Disclaimer: I do not own anyone of "Flint: The Time Detective," and the monsters are mostly borrowed from the way beyond cool Playstation game "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night." I do not own the Goo Goo Dolls "Long Way Down." I own the castle, the monsters, and the count. Sorry this took so dang long, but college interfered with my free time. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Bring Out the Undead
~ Castle of Count Ezekeil ~
Merlock peered about the castle as he entered. The front door had been unlocked, no guards, nothing, just empty and stale air. It was like a tomb, no worse. The smell was suffocatingly sweetened with mold, dead flowers, and rot. He wrinkled his pale blue nose a bit, looking at the empty foyer. There were no sign of struggle, no bones of helpless victims strewn about as he'd assumed this Ezekeil to have designs towards. It was simple entrance hall, find stain glass windows, all be it a bit dusty, worn red carpeting and a few scrapes on the alabaster walls. Nothing scary, nothing unusual….nothing interesting or helpful either.
Getalong was perched on his slim shoulder, shaking a little. The quiet must have been getting to her. He was glad he didn't have to wear his hood anymore, it was obscuring his hearing and it was making him sweat all over. He gave her a pat to assure her that they'd be just fine, but she nearly jumped ten feet in the air.
"Calm down….we haven't even seen anything but bad housekeeping. I admit that's a frightful shame, but not anything to be hysterical over. I think we'll be all right." He told her quietly.
She got back on his shoulder, still shaking. "That's what they say in horror movies right before the axe killer meanie appears behind you and turns you in to steak tar-tar." She shivered. He blinked a bit, shivering himself at the terrible image, then chuckled. "You have been watching Tony's collection again, haven't you?" he teased. She huffed a bit, but said nothing.
"I thought so. Don't worry, see," he said pointing ahead," there's the door to the rest of the castle. We're almost home free." He chirped, his steps carefree.
She started to nod when creak filled their ears. Merlock stopped in place, sweating a little, he turned his head a bit, seeing nothing, then in front of him, still nothing.
Oh here you are, there's nothing left to say….
You're not supposed to be that way….
Did they push you out? Did they throw you away?
He sighed in relief shaking his head at his own silliness. "Honestly, you'd think our host could do better than that…." He uttered, moving again. The creak came again, followed by several loud cracks, the floor sinking under his feet. He looked down as it shattered beneath him, the dark abyss his last sight before he just whimpered," Why me? AHHHHHHHH!!!!"
~ Dungeons ~
Merlock groaned a bit, looking up at the hole blandly. He was sore all over from the fall, but all right. His healing factor saved his neck. Then he looked at his surroundings, the dungeons, dank, nasty smelling, and wet. Getalong was a few feet away, watching him carefully and worried. "You ok, Merlock?" she asked.
He groaned as he stood up, brushing himself off of the cobwebs and dirt he'd barreled through not of his will. "Peachy….yuck….would it kill the guy to get a housekeeper….this is disgusting. I gather it gets worse from here on in…." he muttered, his mind worrying himself sicker than the smell could make him.
"HEY! SOMEBODY OUT THERE! HEY!" a loud woman's voice yelled. Merlock's ears twitched, it was terrible sounding, terribly familiar. He ran towards it anyway, peering inside cell after bone and rot and rat filled cell. He finally reached the end of the line, a staircase in view. He smiled a bit when the sound blasted out from his left "HEY! SOMEBODY GET US THE HECK OUT'A HERE!" it screamed. He fell over from it, his senses reeling with pain. He knew who it was now, even before he sat up rubbing his poor ears.
"Petra Fina, I might have known that was your foul shriek." He muttered. The object of his ruin was right behind a heavily locked cell. Dino and Mite sitting a ways off, depressed with nothing to do but look at the bread and water before them. Merlock didn't feel sorry for them, not just for the fact their escape cost him his days with Sara, but the fact they existed only to upset the balance of time.
"Well, if isn't the little blue Romeo loser. If I'd known it was you who got in here, I'd have screamed louder when you passed." She hissed.
"You can scream louder? Woe to the world you know how to speak, you old bag!" he said tersely. She fumed at that, watching him get up and looking ready to rip his hair out all at once. "But anyway, not that I sincerely care what your latest botched scheme was, why are you still here?" he added.
