I love the night.
So many shadows,
unholy light.
Putting out the spark,
leave 'em in the dark-forever.
I can wait for you.
Your end is my life.
They're secrets of the heart,
and you can take them all-to Heaven—

"Lord of the Last Day"—Ronnie James Dio

Seuche in Deutschland

Chapter XV

"Sander," Adrian began, "is this forest that Alric talked about the one that me and Christian saw when we entered the city?"

"Yes."

"I wonder how powerful he is?" asked Alcander. "Do you think he's as strong as Vlad the Impaler?"

"I doubt it. He's only been a vampire for sixteen years. Unlike Vlad the Impaler, who was a vampire for over three hundred years."

"I wouldn't completely say that, Sander," responded Christian. "You saw how he acted towards Uncle Adrian."

"I saw how he acted, but what specifically do you mean?"

"Alric knows who we are. He knows that all of us've defeated Dracula before…But there's one distinct difference between us and Uncle Adrian."

"What, that he's faced him more?" replied Alcander.

"...Well, that too, but that's not what I was thinking. I was thinking about how many of us've defeated Dracula in a one-on-one battle?"

Lysander and Alcander were silent.

Christian nodded. "Precisely, none of us've ever defeated Dracula in a one-on-one battle. Alric knows this. And he certainly knows about Uncle Adrian's 1797 victory over Vlad the Impaler, but he didn't show any fear when he was face-to-face with Uncle Adrian."

"Maybe he's extremely arrogant," replied Lysander.

"I could care less what he is!" interjected Adrian, who was distinctly annoyed by all this talk. "All I care about's stopping him."

The rest of the party nodded.

"Should we pray first?" asked Christian.

"…If you want to…But once we finish praying we're returning to Lysander's apartment to put on the Leather Armor that I brought from Romania. I believe we'll need it for this battle."

"We'll be medieval knights in modern day-19th century Western Europe!" joked Alcander.

"Cander, shut up!"

When Adrian, Lysander, Alcander, and Christian reached the entrance of Berlin's forest the light from their torches and lantern bounced off the trees, which were nothing more than dark shadows. The party drew their weapons. But Christian, who carried the lantern, was worried.

"I'm concerned. What're we supposed to do?"

"What're you talking about, Christian?" replied Alcander. "We're supposed to send this person straight to Hell."

"I'm no fool, Cander; but that's not what I meant."

"Well, then what did you mean?" asked Lysander.

"I meant, how're we supposed to see? We can't exactly fight holding a torch or a lantern, and how can we fight if we can't see? Our only light's the moon and the stars."

"We'll have to place the torches and lantern on the ground," Adrian said. "The base of the torches is strong enough to penetrate the ground."

"But wouldn't that cause a fire?" asked Alcander.

"No," replied Lysander, "it rained not very long before I left to go to Romania. The forest is still moist."

"Sander," began Christian, "what do you know about this forest?"

"I've walked through it during the day. It's really quite beautiful, especially when it snows; and the snow begins to pile upon the trees…But no one comes here at night."

"What's that?" asked Alcander.

"People're scared. There's often a thief or two in these woods, and they're very active at night."

"Well, that's the last thing we need," replied Adrian.

"Yes, I agree," added Alric's voice. "I despise thieves."

The party gasped. Alric stood on a branch—hidden from the hunters. The party could faintly make out his image with their torches and lantern.

"Make a circle with your torches and lantern," commanded Adrian.

Alric smiled. "Ah, yes, the circle of light. You'll need all the light you can get. For I'm a creature of darkness. The night's my specialty."

"Don't underestimate us," Adrian replied sternly. "I was born into the darkness. And although I've left that world behind me, I'm not without its lessons."

Alric leapt from the tree, and unsheathed a sword that he had hidden behind his dark cloak. "So then, how shall we do this? Shall you fight me one-on-one, or will you try to take me all at once?"

Lysander glared, and pointed his sword. "You ask too many questions." And he charged at Alric.

