A Song of Ice, Fire and the Dead

…

Chapter 38: Mausoleum Mayhem

The wind began to whistle through the air, an almost eerie song as it blew through the headstones of the cemetery. Trees dotted the grounds, leafless almost lifeless, a sign of winter having set in. Almost all the ground was covered in fields of snow, with only a few patches of dirt and grass showing.

To cap it all off, a foreboding chill permeated the air as Aegon looked around, rubbing his hands together to warm them up and ward off the cold.

"You done admiring the place, kid?"

Aegon snapped out of his daze and looked at Trevor who was glaring at him tiredly. "Sorry," he apologised.

"Whatever," came Trevor's uncaring and tired words. The last scion of the house of Belmont wondered why Aegon and Saeko insisted on accompanying him to the Mausoleum. He didn't full trust them, and trust with him was hard to build considering what had happened to his family. But never let it be said he wasn't grateful for the company.

The trio of warriors soon found the mausoleum's entrance, the door hanging slightly ajar. The gothic architecture was old and worn looking with two angels hewn from stone looking weather beaten standing over the entrance. And over yonder sat the Cathedral of Gresit.

After pulling open the door a little to give themselves room to enter, the trio saw various suits of armour and swords standing in ports along the walls. Engravings showed monstrous creatures being fought by what Saeko could only assume was the Sleeping Soldier on a large mural. And sitting at the far end in the middle of the room was a large stone sarcophagus.

Aegon looked around and asked, "So, any idea where the entrance might be?"

Trevor didn't reply at first. He brushed his hand against the stone coffin, noting small details that someone had been in here, quite recently, apart from the door being ajar.

"The Elder's grandchild must've found a secret entrance, or we simply can't find it," the Belmont finally spoke as he moved away from the coffin figuring it would be too obvious to hide the entrance in such a spot. "They might've been taken by the Bishop's lackies," he also said.

"We'd have heard if one of the Speakers had been captured," Saeko corrected him to which Trevor nodded in agreement.

Looking to examine the mural of the Sleeping Soldier, Trevor found something was amiss.

"Hello~."

Aegon walked up beside Trevor, curious what he had found. And to his confusion, Aegon watched as Trevor climbed up the stone statues and slipped through a hole which blended almost perfectly in the background.

"Hiding in plain sight. Clever," the young swordsman remarked as he and Saeko followed Trevor's actions. Spotting the empty space Trevor had slipped down into, Aegon went in feet first and slid down an angular passage into a new section of the mausoleum and found the catacombs themselves. Saeko soon joined him.

The pair then found Trevor lighting a torch taken from a nearby sconce. With the help of the burning brand lighting the darkness, the trio then traversed down a stone corridor.

Curiously, as they delved further into the passage, the sound of running water could be heard. They soon came across a metal pipe to which Trevor rapped the butt of his torch on the metallic surface. A small hollow clang rang out which rebounded through the corridor.

"That's strange," Trevor muttered to himself but his mutterings were heard by his companions.

"What is?" Saeko asked him.

"It's warm."

Raising an eyebrow, Saeko touched the pipe with her gloved hand and could feel the heat coming off it through her glove.

"Heated water piping. Machinery of some kind?" the samurai wondered aloud.

"Perhaps something is living down here?" Aegon theorised.

"And it's not as abandoned like everyone believes it to be," Saeko finished. Then there was the sound of something rustling which alerted the three warriors. Trevor drew his shortsword from his hip and continued on.

Coming around a corner, the trio found the top of a descending staircase. Trevor went first with Aegon bringing up the rear and Saeko in the middle of them.

"My friends and I can hear you," Trevor called out to whatever was causing the noise.

"We're your friends?" Saeko asked disbelievingly.

Trevor turned his head to glare at the samurai before continuing. "We're armed and a lot less happy than you are," he warned. The three warriors continued down the flight of stairs with nothing appearing in front of them. "So you'll want to stay out of our-" the Belmont began to say as his feet stepped off the flight of stairs onto the floor which broke apart and collapsed underneath him.

"-WAAAAAAAAAAAY?!"

"Trevor!" Saeko called out to the man. They all expected the fall to be quite long, but it was thankfully quite short with Trevor landing in a kneeling position on top of the debris.

The Belmont smirked at this and said, "Heh, reflexes like a cat!".