Petra looked a bit miffed, and upset. "We came to this town because there was a legend about some family jewels in this castle, hidden in the highest tower, only the legend was fake, we found some guy in a metal mask sleeping in a coffin. From bad to worse, that tasteless lout had his freaks of nature chase us around the castle then finally caught us and was about to feed us to one of his larger monsters. I made an absent comment about his looks and he threw us in here instead. And this is where we have been ever since." She explained over dramatically.
Dino and Mite nodded. "He was real polite when we woke him up really, but Petra didn't notice he was up like we did and started picking his pockets. Then he sort'a went nuts on us…." Dino stated loosely, then yelped as Petra rammed her boot in his face and back.
"WHO ASKED YOU, PEA BRAIN!" she yelled. She looked at Mite angrily for second, as if she thought he'd say something too, but he just cringed and went back to picking at his bread. Then she turned to Merlock, who just stood gawking at them. They were still a trio of morons, thinking they could get easy scores of fortune and fame by pilfering the past. Now they were finally behind bars, where they belonged. It seemed fitting to him, justice served. They would be here forever, he hoped. They had only snagged Petra and her goons one time and thanks to the Dark Lord, she escaped and they nearly lost Dr. Goodman.
This time, there was no Dark Lord, no fancy devices, and no brilliant plans against them. Petra was at last in a prison where she belonged for her evil ways. He had a to smile a bit, turning away from them and go up the stairs.
"Hey wait! You can't just leave us in this sewer! You're supposed to be a good guy….we're victims here." She yowled. He stopped on the first step, looking back at her with his lovely garnet eyes. Petra was smiling sweetly, no seductively, looking hopeful. "Really…." He said slowly, smirking.
Touch me now and I don't care!
When you take me I'm not there!
Almost human, but I'll never be the same….
She nodded and made a seductively cute pouty expression. "If you let us out, I'll make it worth your while, Merlock. Come on, what does that little Sara have that my chest doesn't have ten times over?" she said patting her chest with emphasis, her voice lousing her act up. It wasn't working either way, but he smiled and walked up to the bars and looked her dead in the eyes.
"You're right Petra," he said sweetly, her face lighting up," You do look good to me….behind bars. Ta-ta." Enjoying the horrified expression on her face for a moment, he soon turned and walked up the stairs, throwing one last comment at her. "I hope the monsters choke you reallllll slow. This is justice, you have at last been defeated for good." He laughed, working his way up the dark stairway as Petra started yelling from below.
"You'll regret that, you….little blue fairy!! Dino! Mite! We have to get out of here now! I will not be snubbed by some prissy little freak of nature!" she screamed, but he paid it no more mind. He had his friends to save, he had Sara, the angel of thousand angels to save. He had to hurry, the clock was already ticking away for them all.
~ The Dining Hall ~
Merlock was pinching his nose extremely hard now. The smell was horrendous. It was like road-kill and vomit all boiled to a rancid mixture and soaked into the whole area. He nearly threw up a few times when he entered the way to the dining room. A map had been left at the top of the stairs for him, making him pale to almost white at its size. It was even bigger than the castle looked, underground caverns, secret chambers, pits, and so forth. He was happy at least that it was labeled, so he knew what he was walking into, but not to whom.
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own….
Long way down, I don't want to live in here alone….
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own….
It was enough to have the map, but he could have done without the terrible stench of rotting meat and filth. It was a veritable slaughterhouse odor. He almost shivered in his stomach to consider how the kitchen smelled. 'Concentrate….find everyone and confront the master of this castle. That's all, make sure they are all safe.' He thought, vaguely aware of poor Getalong heaving inside his cloak.
The hallway was, as the foyer was, completely vacant of life, but it was in better shape. There was a lot of red and black and dark blues in the carpets, windows and tapestry. Very fancy, it was a recapping of the Genesis story, done expertly. As he went on, the story got darker and further from the truth, demons dancing on graves, vampires soaring through the night sky after fresh victims, werewolves galore, and zombies on the loose.
He found it disturbing that such horrific scenes were displayed in a hall that lead to where people ate. 'They probably puked up everything on the way, which might explain the smell in here, so they'd have room for what's no the table. Sick host I have….sick mind, yuck.' He thought, a rancid taste in his mouth.
It became a sweet taste when he saw one in particular, one that was rather boisterous, in his eyes. It was a vampire sucking the blood of a beautiful naked woman. They looked like they were having sex too, but he couldn't tell. This one was a bit worn and faded, but he could tell she was nude at least. He felt guilty looking at it, but something about it was familiar. He took a few steps and touched the fabric looking up.
