Outside Hell (28 page)

Still running and now
definitely giving up the idea that had come to him upon entering
the village to find a hiding place in one of the outhouses
somewhere, he’d darted down a side alley instead. Only not more
than a few meters in he’
d heard
the same
deafening roar from Satan that he’d heard up the
mountainside
; the prince of darkness
had found
him again. The streets everywhere
and in response
suddenly took to flame, and the darkness all around him burst
vehemently into savage streaks of fireballs.

The alley that he’d just
entered was about forty feet in length and led out into a
field
,
and from the end of it he could
see as the moon washed its eerie glow across the horizon, the
silhouette
s
of
a group of
horses that were staring back at him.
Dracus with his bow clanging
against his back from behind, then charged
straight out the passageway across the grass towards them,
and communicated with
one of
the steeds
telepathically,
and as it had agreed to help him, he’d
prepared himself for the ride.

Raising its front feet off
the ground with the sparkle from the moon reflecting off its
beautiful white
coat, there before him stood a
horse that was seventeen hands tall with a long flowing tail
and
a
gorgeous mane. The horse neighed
in
response
, and then prepared itself for the
cross-country gallop that ensued.

Leaping as he’d reached
it
,
and
then
as his legs had slid
fast along its back, he’d found a fistful of its
flowing
mane
,
and
then
driven his heels down firmly against its sides to tell it to
go.

The horse bucked once and
then not needing to be told twice suddenly
it
launched
itself forwards
,
and
then with lumps of mud coming up from
its hooves, it
booted as fast as it could
across the field
,
leaving five or six other
horses
neighing and
unsettled in its
wake.

Dracus turned around in mid
gallop
though
and was horrified to see
that the village that he’d just run through
,
was
now
completely in flames. The forty or so buildings
that were home to the villagers, and had
probably
been
home to their ancestors were
ablaze, roaring skywards hundreds of feet.
The flames again looked like serpents as they’d spiraled up
sending thick black smoke into the air. The moonlit horizon
vanished
,
replaced and shielded with a
veil of darkness that threatened heinously to swallow up the sky,
as ash formed and
then
floated to the ground like
dirty great lumps of blackened snow.

The demons as his horse had
leapt the flint wall
and
land
ed
firmly in the next field
still in full
charge, that were gathering from hell and
blackening the field in a huge and deeply ominous dark mass,
suddenly swarmed after him.
Their demonic sound was so loud that it even
masked out the howling wind, and the stallion’s thunderous feet,
against the snow covered ground beneath him.

Inside the tavern just
moments before Dracus had entered the only street in Fagaras, the
locals of the village had been considering what they should do.
They’d counted the numbers and satisfied that they were all in
there, they’d
then
bolted the door and were
lighting as many torches as possible in the desperate hope that the
more light they should have, might ward off any evil from entering
there.

Then also those that had
thought that Yohan’s murderer might have been nothing more than a
wild dog or a savage bear,
suddenly
found themselves
scrabbling to pick up bibles and reading out the lords
prayer.

Everyone inside the tavern
was suffering the extreme effects of wild fear. They’d known their
ancestry, and the stories that had come from their forefathers
concerning the dark mountain. They’d also known the ways to keep
evil at bay, but this night they’d felt that the evil coming for
them was so evil
,
that it might not even
care.

They’d truly never read
anything in the old books of the village that had suggested the
mountain above them had ever burst into flame. The light that they
could see from up above through the cracks in the window boarding,
had caught their eye. When they’d peeped through and
then
witnessed the devastation, and coupled with the
fear of hearing Satan’s roar, they’d doubted if crosses and prayers
would be enough.

Satan had appeared like a
cowboy standing at the end of the street, and as he’d raised his
arms about himself, the whole village, the tavern and its
occupants
had
suddenly burst into
flame.
Only again as he was going to give
chase
and
after dropping to his knees,
he’d seen
that strange blue light
,
only this time the damn
thing was encircling him
and turning him insane
.
He’d tried a bolt of flame
,
but
it had
passed
straight
through
and roared out
the other side. Then like a meteorite on
fire, after the fireball had past through the ozone layer, it just
kept going and going.

Then
and
after Dracus had escaped again, a
second later the glorious blue light vanished
once more, leaving
Satan even more wild with rage. The prince of darkness hadn’t
realized that he’d allowed himself to become mesmerized by it
again.

Meanwhile Dracus was
leaning forwards and together with his steed
,
they
were galloping at intense speed from field to field. Then as the
screams
from
behind
had seemed to be getting closer and
his new friend had to slow to prepare
its footing
for another jump,
suddenly in the glimmer of an eye
he’d spun around
and
fired
a
split
arrow that
exploded in the center of their
pitifully
dark mass. Then in response
and after seeing something blue
out of the corner of his eye,
the
demons
screamed an even higher pitch of
scream and backed off.

