The poison that sat quiet inside Leonidas's body was now fully woken up by Decker's command. For Leonidas, it happened out of nowhere. It hit him like a physical blow. The pain was fast and terrible. It was unlike anything his powerful vampire body had ever felt before. He began to shake violently. His body moved uncontrollably, and thick, black veins began to crawl up his neck and face. They stood out darkly against his pale skin.
John was sitting near the window and saw his grandfather's pain right away. "Grandpa, what is wrong? Why are you shaking like that?" he asked, his voice full of worry.
Leonidas continued to shake for a few more seconds. His strong body was failing him because of the poison. He finally gained a little bit of control. He looked at Decker while gripping his chest in pain. "What did you do to me, Decker?"
Decker grinned with evil joy. He loved this moment. "Nothing, My Lord," he replied. His voice was fake and cold.
Leonidas then felt something even more dangerous than the poison. He looked out the window and saw a scary sight. His vampire guards were being attacked and killed by dark shadow figures that looked like Decker himself. In a fast move, Leonidas grabbed John. He burst through the side of the carriage, smashing the wooden frame to escape the trap.
When Leonidas landed outside, he saw that all of his guards were dead. John was shocked and very afraid. Everything had happened so fast. It was just a blur of moving shadows and death. He looked up at his grandfather. Leonidas now had a hard, warrior's look on his face. For a moment, he pushed past the pain of the poison. "What is going on, Grandpa?"
The large carriage came to a loud, grinding stop. Decker stepped out. His eyes were shining with evil joy.
Four of the dark shadow clones quickly surrounded John and Leonidas. Their shapes were blurry and scary. "My Lord, why did you jump out of the carriage? Hehehe," Decker laughed. He walked slowly toward the two of them.
John stared at the attackers. He made a scary discovery. The dark figures had the exact same face as Decker. "Yo, Decker, what is the meaning of this?!" he yelled. For a moment, he was more confused than afraid.
Leonidas felt the poison burning through his whole body. He was now filled with a rare, terrible rage. It had been hundreds of years since anyone was brave enough to attack him. "You will die for this, Decker!"
With a flash of pure vampire speed, Leonidas attacked. He tried to take Decker's head off. But a dark shadow clone appeared instantly to block his move. The sound of Leonidas's powerful strike hitting the shadow was a heavy, sickening thud. Leonidas was truly surprised that the dark shadow clone could block him so well. His anger grew. He shot a massive fireball that forced even Decker to scramble out of the way. The ground where the clone had stood was burned black, and the shadow was gone.
Leonidas stood up straight, but then he coughed up a thick mouthful of black blood. Three more dark shadow clones immediately moved in, surrounding the sick Patriarch.
"Grandpa!" John cried. He started to run toward Leonidas, but his grandfather held out a shaking, firm hand.
"Don't come closer, boy. You will just get in the way."
John bit his lip. He squeezed his fists in anger because he could not help. "Fine," he said.
Leonidas forced himself to focus, looking directly at the man who betrayed him. "You surprise me, Decker. How did you manage to poison me?"
Decker walked forward with his hands behind his back, enjoying the moment. "I have more surprises, My Lord. Now, attack!"
Three dark shadow clones came out and jumped at Leonidas all at once. Even though he was poisoned, he was still very fast. He managed to dodge all their moves and hit back with blasts of fire. The flames burned the three shadow clones to ash instantly.
"Now it is time for you to die!" Leonidas roared, shooting a strong fireball directly at Decker.
However, just as the flame reached him, another dark shadow clone came right out of Decker's own body to block the attack. The clone turned to smoke, but Decker was not hurt.
Decker laughed. It was a cold, hollow sound. "You don't get it, Leonidas. I cannot be killed, and the shadow clones you killed will just come back to life."
Decker's face became serious. He summoned a dark shadow clone to physically throw him out of the way of the fire. As he dodged, another dark shadow clone attacked Leonidas from behind. It kicked him in the back with great force, sending him crashing into a pile of large rocks.
"Grandpa!" John cried out. He was worried sick as he saw his mighty grandfather slammed into the stone.
Leonidas came out from the rubble. He was barely hurt. He instantly went after two nearby dark shadow clones. He grabbed both by their faces and, with a silent surge of power, burned their heads completely off. He did not pause. He immediately threw a blazing fireball toward Decker. It exploded against the vampire, violently blowing away Decker's right shoulder.
John saw his grandfather's strong victory and cheered him on. He felt a huge rush of energy. "Go, Grandpa, kick their ass!"
Leonidas delivered a powerful kick toward another dark shadow clone. The shadow surprisingly managed to catch his foot. Leonidas simply grinned with a cold, powerful look. "Fool," he spat. A hidden fireball shot out from his boot, sending the dark shadow clone flying away with a violent explosion.
The Patriarch then rose into the air and began to focus his energy. He created a giant fireball. He looked down at the regenerating Carlos Decker and announced the name of his ultimate attack: "Take this, Destruction Flame Sphere!"
The huge flame ball began to pulse. Its color changed from deep red to a scary light blue flame.
Decker had a look of real terror on his face. In a smart, mean move, he pointed directly at John. "Are you also going to kill your grandson, Leonidas?!"
Leonidas looked down at John. That split second of distraction was all the poison needed. The venom flared up violently inside his body. Black blood immediately leaked from his nose. His whole body began to shake wildly. More black blood leaked from his mouth. That moment of weakness gave one of the regenerating dark shadow clones enough time to rush him. It drove a shadowy fist straight through Leonidas's stomach.