Then the image of the vampire became spectral and jumped in his face snarling. He jumped back in fright, feeling the blood of its fangs on his face, leaking in his mouth. He blinked, and the image was gone, the taste in his mouth soothing him.
Merlock quickly shook his head and spit the stuff out. "No, I won't think that, I won't. It was a simple illusion, nothing more. Parlor tricks." He let out heavily.
Getalong was shivering. "I don't think illusions rip fabric." She said timidly. He looked to where she was, the cloak was ripped up on the left side, bloody stained sunk into the one lovely fabric. He tossed it off himself, shaking out his disbelief.
"This is….unreal. There are ghosts in this place? Who the hell is this weirdo?" he gasped. As if in answer, a terrible laugh rang out through the halls, making his half-breed blood grow cold. It passed by him like a dead breeze, unfeeling and evil. Then came a new noise, weeping, a girl crying.
He walked slowly down the halls again, the noise growing, as was his concern. Who would be inside this asylum without good reason, who would be that foolish?
"Help me…please." The female's voice wept, Merlock's heart clenching as it filtered through his mind, his legs moving faster and faster. He finally could see her, he was right in his mind. It was Sara, safe and sound and only a jog away. "SARA! It's Merlock, I'm here, don't cry!" he called.
I never put you down, I never pushed you away….
You're not supposed to be that way!
And anything you want, there's nothing I could say!
She didn't acknowledge him, only went on crying in place, hunched over in a very lovely dress. The count must have provided it, but that didn't matter. She was there, he could get her to safety first. He ran to embrace her, to tell her he wouldn't let her be harmed, that it would be all right.
Or he would have if Sara's form passed through his life air, and Merlock rammed smack into the dining room door. "Oh….man….ow…..that'll leave a mark." he muttered all muffled as he slid down the door. He flipped himself over to look at Sara, his heart breaking to see she was only an illusion, a projection used to bait him. She faded out into nothing, along with his hopes of being with her sooner. He sighed heavily, angry at the host for teasing him like this.
Is there anything to feel?
Is it pain that makes you real?
Cut me off before it kills me!
"That was a lousy thing to do….I think he likes to tease me, to see me squirm. He best not hurt my beloved Sara, or there will be blood on my hands. No one hurts my lovely angel. No one toys with my emotions! DO YOU HEAR ME EZEKEIL! NO ONE! YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU EVER LOOKED AT MY LOVE!" he yelled, nearly ripping the door off the hinges as he stormed in.
"HELP! NO! I TASTE AWFUL! TRUST ME, I'M BRUSSEL SPROUTS ALL OVER! PLEASE!" a male voice was yelling.
Merlock looked up, not caring how long the dining room was, but what was on the table. "Tony?" he mumbled.
There was Sara's fraternal twin, Tony Goodman, still in the same yellow shirt which fit him better and blue jeans and sneakers, strapped to the table with severed body parts strew around and over him, the guests all reaching for him. Merlock nearly threw up when he saw they were not people, they weren't even alive. They were zombies, maybe ten or twelve of them, all dressed in corroded and slime-ridden clothing, some with missing fingers, or arms. One was flopped on the table, crawling towards Tony's legs with a hungry, pitiful moan, its intestines leaving a slick trail of bile and slick excrement behind it. Most of them had eye sockets hanging out of their head, brains exposed and leaking out bluish juices. All undead, all hungry….for Tony's flesh.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Merlock yelled, pulling out his wand swiftly in his charge. The zombies were terribly slow in turning their heads, a few of their necks cracking as they did so, a head or two falling on the table with gnashing teeth and wet cracks. 'I can't let them bite him, he'll become one of them. Sara would never forgive me….hell, I wouldn't forgive me.' He thought, letting his wand cast flames up the zombies closest to him.
They wailed instantly, but still they came, on fire and reaching for Merlock and Tony. Merlock simply leapt over them and onto the table, kicking the heads away and burning the others. They stopped a few moments, flaming like crazy, then started to move again, some crawling on the table like toddlers, vomiting and filthy ones. Merlock groaned.
He had seen enough monster movies in his spare time, just for fun, to know a shot to the head killed a zombie, but he didn't have a gun nor did he like them. 'Sure could use one though….' He thought, feeling sick as more undead fiends crawled up. Merlock just shook his head free from the overwhelming sick smell and used his dagger to cut Tony free, leaping off with the young man as the zombies closed in on them.
