New Generation
Chapter XV
The dragon is dead!-
"Killing the Dragon"(Live)-Ronnie James Dio
Dracula's severed head bounced off the Castle floor leaving behind a trail of its vampiric blood. Disgusted by the sight of a severed head rolling on the floor, Brian turned away and vomited. The rest of the party remained calm until they noticed that the lips of Vlad the Impaler's were still moving, even after his head was severed. Disgusted at the sight, Christian, Lysander, and Alcander turned away and vomited; the three would not turn around until they were certain that Dracula's lips could move no more.
With its master dead Castle Dracula could no longer survive, and the walls of the Castle began to rumble like an earthquake. The party members were still trying to regain their composure after vomiting, but the rumble that was around them increased their awareness that they were in trouble.
"What's going on?" Brian asked, still in a weakened state.
"The Castle's beginning to crumble," Christian responded, though he too was still weak after vomiting. His first instinct was to escape the Castle with his companions, but his memory informed him that Dracula always seemed to return from wicked men finding his body parts. Praying that such an event would never happen again, Christian grabbed a pair of torches from the wall and placed them over Dracula's head and severed corpse. With Dracula's remains slowly becoming engulfed in the fire, Christian turned to his fellow party members and said, "We've got to get out of here now!"
"Hold it!" exclaimed Alcander, who along with the rest of the party members had recovered from vomiting. "Nobody's going anywhere! Jessica's still somewhere inside Castle!"
"Alcander, we checked every room! She's not here!" replied his older brother, while the rumbling continued to grow.
"Damn it Sander, you don't know that! One of Dracula's minions may have hidden her somewhere else!"
"Well, if they did then perhaps we'll see her on the way down!" responded Christian.
"For God's sake isn't anyone listening…" but Alcander's statement was cut short when he lost his balance due to the tremors on the Castle floor.
"Shit!" Christian exclaimed, as he helped Alcander back to his feet. "The floors are beginning to break away, we have to move now!"
Everyone in the party nodded. Everyone accept Alcander. "Isn't anyone listening to me?! Jessica is still somewhere inside the Castle!"
"Look Cander," began Christian, "we don't have time to argue about this! Either we get out now, or we'll all be killed! If Jessica's inside the Castle we'll find her on the way down." Alcander reluctantly agreed, and the party dashed from the throne room with the corpse of Dracula burning brightly into the night.
After Dracula's defeat his minions ceased into being. Every door in the Castle was open, and Alcander and the rest of the party searched all of them. Some of the rooms contained treasure, which every member of the party took a small handful of. Unfortunately the ultimate treasure, especially in Alcander's eyes, Jessica, was not there.
When the party finally reached the Castle's exit the upper floors of had already given way, but the party was going to escape unharmed. However, at the Castle's base, Alcander appeared apprehensive to leave. His eyes were wandering around the grand hall, looking for another door that simply did not exist. In the end his older brother tackled him out the Castle door, and the party escaped to a hill and watched the remains of the Castle crumble under the moonlight. Christian, Lysander, and Brian were all full of smiles, while Alcander was full of silence. Lysander, taking notice of his younger brother's sorrow, stood beside him. Tears sprinkled from Alcander's eyes, and Lysander placed his hand on his shoulder and said to him, "Cander, we searched every room in the Castle. She wasn't there. We didn't do anything wrong."
"How do you know, Sander?" he asked with a raspy voice, while wiping away a tear.
"Because, Cander, we would've found her."
Alcander said nothing. He simply turned away. Lysander responded to his brother's grief by kneeling beside him. "Cander, listen to me. I searched that place with just as much determination as you did. She simply wasn't there, and we're lucky because of that."
"How are we lucky?" Alcander replied coldly, feeling that his brother wasn't showing any compassion for Jessica.
"Because she's at home with her parents."
"And how do you know that Sander?"
"Because I now believe that she was never in the Castle, that's how!"
Alcander sighed, and placed his hand on his forehead.
"Look, Cander, we did everything that we could to rescue her. We searched every single room while the Castle was crumbling. We risked our own lives doing so. How many people do you think would've done the same thing?"
Alcander said nothing, but he knew that there wouldn't have been many others besides maybe his parents, aunt, and uncle that would've put out the effort that he, his brother, his cousin, and Brian did.
"Only those who really, really try," continued Lysander. "Nobody can blame us if we failed. Not our parents, our aunt and uncle, or even Jessica's parents. We did everything that we could!"
Alcander gazed at his brother. His eyes were still filled with water, but he was no longer crying. Lysander had made some valid points. He and everyone else in the party endangered their own lives to search those extra rooms for the possibility that Jessica may have been trapped in one of them. "You're right Sander," he replied standing up, with his voice starting to become normal again. "I'll take your words to heart, and I won't give up on hope that Jessica is safe in our village."
Lysander smiled at his little brother. "That's good. Speaking of our village, I can't wait to go home!"
"Neither can I!" exclaimed Christian.
"Same here," added Brian, who was busy wrapping a bandage around his head to seal off infection to his wound.
"And Brian," Christian began, turning his attention to him; "you'll be returning home a hero. In case anyone actually heard about your part in Dracula's return I'm sure you'll be absolved once they hear about your courageous effort to defeat him."
"I hope so Christian."
"I don't think hope is necessary in this case. I 'know' so," Christian added with a smile.
Brian returned the smile and said, "Thank you, Christian."
"No, Brian, thank yourself. For it was you, and you alone, who stood up to one of the most feared men in the world; and it was you, who refused to cower in his presence." Christian paused for a moment to turn to everyone in his party and said, "Thank you, everyone. And if you would please, I would like for you to pray with me." Christian led the party in prayer. He thanked God for their victory, and for the prayers of those in Heaven who assisted.
*
When the party finally returned to the village at the summit of Castle Dracula a few hours later a crowd greeted them with admiration that Adrian Tepes and Richter Belmont received twelve years before. With the Castle gone, their fears of vampires and creatures of the night vanished with it. Everyone in the community wanted to buy the vampire slayers drinks at the local bar, including the bartender, but Alcander told them that he would join them later.
"What's with him?" Brian asked Lysander.
"You overheard our conversation at the Castle ruins, right?"
"Yes. Regarding Jessica, right?"
"Right. Although Cander believes that we did everything humanly possible he may still have a sense of guilt. Sometimes it's best to leave that person alone. Besides, I saw Cander go to a place were he can be at peace for a while."
"Where's that?"
"The village church. Alcander's not exactly the church type, but he does believe in a God who will answer his prayers."
*
Inside the parish church, Alcander knelt in prayer. He often fixed his eyes upon the large icon of the resurrection and spoke the prayer, "Lord, my brother tells me that I did everything I could to protect Jessica, but I'm still wondering if I did enough? Of course, I can't exactly go back and change time. What's done is done, and there's nothing I can do about it. My uncle often talks about the statement 'not as I will, but as you will' and I guess I will just have to leave it at that, because there's simply nothing else I can do. All I ask of you Lord is that when Sander and I return to the village is that Jessica will be there waiting for us. With the prayers of Mary and all the saints we ask this through you, Christ, Our Lord. Amen."
