A Song of Ice, Fire & the Dead
…
Chapter 41: Hearth & Home
The morning light from the sun as it began its ascent in the sky seemed to shine brighter this day for the people of Gresit. It was not in the sense of illumination, but rather the sense of feeling after last night's accomplishments.
Dracula's Night Hordes had been successfully repelled. Before that, there had been a sense of dread and foreboding that hung like a dark cloud over the citizens of Gresit. Such a feeling was made worse when the Bishop and his lackies were running the show. But with the Bishop now out of the picture, presumably having been killed the horde of demons that attacked, along with most of the corrupt clergymen being killed or incarcerated, there was now a clean-up of Gresit. This was both figurative and literal in the sense of the word.
The literal sense was that the city was badly damaged during the battle against Dracula's armies. Many of the buildings and structures were broken apart or gutted out by the infernos. Then there was the count of the dead; of both the human kind and the monstrous kind. Sadly, many of the human dead had been carried off by the Night Creatures, whether for consumption or some other dark purpose, was not known at this time. But of the remaining human corpses, they had been respectfully carried to the village square so that a mass funeral service could be given by one of the priests who had not been party to the Bishop's corrupt influence over Gresit.
The bodies of the night creatures that had been slain by the makeshift militia led by Trevor, Aegon and Saeko were being drawn and quartered. The pieces themselves were cast down the sewage drain as a means of disposal and waste management. Some of the villagers were attempting to rebuild their homes, while others trembled in fear, awaiting perhaps a daring attack from Dracula's armies.
In all honesty, if were not for the efforts of Trevor, Sypha, Aegon and Saeko, it would've been much worse. Gresit was likely to have been destroyed by the night hordes and the city would've been wiped off the map, fading from memory within a few generations. Alucard had given his aid as well, but largely stayed in the shadows, working behind the scenes, as Trevor and others were hailed as heroes by the townsfolk. There was even talk of building statues in their honour.
Treading the path to the city gates, Trevor, Aegon and Saeko soon saw Sypha bidding her grandfather and tribe a sad farewell. Trevor was a little apprehensive in bidding the Codrii Speakers goodbye; he was a little annoyed that everything had been a ploy on the Elder's part in keeping him here, as a means of fulfilling a prophecy.
"You alright, Belmont?" Trevor heard Saeko ask him and looked at nodded.
"M'fine," he grunted with a forced smile.
"You sure?" Saeko raised an eyebrow at the answer she'd gotten from Trevor.
"Yes," came a grumbling reply from Trevor. Saeko exchanged a look with Aegon who gave a nod of understanding; it was plain to them that Trevor was a little annoyed at how things turned out. But they were all in this together now; they had to ride it out to the end, for good or ill.
The trio soon reached the city gates where they witnessed Sypha give her grandfather ne final hug goodbye as her fellow tribespeople loaded their wagon. Now that their business in Gresit was concluded, the Codrii Speakers would move onto the next city that needed their aid as the Pope had asked of them.
After finishing their embrace, the Elder saw Trevor and others watching them. "I cannot thank you enough for this," he said to them gratefully as he glanced at the barrels and crates of supplies loaded in the wagon. "I am very grateful that you purchased my people enough supplies for our journey ahead."
"Just repaying the kindness you showed us," Aegon replied respectfully. "Hopefully the other cities in Wallachia won't be as bad as Gresit," he said optimistically.
"One can certainly hope so, Aegon," the Elder said with a nod of his head.
As the Elder conversed with the others, Trevor had to refrain from making some rude remarks. He was still annoyed at the Elder's deception about why he wanted to keep him in Gresit. It was all Trevor could do to give the Elder a curt nod out of a modicum of respect for Sypha.
Giving one last farewell, the Elder climbed into the horse drawn wagon and the driver flicked the reins and the wagon shuddered and jolted as its wheels began to turn with the pair of horses pulling it. Sypha waved one last time to her grandfather, her expression one of sadness.
Noticing the Speaker's expression, Saeko laid a gentle hand on her robed shoulder. "They'll be alright, Sypha. You'll see them again soon," she assured her.
"I know… I know they must do it," Sypha said softly almost forlorn. "Other cities require their aid and have their stories remembered. I'm not… worried about them."
"You're worried about yourself," Trevor deduced. "You've always been with your tribe, haven't you? You've never travelled alone before," he said knowingly.
Sypha looked down at her sandalled feet and stated her worries. "Never. It's silly, isn't it? They're heading into who knows what's waiting for them out there, and I'm standing here sad and angry because they're together and I'm all alone!"
Trevor sighed and pursed his lips together, unsure of what to say to comfort Sypha in her moment of loneliness.
"You're not alone in this, Sypha," Saeko reminded the Speaker. "You have me, Aegon, Trevor and Alucard now. And I promise you that you will see your family again," she vowed solemnly.
Sypha looked up at Saeko smiled slightly, heartened to hear the words before she glanced at Trevor. Her expression soured as she saw that the Belmont scion wasn't offering any words of comfort like she hoped.