Lowering themselves down carefully, Aegon and Saeko tread carefully over to Trevor. "Are you hurt?" Aegon asked.

"M'fine. Nothing to-"

The floor beneath them then crumbled and broke underneath them.

"-IIIIIIIIIT!"

This fall was longer than the one before that and the three warriors landed on a pile of rubble, groaning in pain.

"Ow…" Aegon muttered as he slowly got back up onto his feet and looked to his friends. Seeing Saeko sitting up, the swordsman hobbled over to her. "Are you alright?" he inquired.

"Just some bruises. Nothing a hot bath won't cure," the samurai told him in response to his query.

"You alright, Belmont?" Aegon called out to the almost prone form of Trevor who rubbed his head as he sat up.

"Peachy!" came the sarcastic response from the Belmont scion.

"So much for cat-like reflexes," Aegon joked as he helped Saeko and Trevor to their feet.

"Aw, shaddup!"

Stepping away from the rubble, the trio saw glass bulbs bolted onto stone pillars. What their function was remained unknown to the three.

A quiet hum was then heard before brilliant white light flared in glass bulb. "Ah, light bulbs," Saeko stated in mild surprise.

"IS that what you call them?" Trevor asked looking at her in surprise.

"What would you call them?"

"Dunno. Lightning in a bottle?"

Saeko shrugged her shoulders. "You're not wrong there," she admitted.

"Question is, how do you know about these things?" Trevor asked looking at her quizzically.

"Back home, there were lots of things like this. Or at least there were before They came," replied Saeko.

"They? Who's they?" Trevor asked.

"Ah, people?" Aegon said getting everyone's attention. Trevor and Saeko looked at what Aegon was seeing; various stone statues littered the expanse, some were propped against pillars in sitting positions and were broken apart. Some looked to be knights, whilst others were dressed more ordinarily.

An intact statue stood in the centre of the room, which caught Trevor's attention. Walking up to it, the Belmont inspected it and found the stony robes looked very familiar.

"What happened here?" Saeko asked as she knelt down to examine the broken off head of a statue which showed a look of pain and anguish.

Tapping the intact statue with the blade of his shortsword, Trevor spoke. "Either someone left a statue of a Speaker down here, or…?" he mused.

Then the heavy thuds of something approaching alerted the three warriors. They snapped to attention as the sound grew louder, coming closer to them.

Focussing on the sound, they realised that they were footsteps. And the source of the noise came in the form of an enormous humanoid beast, its mouth filled with large teeth and a massive glowing purple eye in the centre of its bald head.

"Trevor?" Aegon asked as he drew his sword and backed away cautiously.

"Well, this is fucking lovely, isn't it?" Trevor stated, stepping back and holding sword in a defensive position. "A fucking cyclops!"

"Cyclops?!"

"Big one, ain't he?"

The cyclops' eye glowed brightly, lighting up the room dimly.

"Shit! MOVE!" Trevor shouted to Aegon and Saeko who both did as he said, getting behind stone pillars to hide from the creature's gaze as a purple laser swept all around the room.

"Stone-eyed cyclops! Right out of the family bestiary!" Trevor cursed as he recalled his family's lessons on night creatures. "God shits in my dinner once again!" he bemoaned.

The cyclops appeared to notice Trevor's hiding spot and its eye glowed brightly. Cursing under his breath, Trevor ran away as the purple beam of light hit his hiding spot.

Saeko shouted out to Trevor, drawing her silver katana. "Trevor! Is there a way to kill this thing?!" she yelled.

"Working on it! Stay away from its eye-beam! It'll turn you to stone if it hits you!"

"Noted!"

"Move on three! Flank it! Keep it confused!" Trevor shouted to his companions.

The cyclops' eye charged up again, energy gathering within its ocularly organ.

"One… Two… Three!"

The three warriors charged out from the hiding spots as the monster fired its petrifying gaze at them. They all managed to avoid the blast with Aegon and Saeko weaving in and out as they closed the distance to begin cutting away the monster's legs. The cyclops raised its feet to stomp at them. Leaping away from the attacks, Aegon shouted to his lover, "Saeko!"

The indigo-haired samurai ran over to Aegon who outstretched his hands. Saeko grabbed her lover's hand with her own. Grasping hands firmly, Aegon spun Saeko around in a circle before releasing her. Saeko spun like a top through the air, her katana a silver blur as she landed a direct hit on the cyclops stomach. Landing on her feet, Saeko rolled just in time as the cyclops tried to stomp on her again. The ocularly organ of the monster charged up and Saeko sprinted away as the optic laser blasted after her.

