"Dracula!" Carmilla cried as she rushed into the throne room. "They're coming!"
"Excellent. Pull our troops back from the forest and let them through" Dracula said.
"But sir!" Carmilla cried. Never in her life had she been genuinely afraid as she was now. "I've heard reports of their forces, they are at least five hundred strong! And not of ordinary men!"
"This was an inevitable outcome Carmilla. Do not let your failure in Japan tempt you astray here. They will come, and they will die just as all adventures have before them" Dracula said. His cold callous demeanor sent a shiver down Carmella's spine. Not out of disgust, but of trepidation. He was arrogant and overconfident despite the resolve of those plotting against him. Had he the foresight they never should have arrived at this situation in the first place.
She'd bet everything she had on the dark lords victory. Her life, her immortality, her humanity, her morality. He was supposed to be a promise. A never-ending cycle of death and rebirth that could only lead to victory, no matter how long she needed to wait for it.
Now she didn't feel so sure.
"I didn't fail in Japan" Carmilla said with a clenched fist. "I absorbed the magical energy from the shrines and fed them straight to you! I gave you power, a nations worth!"
"Losing the diadem and the Necronomicon in the process" Dracula said. "I'm not so old as to forget such details easily. Now leave me to my own biddings and prepare our defenses"
"Yes sir" Carmilla saluted. She was going to fix this. If Dracula couldn't be trusted she'd do so herself. Whatever it takes.
The legions in the sky were thinning. The air was bursting with light and the crackle of thunder. Any pedestrian out and about would have confused it with thunder. But Alucard knew better.
His foot dropped further on the peddle, and the engine of the car roared in response.
"We're too late" Olga said. She shifted forward in her seat, watching the hordes of monsters soaring miles ahead and sink into the depths of Dracula's Castle.
"Not quite" Alucard said. He reached behind his seat with one hand and handed her a pair of binoculars. Olga struggled to hold them steady amidst the bouncing of the car. In just those few seconds she could already feel the onset of motion sickness coming on.
*BOOM* came another crackle of light shooting up from the ground. A space in the demonic horde parted but continued its path unabated.
"They're not fighting back" Olga said, setting down the binoculars.
"Vampires of that sort aren't of much use to the dark lord" Alucard said. "He's never been fond of turning large numbers of people. I doubt he even granted them the luxury of resurrection"
"He's using them as a meat shield?" Olga said, tapping her lips as she thought. "Julius must have realized the same by now"
The castle grew steadily closer as they approached.
Julius resisted the urge to cover his ears as the mages sent another burst of mana up into the sky. If they didn't want to fight back it was fine with him. He'd eliminate as many as he could before the spilling of human blood.
Quite obviously, they were walking into a trap. Julius had hoped that the dark lord would send some of his forces out from beyond the castle walls to face them, but he must have recognized the advantage that gave them. Even so, he didn't hurry his forces along their march towards the castle. It was after one in the morning and only a few hours away from first light. At their current pace, they'd arrive just in time.
"The soldiers will be tired by the time we arrive" Jonathon said. "None of us have slept tonight"
"We either fight tired or we fight in the dark" Julius said.
The true vampires of Dracula's castle wouldn't die in direct sunlight, but many of their lackeys and lesser beings would. The vampires flapping around them were such things. Humans, transformed in hast with mediocre strength. Creatures like that were more beast than demon.
"I think we should split up. One Belmont is more than enough, and they'll likely try to attack our flank" Jonathon said.
"Aye" Julius said. Jonathon stepped around him to address the soldiers but Julius grabbed his shoulder without turning around. "Be careful, my friend" he said, and the old vampire hunter broke off.
Julius waited for a break in the mages bombardment before calling "Clovis, come here!"
The bearded man came rushing forward. "Yes sir" he said.
"Alucard and Miss Belnades haven't returned yet, I want you send a group to our flank to find them and bring them to me as soon as they do. If they don't make it back before sunrise, you're to take command of the western front." Julius said.
