For a long moment, the only sound was Elaine's terrified breathing behind him.
Lucien stood at the threshold of the enormous chamber, his child-body cradled in his left arm, facing an army of nightcreatures that stretched as far as his enhanced vision could see.
Thousands upon thousands of them - some wolf-like with too many limbs, others winged abominations with human faces, many defying simple description altogether.
A sea of glowing eyes fixed on him, unblinking.
Waiting.
'This isn't random,' Lucien thought, studying the stillness of the horde. 'They're not attacking immediately. Dracula's watching. Testing me. He's wary.'
He shifted his grip on his child-body, feeling the weight of it against his chest. The familiar form felt strangely distant now that he inhabited Stefan's body - like holding a doll rather than himself.
"Get on my back," he said to Elaine, not turning around.
"What?" Her voice was small, confused.
"On my back. Now." The words came out harsher than intended, Stefan's voice rougher than his own. "We don't have time to argue."
"I- I don't understand-"
"I need my arm free to fight," Lucien explained, his tone softening slightly. "And I can't leave you unprotected. On my back is the safest place."
Elaine hesitated for another heartbeat before moving closer. Her hands trembled as she reached for his shoulders.
"Arms around my neck, legs around my waist," Lucien instructed. "Hold tight, but not so tight you choke me."
She did as told, her movements clumsy with fear. Once she was secure, Lucien adjusted his stance to accommodate the new weight distribution, his strength making the burden negligible.
Across the chamber, the nightcreatures remained motionless, a tableau of grotesque forms illuminated by torchlight.
Then, as if responding to an unheard command, the front row took a synchronized step forward.
"Here we go," Lucien muttered.
The first wave surged toward him - a dozen creatures with elongated limbs and distorted faces.
Lucien pivoted on his right foot, his left leg sweeping out in a low arc that connected with three sets of knees simultaneously.
Bone shattered with a satisfying crack. As the creatures stumbled, he followed through with a vertical kick that launched one backward into its companions.
A nightcreature with four arms lunged from the right, claws extended. Lucien caught its wrist mid-strike, twisting sharply until tendons snapped.
Without pausing, he pulled the creature forward, using its momentum to throw it into the path of two others. They collided in a tangle of limbs, giving him precious seconds.
"Is that the best you've got?" he taunted.
A winged creature descended from above, talons aimed at his eyes.
Lucien tracked its approach with preternatural precision, waiting until the last possible moment before tilting his head exactly three inches to the right. Claws whispered past his ear.
He reached up, grabbed the creature's ankle, and slammed it into the stone floor with enough force to liquefy internal organs.
The floor beneath him suddenly tilted, stone grinding against stone as the entire section angled sharply.
'What?' he thought to himself confused, as he adjusted instantly, shifting his weight to maintain balance while keeping his child-body secure.
'The castle itself was just used against me,' he realized. 'Dracula's controlling it remotely.'
"Hold tighter," he warned Elaine, feeling her grip strengthen around his neck.
A new wave approached, these more cautious after witnessing their brethren's failure. One creature - more humanoid than the others, with mottled gray skin and intelligent eyes - stepped forward.
"The master is curious," it spoke, voice distorted but recognizable as Isaac's, channeled through his creation. "What have you done? What are you capable of?"
Lucien smirked. "Nothing I have any intention of telling."
"That is a non-matter." The creature tilted its head, sending a side glance with one of its eyes towards the child body. "He will get it out of you one way or another - alongside your holy blood."
"He can try." Lucien growled.
The creature's mouth twisted into an approximation of a smile. "Don't worry. He will."
It raised a clawed hand, and the entire horde surged forward.
Lucien backed toward a narrow archway, strategically limiting how many could reach him at once.
A creature with razored bone protrusions slashed at his midsection. He arched his spine backward, the attack missing by millimeters. As he straightened, he drove his elbow upward into the creature's jaw, sending bone fragments into its brain.
Another nightcreature - this one with skin like molten wax - spat a stream of acidic fluid. Lucien twisted sideways, the liquid sizzling as it hit the wall behind him.
He responded by driving his heel into the creature's chest, feeling ribs collapse under the impact.
Three more attacked simultaneously from different angles.
Lucien dropped to one knee, sweeping his free arm in a circular motion that caught all three with enough force to send them tumbling backward.
He rose in a fluid motion, driving his fist through another creature's sternum, ripping out a still-pulsing organ that might have been a heart.
But for each creature he felled, three more took its place.
The ceiling above suddenly cracked, chunks of stone raining down.
Lucien calculated trajectories in an instant, stepping precisely between falling debris while maintaining his protective hold on his child-body.
