(Chapter 8: The one who made you)
The hooves of four splendid horses, whose coat was as dark as night, pounded the dead leaves that were scattered around the forest, producing a crunch and a faint thud each time they smashed into the Earth. Above the riders flew the vampire family, their wings sounding like miniature booms of thunder each time they beat together.
"Van Helsing, I'm afraid that Lord Ruthven and his forces are fifteen miles South of Tevice. The village lies to our East." Aidan revealed.
"How close are we?" Gabriel asked.
"We've still got a bit to travel, which means there's good news and bad news." Aidan replied before sighing. "They need just two more villages to obtain the amount of blood they need to power the whistle, Tevice and Ostrokov are the closest ones to their current location, but Ostrokov is several hours away from Tevice. If we take another path, we could possibly meet them at Ostrokov before they can do any damage."
As Van Helsing and Aidan spoke amongst themselves, a curious Aleera eavesdropped on what they were saying. So many mentions of blood began to have her mouth grow warm, saliva rapidly building up, forcing her to swallow her own spit.
"Ahhh…my mouth is watering!" She chirped deviously before breaking into a fit of wicked laughter that she and her sister Marishka were known for. Father Valentino heard all of this and he snapped his attention towards the monster-hunter.
"Van Helsing, do you hear her? They're going to betray us the second they get a chance to…" The priest warned.
"They won't—" Gabriel began, glancing up towards the vampires who were flying over their heads and slightly off to the side. "Even if they so much as think of betraying us, I'll keep them in line. Don't you worry!"
"Fork in the road, up ahead!" Aidan called out and they slowed down. A wooden sign stood in the middle of the divergent path, Ostrokov to the East, Tevice to the West.
"I say we meet them at Ostrokov and cut them off." Friar Carl suggested.
"I'm with the monk." Father Valentino said.
"Any other suggestions?" Aidan asked aloud to receive silence in response. "Very well then, to Ostrokov it is!"
(Several hours later…)
(Tevice)
The small lake-side city of Tevice was in flames, buildings had collapsed, the citizens of the town; man, woman, and children alike; all slaughtered without mercy. Having been seduced by Lord Ruthven's silver tongue, false promises of riches just to unleash the werewolf horde upon them all.
Lord Ruthven and Clint overlooked the massacre that was still being carried out, none would be spared this dreadful night. The screams of those that were dying echoed all around as the smell of smoke lingered heavily over the doomed town, columns of flame spiraling and twisting to the sky, the embers of the inferno dancing around in the air like twisted unholy fireworks.
The ruthless vampire glanced down at the Blood Whistle, which rattled in his hands, the red glow starting to slowly intensify the more the carnage continued.
"It won't be long, Clint…" Lord Ruthven spoke with an unmatched coldness to his voice. "Just one more to go and we'll have enough to resurrect her."
As he spoke, the two watched as a massive stone statue of a maiden holding a sword and shield was pulled down. A symbol of hope crumbling into massive chunks and pieces that crushed those trying to flee the bloody scene, dust and smoke engulfing where the statue once existed.
"It's beautiful." Clint said, a satisfied smile creeping onto his face.
"Wonderfully spoken, my faithful, I couldn't have said it better myself…" Lord Ruthven replied, crossing his arms as he watched a fleeing woman get tackled by a werewolf, watching as it sank its teeth into her jugular.
A moment of silence fell between the two before Clint turned towards his vampire superior, a raised brow of curiosity.
"My lord…"
"Go ahead."
"Once we resurrect Thalaba, what comes next?"
A smile appeared on Lord Ruthven's face yet again, a sinister toothy grin that exposed his gleaming fangs in the moonlight that was slowly but surely being obscured by smoke and embers.
"Rule…wonderful, undisputed rule. The stupid folk that are inferior to us will be nothing but slaves, the dumb cattle shall construct our castles, erect grand statues in our name and shall sing praises to us…we will have all the money and they will receive mere breadcrumbs; they will eat what we feed them and shall follow the laws we enforce."
"And if they oppose us?" Clint asked.
