I slept for over a year. Something about working on minimal rest for over six months, as well as being a starving vampire, seemed to take a lot out of me. I pushed open my coffin and stepped out before stretching my limbs as blood once more flowed into the pale appendages.
The vampires in Castlevania were quite different from most vampires in fiction. For one, they were not undead. At least, I don't believe we were. Vampires from Castlevania seemed more like a highly evolved strain of predators that might have diverged from humanity sometime in the Stone Age.
At least, that's the theory that came to mind the moment I gave it more than a passing thought. A well-grounded and founded theory came with detailed diagrams illustrating the various kinds and lineages of vampires. That was all I needed to know that the information came from what remained of Dracula.
There was a knock on my door as I quickly dressed and fastened my cloak around my shoulders before calling out in a raspy and unused voice.
"Enter."
The doors opened with the creak and whir of hidden machinery, revealing the pale-haired, blue-eyed figure of Hector.
"My lord, you're awake," the young forgemaster noted with surprise coloring his tone. Then, with a bow and quick steps, he walked into the room before halting as I began to walk past him.
"Walk with me, Hector," I called out with a gesture as I began to walk toward my office, leaving Hector to scramble behind me. Another little-talked-about fact: Dracula had long legs. At seven feet tall, my feet ate up space like few did, leaving the much smaller Hector to rush after me.
"How have things been since I was… away?"
It took him a few seconds to piece his words together as he scrambled behind me. "Quiet, my lord. Unfortunately, we lost contact with the night creature sent to the Land of Always Winter."
That part was no surprise. I had hoped to glean some information from inside, but without that… well, there were still alternatives. "Send another one, and make sure it stops before it enters the snowstorm that borders the lands first. Make sure it patrols that boundary instead, so we can have a heads-up in case whatever lives there decides to come crawling out."
"It is a massive expanse, Lord Dracula. I'm not sure a single night creature would be enough."
I hummed at the new information before ordering, "Odds are, we've already missed one or two already. No, what I'm worried about is what lives there marching out in full force." I glanced at Hector and saw understanding blossom behind his blue eyes.
"Even a single night creature should be able to spot one of such," he began, his eyes trailing as he began to think further. "Especially if they were specialized for recon only, discarding any combat capabilities and focusing purely on their ability to observe, as well as speed."
I would have smiled if Dracula's features didn't resist the easy gesture. Instead, I placed a single hand on Hector's head and ruffled it in approval, like one would do a child or a pet.
He sent a wide-eyed look my way before giving a smile of satisfaction. Hector was intelligent. Intellectually, he was likely superior to Isaac. Unfortunately, he seemed to have min-maxed, leaving wisdom as his dump stat.
"I'll begin work on that immediately."
I nodded at his acceptance as we got to the door of my study, where Isaac was waiting. The dark-skinned man stood, spine straight, before giving a curt bow. "Master Dracula, how was your rest?"
"Soothing," I admitted. Then, with a wave, the door to my study opened, and I walked in with the two men trailing after me. I smoothly glided and sank into my seat before refocusing back on my forgemasters and attendants.
"What else happened while I was asleep?" I questioned, with a hand propping up my head as I leaned to the side. Dracula's mannerisms came easily to me, and I watched with half-lidded eyes as Isaac continued from where Hector stopped.
"The two red-haired youths you rescued shortly after our arrival in this world returned to their village in peace, which gave me the time to investigate what happened. It looks like a hunting trip gone wrong. They, along with another group, must have killed the bear's cub, which led the furious bear to lash out in response. Although…" Isaac trailed off and gave a look at Hector, one that the young man squirmed from. Curious. What happened while I was away?
Isaac continued, "Hector took it upon himself to resurrect the cub. It had died from only a single well-placed spear throw into the heart, and with the weather being what it was, the corpse was perfectly preserved. The resurrected bear was reintroduced to the mother, and after brief hesitation on the mother's part, it was all too happy to embrace its child once more. Since then, the duo has stayed close by, sometimes going as far as to sleep in our stables during the worst of the snowstorms that hit the region. Hector, once again, took it upon himself to key the beast into the castle wards."
I let a chuckle slip, surprising the two. Even Dracula would have found this fun if he were present as anything more than vague memories and instinct. Still, this was no surprise. Hector, being the bleeding heart that he was. I was only surprised about the mention of the castle wards. A brief, purposeful search into Dracula's memories gave more information.
Dracula was the master of Castlevania, but he could not be everywhere, so he had given some level of authority to his two most trusted generals, Isaac and Hector. While it didn't give them nearly the same power and connection over the castle, it made the castle more receptive to their wishes, such as modifying the castle wards. Wards that should protect and stop any intruder from slipping into the castle unannounced.
So, how did Alucard and his merry band of vampire hunters manage to waltz right in? Like most things, the answer came easily: Sypha. Her forceful binding and summoning of the castle had burned out Castlevania's core. I remembered the expanse that held the miraculous cube had been partially ruined, forcing the castle to enter some kind of hibernation mode. Whatever happened had shut down all critical systems.
I waved away the thought internally as I turned to the duo. Hector kept his eyes to the ground, while Isaac just looked ahead calmly.
"What else?" I inquired, saving Hector the embarrassment of calling out his childlike behavior. "I remember there was a group bearing torches shortly after the incident."
Isaac replied immediately, "As you ordered, Master Dracula, I had a night creature follow after them, and it confirmed they were a hunting party. The group of five men dressed in black cloaks, padded doublets, rough spun wool, and boiled leather for protection. A man I assumed was their leader had on a breastplate. They were mostly armed with steel swords and well-crafted bows. Everything about them spoke of a higher civilization than the one the villages around the mountain range participated in. They made sure to keep their distance and immediately retreated as the sun began to come up."
