7 The Beginning Of The End

We'd been done with collecting the Venom for a while now. The sun was rising and Velkan had already turned back - the rest of the night was spent preparing both ourselves and our equipment. As I sat on top of the tower, I cleaned my sword and watched the sun rise over the land of Romania.

I said a few prayers while I did so, knowing I'd need the help so to speak.

Not so much in the battle but more so because I knew using the vials of venom would be harder than what happened in the original. That being a straight up monster fight.

We had plenty of vials and right now, I was rubbing a few of them over my blade. It wouldn't be concentrated enough to kill the man-bat but it'd be enough to hurt and injure him. Probably slow down his healing as well. But I had a main plan for what to do when it came to killing him - yet that'd have to wait until I gained the chance to enact my plan.

...It wasn't gonna be easy, let's just say that.

I heard the movement behind me as Anna pulled herself up onto the top of the tower next to me. She looked over at me and smiled before looking to the sun rising.

"My father used to bring me up here when I was young," she started with a nostalgic tone, "And after that, I used to come up during the summer months and watch the sun rise just like this whenever I felt troubled." She sat down next to me, her legs and feet dangling off the side of the tower before turning to me, "What's troubling you, Michael?"

"Honestly?" I grinned, "Nothing much. I'm just thinking about how to go about killing Dracula - it's something I'm used to by now. Thinking about how to kill certain things, I mean," I put my sword to the side along with the rag I was using to wipe the venom across it with, "It's a normal part of my job, so I can't really call it troubling. I'm just wondering what I'll do after all this as well. You have any idea what you'll be doing?"

She gave a grim laugh, "Very optimistic of you to think we'll all survive this attack, Michael," she shook her head and answered anyway, "After Dracula is gone, there's not much I can do here. I might see to travelling the world. You?"

"I might go to America," I smiled, looking at the sun and basking in the early morning rays, "I hear there's a Vampire problem there and the Order's presence is too low to battle it. I might go there to establish some sort of forward operating base for the Order. Though I'll probably go around the world seeing it's sights before all of that. I'd like to know what I'm protecting in greater detail - maybe while ridding it of some of the creatures that wish it harm along the way," I nodded to myself, deciding that after this I'll try my hand at going around the world.

It could second as a vacation for myself as well.

In the end, the two of us just sat there in a comfortable silence, looking at the sun. Before long, however, we had to get on our way because now was the best time to attack Dracula and raid his castle.

Standing up with my sword in hand, I held out my other hand for Anna and she accepted, letting me pull her up without much trouble. For me she weighed about as much as a bag of feathers.

"We should get to attacking Dracula now then," I stated being the first of us to speak, "Van Helsing and Carl should be done with the preparations. Feel ready, Anna?" I asked her with a grin and she returned it before it developed into a full smile.

"Nope, but even then I have to do what I have to do," she said, a pure image of determination and resolve. We the sunlight lighting her up in the way it was, she looked truly beautiful right about now. I most definitely cannot allow her to die in this attack, can I? I wasn't going to but certain events have put some things into perspective. I'd only known her a short while and yet she was a person I cared for now - maybe I'm too caring? Probably.

But in my line of work, it's better to be caring than apathetic. After all, he who fights with monsters must be careful not to become one. You can take that quote however you want - you can take it's meaning as literally becoming a monster like a werewolf or a vampire. But I take it in the sense that you close off you emotions and normal human functions just to become an unfeeling machine.

Because, I'll admit, during particularly bad times, both Van Helsing and I have considered just becoming like that. Monster hunting isn't for the faint of heart or stomach, let's just say that.

Being an unfeeling machine would make the job much easier. Yet that quote warns against that, something that I intend to follow. I'll keep my humanity despite my line of work, despite the infernal situations it continuously throws me in, because it allows me to help people.

Like right now, I'm helping Anna, her brother and most of Transylvania by getting rid of Dracula.

So what if I'm too caring? I'd rather be that than some sort of unfeeling machine. With that thought process over, we made our way down the tower and back into the castle.

We had a vampire overlord to kill, couldn't spend all day monologuing, now could I?

. . .

Walking through the gateway and into the frozen wasteland that made up Dracula's personal domain was an odd experience. The magic at play here seemed to want to make me colder yet that internal flame just simply wouldn't allow it - I fear that if I use gateways like this too often without having control over that inner fire could make for some magic-breaking circumstances.

Either my magic or the magic used to sustain those portals/doorways.

I pushed my way through the slush-like texture of the gateway quicker, knowing staying in it for too long would only prove my theory right quicker. And losing the gateway to Dracula due to my own stubborn internal fire would be quite embarrassing.

