Chapter 6 – Facing the Vampire
The torch lights burned fiercely as the stage is set for the showdown with the wicked Count Dracula. With only less than an hour before sunrise, Cynder knew that this battle will have to be done quickly if they are to escape the castle. She could tell that Dracula isn't planning to down easily, so she nods at her friends, and all but Draco nodded understandingly what they need to do.
"So, shalt we begin?" asked Dracula. "Thou can try to strike me, but heed thy warning, I am powerful, and I shalt turn thee into my own kind."
"I can sense your strength," said Cynder bravely. "But we are most determined not to get the better of you."
"Very well then," said Dracula. "Prepare to meet your doom."
With that, Dracula then vanished into thin air. Cynder and her friends wondered where he went. Suddenly, a large fireball appeared from above the ceiling and started homing in on the dragons. They dodged that fireball, but it relentlessly followed them around to collide with either one of them. Draco could only watch in fear as his friends run around helplessly. Just then, Dracula appeared at the opposite end of the room and flung a barrage of fireballs at the dragons.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Torden as he barely avoided getting hit.
Cynder looked angrily at her Charizard. "Draco, how come you're not helping us?" she asked.
"I – I'm afraid," stammered Draco.
"We've gone through this before, and we can't do this without you," said Cynder as she dodged a fireball hurled by Dracula.
Torden and Jakkin tried to land a blow on Dracula, but he teleported himself into another location, and then he flung two fireballs which brought down the two dragons.
Draco gasped in horror. "No!" he screamed.
Percival attempts to attack the dreaded vampire. "I shall finish you off for good, you vile fiend!" he declared, but Dracula also teleported from Percival and he summoned his giant fireball towards the dragon. Percival screamed in pain as the fireball collided with him.
"That's three down," gloated Dracula. "Now I guess you two are next before I deal with the scared one."
Cynder turned to Lily "I guess it's up to you and me now," she said. "If Draco can't do it, then we'll have to give it our all or die trying."
"Right," said Lily. "Let's do it, Cynder!"
The two female dragons were able to hold off a bit longer and struck a few blows on Dracula, all of which didn't even faze the vampire. He grinned evilly, and unleashed two more fireballs and launched them directly at Cynder and Lily. The two dragons evaded the fireballs, but they didn't see them returning like boomerangs. It knocked them out before they could even see them. Draco became even more frightened and confused at what to do.
"Pity that this had to end this way for thee," said Dracula. "You've underestimated my power, and now you'll be suffering the consequences!"
"No…" said Draco all of a sudden.
Dracula looked up and turned around to see what was a scared Charizard seething with fury. He had his eyes fixed directly at the vampire. "What is going on with him?" he wondered.
"I will not allow you…" continued Draco as his rage built up even more. "You may have trapped us in your castle, and you may have made us go through horrible situations, but I – WILL NOT LET YOU DO ANYTHING NASTY TO MY FRIENDS!"
All the downed dragons slowly recovered and saw that Draco has finally stepped in to confront Dracula. Cynder could only smile faintly. "That's it, Draco," she whispered. "Go get him…"
"So, you're the last one standing," said Dracula. "Thou look as if you've finally had the courage to face me, I will allow you to give me one shot, and if you lose, you'll join the rest of your fallen comrades."
"This is it!" declared Draco. "I am going to take out once and for all and then escape the castle with my friends and your treasure!"
In the blink of an eye, Draco lunged straight at Dracula and gave him a powerful whip of his tail. This caught the vampire by surprise that he was sent hurtling towards the wall. Dracula could only wonder in shock what he'll be doing next.
"Now to finish you off!" cried Draco. "FIRE BLAST, ATTACK!"
Draco then opened his mouth wide and spat out a giant star-shaped flame which struck Dracula. The impact resulted in an explosion which shattered the stained glass windows revealing faint morning sunlight. Dracula felt the sunlight sting his body.
"No!" he shouted. "You've finally exposed my weakness!"
"Free us from this castle, now!" snarled Draco.
Dracula felt his strength slowly dissipating. "As thou wish," he conceded. "You have been victorious, so now the treasure is yours and you can all leave, but I shall return someday!"
Slowly, Dracula's body morphed into numerous bats from bottom to top, and they flew from out the windows. As the last of the colony flew away, the door opened. Draco looked at his friends who were finally on their feet, and they hurried out of the castle as quickly as they could while they carried the treasure chest.
It was morning, and inside the cabin, Octavian paced back and forth anxiously, hoping that the dragons have made it out as he knew that by daybreak, they would have been trapped in the castle forever.
Darky looked at him feeling rather worried. "Sir, do you think Cynder, Draco, Jakkin, Lily, Percival and Torden have made it out of the castle?" he asked.
"I could only hope so," replied Octavian. "The sun is up, so they should have been here already."
The little dragon lowered his head tearfully, now feeling very alone. Just then, Octavian heard a knock at the door. Octavian opened the door, and to his surprise and delight, he saw Cynder and her friends waiting. He opened the door to greet them in.
"You guys have made it!" exclaimed Octavian. "I was very worried that you all would have been done for!"
"It had been such an event, I can tell you that," said Cynder.
"And we have the treasure chest too!" said Draco.