The maneuver brought him into the center of the chamber, surrounded on all sides.
'Not good.'
A nightcreature with a bull's head charged from behind. Without looking, Lucien sidestepped, extending his foot at the perfect angle to trip the creature.
As it stumbled past, he grabbed one of its horns, wrenching its head around with enough force to snap its neck.
The floor beneath his feet liquefied, stone transforming to quicksand. Lucien leapt to a nearby pillar, fingers digging into stone as he clung with one hand while still cradling his child-body with the other.
"They're changing the room," Elaine whispered against his neck, her breath warm with fear.
"Yeah, I noticed," Lucien replied dryly. "Dracula's playing games."
He scanned the chamber, calculating options. Fighting conventionally wasn't sustainable - not against these numbers, not with the castle itself as an enemy, not while protecting two bodies besides his borrowed one.
'I need more power. Something I can use without draining my life force reserves. I can't just use reality compulsion willy nilly.'
A nightcreature with multiple arms scaled the pillar toward him, moving like a spider.
Lucien waited until it was within reach before driving his heel into its face.
Bone caved beneath his foot, black ichor spraying in an arc as the creature fell, taking several others down with it.
'I need to save energy for Dracula. For Isaac and Hector. But how?'
His gaze fell on the creature he'd just kicked, now struggling to rise as black blood oozed from its shattered face.
Blood.
A memory surfaced - Sam drinking demon blood for power in the original timeline. The corruption it caused. The addiction.
But also the power.
'No. Bad idea.'
Lucien leapt to another pillar as the first one began to crumble. The movement jostled Elaine, who whimpered but held tight.
'But what choice do I have? I'm a vampire right now- blood is strength.'
He glanced sideways at his child-body, pale and vulnerable in his grasp. Then at Elaine, trusting him completely despite her terror.
'I need to get us out. Hard choices be damned.'
Decision made, Lucien dropped from the pillar into a clear space, immediately surrounded by nightcreatures.
One lunged forward, claws extended toward his face. Lucien caught its wrist in mid-air, his grip tightening until bone splintered beneath his fingers. As the creature howled, he pulled it closer.
'Here goes nothing.'
He sank his fangs into its throat.
Black blood flooded his mouth - bitter, burning, electric. Power surged through him instantly, a rush more intense than anything he'd experienced.
Stefan's body responded hungrily, drawing deep as the creature thrashed in his grip. Lucien felt the corruption in the blood, the wrongness of it, but also the raw power it contained.
When he released it, the drained husk collapsed to the floor like empty clothing.
The effect was immediate. His senses sharpened beyond vampire acuity. The chamber crystallized into perfect focus - every detail, every movement in high definition. Strength coursed through his muscles, raw and primal.
"What did you do?" Elaine whispered, having felt the change in him.
"What I had to," Lucien answered, his voice slightly deeper than before.
The nearest nightcreatures hesitated, sensing the shift in power. Lucien didn't wait for them to regroup.
He attacked with newfound speed, his movements now too fast for even their eyes to track.
A creature with serrated bone blades for arms slashed at him. Lucien caught both arms mid-strike, then twisted sharply, tearing them from their sockets. As the creature howled, he drove one of its own bone blades through its skull.
Three more rushed him from different directions.
'Time to make use of my meal,'
He raised his hand toward them and spoke a single word:
"Freeze."
Reality bent to his will. The nightcreatures stopped mid-motion, their bodies instantly encased in ice.
Frost patterns spread across their skin, into their eyes, down their throats. Lucien stared at his hand in momentary surprise, at how easy that command was, then back at the frozen creatures.
"Shatter," he commanded.
The ice-encased monsters exploded into fragments, shards flying in all directions.
A feral grin spread across Lucien's face.
'Now we're talking.'
He turned to face the next wave, hand extended. "Implode."
Five creatures collapsed inward, their bodies crushing themselves into compact masses of flesh and bone that dropped to the floor with wet thuds.
The nightcreatures began to retreat, their collective intelligence recognizing a threat beyond their capability.
Lucien wouldn't let them escape.
He pointed at a group trying to flee through a side passage.
"Burn."
Flames erupted from within their bodies, consuming them from the inside out. Their screams echoed through the chamber as they thrashed in agony, black smoke pouring from their mouths.
Lucien felt the power of each command draining him slightly, but the chamber was now littered with dead and dying nightcreatures, their black blood pooling on the stone floor.
He looked at the spreading puddles and had an idea.
"Rise," he commanded, focusing on the blood.
The dark liquid responded, lifting from the floor in undulating ribbons that twisted through the air like living things. Lucien directed the streams toward himself, opening his mouth as a river of black blood flowed between his lips.