"We'll kill them, we'll kill all of them if we must. I believe in the strong dying and the weak thriving, because without the strong, the weak cannot resist."
"I like the sound of that…" Clint snickered.
"Good, Clint. Very, very good…save that energy for when we inevitably face Gabriel and his foolish friends. The next time we meet them, it will be the end of them…"
Lord Ruthven closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but then a vision flashed behind his closed eyelids. Despite only appearing for a fraction of a second, the image had been burnt into his subconscious. Four vampires, three smaller females and a massive male. His long hair unmistakable…
Lord Ruthven's grin widened. "How interesting…"
"What is it? Is there something wrong?" Clint questioned interrogatively.
"No…I like what I'm seeing. Two faces that I haven't seen in I can't remember how long…consider it a family reunion."
After a few seconds, a great howling began to echo across the land. The deed was done, every werewolf minion gathered at the bottom of the ridge that Lord Ruthven and Clint stood atop of, Birsha held the head of a powerful warrior in his massive right hand, displaying it for his masters, a cold glare on the mute golem's face.
"Well done, my faithful!" Lord Ruthven cried to his furry soldiers down below. "Now, to Ostrokov! Then we shall resurrect the great Empress Thalaba!"
The werewolf minions willingly transformed themselves back into their regular human appearances, hundreds of naked men raising their fists in the air while screaming like wild animals. The clothing was stripped from every single dead man in the village as new forms of clothing for the werewolves when not in their lycanthrope form.
"Let's move…" The vampire warlord muttered to Clint, who motioned to the rest of their army to follow them over the ridge.
(Ostrokov)
(15 minutes before sunrise…)
The town of Ostrokov had a population density like that of Vaseria and the Valerious village combined into one. It sat at the foot of the Carpathians, surrounded by beautiful fields with minimal trees.
The town was relatively new, having been built a year following Dracula's defeat. Evident by the fact that many of the villagers had been up most of the night due to their trust that no other vampires existed.
Many of those who stayed up were town drunks at the local tavern, but there were some who stayed up and either guarded the village or roamed around to enjoy the cool night air and the lit-up town by a large torch in the center of it.
At a market which had since been closed, Gabriel and Father Valentino were crouched behind a stand of fruits and vegetables, using their dark clothing to hide themselves in the shadows, peeking through the cracks to stalk the inevitable arrival of Lord Ruthven and his caravan of monsters.
Friar Carl had been entrusted with the automatic crossbow, taking cover in a horse stable, which he was a bad idea. His face wrinkled up with disgust as the smell of horse shit harassed his senses.
Dracula and his brides were perched at the top of a tall building, hiding themselves behind the steeple of it, Dracula himself clinging to the spire like an ape from a movie that wouldn't be popular until 40 plus years from then.
Van Helsing glanced up to see Dracula nodding his head towards him, the monster-killer braced himself as dark figures could be seen entering the gate in the distance, being welcomed by the village guards…
"Beautiful ladies and the utmost wonderful men of Ostrokov!" Lord Ruthven began his false sermon, raising his arms into the air to attract attention. Several stagecoaches followed behind him at a slow pace. "I am Lord Ruthven, nobleman of Transylvania." He continued, his eyes narrowing at all the villagers that were starting to gather in one massive bunch.
Friar Carl's grip on the automatic crossbow tightened, his body flashing with intense nervous heat. Van Helsing felt his heart rate starting to rise. Father Valentino tried to swallow but a knot had formed in his throat.
"It amazes me how all of you roam during the night, have you no idea of what lurks in the shadows!? Werewolves, vampires!?"
"Van Helsing killed them all!" A townsman called out, obviously drunk from his slurred speech.
"He didn't kill all of them…" Lord Ruthven said, his demeanor shifting into a stern one before immediately going back into his loud and proud one. "Which is why I am here to bring gifts!"
Clint descended from the front stagecoach and began to make his way for the rest of them, knocking on the sides of them, a smirk on his face…
"Ostrokov, it sits at the foot of the Carpathian Mountain Range, where many of those unspeakable horrors reside. The gifts I bring shall give you all a much-needed peace of mind…"
Lord Ruthven turned his head towards Clint and nodded his head.