But Alric smirked, side-stepped, and delivered a punch to Lysander's face. Lysander groaned, as he fell to the ground.

Alric never changed his expression. "One-on-one battles, I take it?"

"Nonsense," responded Alcander. He too charged at Alric, but Alric parry-and-dodged his attack. And when Alric counterattacked, his blow left a large cut on Alcander's shirt that exposed his Leather Armor.

"My God!" Alcander said. "He could've killed me if I didn't move as quickly as I did! I must be extremely cautious with him."

Christian was the next to attack. He cracked his whip at Alric, but the vampire leapt into the air; and counterattacked with a kick to Christian's chest.

With three of the four hunters down, Alric turned to Adrian. "This is simply a joy! I'm going to do battle with the man who took my master's life…There's something special about this. It's the adrenaline rush one feels before they're about to end the life of someone having a connection to the person that they admire. Don't you agree?"

Adrian replied with a smirk.

"What's with that stupid grin! Don't you've something to say back to me?"

But Adrian remained silent.

Alric, however, did receive an answer of a different nature. He had paid too much attention to Adrian that he did not notice the sword in Lysander's hands. Lysander gutted him!

Alric let out a groan, and fell to his knees. Blood poured from his stomach.

Adrian never changed his expression. "You should be careful by what you call a fortunate opportunity."

Alric continued to groan. He was losing blood, and his palms were covered in sweat. But once Alric regained his composure, he began to remove Lysander's sword.

"Maybe so," Alric gasped, "but I'd still be careful…After all…the training…you put your sons through…you should've told them…not to pierce my stomach."

"That doesn't matter, Alric. Even if Sander didn't strike a fatal blow he still wounded you. He wounded you in a way where you'll need time to recover…And time you shall not have!"

No more than a second after Adrian finished his sentence, Christian had recovered to crack his whip into the monster's face. Christian's blow—in itself—would have caused damage, but it had the additional affect of striking Alric in the eye.

The monster screeched and fell to the ground. He covered his eye and tried to run away. But there was no where to run. The other hunters had recovered from their blows. Lysander held a crucifix to stop him. And when he tried to run in the other direction, Alcander held a crucifix. Again, Alric tried to run, but he was stopped for a third time by Christian's crucifix. Finally, the vampire fell to his knees, and Adrian finished him when he inserted a piece of the Blessed Sacrament in his mouth.

Around Alric's combusted body parts, Lysander, Alcander, Christian, and Adrian gave the Sign of the Cross. But the younger party members were stunned when they watched Adrian perform the gesture.

"You surprise me sometimes, Uncle."

"Why's that, Christian?"

"Because you gave the Sign of the Cross….The only other time I've seen you cross yourself was in church, and I thought you only did the gesture there mostly to make Aunt Maria happy."

Adrian chuckled. "I guess I'm a man who's full of surprises. Well, I suppose to explain myself I should ask you a question. Christian, if you watched somebody try to kill your unborn child before your eyes wouldn't you thank God if your unborn child survived?"

"Yes, of course…"

"Then imagine how I felt when I watched something similar happen to my two children. I had to thank God, because He didn't allow them to be killed before my eyes."

"Perhaps we should pray again?"

"Yes, prayers for our victory, but also prayers for Alric's soul."

"Alric's soul!"

"What!" added Lysander and Alcander.

"Yes, didn't the good Christ say to 'love your enemies'?" Adrian said, with a smile. "Besides, it's unfair to say that the young man's soul's burning in Hell…If God's as merciful, as the Church'd have us believe, then perhaps he'd take pity on someone like Alric—a man who was too weak to understand the nature of the world; but at the same time, a man who felt justified by his anger. Remember what I said before. Every side believes their cause is just, even if we do not. In this case, Alric was getting even for the wrongs that'd taken place in his lifetime…And I can't say that at one time I didn't have some of the same thoughts he did…That's why I feel sympathy for him."

Lysander, Alcander, and Christian nodded; and Adrian joined them in prayer.