TG Cap - Quest Failed

Based on a piece by www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=18… I don't understand Japanese, but I know he or she deserves credit here. I've reached out to them for permission too, so hopefully I'll hear soon. Thought I had already done a vampire story, but I hadn't so here's a one that was a lot of fun to write!

I'm opening requests up again, but here's the kicker, I've been receiving so many, that I'm going to be slowing down to six a month. But how do you get your chance I hear? Donate ten points to my page for a ticket in the requests lottery, donate more, get more chances, and you're not relegated to just the one. If you're lucky you might get all the slots! 

That's over at tg-caps.deviantart.com/?givepo…

Do it now, or else!

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“If you truly desire to rid these lands of the blight of my family, you must journey deep into the centre of the castle. Therein burns a flame, the source of my power, the well from which I draw my magic. You must extinguish it.”

Simon drew his longsword, and held it up to the Vampire’s throat.

“And why should I not rend your head from your neck?” the Knight growled brashly. Dracula reached up a white hand, and brushed the blade away with a mighty, but effortless, force. The point embedded itself in the rock base of the courtyard, unable to be torn free. There was a look of boredom on the Vampire’s face.

“You do not occur to me as someone who would have chosen the path of magic. No, steel and swordsmanship suit you better, then there is no path with which you can accomplish your goals and deal me any damage. The fire inside the castle, there you will find what you seek, a chance at eternity, or a chance at paradise.”

There was no indication which of what would befall each fate.

“You will have an hour to clear the dungeons, kill the guardians, make your way through the shadow and the darkness, until the flame will be all you see. Many have tried, all have failed. Your father for example, and grandfather also. I enjoyed their failure as much as I shall relish yours.”

“You swine!” Simon could barely control himself, but he knew the power of the Vampire was stronger than anything he could contend with. The trials were a generational rite, granted by the lords of darkness to the people of their domain. Send your champion! Send him to put out our fire! We will send you back another demon! 

“You killed them!”

“Death is not a currency here, young one. As you shall soon find out. All that dwell within my castle were once cold and alone. I took the time, I took the love, to wake them back up again. And for the record, I did not kill your precious father, nor any of your relatives. The penance for failure is far more… interesting… than you undoubtedly expect. Each man who fails to withstand the terrors at my command, in my house, no longer has my permission to remain so… Masculinity comes with responsibility, and that is rendered void at my behest. Your father and grandfather did not die at my hand, they were taken, and made my brides. So much more fun to take that power and corrupt it. I treat them well. You shall see. Now go, I tire of this exchange. You have an hour, do not tarry. There is no turning back.”

Simon stormed past the black clad figure and through the enormous doors to the central keep. Dracula truly envied humans their ignorance, their stupidity. They truly did harp on hope. It would be exquisite as usual to turn this one.

The hallways were evenly lit by a long line of torches burning brightly. Simon had been prepared for the darkness, so this was a confusing start to the mission. The place was full of magic, and he had entered of his own volition, meaning his part in the agreement was set in stone. He would exit the house victorious, or he would remain inside forever. Not believing the Vampire for a second, he knew that death would be the end result of his failure, not whatever tortures Dracula had warned him of.

Three chambers he passed, ending the inhabitants with nary a bead of sweat. It wasn’t about the tricks and the traps, it was about the curses, the stories, anything buried in the back of his mind. Time was ticking on, and he could feel the weight of the magic as it began drawing on him. It would only be courage that could send him onward, that would save his people. The final door buckled before his boot, Simon breathed, ready for the next horror, but found something far worse. A trickling stream through a white bricked room. Light was coming in from somewhere up above, and three sirens sat in beautiful clothing, laughing, bickering, playing games. They looked so content.

“Simon! You’ve come!” one called.

“Finally! We’ve been waiting ever so long!”

“How long before you join us?”

Simon stopped. Was it such a foregone conclusion? Were his efforts truly in vain.

“Back harpies! I have come for your master, and I will not hesitate to destroy your evil also.”

“But son, where is the evil? He does not want to kill you, he’s lonely, and wants an equal.”

Son? But that would mean…

“Father…” Simon breathed the pain of the years, alone, supporting a mother and younger siblings, whilst the spectre of the monster, and the phantom of his father hung loftily over every move he made. To hear his father alive, but in this condition, it made his heart sink.

“Master?” another laughed. “He may have dominion over you child, but we are free women, to come and go as we please, to feast, to rule as we see fit. We have returned here, returned to him, to welcome the next generation into his arms. The time must be running thin, please, sit a while and wait for the magic to take you. It is pure bliss. Pure. Bliss.”

Simon fought back the temptation, the evil was strong there, he could feel it. Why would something so sweet and so fair be in such a dank and dark place. He pressed onward, conscious of the time ticking away. His armour clanked across the floor whilst he strode in the direction of the door. Just another distraction to stop him on his path. The hinges creaked as the fire emerged from the gloom beyond. A short tunnel lead to the tiniest of candles burning, vulnerable and precarious. He was close.

A shudder inside, pink magic swirling around. He still had time, but not much. Another few steps and it would be done.

“No!” screamed the first woman, leaping to aid her husband. The others followed, grasping Simon tightly, and holding him back from his goals. He dragged his feet on the floor, but their strength was far in excess of his. There was nothing he could do except struggle.

“Your journey is at its end, Simon, it’s time to join me. It’s time to learn to love for an eternity.”

“Love…” the others smiled.

“It was never your death I seek, young one, it is your life.”

The magic swelled until he was completely bathed in light, and then his fighting stopped for a moment at the crest of the wave.

“But… I don’t want to change… I don’t want to transform…”

Dracula closed in, and as his wives parted at his approach, he bit into Simon’s neck, forever poisoning his blood with the ancient magics of the vampire. The energy flashed, and where the soldier had once stood, was a beautiful young woman, shivering in the cold, wearing nothing more than a cloth. Dracula lifted her up into his arms, and kissed her tenderly. She didn’t fight back, but the kiss was not reciprocated.

The doors to the flame closed once more for another generation, as the wives flew off into the rafters, back to their own dominion. For it was time for the master to get acquainted with his new wife.

Outside in the village, beneath the valley of the monsters, a newly made widow sat with her children, hearing the screams echoing down from the castle. A young boy, now fatherless, knew the responsibility would sit with him in a few years.