The caravans burst with a loud boom! Several werewolves leaping from them, baring their teeth, frothing at their mouths! Birsha emerged from the stagecoach that was driven by Clint, who had also morphed into a werewolf!
The townsfolk gasped in horror, but before the army could descend on them, a dark figure slammed down in front of Lord Ruthven dressed in all black. His towering body slowly morphing down into a regular sized man with a dark ponytail. His hands clasped together as he approached Lord Ruthven with a raised brow.
"The blood of Ostrokov belongs to my Brides and I, and my Brides and I alone…" Dracula said, his handsome face a look of disdain. Lord Ruthven snickered to himself as he approached, making Dracula's face shift with confusion.
"Well, well…Vladislaus Dracula…it's been a long time…" Lord Ruthven said.
"You…know me?"
Meanwhile from within the marketplace, Father Valentino bared his teeth and stood up, his heart leaping into his throat as he heard Dracula's words fall from their lips.
"I told you…they are going to turn on us…" The priest seethed; Van Helsing waggled his index finger much to his dismay.
"Did you not just hear what he said…?" The disgruntled priest asked as quietly but as aggressive as he could.
"Keep steady…" Van Helsing warned.
The Brides emerged from their hiding spots on the top of the big church, Marishka's eyes a glowing yellow, Verona's a gleaming blue, and Aleera's a burning pink…
"How could I forget you, my pupil…" Lord Ruthven asked, Dracula's jaw started to drop. "It's hard to forget when you were on your knees begging me for help to bring back Elisabeth…"
"What are you speaking of?" Dracula asked.
Dracula, a student of Lord Ruthven's dark arts!? If Father Valentino couldn't trust Van Helsing's plan as much as he couldn't already, then this is where the line was undeniably crossed!
The angered priest stood up from cover, ready to fire a bullet soaked with holy water in the back of Dracula's head, but Gabriel tugged him back down. The commotion being caught by Lord Ruthven's ears.
"I sense…another presence here…" Lord Ruthven spoke, a sly grin appearing on his face, creeping onto the edges of his mouth. The vampire overlord closed his eyes, taking ten seconds for him to do so. Dracula stood puzzled, unsure of what to make of this.
With his tongue, Lord Ruthven clicked the roof of his mouth and caught vital scans of everyone in the village. The villagers, people hiding within their homes, people that were sleeping. He even noticed three people that were out in the open but trying to remain hidden.
"Ah…I'm right…Van Helsing is here too."
"Shit, shit…s-shit…" Carl gasped under his breath, his hands shaky as he held the automatic crossbow, doing his best to aim down sight, but his weapon was swaying all over the place…
"Tell me, Vlad…have you and your women made some sort of compromise with each other?" Lord Ruthven questioned, the grin remaining on his handsome face.
"I'd rather die than work with him…" Dracula hissed.
"NO!" A voice cried out from the shadows, Father Valentino emerged from cover, aiming his revolver towards Dracula with one hand as Van Helsing burst from the marketplace to tackle him from behind.
"Liar!" Lord Ruthven hissed as his fingernails extended into claws which he slashed his student across the face with! Black blood spattered to the ground, and the crowd of villagers went into a mad hysteria as the three Brides leapt from the roof of the church, morphing into their humanoid bat forms, diving towards Lord Ruthven with vexation!
"You idiot, Valentino! You damn idiot!" Carl cried out as he cowered within the horse stable, the horses themselves neighing and plunging hysterically, rearing up on their hind legs as all hell broke loose. "You are a fuc—"
POW! A horse nailed the monk in the back with an out-of-control kick, launching Carl into a pile of hay, leaving him semi-conscious. "Idiot…" Carl groaned before passing out.
Lord Ruthven leapt into the air, morphing into his hellbeast form to combat the transformed Brides. Dracula tried to hold him back, grabbing his massive feet just for one to break free and nail the pupil in the face, knocking him to the ground! At the same time, Father Valentino went to fire upon Dracula, but his arm was pinned down by Van Helsing.
