Chapter 7: The Warning

Disclaimer: I do not own Castlevania.

Simon just waited there in the silence of the night as Sonia still slept on, blissfully unaware of the Nosferatu that had just come to kill them and he sat down for a minute to stroke her hair. For a second there he was worried that the Nosferatu would catch the dagger and throw it back because then the creature could drink her blood while Simon dodged it. One bite was like the plague and it would be his entire fault if she were bitten, the worst thing that could happen to him. Not knowing what to do, Simon just leaned back into a tree and listened for everything that was happening around him, like the hooting of an owl and the howl of wolves as they gathered around in their packs. Most of the thoughts he was having were on his destiny and how much he could benefit by finding a list of all creatures that lay in sleep. He could ask Alucard but that might be against the dhamphie as it would be giving him all the secrets of the night, secrets that even those awoken in justice were honor bound to keep.

"What is that smell," asked Alucard as he stepped out of the shadows of the forest and looked around for the origin of the funny smell that was invading his nostrils and found that Simon still had Vampire Killer in his hand.

"A Nosferatu was sent to the camp to kill both Sonia and I," replied Simon a bit passively, but he was very worried about what had just happened before him and he his eyes start to falter a bit since he had been going some days without sleep.

"You should get some sleep or else you won't have the strength to fight tomorrow," said Alucard as he took his cape off and placed it on a branch. "I will be the one to guard this area while you get some sleep."

"What about yourself," asked Simon as he looked at his ally and his ally looked back at him with a semi-sad smile.

"A dhamphire such as myself needs nothing to keep me awake since I can go years without sleep," replied Alucard as he felt somewhat panged by that expression and knew that even though he was glad that he had the power to protect others, he was sometimes envious of other humans for being able to walk around without anyone looking at them in an odd manner.

"I'm sorry to have to bring that up," said Simon as he poked the fire and then lay on his back with a fur cape to cover him. "Goodnight, my friend."

"Goodnight," replied Alucard as he scanned the nearby area with his eye.

The sun rose over the crack of the hill tops, causing Simon to rise from his slumber as a ray of light penetrated his dreams. The night had given way to the day, a safe haven for any person who hunted the night and all of its children. With a yawn, Sonia rose from her sleep and prepared herself to continue the journey after breakfast. Alucard was unable to take a part in the breakfast because of his dark heritage, but he was able to talk and explain everything that he had learnt from the lesser demon that was trailing them. As soon as the breakfast was finished, the trio ventured out into the woods to find what they sought to keep out of the clutches of the devil forgemaster.

The woods seemed less oppressive during the day, but Simon couldn't help but feel a bit edgy about the forest and he was being followed by partners who weren't that edgy to begin with. It was something about the forest, maybe how cold it was or maybe because of how the wind blew through trees and would blows leaves around. At the sound of twigs snapping, Simon turned to see that they were being followed by none other than the very same devil forgemaster who had kidnapped the girl. Instinctively, Simon pulled out his family heirloom and swung it above his head.

"You have no need to worry of me, I come here unarmed and with a deal," declared Iscariot as he strolled in between the three and opened up his cape so they could take the sword he had by his side as a showing of good faith.

"Speak your deal, Iscariot, and we will see if it is to our liking," commanded Alucard as he stared at the forgemaster to make sure there was no lie in his words.

"I know that you seek the girl and I will give the girl to you as long as you do something for me," said Iscariot as he sat down before the two and started to fool around with a knife up his sleeve. "I love a draculina and she loves me, we would be happy together somewhere in these mountains praying on the wild, but I cannot get to her tomb for it resides in the same place that Mobius's tomb resides in. Now I am loyal to my mast and would like for the throne to be kept out of the hands of someone else as I am sure you all are so I propose that we work together."

"You are wrong about one thing," replied Simon as he glared at the man in black. "We are not just after the girl, we are after the key so that you cannot use it to summon your dark savior as you wish to cloud the world in darkness. We will not work with you, but you could always work with us, so long as you give up on your chances of resurrecting Mobius. If you have no other offer then I am afraid our time is done here."

