Day 4: One Hell Of A Castle
He arrived in the little town around midnight. He was a bit surprised to see the streets filled with people. Especially since a vampire was eyeing the town. But, he felt an heir of trouble in the air. He saw a small crowd of people and went to investigate.
There was a group of people were gathered around, talking about the girl that was just taken by the vampire. D quickly cut in, asking if the girl was Sadie.
"Why yes sir, it was. Are you that hunter we heard about?" one gruff man rasped out.
D nodded.
"She was taken about 'bout an hour ago. You'd betta get goin' before it's too late. We like having her 'round. We'd be mighty sad if she was gone," another man replied.
D thanked the crowd for their information, and headed towards the castle. He recalled hearing Sadie say that the castle was about 10 miles from her house. He pushed his horse as fast as it could go.
Finally, after about two hours of hard riding, D came upon the castle. The castle was very big. Massive towers shot towards the sky. To any person, the castle was a menacing obstacle. To D, it was just another castle. But by now, he knew that what seemed normal for him, wasn't anymore.
He knew he'd be asking for death if he went in the front way, so, he went around back. He told his horse to go wait in the brush, and he headed around.
In the back, he found an open window. He felt that it was too easy to go through the window, but he went anyway. If anything were to try and attack him, he'd be ready and kill them, just like the rest. He climbed through the window and found himself in a strange, small room. All that was in the room was a small table and a chair. A little creeped out by the empty, yet full room, D quickly found the door, and exited.
He found himself lost in a maze of hallways. Everywhere he turned, there was either a dead end, or a new hallway. Now, he knew why it was so easy to get into the castle. Just because you penetrated the outside definitely didn't mean you got inside.
The halls were long and dark. Every now and then, a shadow monster would try to attack him. He'd had many a run in with these creatures; so, he was always ready for them. He wasn't quite prepared for the next monster, though.
Figuring another shadow figure was behind him; he whirled around, only to find nothing. When he turned back around, though, there was a giant monster, at least 10 feet tall, made of fire and rock, standing in front of him. He drew his sword and swung fiercely, but the attempt was nothing short of futile. The giant fire-stone monster let out a bit of a chuckle, and swiped at D with a large, paw-like hand.
D fell back, in obvious pain. The monster had landed a hot, painful blow to his abdomen, and then returned to the wall and fiery scones from which it had emerged.
D lay in intense pain. His insides felt as it they had been immersed in hot lava. He knew he needed to get up, no matter how much pain he was in. He pulled himself to his feet, and as he stood, the ground gave out and he felt himself falling. He would have been crushed against the ground it weren't for his impressive cloak slowing his fall. He hit the ground hard, but not as hard as he could have.
Once on the ground again, he lay there, catching his breath. He then stood up, very wobbly and very much in pain.
"Are you all right? You look pretty messed up."
"I'll…unh…be fine. Just…a..uh..minute is all I…need."
He kneeled back down, still reeling from both impacts. He would have rested a while longer, but he had a life to save. And it wasn't his own.
He pulled himself up and started down the long corridor.
"You really should rest. You can't save some if you aren't okay."
Still cradling his midsection, D wearily responded.
"I'm fine, I promised to help her and that's what I'm going to do."
It was almost five hours later before D dragged himself out of the corridor. The sun was up now. He looked around and saw nothing dangerous. He continued on his way.
After climbing several flights of stairs, he finally caught Sadie's scent. He followed her scent up to a room. The immense door had a giant look on it, which mocked D to just try and jimmy it.
He pulled out his smallest dagger, and after a couple of minutes, was able to get the lock open. He placed the defeated look on the ground, and went into the room.
He found Sadie sleeping in a lavishly decorated bed. He went over and gently nudged her. She woke up, and was delighted to see it was him. She jumped up and hugged him. He let out a slight grunt of pain.
"Oh D, I knew you'd come."
"We need to get out of here. Now!"
"Alright. Let me just find my shoes."
She dove under the bed to see if they were there. It took a while for her to find the shoes. While waiting, D noticed the time. It was after two p.m. He was a bit shocked. He didn't know he had taken so long.
"Sadie, please, let's go."
"I found them. Okay, let's go. I just got to get this one..ah. Ow! My ankle!"
D let out a sigh and went to where she had fallen. Not wanting to take any chances with her ankle, he scooped her up and made his way out of the room.
"You do this a lot, huh?" she asked, surprised by how effortlessly he picked her up, even being in pain.
They were almost to first of many flights of stairs, when D was thrown for yet another surprising, yet increasingly common loop.
"Ella! Ella! Here he is! Come and get him!"
D was baffled. Sadie, knowing about his injury, slapped his side, and he nearly dropped her.
"Ella! Hurry up! He may be hurt, but he's still strong! Hurry!!"
D tried to wipe his look of disbelief off his face and talk some kind of sense into this girl. But before he could, he felt a sharp crack of pain against the back of his head. He sullenly fell to the ground, realizing he'd been tricked and ambushed.
Trying to rise again, his efforts were stopped by another blow to the head. As he fell to the floor, quickly losing consciousness, he caught a glimpse of a long red cape as it swept around him. There was a familiar smell in the air and the cape swished past him. One he hadn't smelled in years.
"Great job, Sadie. I wasn't sure if you could pull this off, but you did. Bravo. You definitely deserve your promised reward."
"Oh yes!"
"And for you, my boy, your finally home again."
D looked up and peered through his hair and blurring vision and caught a glimpse of this Count Ella Rayon, and got the biggest shock yet. And he'd already had some pretty big shocks. There was only one word that was able to escape his lips.
