Wheeeeeee! Sleep hates me again. So here ya go! I proofread it a lot. If you find a typo I'm sorry.
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"Consaluto ab Corviscordis. Consaluto ab Bimaris indomitus. Consaluto ab Cratera polleo. Consaluto ab Tellus aeternitas, nostri Regina beneficus. Consaluto ab Anima asperatis, adsecula ab nostri Amplus Basilicus ab Cunctus Servator."
The steady rhythm of voices pounded and thrummed power through the freezing night air. The wailing and screeching grew louder and louder as blood splashed across the ground but the Six stood strong and never weakened. Their voices rose and the runes on the stones surrounding them pulsed with a strange light.
"Consaluto. Consaluto! Accipio nostri Amplus Dynastes! Accipio nostri oro ab vas. Datum nostri vestertra divinitas. Suemus, ab Columna mendico vas! Suemus, ab Columna adoleo."
The shrieking in the blackness pierced through their bones bringing pain beyond imagining, but they stood fast as blood filled their lungs and they remained starved of air long past the point where they should have died. The crimson bubbled and flowed past their lips but their voices rung clear. The stars went out and the night became black. A few short seconds of deep black occurred and then the lands were bathed in a red glow when the moon began to bleed. Each one spoke their lines in turn.
"Ab Tellus."
The ground crackled and came alive around them. The earth moved, and reached, and screeched at the evil. The lands and all animals of it fought beside them now.
"Ab Aqua."
The sea laying at rest below the ledge they stood on took form and beat itself upon the mountain to reach them and drown the evil it came across. All manner of sea life circled the island calling to the six upon the mountainside.
"Ab Inigmus."
The mountain burst ash and flaming stones hurling them on the enemies and never harming the six sacrifices that rested on its side. Lava formed around them and hardened into a firm rock wall that evolved into a dome. The evil pounded on the rock but it would not yield. The Pillars were safe to focus and finish.
"Ab Anima."
A great gale rose up outside the dome and lifted rocks farther, flew fish higher, helped animals run faster. Inside the dome the air twisted and swirled around the six. Blood flew into the air seeming to turn it red. The floor, the sides of the shield formed around them, and the stones around them, the Key Stones, turned red with blood. Two began to speak as the rest focused their powers.
"Ab Divinitas Occulo."
A new power thrummed through the air and the evil beat themselves upon the rock, growing more desperate as each second passed. The last two spoke their lines in turn.
"Ab Spiritus."
A great glow flowed from the six, each color unique to the person. The colors took shape and a voice of their own as they flew with the wind swirling inside the dome.
"Ab Opacus."
A great black shadow rose from the center of their circle, swirling and twisting violently. Each of the six shapes formed from their auras dove into the blackness and it violently exploded out of the top of the dome. The violent tornado of shade, swirling with the colors of their auras, sucking in water, lava, earth, and air as it climbed higher and higher. The six voices pierced through the noise and became everything in the night and yet nothing.
"Suemus adoleo. Suemus, ab Columna oppignero noster. Accipio nostri. Accipio nostri! ACCIPIO NOSTRI!"
With that final deafening cry the ground inside the circle crumbled away taking the flame, shadow, rock, water, aura familiars, and the great gale that had arisen. The evil was pulled down and the mountain tumbled down around them. There was a great explosion that sent the six flying away from the crumbling mountain and laying in a thick puddle of their own blood.
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Dracula shook his head free of those thoughts, he forbade himself from ever thinking of that again or fear would take over and he would hide throughout everything to come. But he still couldn't push the thirst away. His mouth was dry and he needed to feed. He knew what he needed but he had promised himself that he would never do that again. The blood substitute took hundreds of years to make and worked just as well. He no longer had a need to hunt. No longer had a need for human blood, and he didn't like to kill. He hated it, because killing without mercy was the sign of a true monster.
His wings carried him through the cool night air and he breathed deep the scent of the night. Below him Inmoon had shed her coat and placed it in her pack and she was keeping perfect pace with him. Her silver fur sparkled beneath the light of the moon and he thought what he always thought when he saw her like that.
"She's so beautiful."
He felt horrid every time he thought that, he felt like he had betrayed Martha who was loyal to him throughout their long marriage. She was loyal, and sweet, and loved him with everything that she had often times more than she had. How could he do this to her!? He tore his gaze away from Inmoon with a snarl and focused on the horizon. He could keep track of her just fine by listening to her footfalls below him, which had suddenly stopped.
He looked down and saw her standing in a small opening in the trees. He turned and circled her in an attempt to figure out her intentions. She looked up at him and waved for him to land. He closed his wings and dove into the clearing, unfurling them just in time to slow his fall and land gently on the forest floor. It was safe to stop now. They were a good distance away from the hotel now and there was no way that anyone would be able to track Inmoon. The Werewolf was the only one that knew how to leave no trace on the ground she walked upon. Hell, anyone who could track Inmoon deserved some kind of award; he'd think one up later.
"You can't keep your promise." She told him, she seemed….hesitant.
Interesting. He tilted his head in question.
"You need human blood."
"No." He turned away but she grabbed his wing and held on despite the blood dripping from her palm.
He gave her a hiss as he turned his black eyes on her.