"That is wonderful," said Octavian happily. "But does that mean that you have confronted Dracula?"
"Come out and see," smiled Jakkin.
All the dragons went outside and looked at where Bran Castle rested. To their shock, the extended part of the castle has disappeared. Octavian could only nod his head with approval. "So, Count Dracula has vanished, for now," he said.
"Yeah, we saw him morph into thousands of bats," said Draco.
"I am very pleased with all of you," smiled Octavian. "Transylvania can finally have a period of peace."
Cynder looked at Draco. "I knew you had the courage within you," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "That was a job well done, Draco!"
Draco placed his paw behind the back of his head and blushed. "Well, it was really nothing," he smiled modestly.
"That is something peculiar," said Octavian as he was checking the treasure chest. "I knew Dracula had stashed a bunch of mysterious artefacts, but this is something I never thought he would have."
"What is it?" asked the dragons.
"Check out this jewellery," replied Octavian. "I haven't seen something like this before."
"Hold on," said Cynder. "That looks like an Elemental Brooch."
"Possibly the third one," said Torden. "I wonder who gets to use it."
Octavian examined the brooch. It had a turquoise gemstone with a raindrop mark. "I think anybody should be able to wear it," he said as he handed it to Lily, who was eager to try it on.
"Now let's see what happens," said Lily excitedly as she adjusted the brooch on her top. The gemstone started to glow and then a greenish-blue aura emanated around her. Lily was really surprised at the sensation she was feeling. After the aura vanished and the brooch stopped glowing, she was jumping with so much enthusiasm. "Yes, the brooch has chosen me!" she exclaimed.
"So you are meant to be the bearer of that brooch," said Cynder. "Way to go, Lily."
"Alright, I think I see the special artefact Dracula has been hiding inside the chest," said Octavian. He took out what appears to be some kind of talisman. It was decorated with all kinds of fire-coloured gems with a cross in the centre. "The Hearthstone Talisman, it was coveted by collectors for centuries and is said to possess a lot of magical properties, particularly those of the flame department."
"I wonder if that's what Blaze has been after," said Cynder. Just then, she felt her Holo Caster vibrating, and as she picked it up, she saw a hologram of Blaze.
"Hey Cynder," began Blaze. "I hope you, Draco, and your friends are doing well. Have you checked out Bran Castle? You might have known that it was featured in the Dracula novels which I love to read. Anyway, if you have found the legendary Hearthstone Talisman, please let me or Tails know as soon as you can so you can transfer it to me. I'm also sure you also have found the Water Brooch made for Lily. See you later!"
As Blaze's hologram vanished at the end of the message, Cynder smiled, knowing that she and her friends have found the very artefact Blaze was looking for.
"Since you all had quite the night," said Octavian. "I shall make a nice pancake breakfast for you and also allow you to rest here for a while."
"Oh, yes, that would be most appreciated!" exclaimed Percival.
After resting and having a delicious breakfast, the dragons were all set to resume their journey. Draco had the Hearthstone Talisman transferred to Tails so he can pass it along to Blaze. Neither of them would be able to forget the experience they had for long.
"Boy, what a night!" exclaimed Cynder.
"Tell me about it," agreed Draco. "I hope we never have to go through such a trial like that again."
"At the very least we have given Blaze what she wants," said Jakkin. "And you have started to be a bit braver, Draco."
Draco blushed as he had never imagined he could have been so brave to take out Dracula. "Thanks for the compliment," he said.
"Hey, what's up with Torden?" asked Percival.
The dragons looked behind and saw Torden acting very nervous, something that he has never shown before.
Jakkin grinned slyly. "So, the 'brave dragon' has shown fear all of a sudden," he said. "You should have seen the look on your face when we outrun those walking armours and then facing Dracula."
"Oh please!" grunted Torden. "I wasn't that scared, just startled just a tiny bit."
"Yeah, sure," said Percival. "You should have known better than to boast that you aren't afraid of anything when you most certainly are."
"I am not!" shouted Torden indignantly. But then all of a sudden, they heard an unusual noise that almost sound like a vampire hissing. Torden was petrified. "Oh no, he's back!" he panicked. But it turned out to be a bird out hunting, which made him felt very embarrassed. All the dragons laughed, except for Torden. "That wasn't funny!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, it is!" chortled Draco. "Your reaction to that bird call was priceless!"
The dragons continued laughing while Torden realised that he should never boast about his bravery ever again.
"Well," said Cynder as she finally stopped laughing. "I believe we're almost at the next town, so how about we stop there before checking out our next objective."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Draco.
"I'd say that was a great way to end this special occasion," said Lily. "I only wonder where we'll be going next."
"Who knows," said Jakkin. "It's still a bit of a way to go."
"So, let's start flying then," said Cynder as she picked up Darky.
"Yay, off we go, sis!" exclaimed Darky.
As the dragons flew to next town, Cynder and Draco looked back to where the Bran Castle rested. They had gone through some scary situations throughout their quest inside the castle, and nodded in agreement that it had been quite a long night inside.
To Be Continued...
That wraps up this story. Has it been a scary one? I could only it wasn't too scary. Happy Halloween, everyone! A break shall suffice until the next story comes.