The huge blue fireball vanished instantly. The Patriarch fell from the sky, hitting the burned ground with a heavy thud.
====
"You had me worried there for a second, My Lord," Decker sneered. His right shoulder was already healing. He quickly appeared where Leonidas was lying and pressed his foot down hard on the Patriarch's chest. "You fucking cunt."
One of the dark shadow clones had already grabbed John and dragged him over to Decker. "Let go of me, you jerk!" John shouted, struggling. The clone released him, and he immediately ran to his grandfather's side.
"Grandpa, are you okay? Stand up! I thought you were the strongest!"
Leonidas groaned, moving in terrible pain. His healing power was slowed down by the poison and was barely working. "Go away," he managed to snarl. His pride was still burning through the poison.
He looked up at Decker, making a final sacrifice. "Leave the boy, Decker. Kill me and let him go."
Decker laughed. The sound was cold and mean. "Oh no, My Lord. You do not get to make demands here. You and the boy are both going to die. But unfortunately, it will not be by my hands. I have something else planned for you two."
Decker took his foot off Leonidas's chest and walked directly to John. "You have my thanks, Young Master. If you were not here, I surely would have died," he said. His face was twisted into a fake smile. Without warning, he hit John hard in the stomach. The punch instantly knocked the boy out.
Carlos Decker then began to dance lightly around Leonidas, enjoying his victory.
After about half an hour, two large flying ships appeared in the sky and landed nearby. This technology was much better than anything usually seen in the vampire world. Several of Decker's armed men came out. They were ordered to load John and the weak Leonidas onto one of the ships.
They traveled for a few hours. When John finally woke up, his head was hurting. He was confused. Even though the room was dark, his vampire eyes allowed him to see everything around him quite clearly. However, the constant movement of the ship still made him feel dizzy. "Where are we?" he managed to groan.
Decker stood over him with a scary, winning smile. "I brought you here to meet my child. He is always hungry, and you two are going to be his dinner."
Leonidas was lying nearby in terrible pain. He had stab wounds all over his body. The poison was so strong that his powerful healing ability was not working at all. John looked at his grandfather's wounds. They were not closing. He felt a wave of fear.
The ship landed near some large rocks. Decker ordered his men to move a huge stone that was blocking the entrance to a dark cave.
Decker stood at the cave entrance. He looked down at the weak vampire who could no longer fight back.
"Leonidas, you thought I forgot. But I still remember where you drove your hand through my daughter's heart. Today, you and your grandson will both be eaten by my pet. It is a shame I will not be there to see it. But I will come back for your bones and give them to Vivian."
Leonidas looked confused and pained. "Who the hell is Vivian?" he asked in a weak voice.
Carlos Decker began to laugh loudly. "Of course you do not know! You have killed so many people's families. You have killed thousands. You probably do not even remember all the pain you caused. Her full name is Vivian Ashdown. She is the one who made the poison in your body. Without her, I could not have done this."
John was speechless. He could not believe his grandfather was such an evil person. He looked at Leonidas, wanting to know the truth. "Grandpa, is it true?"
Carlos Decker kept laughing. The sound was hollow and crazy. "How could you not know, Young Master? I am sorry that you have to die too; blame your grandfather in the next life... And Leonidas, go ask my daughter for forgiveness while you are there."
Decker looked at his men. "Take anything Leonidas has on him, and then throw them both in the cave."
The men roughly took the jewelry and his storage bracelet from the weak Patriarch. They even pulled the rings off his fingers. The Vampire Lord was then picked up like a heavy sack and thrown into the dark cave. John was still awake and in good shape. They pushed him inside after his grandfather.
John ran to his grandfather's side right away. "Grandpa, are you okay?" He looked back at Decker as the man started to walk away. "What happens now, Mr. Decker? Are you just going to leave us here?"
Decker laughed. The sound was cold. "Silly, silly boy. Did you not hear what I said? You are going to die in this cave. There is a troll in here; I raised him myself, and he is going to devour you both. He will eat everything except your bones."
John felt a wave of deep fear. He looked at the his grandfather, whose eyes were starting to close as he lost consciousness.
Decker was very happy with himself. He gave one last, cruel piece of advice. "The cave is huge; you have time to stall, but my boy will find you eventually. He likes the chase." Decker grinned, enjoying the terror on John's face.
"There have been many victims inside this cave over the years. Do try to survive as long as possible. And tell Leonidas that I am going to attack his castle in four days. Furthermore, I have to rest to get my powers back; I am still getting used to it. Tell him to be patient. Tell him that I will send every single one of his family members to the afterlife, including the children and the maids."
John's fear turned into cold anger. When Decker mentioned the maids especially Elena and his grandmother, something inside John snapped. He squeezed his fists. His eyes burned. "I won't let that happen," he promised. His voice was tight and strong.
Decker thought this was very funny. He laughed loudly and did a little dance. "You have much bigger things to worry about, boy!"
"Now, close the entrance!" Decker ordered his men.
The men put their weight against the giant boulder. It moved slowly, making a deep, scraping sound against the dry earth. As the stone slid across the entrance, the golden light from outside began to fade into a thin, bright line.
John did not move from his spot. He stayed in a crouching position next to the weakened Vampire Lord, his eyes locked onto the villainous vampire through the closing gap. He wanted the villain to see the look of pure hatred on his face until the very last second. With a final, heavy thud, the massive stone sealed the cave completely. The outside world vanished, leaving John and his dying grandfather in total silence and darkness.