Power flooded him anew, greater than before.
His skin tingled with energy, every cell vibrating with strength. He could feel his body changing, adapting to the influx of dark magical power.
The walls of the chamber began to shift, sections sliding inward to crush him.
Lucien responded instinctively, punching through stone with his bare hand. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing across the entire wall, which then collapsed outward, creating his own exit path.
"You can't trap me," he called out to the empty air. "Not anymore."
He fought his way through a narrow corridor, nightcreatures pursuing closely. With each command, more fell - some melting into puddles of flesh, others torn apart by invisible forces, many simply ceasing to exist as he ordered them to "vanish."
After each wave, he gathered their blood, replenishing his strength for the next assault.
As he tore through another group, Lucien felt something stirring beneath his skin - a potential waiting to be released. He understood instinctively what it was.
"Elaine," he said, "Tuck your head against my shoulder and keep your arms close to my neck."
She complied without question, pressing herself flat against his back. Lucien focused on the new sensation, willing it to happen.
He felt skin split along his shoulder blades, muscle and bone restructuring. The process should have been agonizing, but the blood-power dulled any pain to a distant pressure.
Leathery wings unfurled from his back, carefully emerging around Elaine's position. They extended to their full span - twelve feet from tip to tip, black as night and veined with crimson.
Lucien flexed them experimentally, feeling new muscles respond to his will. The wings moved as naturally as arms or legs, powerful and sensitive.
"The Son of God spreads his wings," a nightcreature whispered in awe.
Lucien tested their strength with a gentle flap, feeling the air displace beneath them.
Then, with sudden decision, he brought one wing forward in a scything motion. The leading edge, now razor-sharp with his will, sliced through three creatures as easily as a blade through water.
"Let's see what these can do," he murmured with a grin.
With a powerful downstroke, he launched himself upward, narrowly avoiding a section of ceiling that crashed down where he'd been standing.
From this new vantage point, he could see the layout of the castle level - corridors, chambers, and the creatures filling them.
A group of winged nightcreatures rose to challenge him.
Lucien met them mid-air, his wings both weapon and shield.
He spun in a tight circle, wing-edges extended, decapitating two creatures in a single motion.
A third lunged for Elaine on his back. Lucien folded his left wing sharply, the movement driving the appendage's bony tip through the creature's eye socket and into its brain.
But more importantly than the tactical advantage, he could now sense...something. A resonance. Faint but familiar.
'My belongings. They're somewhere in this direction.'
He flew down a wide corridor, wings tucked close to navigate the space. Nightcreatures pursued, some climbing walls and ceiling, others with wings of their own giving chase. Lucien glanced back at them, raised his free hand, and commanded:
"Crush."
The corridor's walls suddenly contracted, stone grinding against stone as the passage narrowed violently.
Pursuing creatures were caught in the compression, their bodies pulverized between the closing walls.
The corridor ended in a massive wooden door bound with iron. Lucien didn't slow. He crashed through it, splintering ancient oak like kindling.
Beyond lay another chamber filled with creatures, these more grotesque than the last - amalgamations of human and animal parts, twisted beyond recognition.
"Becoming quite the monster yourself, aren't you?" one called, its voice a perfect replica of Hector's, channeled through his creation. "The corruption suits you."
Lucien didn't dignify it with a response. Instead, he swept his hand in an arc before him, commanding: "Dissolve."
The front rank of creatures liquefied, collapsing into puddles of goo. Lucien strode through them, boots splashing in what had been living beings moments before.
The remaining nightcreatures attacked from all sides. Lucien fought them brutally - a wing-strike that bisected three at once, a reality command that turned one's bones to dust, a telekinetic Force blast that shattered a dozen skulls simultaneously.
Black blood rained from his victims. Lucien didn't let it go to waste. With a gesture, he gathered it into a swirling vortex that followed him, periodically feeding him fresh power when he needed it.
The castle continued its assault - floors dropping away, walls sprouting spikes, ceilings collapsing.
Lucien adapted instantly to each change, using the shifting architecture against his pursuers when possible.
"Reverse," he commanded when a section of floor tilted to slide him into a pit of spikes. The stone responded to his will, tilting in the opposite direction and sending a group of pursuing creatures to their impalement instead.
As he fought through another corridor, he sensed the resonance growing stronger.
His belongings were close.
He tore a hole in the nearest wall, extending his senses through the gap.
'Not here. But closer.'
He continued this pattern - fighting, sensing, tearing through walls when necessary. The castle seemed to realize his intent, sections rearranging to confuse his path.
