Time passed quickly, two weeks went by while I was helping the monks with all kinds of work from clothes washing to cooking, from wood cutting to cleaning. It was easy work, relaxing really, it was a life with no worries. I almost decided to become a monk myself, but it didn't feel right.
No matter how much I tried, the monastery felt off, like it was pushing me away or something. The people there were nice to me, that was for sure, but the area itself had some kind of energy that didn't go well with me. It's hard to explain to someone that hasn't been through it.
Sir Adam seemed to be much the same, but the monks were also steering clear from him. It was weird, was it because he was intimidating or because of some other reason.
Peter, in contrast, was fine. He seemed like always and the monks accepted him like one of their own. Maybe he had some history with the people here, maybe he was once one of them, but he seemed to know no men there, the monks were the ones that seemed to know him.
After those two weeks, Peter came in my room late at night, awakening me from my restless sleep.
"Wake up son. It's time for you to learn something new."
With those words he dragged me out of my bed and fixed the rifle he gifted to me, in my hands. In just a few moments we were outside with the monk that we met as soon as we reached the monastery. He was holding a cross in one hand and a candle in another.
Without a word, we quickly went outside the walls, where pitch darkness was waiting. The moon was gone and the air was cold, colder than it should have been. It was like I was looking at the void itself, yet nothing happened, or so I thought, dozens, no, hundreds of glowing dots were moving slowly towards the monastery.
Look at the abyss and the abyss shall look back, that was a coat that I've read from a book at some point, but it was a 1 to 1 match for what I was seeing. Fear engulfed me, those beasts, those beasts that killed everyone that I knew, were here to take everything that remained. I couldn't run anymore, I was surrounded with no escape in sight. I was ready to fall to my knees before Peter put a hand on one of my shoulders, lightly pulling on the rifle around my neck with the other. His gaze was fixed at the darkness, showing nothing but calmness.
"Cristofor, aim and shoot. Your legs have carried you so far, now let your arms do the work."
He was right. I aimed the rifle between two of the dots. My arms were trembling like leaves in the wind. The beast was slowly approaching, so I squeezed the trigger while I had the courage.
A loud boom reverberated in my ears, but this time I managed to recover quickly. I looked towards the beast, but it wasn't down, no, it was running towards me at full speed. I missed my only shot, I was going to die, I was sure of that. Once more I was frozen by fear, unable to even make a sound.
"AIM!" yelled Peter next to me, my body moving instinctively and aiming at the beast that was approaching.
I squeezed the trigger once more, another boom following, a loud thud right after. Before I could even take in what I did, another pair of dots came running.
"AIM!" yelled Peter once more, my body following those orders once more. Another boom and thud, and another pair of dots running towards me.
I heard Peter yell 'AIM!' once more so I did, again and again until the rifle was out of ammo. Sir Adam came from behind me and shot whichever beast was still running towards us, all while slowly walking towards the darkness.
Everything went by in 5 minutes, no more than that, yet it felt like hours for me. My arms were still trembling and my knees finally gave up on me, but sir Adam quickly grabbed me by the arm, holding me up.
"Well done, Cristofor." he said, still looking at the darkness, revolver in hand.
"I, I only did it because, because sir Peter helped me."
"Son, I yelled only for the first 2 shots, the rest were your doing and even those 2 had you pulling the trigger. I also told you to stop calling me sir."
"But, but I heard you yell every time."
"You imagined it. Maybe it was your way of gathering the courage." said the monk, before making 3 crosses "Many people that went through wars or even just hunters that have a hard time killing, would subconsciously imagine something like that to pass their fear. It is a sad thing really, that such innocent souls are being pulled towards evil acts."
"Sometimes you must choose between evils, it's better to have a way to choose the lesser one."
"I couldn't say it better, yet it is still a sad part of existence."
"You should prepare, you might need to kill more of those things in the future."said sir Adam while helping me walk towards the monastery.
