THE GOLIATHUS CHRONICLES

Chapter 3- Master and Minions

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The tall, looming trees seemed to have a life of their own as they swayed in the wind. With plenty of light cast by the full moon, Goliathus found it easy passage as he stealthily crept through the forest. He was determined to find Marcus and finish him off. And yet, try as he might to stay focused, he couldn't stop looking up at the trees. They had a funny smell to them, scents he recognized and some he did not. For a brief moment he almost thought the branches might start coming down on him, wrapping him about in their branches. With a snort the heradus quickened his pace, heading towards the castle once more. He dared not fly, lest he give away his presence too easily. It had taken a hard lesson for him to realize not to underestimate the vampires. They were more then outmatched by him, but the creatures were still cunning and full of tricks.
The acid, for one thing...that had completely caught him off guard. Who ever heard of vampires spitting acid? He had not read about that reading the many books he went through trying to learn more about them. Eh, what difference did it make. He was a fast learner, and such a mistake would not be repeated twice.
He traveled for some time before finally reaching the edge of the forest and seeing the back end of the castle come into view. Looking up at the huge structure, Goliathus realized how much it reminded him of his home.

So much like it, towers and all...

Eyes widening, he had the sudden thought maybe it WAS his home. But then he shook his head.

No. It would not be possible. This is not even the right country.

Is it?

Dammit. Why couldn't his ever-wandering mind ever leave him alone? So was the price to pay, he supposed, for high intelligence.

The air was very clean and crisp here. He took in a long breath, taking in the scents of everything around him. Marcus' came through very faint. That could mean the vampire was not around. But there was no mistaking Donovan. He was definitely here.
That will do... he grinned. Taking out the master of the clan was on the top of his "to-do" list. What would the rest of them do without their beloved leader anyway?
Squirreling up the stony wall, Goliathus checked every window for someone's careless act of leaving one open. But he found no such carelessness. It seemed the vampires had finally all perceived him as a terrible threat. He grinned wider. He liked that idea.
Fear was always something that jump-started his predatory instincts.

He climbed all the way to the top, peering over the ledge before hauling himself onto the roof. There were two large chimneys, easy enough for him to climb down. As he neared one, however, he noticed it had been closed off...sealed up. Goliathus chuckled and moved on.
Getting smart now, are they? Good. It just makes things more interesting for me.
After a thorough search of the premises, it seemed only the front door would do. Of course it was locked tight, but by mere brute strength he knew he could take it down.

And then all of a sudden, the sky was littered with black flying dots, causing him to peer up through squinting eyes. As they got closer, Goliathus realized they were crows, easily a hundred of them. One individual who was notably larger came swooping down while the others swarmed in a great, swirling circle above his head.
The scent he had noticed back in the forest now had a source. It was those very odd birds who had helped him before.
Who were they anyhow?
The large one finally came all the way down and landed...on his shoulder. It tilted its head, blinking, a head that had a small white star-shape right above its eyes.
Upon closer inspection it seemed this was no crow, but a raven. The large thick bill and ruffle of ebony feathers around the neck was sure proof of that.
Well hello-
CAWWW!
Startled, Goliathus stepped back, catching his balance. He then rubbed his aching temples. The bird's cry had been telepathically sent, and it was loud enough just hearing it normally.
Do you mind? Sighing, Goliathus shrugged the bird off, watching it flap to the ground. It squawked again after a few moments and flew right back up, but this time landed on his head.
Growling slightly now, he fixed that situation by quickly raising his head crest and knocking the raven off again.
And yet, somehow he didn't think it would be that easy.
Sure enough, the raven, unphased, flew up again and landed once more on his shoulder. This time it clutched tightly, enough that its sharp little talons dug into his skin.
Caw-aww?
Who are you? And please stop screeching into my head. You are giving me a migraine.
Starcrow.
Goliathus raised an eyebrow. Starcrow?
Is that your name? But you are not a crow.
Starcrow. The corvid repeated, tilting its head in the other direction like a curious cat.
But you are a raven.
Starcrow.
Raven.
Star...CROWWWW!
Wincing Goliathus nearly fell again. He raised a hand to swipe at the bird, then thought better of it.
Fine, so your name is Starcrow. Who are all of your friends? He pointed up to the mass of black birds above.
Ring. Starcrow. It seemd the bird had a very limited ability with words, but it managed well enough with simple statements.
A ring? A ring of what? A ring of crows? That is quite obvious to me. He looked up again, watching the murder of birds swirl around like a nightmarish tornado.
Starcrow cocked his head back and forth, as if thinking. Dark.
Goliathus tried to understand what the bird was telling him. Ring...dark...
Fire. Seemingly quite happy with himself then, the raven puffed up his feathers and gave a loud squawk.
Ring...dark...fire... Wait a minute. For reasons unknown, the term "Ring" made him think of mages and their magic. They often referred to groups of minions as "Rings". That must be it. These crows must be empowered...some kind of force the mages once used. But who?
You are the Ring of Dark Fire then, correct?
CAWW! Once again Goliathus dealt with the insufferable insistence of this bird to squawk mentally.
Right. So you are Starcrow...the raven...who leads the Ring of Dark Fire. I understand now. Still rubbing at his temples Goliathus soared down over the edge of the castle to the front door. The raven clung to its fleshy perch, so it was seemingly decided that he was going with him, like it or not.
Surging forward the heradus met hard with the thick wood of the door, causing it to splinter and large cracks to form. He then heaved himself forward once more, and the door gave way, crashing to the ground in a very loud thud. Starcrow actually slapped him in the face with a wing, as if chiding him for the action.
Snarling dangerously, Goliathus wondered how raven would taste. The bird quickly flew off his shoulder and perched somewhere in the rafters above, as Goliathus stepped inside and quickly scanned the area.
I thought so. He grinned a rather mischievous sort of expression at the raven before continuing his search.