"What are you doing!?" The monster-hunter admonished the enraged priest.
"Your plan has clearly went South!" Father Valentino screamed, kicking Gabriel off him!
"Because of you, you moron!" Van Helsing boomed.
While the two went back and forth with each other, the chaos continued in the streets with werewolves bringing down the fleeing locals to deliver fatal bites to their necks all while Lord Ruthven flew towards the Brides at full speed!
Verona and Marishka reached out with their talons to grapple with the beastly vampire below them, Verona was the faster of the two and she reached for Lord Ruthven's now ugly face just to be grabbed by the shin and used as a blunt weapon as Verona's body was banged against Marishka, sending the two sprawling around in the air.
From the side, Aleera swooped in, trying to slam into Lord Ruthven, but she was snagged by the face and hurled towards Van Helsing and Father Valentino.
"I told you in the forest that they would betray us! You didn't listen. Dracula said that he'd die before he teams with you, and now look what's happened!" Father Valentino yelled in Gabriel's face, who shoved him back.
"I won't repeat myself, Valentino! This plan would have worked if you hadn't gone crazy!" The monster-hunter retorted as he got into the priest's face again.
"It wouldn't have worked regardless of what I done!" Father Valentino shot back, smashing his index finger into Van Helsing's chest three times.
"You have clearly gone crazy!" Gabriel screamed in response.
"And you've lost your mind…AGAIN!"
Before the two could come to blows, a loud shriek was heard, directing their attention to something that was hurtling towards them at full speed, spiraling out of control!
"Ah!" The two shouted in unison as they dove away, parting like the Red Sea. The body of Aleera went crashing into the building behind them.
When the two quarreling men got up, Van Helsing noticed Dracula and Lord Ruthven doing battle in the air while in their hellbeast appearances, below them Birsha had grabbed Verona and threw her through an idle stagecoach! Smashing it to pieces before letting out a defiant roar.
"I'm going for Birsha, you better not try and go for Dracula!" Van Helsing announced as he activated his Tojo blades and charged towards the golem. Father Valentino stood up, grabbing his revolver before staring towards Lord Ruthven and Dracula, who were still exchanging blows in the air.
The eyes of the priest zeroed in on Dracula, and then he made his move…
Meanwhile, Carl was finally starting to stir. Waking to the sounds of crazy horses, hissing, scratching, people screaming, and objects bursting into several pieces with explosive noises all around him.
"This is madness…madness…" The monk groaned as he reached for the automatic crossbow and turned around to see a werewolf closing in on him, teeth bared, eyes blazing with hunger and rage.
Carl unloaded on the beast without hesitation, the silver stakes that were launched from the automatic crossbow putting the werewolf down just for another to take its place.
"Of course, because that's just my luck…" Carl groaned as the furry beast lunged at him, ready to deliver a fatal bite. The monk screamed in terror right as a blade punched through the opened maw of the beast. It was a silver blade, now slick with green blood.
"Holy shit…" Carl squeaked, his eyes strained shut and teeth clenched as he tensed up. Feeling the slick tip of the sword tapping against the tip of his nose. The body of the werewolf collapsed, morphing back into a human state as Aidan was seen standing where it once stood.
"I've got ya." The warlock said, but that was before getting sucker punched in the side of the head by a third werewolf which lunged at him from the side! One second the warlock was there, the next, he wasn't.
Are you sure about that? Carl thought to himself as the werewolf turned its attention to him, baring its teeth, its yellow eyes narrowing upon him…but to the monk's luck, Marishka dove in! Her talons sinking into the meaty shoulders of the werebeast, the beautiful blonde vampire digging her claws as deep as she could before being grabbed and thrown off!
The blonde seductress didn't stay down long, as the werewolf charged, she struck up with her claws, slashing under the jaw of the monster which forced its head to snap back. The wolf humanoid growled in pain before she sliced her claws into the torso a total of seven times, two slow ones and then five rapid fire strikes!