"Will I need to go… fight that vampire too."
"If you are ready, we will not stop you. But we won't force you either, we should have enough men to do it anyway. Today was just a test for you. You might meet such beasts even after Alucard goes down, that's always how it goes. But we will make sure that you won't go through that pain again, you have my word."
I was thankful that I wouldn't need to go through that once more. But I was sad. I was running once more, hiding behind those who were willing to help me. Will I never gain the strength to protect myself, will I always be weak and defenceless, a snail waiting to be stepped on, a leaf waiting for the wind to take me away. No, I had to change, I had to become strong.
"I, I will fight too!" I said determined yet still fearful.
Silence fell around me. Peter stopped his conversation with the monk and looked towards me. Sir Adam stood without saying anything, the darkness of the night hiding his face.
I saw a small glint where his eyes should have been. His arm patted my shoulder a couple of times.
"Then we shall teach you how to fight. Heard that old man?" said sir Adam after a couple of moments.
"Ai, I will be worked to the bone as it seems. Good life if you ask me."
"You've heard him. Now it's time to go back to sleep, you need energy to fight after all." he said while pushing me towards the dorms of the monastery.
…
Two more weeks passed. Rita came by and she brought news about the Dracula order. She managed to gather help from the western branch, help in the form of 15 trained men and enough weapons to put some armies to shame.
The number of men seemed small, especially against the seemingly unlimited number of demonic beasts, that we were against. But I quickly learned that every one of them were no less than superhuman, either marksmen that would never miss, close combatants that could strangle a bear in, surprisingly, a bear hug or master tacticians that could make a battle of 1 to 10 be advantageous for the 1. But I found that out much later, my young mind was still stuck in worry.
She didn't stay for long, maybe a couple of hours. She had still to finish her mission and she wouldn't stop until every branch knew about our enemy and every one of them sent as much help as possible. The monks also seemed to treat her much like sir Adam, like something that they mustn't mingle with. I thought that it was because she was a woman, and the monastery was strictly a male one, just her being allowed to enter as far as she did seemed bothersome from that perspective. Traditions and rules, that's what holds the church in place, but at least they can bring hope when needed, so I can respect that.
…
For a little over 2 months I trained like never before. During the day I was physically trained by Peter. He was harsh when it came to training, leaving me half unconscious more than once in the beginning weeks. I soon learned that he did that because many of his apprentices died within their first year of hunting, which was still better than the 9 months average, but every death weighed him down to the point that he gave up on teaching as soon as my mother came around. I didn't ask how many people he trained, but his face told me that there were many and few that lived. I tried my best to keep up and I am proud to say that I lived.
During some nights, sir Adam took me outside the monastery with 1 or 2 monks in tow. They kept a sort of holy barrier that kept those beasts away, it wasn't something grand or special, just the monks praying while holding a cross, icon or another symbol of God, something that I did myself once before that. I was sure that they would keep me safe as long as I didn't go too far.
In those nights I must have shot over 1000 beasts. I almost worried that we would run out of ammo, but Peter seemed to have enough to arm a squat in the army for weeks. I could never shoot all those bullets by myself, especially because it seemed that I was a pretty good shot, 9 out of 10 bullets hitting their mark without a problem, that 1 extra was usually from a beast dodging or my fear seeping back in when a beast was faster or bigger than the others. As soon as my arms would start to tramble for some reason or another, sir Adam would jump in and take over for me. If I was a good shot, he was second to none, every bullet being 1 thud no matter how fast those beasts were or how dark it was. It was like he could see every movement in detail and predict every movement that they would make, his ability couldn't be described as anything else than magical.
I was also taught about many creatures that I might face during this war, many of which were just folk tales that I heard before at least in passing. It still was good to hear them a second time, especially because those tales were usually only half truths or lacked a proper way to deal with them. Some were also from other countries from what I understood, not that I've heard any of them before or maybe I did in one of Henry's long winded tales, which I then quickly forgot. They were fun, this part of my training was enjoyable, it was after all like being read a story from some fantasy book or the bible, it surely reminded me of when aunty Maria was reading tales for children back when I was still half her size.
