An old Korean man stood and his right arm was cut off at the elbow. He knew there was no escape and bravely accepted his fate, staring directly into Alonzo’s eyes as his head was cut off, his torso falling straight forward, his blood splashing onto his fiancée’s white dress. She was one of the lucky ones that managed to run and get away.
Wei and Bao showed up. Wei attacked Alonzo and they battled furiously. Blade hit blade with tremendous force, had they not been reinforced with magic they would have broken for sure. The sheriff was surprised by Alonzo’s speed when he was caught in the left shoulder, creating a three inch wound that hurt like hell; he was happy that it healed rapidly. He kicked the vampire so hard that it sent him tumbling on the lawn, but he immediately got up and attacked again. It was then that he noticed something strange about his eyes, dark and disturbing.
Bennet attacked Bao, missing his face by less than a half inch, then their swords collided as they came face to face. The sheriff thought that he looked more zombie like than human. Bennet threw his sword and it went right through Boa stomach, as he fell the evil vampire was on him trying hard to physically remove his head. Wei summersaulted, pulling the sword out of Boa, allowing the wound to heal. With no sword to defend him, Boa easily took Bennet’s head and then stomped his bones.
Alonzo sliced Wei straight down his back, cutting into his spinal cord. He did a backflip, cutting the top off Alonzo’s head, and then taking the rest of his head off for good measure. He kicked the skull, launching it across the lawn, further than any football player could kick a football.
The remaining carnage was an awful sight to behold. The tears and the cries of the humans that remained was something that they would never be able to forget. There were not many sounds in the world that were worse than what they were hearing. The job of a red sheriff was not usually a happy one, but without their valour and courage life would be unbearable. It was time to aid the wounded as best they could.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
THE TWO GENTLEMEN IN EGYPTIAN GARB continued to cycle through their spiel. “I told you she would make it this far!” Worset pushed Hebeny hard, almost knocking him over.
Jenny had lost track of time, perhaps it was part of the strange atmosphere that had commenced as soon as she had managed to get inside the cottage. Or perhaps it was because those two were driving her crazy. She wasn’t sure if she had been gone two days or two hours. It seemed to her that every inch of the place had a spell on it. It could be that her magic was fighting its magic spontaneously; she felt some sort of pull and push down there. Jenny was starting to feel trapped no matter what room she was in; it seemed to her that it was a little like being in prison. It would be a relief if she ever got to smell the fresh air again.
Jenny now had an idea of what that crazy spell was about, to distract her from concentrating on the problem at hand, now to make her way out of the chamber. It was a simple spell in a sense but quite effective. It was so difficult to think. There was more intelligence than brawn that had gone into the enchantment. The girl was learning that it didn’t take a mighty enchantment to be effective. Every single time that she attempted to concentrate their voices would get louder. Jenny thought that they could probably drive a person insane if they kept at it long enough, and she was convinced that they would never stop.
Were spells only limited to the imaginations of the wizards? She supposed there were rules of magic that had to be followed. Inexperience was never an advantage it was knowledge that wore the crown. Jenny started to make her way through the chamber, checking the walls but found nothing of interest. She used her vampire speed to check high up on the walls where no human could reach. Nothing interesting on the ceiling either. She commenced to walk over every single inch of the floor, jumping up and down on any area that appeared to be the least bit interesting. The room was vexing and they wouldn’t shut up! How many times had they said the same thing, acted out the same scene, over and over?
Then she noticed that every time she approached the two gentlemen they got louder. Now to the girl wizard that was interesting. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? Why would they do that? Was that a clue? It was not only an effective part of the spell but maybe the telling part as well.
“Oh, you sneaky devils.” Jenny went right inside the holographic spell and looked down at the floor. Sure enough there was a small lever, as soon as she pushed it the Egyptian gentlemen vanished. The silence was as welcome as a visitor bearing gifts. Then the sound of rock grinding on rock and displaced dust revealed stairs leading down to another level. Having nowhere else to go she headed down the stairs into yet another chamber. There was a small mountain of keys like the first key she had taken. Six feet tall and thousands and thousands of keys, but at least this time there was an open door that led to another room. Jenny took two handfuls of the keys and examined them; they all seemed to be identical. She threw them back into the pile and headed for the open door and looked into the next room. Her eyes had commenced to blink oddly.
“You have got to be kidding! What is the point of all this?” Inside the next room were lions, all different sizes, just laying around apparently waiting for someone to eat? She knew instinctively that they were not ordinary lions. Any human stepping in there would be dead; any wizard best have a proper defence. On the back wall was an ornamental carving, a lion’s face with what looked to be two holes for eyes? She would need two keys and she only had one. A large male lion was tenderly licking a female. Nothing was stopping them from entering the room where she was but none seemed interested in her.