Moving along the pillars out of the cyclops' line of sight, Trevor took aim with his sword. Once the stone-beam faded, Trevor stepped out from cover and flung his blade like a dart right at the beast. The steel blade sank into the spot where the monster's heart would be.

For a moment the beast stood still, but it turned its head to look at Belmont who had a deadpan look on his face. The cyclops then lumbered over towards Trevor who then had a frustrated look in his eyes.

"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed at the still alive monster. "You're dead! Stop moving and realise you're dead already!" he said profanely.

"We need a new tactic!" Aegon shouted from behind a pillar.

"I'm working on it!" Trevor shouted back as he was already running to avoid a large optic laser beam aimed at him and the beam hit part of the man's cloak, turning to stone. Trevor flicked his cloak, breaking off the petrified part of it as he tried to think of a stratagem.

Meanwhile, Aegon ran forward with his sword held high as he prepared to slash at the monster's knees and hopefully bring it down for a more decisive killing strike. The cyclops then spun around, swiping a massive paw at the young warrior, knocking him away. Aegon hit the wall with a thud and his sword clattered away out of reach.

"Egg!" Saeko shouted in worry as the cyclops prepared to use its optic blast. As if on pure instinct and adrenaline, Aegon pulled out Leviathan and hurled at the beast. The runic axe flew end over end and the broad bearded blade sank into the monster's gut and a layer of frost formed around the wound.

Reaching out, Aegon and everyone else was surprised to see the axe dislodge itself free and coming flying back to his hand. Aegon almost fumbled as he caught the weapon by the haft. Staring at his weapon's sudden display, the Valyrian was stunned at what it had shown him.

"Egg, move!" Aegon looked up in time to see the cyclops charge its eye up again. Scrambling to his feet, Aegon semi-ran semi-crawled away as the optic eye beam hit the spot he was against just a scant moment ago.

Siezing the opportunity, Trevor rushed over to the monster. Pulling out his whip, the Belmont lashed out the tail end of his weapon around the hilt of his still embedded shortsword and pulled it out. Instead of pulling in the leather cord to retrieve his weapon, Trevor kept it wrapped around the sword's hilt, making an impromptu rope-dart.

Keeping the motion going, Trevor flicked his makeshift weapon at the cyclops' neck, scoring a hit on the fleshy neck. With another flick of his arm, Belmont managed to loosen his whip off the sword, flinging it in the air. Saeko saw the spinning weapon in the air; using one of the statues to elevate herself, the samurai somersaulted into the air and kicked her foot into the pommel of the sword, sending it hurtling into the cyclops' eye. The light faded from the beast's eye as it fell to its knees, now truly dead.

A small quake reverberated as the monster fell over and the statue of the Speaker began to topple over, were it not for Trevor catching it. Then whatever magic lay upon the statue faded away and the hood fell from… her.

The Speaker was a young attractive looking woman with messy shortcut orange red hair. She opened her eyes blearily to reveal bright blue eyes.

"Good evening," Trevor said to her smoothly. The Speaker quickly shoved Belmont away, bending over to puke out the contents of her stomach.

Noticing this, Aegon grinned and said to Trevor, "Do you have that effect on every woman you meet?"

"Three hundred comedians in the world and you're trying to be funny," Trevor snapped in an annoyed tone.

Ignoring the two, Saeko helped the Speaker to her feet. "Are you alright, miss? Are you hurt?" she asked the young woman.

"I am fine. Thank you," came the response from the Speaker.

"You're very welcome."

"Granddaughter, then," Trevor muttered dryly as he retrieved his shortsword. "Oh, how I wish Speakers wouldn't do that," he added as he removed the blade from the cyclops' eye.

"Do what?" Saeko inquired.

"Dress the girls like boys," Trevor explained as he sheathed his weapon.

"It is safer for when we travel," the Speaker retorted.

"If you say so," Trevor said absentmindedly.

"What happened down here?" the Speaker then asked as she looked around.

"You walked right into a bloody cyclops," Trevor informed her, pointing at the carcass of the now dead monster in question. "Turns you stone with its eye, then feeds on your terror while you remain trapped in stone. Only way to restore a victim is to kill it," he explained.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Saeko asked the freed Speaker. "You don't look too good," she noted.