The cold instantly hit my face as it came free of the gate. Real cold. Not magic induced cold like I thought it'd be. The snow was thick and even I could hardly see in front of me more than a few meters. I wonder how bad it is for the others? Turning, I saw no one had followed me through yet, so I decided to test something out.

I reached out for that internal fire and pulled on it. It came almost naturally to me, the fire following my will like a well-trained dog who lived to please me.

What came from me was a wave of warmth that either pushed the snow away or melted it into droplets of water. The snow storm was still there, blocking my vision partially, but it was much better than before. When I pulled the warmth back into me, oddly enough, the snow didn't return to it's prior abundance. It stayed at the level my warmth had left it at.

Looking down at my hand, I wondered how far I could take that warmth. Could it become boiling hot? Could it become fire?

My decision to check in with some of the friendlier Covens was solidified at this point. I needed to know how to control whatever this ability was - and it was very much so similar to the magic I'd seen throughout my travels, so the Covens could help.

Anna quickly came through, followed by Van Helsing. Carl wasn't coming with us as he was looking after Velkan and making sure he was properly weakened with Wolfsbane. All just in case we happened to stay here longer than a day.

With the snow cleared up, I could look around and take in Dracula's castle in a little more detail.

It was built into a mountain and covered in ice, with three main towers - two smaller ones on either side with one bigger tower right in the middle. Even the mountain it was built into was completely covered in ice and snow; climbing it would be nigh-impossible for a regular human. Even if they had all the necessary equipment, the mountain's ice was somehow developed into spikes and rough patches which would mean a single mistake would lead to impalement.

...And from the dozens of impaled skeletons between where we stood and the land bride that led to Dracula's castle, I'd say Dracula made those ice spikes on purpose and by hand.

Turning, I pushed my hand against the gate and as I knew it would, it rejected my advances like a solid object instead of a magical doorway, "One-way, as you'd expect for what was originally designed as a prison cell for Dracula," I said aloud to my two comrades who didn't have much to say in response - they were instead concentrated on Dracula's castle. Rolling my eyes, I turned back around and paced forward toward our goal, "Come on then. No point in just staring at it all day."

The land bride was filled with statues and wooden spikes - either there for people to be impaled on when the time comes or ol' Dracula forgot to take the spikes down when the people rotted off of them.

We walked in silence, this one an uncomfortable one. One filled with tension and anxiety. I was probably the calmest of the three of us but even I sensed a hint of unease in my chest.

My instincts were screaming at me about the evil contained in this castle. The atrocities committed here. The innocent lives lost and consumed by Dracula and his entourage.

Nevertheless, I stayed calm, my mind focused to a razor's edge and once we came to the gates of the castle, I drew my sword and filled it to light up. It did so, confirming my earlier theory that whatever was in me was growing with each day. I cut into the thick wooden gate, making an entrance for the three of us. The sharp, hot blade cut through the wood easy enough and soon enough, I was done.

Kicking the impromptu entry down, I entered and regarded the inside of the castle. Just as icy and dark as the outside looked. No torches, no maids or servants--everything you'd expect to see in a castle was missing from this place. Though when you're a vampire you don't need a lot of those necessities, do you?

...And as soon as I thought that, the unlit torches around us burst into flame, the frost that spread across the floor quickly melting without turning into water.

"You two, go and find the cure," I said, my tone authoritative and leaving little to no room to disagree, "I'll go looking for Dracula. I'm the only one capable of fighting him head-on."

Van Helsing went to try and change my mind but Anna cut him off first, "Are you sure, Michael?" she asked and I gave a nod, to which she stepped toward me and pulled me down for a rather aggressive kiss. When we finally split, she looked up at me with a slight smile, "Then good luck."

Then she was off. Van Helsing looked between her and me, throwing me a questioning glance. I answered with a shrug before he went off to follow her with a shake of his head.

Which left me to find Dracula. It wouldn't be too hard given my enhanced senses - I'd simply go to wherever I could hear movement and smell other creatures. And so that's what I did, flashing through the halls in a sprint until I came across the room right below the tallest tower - it was no doubt where Dracula would've brought Frankenstein's creation if we'd led him to it. Which I purposefully avoided, for obvious reasons.

The machinery had been brought here. The machinery that still worked, anyway. The Dwergi flittered from place to place, obviously trying to fix what was broken. No doubt trying to fulfill Dracula's impossible orders.

Right in the middle of it all, however, sat Dracula. He sat on a piece of broken machinery, a longsword laying next to him and a very old looking flask in his hands. He looked down at it, continuing to do so even when he spoke, "Are you like Gabriel, Michael? Do you not remember me?" he asked in a tone I'd call morose.