"This is where you're supposed to say something comforting, Belmont," she told him dryly and when this got no response, she said, "You're really not very good at this, are you?"
Trevor sighed and said, "I learnt to travel alone early. Maybe I just got too used to it."
Aegon and Saeko exchanged awkward glances with each other at Trevor's admission. "Didn't you have a family?" Aegon asked Trevor awkwardly.
Trevor gave a snort of derision. "Not much of one. And not for long," came his scornful words. He ran a hand over his face as he chose his words. "Look. I know a little bit about what you're feeling right now," he said to Sypha in his best comforting manner. "I'm sorry. But we have a thing to do now. All I can try and do is make sure you get out of this alive so you can see your family again."
Sypha stared Trevor flatly with a quirked eyebrow and asked, "That's your encouraging talk?"
Trevor's next words were even less encouraging. "Or you get killed and then eaten in the forest so none of you have to be sad. How's that?"
"Bad form, Belmont," Saeko chided the man.
Sypha supported Saeko's words saying to Trevor, "I was right about you the first time. You are rude!"
"I've been called worse," came Trevor's almost flippant response.
"Oh, I'm just getting started!" Sypha promised. The Speaker then began to think of better adjectives to call the Last Son of House Belmont to describe him as a rude and uncaring.
"He did… try," Aegon said weakly which made Sypha glared at him witheringly. "Well, he's probably not used to giving encouraging speeches to anyone," he then added as they headed for the Speakers' former hideout where Alucard sat within the dwelling.
The Son of Dracula was tracing a drawing into the dirt of the floor with a stick as he monologued to himself. "Alucard they called me. In opposite of you," he muttered softly to a drawing of his father he was tracing in the loose dirt. His face scrunched up slightly as he continued his rambling. "Mother never liked that. Did you know that?" he asked the drawing of his father's face. "She hated the idea that I might define myself by you." Alucard then began drawing his mother's face in the earth beside his father's. "Even in opposition of you."
Alucard's smile became fonder as he drew Lisa's more defining features. "She loved us both, enough that she wanted us to be our own people, living our own lives… making our choices," he rambled to the drawings of his parents. Finishing the drawing of Dracula and Lisa Tepes, Adrian gazed at the drawing with a sorrowful look in his pale gold eyes. "And so, here I am. Choosing to honour my mother by killing my father," he muttered to himself with self-loathing as he swiped the stick he used to trace his art into the dirt across the image of his father's face. "No longer Adrian Tepes. Choosing to be Alucard of Wallachia, the name of my mother's people," he declared to himself solemnly.
Tears began to prick Adrian's eyes and a single tear fell upon the eye of Lisa's likeness. Rubbing his eyes to dry them out, Alucard looked at the drawing of his mother with a sorrowful look.
Hearing the thumping heartbeats of his companions, Alucard brushed his hand across the drawing of his parents, wiping them away and saying, "And so we begin again."
With his inhuman hearing, he heard the conversation Trevor was having with the others.
"I'm a nice person. I am!" Trevor stressed defensively. "I know how to be nice!" he swore.
"No, you don't," Sypha refuted.
"Considering you how act around others, it's hard to believe that you can be nice to anyone, Trevor," Saeko also said to the Belmont.
"I'm nice to everybody I meet!" Trevor whined like a child wanting sweets.
"So, if you're nice to everyone you meet, then why do people punch you in the face?" Aegon deadpanned.
"Because they're horrible pieces of shit!" came Trevor's irritated words.
"See?"
"What?"
"The kind of drunk that you are," Saeko informed Trevor.
"I'm not that much of a drunk!" protested Trevor.
Aegon, Saeko and Sypha just shook their heads at Trevor's childishness before greeting Alucard who appeared to be waiting for them.
"How do we proceed?" was Sypha's first question to the son of Dracula.
"Have the Speakers left?"
"They have. We just saw them leave," Aegon answered Alucard's query.
Alucard then looked at Sypha and said to her kindly, much more kindly than Trevor's half-assed attempt earlier, "I'm sorry. In success, you will see them again soon. In happier circumstances."
Sypha smiled, appreciative of Alucard's words before looking at Trevor smugly. "See? Even he knows how to be nice," she pointed out.
"Perhaps you could take a leaf out of Alucard's book, Trevor," Saeko supplied with some humour making Trevor grumble at the dig at his character.
With that aside, Sypha then asked the questions burning on her tongue, "So is it true then? Dracula's castle can move? I've heard the stories, but it is hard to separate the myths from the facts," she stated.
"Move?" Aegon repeated. "Does it walk around on two or more legs?" he asked.
Trevor began rummaging through the wreckage of the house saying over his shoulder, "You might as well tell them, Alucard. Sypha's day can't get any much worse."
Alucard shot the vampire hunter an irritated look but he obliged with the information. "Dracula's castle moves," he confirmed but was quick to add, "And no; not on two or more legs." He looked at Aegon when spoke those words. "It travels without moving. It appears in locations as if… hm, as if by magic, if that is the appropriate way to describe it," he said.
