Castlevaina

Chapter 2

   Sighing in remembrance of the strength he once had, he walked swiftly to the edge of the rough rock. He peered down into much darker depths, the smell of fish strong in the air, calling to old memories.

0oo00oo0

   The young boy of only ten waddled his way through beautiful corridors, following a tall, dark man. His father, memory supplied. He was smiling, chuckling to himself over an untold joke. The young dhampir questioned the older man, but got no answer other that 'you'll see.' Finding their way to the front of the castle with practiced ease, the older Tepes flicked what looked to be a lever. The floor opened up, causing the young one to fall through seeming endless darkness before he landed on stiff stone. His father had laughed, following him down much more gracefully.

   The flames on the candles roared to life, lighting the path that was just over a running stream. The younger shivered.

   "Still unnerved by running water, Alucard?" his father had asked, smiling foolishly. Alucard glared at him with silver eyes, rubbing his abused tailbone.

  "What was that for, Father? You could have warned-" His complaints were cut off by the sound of beautiful voices that echoed around the small cave. Voices that sung hypnotic lyrics that would make any mortal man weak at the knees. A figure rose out of the water, showing only from the waist up. It was a woman, from the looks of it, though Alucard was no fool.

   She was beautiful, her long, dark hair sticking to a wet body. Eyes of chocolate looked him over, reminding him of his favorite treat. Below the surface of the water, Alucard's sharp eyes found a long, powerful tail overlapped with turquoise scales.

   Mermaids.

0oo00oo0

   Breaking out of his thoughts of happier times, Alucard jumped over the gap and took a closer look at the mound of stone. Though it seemed stable, there was a few loose stones. Pushing them out of the way, he moved through the tunnel, his nocturnal vision keeping him from tripping over loose stones. Moving the rocks on the other side, completing the tunnel, he simply raised a brow, wondering what the purpose of blocking the tunnel was. Surely those stones had not simply wound up there.

   He moved on, vaulting over another hole in the floor that lead to waters below. Soon enough, he found himself in another long hall being assaulted by more of the restless undead. Reaching the end was a tedious task, but as sure as his blade was sharp, he walked through yet another door.

   Finding himself on another ledge over a courtyard, he stopped as a spine tingling sense of fear settled over him. The air grew cold, making Alucard's breath visible to the naked eye. A feeling of death settled into the small courtyard, and with Alucard's vampiric sight, he frowned as the ground itself froze over with frost.

   A small spiral of pure darkness warped the space in front of the dhampir, causing him to tense. This scenario was all too familiar as a figure emerged from the blackness. Bone fingers wrapped around the edge of the abyss, only a rigid black cloak covered bone, the rest of the figure appearing swiftly after his hand. His raised hood did nothing to hide the skull being used as a face. Another arm erupted from the cloak, holding a large scythe that was the symbol of who he was.

  Fully erupted from his pit, Death chuckled at the younger vampire.

   "Ah, Alucard," he said almost fondly. "What is your business here?"

   "I've come to put an end to this," Alucard spoke darkly, his tenor floating smoothly on the wind.

   "Still befriending mortals?" Death mocked. "I will not ask you to join our side, but I demand you cease your attack!"

   "I will not." It was firm, solid.

   "You will regret those words," Death seethed. "We will meet again." He pointed a flesh-less finger at the dhampir causing him to tense even further. A spell of power washed over him as items started to disappear off his person. He would never admit to the surge of panic as his armor, sword, and charmed cloak were all ripped from him. The necklace he wore around his throat vanished, along with the spell it harbored.

   "What?!" Alucard exclaimed in shock and fury, feeling almost naked without his weapons by his side. Death only cackled in sadistic glee and warped away, a cruel smile that spoke of only maliciousness on his face of bone.

   Thoroughly enraged, Alucard could only push forward. Now that the Reaper had vanished, he looked over the courtyard. Frost still covered the bits of grass that had survived the ages. Pikes stook out of the hardened ground and on the ends were soldiers who foolishly thought they could storm the castle ruled by a vicious count. It was only the shells of armor and bone, for the flesh had rotted away or eaten by crows and ravens. Reminiscent to his glory days, his father had said when the younger version of himself had asked why the older Tepes did such a thing.

   Shaking his head at the foolishness of his thoughts, he wander further into the castle. Such a thing as loosing his gear would do little to drive him off.

He had a job to do.