As fast as Marishka struck her target, the werewolf was sturdy ever still, trying to reach for the blonde vampire! Marishka dove away and flew over it, catching a silver sword out of the air and coming down to plunge the slick blade into the beast's chest! Killing it finally!
"We got ya!" Aidan cried out before opening a portal, entering a bathroom to notice a dead body and bath filled with water which was running over the side. His heart leapt into his throat as the window crashed! Aleera smashed against the wall, catching herself and using it as a spring to shoot from the wall and through the opened window at full speed, baring her fangs towards what Aidan assumed to be a werewolf.
On the outside, Van Helsing had engaged into a close-quarters brawl with Birsha, managing to slice his Tojo blades into the golem's waist, not a single scratch was made as Birsha went for a punch along the lines of a right hook, but Van Helsing ducked and ran under his legs to try again with his blades, slashing them into the backs of the golem's legs to achieve the same result of sparks flying but no damage being done!
"I need water, water!" Gabriel called out, catching Aidan's attention, who glanced at the bath and then the floor with a smirk creeping on the corners of his mouth.
When the monster-hunter went to slash Birsha again, a hand emerged from a portal and jerked the blade from his hand, leaving Van Helsing with only one. Birsha smirked and raised his foot to try and smash his target just for Gabriel to leap out of the way.
Father Valentino kept running for Dracula and Lord Ruthven, who were now on the ground wrestling for better positioning against the other. He wouldn't make it all the way, as a werewolf closed in on him from the side, trying to tackle him! The priest used his smaller height to his advantage and ducked, allowing the beast to soar over him and crash to the ground.
Father Valentino put two silver bullets into the werewolf, killing it before he heard the heavy footfalls of another one charging behind him. The priest whipped around and killed the monster with a single shot to the head, the humanoid wolf falling to his feet dead.
With a single bullet left, the priest turned around and opened fire towards Dracula! However, while the two hellbeast vampires were grappling. Dracula would snag Lord Ruthven by the neck with both hands and shove him unknowingly into the path of the bullet which struck the small of Lord Ruthven's back. The demonic beast grunted in pain, giving Dracula enough time to reach an arm around the back of his head and SMASH him through a wall with an explosive boom!
Van Helsing turned around as he felt the air grow thick around him, the monster-hunter looked up to see an orange portal hovering over Birsha as he chased him.
From inside the upstairs room of the nearby hotel, Aidan had grabbed the tub with both hands, and proceeded to turn it over with a grunt. All the contents spill through the portal he created on the floor.
Birsha gasped as a load of water fell on him all at once, gallons upon gallons of liquid soaking into him, turning his solid body into a softer material that could be damaged. Van Helsing grinned at the sight, nodding his head towards the golem as Dracula glanced towards him.
With a hiss, Dracula clapped his wings to propel himself into Birsha from behind. The golem grunted as he was brought to the ground with a loud thud! Crushing two werewolves under his large body as Dracula mounted his back.
Birsha groaned and roared in agony as he felt large claws sinking into his large back, feeling chunks of semi-hardened clay tore from his being as he felt Dracula's hands fastening around the sides of his thick neck.
Dracula wrenched back! Baring his fangs and hissing aggressively, prying and tugging on Birsha's head with all the strength he could muster. Van Helsing watched from a safe distance as cracks started to appear on the neck of the golem as Dracula wrenched and jerked, cracks that grew bigger and bigger.
As the cracks on Birsha's neck widened, his screams and roars of pain intensified. His massive arms flailed wildly as he felt his head about to get severed! Unfortunately, though, Dracula was so close yet so far away as Clint jumped from out of nowhere, tackling the hellbeast from the golem's back in the werewolf form!
"No!" Van Helsing cried as he powered up his single Tojo blade and hurled it towards the weak point on Birsha's neck, sadly, the golem heard the mechanical whirring growing louder and was able to block the attack. The blade getting stuck in his hand instead of severing his head from the body.
