Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

Faded Dream

Cold never bothered me.

Neither did the rain, snow, or sun.

I was a being of light. Though I felt the dripping of raindrops, the cold kiss of snow, or the warmth of sunlight on my body, it did not affect me. The bitter cold of the atmosphere didn't freeze my wings as they reflected the starlight.

I often flew alone, due to the fact I was the last of my family and that I wanted to distance myself from the clamoring bureaucracy that was the Heavenly Order. They didn't look fondly upon me, save for a few, so they wouldn't miss my presence.

The skies were so lonely without my siblings aloft with me. Even after millennia their loss left a gaping hole in my heart.

Something gripped my being, like claws around my heart pulling me to earth. A cry, a desperate prayer. As a Watcher I was naturally tuned to the prayers of humans in need, even if my choir was no more and my job no longer existed (or at least delegated to the earthly angels.) I dove like a bird into the dark grey sea of clouds below me and answered the call.

The cold wind blasted my body, and the snow would have blinded my eyes if I were a physical being, but I coursed through the blizzards, eyes keened for the light of a soul. I spotted it like an eagle with its prey. There! A soul out in this blinding storm!

The snowdrifts blew beneath the buffeting of my wings as I landed crouched before the human distressed. A human soul, I could easily tell, her light dim and flickering like a fading candle. Her life was ebbing, and if I didn't act soon, the cold would snuff it out like a candle.

I didn't care if the Hierarchy watched and punished me. I wasn't going to let an innocent die in the blizzard when she prayed for help. Morae will be pissed, then again, she never minded if a soul was saved before  their time.

I touched her  small human body with my great hand and shielded her with enveloping wings. She was so cold and she shivered pitifully in my hold. I felt her stir. "Dracula?"

My wings ruffled at the name and I bared my teeth. We knew that name very well. A former angel who forged a pact with the Devil for forbidden knowledge and power, and was rightfully cast out for it. Biggest fucking mistake they could've made. His devilish pact allowed him to retain his immortality and he became a vampire with his dark powers intact, now reigning terror over the human world.

"I'm sorry." The flickering soul murmured. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gone. They chased me out with torches and pitchforks. They threatened to kill me for witchcraft......after everything I've done to heal them..." She quietly cried. " I don't want to die....please forgive me. I don't want to die!"

I cocked my head baffled. What? I must've spoken or flicked my wing, for she stirred muttered. "Who's there?" She couldn't see me but she sensed my warmth. "Hello? Is anyone out there!? "Her voice rasped hoarse, but her light flared up. She was no longer on the brink of death. I took her into my arms and transferred my warmth into her brittle body, folding my wings over us like a gargantuan bird.  When the storm passed, I placed her on the now warm ground and enveloped her with my bright wings, shielding her from the cutting winds and snow until the sun peaked.

She made it through the night.

My feathers ruffled when a black smudge approached at the dawn. "Lisa!" The voice cried and the smudge blurred toward her, I heard the click of bared fangs when he saw me. He saw me! "Get away from her!!" I leaped and stood defensively between the human and the black smoke. Flaring my wings and hissing a warning from my own toothy maw.

"I could kill you, Messenger, for we were once the same. Now stand aside."

I hissed, not backing down. He swerved around me when he heard her groan, picking her up and cradling her in his arms. "She's warm..." He whispered, the snow by his feet speckled with tears of blood. I saw a clear light in the center of the black smudge. "You protected her."  I pinned my wings and lowered my hackles, dwarfing him with my full height. "You saved her."

He look up and stared me full in the eyes. "Thank you." I turned away and arched my wings, giving a side glance. There was good in him, I saw it in the center of the black smudge that faded when he saw her safe and alive. She brought it out in him.

I knew she would be okay with him.

I was about to take off when he called. "Zaharial." I twisted my head at him and chirped startled.  "You are more like me than you are of them. Never let them cow you into something you are not." I growled surprised and took off, soaring to the heavens with the moon shining on me.  Above I heard the thundering boom of great wingbeats. The Archangel's form filled the sky.

The Archangel I liked told me I did well, and He was pleased. Before warning I shouldn't make a habit of  interfering with life and death. Of course, Killjoy.

The Archangel and I ascended the skies, like a great eagle and me a sparrow. The  air twisting in a whirlpool when an opening vortex of pinks and blues as materialized. The way home.

I followed as she went through it.

"What are you dreaming of?" Alucard stroked my cheek when my fingers curled with a dreamy smile.  His lips touched my fluttering lids, and his arms pulled me closer into his embrace. "Sleep soundly, my angel. I love you."