New Generation
Chapter XIII
Seasons don't
fear the Reaper,
nor do the winds, the sun, or the rain-
"Don't Fear the Reaper"-Blue Oyster Cult
"Brian," Christian said with a tight grip on his whip, "open the door." Brian nodded and slowly pulled back the heavy wooden door. Lysander and Alcander remained at their cousin's side with weapons drawn, but on the other side they met the gentle glow of the sun in the Castle's courtyard.
The sun was bright, but in the west. "The sun will be gone in an hour, an hour and a half at most," Christian said. "We don't have much time."
"Then let us make…" started Lysander, before coming to an abrupt stop. Something had caught his eye. "What the hell? Cander take a look at this!"
"What is it, Sander?" Alcander asked, as he approached his brother.
"Look at this statue!" Lysander exclaimed, pointing to a statue that was on a small stone pedestal in the Castle's courtyard.
Alcander gazed at the statue. The statue was that of a male, who was dressed in very late 15th century clothing. While weathering had certainly taken a toll on its features, the face could still be identified. Whomever the man was he had long hair, eyes that appeared to stare deep into the soul, and a perfectly shaped nose and chin. Women from his time probably would have described his face as 'beautiful,' but Alcander was not interested in the face's beauty. To him, the face represented a close paternal relative…a VERY close personal relative. "Damn! The face in that statue looks a lot like Dad! …Hey! There's a name carved at its base."
"What does it say?" asked his brother.
"It says, 'Alucard Tepes.' Must've been an ancestor of ours."
"Christian," Lysander said, turning to his cousin; "don't you think the person in that statue looks a lot like Dad?"
Christian stared at the statue's features, even though he knew it was absolutely unnecessary. "Yes, he looks a little like Uncle Adrian," Christian told them, although he did not want to tell Lysander and Alcander the truth, "but we don't have time to worry about statues of the past. We have the possibility that we might reach Dracula's lair before the sun sets."
"Understood," Lysander replied.
"Same here," added Alcander.
"Shall we proceed to the fifth floor, Christian?" asked Brian.
"Yes, Brian; and Brian?"
"Yes?"
"Remember that on this floor we'll probably face Death itself. One of the most dangerous monsters of the netherworld."
Brian nodded and replied, "Yes, I understand."
"Good," then he gestured his eyes to everyone in the party. "May our faith in God be unwavering for we shall need it for this battle."
*
When Christian, Lysander, Alcander, and Brian reached the door to the Castle's fifth entrance Christian informed everyone to be on their guard. At Christian's request Brian opened the wooden door for the Castle's fifth entrance. On the other side of this door was some competition in the form of possessed corpses, with the foul odor of flesh slowly rotting away from their bodies. The corpses snarled at the party, while holding their rusted swords. Christian snapped his whip at the corpses, shattering their bones, while Lysander, Alcander, and Brian eliminated their bony heads with a quick slice of their swords. "I think that we may meet more opposition here than at any other level in the Castle," Christian said after the battle.
"Possibly, but that's not our only problem," informed Lysander. "Look at the hallway we have to enter. There's hardly any light. How are we going to see anything?"
"Yeah, not only can we not see the monsters, but we might not be able to see a room where Jessica may be held captive," added Alcander.
"Do we have anything we could make for a torch?" asked Brian.
"No," Christian responded. "Unless you want to give up your shirt, which would be suicide in a cold, damp, place like this."
"So what do we do then?" asked Lysander.
"We shall use the light of the world."
"Light of the world?" asked Brian. "What's that?"
Christian responded to Brian's question by removing a piece of the Host from its container. "The same light that helped us before. Please follow me, but keep your weapons at your side. The Eucharist may be very powerful, but it does not mean that we still cannot be attacked."
Christian held the Host above his head, and started to act like a priest by chanting the words of the ancient Easter prayer, to which Lysander, Alcander, and Brian added the response "thanks be to God." The Host that was held tightly in Christian's hands began to illuminate a light to guide the party through darkness. It appeared as though the light from the Host was granting them safe passage. At Christian's side Lysander, Alcander, and Brian watched Dracula's minions cower away at them due to the power of the Eucharist. Brian noticed one minion who appeared almost human, and very terrified, cowering in fear; and Brian thought he heard this minion say almost in agony, "It's Christ! It's Christ!"
Finally the party came across a door. Alcander wondered if the door possibly led to a room that housed Jessica or Death's lair. Once again at Christian's request, Brian pulled back on the door, opening it to reveal a circle of torches. Christian cautiously entered the room, still holding the Host high above his head. The room contained a slight chill that the torches did little to fight. Despite its chill, the room appeared empty. Alcander scanned the room hoping to find a sign of Jessica, but instead found nothing.