"Understood" Clovis saluted and disappeared to carry out his orders.
Julius fidgeted in his coat until he found his pocket watch. It wasn't one of his magical tools used to slow time, but an ordinary brass clock. It was a quarter to two in the morning. By his estimate they were about five miles from the castle gates. They'd need to slow pace again, or find somewhere to take refuge.
He wished Carrie were here, or even Olga, but he couldn't keep either of them near, less he incidentally harm them with the magic canceling powers of his whip. Several Belmont's before him were able to adapt to such things, but he feared for the unpredictability of this castle. This wasn't like before.
Something stirred from the corner of his eye. Julius quickly raised a hand to halt the advance of his troops. The forest was dark except for the periodic flicker of light as the mages behind him cracked lightning towards the sky. Each flicker revealed shadows and branches drifting in the subtle wind, but that wasn't what caught his attention. Up ahead he could faintly make out the outline of something short and unnaturally straight. At first he mistook it for a lantern whose light had burnt out, but he had no recollection of such structures when he last walked these woods.
Julius unhooked Vampire Killer from his belt and softened his steps as he drew forward. The structure didn't move as he approached and the outline grew more defined. It reminded him of being spooked in forests like this when he was a child. During that time, the "monsters" would always change shape into something harmless as he came close. But this structure, this "monster" didn't change.
His ears bled with the illuminating boom as he instantaneously saw the shriveled head impaled atop a spike sticking straight up from the ground. With the next spark of lightning he saw more waiting in the path ahead. Hundreds more. Some with entire bodies pierced into the air, heads still attached.
"We haven't got a choice, we have to push forward" Julius said quietly. He'd chosen most of these soldiers himself, he must trust them. But if he did why did he need to convince himself so?
"ALRIGHT!" Julius said, his voice transforming into a yell. "Dracula will die tonight!"
His orders disseminated amongst the troops, and the army marched forward at a hastened pace.
Carrie walked quietly with her hood up. She was near the middle of the central forces where Julius hopefully marched not too far ahead. They'd suddenly quickened their pace and it was soon apparent as to why.
This type of scenery wasn't new to her, but she could understand why Julius would choose to move the way he did. Most of these people hadn't come to terms with their upcoming death yet, and Julius's stubborn insistence on instilling hope could become a liability should that hope begin to wilt. He was a true leader and a miracle among the Belmont's. Reinhardt? Jonathon? Trevor? None of them had the compassion nor the charisma to lead an army to their end like this. She prayed Julius wouldn't take his ideology serious enough to get himself hurt. Although such a fate was perhaps destined to occur. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was the death of the Dark Lord.
A tear dropped onto her boot as she walked.
She paused suddenly. The soldiers jumped to step around her but didn't bother to say a word. It was quiet. The sky was filled nothing but stars and the eerie crackle of magical artillery had finally halted.
"It's beautiful" Carrie said. She caught the terrified glimpse of one of the men marching forward. He was likely still fixated on the impaled bodies surrounding them. She let out a long breath. "It's okay if you see me as a monster. You wouldn't be the first" she said, but the man was already far ahead.
Carrie broke out of the formation and found a tree with low handing branches she could climb. The night air was colder from the peak, and the wind blew stronger. The castle was larger than she remembered from her time. It loomed over them like a mountain, still a few miles away but so enormous it seemed as though she could reach out and touch its walls. The thought reminded her of her past and what that stone really felt like; cold like ice, and rough as sandpaper.
There was nothing else so far as the eye could see. If any of Dracula's forces waited for them in the forest they were taking care to mask their presence. Carrie closed her eyes, and opened them again. Her red eyes glowed in the night with her ignited powers, the true nature of the magic of the Fernandez clan.
