries thundered across the room, accompanied by a hellish clamor of thousands of fists, claws banging and scratching against a rocky surface. Wails, howls, and screams boomed about and the whole structure around him seemed to moan unintelligibly. Somewhere, he could hear a section of the wall cave in, a breathy curse stir the air and finally, a loud exasperated voice of his former foe, followed by a brusque prod into his side.
"Finally!" The Forgotten One's beady eyes burrowed into his. "Did you acquire it?"
"Yes." The vampire held the semi-completed Trumpet out, before tucking it behind his coat. "What is going on here?"
"Complete pandemonium, that's what is going on," the archfiend answered, looking about frantically. "Hundreds of blood creatures are gathered just outside the barrier, but," he gestured at the semisolid green wall near their location, "it will not hold on for much longer against such a bestial force. We're surrounded."
"What to do you propose?" Dracul asked. A sickening squelch soon shadowed his words as the cursed blood seeped through the cracks in the floor, filling the chamber with its keening cries. Pleas, threats, and laments, all echoed in his ears, making him wince.
Insolent cur! One stood out of all others. We gave you everything and this is how your repay our kindness?!
"Not so neighborly now, is it," Alucard murmured, drawing his sword.
A deafening crash drew the vampires' attention away from the influence: they saw Ikay pound the wall near the aperture, broadening the breach into the outdoors. A flurry raged outside, a rain so thick, it enshrouded the rest of the castle in its veil.
"We're in no condition to fight it here and now." The Forgotten One flung a slab of cobblestone at the pooling blood and a pained yowl reached out for their ears. "We have no choice. We must flee in order to preserve your individuality. I already recovered the Maelstrom, but we must hurry."
Gabriel shot a quick glance at the swarm of blood fiends outside the barrier. Even now he could spy several of the monstrosities emerge from the puddles of boiling gore, claws and eyeless muzzles becoming more apparent with each passing second. Plus, they had to last long enough to recover the last fragment of the relic, before heading back into the modern world. Yes, even the Prince of Darkness knew when it was wise to step back.
"Yes, you're right," he mouthed, hand traveling to his chest. "We still have unfinished business with the Maelstrom."
The metal of his draconic talisman gave off a pleasant chill as his fingers curled around it. Navigating through such weather would be tough, but a dragon's eyes-
A malignant outcry thundered across the room, sending shivers down everyone's spines. It was unlike any other howl enounced by the castle's demon. No, this one rang of such unbridled furor... of such unconstrained ferocity even Dracul did not expect the structure to possess. Multiple cracks ran down the walls, the ceiling, covering the whole wing in a webbing through which blood began to rush through like streams. In just mere moments the entire floor was flooded in the oily substance, steadily inching towards the vampire's feet.
A pile of marble rubble – the remains of the Forgotten One's shell – provided the much-needed elevation, a succor, and Dracul felt his son tug him towards it. Without a second thought, the vampires bolted towards it, blood dogging their footfalls with sheer viciousness of a predator.
Whilst scaling the rubble, the elder put his relic away: invoking the power of the talisman at this very moment would end in a disaster. The memory of fleshy tendrils sprouting from the ichor still stood fresh in his mind and, no doubt, a few hundred of them could chain even a dragon's limbs.
But their respite was short-lived: they could already see dozens of skinless humanoid figures rise from the blood and begin to crawl towards them. The void sword's energy engulfed the first row of monsters and turned them into harmless ice statues. Nonetheless, more and more of these creatures advanced, simply climbing over their frozen brethren. Holding his blade aloft, Dracul glanced at the armored giant in the distance.
Fortunately, the Forgotten One appeared to be in one piece, despite the taint pooling around him. Using his gargantuan size to his advantage, the demon trampled some of the blood spawn down – Gabriel's outstretched hand jerked spasmodically – before calling forth a glimmering morning star and launching it at the wall, pulverizing the stone and widening the aperture ever further. Large enough for a dragon to fit through.
Getting to it however...
Ikay swung his chain around him, building momentum, and propelled it at the vampires. The flail's massive head smashed into the wall behind them, and the archfiend pulled, forming a makeshift bridge over the lake of boiling blood.
The impact sent some of the blood fiends surrounding them reeling, buying Dracul and Alucard valuable time to haul themselves onto the thick links of the Forgotten One's flail. They dashed across its surface, sometimes pausing to stall their monstrous pursuers, be that by void magic, or Alucard's blade.
Midway to the archfiend, Dracul felt the chain suddenly shudder and drop a few feet. He looked back – the morning star's head was slowly coming loose under the joined weight of both the vampires and the crimson tide behind them. Drawing a raspy breath, the elder silently willed Alucard to move.
The Forgotten One noticed it, too. Clawed fingers coiling around the weapon's hilt, the demon let out a brief huff and pulled. With a low rattle, the flail head broke away and soared through the air back at the wielder. Gabriel clung to the links with a death's grip as the entire weapon rose and fell like a crest of a wave. Right by his side, he could hear Alucard let out a hoarse bark. Only when the rising chain started to bend, did Dracul grab onto his son's shoulder.
"Now!" he shouted over the howl of the wind and sprung away from the chain's surface, dragging Alucard with him.
Barreling through the air, the elder vampire let the claws of his free hand dig into his palm and draw blood. A hot itch of blood magic crawled up his arm, bringing some life to his paralyzed muscles. Two crimson wing-shaped appendages sprouted from his back and propelled him forward, over the bloody tides beneath.
Next moment, the vampire felt himself being gathered into the archfiend's grasp – good, he was beginning to doubt the demon's intentions.
"Again, I'm in your grip," Dracul idly commented, watching as the masked giant allowed Alucard atop his shoulder.
"I didn't try to grind your bones this time." The Forgotten One chuckled, depositing the elder onto his unoccupied shoulder.
The vampire grabbed onto one of the archfiend's curved horns and smiled. "That's true; you did reward me with two broken ribs after that." His dragon talisman made a reappearance, basking in all shades of red in his hand.
"You got better," the demon replied indulgently, striding through the knee-deep marsh towards the aperture.
No! the castle bellowed after them. You will stay here!
Ikay took a running start and sprinted towards the breach. Behind him, the blood gushed as legions of deformed humanoids tried to latch onto the demon's legs and hinder his progress.
Our Prince belongs only to us! An enraged howl came. He is required to be here! He is nothing without us!
Paying little attention to the castle's screams, Dracul crushed the scales stored inside his relic. A glorious sensation poured through his veins and he let billowing shadows around him swell and grow, gradually forming his true form's feathery hide, harboring an undying fire inside.
NO! The castle and its wicked children wailed in unison. WE WILL NEVER STOP HUNTING YOU!
The Forgotten One dived out of the aperture just as the transformation was finished. The Dragon's claws dug deep into the archfiend's armor, rocked him from side to side to gain momentum and tossed his lumbering form onto his back. The demon clutched the wet feathers and tugged them, pulling the beast away from the hellish walls. Soon, the trio was heading towards the vast expanses of forest in the distance as the anguished howls and cries of the castle behind them faded away into rainy obscurity.