"Is there a way we could force the castle to land somewhere where we can get to it easily?" Saeko voiced the thought. "There must be a way to trap it somehow, prevent from moving," she said.
Trevor's words then surprised them. "I want to go home."
Everyone looked over to see Trevor tossing aside some broken bottles.
"Are you drunk again?" Aegon asked looking at the man in disgusted annoyance. "I wouldn't be surprised if you snatched one or two bottles of medicinal spirits reserved for the wounded for yourself," he stated.
"Some chance," Trevor sneered. He stood and turned around to face everyone. "I want to go home. To the old Belmont estate," he said seriously.
This drew sceptical looks from Sypha and Alucard and confusion from Aegon and Saeko.
"I was under the impression that it was destroyed years ago," Alucard remarked. "Villagers, torches and pitchforks," he said almost mockingly.
Trevor didn't deny it as he said, "It was. But the value of the old house wasn't the house itself. It's what lay beneath it; the Belmont Hold. Our family library and trove."
Alucard looked intrigued at this line of thought. "The collective knowledge and materials of generations of Belmonts who fought the creatures of the night. That sounds interesting. If it survives," he emphasized the last sentence.
"if there are solutions to the problem of finding and killing Dracula, they are in the hold," Trevor said for all to hear.
"You're guessing, though," Alucard said almost accusingly to Trevor.
"I am guessing," Trevor admitted. "I… can't read or understand magic. But my family stored everything they found, including books of magic and whatever other weird stuff they came across. I just can't do anything with it!" He then looked at Sypha and Alucard meaningfully and said to them, "But you two can."
Trevor's words earned him a surprised reaction from Sypha who was undoubtedly wondering just what she could learn from the Belmont Hold. Ancient knowledge lost to the centuries, tomes, grimoires, books and the like. Alucard had a more playful reaction.
"Fortunate indeed then that I decided not to kill you and eat you, Belmont," he said the hunter.
"And that I decided against gutting you, flaying you and turning you into shoes, Alucard," Trevor's words dripped with sarcasm as he said them.
"Such a merry band we are," Sypha muttered sarcastically as she ushered Aegon and Saeko follow her out of the house. "We will find a covered wagon and some horses, if you two can manage not to kill each other while we're gone!" she said to the two immature men of the group.
"Oh, please," Alucard was quick to say, "We're not children."
Sypha's expression was one that said "You both act like it," before she took Aegon and Saeko with her to the market to procure what they needed for the journey.
And Sypha's thoughts about Alucard and Trevor came true because as soon as she was out of earshot, Trevor looked at Alucard and said to him, "Eat shit and die!"
"Yes, fuck you," came Alucard's reply.
The two men shared a chuckle as Trevor sat down on the floor, leaning his back against a crate. Alucard then asked him, "Do you really believe we could find the tools to kill my father in your old family home?"
"I'll be honest with you; I haven't any better ideas," Trevor confessed. "I know that right here, right now, we're underequipped for the job," he said.
"And going to your family home will help us prepare?" Alucard asked almost disbelievingly.
"It better, or else we're all fucked!"
"Even with Sypha, Aegon and Saeko by our sides?" Alucard inquired.
"Even with them," Trevor said.
Alucard contemplated this answer before looking at Trevor and asked him, "What do you do make our of two youngest companions?"
"Aegon and Saeko?" Trevor looked at the son of Dracula, curious at the question. "Why do you ask?"
"Indulge me, Belmont."
Trevor hummed in thought as he thought how to describe their two youngest companions. "They're… curious, I'll say. Both well trained for starters, and well-equipped. Aegon's sword and axe aren't like anything I've seen before. And Saeko's damn handy with those sabres of hers," he said.
"Katanas, actually."
"Eh?" Trevor looked at Alucard in confusion. "They're not sabres. They're called katanas, but one be forgiven for thinking so," the dhampir explained.
"Right…" Trevor continued on. "Aegon's axe also seems pretty special, magical even. When he threw it at the cyclops in the catacombs, it came back to his hand like some kind of boomerang," he stated.
"interesting. So, he may have the potential for magic," Alucard remarked.
"Maybe. I would know," Trevor replied. The hunter grinned as he said, "Not to mention he managed to bag a total looker like Saeko." The Belmont scion looked wistful as he spoke.
"I gathered that Aegon and Saeko are involved with each other romantically," Alucard said with a light smile. "I just hope it goes well for them," he added sombrely.
"Let's hope," Trevor said in apparent agreement.
"And some interesting words from Aegon and Saeko that stayed with me since I met them; they're between places, looking for a way home," Alucard recalled. "What do you make of that?" he asked Trevor.
"Maybe they were exiled," Trevor reasoned. "Maybe they got lost. Who knows?"
"Perhaps they will tell us what they meant soon," Alucard stated.
"We could make them tell us," Trevor ventured.
"Isn't it courteous to respect the privacy of others until they are comfortable to share personal information with you?" Alucard said blandly.
"Not saying I don't trust them," Trevor countered.
"Then what?" Alucard pressed.
