Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (47 page)

“Uncle Link?” Abigail gasped.

Link pushed his cowboy hat away from his eyes and stared at them indifferently.
 
The young werewolf next to him snarled and growled as foam dripped from his teeth.

“Kill these girls,” Mihnea commanded them.
 
“Rip them to
shreds
.”

Michael followed Alucard’s directions carefully.
 
He had no desire to get lost and find himself alone in this castle.
 
But he was nearly to the throne room now, and he could only hope that someone friendly would be waiting for him there.
 
He fidgeted nervously with the string of his bow, thoughts of Abigail and Magda shooting through his mind.
 
He prayed they’d somehow been able to make it on their own.
 
The horrors wandering through the halls of this castle would pose a threat for the most seasoned warrior, and would certainly show no mercy to two young girls.

 
And then there were his father, Mr. MacDonald, and Caleb, still unaccounted for.
 
Now that he knew Alucard hadn’t picked up Elizabeth, he was confident it had been them.
 
Perhaps they’d even taken care of Mihnea, and all that would be left to do was shut down the portal.
 
But he still wasn’t sure how they were going to do that, especially in a way that kept Magda safe.
 
He
wasn’t
going to let her sacrifice herself, even if it was the only way to destroy that gateway.

Michael was relieved to see the Wallachian suit of armor waiting at the end of the hall.
 
He walked up and raised the halberd a few inches off the ground until he heard it click.
 
The full body mirror on the adjacent wall swung open, just as Alucard said it would, and Michael stepped into a small hidden elevator.
 
He pulled the lever and listened to the clunking of chains as he felt it ascend.
 
This wasn’t the most direct route to the throne room, but Alucard insisted it was the best way to get there undetected.

The lift came to a halt and he stepped into a narrow tunnel.
 
A few small bats hung from the ceiling, and Michael eyed them nervously.
 
One glanced down at him for a moment, then hid its face behind its wing and went back to sleep.

The passage went on for quite some time, straight for a while, and then up a long stone staircase before ending at a wall, which Michael easily pushed open.
 
He peeked to make sure the coast was clear before hopping out.

 
Large gears and intricate machinery surrounded him.
 
Alucard had told him this was the castle’s clock tower, and warned him to stay away from the large, moving pieces, unless he wanted to get pulled into the gears and be turned to jelly.
 
As he examined the ancient machine, Michael wondered what kind of man must have designed such a thing, much less built it.
 
The tick of the gigantic mechanism and the steady movements of its pieces were soothing, and for a while as Michael watched it he almost forgot his mission, and that he needed to keep going.
 
This wasn’t any time for site seeing.

Making his way through the tower, he suddenly realized that for whatever reason, he felt safer, more at ease in this place.
 
Even so, thinking about what lied ahead made him nervous all over again.
 
He wished he knew where Abigail and Magda were, and cringed at the thought of what Mihnea might do to them if they were discovered heading for his throne room.
 
And what if Alucard and Liam didn’t make it back with the lance in time; what if they didn’t make it back at all?

“No,” Michael whispered to himself.
 
“Things will turn out alright.
 
They have to.”

Passing beneath a large wooden rafter, he noticed a crow’s nest above his head, and was reminded of the way Alucard had fed the ravens in the park.
 
He grinned to think that he now had a vampire for a friend.
 
Since meeting Raymond, he had spent a lot of time thinking about what exactly it meant to be a monster.
 
Raymond had struggled against what he was, and was now working to master it.
 
Alucard’s story had many similarities.
 
These two friends of his hadn’t been given a choice about what they were, but both had refused to give in to the monster within.
 
As much as Michael hated to think about it, his sister might have to face that very thing.
 
If anyone could do it, Abigail could, but hopefully it wouldn’t be coming to that.

To think that just a few years before, his family had seemed so normal.
 
Now Michael knew differently, and things were getting more interesting every day.
 
Maybe the Cisco Kid had it right after all; maybe
all
of them belonged in a comic book.
 
The funny thing was, Cisco didn’t know the half of it.

Reaching the other end of the clock tower, Michael had to brush the dust away from the floor to find the outline of the concealed hatch door.
 
It creaked as it opened, and with a shudder he hopped down into the dirty crawlspace beneath the floor.
 
Several spiders fled the scene upon seeing the flames of his torch coming toward them.
 
Burning away the cobwebs, he made his way through the passage, scrunched down almost to the point where it would’ve been easier to crawl.

Finally he saw it, the hatch that led to the balcony of the throne room was just up ahead.
 
Light shone up from the edges, which meant there was a good chance somebody was down there.
 
He’d have to be careful while opening that thing up, and hoped this one wasn’t as noisy as the other one he’d just come through.

Leaning his torch against the wall, Michael gently unfixed the latch and began to raise the door, peaking through as soon as there was room.

The scene that unfolded below nearly knocked the wind from his lungs, and with more rage than he’d ever felt, he leapt into the room below.

Alucard held onto the base of the orca’s dorsal fin as they sped through the subterranean waters, and held out Michael’s lantern with his other hand to light up their way.

“At the end of this cavern, dive down into the passage straight ahead.
 
When we come to the fork, take the channel all the way to the left.
 
That should bring us up right in Dagon’s lair.
 
You’ll have to swim fast because I’ll be holding my breath, and be careful not to smash me against the rocks when the passage narrows.
 
Got all that?”

Liam made a few clicking and whistling sounds while nodding his head, and waited for Alucard to take a long deep breath before plunging beneath the water.
 
He swam as fast as he could, slowing down only in those places where he needed to navigate more carefully.

Before long they’d emerged once more, and Alucard promptly drew a fresh dose of air into his lungs.

