Bloody Tears - Part: 06

Following Julius’ orders, I continued to run through the corridor, fighting only that which blocked my path. It wasn’t as easy having to use the hatchet instead of my sword, but at least I had some way to battle the beasts.

“Don’t slow down! We still have a ways to go, before we get out of here!” Julius’ voice echoed, as he gave his order. It sounded almost as if he was expecting to take us out of a different area than the main gate, with how he spoke.

This made me feel a sense of unease, as I thought about the reasons why we might not be exiting through the entrance. Could it be that the main gate had been overrun by demons? Or is it possible that the castle has changed its form while I was in the caverns below? Regardless, there was no time to dwell on these thoughts for long. The path in front of us was filled with monsters and demons, and the only way to survive was to focus on the problem at hand.

Up ahead I spotted Julius and the soldiers fighting a large demon blocking the door that appeared to have an extra layer of dull gray skin overlapping its natural red first layer. The creature also had a gaping torso which exposed its ribs and internal organs, as well as two golden shackles around it’s ankles. Knowing that Julius would be able to handle the beast, I turned around to face the creatures that we had simply run past on our journey to get through this section of the castle, “Alucard!” I shouted in hopes of gaining his attention, as I knew that I would be unable to handle all of these beasts on my own.

Having already known what to do, Alucard rushed the mob heading our direction, and plunged his blade through a ghoul as he used his shield to block a blade that had been tossed at him by an animated suit of red armor, “What are you waiting for, Artur?! There’s no time to hesitate!” Alucard’s words were true, without my sword I was indeed more hesitant to fight the demons of the castle. However, as Alucard said, there was no time to hesitate. If we wanted to make it out of Castlevania alive, we all would have to adapt to rapidly changing situations. A thought that had not occurred to me before this very moment.

Reaching behind me, I pulled the cross from it’s sheath on my belt, and held it like a dagger within my left hand as I held the hatchet Alucard had given me in my right. Moving forward, I cut through a small group of ghouls, making sure to remove their heads. ‘I will not become the downfall of this group.’ This thought driving me, I continued to move forward, cutting through whatever creature appeared before me. If Alucard had faith in me whenever he returned to me my broken sword, then who am I to doubt myself?

Alucard moved quickly past the rest of the ghouls, as he lobbed off their heads. The next creatures to move forward were some skeletal beings holding the enemy line, who looked as if they had been former knights from Wallachia. Their rusted swords and shields held in a proper stance, the skeletal knights slowly move forward. It was clear that they were well trained in battle tactics, and proved to be formidable in battle as they all attacked Alucard and I in unison. Luckily, Alucard had his shield and was able to successfully block the first wave of attacks. As for myself, I barely managed to jump back far enough to dodge three of the four blades heading my direction, and only obtained a small cut on my face by the fourth.

With little time for the skeletal knights to recover their stance, I moved forward to counter attack. Two of the four jumped back and managed to dodge my strike, as I attempted to strike with the blunt side of the hatchet. However the other two weren’t so lucky, as the hatchet’s hammer-like backside slammed into the skull of one of the skeletons, causing it to shatter and crumple to the floor. While my cross embedded itself into the shining left eye of the other, the weapon’s holy affinity dispelling the curse that had reanimated the bones of this damned soul.

Pulling back, I gave a quick glance over to Alucard and witnessed him quickly turn into mist as the enemy’s blades came swinging down yet again. After they passed through him, his body reformed itself and he quickly dispatched the skeletons that had surrounded him. His sword elegantly slicing through the vertebra of their necks.

Looking back at the three skeletons in front of me, I knew that I was going to have to find a way to deal with them quickly, as more of the beasts we had left behind began to catch up to us, “Damn...Looks like this could take a while.” Readying myself to attempt to counterattack once I was attacked again, I heard this large roar come from Julius’ direction. The beast he and the soldiers had been fighting had finally given out, but apparently was not ready to leave this world before letting lose one last attack as a white energy began to glow in it’s mouth.

“DODGE! NOW!” Alucard’s voice rang through my ears, as he and I both rolled to the side, dodging a large beam of energy that had been fired from the beast and allowing it to finish of those that were attempting to catch up to what was left of our group.

Returning to our feet, Alucard and I dusted ourselves off as we moved over to the door where Julius and the fallen creature were waiting. To our dismay, the soldiers that were with Julius had fallen in the fight against the creature, “I hope they all at least died a quick and painless death.” I thought aloud, as Julius stood there shaking his head. I guess even a hardened vampire hunter such as a Belmont has a hard time dealing with the loss of his allies.

Turning away from the carnage, Julius opened the door that he and his men had worked so hard to reach, “Let’s get moving. We don’t have much time before the sun rises, and the castle decides to change it’s shape and position again.” It was easy to sense the sorrow in his voice. The thought of losing every last one of his men must have been eating him alive, yet he still was able to focus on the task at hand. It was as impressive as it was heartbreaking, to say the least. However, now was not the time to let myself sympathize with others. As Julius had pointed out, there was very little time to escape the caslte. And, as such, we began to move into the next section.
...That is, until I once again felt that force emanating from the gem in my pocket. Falling to my knees, I felt my eyelids get heavy, and my vision tunneled until finally all had gone black.