Chapter 13: The prince

The mist was far from regular. It separated every member of the team from the other excluding Strada and Zara who had been

holding hands at the time. It distorted their vision and prevented them all from hearing one another. Strada knelt and placed the knight and Bishop pieces

on the floor. "Checkmate," he said.

Mysteriously, the knight piece transformed into an 8-foot-tall armored giant, brandishing a black broad sword in one hand and a

single-handed battle axe in the other. It fought off the undead that came at

them. The bishop piece transformed into a glassy-looking Bishop dressed in holy

garments. The Bishop formed a 'holy veil' to protect Strada and Zara.

Some undead were already hacking away at the veil. It threatened to crack soon.

The black knight was slowly being overwhelmed by the speed and number of his foes.

They were growing stronger.

 Suddenly, Zara exclaimed. "I've got it! I can see it now. The left sides of their chests. Hack

it open and shatter the emerald pieces inside. That's their essence!"

 Strada grinned so widely his lips could have torn up. With a bellow, he shouted: "You heard

her black! Hack 'em up!!!" The great black Knight paused and adjusted its stance,

then swiftly it began to hack at their chests, destroying their emerald

essences. With a blood-curdling screech, they broke into dust and fell into heaps on the floor. A few minutes later, the mist around Zara and Strada cleared up. They could see the others fighting but the others couldn't see them.

 Another portion of the compound was devoid of mist. Several heaps of dust lay on the floor there. Trevor was gone.

 Strada whistled and grinned again. "That old man is pretty good, I gotta hand it to him" Hurriedly, they dashed into the mist with the Knight and Bishop in tow to help their comrades.

~ ~ ~

"I win!" Svengali screamed as she lunged towards Cain ready to stab his broken body on the floor to ensure he was truly dead. She didn't like taking any chances. Mere moments before she could stab Cain, a silver

blade with a blue-edged hilt flew into her wrist! Shocked, she released her dagger and screamed in pain. The blade withdrew, spilling blood into the air, and flew back quickly to its owner. Trevor stood on the platform with his hands behind his back. The blade returned to float by his side. "Who are you?!" She screamed at him with a wild look in her eyes.

 Trevor stepped forward calmly and slowly. His blade followed. "A friend of your enemy. Forgive my intrusion. But I am a man of honor, and I have a debt to repay."

~ ~ ~

Location: France

Time: 300 AD

 A great battle had just ended between the Tepes and the Lupin clans. The strongest families of vampires and werewolves respectively. The war was a bloody one where many lives were lost, including the legendary Alucard Vlad Tepes, the son of Dracula and

Auresenes Odrac, the great white wolf. Several others were mortally injured;

The likes of Trevor Vlad Tepes, son of Alucard, and many others.

 Trevor was dying.

He had lost a lot of blood from the battle and the wolves had poisoned him with

silver, every vampire's weakness. He had already given up on any hope of survival.

He had accepted his fate. The sun had risen so many of his brothers had already

been turned to ash; being of royal blood, he could withstand the sun. He closed

his eyes and waited for the poison to take effect when a man, accompanied by a

dark skinned woman in white and an ashen man with spiky black hair came to

stand before him. The man knelt beside him and spoke. "If you want to live, I

can help you. You need only say the word."

For a while, there was no reply. Cain assumed that the prince had died. He nodded his head in dismay and stood up to leave when he

heard a stirring on the ground.

"Yes, I will live."

 ~ 

~ ~

 The moon's

The color had changed to a blood red. It splashed an ominous red light across

the cemetery and its environs. Trevor addressed Svengali.

"I have a debt to repay."

He continued ;

"Blood of the moon, Blood of the wolves. Blood of the Tepes,

Blood of the fallen under the moon. Give me your strength, grant me your might.

Take from me soul and body, sake that I may win this fight."

 The moon responded accordingly to his covenant as his true form began to manifest; his teeth grew long and sharp like fangs, his eyes turned to a pitch black. His fingernails

extended into claws and his muscles stiffened. His blade was set ablaze with a deep blue flame. With superhuman speed, both beast and blade rushed forward to face Svengali. The fight was long and fierce but mostly one-sided. As long as the moonlight was bathed in the blood of the ancients, Svengali didn't stand a chance against the beastly prince.

 When she had slowed down and could hardly move, Trevor called for his blade and caught it. His body burst into flames along with the blade. The moon's power was at its peak. He

Knew that her essence was in the emerald amulet that granted her strength so he

blitzed forward like lightning, blade at the ready to stab her right through the emerald.

 Summoning her last bit of magic, she placed her palms in front of the amulet as she was

stabbed by the flaming blade. She screamed in pain as she spoke. "No!!! I've

come too far to fall at your hands!"

 Though he was in no condition to do so, Trevor smiled. "Then you can fall at his." All this time,

Cain has been creeping behind her with his blade in hand to deal the final blow.

He was almost dead himself. Before she could turn around to look behind her, chop!

Her head came clean off and was spinning in the air, relieved of her

shoulders. Her body went limp. Trevor seized the opportunity and drove his blade

into the emerald, shattering it into a million pieces.

 Slowly, Svengali's form decayed and drifted away into dust. The wind blew the particles

away. Trevor stood there burning, unable to move. However, he managed to speak.

"Noble Cain! My debt is repaid."

 Silently, he took his last breath. The moon reverted to its regular color. The sun was

rising already. For the first time in centuries, Cain fell to his knees and wept.