Chapter 3: The Dragon Keeper
The dark-yellow diamond shined with brilliance. The brightness of its structure lit up the entire early-morning room. Dawn wasn’t quite here yet; however, I still felt the need for the night sky.
My journey must be carried out. The dark gem awaited me and there was no way I would fail. I took one last glance of the modern-time city. I could smell the gasoline soaring through this foul air. That’s when a thought bolted through my head.
Did vampires still exist in the modern era? I’ve only been in this time-period for about a month. That definitely wasn’t enough time to find out. What if they were all defeated in my time?
I took a final glance at the abandoned funeral home. It was a piece of crap; however, with the gold I possessed, I could’ve converted it into a more pleasant environment. But then again, I wouldn’t waste a dime in this time period. I held the diamond in the air and chanted words of awakening. It shattered into many shards that surrounded my body. The shards shimmered and everything went bright. When the light cleared, I found myself standing at the front gates of my castle. I also could feel the presence of Adius from a far distance. I wasn’t surprised that that moron followed me. He probably thought I was fast asleep, but little did he know that I was immune to the sun. Now was the time to take action. The nearest dragon keeper was located north of a nearby village. Luckily, that village was only a short walk west of my castle.
I unlocked the front doors and stepped inside. I glanced around the fine designs of it such as the golden floors, fine china chairs, (from the modern times of course) and paintings of my ancestors. I walked up the stairs until reaching the top left tower of my castle, where my room resided. Then I stepped inside and admired the instant view of my golden coffin. Of course, I was somewhat of a collector of the best of things. Reaching inside the coffin, I pulled out this weird thing, humans of the modern times, called an MP3 player. I held onto this device ever since I drained my first victim in that period. It was better to collect than to hear that blasted noise humans enjoyed from it. I honestly didn’t know why it pleasured them so much nor did I know how they managed to make it play someone else’s voice. But then again, I wondered a lot from the modern times.
I marched back down the stairs and outside the castle. There was no time to waste. It was time to go pay the village a visit.
The forest that surrounded my castle was moist as usual. The air itself smelled of wet leaves. The walk to the village wasn’t long, as I said before. I occasionally had to leap over ponds that blocked off some of the path.
When I arrived to the village, a red-haired teen ran up to me shouting “Hello and welcome to Forest….” His words faded away. I grinned. “Village… Oh man, you can come out in the daylight now?”
“Apparently so,” I said as I took a step toward him.
“Oh man!”
“Oh man is right,” I chuckled. “I’m feeling a little hungry.”
“Oh please –have mercy!”
“Nope, you’re going to be my first victim of the day.” I faked a lunge at him. He took off running so fast, I almost thought he was part vampire. The idiot didn’t know that male vampires targeted only female victims. Well, I did anyway, because the blood tasted better. The villagers that stood around this area looked like they were about to pass out. I walked toward them; they backed away.
“What do you want, foul beast!” an old bald geezer yelled. I laughed and took another step closer. Man it was good to be home! I’ll call this entertainment because there is nothing more entertaining than watching some humans’ expressions when they quiver with fear. This was flat hilarious.
“Wow, how pathetic can you humans get; I mean seriously!” I sighed and walked toward the village exit. I had bigger things on my mind than terrorizing this village. The buildings of this dump were all wooden. Some of them looked like huts while others took on the traditional pentagon-shape. I should’ve grabbed a snack before I left but of course, I could always find some other prey.
The northern outskirts of the village was more of a dark forest in contrast to its southern counterpart. The animals… well actually I couldn’t call them animals. They were more like imbeciles if you asked me. Dark-dusted pixies inhabited this place. They looked like acorn-sized humans with small wings, pointy ears, and claws. They were flying in many random patterns. I could tell they were up to something.
Ignoring a giggle from one of them, I shook my head and continued to walk. The pixy giggled again. In fact, they all giggled. I charged some heat into my palms and slowed my pace, giving the twerps a warning that I was not afraid of them. They had chosen the wrong person to toy around with. Finally, I heard a buzzing sound, which gave me a sign that one of them shot toward me. Perfect. I took careful aim at him without even turning my back to look at them. When the buzzing was at its loudest, I took a backwards swat. The shriek of the little twerp nailed through my eardrums and then vanished. It was his fault though. I tried to ignore that hi-paced giggling. Then here it comes, the suicidal pixy, attempting to annoy a high-class vampire such as me. This didn’t even make me chuckle.
Time passed in my favor: quickly. It didn’t take me very long to reach the area of the dragon keeper. His house was poorly built on top of dark murky soul. The trees that surrounded it looked like overgrown sticks. The air smelled as awful as the water.
The door of the house was open, so I entered. Inside, this placed looked very empty. It looked like someone decided to move out.
“Dammit,” I grumbled. “Where the hell is the guy?”
“You’re looking for me, huh?” a voice ahead said. A cloaked being stepped into my view. Darkness occupied the space where his face should’ve been. That black cloak cloaked it good.
“Aye,” I answered.
“What do you want?”
“Your assistance,” I said.
“Of what cause?”
“The death of hero and the retrieval of the dark gem.”
“Ah, so you want world domination?” The dragon keeper turned his back. “I would be willing to help; however, I was defeated by the hero a while ago. He’s stolen my emerald as a prize.”
“What emerald?”
“The one I use to control dragons.”
“I thought you had the natural ability to control them?”
“I do but unfortunately its limited and in a quest like this, I’m going to need all of my strength. You see, my natural ability drains all of my energy. If I go into battle with that, then I’d be too exhausted to fight. On top of that, I only can call nearby dragons. With my emerald, I can transport a dragon from anywhere on this earth and force them to fight for me.”
I clutched my fists together. Having a dragon keeper’s assistance with my mission was the number one priority on my list but that blasted hero beat me to him.
“Is there any way to get that emerald back?”
“Ah. So you really need my assistance, huh?”
“I’m sure you want to take down the hero as much as I do.” I said.
“You’re right,” the dragon keeper said.
“Here’s a proposition. I will retrieve your emerald. In return, you help me conquer this mud ball we call, earth.”
The dragon keeper eyed me. Well, he probably eyed me but of course, I couldn’t see his face through that cloak. “Is it a deal?” I said.
“Hmph. The hero sent the gem to a demonic shrine. It’s guarded by a powerful demon that is neither good nor evil.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“This demon may not cooperate that well and I’m sure you know how tough it is to kill one.”
I shook my head.
“You must not have noticed,” I said, “but I’m a vampire. Killing a demon is no problem for me.”
If his face were visible, the dragon keeper would’ve looked surprised.
“So how is it possible for you to walk in the sun?”
“I’m immune to it,” I answered.
“I see.”
“So where is this shrine located?” I asked.
“It’s north of a castle that happens to be east of the Forest village.”
“That would be my castle.”
“Then the trip shouldn’t be too long. In the back of the shrine, the demon awaits. I’ll accompany you.”
“You’re still going despite having no emerald?”
“I may not have my emerald, but I’m not weak.” He pulled a sword from his sheath. I can’t beat the demon alone; however if you’re as powerful as you say you are, then taking down the bastard shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Hmph. So what name do you go by?
“Gladius,” he answered.
“Yourself?”
“Nawm,” I answered.
“I’ve heard of you –the vampire who posses the gem of time, eh? I see why you’re number one of the hero’s hit list.”
“That doesn’t matter,” I said. “When the time is right, the hero will be done for.”
ns 15.158.61.20da2