The Brides had witnessed what was going on, and all three of them swooped in towards the golem, the whole trio targeting the neck! Birsha used the Tojo blade that was stuck in his hand as a knife attached to his arm, managing to slash Verona across the chest and send her crashing into the ground before getting up and spinning around to deliver a backhand that knocked Aleera away. When Birsha was all the way around, he was able to deliver a brutal straight punch to Marishka, sending her flying into an alley way and against a brick wall that nearly faltered from the impact of her body crashing into it!
Friar Carl happened to be within one of the buildings where Marishka crashed between, it was a tavern, a tavern that had mostly emptied, the only things that were keeping the monk away from lonesome was dead bodies stacked in a row against the bar counter. The entire room shook when Marishka's body met the brick wall, forcing a scream of fright from the monk!
Carl could see that Birsha was now closing in upon the blonde vampire, and the monk looked down to see how much ammo he had left in the automatic crossbow. Not much left, thankfully he had a satchel with a few spare silver stakes and of course, that bomb that had the power of the sun contained within…
An image flashed through Carl's head, the moment when Marishka suddenly pecked him on the cheek with her lips in a quick kiss. His stomach started turning into knots and dancing around within, his heart began to pound twice as hard.
I shouldn't be doing this, Carl thought to himself. I work for the Church for crying out loud!
The monk then peered through the doorway he entered from the outside, noticing that Marishka had been forced back into her human form. Those beautiful blonde waves in her hair, her amazing brown eyes and that unforgettable face that only a demigoddess could have…
I shouldn't be doing this; I shouldn't be saving this ange —Vampire! I shouldn't be saving this vampire! Yeah…that's what I meant…
He could see the shadow of Birsha getting closer, and Marishka dug her bare feet into the ground, using the power of her legs to inch herself up the wall into a standing position, her brown eyes shifting into their yellow glow which made her more attractive than she already was. Her fangs emerged from her canine teeth…
Come on Carl don't do this! Don't let your feelings win over your loyalty to the— You know what? Screw it, I'm only a friar…
Carl lunged from the doorway, automatic crossbow aimed down sights upon the golem who towered over both the monk and the vampire.
"Wha-what are you doi—" Marishka went to ask but was cut off.
"I'm saving your beautiful ass, that's what I'm doing!" Carl screamed, glancing over his shoulder towards the playful blonde vampire before facing Birsha again. "Stay back!"
Birsha tilted his head and then broke into a fit of laughter, his voice unfathomably deep and having a rumble like that of thunder from a supercharged thunderstorm. This little ginger-haired man in a robe surely couldn't think he could stand a chance, right?
Birsha took another step forward and he was surprised, but not impressed all the same, a silver stake was launched from the automatic crossbow, the softened material having it stick into his body. Yet there was no pain, and the golem simply tore it from his body and prepared to throw it right back at Carl, who recoiled in terror and immediately fell to hugging Marishka close while screaming.
"Get off me you silly foo—AH!" Marishka screamed, the gleaming silver stake going right for their heads until suddenly Birsha dropped it! The golem roared with surprise as he was hoisted into the air and thrown across the battlefield, smashing into Clint who had the wind knock out of him, effectively taking him out of the fight.
Van Helsing took his lone Tojo blade and charged without hesitation, Aidan emerged from a portal, wielding the other one, doing the same as the monster-slayer. The two leapt into the air in unison, ready to slice the blades through the weakened neck of the golem!
Unfortunately, Birsha would move backwards and avoid both the hits, back handing Aidan into the air who was caught by Lord Ruthven, slamming the warlock into a brick building!
"Aida—" Van Helsing was cut off mid-sentence when he received a brutal blow to the face courtesy of Birsha's fist. The body of the monster-killer smashed through a wall and was finally stopped when he crashed into a sofa, tipping it over, the force knocking the springs out of it with explosive pops.
Gabriel groaned in pain as he grabbed the sofa and pulled himself up, his entire body shaking with vigor as his legs buckled and gave out, forcing him to fall to a knee. A foul taste of iron began to fill up the interior of his mouth, prompting him to hack a ball of bloody spit and something else out, that 'something else' hit the floor with a tap, and when Van Helsing examined it, he noticed that one of his teeth had been knocked out from Birsha's punch.