I gave a noncommittal hum at the news as I sat deep in thought. I didn't need to hear about the other details. The black cloaks alone had sold their identity. The Night's Watch, which meant a ranging. This far north. From what I understood, we were in the Frostfangs, which was beyond where most of the Night's Watch dared to range, both because of the distance and its closeness to the Thenns.
"Where are these men now?" I questioned.
"They returned south but were forced to halt at what our investigations revealed to be a major passage called the Skirling Pass by the locals. The pass was blocked by snow, and the group of five were forced to remain on this side, where multiple encounters with the locals have cut down their number over the past year.
The last time my night creature reported, only a single man remained of the group, a man who seemed to have been injured badly in a fight. Hector, of course, debated that we should assist him…" Isaac trailed off, then looked the other forgemaster in the eye. "I disagreed. However, Hector took it upon himself to personally deliver supplies as well as medical aid to him a couple of times with a hidden night creature as a guard in case the man proved hostile. Fortunately for him, the man was thankful, and the pass thawed shortly after, allowing the man to retreat. My night creature continues to follow him."
I blinked in surprise. Not at the ideological differences the duo seemed to have. Say whatever about their differences, but the animosity was only skin-deep, friction as a result of personal opinions. It would never be more than that, not when they both served a higher power. Me. No, what surprised me was the story being told. It had the ring of familiarity.
A group of rangers go north, as far as the Frostfangs. On their return journey, they realize the Skirling Pass is blocked by winter. At the end of the day, only a single man returns. A man and a living legend to the brothers of the Night's Watch: Qhorin Halfhand. Curious. Truly curious.
I was not sure how to feel about the man. From what I remember, he was one of the few rangers that could be categorically labeled a good man. Still, was this when he got his famous "Halfhand" epithet? It was closer than I would have thought.
While Qhorin's half-hand injury did seem like an old thing, the stories of his being trapped in the Skirling Pass seemed like a fresher thing, if I remember correctly. So the odds were that I was somewhere close to canon. Either shortly before Season 1 or close to Season 2.
Another interesting aspect was that if I was right and that was truly the legendary ranger, it meant I had something of an in with the watch. I didn't begrudge Isaac's refusal as that was the rational thing to do, but neither did I begrudge Hector's action either, because I could see the benefit his actions could accomplish down the line, although I doubt this was what was going through Hector's head when he made his decision.
"How long ago was this?"
Isaac thought on it for a second before replying, "Approximately five or six months ago, Master Dracula. The seasons in this place are… strange. Winter never seems to truly end. It seems like this land is trapped in various stages of winter instead of a regular winter and summer."
Well, that's the kind of thing that happens when you have the concept of cold and death simply chilling in your backyard.
"I see. Anything else?"
Hector was the one to speak up this time. "We've scouted our surroundings during the past few months, which has helped us build a map, aided by the farsight mirror. So far, there is a sum total of seven minor villages like the one the red-haired youths returned to, as well as a much bigger one on the other side of the mountain.
Since you spared them, they have returned often, mostly with gifts and trinkets. The boy has taken to assimilating the villages closer to theirs, and so far, a sum total of four out of the seven villages have joined them.
However, despite first impressions, the duo are being led by another red-haired youth. An older girl with the same red hair and a penchant for the bow. She always comes with them whenever they return to offer whatever baubles and trinkets they deem good, although she has had the sense to stay back."
"The giant snow bears also seem to have integrated with them quite well, especially the mother bear that seemed all too intent on killing the younger girl a long time ago. Now, we find her riding them sometimes, and sometimes…" Isaac trailed off before finally speaking up. "I suspect there is magic to them. An unfamiliar kind."
"Warging," I idly stated, to the surprise of the duo. So I continued with Dracula's methodical, uncaring wave of a hand. A theatrical flourish, mystery for the sake of mystique. It helped that they already believed I was some incomprehensible wellspring of ancient knowledge. No need to break the illusion. It would have been difficult to explain how I knew so much about the magic of this strange land otherwise.
"Warging is a curious and primitive type of human magic. It allows its practitioner to connect on a deeper level with animals, and if an animal is familiar enough or has some bond with a human, a skilled human or practitioner would be able to slip into the body of the animal and use its senses, as well as its body, as if it were theirs." I finished by way of explanation, and I could see curiosity in the duo's eyes.
"It is a magical discipline that would probably prove most interesting to both of you, as it would allow you greater possession and control of your night creatures," I continued as I thought further. From what little I remember about the connection between night creatures and forgemasters, it was all physical, like the way a man controlled a dog, simply with orders.
A Forgemaster that could warg…
The curiosity wasn't limited to just them now. Warging was interesting, and judging by what Bran did, it wasn't limited to just animals. Most especially, it was magic, interesting magic with a wide variety of applications. I was not completely familiar with vampire magic because, without the easy excuse and access to Chaos like in the games, the show's version seemed to use blood to fuel their magic. A source I didn't seem to possess a lot of.
Which was a situation that was solely my fault. I didn't even need to kill a human. Animal blood would do. Hell, even the blood banks Dracula had stocked up should be more than enough for me for another hundred years. Yet… the thought of it… There was no true revulsion. I had enough Dracula in me that the instinctive revulsion that came with the idea of drinking blood did not happen, which was exactly my problem.
Still, it wasn't something I could put off forever, and I wasn't certain I could even learn human magics. Regardless, for the first time since I woke up, I desired something other than the near-feral need to go back home. I wanted to learn more about magic. To try, at least. And there was only one magical practitioner I was aware of on this side of the wall, Bloodraven.
I turned to Isaac and Hector, my voice low and firm. "We'll need to find a certain Three-Eyed Crow."