"Mother?"
He arrived in the little town around midnight. He was a bit surprised to see the streets filled with people. Especially since a vampire was eyeing the town. But, he felt an heir of trouble in the air. He saw a small crowd of people and went to investigate.
There was a group of people were gathered around, talking about the girl that was just taken by the vampire. D quickly cut in, asking if the girl was Sadie.
"Why yes sir, it was. Are you that hunter we heard about?" one gruff man rasped out.
D nodded.
"She was taken about 'bout an hour ago. You'd betta get goin' before it's too late. We like having her 'round. We'd be mighty sad if she was gone," another man replied.
D thanked the crowd for their information, and headed towards the castle. He recalled hearing Sadie say that the castle was about 10 miles from her house. He pushed his horse as fast as it could go.
Finally, after about two hours of hard riding, D came upon the castle. The castle was very big. Massive towers shot towards the sky. To any person, the castle was a menacing obstacle. To D, it was just another castle. But by now, he knew that what seemed normal for him, wasn't anymore.
He knew he'd be asking for death if he went in the front way, so, he went around back. He told his horse to go wait in the brush, and he headed around.
In the back, he found an open window. He felt that it was too easy to go through the window, but he went anyway. If anything were to try and attack him, he'd be ready and kill them, just like the rest. He climbed through the window and found himself in a strange, small room. All that was in the room was a small table and a chair. A little creeped out by the empty, yet full room, D quickly found the door, and exited.
He found himself lost in a maze of hallways. Everywhere he turned, there was either a dead end, or a new hallway. Now, he knew why it was so easy to get into the castle. Just because you penetrated the outside definitely didn't mean you got inside.
The halls were long and dark. Every now and then, a shadow monster would try to attack him. He'd had many a run in with these creatures; so, he was always ready for them. He wasn't quite prepared for the next monster, though.
Figuring another shadow figure was behind him; he whirled around, only to find nothing. When he turned back around, though, there was a giant monster, at least 10 feet tall, made of fire and rock, standing in front of him. He drew his sword and swung fiercely, but the attempt was nothing short of futile. The giant fire-stone monster let out a bit of a chuckle, and swiped at D with a large, paw-like hand.
D fell back, in obvious pain. The monster had landed a hot, painful blow to his abdomen, and then returned to the wall and fiery scones from which it had emerged.
D lay in intense pain. His insides felt as it they had been immersed in hot lava. He knew he needed to get up, no matter how much pain he was in. He pulled himself to his feet, and as he stood, the ground gave out and he felt himself falling. He would have been crushed against the ground it weren't for his impressive cloak slowing his fall. He hit the ground hard, but not as hard as he could have.
Once on the ground again, he lay there, catching his breath. He then stood up, very wobbly and very much in pain.
"Are you all right? You look pretty messed up."
"I'll…unh…be fine. Just…a..uh..minute is all I…need."
He kneeled back down, still reeling from both impacts. He would have rested a while longer, but he had a life to save. And it wasn't his own.
He pulled himself up and started down the long corridor.
"You really should rest. You can't save some if you aren't okay."
Still cradling his midsection, D wearily responded.
"I'm fine, I promised to help her and that's what I'm going to do."
It was almost five hours later before D dragged himself out of the corridor. The sun was up now. He looked around and saw nothing dangerous. He continued on his way.
After climbing several flights of stairs, he finally caught Sadie's scent. He followed her scent up to a room. The immense door had a giant look on it, which mocked D to just try and jimmy it.
He pulled out his smallest dagger, and after a couple of minutes, was able to get the lock open. He placed the defeated look on the ground, and went into the room.
He found Sadie sleeping in a lavishly decorated bed. He went over and gently nudged her. She woke up, and was delighted to see it was him. She jumped up and hugged him. He let out a slight grunt of pain.
"Oh D, I knew you'd come."
"We need to get out of here. Now!"
"Alright. Let me just find my shoes."
She dove under the bed to see if they were there. It took a while for her to find the shoes. While waiting, D noticed the time. It was after two p.m. He was a bit shocked. He didn't know he had taken so long.
"Sadie, please, let's go."
"I found them. Okay, let's go. I just got to get this one..ah. Ow! My ankle!"
D let out a sigh and went to where she had fallen. Not wanting to take any chances with her ankle, he scooped her up and made his way out of the room.
"You do this a lot, huh?" she asked, surprised by how effortlessly he picked her up, even being in pain.
They were almost to first of many flights of stairs, when D was thrown for yet another surprising, yet increasingly common loop.
"Ella! Ella! Here he is! Come and get him!"
D was baffled. Sadie, knowing about his injury, slapped his side, and he nearly dropped her.
"Ella! Hurry up! He may be hurt, but he's still strong! Hurry!!"
D tried to wipe his look of disbelief off his face and talk some kind of sense into this girl. But before he could, he felt a sharp crack of pain against the back of his head. He sullenly fell to the ground, realizing he'd been tricked and ambushed.
Trying to rise again, his efforts were stopped by another blow to the head. As he fell to the floor, quickly losing consciousness, he caught a glimpse of a long red cape as it swept around him. There was a familiar smell in the air and the cape swished past him. One he hadn't smelled in years.
"Great job, Sadie. I wasn't sure if you could pull this off, but you did. Bravo. You definitely deserve your promised reward."
"Oh yes!"
"And for you, my boy, your finally home again."
D looked up and peered through his hair and blurring vision and caught a glimpse of this Count Ella Rayon, and got the biggest shock yet. And he'd already had some pretty big shocks. There was only one word that was able to escape his lips.
"Mother?"