"I second that," said Alucard and Sonia nodded at the words.

"Well I tried to do it the easy way, but I suppose I will have to make it hard for you," sighed Iscariot as he snapped his fingers and a portal opened to reveal many demons of different elementals along with spear knights. "I must take my leave now seeing as I have a family waiting for me so they can start dinner."

"I will see you dead, Iscariot," barked Simon as he lashed his whip out to grab one of the fire demons and sent it into a tree before bringing it back down with a spiked hitting it square in the chest.

"We'll see Belmont, I will so enjoy a duel between you and I," laughed Iscariot as he made his getaway.

Alucard watched the man run off before he turned his attention back to the pair of the spear knights that were slowly trudging towards him. With a swing of his sword, the knights were just a pile of armor with as much life as the dead ground that they had come from. The Dhampire, realizing that he was being surrounded by earth demons, reverted to his wolf familiar and rushed around the ground, jumping on the rocks that were rising out of the ground and then bit down into the shoulder of one earth demon, taking it down to the ground before jumping off its body to another one that was just about to summon the tremor that swallowed the corpse of the other earth demon. The other two that were circling around him were in such a panic that they grouped by each other and were both taken don by one mighty leap.

Sonia was faring just as good as she used her spear to turn most of the skeleton soldiers into piles of bones and dust with powerful swings that left a sound of air rushing. As she turned, she saw the scimitar of skeleton aimed at her head and ducked under it while kicking the skeleton in the leg, effectively breaking the bones. Sonia then brought her spear up till it was behind her head and brought it down on the skeletons skull, cracking it into half and leaving a fine white powder on the ground. Heavy footsteps behind her made her turn to see giant flame armor walking toward her with its large bastard sword in its hand and the rain started to fall from the sky, causing steams to erupt from its red armor that obscured her vision of the possessed armor. Using her spear as a catalyst, she drop kicked the armor, causing it to take a step back, but it quickly regained itself in time to swing its flaming sword at her. She sidestepped it and slashed at the joints with her sword until its arm was loose enough for her to kick off with her boots. She finished it off by slicing its head off to reveal an empty inside. She turned to see how Alucard was doing and after seeing that he was holding his own well enough she turned to check on Simon.

The Belmont was not fighting in a manner that would shame his family, more so that it would set the bar for how Belmonts fight as he lashed his whip down onto a pair of skeletons and the flung a dagger to take out one of the wings of an earth demon before he ran up to it to finish it off with his whip. The chained ball bashed against its skin, breaking it and effectively spurting blood from the wound as the demon thought no more. After a minute of thinking, Simon decided it would be better to use his holy water to set fire to the other enemies and then he used his whip and sword to take care of the rest of the enemies that were still alive.

"We should go before more show up," said Simon as he pointed to a way out that led in the direction that they were going. "We can cut through that pass into the town of Sumverinia and then to the lands of the family."

"That trail will delay us and our enemy knows where the family is hiding," argued Sonia as she picked her dropped pack up and started to point to the path they were currently going on. "If we just continue down the path we were travelling on we will get there quicker and be able to confront our enemy. Besides, I doubt he has the power to control the greater evils, just the ones that we have been slaying do far."

"Not unless Elizabeth Bartly gets involved with her own minions," said Alucard as he looked up the sky and then checked how the wind was blowing. "He went the long way, the way that Elizabeth Bartly always took because she liked the scenic route and as such would not know the shorter way. You two should turn that way while I bring about whatever help we can get on this matter."

"Yes that would be most wise," said Simon as he pulled his sword from a corpse of a demon and sheathed it. "Good luck, my friend."

"The same to you, but I warn you both, he knows a thing or two and my cousin is very well versed the ways of dark magic," warned Alucard before he turned into a swarm of bats and flew off into the night.