Jenny looked back into the room with the keys, she blinked and the lenses in her eyes changed. The keys had now changed colors; they looked chocolate brown instead of gold. The thought popped into her head that she had to find a single key in that pile. One must look different than all the others. She ran into the keys and scattered them. The floor was now covered with them, and her lenses automatically changed and continued to do so, but they all appeared to be the same. She kicked and spread the keys around more. Her changing eyesight was disorienting and she almost fell over. She sat, picked up a handful and threw them against the wall. Now they all looked pink. She thought that she probably needed the patience of a century old wizard, but it would take her a hundred years to get there.
The girl was frustrated and tired of it all. Jenny wondered what her mother was doing. It wasn’t bad enough that she couldn’t find the key, but even if she did how was she going to deal with a pride of lions? She threw a key into the room with the lions and two of them stood up. One ran to the door and looked in at her but seemed incapable of entering the room; it stared at her as if she was a tasty gazelle. Showing its fangs it was definitely intimidating, a scary look especially since she had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. An ordinary lion she could probably kill, but a vampire? Lions looked funny with fangs but she thought that the bite wouldn’t be so amusing. The lion continued to stare as it let go with a short roar.
She moved her right foot and one of the keys seemed different. It was resting under another and looked more purple than pink. Jenny picked it up and sure enough it was indeed purple in comparison, and when she took the other one out of her pocket to compare it was a match. They now both looked purple, the prettiest purple that she had ever seen. The young wizard looked away from the keys at the lion and smiled.
“Why couldn’t they be kittens?” Jenny went over to the open door and looked in and at least four of the lions looked at her. She stuck her leg into the chamber with the lions past the barrier of the door and the one nearest the door clawed her calf. Blood ran down her leg as she screamed. It healed but it had been an awful pain. It took several minutes for her to once again approach the door, and this time she attempted to mind them, but it didn’t work. A cub approached the door and tried to get at Jenny, and it was the cutest thing. It made her heart melt. Jenny wanted to snuggle it as she would a teddy bear. She wanted to kiss that furry little face. Knowing that she would probably be attack
ed, she reached in anyway and petted the cub. It licked her hand and then chewed on her arm. She almost wished that she could take it home with her, imagine the look on the mailman’s face.
A lion roared from the left corner but not at her. Two young males were playing. Again the female cub licked her arm. Jenny stepped into the room, picking up the cub in her arms, expecting to be attacked. When she was ignored she was unsure of her next move. A step forward would bring her deeper into the cats, a step back would take her out? Could she take the cat out with her? Having to make more and more decisions, she hoped that one wouldn’t be fatal. That was one of the main differences growing from a child into an adult, all those daily decisions with no one else to blame.
“What should we do?” she asked the lion cub. Although it was invisible to the eye, a small amount of magic was exchanged from her to the cub and then back again, and it gave Jenny a warm feeling.
Dracula’s daughter took a step back with the cub and found herself into the key room. She placed the animal on the floor and played with it. It chewed on her, licked her, and jumped on her stomach and snuggled. It was young and wild, perhaps a little like Jenny. The cat took all of her stress away and replaced it with happy thoughts. She smelled its face and kissed it and it made the funniest noise in appreciation. She spent almost an hour playing with the cat but she knew she had to put it back. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room with the cub in her arms and was completely ignored. She made her way to the lion’s face that had been carved into the wall and inserted a key into each eye, always expecting to be mauled but nothing happened. She put the cub down and then turned both keys simultaneously. The girl was disappointed when nothing happened. Then slowly a slab of granite swung open to reveal Caius sitting in a regal looking chair with six men, three on each side, watching intently as Jenny entered the chamber.
Caius was talking to the group. “Obtaining the unattainable is very satisfying.”
“Are YOU Caius?”
“I am.” Caius was a distinguishing looking fellow with high cheekbones and a shapely white beard. He sat with a five foot staff made of vampire bones that were spelled and twisted together; it was surprisingly quite attractive for a thing made from bones. He looked to be about sixty but was in fact ancient. Jenny thought he looked like a king as he sat on his shiny ebony throne. It looked even more impressive in the white room.
“Well, then, I am here to be taught in the ways of a wizard. I’m Jenny.”
The six stared at her as if she was a six-headed monster spitting kittens. It wasn’t fun to have so many scrutinising her simultaneously. Had she done something exceptional? Or perhaps she had accomplished something that they considered bizarre? Whatever the reason so many eyes upon her were uncomfortable.
There was a moment of silence until Caius spoke. “You are Dracula’s daughter aren’t you?”
“How do you know that?”
“I can see him in your face. I heard the rumor several years ago but I didn’t believe it until now.”
All six took a step back, finally settling in square chairs. They moved the chairs back a distance as they observed without saying a single word. Jenny almost felt as if she was on trial. The lion cub amble up to Jenny and licked her leg. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be in here.” She picked up the cub and placed her back into the chamber with the other lions.