“Good boy,” he told Liam, giving him a friendly pat.
 
“If only I had a few fish to give you.”

Liam swam a bit closer to shore before changing back into a human.

“Normally, I’d think of something clever to say to that jab,” he told Alucard.
 
“But the truth is, a few fish sounded like a pretty good idea just then.
 
You kinda had my hopes up.”

Alucard smiled as he climbed up onto the rocks.
 
“And now?”

“Naw,” Liam shook his head.
 
“The moment’s passed.
 
I could go for one of Da’s steaks now, or even a good shepherd’s pie.”

“Watch your step on these rocks.
 
Dagon tends to leave a trail of slime in his wake.”

Liam sidestepped a particularly slippery looking pool “
Yuck
, I can see that.
 
So what are you planning on doing with that creature if he’s in here?
 
Are you going to put him out of his misery or what?”

“I suppose that’s up to him, and whether or not he chooses to cooperate.”
 
Alucard tossed the lantern back to Liam.

Together they strode up the rocky incline, and upon reaching the top, looked down to see the hidden lair of Dagon.
 
Bones were scattered across the ground leading up to a secluded corner, where all kinds of treasures and trinkets were piled up high.
 
There were toys, weapons, toasters and odd pieces of trash.
 
It was a bizarre collection, and the only commonality Liam could put his finger on was that every object there was shiny.

“There he is,” Alucard said abruptly, making Liam jump.

“Where?
 
Where is he?” His heart began to beat faster as he looked for the creature Michael had described to him.

“There, lying on the ground.”
 
Alucard bounded over to the body of an old man, who was sprawled amidst the oddities.
 
He looked like he’d been beaten pretty badly.
 
Alucard gently picked up his head to check for breath and a pulse.
 
“He’s alive, but we need to get him out of here.”

“Well he can’t hold his breath while he’s unconscious,” Liam reminded him.
 
“Have you got any ideas?”

“No.
 
Do you see the lance anywhere?”

Liam took a quick look around, but didn’t see the weapon.
 
Dagon had either taken it with him or hidden it well.

Liam shone the lantern in every direction, hoping it might point something out.
 
“I don’t see it anywhere.
 
How are we going to find it?”

“Nothing goes on down here without Dagon knowing about it.
 
All we have to do is wait for him to turn up.”

“Great,” Liam chimed.
 
“I look forward to it.”

“Al-Alucard, is that you?” came the Dragon’s weak, raspy voice.

“Yes, it’s me.
 
Don’t worry, you’re safe now, just try and rest.”

“But, but Dagon…he has taken Ascalon….”

“I know.
 
Don’t worry, we’ll have the lance back soon.”

“WILL YOU, NOW?” came a thunderous voice from the water.

They turned to see Dagon slithering toward them.
 
Liam thought he was even more hideous than Michael had described, but the putrid smell was what really caught him off guard.
 
He carried a sack with what might be a drowned sheep, or perhaps a dog, in one hand, and a short wooden lance in the other.

“Uug, you stink,” Liam spat at him.
 
“I’d tell you to take a bath but, well, …you do live in the water after all.
 
Maybe try some soap, couldn’t you?
 
I mean, for goodness’ sake.”

“SILENCE, YOU FOOL.
 
You shall pay with your lives for invading my kingdom.”
 
His eyes turned toward the rising form of Alucard, whose face was a light blue color rather than white, due to the light of Michael’s lantern.
 
“Lord Alucard?
 
Wh-What brings you down to my domain?”

“We’re here to retrieve him,” he said, gesturing down to the old man in his arms, “and that lance.”
 
He nodded to the beast’s weapon.

“I’m sorry, my lord, but you shall have neither.
 
Count Mihnea has instructed me to hold your friend as a prisoner, and this weapon was willingly placed here in the caverns beneath the castle.
 
It is mine.”

“And if I command you to release them to me?”

Dagon shook his fishy head.
 
“Mihnea is the greater master, I must obey him.”

“Even if it means your death?” Alucard asked him.

The creature roared with laughter.
 
“It will not.
 
The two of you are no match for me and my servants.”

Liam noticed dozens of fish-like faces rising out of the water.
 
The creatures were more like men than Dagon, and only half his size.
 
They had sharp teeth, webbed hands and feet, and a few wore tattered pieces of old, rotting clothes.
 
They rose up and staggered onto the rocks, heading toward their victims with outstretched arms.

“Oh, how lovely,” Liam said to Alucard, taking a step backward.
 
“A family reunion, and we forgot to bring a side-dish.
 
Maybe we just ought to be going then?”

“I don’t know how you got down here,” Dagon told them angrily, “but you won’t be getting back out so easily.”

Alucard gently set his grandfather down upon the rocks, and rushed to Liam’s side with his sword drawn.
 
“Do you have any weapons on you?”

“Just a pistol, but the bullets were meant for vampires, I’d hate to waste them on this lot.”

“Saving our lives could hardly be considered
wasting them
,” Alucard frowned back.

“Good point, but I’ve got a better idea.
 
If I take care of the big guy, can you handle all his little friends?”

Alucard raised his hand to Liam’s forehead.
 
“Are you feeling alright?” he asked with concern.
 
“You don’t seem to have a temperature.”

“Come on, I’m being serious.
 
I think I can give this creep a run for his money.”

“All right, but stay where I can get at him if you need my help, alright?”

“It’s a deal,” Liam said, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously.
 
“Well, here goes nothing.”
 
He took off toward Dagon, dodging the attacks of the fish-men as he went, until he reached the edge of the lake.
 
He jumped out as far as he could, forming a cannon ball and splashing down into the water.