"After effects being destoned," Trevor remarked. "Might get some other side effects later after puking your guts out," he stated.

The Speaker nodded a little at this before looking at everyone. "Who are you all?" was her question.

"I'm Saeko, that's Aegon and he's Trevor," Saeko told her.

"I am Sypha Belnades," the Speaker introduced herself. "Why are you three down here?" she then asked.

"We met your grandfather," replied Aegon as he retrieved his sword from where it lay. "They wouldn't leave the city until they recovered your body," he explained to Sypha.

Saeko then took over. "We came down here to search for you and recover your remains in case it was the worst case scenario," she said apologetically. "We were hoping to get your people out of Gresit before nightfall," she added.

"They thought I was dead?" Sypha asked in surprise.

"Some believed you were, but others remained hopeful" Aegon replied. "But you were gone for some time, so they just assumed…"

"So thank your lucky stars, we'll be able to bring you back safe and sound out of this shit town," Trevor said whimsically. "C'mon, let's get you back to your people and get you all to safety."

"But the Sleeping Soldier!" Sypha cried out in protest. "He's still down here!" she stated.

"There is no Sleeping Soldier," Trevor told her calmly. "Just a monster waiting for people stupid enough to come looking. Probably a trap set for grave robbers and the like," he said as though it were obvious. "Even more so with you Speakers, given that you're not winning popularity contests around here," he added wryly.

"The old tomb is said to be guarded!" Sypha said stubbornly.

"I don't care," Trevor said to her. "Come on. Let's go put your grandfather's mind at ease," he told her.

"I can't just leave!"

"Shouldn't you at least let your grandfather know you're alright?" Saeko asked Sypha. "He sent us down here to look for you," she reminded. "He's very worried about you," she then said.

Trevor then chose to say, "And once you see him, you can come back down here and get yourself killed. How's that sound?"

"Really?"

"What?"

Aegon glared at Trevor and said to him, "You'd bring Sypha back to her family and then you would let her go back down here to get killed? Shame on you."

"Yeah, yeah, don't get on my case about it."

Trevor then began to search for a way out of the chamber. Sypha then chose to remark on this.

"He is quite rude."

"Tell us about it."

Then the sounds of multiple somethings cracking alerted them followed by something blending with it. Looking behind them, Aegon, Saeko and Sypha saw the previous victims of the cyclops were destoning, resuming their normal forms.

However, due to how they were all broken to pieces, the wound began to bleed and gush out blood. With a sickened grimace, the three then went after Trevor to search for a way out.

Later, when they found a way to the surface, they reached the Speakers' lodge and went inside. Almost all the Speakers came over to them, fussing over Sypha, her grandfather in particular among them.

Trevor, Aegon and Saeko walked in to see the Speakers' relieved expressions that their wayward member was returned safely to them. Sypha's grandfather moved to greet them and give his thanks.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "All of you. I owe you three an unrepayable debt," he added solemnly.

"I failed to find the Sleeping Soldier. I am sorry, Grandfather," Sypha said sadly.

The Elder gave his grandchild a comforting look whereas Trevor chose to be more coarse about it.

"I doubt there's anything down there," he said cuttingly. "It's probably a booby-trapped legend. Someone somewhere is laughing in their grave right now thinking people like your girl walked into the cyclops he left there," he added.

Aegon and Saeko glared at the man. "If you're trying to make a joke out of this, then it's not very funny," Aegon said to him coldly.

Sypha then replied to Trevor in defence of Gresit's old legend. "Or perhaps there is something down there that warrants a monster to guard it!"

"Your messiah isn't down there," Trevor argued.

"What makes you so certain of that?" Saeko asked him. "What could you explain that would make the legend of the Sleeping Soldier a false tale?"

"Speakers carry information down throughout generations," Trevor started his exposition. "My family passed down information as well. Do you two remember what we saw down there?" he asked Aegon and Saeko who nodded reluctantly. "Metal pipes pumping hot liquid. Torches that light themselves. Those lightbulb thingies. Those are exactly the things described by my great grandfather and those of my ancestry. Descriptions of the inside of Dracula's castle," he said.

This threw everyone for a loop when Trevor said those words.

Aegon wasn't overly sure what a vampire was, but what little he was told was that they were undead human beings who drank blood to sustain themselves and had a weakness against sunlight, to name the few they had. Adding to that, vampires were many times stronger and faster than most human beings.