Trevor threw up his arms and replied, "Forget it. Not important."
Alucard wisely chose to drop the subject but he did say to the hunter, "I'm trusting you, Belmont. Don't make me regret this."
Trevor simply gave a small smirk at Alucard's veiled warning. "Everybody regrets it in the end."
Meanwhile, Sypha, Aegon and Saeko were heading for the one place they could purchase a wagon, horses and supplies for their journey to the Belmont estate; the town livery and stables. Sypha also took the time to get to know her younger companions and get their opinion on things.
"So, what do you both make of Alucard?" the Speaker magician asked the two warriors who looked at her in mild surprise.
"He seems nice," Aegon said neutrally. "He's polite enough, our first encounter with him not withstanding, but he's willing to help stop his father's genocide of humanity," he added.
Saeko nodded her head in agreement with her lover's words. "Yes. It might also be hard on him as well, to go up against his father, to kill him even, for the sake of a world that has only brought him pain."
"And what about Trevor? What do you think of him?" came Sypha's next question.
"A drunk for the most part, but he seems… sad?" Aegon aired out hesitantly.
"How do you mean?" Sypha questioned.
"Well, I think he and Alucard are similar; both shunned by humanity for the most part, despite the good they've done for others and weighed down by their families' legacies," Aegon clarified more eloquently. "Heh, I guess I can relate to that," he said with a bitter laugh.
"You belong to a great family too, don't you?" Sypha looked interested at this.
"Well that's the thing. I'm not so sure anymore," Aegon admitted reluctantly. "I'm faced the prospect of questioning whether I am who I say I am or not," he said.
Sypha nodded at this before she looked at Saeko.
"I agree with Aegon's words about Trevor being similar to Alucard in some ways," the samurai said. "Alucard's words in the catacombs about being slaves to family wishes; I think Trevor knows what that's like better than most do," she added. "He also feels… tired, worn out, distant and angry at the world," she then said.
"I gathered that too," Sypha said reluctantly with a small sigh. "It's hard to live in a world that is cold to you. At best, all you can do is adapt to survive in it," she stated.
"You're speaking from experience," Saeko noted.
"For the most part, yes," Sypha confirmed. "Despite the word the Speakers do for others, we get a very mixed reception from those we help. At times, people thank us for our help, others we are treated with distrust because of our ways and being paganistic," she explained.
"Was this before or after the Bishop spread his lies?" Aegon asked.
"Before. The late Bishop simply pushed that distrust to new heights with his lies and propaganda," the Speaker replied. "People fear what they don't know and hate what they don't understand," she said morosely.
Making their way to the markets, Aegon and Saeko began to purchase the supplies they needed for the journey. After procuring what they needed, the three then made their way to the town livery where they purchased a wagon big enough to carry them and the supplies they bought, and bought two healthy and strong horses to draw the wagon.
Time passed as the five companions eventually left the city of Gresit, the city gates closing behind them as the horse drawn wagon drove them to their destination. Trevor and Sypha sat at the driver's seat with the latter controlling the reins of the horses. Aegon, Saeko and Alucard sat in the back with the supplies. Saeko sat on Aegon's lap, resting her head on the spot where his shoulder met his neck. Aegon smiled as he did not this position, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's hips, pulling her closer to him. Saeko leaned further into her boyfriend's arms. Alucard watched the two lovers with something approaching envy in his pale gold eyes, being reminded of the softer moments his parents had with each other.
Hours later when night had fallen over the landscape, the company made camp to eat supper and rest for the night. The horses were tied to a nearby tree, feeding on some hay the company had purchased for them. As for the five, they sat around a campfire enjoying a meal that Saeko had cooked for them all.
"This is good stew," Alucard gave his compliments as he ate another spoonful of stew, eating it slowly as he savoured the rich warm taste of it. The taste reminded him of the cooking his mother did for him and his father.
"After eating dried goods for so long, this stew is eating mana from heaven!" Sypha gushed as she gleefully chowed down her meal.
Trevor did not say anything to compliment Saeko's cooking, but his actions in getting himself a second serving told everyone that he was enjoying it.
"It isn't much, but I'm glad you're all enjoying it," Saeko said modestly before she looked at her lover and asked, "What about you, Egg?"
Aegon grinned at the question and kissed his girlfriend on the lips who returned the kiss back eagerly.
"Ugh, really? Right now? When we're eating?" Trevor joked making a face at the display of affection. "Get a room you two!"
"We just might," Saeko said with a sinful look in her blue eyes. "Can't promise we'll be quiet about it," she warned playfully.
"Jammy bastard!" Trevor muttered under his breath looking at Aegon who simply gave a shit-eating grin in response.
Saeko looked at Alucard who was calmly eating his stew and she said, "I thought vampires only partook of blood, not… human cuisine."
This gave Alucard pause before he replied, "That is a blatant stereotype, Saeko."
"But it's true," Trevor was quick to point out.
Alucard sighed at Trevor's words before saying, "Vampires can still consume ordinary food. It can help sustain their bodies and normal feeding habits like any other animal in the world."
"But…?"