The castle was strangely quiet, and the only real scent he was catching onto was Donovan. But he couldn't figure out exactly where the Master vampire was. This was strange, and he didn't like it. Had they actually abandoned their home?
Starcrow gave a loud, terrified sort of shrill, moments before the heradus felt himself being lifted up into the air by invisible hands. He couldn't move to get away, it was as if he had become paralyzed. As the pressure increased, he felt himself being grabbed on his ankles, arms, and legs. There was more then one, whoever they were. Snarling angrily Goliathus struggled to get some kind of hold on something. But he could barely move. Then a huge wave of pain came, as his right leg was torn off at the hip. The heradus roared out, more in rage then pain, for something was tearing him apart and he couldn't even see it.
He glanced over at Starcrow.
And the raven came, lunging off the rafter, putting its wings tight against its body, and clutching Goliathus by the neck. At first, the heradus wondered if his feathered friend had turned on him. But then suddenly he felt and saw a glow of power, shining greyish-black...a blend of their two energies. Then a blast the size of the room cascaded outward in an explosion of energy, and several figures plummeted to the ground, shrieking like banshees. Goliathus crashed to the floor, moments after the raven let go and landed next to him.
For a while no one moved. Then one of the figures, dressed in a black cloak that seemed a living entity of its own, shot upwards toward the ceiling, hovering. Goliathus saw that the face was blanched white, with deep-set red eyes the color of blood, and a set of impossibly long and needle-like fangs.
This was unlike any vampire he had ever seen before. It was a monstrous creature, more like some kind of ghost then anything else...and it came at him, yelling a terrible scream and with long claws to match its teeth set upon its fingers.
Bracing himself, Goliathus hobbled on his one leg and brought his wings out in front of him like a shield.
The vampire-thing was nearly upon him when the Ring of Dark Fire came streaming through the doorway, covering every one of the vampires, even the ones who were still knocked out on the ground.
The piercing screams were enough to make Goliathus' ears want to bleed. He quickly covered them but kept his eyes on the event unfolding before him.
The other four individuals starting knocking birds off left and right, but no matter how many of them went smashing into the wall, they all got right back up and persisted after the enemy. This was the time to try and take care of this new threat. Letting out his own unique yell, Goliathus spread out his head claws and lunged towards the one that only moments before was trying to attack him, using his large wingspan to give him balance. He was met by razor-thin claws slicing into his body, but nonetheless, he managed to get his hands around the vampire's neck. The ultimate surprise happened when he saw the teeth grow even longer, and suddenly they were sinking deeply into the muscles of his hands.

Howling, Goliathus tried to pull away but the two were now locked in a stale-mate.
/

Ami sat in her favorite chair, her legs propped up, a good book in one hand, and a steaming cup of hot cocoa in the other. Ah, this was the life. Even if for only this moment, she felt like she could relax and just enjoy took a sip of the cocoa then placed it down so that she could put a hand on her belly. Immediately she could sense movement, it was amazing how active this fetus was at only two months along.
Well...two months and one week, to be exact. She giggled, then reached down to kiss her belly.
"You're going to be one special little child." Ami sighed, trying to ignore the more negative feelings that tugged at her heart. Ones of worry, fear, uncertainty.
"My little Genevieve."
The phone rang then, and still smiling, Ami picked it up.
"Yeah, hello?"
"Miss Ami Quinton?" The voice that answered had a slight southern accent.
"Uh yeah...whose this?" Ami's expression turned into mild confusion at the unfamiliar voice.
"Well, you've heard of me, even if you haven't seen me. I'm sure of that."
"Uhm, ok..." Ami got out of the chair, standing up and holding the receiver a little closer to her ear. "So...who are you?"
"I'm Jezelle...Jezelle Gay Hartman? I knew that Darius Jenner boy and his sister before that...thing... killed him. But my dreams have changed. I've got to find the Creeper."