They landed a ways off, but the zombies saw them and were all slowly and messily crawling back off the table. The leg-less ones were slowly dragging themselves along, moaning with pitiful hunger and drooling, lipless faces. The gray and rotting group kept coming, rivulets of drool roping down from their hungry jaws, rotten fingers with exposed sinew and maggot festered bone reaching greedily for their flesh.
Merlock looked around as he set Tony down, frowning with seeing the only other way out was behind the zombies, the door he'd come through was gone. He looked to the undead again and past, looking for another weapon. There were only so many brains he could impale with his wand, they'd be bitten and eaten alive for sure. Then something glinted in his sights, one of the zombies not too far off. It had armor on, possibly a knight or warrior who thought he could best the count and failed. He had a sword hanging loosely on his weathered, grimy hips, a Damascus. Merlock grinned a bit, then looked to Getalong floating above them. "I need you to distract the other zombies….make them chase you….or reach. One of them has a sword. Can you do it Getalong?" he called to her.
"Alrighty, Merlock!" she said, still scared, but she didn't want to see the boys eaten. Swift and sure, Getalong floated over the rotting heads of the undead. They stopped and reached for her vainly, not having the brains to jump up. Merlock waited a few moments until she got the zombies walking in slow and clumsy circles, the armored one's leg breaking off at the groin and sending it to the floor with messy wet thud.
Merlock sprinted from him with his wand, ramming the end through its skull. He didn't bother to watch its death spasm or wipe the gush off his arm. He tore the sword belt off the thing and rushed away, feeling the cold dead fingers of the others a breath away from his throat as he did.
He stopped, the smell of blood giving him a rush in his system. He couldn't see Tony anymore, not Getalong, he could only see the blood on him, the smell was driving him crazy. He growled a little and swung around with the blade, lopping of four heads in the graceful movement. The bodies let geysers of flesh, bone and blood rain upon him and the others. "You will not hurt anyone anymore! HAH!" he shouted, attacking the rest.
Windstorms of blood flew as he beheaded the other creatures, none backing off. They only wanted a meal, a live and breathing, bleeding meal, but Merlock wouldn't allow it. He was thankful zombies were so naturally stupid and single-minded. It made defeating them simple. 'Oh Sara, for you….I will be your knight. I will rescue you, my love.' His mind said valiantly, slicing the final decayed head off so hard it sailed right into the wall and splattered.
He grinned at his triumph, putting the belt on swiftly and sheathing the blade. "Try and eat my friends, hah, I don't think so. Never will a friend of Merlock Holmes be fast food." He countered to his unseen host.
"Perhaps….but that's just one flesh sack you saved, my boy….you still have a few to go." A soft voice let out, then let out a ghastly laugh. Merlock stiffened and whirled to it, to a shadowy expanse in a corner. He could see the outline of a tall man there, long hair blowing beautifully in the breeze, and a cape. "Dark Lord?" Merlock gasped. It couldn't be him, they called a truce, and the Dark Lord was a child now in the World of Dread.
"No, I am not that child, my boy. I am Count Ezekeil, the master of this castle, and your esteemed host for this endless night of merriment." The man chuckled softly.
"Well I'm not having any fun and I doubt Sara and the others are either. Why are you doing this? Because Petra came here?" Merlock demanded, ready to pull his blade out to back up his wand any second.
"No need for violence. You looked like you were having a lot of fun killing my dregs. The excitement was in your blood, your hormones were on fire for it. It must have been exhilarating for you, little boy, not yet a man for you have not tasted a long enough sup of virgin blood." he chuckled softly, shifting in the darkness.
He paused a moment, rubbing his chin as if deep in thought. "Like dear Sara, you tasted a little that one time, your true self was screaming for more….you wanted to tear her clothes off and ravage her blood and body." He added huskily, and Merlock could tell he was smirking from the smugness in his voice
Merlock reddened with embarrassment and anger. This fiend had been spying on him for a long time to know that. "How dare you suggest such a thing. I would never hurt my angel! I wouldn't rape her either! You're depraved, Ezekeil!" Merlock shot back, only to get that bothersome chuckle again.
"I know….you're so much like Madeline. So sweet and gentle, a true human heart….but your taste in females leads to be desired. I can't believe you bother looking at this girl but, I have spoken enough," he uttered and tossed a shiny silver thing at Merlock.
"You can send your friend home now, and that will take you to the next part of your journey, but you best hurry, or my appetite might get the best of me, with dear little Sara….beside me." Ezekeil laughed.
Merlock grabbed it as he rushed at the shadows, sending his flames from his wand forth, but the man was gone, leaving Merlock with a silver key with a werewolf's head on it. He frowned a bit, wondering where it would take him, then looked to Tony and Getalong, who were still stunned from Merlock's sudden burst of rage.
Merlock was still angry he'd been accused of having such terrible and filthy thoughts about Sara. True, he wanted to sleep with her when they were properly wed, but to say he'd ravage her like a whore was insulting. Though there was a little truth in it, he had wanted blood. He didn't know why he did now of all times. He'd never had the urge before, why now?
He let the thoughts drift as he approached Tony and Getalong, offering small smile. The door he'd come through had reappeared, perhaps only another cheap illusion to frustrated him once more. "You ok?" he asked.
Tony nodded, rubbing his arms a bit. "Getalong, you lead Tony back to the entrance, and leave him n the garden" Merlock said, showing her the map for a few minutes," Get to my Time Scooter and fly it into the front garden. Just wait for the others, unless some things come outside. If they do, get as high as you can above it….no one is going to die but these terrible creatures."
"Ok, Merlock….just try and calm down a little, You're scaring us." She commented. Merlock didn't get her drift, or rather didn't want to. This wasn't Petra Fina and her morons, this was blood sucking full bred vampire and real monsters that were our for blood and flesh. He couldn't be gentleman vampire with them. They simply wanted to kill, not plan world domination like fools.
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own!
Long way down, I don't want to live in here alone!
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own!
He watched the pair leave, then turned to the new door and went through to be put inside a stone cavern. He was alarmed slightly, but then again Ezekeil seemed to be good at illusions and eccentricity. He tapped a wall and found it solid. "No wonder he's so hyper about this….game of his. He must loose a lot of guests in this insane asylum." Merlock muttered, and walked on, his boots tap-tap tapping and echoing throughout the dimly lit cavern.
~
After an hour, Merlock heard wet footsteps behind him. He frowned deeply, figuring it was a straggler zombie he might have missed. He turned around with an angry expression sword in hand. His eyes widened, as a fireball was raging at his head. Merlock dove down skinning his knee good as the ball of flame flew by, followed by a few more from different angles.
He got up in a crouch, his garnet eyes adjusting and scanning the area. The wet noises got closer, and soon took shape. Merlock almost swallowed his tongue as a bright red, a blue, and rancid purple fish-man stepped wetly into view. The smell on them was of dead fish and chum, but not nearly as bad as the zombies.
They lacked necks, just a trio of hulking giant fish-men with muscular, slimy bodies, gills where the ears would have been on a normal person. They also had claws on their webbed hands and feet, scraping at the stone floor as their wet digits slimed across the floor. Merlock just stared at them, the ever breathing and belching things at least a few feet away now. One opened its mouth and the fireballs from before erupted, but went right over his head. These things weren't smart either, but were moving faster than the zombies. Merlock managed to get up, keeping low, but yet again, he was shocked when the blue one jumped at him, ramming into his chest, its claws digging into his chest as they slid several feet.
He kicked it in the gills and it screeched, pulling its terrible digits out long enough for Merlock to right himself. He cut the thing in half at the waist, then jumped back with a sickened expression as the thing's flesh melted off the bone, only leaving a sizzling skeleton behind. The smell wasn't so bad anymore from the fish, now Merlock stunk to high heaven. Some more fireballs swished past him, the remaining two now seven. And still more were coming. "Too many….they're stalling me, I must be close." He muttered to himself, slashing at the group hard before sprinting down the abyssal cavern. At least four wailed and melted with their fallen brother, keeping the others from moving long enough for Merlock to outrun them.
~ Door of the Wolf ~
Merlock kept swishing his clothed body around in the slim underground river, the smell nearly dead and his wounds were almost healed. The fish-men seemed to lose interest in perusing him once he went into a new and deeper section of the caverns. It was like an underground spring, cold and wet. He trekked out of it, dripping wet, but content he didn't smell fowl anymore.