Van Helsing chuckled for a second, wiping the blood that had smeared all over his entire chin, brushing it off on the sofa. "Impressive, big fella…"
Birsha let out a scream as he began to march towards the building Van Helsing was within, the monster-hunter glanced up to see a hole in the ceiling, revealing the truss within the attic. It was in that moment that an idea crossed his mind, making his grin grow even wider than before.
The wall behind Gabriel burst, revealing Dracula who was still in his hellbeast form. The towering vampire had smashed a werewolf through the brick wall headfirst, knocking him out.
"Gabriel, watch out!" Dracula growled, his voice deep and menacing.
"I know!" Van Helsing cried out as he glanced forward, Birsha was closing in fast!
Without further hesitation, Gabriel fired his cable from the grappling gun, the hook piercing through a wooden beam and curling around another. He then tugged with all his might, once, twice, and Dracula stepped forward to wrap his arms around Van Helsing's body before clapping his wings together to launch them backwards right as Birsha began to take a swing with his massive arm!
Van Helsing and Dracula shot from the hole that the hellbeast vampire had created, and as a result, the entire roof of the building they were once in collapsed with a loud crash! An immense amount of dust and smoke billowed where the building once stood. All went silent…
"There are too many!" A voice called out, it belonged to Father Valentino who had just emptied his revolver of silver bullets.
"I'm running out of stakes, Van Helsing!" Carl called out as the automatic crossbow jammed when he tried to fire it again. The priest and the monk stood side by side with each other, watching as the werewolves began to close in on them.
Dracula watched as Lord Ruthven manhandled his brides again, there was nothing his trio of women could do against their new rival no matter how hard they tried! Dracula flew towards his enemy and tackled him from behind, the two hellbeasts slammed into the dirt and began to roll around, wrestling for better position over the other.
Van Helsing noticed that Clint was starting to get up again, his naked body shifting into the dark werewolf he had fought not too long ago in Vaseria.
"I've killed you before…" The monster-hunter said as the green gleaming eyes of the jet-black werewolf locked onto him, baring his teeth with a hateful expression.
"I'll do it again…"
Van Helsing fired the hook from his grappling gun towards the beast, who caught it with ease and pulled him towards him with the prodigious strength Clint had within him! However, Gabriel was smarter this time around and anticipated Clint's reaction. Using the werewolf's move against him, he pulled out a lone Tojo blade and threw it at Clint's face! Green blood spattered forth from a slice across the snout of the beast, Clint clutching the wound as he stumbled back some.
Gabriel went behind him, putting away his Tojo blade and whipping out his revolver. His finger latched onto the trigger, his eyes locking on Clint's head.
POW! The foot of the beast kicked back and struck Van Helsing in the chest, launching him to where the Brides as well as Father Valentino and Carl were located.
Lord Ruthven ducked a slash from Dracula's claw and his large hand slapped across the throat of his former student! Lifting him up and slamming him down with authority. Dracula clawed at the muscular forearm of Lord Ruthven's beast, but that made his teacher intensify his grip, strangling Dracula until he had no choice but to morph back into his regular human appearance.
"D-dammit!" Dracula hissed through his gritted teeth as Lord Ruthven shoved him towards his allies.
"You've lost, all of you…" Lord Ruthven said as he began to shift back into his human state, a smirk on his face. All the scratches and wounds inflicted from the fight regenerating in a matter of seconds.
A thunderous explosion roared from nearby, and from within a cloud of smoke stood the mighty Birsha, howling in the air triumphantly.
"This isn't over yet…" Van Helsing fired back as Aidan appeared in front of him and his allies, creating a portal underneath him, and opening another elsewhere within his mind's eye.
"Oh, but it is, my friend, it is…" Lord Ruthven laughed as he watched his enemies fall into a portal and vanishing out of sight, he tried to reach for Van Helsing's coat but was only able to tear a piece of leather and cloth, the sound of fabric tearing reverberating off the walls of the buildings that were still standing after the chaos.