"…Vampires consume blood in order to restore their health, their power and relieve fatigue," Alucard finished the sentence. "More importantly however, it gives them the zeal of life," he said.
"I'm also not completely sure how you can walk about in the sunlight and not catch fire," Sypha then said to Alucard.
"I am half-human, a dhampir," Alucard revealed to everyone. "My mother's name was Lisa, and she was mortal," he stated.
Sypha, Saeko and Aegon were surprised to hear this revelation, whereas Trevor, while taken aback by this, hid his reaction well. "How did that come pass?" Aegon asked, his tone quizzical. "Was your mother a… captive of your father?"
Alucard shook his head and said, "She showed up on his front door. She found the castle and banged on the front door with the pommel of her knife."
"Why did she do that? Was there no doorbell or knocker?" Saeko asked.
"There were neither," Alucard said. "My father was not the sort to want visitors. My mother used the pommel of her knife because her hands wouldn't have done anything. She had to improvise as it were."
"Your mother sounds very interesting," Sypha remarked.
"She was remarkable," Alucard said with a small smile. "She beat on the front door until my father let her in and she demanded he teach her how to be a doctor," he added.
Upon hearing this detail, Trevor chose to comment. "Wait. Dracula taught a human woman how to be a doctor? What was first, blood letting?" Trevor's joke was rather coarse in taste as he laughed at it.
"Have a little respect, Belmont," Aegon chided the hunter. "The woman was murdered by a corrupt church," he pointed out.
Alucard nodded his thanks to Aegon for the words before speaking, "My father-"
"Dracula," Trevor quickly interjected.
Alucard continued despite the interruption. "-is a man of science, a philosopher, a scholar and knows things our world has forgotten three times over." The dhampir then looked at his companions, but more so at Trevor. "Do you not understand the gravity of the situation? My father has gone mad and from that, there is no hope of recovery for him."
"Shame," Trevor callously.
"It is a great tragedy. He's a repository of centuries of learning. He had it in him to change the world for the better. He might've if mother hadn't died," Alucard said sadly as he recalled what his mother did. "She sent him out into the world, same with me at one point. That's why neither of were there when the Bishop and his men took her," he added.
"Why did your mother send you both out into the world?" Aegon asked.
"She sent my father to travel. To see the state of the world, the true nature of humans, how they live," Alucard explained. "For me, she wanted me to interact with lives outside of my home and connect more with my human heritage."
Sypha realised something and voiced it. "She was changing him."
"More like getting him to rediscover and connect back with his humanity after centuries of being disconnected from it," Alucard corrected the Speaker. "You could imagine what he might've done for humanity with his knowledge, to improve lives. But the religious inquisition only proved his worst instincts about humanity," he said bitterly.
"And now he's using her death as an excuse to destroy the world," Trevor said snidely.
Alucard looked away and replied, "The world will still be here, Belmont. The trees will grow, the birds will still sing and animals will still hump away in the undergrowth. But you won't be here," he emphasized and repeated that sentence to the others before continuing. "None of you. The sun will set, but you will not see it rise." That cryptic statement set everyone on edge. "There will only be Dracula, his war council and the hordes of the night."
"So, Dracula means to end the human race? Permanently?" Saeko asked with dread filling her stomach.
Alucard did not answer Saeko's question right away as he stared into the campfire. "He writes in great books, you know. He hews the covers himself from oak and wraps them in the preserved skin of those he hated most.
Aegon had to suppress a shudder of disgust at that detail. He was reminded of the stories of House Bolton of the Northern Kingdom of Westeros; they were infamous for the practice of flaying people and wearing their skins and cloaks and trophies, but the Starks of Winterfell had seen fit to put a stop to such a vile practice. But even then, there were rumours that the Boltons continued their grisly tradition.
"And he writes plans. I've seen them," Alucard continued. "Ideas for darkening the skies and making them as permanent as the icy frosts of the north. Great flying machines that pull shrouds of the sky to block out the sun. Can you imagine it? A world without humans under endless invented night. And Dracula, sitting in his castle, his revenge so complete that there is nothing left to do but look upon his work; a world without art or memory or laughter, knowing that he did it well. All for love." Alucard scowled at this.
"Well, this was a cheery conversation," Aegon muttered as the air had grown thick with tension at the revelation of Dracula's plans when the sound of something approaching in the distance was heard.
"You hear that?" Trevor asked everyone.
"Animals humping in the undergrowth," Alucard said dismissively, but the sound came again, louder and closer; a gurgling growl of something foul and inhuman. "Wait… no," Alucard realised.
Rising to his feet quickly, Trevor kicked over snow and dirt onto the campfire to douse it. "Which is the closest town?" he asked everyone as they rose to their feet as well. "Is it still Gresit?" he wondered.
"Arges is closer to us," Sypha replied.
"It doesn't matter," Aegon stated as he drew Blackfyre. "This may be a war party on its way. Better we stop them here than let them pass by," he said.
"Agreed."
