‘Some of them passed through here…Then they must be after that necromancer…is that her footprint? No, Good.’ Drac stood up from examining the muddy foot prints at the cemetery gates. Half an hour ago most of the fog that covered the city had disappeared. Following the thin trail of decapitated bodies Drac had found his way to the cemetery where he saw where all the fog went. It was packed in the land of corpses.

Drac fixed his swords slightly as their straps pushed the armor into his neck. A major problem with carrying such large swords was that it decreased his mobility, or atleast caused pain in the most basic motions such as crouching. He had to constantly adjust them so that he wouldn’t be inconvenienced when the time came to them to be put to use. But they were family heirlooms, he couldn’t just replace them.

Drac lifted his visor and squinted into thick fog that was concentrated in the cemetery, the displacement of the fog confirmed his suspicions that whatever caused the dead to rise again was housed in the cemetary. Almost as if the eyes were luminous, Drac’s normally shadowed face was washed with a flash of red light. As soon as it came the light disappeared and Drac abruptly shut his visor. Without care for his left or his right he began trekking across the land of the disturbed dead.

When he had passed the fifth line of gravestones Drac reached to his back and unclasped both his swords. Slowly and caustiously Drac made his way in deeper, stopping only to recheck wether the foot prints led to where he was going, they were.

“Ugh,” Drac suddenly ticked his head to the side, shuddering for a moment. When the vibrations died down he let out a small sigh and spoke; “She’s not dead, stop sinning.”

Drac continued walking, as if nothing was wrong, until his head ticked to the sides once more.

“I die, you die. Stop talking so I can focus, unless you want to die.” Drac growled. He swung his swords in a circle before continuing onwards. Suddenly he came upon a corpse of a sneering midget…or atleast half a midget. The small man had spent his last breath writing a few characters on the gravestone for those who came after him, evident by the many pair of footprints that he passed by. Careful not to disturb the body any further Drac moved over the pool of blood and examined the wound.

“Yes, he was ripped in half,” Drac said to no one in particular. The base of the body was messy to say the least. Fortunately the leather armor kept the ripped meat and bones hidden for the most part. As he examined further he saw small holes near the base of the wound, showing off the muscles beneath the stretchd skin. The holes were surrounded by stretch marks of a loose skin that hung lamely on the spilled entrails. With the muscle wrappings torn off like decorated paper on a gift box the contents inside, such as the liver, stomach, and intestines were all spilled out onto the red earth underneath.

After a moment Drac suddenly stood up and peered in the fog surrounding him. His grip on the swords tightened as he took a step away. The midget’s organs would have been encased in a small layer of fat, had they been left as they were, but they were bitten into…and the bites were fresh. Taking another step away from the dead body he suddenly tripped into pressed soil. The marks he saw on the dented ground showed at least 10 footprints, each different from each other and all directed in different positions as if the creature couldn’t maintained its balance while feasting.

‘It had been so large that it had to bend over the gravestone to eat out the organs of the small man…and judging from the blood it had only happened recently.’ Alarm bells rang in his head at the though. Normally one would deter to their instincts but after years of his own, betraying him he’d decided to rely on face value.

He waited for a moment, turning on his heel to check his surrounding until the sounds of thumping feet filled the air around him. A large shadow began to phase in and out of the foggy cemetery from Drac’s view to out of it.

“Just when I need you’re help,” Drac murmered to himself. Afte a few second he spoke again; “Well fuck you too.”

*Whoosh*

The sound of something cutting through the air caught his attention and he turned just in time to see a sword coming down from behind him. Drac grabbed the wrist of the sword as he took the hit on his pauldron and squeezed, hard.

*Cruch*Fuss*

The sound of crunching bones and spilt blood was soon drowned out by the cry from the monster before him. Instinctively Drac jumped forward and tried jabbing the creature in the position of its head, or so he suspected. Drac missed his target and felt his chest piece push against his body, cutting into his shoulders and stomach as he was lifted in the air before being slammed onto a gravestone behind him. In the split second before he met the sturdy rock with his back Drac saw the beasts face, or atleast one of its faces, whip towards him and screech.

As soon as Drac was thrown into the gravestone the creature once again disappeared into the fog.

“Another one of those things,” Drac said as he shakily got off and took out one of his swords. Holding it in a two handed grip Drac began shifting his weight between his legs, keeping his face pointed in the one direction.

‘Someone has a sick mind to think up a monster such as this, no doubt there were repercussions due to its power,’ he reasoned.

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The sounds of clambering feet once again filled the air as the creature got closer. In the thick fog Drac only concentrated on his movements, slowing them down once the creature seemed almost upon him.

It came from the side this time, just out of the corner of his eye. Though it made no sound from its many heads, the cutting of the air and the stomping of its feet gave him a pretty good idea where the attack was coming from. But his weight had just shifted on his other leg, away from where the creature was but directly in line of its attack. Without thinking Drac crouched lower and swinging his blade at with his full weight behind it. The monster took that moment to jump with a gravestone in hand and though Drac missed his intended mark the creatures legs fared less well.