The portal that Aidan had opened elsewhere dropped Van Helsing and co. to the ground in a massive pile of flesh and bodies. Every one of them groaned in pain, they were expecting a fight, but nothing quite like what they just went through. For Carl and Father Valentino, it had seemed to drag on forever…
"Everyone alright?" Van Helsing asked, being the first one to pull himself to his feet and dust his clothes off, placing his wide-brimmed hat back on the top of his head after he brushed some of his long-layered hair from the front of his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Aidan groaned as he rolled away from the pile of bodies and got up, albeit slower than Gabriel who watched with amusement as everyone in the pile peeled themselves off each other to the best of their ability.
"I'm okay..." Carl began before his face scrunched up in a look of slight disgust. "And why does it smell like feet?" He questioned, he turned his face over and noticed that Marishka's legs were in the air as she had been folded over, the blonde vampire pulled her legs back and away.
"I'm sorry, Carl…" She hissed as she inched backwards, using a tree that was behind her to aid in her ascent back to a vertical base.
Aleera rolled off the top of Verona, who rolled onto her stomach, grasping her youngest sister by the hand and helping her up. Dracula happened to be on the very bottom of the pile and sat up with a shake of his head.
"I'm going to ask this again, is everyone doing okay?" Van Helsing queried for the second time, Carl gave him a thumbs up, but Father Valentino was —of course— of a different opinion.
"Did your plan work like you expected it to?" The priest interrogated as he checked the chamber of his revolver to see that it was still empty. With an annoyed grunt, he tossed it away.
"We didn't get the Blood Whistle, but at least we're still in one piece." Gabriel said, beaming with confidence.
"I don't think you realize just how screwed we are…" Father Valentino groaned with a hopeless sigh trailing his sentence.
"We must follow them, get to their castle." Van Helsing announced. The priest shook his head with a tired yet angered look displayed on his middle-aged face.
"Uh-uh!" Father Valentino disagreed. "We just fought our…our…" His face strained, fighting with all his Christian might to not say the next words, but his flesh got the better of him. "ASSES kicked…we just got our asses kicked and now you're wanting a round two this early!?"
"Well, let me ask you this: What sounds better?" Van Helsing questioned. "Having the entire world plunged into darkness by Empress Thalaba and that simpleton Lord Ruthven? Or we get up and have ourselves another tiring fight to get the Blood Whistle back?"
No comment.
"Exactly, that's what I thought…" Gabriel scoffed as he turned around to survey the land surrounding him and his allies.
They were positioned on the crest of a hill where a single oak tree sat atop of, a running creek ran down the hill and fed into a rather large lake one-hundred yards away from them. To the West of their position was Ostrokov, or what remained of it that is. The monster-killer could see the smoke billowing to the night sky and the fires crackling from the damage that had been done during the battle. Van Helsing assumed that the town was approximately eight-hundred meters away.
"Aidan, are you sure we're a safe distance away?" Van Helsing asked, facing Aidan who was leaning against the tree and smoking a cigar.
"Even if they knew we're right here, they're too busy reveling in their victory."
Van Helsing took a moment to think, the previous battle showed just how resilient their enemies were. If they were going to battle them again, and soon…strategy would be a must.
"Aidan, we'll rest for now, but come tomorrow, we need a portal to their location as soon as possible. I've got a feeling that we're on borrowed time…"
(Ostrokov)
Bodies, blood, and destruction was all that remained of the once powerful village of hardened men and women alike.
"Such a shame that we didn't kill them…" Clint sighed between heavy breaths, Lord Ruthven waved his faithful friend down with a smirk.
The Blood Whistle rattled within Lord Ruthven's pocket, who pulled it out to examine his ancient device. The skull relief had changed drastically! The skull's jaw had opened, and the eye sockets were filled by a red glow, the interior of the jaws carried a red glow as well.
A sickening cry shrilled from the skull relief, echoing around the ruins of Ostrokov. The werewolf minions stood in stunned silence, Lord Birsha (as usual), had no emotion shown on his face. Lord Ruthven stood as the only one that was smiling.
"Gather the bodies, gather the blood…we have won…"