LLM Part III Chapter 35

35.

Vlad the Impaler stood by the entrance of the walled area. Vlad was holding the curved scimitar and the round shield. He came with his half-brother and Mr. Smith. Hawkins was armed with halberd while the Mr. Smith had reverted to his human figure and standing behind them were twenty Legionnaires. He turned to look at the Legionnaires. They looked more like the soldiers then with the rifles in their hands and the bandoliers across the chest. He then looked back to the wall. It was high and imposing when seen from that height.

“Should we go in?” Hawkins asked Vlad. “It’s almost time for my other allies.”

The group than proceeded past the mine entrance into the yard inside and was confronted by the figure there. It was Aamon or previously known as Mr. Smith. The figure was dressed in his human dressing with his hands tucked into the gun belt.

“Aamon stand aside. We will go in.” Vlad shouted his defiance.

“You will not. I will not have any of you approached here.” Aamon cautioned them. “Your numbers does not intimidate me.”

“I do not think so but this one might.” Vlad then motioned to the far side where the Hell Hound stepped in past the entrance. The Hound was a large one with the paws that was as big as the thigh on Vlad. It stood taller at six feet and its fangs were equally menacing to the look.

“I think your hound here would like a pat from you.” Vlad smiled at Aamon. “You have been a bad master.”

Without warning, the hound charged at Aamon. Its huge frame and speed was fast but Aamon was had his defenses. He stepped back and watched the flying figure slammed into the charging hound. It stood tall at over twelve feet and held a set of wings that swept open to thirty feet across. That was not the intimidating part; the figure has scales on its skin and it looked more like a reptile except it stood upright like a Man. One other thing was its barbed tail.

“Dragon? I thought they had ceased to exist.” Vlad exclaimed. He then saw there was not one but two of them. The other one stood on the rear.

“Wyvern.” Aamon corrected “I am a Marquis of Hades. Do you think that I hold only one pet in my household then? They were three but only two left. They were brothers but the Lone Ranger killed one. The Lone Ranger was my mistake. I placed him there but he had to venture further. He went down and killed one of them.”

“My Wyverns’? Note their tail. It does not breathe fire. Their breaths are however poisonous. Wyvern are winged, serpent like creatures and their tail is like a stinger. Its talons on the upper limbs are sharp and could rip your flesh like the burned skin of a barbeque sow.”

“Wyvern? Dragon? I knew dragons. We used to hunt them in the hills and they hide in the caves.” Vlad smiled. “To me they are all dragons.”

“This is not a dragon. This is Baathis and Maathis, my other pets from Hell. Their brother Paathis is dead.” Aamon spoke with the grim expression. “Baathis, kill the hound.”

The Hound had regained itself and charged once more. It leaped high and landed on the left wing to topple the dragon figure. The two collided and rolled with slashing moves on both. The man-dragon kicked the hound away by its legs. Its left upper limb slashed out with the talons on the finger tips blindly at the hound. It drew blood on the under belly but the hound was of more resilient hide. It bounced back to the attack with its ferocity aiming for the throat then. It missed but hit the left shoulder and tore at where the wing was attached. The Wyvern rolled backwards with a loud screech to its pain. It stood up and faced the crouching hound. It was not prepared for the next charged and tried to fly away. It left its lower torso to be slammed by the hound with its fangs into the left thigh. The Wyvern struggled and flew upwards trying to break free. The hound bit hard and left a deep gash on the left thigh that stretched to the knee. The blood that spurted out but its content was not red but greenish yellow. The Wyvern swooped back and slammed into the hound in the right side. The slam threw the hound to the far side but it was not stopping there. It landed on the fallen hound and ripped the snort on it. It went further with the talons sinking deep into the side of the head. It dug deep but the hound was not defeated then. It fought back with it legs kicking at the Wyvern. It dislodged the Wyvern and rushed off to tend to its wound.

“Your Wyvern is winning.” Vlad motioned to his men to rush towards the mine entrance. Aamon ignored the fight and moved onto Vlad. Vlad saw the Aamon’s move and shouted for reinforcement from his men. Before they could react, Vlad was hit by the later. Aamon had grabbed Vlad in the jaws with his right hand and pushed it to the side. He wanted to crack the neck but Vlad had swung his body with the push preventing his ordeal. Vlad in turn swung out his right fist into Aamon’s face. The later took the punch and reached out with the left hand onto the right arm of Vlad and pulled it back. The move made Vlad faced the other still with the jaws in the grip. Aamon felt the fist that landed on his back and the kick on his left ribs. He was set on by three Legionnaires which had come to the rescue. The third Legionnaire had tried to pull Aamon off the Master but the other Wyvern had joined the fight.

The third Legionnaire was lifted off Aamon’s back and pushed to the side before the Wyvern slashed with its talons on the chest. The Legionnaire fought back and stopped when the talons of the Wyvern thrust into the heart to tear off from the chest. It then stood off from the dead Legionnaire and faced the others. During the commotion, Vlad and Hawkins had slipped awayThe others had formed a wall to shield their leaving.

Aamon saw the departure and rushed over. The Legionnaires leveled their rifles and shot at Aamon. The bullets tore into the body but that did not stop the demon. The bullet penetrated the skin and then it popped out. The Legionnaires stopped firing and rushed at the demon. It was then the winged creatures rushed into the Legionnaires. The force of the two winged creatures with their spread wings collided with the group and caused a pile up. Aamon rushed past the pile and was confronted by the wounded hound.

“Cerebus, you dare to intrude on me. I was your master.” Amon shouted at the hound. “You disgraced the namesake. I will not tolerate you anymore.”

The hound growled and then slinked away to the far end to lie down. It lay down to lick its wound. Aamon stepped on to catch up with Vlad and Hawkins. He stood there at the opening of the shaft and saw them rappelling down. He did not give chase and stood there looking. In his mind then was the task that he had undertaken for years.

Or was it generations.

An eternity of responsibility since the fall of his brothers.