Sir Adam and Peter were very different, not just in their personalities or appearances, but in their abilities too.
Sir Adam was mainly a marksman, even though he never used a rifle, and he had knowledge about every beast in every country in the continent and some outside of the continent. His strength was also inhuman, almost second to none as far as I could tell.
Peter, on the other hand, was a close combatant, having more strength than 3 men combined, even more than sir Adam himself, and the kind of speed that would make you wonder if he was actually a bird, but his marksmanship wasn't bad, he was just as good as me even though he usually used an old crossbow that he made himself. His knowledge was also more within the country's bounds, but he could tell you more than a hundred ways to deal with anything that you could find here.
Both of them could be considered the best in the world, I was sure of that and they were my teachers. There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders, I could say that for certain.
Peter also told me tales of my mother, how she did on her first mission, how strong she was, how many enemies she defeated, how she met him and sir Adam. She was truly a person to look up to, a great fighter with a heart brighter than a saint's, I knew at least one of those, but the stories proved that even more.
Her abilities were much the same as Peter's, being mainly a close combatant. But he did say that her marksmanship was lacking to say the least, almost so bad that you'd think that she was half blind, his words, not mine.
It was fun to hear about her life, but it did make me pretty sad since I could never see her again. Maybe in another world I could have heard those tales from her, when I was old enough to or if I fought side by side with her.
If only those beasts attacked earlier, the village might have been able to defend itself. I am sure that sir George and the other woodcutters could have managed, especially if mother told them of their weaknesses, but only if they weren't sleeping already.
Alucard was evil, I hated him for what he did and I subconsciously made a vow to put him down no matter what. I would not let him do what he did once more, no other child must go through what I did, no other village shall go down, not as long as I lived.
Peter and sir Adam must have seen my determination, their training becoming harder and harder every day. I was happy of that though, I needed the strength to follow my words after all.
…
News came from the Vatican as soon as the first snow fell. A week and some after the letter came, several military cars came to the monastery, a white flag, with a golden cross, adorned above some of them.
Two men got out of a car, walking towards the gates of the monastery, where our group was waiting. Peter and the monk that first met us were in front, sir Adam stood in the middle, slightly in front of me and I was last in line, nearest to the gates.
The two men were very different. One was just a little shorter than sir Adam, he had blonde long hair and features of those living down south, in the other roman countries. The other was a huge man, even taller than sir Adam and wider than anyone I've ever seen. He seemed to be from Russia or another country from above, although his skin was darker, the southern sun must have toasted him after all.
"Good day. Sir Peter, if I am not wrong. My name is Alejandro Mihail and he is Kirpichnikov David." said the smaller of the two while reaching for a handshake.
"You seem to be well informed about me. I hope you're just as informed about our enemy." said Peter while taking his hand.
"As much as you could find about such an elusive enemy. We've brought 70 men from our side. They are some of the best that we could bring so far from the Vatican. 10 priests who have experience in dealing with beasts from hell, 30 riflemen with top of the line marksmanship and weapons blessed by the Pope himself, 8 engineers who have survived through the war and have proven their skills 10 fold and 22 of the best combatants from all throughout the western part of the continent."
"Seems about enough, could have gone for more but thankfully the Dracula order should send anywhere from 30 to 40 of their men."
"Hmm, as much as I wouldn't want to work with such an unpolished bunch, it is reassuring to have more men by my side."
"Don't worry, I know some of them personally and they are better trained than all your men. Their skills shall be proven in the war once more."
"I hope so. Now for present matters." said Mihail while lifting his gun towards sir Adam. "Why is a vampire here?"