/

Creeping around the corner, Donovan peered into the Great Hall, only to see Goliathus and one of the Shadow vampires locked in battle. The other four were being marauded by those cursed crows. He saw that the heradus had suffered the loss of a limb, and it made him smile. If the Shadows had there way, he would be nothing but mere pieces of flesh strewn everywhere. Then they would make sure he would never come back.
It was now time for Donovan to show that damned heradus what he was made of. No one was going to come into his home, his castle...and kill his children. He had lost Trianna, he had lost Lucius...and that was going to be the last loss he would suffer.
Nearly wild with determination, he ran forward into the fray.

Goliathus still had a grip on his opponent's neck, and he now squeezed as hard as he could. The vampire gagged, then gave a shrill shriek as bones in its neck started to give way. It had no choice but to let go and end the stale-mate, lest its head be torn off. But as soon as it let Goliathus go, it lunged for him again, and knocked him down before he could react. Using both of its wicked hands, it grabbed his left leg and attempted to tear it off just like the other one .A heradus' wing was a weapon in itself, and it was a lesson this vampire was going to learn quickly.
With a loud and vicious snap, Goliathus let loose with both wings and they slapped with incredible force against the white face of the hideous vampire.
For a moment, it seemed stunned, and its expression froze. Then slowly the head came apart into two halves, falling to the ground in sickening, muffled thumps. Thick red blood now oozed down the body of the decapitated vampire, and the ghostly body slowly came down to the ground, crumpling into a heap.
For a moment, silvery eyes stared at the seemingly lifeless body, untrusting and ready for it to attack again. Instead, it was Donovan who came like a missile at him this time, forcing him down to the ground. Completely unprepared and without one leg, Goliathus went down easy and found it difficult to get himself back up again. "I'm taking no chances with you, heradus. You've made me aware of that now." Donovan hissed loudly and went for the left leg with his teeth, trying to finish what the Shadow vampire had started. Goliathus managed to get his arms around his neck to try and hold him off.
But then the other four Shadows had finally recovered and got away from the crows, and with eerie wails they assaulted, assisting Donovan in holding the King down, even as the birds still pecked and tore at them angrily.
Unable to fight all five of them off, Goliathus roared as he felt his other leg being torn off. He was now crippled.
"Help me get him into the dungeon. We'll lock him up there!" The Shadows nodded and all five of them carried the struggling heradus down into the dark labyrinth below. The Ring tried to follow, but one of the Shadows staved them off with a powerful blast of some kind of wind energy, knocking them all away and into a brick wall.

/

The large and hidden underground cave was becoming filled with moonlight as the full moon hung like a soft and glowing beacon in the sky. A whole horde of bats began to stir, and with tiny yawns each spread its leathery wings, stretched out, then took off into the night to hunt for insects. One stayed behind, and swiveled its sensitive ears around, hearing something within its dank home. From below, the rocky floor just under the bat began to move and crumble. A clawed hand came up through the ground, and slowly, so did the other. The little bat craned its head around to get a better look, but still did not leave its upside-down perch.
The ground cracked and split some more, then all fell silent for a while.
The bat snatched at a moth that was careless enough to get within range, gobbling it down quickly.
Suddenly the ground nearly exploded as something large was forcing its way through. Finally, the little bat was startled enough to quickly leave its post and flap away. It landed a yard or two further down the cave and clung to a small stalactite.
A head rose from the ground now, and with both arms free, heaved its entire body out of its rocky prison.

Dinarius slowly shook his aching and throbbing head, then coughed violently, clearing eons of dust and sediment from his lungs. Weakly, he opened his dark blue eyes and looked about the cave. He saw the bat staring silently back at him.
"Ah hello there Puvo. I see you're still around. How long has it been?" He paused for a moment. "I can't even believe I still live. Where am I?"

The little bat fluttered off his perch and landed on the tail of the one who spoke to him. He then climbed up the furry white mane until he found his usual place nestled in the crook of his neck.
Dinarius felt the connection and he saw visions of many, many calendars flying by as his little friend communicated. He then saw a number in large and bold print.
His jaw dropped.

It had been one thousand years.

/

End Chapter 3

Yikes, I ran into a bit of writer's block during the fight with the Shadows. But I managed to kind of amble my way through it. I am hoping you all like where this story is going. Adding more characters makes it more fun, but more then that, Dinarius was in my original ideas anyhow. I am always trying to make my writing better and I hope it has come through that way. Many more chapters to come, stay tuned!
:smile: