Author's Note: Wow, I'm updating these things fast! That's probably because I only have 2 fics in the works right now, and I have my brilliant muses helping me out with this! As always, thanks to Dr. Lust, Celtic Aurora, and Elwyndra for their reviews! And now, here's chapter 11!

Eleven

The next morning, the group set out again for the top of the Death Peaks. When they reached the mountains, they were all on their guards. Van Helsing was the most uneasy, for he could feel the evil surrounding the place.

To the utter shock of the group, not one Caradoc or other creature blocked their path, and they reached the top of the mountain in next to no time.

"You said this was going to take a lot longer than this!" Shades exclaimed, looking at Melannen in disbelief.

"That's because it should have!" Melannen said, clearly quite unnerved by this, "The last time I climbed these peaks, almost six years ago, they were swarming with Caradocs!"

"Perhaps things have changed," Van Helsing suggested.

"Not likely," Melannen replied, "I was the one who banished Maximus to these peaks. If he somehow escaped, I would have known."

By now the four of them had reached Maximus' fortress. It was a tall, dark, foreboding castle, and the door was, if possible, even taller than the door of Castle Dracula.

"Well, that's enough for me," Carl said, starting to turn his horse around. Van Helsing shot his hand out and grabbed the reins from Carl, turning his horse around again.

"If we're going in," he said firmly to the cowardly friar, "we're going in together."

Before anyone could say a word more, the snow under the horses' feet shifted, and then suddenly the ground vanished from beneath their feet. The horses leapt to the side of the now gaping hole in the ground, causing their riders to fall from their saddles as they jumped. Van Helsing braced himself as he fell into the ditch, then his head struck something hard and the world went black.

His head throbbed, and his entire body hurt. Painfully, Van Helsing was brought back to full consciousness. Now, he opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings.

He was in a dark, dungeon-like room, contained inside a large cage. He noticed, with relief, that no one had yet been able to take his weapons away. He also noticed that the latch on the door was made of old, rusted metal. Now, he took out one of his Tojo blades and struck the latch with the whirring blade. The latch shattered, and the door swung open with a loud creak.

Melannen, Carl, and Shades were enclosed in similar cages, and they were all still unconscious. Van Helsing shattered the latch to Carl's cage first. Going to the friar's side, he shook him gently.

"Carl," the archangel hissed, "Carl, wake up!"

Carl stirred, and his eyes fluttered open. He groaned softly, rubbing his sore head where it has hit the ground. Van Helsing took out his other Tojo blade, reversed it in his hand so that the handle pointed to Carl, and pushed it into the friar's hand. "Get Shades," he commanded firmly, "I'll get Melannen."

Carl got up and went to free Shades from her captivity, and Gabriel went to free Melannen. Once everyone had been freed and woken, they gathered in the room's center to form a plan.

Van Helsing agreed to sneak into the main chambers and attack Maximus. Melannen would be there soon after, in case anything went wrong. Shades and Carl would keep the Caradocs occupied. Or rather, Shades would keep the Caradocs occupied while Carl cowered in the corner.

But even so, Van Helsing felt unease enter him as he left the room. This seemed like it was going to be easy.

Too easy.

Author's Note: Don't you just hate my evil cliffies?

Well, I hate them, so I would assume everyone else does as well. You really want to drag this out, don't you?

Hey! I take offense from that!

Rhiannon? Your "announcement"?

Ah yes, that. I do have some material for a sequel to this, so give me a review and tell me if you want to see a sequel or not. If no one wants a sequel, then I won't write one. If you do, I'll get on it ASAP!

My advice: Ask for the sequel. It is GOLDEN!

How would you know? You've never read it, and neither have I!

Exactly. That's why I want people to ask for the sequel. I want to read it!

All right, time for me to start pestering Rhiannon into writing the NEXT chapter for this!

Don't give me that evil grin of yours, Gabriel. It's unnerving. And I'll write it as soon as I get some material for it! Anyways, see you all next chapter!