"Christian!" Brain shouted, as he pointed to a door. "Is that the door to Dracula's lair?"
"Yes," Christian began, as he returned the Host to its container; "and we are lucky that we…"
Christian was cut off by Death hastily descending from the ceiling. The monster had been hiding in the shadows. Hiding away from the power of the Eucharist that Christian decided to put away. With the Host away it attacked Christian, sending him to the floor. Death attempted to strike a powerful blow on Christian with its scythe, but Christian's party members repelled the beast by sprinkling it with holy water.
Death gritted its bony teeth together, and raised its heavy scythe for a quick swipe at Brian. Brian attempted to parry-and-dodge, but the force of Death's scythe against his sword caused him to drop the sword from his hands. Brian's arms began to shake when Death leaned his cruel face over his unarmed body. He believed that Death, literally, would soon be taking him.
Alcander decided that it was time he returned Brian's favor from when he and the rest of the party first entered the Castle. With every ounce of muscle in his body, Alcander delivered a powerful strike into Death's scythe arm; but his blow was not powerful enough to sever Death's arm, however, it was powerful enough to force Death to release the scythe.
Noticing the dropped scythe, Lysander attempted to secure it for his own advantages, but a quick snap of Death's hand returned the scythe back to its master. Death tossed the scythe into the air and moved its hands around like a circle. The blade remained at Death's chest, also twirling in a circle. Finally Death pushed its hands forward and the blade attacked the party on its own. Christian raised a crucifix, but the scythe's blade cut the holy object in two, and almost severed Christian's hand.
"Holy shit!" screeched Christian, as he threw the remains of the crucifix away. The party fell back against the Castle wall, and Christian checked his hand to make sure all his fingers were still intact.
"What are we going to do?" exclaimed a frightened Brian. "That scythe has us trapped!"
"Calm down Brian," replied Lysander. "If we lose our train of thought in this Castle we'll never leave this place alive."
"Oh my God, the scythe's coming back!" Alcander shouted.
Brian rotated his eyes to watch the death blade slowly creep upon him. Sweat poured from his forehead, but he uttered no cry, for he was too scared to do so; but his instincts told him to ready his sword as a possible defense to Death's blade.
Christian took notice of what Brian was doing and told his cousins, "Sander! Cander! Use your swords as a shield against Death's blade. Perhaps it will deflect it."
Lysander and Alcander followed their cousin's request, and raised their blades as a shield. When Death's scythe connected with Lysander, Alcander, and Brian's swords it delivered such a powerful blow that it sent the three leaning further into the wall. Sweat began to drip into their eyes, burning them, but with their lives on the line they simply tried to blink the pain away.
Although their swords were not enough to reflect the scythe they were powerful enough to slow it down. Christian, who was capable of delivering a strong attack, cracked his whip into the scythe's blade. The blow was powerful enough to knock the scythe back, and free Lysander, Alcander, and Brian from its wrath.
"What?!" exclaimed Death, unable to believe that Christian's blow caused him to lose control of the scythe. This momentary distraction allowed Christian the opportunity to throw an entire bottle of holy water at Death. The monster screeched when its body came in contact with some of the blessed water that sizzled his robes. With its weapon out of reach, Christian removed a piece of the Host and charged at the monster, stamping the Host against the monster's forehead. Death shrieked as the Host burned its bones like acid. Finally, Death succumbed to the point where Christian had the opportunity to place the Host into its mouth. The power of the Eucharist reduced the once might beast known as Death to a pile of sulfurous ashes.
Christian breathed a sigh of relief before facing everyone in his party. "Is everyone all right?"
"Yes," they replied unanimously, while pouring water into their eyes to remove the burn brought by their own sweat.
"Good. I'm glad nobody was hurt, because our next battle is with the monster himself. But before we challenge Vlad Tepes, I want to say an intercessory prayer to St. Michael. Please say the prayer with me." Everyone in the party nodded as Christian led them in prayer. After the prayer concluded they closed with the Sign of the Cross. Christian turned to Brian and said, "Brian, open the final door please."
Brian nodded, and slowly pulled back on the door to Dracula's lair. The door led to a long flight of stairs, but there was still some light that came through the windows. Unfortunately, it was moonlight. "Everyone," began Christian, "may your faith not waver in this battle, because you're facing Dracula when he's at his strongest."