Caius gestured to Jareth to approach him and they commenced to whisper. “She’s released it.”
Jareth bent down. “I thought that was impossible.”
“Indeed but there it is. First things first.” Caius watched as Jenny returned with the cub escaping from the chamber once again and slowly heading back towards her. The lion trotting behind her was the cutest thing.
“Caius, are you going to help me?”
Caius slowly nodded as he played with his short beard. “You are already on your way to becoming the most famous wizard in the history of wizards, if you don’t get yourself killed. Jenny, you should know that there are worst things than death.”
Jenny thought that the statement was out of context. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Imagine yourself trapped in a cave, alone for a century or two. Vampires will go dormant after not being able to eat for an extended period. You will not. You will not die of starvation as a human would. Silence will drive you absolutely MAD.”
“Actually, I think you might be a bit mad. Those snakes could have killed me.”
“But here you are. You will need a Blood Book.”
“What the heck is a Blood Book?” She looked down at the cub at her feet.
“Jenny, ignore the cat for the present. A Blood Book is a magical tome that reacts specifically to the wizard staring into it. There are only eight in existence that I know of and all are occupied by wizards. You will have to defeat a dark wizard and take it by force.”
“Oh, that is just great. I have to go up against an experienced wizard? It doesn’t sound possible. Maybe my father could get it for me?”
“He can’t. The book will align with the most powerful being around it, and that alignment can endure for centuries. You will need to face the wizard on your own, by yourself. Besides, your father has his own book.”
“I’m not experienced enough. It would be suicide.”
Caius played with his beard as he nodded. “With any other wizard as young as you I would agree but you are something special. I won’t even say what you are.”
Jenny didn’t like the sound of that. It seemed that the whole world was trying hard to keep secrets from her. “If you are going to help me then help me. Don’t talk in circles.”
Caius cleared his throat. “Once Achak was a good wizard; he healed the sick and did his best to light up the world. He’s changed over the years, a bad deed here, and an evil deed there. One can talk oneself into almost anything on the right day, or should I say wrong day. Now he deals almost exclusively in black magic and must be stopped. Aftereffects of his evil incantations now circle the globe with peculiar consequences for many vampires. You need to either kill him or bind him and take the book. Once you have it, it will teach you everything you need to know. You must also clean the air of his evil incantations. And Jenny, you must never stop learning.”
“You sound like a television commercial. Why don’t you take care of this Achak guy if he’s so dangerous? Why send a little girl to take care of your business?”
“You need the book.”
“You know you can’t handle him.”
“That is correct.”
“Oh great. How will I find this Achak?”
“You will return home for a week and Jareth here will show up personally to escort you. Until said time you will pay close attention to your dreams. Oh, and, ah, that cub is now your responsibility. You have inadvertently released it from the chamber, it will perish without you.”
Jenny looked at the cub and then back at Caius. “Really, I can have the cub? I can’t go home with a lion cub. What will my mother say?”
“I imagine that she’ll say bad kitty quite a bit. Of course you realize that is no ordinary lion cub.”
“I know.”
“Jenny, the adventure of a lifetime begins with a single breath. What an adventure are you in for?”
“What am I supposed to feed it?”
Caius nodded and looked pensive. “A nice juicy stake? Girl, what have you learned on your little adventure to get here?”
Jenny sat down and played with the cat. “I learned that even simple spells can be quite effective.”
“Bravo. You will need to trust your instincts more. It sounds simple but it isn’t. What else have you learned?”
The journey of Jenny’s tutelage into the land of wizards had begun.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ANNIE BLURRED AWAY FROM THE BURNETT FOUNTAIN toward the sounds of the screams, and to her surprise it was over a mile away, but of course she now had vampire hearing. She came upon an old looking vampire that app
eared to be about a dozen years younger than her, but it wasn’t a genuine attack. A family of four was being amused by the old vampire that had been turned when he was seventy-seven. A young boy with tight curly blond hair and his sister were pretending to be scared of the vampire, and it had become a competition of sorts, to see who could scream the loudest, and the 6-year-old girl was definitely the winner. Alastair was showing them his fangs but they were in no danger as he was an old family friend. Annie was relieved as she found the situation so cute that it made her smile. Screams that weren’t tied to genuine terror was a relief.
Annie sat herself down on a nearby bench and watched the goings-on as Alastair took notice of her and did a double take. After the parents insisted the children were making too much noise they finally calmed down. The 5-year-old boy stomped his foot when told that he was no longer allowed to scream. Annie thought that out of a hundred 5-year-old boys he would have been the cutest. The old vampire went over and sat next to Annie stared at her and smiled. They stared at one another, neither wanting to look away. It was a peculiar thing for two strangers to do, turning out to be awkward for the both of them. She thought that the way he was looking at her was familiar. They finally had to laugh.
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