He squeezed out what he could, then picked up his sword and wand from the ground, putting them back on his belt. He'd only stopped to clean up when he saw the door with the werewolf knocker and keyhole. If Sara were behind this door, he wanted at least for her to be happy, not sickened. Merlock too a deep breath as he looked at the silver adorned door, then slipped the key into the lock.
It moved easily, clicking softly. The door opened on its own with a soft groan, the sound of water dripping gently filling his ears. He stepped inside, forgetting the key and took the large room in. It was large cavern a door a ways off with a slightly broken up staircase.
As he got in further, soft blue flames sprang to life in the walls by themselves, turning the shadows into an eerie, pale blue sight. There was a large and dark lake that the staircase vanishes into. On his side, the stair case was gone, only withered pillars of ancient stone littered in a few place, some barely above the water while others towered strongly.
Then there was the door, the shape of a serpent carved on it and a keyhole, just like the wolf door, and leaned up against, tied and bruised, was Dr. Goodman. Merlock took a step forward, the hurt man muffling out cries for help. Merlock looked back a bit and frowned. The door of the wolf was a wall like any other. He pounded on it to be sure, bruising his knuckles.
'So these are not simply cheap illusions….it is real magic. Well, either way, I'll have to escort Dr. Goodman out myself. I can't send him through that tunnel if it ever opens up again. He'll be torn apart by those smelly creatures….' He thought angrily. Ezekeil was going too far with this game, he'd waste a lot of time taking each person out then coming back to get the others. Merlock sighed a bit, he'd just have to save them all the faster.
Her turned about again and leapt onto one of the higher pillars, Goodman's cries becoming all the more frantic, his eyes bulging out of his messy haired head. Merlock didn't quite understand why until he reached the next pillar, and the room quaked, the water rippling dangerously with it. He stopped on that pillar, looking around. There was no other way in or out except the door Dr. Goodman was leaned against.
The rumbling came again, this time the water rippling more violently, almost bubbling. He looked to it, ignoring the good doctor's frantic cries. He could see something beneath the surface, something like long blonde hair snaking about just below the surface. There were dark shapes under it as well, golden brown color and salmon colors just below them. It was all quite large too, larger than any normal sea creature. He watched until the water vomited up into his face, make him blind for a moment with the cold stinging.
He heard a great growling and a gnashing noises, a soft yell of demand behind it, a woman's voice. He rubbed his eyes frantically, the growling terribly close. Merlock finally freed his eyes of the blindness and sorely wished he hadn't. It was giant sea beast, a naked woman atop a trio of wolf heads for her lower torso. He was faintly glad the head were so bristled and hairy or he'd have been embarrassed. The rest of it was almost like a giant octopus, the four tentacles alive with terrible salmon colored snake-heads. She didn't smell like the fish-men, but she was looking quite venomously at him, all of her was. All of it towered before him, blocking him from Dr. Goodman and the door.
'The Scylla….but that's a Greek legend, she's not real….what am I saying, she's right in front of me giving me the death look. I wouldn't put anything past that beastly host of mine. He probably made her himself.' He thought, taking a step back. Her beautiful face twisted with rage, flinging her bare arm out in his direction. "KILL THE MAN CHILD!" she said in a screeching voice. It nearly made his ears bleed, but her voice made the snake head rear up, all four of them diving at him with gaping endless jaws.
He jumped up as his pillar burst apart as they struck where he was standing, sending a cyclone of flames from his wand into one straggling head. It howled and rear back into the water, coming up terribly singed and enraged. He sent more flames to the others and they took it and dove to stop the burning. He was only making them angry, but it helped to make them unfocused. They were too angry to think, if they thought at all. All they did was dive at him and his ever-shrinking platforms. One always stayed behind, not realizing the target was elsewhere.
He waited a few times before simply just jumping up, not away, three heads pulling back and one staying behind. It jerked a bit as Merlock landed on its head ramming his sword through its throat. It gagged and let out a cascade of blood into the once cool clear water. Merlock stayed where he was, twisting it a bit and smiled when he saw the other three were diving again, ignoring the fact one of their own was still there.
He waited until they were seconds away to yank his blade free and leap over them, letting them stupidly obliterate their helpless appendage. He quickly slid down each of their backs at a time, setting fire to the parts that were forced to stay above the water, and slitting open as much of their long bodies as he could as he raced to the enraged human part.
I never put you down, I never pushed you away!