Was whatever laying down in the catacombs beneath Gresit a vampire? It was not a good thing to ponder and there was no way of knowing for sure.

"I don't know what's down there, but it's not your messiah," Trevor then said to everyone as he made for the door. "I'll leave you all to it."

"No. N-Nonsense! Please, stay with us as long as you like," the Elder said hastily. "I cannot begin to repay you!" he added.

"You're leaving tonight, remember?" Trevor reminded him of their agreement, his words and tone brokering no argument. "Or have you forgotten about that?" he asked coldly.

"I… yes," the Elder deflated in defeat. "Until then," he said to Trevor.

Trevor had a look in his eye that said he didn't believe the old man would keep his word. "I'll come back later," he then said as he left the abode. "See if you can find some beer or ale," he advised.

"Is that all you think about?" Aegon asked as he and Saeko followed the man outside. "Beer, ale and whatever other firewater you can get your hands on?"

"…Yes," came Trevor's blunt response as they stood outside the Speakers' residence. After they left, Sypha chose to voice her displeasure.

"I could pee in a bucket and tell him it's beer," she muttered.

"Sypha!" her grandfather chided. "He saved your life!" he reminded her.

"He's rude!"

Trevor stood outside the house with Aegon and Saeko, discussing their next course of action.

"So, what are you going to do now, Belmont?" Aegon asked the older man.

Trevor sighed, running a hand down on his face as he replied, "Speakers are a stubborn bunch of bastards, to say the least."

"They can't be that bad," Saeko stated.

"Personal opinion," came Trevor's gruff response.

"You really are a rude man, aren't you?" the samurai asked.

"At least it's honest."

The three warriors all shared a chuckle at this. Aegon looked back at the door. "They're going to leave. We all know that, right?" he said looking at his girlfriend and Trevor Belmont.

"If it means that much to you both, you can stay with them," Trevor suggested. "You don't have tag along with me. You can make sure to get them out of this shit pile of a city at least," he said to them.

Looking at each other, Aegon and Saeko nodded at Trevor before heading back inside the Speakers' lodge. Trevor hated to admit it, but he'd gotten fond of the two warriors. They were damn useful in a fight, that was for sure.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Trevor then headed for the marketplace to get some food before the night horde finally attacked the city. As far as he was concerned, his job was done, nothing more to be said about it.

As he got some distance from the Speakers' hiding spot, Trevor saw a large group of priests coming towards him. They clearly outnumbered and they were all armed, so they could easily overpower him if they wanted to. They soon surrounded the Belmont scion and one of the priests, one Trevor himself maimed via finger removal, held a knife to his eye.

"Careful. My knife hand isn't too steady," he said threateningly. "I could slip and take out your eye," he warned mockingly.

"What do you want?" Trevor asked tiredly.

"The Bishop of Gresit humbly requests your attendance at the church."

Trevor gave a brief chuckle at that and replied, "I don't… think I'm allowed in churches."

"The Bishop says he'll make an exception in your case."

"No. Seriously. I realise you're trying to menacingly abduct me, but I'm excommunicated."

The maimed priest sneered at this and said, "The Bishop said to tell you that the terms to even major excommunication means that you are obliged to appear when summoned by the Church!"

Trevor raised an eyebrow at this and blew out a frustrated sigh. "Well… shit," he muttered as the priests then escorted him out of the area, keeping their weapons trained on him.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! Chapter 38 and the second part of this arc is finished. The next part of this we'll see Aegon and Saeko learn about the Speakers wile Trevor Belmont sees just how batshit insane the Bishop really is followed by the battle for Gresit.

And we might also see Aegon slowly starting to develop his skill with his axe which was shown in this chapter, albeit briefly. More on that later.

And in regards to this story, I've set up a voting poll on my profile of what worlds Aegon and Saeko could travel to next before finally making their way back to Skellige. I won't say what options are available, but I've got some ideas of them. I might do two or three of the most popular choices before having Aegon and Saeko make their way back to Skellige where undoubtedly Geralt, Saya and Alice will be worried for them.

So, if you haven't already, feel free to cast your vote on the poll and we'll see what worlds are the most popular choice for Aegon and Saeko to travel to after the Castlevania arc.

And apart from that, I haven't got too much more to say about this, so I'll leave this here and catch you all later.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.