"...I remember who you used to be, Vlad," I replied, memories popping up in my head of times spent with someone I could call a dear friend, "I remember a man of honor, a man who held his friend's dear, a man who once had faith in God and knew not to try and mimic Him."

"Ah," Dracula smiled and looked up me with those same blank eyes he'd looked at me with when we escaped castle Frankenstein, "Everyone is like that when they're young. Full of faith and belief in stupid ideas like honor," he shook his head before standing up off the piece of machinery he was on, "But can you blame me for my loss of faith? Do you remember what happened to me and why it happened?"

"You forsook an oath. A sacred oath--" I tried to reply but he cut me off.

"Do not for a second think I am stupid enough to believe that you agree with what they did to me!" Dracula shouted, his face contorting into a bat-like shape as his teeth elongated into fangs, his eyes turning an eerie electric blue. His face soon returned to normal as he controlled him, a forced smile making it's way back onto his face, "Do not think I'll believe that. I know you Michael. You would not have forsaken our brotherhood just because I broke an oath. I know how they sent you away before they did it--before Gabriel did it."

I sighed upon hearing his words and the anger in them--or at least as close to anger as he could get--, "Regardless of how or why you died, you shouldn't have made a pact with the Devil. You forsook not just an oath that day, but your humanity. You put yourself against every living soul on Earth. Why?" I asked the question I wanted to know.

There's obvious greed in Dracula's heart. A greed for power and life. But there had to be more. There had to be more to him.

"No, no, no, Michael," Dracula waved his finger at me in an admonishing manner, "I didn't make a pact with the Devil. I just spread that rumour to piss off the Order and any other religious group out there," he chuckled to him as he started pacing back and forth, "I became what I am today through black Magic. We heard of the Mikaelsons, hadn't we? All the way back then? I didn't show it but I was...enthralled by their power. Their abilities. Their eternal life. So, I began using my resources and influence given to me through my nobility to hire witches and warlocks who were renowned for their black Magic and transmutative powers. And the day I revealed to you and Gabriel that I was married? I'd already taken the potion they'd created. When I died? It activated it's effects. And if Gabriel didn't kill me that day? I would've done so myself later on to complete my metamorphosis!"

"So you were going to do it anyway," I said, not asked. We both know no matter the outcome, he was going to go ahead and cast aside his humanity and become the creature he is today. Lifting my sword, I drew one of my revolvers and levelled both of them at him, "No matter what, today's the day we say goodbye. For once and for all."

Dracula sighed before picking up his own blade. I remember it. I remember being there when it was forged, when he first held it and smiled a sincere smile. But I pushed those thoughts out of my head and steeled myself.

New memories or not, I'm here to complete the mission. Now isn't the time to let sentimentality get in the way.

A tense second passed as we looked at each other and then we both moved at the other. Our swords clashed, our strength somewhat equal - I was stronger, my blade heavier and more durable but he seemed to be channelling some sort of magic through his limbs and sword to make up for the differences. Nevertheless, I unloaded four rounds into his torso quicker than he could react, blowing him backward and into the machinery he'd previously been perched on.

I holstered the revolver and drew my second one, doing the same thing as I ignited my sword, the metal glowing and even letting off sparks in places. The heat warped the air around it, turning the cold water vapour in the air into steam.

Then I charged at his twisted and broken form. I led with a thrust and tilted my head to avoid Dracula's counter. I had to admit, it was both fascinating and horrifying that he was still able to move despite having the majority of his torso and stomach destroyed. My thrust pierced through his throat and severed his spinal column, the flesh bubbling and boiling around my sword - not just because of the heat either.

Yet he still functioned, pushing a hand against my chest and flinging me backward. He stepped forward after me, the damage I'd done healing but oddly enough, despite healing the wound on his throat left a dark red scar.

"Y-ou--" his voice was harsh, no doubt from damage to his vocal cords and he coughed, growling as he did so as something shifted in his throat, "You covered it in werewolf venom? That's the Michael I know. The warrior. Always thinking ahead and using whatever he can to win," he said, sounding almost joyful in his nostalgic reminiscence.

I pushed my feet against the floor and skid to a stop just feet from the wall behind me. I didn't dignify his words with a response, instead choosing to reload one of my revolvers at superhuman speed. Fun fact, you can reload a revolver one-handed if you do it fast enough. Especially if you have superhuman hand-eye coordination. I knew my bullets wouldn't do much to hamper him, let alone kill him, but they could serve as necessary distraction when the time arose.

Either way, I knew this fight would be a long one. Well, maximum effort it is, then.