“YAAAAAHHH”

The large sword chopped through them like twigs until it eventually got stuck in the middle. Drac didn’t waste time and pushed himself forward, grabbing whatever came to hand, which just so happened to be the spine. It was only then that Drac noticed the burns on the screeching monster. In his moment of hesitation the creature swung down and slammed the stone on his back.

Drac fell to his knees as the stone crumbled. But he didn’t shout, nor did he loose his grip on the spine, instead it only got stronger. The creature kept screeching and began swinging at him with every small rock it could catch off the broken gravestone, but he was undeterred. Drac used his other hand and in a two handed grip began to lift the creature up. In his slow pick-up the creature began to incessantly kick and punch the armored warrior.

“AHHH!” Drac shouted as he reached his full height. His knees shook violently and threatened to buckle but before he could fall he pushed his arms forward and slammed the beast down with all his might. Drac tried slamming his fists into the creature’s face as he lost his footing.

*Crunch*

Drac pulled his fist from the soft earth, shaking off the bits of its brains off his fist. The screams from the other heads intensified at the loss of their counterpart but Drac paid it no mind, instead punching through the the other heads as well. He slapped the heads stuck to the shoulders and began clawing out whatever he could get his hands on. In turn he could feel the creature punching and pushing him off, but due to his armor none of it affected him.

Blood spilled and remnants of mushed eyes, tongues and other pieces of meat flew out as he bathed his hands gore. Drac was acutely aware of the clawing hands, but the more he slapped, clawed and punched the weaker the assault on his back got until it all stopped once he delivered the final blow to the last head.

Unsteadily Drac stood up and stomped on the creature spine, breaking it in two. He grabbed his swords and began making his way towards the ruined mausoleum, strapping one on his back.

“You and I share the same body,” he murmered between coughs, blood misting the air infront of his visor. “Whatever I feel, you do as well. So feel this pain because you deserve it for what you did to us...RAAH.”

Calming himself he strapped the other sword on his back and began lifting the rocks, clearing out the mess to better make out the situation infront of him. A broken stone coffin had collasped on a hidden set of stairs leading deeper underground, a stone coffin whose pieces he promptly began throwing out. A familiar nagging feeling set in the back of his neck when he’d finished clearing the entrance. It felt as if he was being watched; it was a feeling that came and went many times over the years yet nothing happened due to it, so he decided to ignore it and plow into the darkness before him. He let it envelope him forgetting the unease he felt moments before.

‘The sooner this is over the sooner she’ll be safe,’ he thought.

Drac walked down the steps, falling in rythm with the beating of his heart. He walked from the stairs to the hallway, moving to his heartbeat till he reached a wooden door.

….

It was blocked. No matter how much force he applied, even with his full weight, the door would not budge. If he tackled it and shouldered his way through he would lose his element of surprise. So taking a step back Drac began to retrace his steps shaking any objects of notable concern, which was everything. But after searching for a few minutes and moving half-way up the stairs he realized that he would find no passage, through that door or otherwise.

“Hrrmph,” He march back to the door and hesitated, glaring at the door as if it was an opponent and he the challenger. Drac stepped back and began undoing his right gauntlet; he slowly pulled the armor off of his shaky and bloody hand. While examining his hand he could see through the holes pierced by the ragged mothers from before. Gingerly he placed the hand on the walls and began feeling around the hinges of the door.

“Hmm”

Having found what he needed Drac wore his guantlet again and took out a sword, twisting it around his shoulders, due to the small space. He held it in front and gently placed the top hook-like edge of his sword on the top of the top hinge before pressing down with all his might, breaking both door-holders instantly. A ringing sound echoed in the tunnel as the door fell down, freed from its metal bindings. Drac caught it and gently lowered it rest of the way.

Having been unmasked, the giant rocks stood glaring back at Drac, acting as an impregnable last-line of defense to his quiet approach. Drac was about to swing his sword again when the shaking started. There was no rumbling, nor was there any tremor to notify of the large earthquake that had suddenly engulfed the underground tunnel.

Rocks began falling everywhere; the very foundations of the mousaleum had begun falling on top of him. He was pummeled by the dislodged granite and battered by the heavy rain of soil, seeping its way into his armor as he vehemently tried breaking through the rocks blocking his path.

‘In a hopeless situation a man would exhaust all his resources to survive-’

‘Heh, and that’s what you would do?’

‘-But a soldier would delve into that hopelessness, even if it means his death, to accomplish his mission, for his country, for his family so that they may be safe. His survival doesn’t matter their’s does.’

‘Победа перед смертью’

‘No. Защитите, даже в смерти.’

‘Protect, even in death?’

‘Always, Младший брат’

…

‘She looks like you. What did you name her?’

‘Natalie Sulieman Patrishni’

‘I would’ve liked Natravi, I’ll call her Nat S. Pat. Hmm?’

‘.…Run!! братик, run and don’t look back...she is your responsibility now, you must take care of her, please.’

…

‘It seems even a lowly mercenary will Защитите, в его смерти’ Drac thought. He took a few steps back and charged for a final assault at the rocks. His armor was dented and ruptured from the pauldrons to the vambraces because of all the rocks they had to defend against, but he persevered and pushed forth. Using his last bit of strength Drac tackled the rocks just as another layer of boulders loosened from above…