The sound of footsteps and scraping across the snowy ground was heard, coming closer and closer, the five companions went into action. Trevor quickly scaled a nearby tree with surprising acrobatic skill. Alucard went directly out onto the road to face the threat head on. Aegon and Saeko went on either side of the road, to flank whatever was coming towards them. Sypha hung back, still deciding what she needed to do to support her friends.
As the group was relatively new, their teamwork still needed some work. Tonight would be a test of their skills and ability to work together.
Reaching the edge of the clearing, Alucard saw eight night creatures making their way down the road. Two of them were hunched over reptilian beasts with wings for arms, a long tail and a mouth filled with razor sharp fangs. Three resembled hairless hybrids of man and bat. One was a minotaur-like creature with wings attached to its arms. Another of the beasts was a bipedal creature with sharp claws, a long bird-like beak, a whip thin tail and carrying in its clawed hands a long spear. The last of the monsters was an enormous wolf-like monstrosity that towered over its fellows.
Alucard identified three of the night creatures by sight alone; the minotaur was a gabion, the bipedal bird was a slogra and the wolf-like creature was a hellhound.
Standing in the middle of the road to block the war party's path, Alucard drew his estoc sword and went into a sword fencer's stance. "No further," he warned loudly enough for the war party to hear.
With a yowl, the reptilian night-creatures dashed towards the dhampir, leaping towards him, their clawed hindlegs stretched out. Alucard's form glowed red before disappearing in a blur of movement. Moving around to the side of the night creatures, Alucard thrust his estoc, the long thin blade glowing with bluebell flames and skewered the night creatures through their necks in a single clean thrust. The flames quickly lit up the night creatures' bodies, killing them instantly.
Flicking the dead beasts off his sword with contemptuous ease, Alucard raised his blade towards the rest of the war party, openly daring them to attack.
The gaibon and the slogra howled in anger, leaping into the night air. The gaibon latched its taloned feet around the shoulders of the slogra, carrying it forward for an attack. Diving in, the gaibon launched the slogra, giving it more acceleration and speed for an advantage. The slogra spun like a top, lunging with its spear at Alucard who parried the attack and stepped back. The result of the parry however forced the slogra's spear to be embedded in the snowy earth.
Even with its weapon lodged in the ground, this didn't stop the slogra as it used the haft to spin itself around to launch a kick at the dhampir. The assault failed, but the creature freed it spear from the frozen earth. The slogra lunged with its spear again, which Alucard again parried with his estoc.
Flying in from behind the gaibon came in close, flames forming its toothy maw before blasting out a gout of hellfire at Alucard. The dhampir quickly rolled out of the way, deflecting another strike from the slogra's spear. The monster vaulted over Alucard and was soon taken into the air by the gaibon that fired off another attack.
The winged night creature came in for another attack when the sound of something snapping and cracking struck the beast in the head. The flesh from its head was ripped in half, killing instantly and falling to the ground. The slogra fell to the earth as well, dropping its spear in the process.
Glancing up at the tree, Alucard sighted Trevor standing among the branches, retracting his whip. The hunter slid off the branches to land on the ground.
The slogra had gotten back onto its feet and made to retrieve its spear, but it was snatched away by Trevor using his whip to grab it. The Vampire Hunter quickly hurled the spear back at its owner, impaling it through the chest. Trevor gave a smug grin at Alucard, but this was quickly forgotten as multiple fireballs came towards them. Avoiding the blasts, the pair saw their present attackers to be the hairless man-bat things. Dipping and dodging, Alucard and Trevor sought to get out of the creatures' line of fire.
Then coming in from the flanks were Aegon and Saeko. Using their longsword and katana like baseball bats, the two young warriors batted away the fireballs, rebounding them away from Alucard and Trevor. The man-bats then increased their rate of fire making it harder for Aegon and Saeko to deflect the fiery projectiles.
Then as four fireballs came within inches of striking their targets, they abruptly stopped, flickering like candles in the night. Looking over, the four warriors were surprised to see Sypha, her hands spread and glowing with orange red light. With almost dance-like movements, Sypha hurled the fireballs back at their owners, felling them easily. All that was left was the hellhound and it wouldn't go down without a fight.
With a roar of fury at the death of its companions, the hellhound opened its maw, an inferno raging inside it, the glow seeping through its deep chest. The light travelled up its gullet then with a mighty roar, a great jet of hellfire shot out from the hellhound's mouth.
The surging heat and fire came for Sypha who thrust out her hands, using her magic to block the inferno head-on. Although her magic dissipated the flames, the Speaker magician was pushed back a few feet. Sypha then glared at the hellhound, daring it to try again. Hellfire began to build up in the monster's chest, preparing to let loose another stream of hellfire. Sypha formed her own fire in the palms of her hands. Focussing on her flames, connecting them with the one in the hellhound's, Sypha condensed it. The hellhound then tried to let out a gout of flame, but to its surprise it could not, beginning to choke and gag on the buildup of heat and fire in its gut. The flames inside grew brighter and brighter before Sypha brought her hands together and the hellhound's body began to bulge before it exploded in a shower of flame, killing it in the process.