That's when I first learned that sir Adam was a vampire. Everything pointed out to him being a vampire, like him eating little to nothing, sleeping almost never, staying out of the sun and every monk trying to stay away like he was the devil himself. It all made sense, but I never tried to put 2 and 2 together. Why would have I? Sir Adam was the one that saved me, I didn't have a reason to doubt him.
The news were shocking, but I quickly moved past them. Sir Adam was a good man, I learned that well in the past 2 months, even as a vampire, my view of him wouldn't change. It also made sense, he was strong, inhumanly strong at that. He could overpower almost any human in anything combat related, it would have been weird if he was a normal human. But that did bring many questions about Peter, after all he was still somehow stronger even though he was supposedly human.
"Put your gun down boy. He can take out half your men if you anger him too much and you don't have the time to waste in bringing other men."
"How could I trust a vampire? For all that I know, he might be one of Alucard's works."
"It's blasphemy just saying that I might be working with that sucker, let alone be infected by him. I've been the one that killed him before."
"Yet he is still alive even after you've 'killed' him."
It was a stand off, a stand off between one of the strongest warriors that humanity created and one of the strongest 'evils' in existence. The kind of stand off that you would only hear in the bible or some fantasy story for kids. But, I was not sure who would win at that time, sir Adam wasn't a bad fighter no matter who you compared him too, but the man in front of him had the initiative advantage and he was likely one of the best man from the Vatican.
"Let's calm down. Sir Adam couldn't be working for Alucard, he was the one that protected me from him after all." I said, trying to defuse the situation.
"Quiet boy. It might be Alucard's plan to weaken the holy knights and or the Dracula order. You might just be bait set by him, bait that we've proudly taken without a worry." I was out of words, he could have been right after all, so I went quiet as he ordered me, my eyes deep in the ground.
"Listen to the boy. I've worked with this sucker for over 20 years and I know for a fact he ain't under Alucard's foot."
"Vampires live for as long as they aren't killed, Peter, he could have played this charade for all those years."
"Yet he hasn't drank a drop of blood in all that time. Vampires can also die from starvation and it takes only a year to do that. No mere thrall could survive that long."
David moved next to his comrade, forcefully pushing his gun down. "We don't have the time for this. If he says he is an allie, he is an ally." his voice was deep yet it had the kind of calmness that would take your worry away in a moment, at least it did to me.
"Kirpichnikov, but he could backstab us at any moment."
"He doesn't seem so. See, he is protecting the boy."
It was true, sir Adam stood in front of me, covering me from anything that might attack while keeping an eye out for any danger. When Mihail lifted his gun he even took a few small steps to the right to keep me out of the line of fire. I didn't realise it until David said it, but sir Adam always seemed to do that now that I think about it.
"Fine… I will allow it, but if he causes harm to any of my men, I will be the one to put a stake through his heart."
"Good luck, it didn't work when I first met him." said Peter while laughing out loud. "But very well. Leaving him out of this war would take away a great amount of power from us."
…
The holy knights set their camp outside the monastery while we waited for the Dracula order to come.
After 2 days they showed up, Rita ahead with an older man riding beside her. They stopped next to the holy knights' camp, a stand off starting between the two groups.
I and Peter moved towards them to keep the peace between them.
"Long time no see old fool." said Peter as soon as he reached the man next to Rita.
"Who are you calling an old fool, you undead bastard." said the man, with a booming voice, as he got off his horse.
"I ain't undead yet, haven't died after all."
"You bastard, with how many times you nearly died you've more than gained the qualifications."
"Rita, I see that you've managed to bring the other 10 too."
"Yes, 40 in total, all at the rank of principalities or above."
"And who is the boy? Have you kidnapped another of your 'apprentices'? I thought you stopped doing that after that young girl that kicked my ass."
"My name is Cristofor, sir."
"Good name boy, name's Joseph Anthony."
"He is Eva's son."
"Eva's son? How is she doing? Haven't seen her in years."
"Sir Anthony, I've already told you that she died a couple of months ago."
