Hide. Sneak. Attack. Repeat.

He had been taught simple enough instructions to travel unnoticed in enemy territory, alone that is. But since he was travelling with scared children almost at their wits end; mistakes were bound to happen, at every corner stood another battle, another fight and another chance to lose them due to his incompetency. The children were tired. They were not used to staying up so long, nor were they used to witness such horrors, but they obeyed; they hid when he needed and stood alongside him when he wanted. They were well mannered children or was it fear or the promise of safety that controlled their actions…no matter, they obeyed him and that was all that mattered. It was pleasing.

An hour ago they had been making good progress towards the manor he had seen above the hill, but when they reached the crossroads they were ambushed. It was his fault for realizing it too late. The wheels had already turned and the magic controlled corpses had made their move first. In the frenzy and chaos the children had taken the wrong turn, neglecting to see that the rest were moving the other way. It was his fault they were ambushed and subsequently it was his fault the kids they had set to save were running into the jaws of death. So he ran after them, leaving Brair to guide the group the rest of the way.

It wasn’t hard. Rescuing the children had taken no more than a few minutes. The hard part was finding their way to the manor. A long time had passed yet they were still cutting corners, being no closer to their destination than they were the hour past. None of them knew the city well so when they were lost within its many roads they had only the view of a glimpsing manor to follow, which had led them astray too many times.

But a saving grace presented itself in the winds that blew past them, informing him of the plans the duke had set to carry out. Getting the children to safety was no longer a priority, he had to delve deeper in the mess that was this city. It was the only solution he could think of, he was not his brother. The genius of the-

“Mr. Drac?” a voice whispered, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Shhhh,” he said softly. He was currently holding up a wooden board above them as they crouched near some rubble of a destroyed shop, blending in with the surroundings. Passing by were corpses no longer fueled with the vigor he add seen before and clumped together in groups no greater than their own. They alone posed little threat, but the sheer numbers that a single group could attract would. He did not want a repeat of that.

When all visible undead had disappeared from the street he slowly raised the board above him and they carefully got out of their hiding spot. Ignoring the approaching expression on the boy he focused on getting them down the street, with no more distractions. The children walked alongside him, girls on one side and the boy one the other, silence on one side and constant tapping on the other.

“What?” he whispered.

“I…I gotta’ go,” the child said, embarrassed.

“Go?” he asked.

“I-I uh…gotta pee” the boy whispered.

“…” Drac sighed. He kept walking down the broken street till he reached a still intact store front. He carefully entered the shop and ushered the rest in with him. The store was a mess. It had a large wooden table in its center, broken down on its foundations and covered with liquid that had pooled all over the floor. The shelves and other smaller tables had similar liquids dripping from it, but in addition had broken pots, bowls and glass pieces spread all over.

Drac raised his hand and grasped his sword as he delved deeper into the store. There was doorway at the end to which he slowly stalked towards.

“It’s too dark to see,” the smaller girl complained. Fortunately her sister hushed her quickly so he just ignored them and continued onwards. Standing in the doorway he scanned the room, looking for any signs of an enemy. Satisfied with his assessment he walked back and knelt to the kids.

“We’ll take a break here. There’s an empty room back there, make hast.” Drac pointed behind him with a thumb. Within the small light that fell in he could see how embarrassed Zach was. However, his need for release must’ve been greater as he quickly made his way to the back causing the younger girl to giggle slightly. Drac stood in front of the doorway as he waited on the boy when the older sister…Rina approached him cautiously.

“Um, Mr. Drac?”

“…”

“Are you alright?” When Drac titled his head in her direction she quickly supplied. “I mean that you looked like you were talking to someone…out there.”

“We won’t be going to the manor anymore-”

“What!?” the boy exclaimed as he came out, straightening his clothes.

“The Duke plans to use everyone to fight, leaving his house unprotected. It won’t be safe there when this happens.”

“How do you know this?” the boy asked, coming closer.

“My niece told me, she is a caster.”

“You promised us revenge,” the little girl said from behind her sister.

“Y-yeah, you promised. How will we get our revenge if you take us closer to whatever caused this…this mess? We’ll die.”

“Leaving you at the manor will bear same result,” Drac inspected his hands. “At least with me, you’ll have a chance to survive. If you don’t make any mistakes and obey.”

“What, you can’t-”

“Zach!” Rina hissed attracting both their attention. She was trembling terribly and it wasn’t the cold that was causing it. “We don’t have a choice.”

“But Rina-,” Zach tried.

“We don’t know if we’ll die when the dukes leaves his manor,” Rina walked towards Drac and stared at him with a rueful smile. “But I guess if we decide against you, this is where we’ll part, right?”

Drac stared the girl for some time, discerning her. She had resigned herself to protecting her sister and didn’t expect to live through this. A situation he was no stranger to, but he had a family of his own to worry for and if not for the wings he’d seen...it was not important what he would have done had the situation was different what mattered was what he would do now, knowing what he’d seen now.

Drac turned to the street and called over as he continued forth; “You think too much. Come, I still have to make good on that promise.”

The voices spoke to him. But he didn’t know whether it was her or the foe. If he indeed had spoken then Drac felt no indication of it, but if he did…then it meant she was dead and Drac had failed as a brother. At first he ignored it, but the gnawing feeling that she may be dead seeped deeper and deeper. He was unnerved even if he didn’t show it. It was one of the few things he hated about himself and his lineage.

‘No matter’, he thought. ‘If you are not speaking now, it only means you are as confused as me. She’s alive and she is telling the truth.’

The duke planned to attack the origin, cavalcade his soldiers through the streets while him and his elite take the fight to the center of this crisis. Using up all his soldiers would leave his home defenseless meaning that this was going to be the only time they were going to get a chance at attacking with an actual chance and he wanted to partake.

‘It seems, the sins of a child are catching up with the man,’ Drac thought. ‘This…This is the sin of my birth, but these people had nothing to do with it. My sins have killed these people, this is my fault and I will stop this. Leave nothing for the reinforcements.’