"Cut it out Vlad. You know that human blood puts you at full strength. You're faster, stronger, you heal. You can't be killed by a stake through the heart, your allergy to garlic is gone, they can't even cut off your head to kill you! You need human blood!"
"I said no Inmoon! I'm done with that. It's why I created the blood substitute!"
"But it's just that Vlad, a substitute. It can't give you everything the real stuff can. All that does is quench your thirst and slowly weaken you!"
"I don't care!"
"Well then I'll care for you Lord Dracula! You cannot be weak! Not now! You don't have a choice and I'll do what it takes to make you feed!"
He glared at her, a fearsome look and the shadows grew deeper, darker and they hissed at her.
"I know you regret that night Vlad." She stared into his coal black eyes. "You lied and I know it. I know you scared yourself, you terrified yourself and now you're too disgusted to look at yourself. That's why you cursed yourself and took away your reflection. That's not going to happen again. You must do this and after this you won't have to anymore. You won't have to kill."
"I killed them all Inmoon." His voice was a whisper and the shadows retreated back into the forest. "Every single one of them because I couldn't control my anger, my hatred of them. They acted like animals and I slaughtered them like animals! Not just the men, but the women, and the children! A whole village and I killed them without a second thought! I killed for the sake of killing not because of a hunger!"
He turned his gaze away from her and stared at the stars sparkling in the sky.
"I learned that night what a true monster is, and I became one."
"You were angry Vlad, you were weak." She gently turned his face back toward her. "But most importantly. You. Were. Wrong. Killing for the sake of killing can be many things. You were in a blind rage. You didn't laugh at their deaths but instead you mourn the people you killed. You regret it. Regret, Vlad, is something monsters don't do."
A long silence over took the pair and they simply stared at the grass beneath their feet. The silence was a heavy one but it was comforting as well.
"Alright." Dracula whispered. "Alright you win. We will hunt."
Inmoon simply nodded and ran toward the nearest village as Dracula took to the skies once more.
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He circled high in the sky in his chosen hunting grounds and if he focused hard enough he could just barely see her making her way toward her hunting arena. She agilely scaled the small mountain range and disappeared over its peak. Once there were no distractions left he closed his eyes and breathed deep the scents of the night.
There were cattle and various farm animals. He could smell cars and dogs. He smelled humans and he focused on that. His vision turned into hues of blues and greens and he looked for the red spot that marked a living being.
He flew faster and found a small gathering of campers by the mountain. It wasn't a breach on Inmoon's territory either; her's was on the other side of the mountain.
He rose even higher in dark sky and picked out the perfect target. This needed to look like an animal attack or things could turn very bad very fast. There was a fight among the campers. A man had pushed his wife into their camper in a fit of rage. Two other men ran to her aid and quickly succeeded in driving him away.
He wouldn't be coming back.
There were stargazers and nature enthusiasts scattered everywhere. They had cameras with night vision and stargazers had telescopes. The sky was a clear one and someone would notice if he attacked from the sky. So, he banked wide and landed a fair distance downwind of his prey. He ran with silent ease through the brush and in a matter of minutes was within eyesight of the man. He could hear the man's heart beating in his broad chest. Dracula could smell the blood flowing through his veins.
He circled and waited for the opportune moment. Thought's raced through his head. How could he be doing this again? He swore he never would! But the thirst drove all of those thoughts away and quieted them to the barest hint of a whisper. He settled low to the ground and didn't move.
The man turned his back and Dracula leaped, his palms wrapped around the man's neck and he felt it snap on impact. It didn't kill him, just paralyzed him so he couldn't struggle or scream. It had been a perfect strike. Dracula crouched over the body as a flashlight beam broke through the thick underbrush and passed by. He rose up slowly and grabbed the man's ankle. He dragged the man a fair ways up into the mountains using his magic to ensure that his broken neck wasn't further injured.
Once he was sure that he was far enough away he stopped and gave the air another sniff. He smelled a pack of wolves and that couldn't be more perfect. He lifted the man and bit into his neck. The moment Dracula tasted the blood a kind of frenzy took over. He had forgotten how delicious human blood tasted, the richness of the flavor and the strength that surged through him. He drank the man dry and when he looked up he could see the wolves lingering as close as they dared. He stared at them and they backed away. He smiled, stood, and turned his back on the body.
He heard the pack tear into the body immediately. He guarded them as they fed until there was enough eaten away that the wolves could drag him further into their territory. He swiped at his jaw with his index finger and lapped the remaining blood off of it. He walked calmly to a clearing and flew into the sky with a single stroke of his powerful wings.
He found Inmoon quickly enough and landed next to her. She had found her own kill and was gorging herself on the meat. Her snout, chest and hands were coated with blood. She snarled at him and he laughed. Bones snapped beneath her powerful jaws and that tongue went to work lapping at the marrow. She grabbed hold of the skull of what used to be a man and ripped the tongue out. The eyes went next then she tore open the stomach and devoured the organs inside.
When she had eaten her fill he raised his hand and, after she gave a nod, cleaned the blood out of her fur with a wave. He took flight again and they continued to travel until sunrise when they found a large burrow and, after making it a bit roomier, settled down to sleep.
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I promise this is more than a filler chapter. Hope you enjoyed the character development. Until next time see ya!