The air became filled with specks of golden dust, flowing about the environment without regard for wind or walls. The specks gathered in a tornado around each of the soldiers and glowed especially bright around the mages. Each piece reflected an echo of the magical currents flowing between all things. A great current flowed in the air high above them like a lake. Tentacles spread out from all directions around the castle, gathering dark energy from all the world and directing it towards its epicenter, sitting high atop the throne. One such branch flowing east glowed noticeably brighter than all the rest. Were Carrie to follow it for thousands of miles she'd no doubt it would lead directly to Hakuba Shrine.
But that wasn't all, for even the dead still cast the faintest echo of life. The bodies of the impaled spread vast along about the castles exterior. The golden fragments weaved together like a fabric, masking everything underneath. If there were nightmares hiding within the trees, Carrie could never distinguish them from the noise. Which was strange.
Carrie was no stranger to death, and she'd had a lifetime to practice and hone her powers with the guidance of the Necronomicon. The dead did indeed give off such a presence, but it was always dim in comparison to the living. Unless…..
Carrie gulped with the realization. Most of the bodies below were still alive.
Carrie leapt down from the tree, using magic to soften her landing. Most of the soldiers were fixated on the path ahead of them, so long as they continued to do so they shouldn't notice the torment of the dying. Julius was what concerned her the most. If he knew he'd try to save them, or command the soldiers to end their lives quickly. It'd crush their morale.
"No" Carrie said. She sped up to the front of the line until she found Julius.
"Hey" Carrie said. "You need a plan, what's your plan?"
"We've split into three groups, our forces are headed towards the main gate. Hopefully that'll force our enemy to reveal themselves, and we'll hold out long enough for reinforcements to plan accordingly." Julius said.
"That's it? That's your brilliant plan?" Carrie said with fury in her voice. She hoped she wasn't overdoing it.
"Aye" Julius said. Which caught Carrie off guard, she hadn't expected such a simple answer. "And what will you do? It's clear you don't plan on giving orders nor following them. The time for games is over, this is real"
"Yes" Carrie said softly. It was oddly mature of Julius to act this way. The stress of the upcoming battle was likely getting to him. The man she'd known for all these months was gone beneath that hard armor he'd wrapped himself with. "I've detected a field around the castle's exterior that I think will cause the soldiers to hallucinate. They won't see things that aren't there, but things may seem more terrifying than they truly are."
"That's odd, none of the other mages reported anything like that" Julius said.
"I'm not like other mages" Carrie said.
"Indeed" Julius said, staring deep into her red eyes. "I'll spread the word."
The real world was a dark place. Too dark for Carrie to ever emerge as a champion of the light again. But there was still hope for Julius and the others. And still hope of a second chance for the next incarnation of Dracula. She needed to preserve that light, and ignorance was the only way to bliss. Placebos helped too.
"Good, I'm going to scout ahead then. Maybe I'll trip some of those traps you're waiting for" Carrie said, and turned around. She felt a tug on her arm.
"I know I can't stop you this time. But come back alive, and be careful okay?" Julius said.
Carrie forced herself to smile and said "Whatever awaits, I have no regrets".
A fog shrouded the landscape and Julius soon lost sight of Carrie as she drifted ahead.
"Commander!" came a familiar voice behind him.
"You've finally returned! Olga" Julius said. He was unsurprised to see that Alucard wasn't with her. "Have you heard word from Alucard?"
"He's here, there's something he felt he needed to do inside the castle so he rushed off" Olga said. She handed him a small stone as she spoke. "He's not one for technology, but he left this to keep in touch."
Julius stuffed the artifact inside his trench coat. One more thing to carry wouldn't kill him, but it was inconvenient to have to carry so many different modes of communication. "Very well" Julius said. "I need you to take charge of the western front. Clovis is over there right now."
"With the Bishop?" Olga said. "Oh that can't be good."
"He's read through most of the Belmont scrolls and has some of the Ecclesian artifacts. We need someone like that on all fronts" Julius said. "I'm glad to see you're okay Olga, stay safe"
Olga paused for a moment. She acknowledged the situation and left without any backtalk. It felt odd seeing Olga behave this way, like it were out of character for her.
Julius struggled to shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.