"Oh, my memory must have slipped. I am sorry boy." said Anthony, his voice finally reaching a normal sound level. "She was a good, strong woman, it's sad that we've lost her so soon."
"It's no problem, I've already accepted what happened."
"You a strong man I see, truly your mother's son. Keep that strength with you as long as you can, you might need it." he said while tapping my chest with his fist. "So, I see the southerner bastards have beaten us to the finish line, in numbers too."
"Seems so. Have you brought anything to make up for it?"
"Ai, bring their leaders and I shall tell all of you."
…
All the people in charge gathered in a room of the monastery. In the room were the two holy knights that we met days ago, Mihail and David, the people who had worked to gather all of the forces, Peter, sir Adam and Rita, the Dracula order leader, Anthony, who told me to drop the sir before the meeting, the monastery representative, the same monk that had helped us so far, which I never learned the name of not that I think about it, and me, who was the main target to be protected.
Anthony made space on the table that we sat at and spread a map with what I assumed was the area where Alucard set his base.
"We have good news and bad news folks. The bad news first, Alucard isn't alone."
"How many are with him?" asked Mihail while getting up from his chair to get a better view of the map.
"Beats us, but we counted at least 10 distinct figures. He might have more, seeing how big their fortress is, somewhere around 25, all wielding some form of magic."
"Do they have control over those beasts too?" asked Peter.
"Possibly, either that or Alucard can somehow control over 100 of them by himself, and those are only the ones that we've managed to count."
"Over 100, have your eyes went bad old fool?"
"You really want to push my buttons, you walking corpse? Cause I am ready to give you a second meeting with God. I wasn't the one that counted them anyway, even though my eyes are just as good as the day I was born."
"That doesn't inspire much hope, babies are nearly blind at birth." said Rita.
"Shut up you witch! Mock me and cuss me out after I am done with my part." said Anthony while lifting his fist, striking the air above him.
"What about the good news?" asked David, bringing everyone back to the plan.
"Yeah… aham… Their fortress happens to be located in a concave area, granted that alone won't do much."
"So why is it good then?" asked Rita again.
"Let me finish already! There is a large river that passes nearby." he said as he pointed at the river on the map "We've checked and it should be possible to flood the area if we block the river here and dig here or here." said Anthony while dragging his finger around, pointing every location as he spoke of it.
"With the area flooded, we might turn it into a barrier by blessing it." said Mihail after some thought.
"Haven't thought about making it into holy water, but that would be a nice addition to our natural vampire cage."
"We could place some artillery here and here for the initial attack and a finishing attack in case we can't deal with all of them." said Peter while pointing two spots with good visibility to the fortress.
"I've thought about that, but the soil is too soft. Too much force on it and it will collapse, taking every man with it."
"How about this spot?" said sir Adam while pointing to a spot west of the fortress.
"The ground will hold there, but it's open for attacks if any beast can pass the water."
"We can leave a priest with each artillery unit, he will pray while looking towards east. That should make them invisible to them."
"That would stretch our forces thin. We won't have the men needed to bless all the water in time."
"A great hurdle has been set by God." said the monk while making a cross. "We can send some of our brothers to help with the blessing, but I worry that we can't help more than that."
His words held pain. In the time that I was at the monastery, I've learned that the monks had made a vow to never take action in any kind of battle, they were meant only to offer a sanctuary where people could be protected by the evil that followed them. He offered to give the power needed for the initial attack, by all means, that was them giving the first hit in the war. He offered to break their vows to God, to help us, to help me. I couldn't find any words to say, nor could anyone else there. Silence fell on the room until David started speaking the second and last time in that meeting.
"We understand." said David while bowing his head "God will hold all of you close."
"Thank you friend. Your words have soothed some of my worries."
The meeting was soon finished. The plan was set and ready to be put in action. We were to prepare until the 25th of December, the day God set foot on earth, to bring our chances of winning higher.
In just a few days, I was standing in front of the giant fortress where the villain of my story took refuge.