"Nice trick," Saeko complimented the Speaker, moving to stand beside her.
"Brutal, but it gets the job done," Trevor also put in.
"Is that all of them?" was Sypha's question to everyone.
Aegon soon spotted one of the night creatures had survived the blast. It quickly took to the skies. "There! Stop it before it gets away!" he shouted.
Alucard ran after the beast, but it was too late as the beast as if given a second wind, flew off into the darkened horizon.
"Damn!" the dhampir cursed as he made his back to the group.
"Shit, it got away," Trevor muttered in annoyance at this detail.
"Where do you think it will go to?" Saeko asked.
"Back to my father's castle no doubt," Alucard answered Saeko's question. "Undoubtedly, it will inform my father that it had seen us and that we had dispatched its war party. We must tread carefully now," he advised everyone.
Trevor sighed before speaking, "We'd better get some rest. I'll take the first watch," he told everyone. But before everyone else turned in, Trevor did say to Aegon and Saeko, "Oh, and if you two would keep any animalistic grunts to a minimum, I'd really appreciate it, thanks."
Aegon rolled his eyes at Trevor's coarse joke whereas Saeko gave a little giggle, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's neck and saying to Trevor, "No promises."
Trevor gave a groan of annoyance as he prepared to relight the fire to stave off the wintery air while everyone got into the back of the wagon to get some sleep with Aegon offering to take the second shift and Trevor joked that he would be too tired to take the second shift after Saeko was done with him. Aegon flipped the vampire hunter the bird in response.
A few days and nights later, Trevor was sitting at the driver's seat, fighting the urge to fall asleep. Things had been tense since their encounter with the night creature war party, everyone had taken turns to keep watch, but the toll of it was getting to them. Trevor had taken a nap during the day to get some rest. Alucard had done the same while Aegon, Saeko and Sypha drove the wagon and kept watch for any more night creatures.
Turning in his seat a little, Trevor's eyes widened and he sat up in his seat as recognised something very familiar from his childhood.
"There!" he called out, pointing to a huge dead tree on their left.
Seeing the tree from her spot, Saeko asked, "What's so important about it? It's just a dead tree."
"It's my tree," Trevor corrected with some childish excitement. "I used to play in that three. We're nearly at the house!" he exclaimed.
Sypha popped out her head from the back of the wagon and remarked, "Hard to imagine you playing."
Aegon also popped his head out to comment. "Can you imagine Trevor's head on a child's body?" he joked.
Everyone, bar Trevor, chuckled at the jest. "It would explain his childish, immature behaviour," Alucard said mirthfully.
"Shut up, Alucard!"
"Why? He's just stating the obvious," Sypha said with a coy smirk.
"Well, that tree was everything to me," Trevor said in defence of his childhood. "It was my home away from home. My boat and my fort. It was anything I wanted it to be." Letting an audible sigh, Trevor looked at the tree from his childhood saying to it, "Goodnight tree. Sleep well."
The group eventually reached the estate, or what was left of it, within a few minutes. The fountain was dry as a bone. There were some broken segments of an otherwise intact railing and the house itself was destroyed from the ground floor to the top. The annexed tower looked untouched on the outside, but the inside of it was another matter entirely. Creeper vines of violet flowers grew and wrapped around the walls of the main segment of the broken building.
Trevor was lost in thought, his mind in a far-off memory, picturing what the Belmont Estate was like when it was whole, like his family. Before that fateful night when his life had irrevocably changed for the worse. Now he was all that was left of the House of Belmont, a reflection of the estate's current condition.
Entering the ruined home with torches in hand, everyone examined the broken structure as Sypha asked the question on everyone's minds.
"This was your home?"
"Yeah…"
"You grew up here?"
"Is that asking a question with an obvious answer?" Saeko said to Sypha who smiled apologetically.
"It's hard for me to imagine what it's like to live & grow up in a single place."
Aegon nodded at this, feeling some resonance in those words; for much of his childhood, he lived sailing along the River Rhoyne, going from place to place, taking whatever work was to be found among the fishing villages. He could certainly understand the nomadic lifestyle of the Speakers.
"It was… it was fine," Trevor said simply to dismiss Sypha's question. "Wasn't the worst way to grow up," he added.
"How old were you when your family home was taken from you?" Alucard asked.
"Thirteen, fourteen," Trevor said blithely. "Something like that," he added absently.
Saeko glanced at the vampire hunter sceptically; at that age, one would certainly remember such a harrowing event. If it happened at an earlier age, having hazy memories of such an incident could be forgiven. Saeko thought to herself that whatever happened the night Trevor's family and home were destroyed, he was trying to hide it or play it off; the trauma clearly ran deep.
Sypha's expression was one of sympathy as she said, "You've been on your own since you were thirteen?"
It was several moments before Trevor answered. "Maybe twelve. Who remembers that sort of thing?"
"I think it's something you should clearly remember, Trevor," Saeko pointed out to the Belmont scion. "You're clearly in denial, trying to play it off," she further said.
"Is there a point to this?" Trevor said acidly.