But with each taste of nightcreature blood, his perception grew sharper, his determination stronger.
A particularly massive creature blocked his path - a fusion of bear and man, standing nine feet tall with arms like tree trunks. It roared a challenge, the sound reverberating through the corridor.
"Kneel," Lucien commanded.
The creature's legs buckled instantly, forcing it to the ground. It struggled against the invisible pressure, muscles straining, but could not rise.
"Your master made you well," Lucien observed, approaching the kneeling monster. "But I transcend his power."
He placed his palm against the creature's forehead.
"Serve me instead."
The creature's eyes, previously filled with hatred, went blank for a moment before refocusing with new purpose.
It rose, turned, and charged back the way it had come, tearing into the pursuing nightcreatures with savage fury.
Lucien continued forward, leaving his new servant to thin the horde's numbers.
After smashing through the fifth wall, he found himself in a small antechamber. The resonance was stronger than ever.
'One more barrier.'
He drove his fist into the final wall with enough force to shake dust from the ceiling. Stone crumbled, revealing a study beyond - shelves lined with books and artifacts, tables covered with papers and instruments.
Hector's workspace.
Lucien entered cautiously, wings folded tight against his back. The resonance pulled him toward a heavy oak desk against the far wall.
Behind him, the sounds of pursuing creatures grew louder.
"Watch the door," he told Elaine as he set his child-body carefully on a chair.
She nodded, eyes wide but no longer showing fear - at least, not of him.
Lucien approached the desk, senses straining.
Something was interfering with his perception - magical wards layered throughout the room, obscuring the exact location of anything to be felt precisely.
He tore through drawers, scattering contents across the floor.
Nothing.
The first nightcreatures appeared in the doorway. Without looking, Lucien gestured sharply.
"Dismember."
The creatures' limbs separated from their bodies in clean cuts, as if sliced by invisible blades. Blood sprayed in arcs across the doorway as the dismembered parts fell to the floor.
He moved to a cabinet, ripping the doors from their hinges. Inside sat rows of warded boxes, each humming with power.
The resonance was close, but diffuse - masked by the overlapping protections.
Frustration mounted as he examined box after box, finding strange artifacts but not what he sought. The pursuing horde was regrouping, their numbers swelling in the corridor outside.
'Where is it?'
His fist slammed down on the desk in frustration, cracking the thick oak. The impact shifted something inside - a hidden compartment sliding open with a soft click.
There, nestled in velvet, lay his card.
The Vader card.
Relief washed through him as he reached for it, feeling the connection snap back into place the moment his fingers touched the surface.
A piece he considered in someways part of himself, returned.
The nightcreatures poured into the study, dozens of them filling the space, more crowding the doorway beyond.
Lucien turned to face them, card held between his fingers. A slow smile spread across his face.
"You know what?" he said conversationally, "I think you should all get ready."
"Ready for what, god-child?" a creature hissed.
"For the odds to change."
With a flick of his wrist, Lucien sent the card spinning through the air. It sliced through the first rank of creatures before embedding itself in the far wall, quivering like a thrown knife.
Lucien extended his hand toward it, focusing his will. When he spoke, his voice resonated with power:
"Dark knight of flame, my mirror soul,
From shadow's depths, I bid you rise whole,
Transform thyself from ember into might,
To guard my path through darkest night."
The card began to glow with crimson light, pulsing in rhythm with his words.
"Open your black wings wide and soar,
Cross through the veil from distant shore.
Shroud the heavens with your shadow's pall,
And cast your wrath upon them all."
The nightcreatures shifted uneasily, sensing the building power but unable to stop the ritual.
"Unlock the power we both share,
As master and shadow, the perfect pair.
By Force and will, by blood and bone,
Protect what I have claimed as my own."
The crimson glow intensified, spreading outward from the card in waves that disintegrated any creature they touched.
"Appear now at your master's word,
Vader, my Qareen, my shadow guard!"
The card erupted into a blinding orb of red light. From within emerged a towering figure in black armor, mechanical breathing filling the chamber as he materialized in mid-air, spinning through the nightcreature ranks.
Creatures fell in pieces as Vader carved a path through them. He rolled to a stop before Lucien, rising to his full height, red lightsaber humming.
For a moment, master and shadow regarded each other - a silent acknowledgment passing between them.
Lucien retrieved his child-body from the chair, securing it in his left arm once more. With his free hand, he gestured to the nightcreatures still pouring in.
"Now," he said with a laugh that echoed through the chamber, "the odds are actually unfair - to you."
-------------------------
(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter.
Do tell me how you found it.
I hope you guys are excited for what comes next.
Well, hope to see you all later,
Bye!)