Dracus hadn’t time to
properly see it
as he’d spun around with the horse readying itself to clear
the six feet tall flint rock wall;
only
his cursed
arrows had very little effect on them
.
T
hey would have continued
chasing him only they’d seen a strange blue light that had suddenly
appeared. It had flown down through the snow and mist, straight
towards them. Inside Dracus as the blue light had appeared though,
he’d felt the magic within growing in its intensity.

Meanwhile though
Dracus who was
still in a forwards position over the steeds neck and galloping at
intense speed
;
in
his mind he
was fully aware that the
darkness of the night was not his friend, and that the
shadows
all
about him
were
nothing more than
windows to Hell. The
Bowman
knew that the
only way he
would
have
any chance to
escape them until Laouse
arrived, or the sun came up, was for him to keep moving, but would
his horse last?

Dracus was from
Eldor
,
a
land in the Valstrath realm, a place five thousand light passes
from the Earth. H
e could walk around
freely in the suns murderously oppressive rays
, unlike Satan’s vampires who’d
simply burn
. Those hours were the safest
for him to travel because
the
demons were banished
back to hell daily by the golden globe in the sky, and
without
the
shadows around for Satan and
his children to see him through,
t
he
bowman
knew
was safe. Only he
’d
also
know
n
that over the next few days as
he’d hunted for any signs of Kaine and Regina,
that
he’d be spending the nights awake, cautiously monitoring the
shadows. He also knew
that t
his very
nights
encounter with the
swirling black mass
wouldn’t be the last
,
and that Satan would
appear again soon
whenever
he’d used his portal. The
bowman
’
s only regret
was that when the ugly horned fucker did show his evil face
again, that he wasn’t going to be leading the bastard back to his
home world of Eldor. That part of his plans
and seeing Janus again after
having to wait so long out of her loving arms, and able to gaze
down lovingly into her cat like green eyes
had to wait
,
but not long
,
because soon he’
d be there.

Galloping on for another
mile or so
with huge clefts of frozen earth thrown back in the wake of
his stallions charge,
and after reaching a
dark forest and wading through the dense underbrush at walking pace
still
though
very much
on his steeds back,
Dracus
decided to let his new friend have a breather. Then
as soon as he’d seen another field ahead of
himself and
pulled back slightly on the horse’s mane, the thunderous
feet beneath him came to a stop.
The horse
was panting heavily and dripping with sweat that reflected the
moons light from above, making its white coat look almost pale blue
in the moons eerie candy floss glow. Its nostrils
that were
snorting
almost
rhythmically
every time it exhaled,
blasted downwards sending out
mini rockets of steam into the
arctic
breeze
.

Then after dismounting and
walking alongside the grand beast
for a short while
, and as he’d telepathically messaged Laouse for a second
time, suddenly by pure coincidence
and
from
above
,
he’d heard something. Then as
the cold night air
amplified the
unmistakable screaming
sound
of the demons
entering the forest behind him,
suddenly
the
silhouette of a chopper
like an angel appeared
in
the shallow distance, swooping down through the moonlit sky.
The massive shiny silver
and blue
bird with its deafening roar
,
was banking
around the side of the demons
on full tilt,
and heading
fast in his direction.

In response and as the
horse
suddenly
tensed, Dracus slid out
his dagger and
then
reflected the moon off its
blade. The choppers cab
lit up with its wash and Laouse instantly
prepared for what was a very quick
landing.

Laouse knew the mountain
range that Dracus had come to from skiing
holidays
,
and when he’d heard that Satan
was there from Dracus’ earlier message, he’d presumed
that locating the
exact place wouldn’t be too difficult, considering
the prince of darkness would be tearing up the
hillside
,
and
bursting everything into
flame. Then with
the
directions that Kaine had left
with the priest, the Austrian vampire knew he’d find
him.

Laouse hadn’t been wrong
either, because as he’d approached the area, and from inside the
soundproofed cockpit, Laouse, Claudius and the priest who was doing
crosses on his forehead, praying for forgiveness, had all seen the
sky that looked Turneresque with its brilliant colors in front of
them. Then as they’d looked into the distance
and seen
a black cloud darker than the night itself heading across the
land, and the mountain to their right was roaring in flame, they’d
all known that they were close.
Laouse had
followed the dark cloud and then banked around it so tight that the
priest
had
nearly dropped his
bible
,
as they’
d
almost
gone upside down. Then as they’d come in low across the forest and
when he’d seen Dracus’ glistening blade reflecting up at him,
they’d
known
that
they’d arrived.
Then as the chopper’s skids had crunched down
into the snow, he’d kept the rotors at their deafening roar until
the bowman was aboard for a quick take off. The priest who’d given
up
trying to
hold the pages from his bible steady enough to
read the prayers from
,
was
suddenly
stuck
like glue
to the window
as he’d
stared
out into the forest, screaming that
the demons would get them.