"I'm disturbed to learn that I had more of a childhood than you ever did," Alucard said wryly to the Belmont.
"And your dad is fucking Dracula."
A moment passed before everyone began chuckling at the comment Trevor had made. After their mirth died down, Trevor led them further into the ruined house, into a room where rubble and debris was evident. Trevor knelt down, digging through the rubble. "I think this is it," he stated as he found a large stone slab which clearly didn't belong there.
"Your hidden entrance looks like a hearthstone," Alucard said dryly as Belmont attempted to lift the stone slab.
"Just help me move it."
Alucard rolled his eyes, handing his torch to Aegon. While Trevor had to put in some effort to remove the debris, Alucard tossed aside the broken rocks and masonry like they were nothing but feathers. Trevor saw the dhampir's efforts and stood back to watch.
Within seconds, the rubble was cleared away, revealing the enormous stone slab. Having watched how effortlessly Alucard cleared away the rubble, Trevor felt slightly self-conscious of his own physical strength compared to that of Alucard's.
Alucard then looked at the hearthstone that was carved with an intricate design, the Belmont family crest carved in the centre of it.
"Congratulations. You have found a big piece of stone," Alucard's voice was thick with dry sarcasm.
Trevor ignored the caustic jibe and corrected the dhampir. "It's the door to the Hold below," he informed everyone.
"Do we lift it or…?" Sypha trailed off.
Alucard then tried to lift the hearthstone off, but for some reason he could not. He seemed to struggle and he grunted in frustration and exertion as he tried to get some purchase on the stone slab.
"That's odd," Alucard said through some pants. "I can't seem to get any purchase on it," he observed.
"And here I thought you were all big and strong," Trevor mocked the dhampir who glared at him.
"It's obvious," Saeko suddenly said as she kneeled down to examine the slab. "This is a magic door. We obviously need a special key or password or incantation to open it," she stated.
"Yes, that's what I was thinking too," Sypha agreed as she knelt down and began to examine the intricate carvings on the stone. "Did you see how your family lifted the stone off? A key perhaps? A password?" she asked Trevor.
"Erm, no, I never did," Trevor admitted sheepishly. "I was taken down into the hold after it was opened. They promised to show me how it was done when I got older," he said lamely.
"Were your parents magicians?" Sypha asked Trevor.
"Not as such," Trevor replied. "They knew a lot, but this door was put in by one of our ancestors. Must've been a special trick how to open it," he said.
"One that was passed down from parent to child, much like how the Speakers pass down information," Sypha theorised as she examined the carvings, finding runes carved on the stony surface. "Here's something," she muttered as she read the runes, going over them a few times before nodding.
"Stand back," she advised everyone. Raising her hands above the hearthstone, Sypha chanted six words in a strange language.
"Invocatio Mahorela Sor Gru Odo Teloch!"
The hearthstone glowed with bright light before disappearing, revealing a set of stairs leading down into the darkness below.
"Was that an Enochian ward?" Alucard asked Sypha who smiled smugly.
"Yes. I know that language."
Alucard smirked at this revelation. "Well, well. Naughty Belmonts, hunting down the terrible creatures of the night and sitting on a magic door opened by a cult language."
Trevor was clearly unamused by the jibe. "I didn't know it was a fucking magic door. It doesn't make us black magicians!" he protested gruffly.
"But you know the word Teloch means Death, right?" Alucard asked the hunter.
"Shut up…"
"It's the magical door of death, Belmont!" Alucard's tone was full of humour.
"So basically every teenage boy's bedroom door?" Saeko joked. This got a laugh from Sypha while Trevor said, "You coming or what?"
Everyone quickly descended down the stairs into the darkness below where the Belmont Hold awaited them.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There! Chapter 41 is done and dusted! Hope you all enjoyed it. So we got to see a little bit of action in this chapter. I cut it off right at where the group enters the Hold, because, one: my fingers are killing me at the time I write this. Two: got have a little suspense. So the next chapter we'll have the group explore the Hold and learn a little of the Belmonts' family history, plus find some useful items that they can use. We all know that Trevor gets his hands on the Morning Star Whip which he uses throughout the rest of the Castlevania series, but I was thinking that Aegon and Saeko get some useful items as well. Maybe not weapons or spells per se, but maybe some magical tomes of hidden knowledge they could take with them and prove to be useful later? Maybe a tome of arcane metallurgy that Aegon could use to unlock the secrets of Valyrian steel? Something to think about.
In other news, a couple of months ago last year, I published a plot bunny idea, an Elder Scrolls/Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire crossover titled A Young Griff's Guide to Skyrim; basically Aegon/Young Griff finding himself in Skyrim. And for that story, I set up a romance poll of a mix of Skyrim girls and GoT/ASOIAF lasses that Aegon could potentially end up with, plus some crossover ladies as well such as Triss Merigold from the Witcher. So, if you haven't already, feel free to cast your vote, I would very much appreciate it.
And that's about all I have right, need to rest my hands and get some sleep as I have to get up early to get ready for work in the morning.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.