Take another piece of me!
Give my mind a new disease!
And the black and white world never fades to gray!
Merlock leapt over the snarling wolf heads and tossed his dagger into the woman's naked chest, piercing her dark heart, dark blood spilling across her bared chest and golden tresses. "I won't let you abuse humans anymore, Ezekeil, not you or your monsters. I won't let anyone hurt my friends for some stupid mind game. Do you hear me! Merlock Holmes is not your pawn! I will rescue my darling Sara and her family. I will always strive for eternity for her and our love!" he shouted proudly, setting fire to the howling wolf heads.
He leapt off the snake bodies again as they wriggled wildly with pain, dark blood filling the cool lake till it was black as pitch. The human part slumped dead, the rest of the creature collapsing in a heavy and crunching heap of torrid flesh and bone upon the stone steps. It slid down slowly into the endless black abyss of the lake.
Merlock simply reclaimed his dagger and jumped behind the vanishing creature, to cut the still frightened Dr. Goodman free. He pulled off the gag quickly and started to cut the bonds.
"Oh Merlock, you wouldn't believe how long I've been freezing in here with that thing staring at me like the blue plate special. I mean honestly, I'm handsome and all, but I'm not that appetizing. I don't know why monsters and evil Time Shifters always want to eat me, it's beyond me. Just the other day I was saying to Flint how much he eats and he nearly ate my hand when he wasn't looking. I nearly had a heart att…..Mppphhh!" he was babbling frantically, and Merlock regretted taking the gag off, so he shoved it back on.
"Let me get this first, Dr. Goodman, we'll all be a lot happier." Merlock uttered, Dr. Goodman saying something about Merlock being rude, then stopped and slumped his head over in defeat.
~ The Lair of Wyrm ~
"Thanks a lot, Merlock. I was real cold and scared with that weird creature. She said she'd eat me if I screamed again. Hence the gag, I guess someone didn't want me dead so soon. Eh, heh, heh…." Dr. Goodman proclaimed evenly, still a bit skittish and nervous.
"Yeah, I gathered she wasn't the type you'd be interested in. Speaking of which, have you seen Ms. Grey or Flint maybe?" Merlock asked, checking the older man for wounds. He had none, which was good, but his chatterbox was starting to get to him. The door behind them had vanished the moment they went through it, so Merlock couldn't send him to the garden quite as easily as Tony. DR. Goodman was pleased Tony was all right, but still, the others were still missing and hidden within the strange castle of terror.
"I blacked out when those weird were wolves and fish people landed in the house. They hit me right in the back of the head the moment I saw their reflections on the computer screen. Jillian screamed right before I blacked out. I didn't hear or see anything else. I just woke up in there with that….fish…snake, eh wolf lady….?" he was saying.
"Scylla…." Merlock corrected eloquently. "Whatever. I'm sorry I can't help you, but that's all I know. At least Tony is safe and sound, now we only have Jillian, Flint, Rocky, Bindi, and Sara to rescue."
"Yeah, it has to be us cause I can't send you to the garden to be safe with Tony and Getalong. Just try not to wander off or touch anything. This whole place is after us….and we have to be swift or the others will die…I nearly didn't save Tony. He was almost a live meal." Merlock replied painfully.
"Yeah….you told me. So where to?" he asked.
"Probably keep going down this tunnel until we reach the next room of joy-." Merlock commented sarcastically, already walking away. "Hey, hey, hey! Wait for me, don't leave me alone in this place…."Dr. Goodman balked, running after the determined young dhampire.
Merlock nodded faintly, not really listening to the man. His only concern was Sara right now, not Bindi, or Jillian, or even Flint. Sara was with Count Ezekeil, a vampire, the man torturing her family, friends and Merlock. Who knew what that monster was doing to hurt her.
'Ezekeil so much as breaths on her wrong, I will show him what it means to mess with the object of my affection. I'm coming, my beloved angel of the night. I will rescue you and then I'll spoil you rotten with affection….I swear it. I won't let harm come to you, never!' he thought strongly, clutching his pendant tightly.
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own!
Long way down, I don't want to live in here alone!
Long way down, I don't think I'll make it on my own….
"On my mother's soul….I will save you, Sara. You can always depend on me….my angel." He whispered to it, wishing with all his might that Sara heard him. He had to succeed, or they would be no point in living without Sara as a part of his life.
To be Continued….
