Chapter 6
Faceless Enemy

 
The soft flutter of many pairs of wings in the distance was what caught the ears of the tired young man sitting on the chair by the window. Then the morning sky was observed by a pair of eyes that matched it's color. They watched the flock of birds as they flew over the trees and disappeared to the side of the castle. The eyes looked on as the last few slacking birds passed, then after a moment, went back to their usual idle stare. Not focusing on anything in particular, but moving slightly when something mildly interesting was within their perimeter. A gentle gust of wind whistled by, lifting strands of soft, brunette hair to brush across the snow-colored skin of his blank face. Despite the disturbance, the pale eyes gazed on...

A loud flutter swiftly glided across the room to land on the windowsill before him. A beautiful white owl, a rare and exotic entity of the castle. He reached out his right hand, which was as pale as the animal and the creature gave out a little coo as he began to stroke its soft feathers.

"....I apologize." He said to the quiet figure standing a few feet behind him.

Dina stepped towards him as she saw his disregard for her fade. "It's alright." She sat down on the bed near him.

"Thank you for understanding." The dhampire rested his right arm in his lap, which had quickly began to ache from the activity, in its weak state.

Dina smiled and shook her head. "D... I'll never understand you."

"...Of course not." He muttered.

"Huh?" She could barely hear him.

Her questioning look was not met with an answer. D was silent and still. She looked at him, looked straight into his eyes, but he didn't look back. After a moment, she stood up.

"Okay..." She rested her hands on D's shoulders. "It's passed your bed time."

He shrugged her hands off of his shoulders. "Go away."

"But--"

"I can put myself to bed when I want to."

"Fine." She said sitting on the windowsill and hanging her legs out the window. "But I'm going MY way." She pushed herself off the windowsill and fell three stories down, landing on her feet with ease.

D narrowed his eyes as he watched her casually walked down the paths of the gardens with the owl following her. The dhampire's eyes shifted as he heard a snicker from elsewhere in the room. The symbiot's ghostly figure floated to the sill where the owl once stood.

"What ARE you thinking?" It grouched. "You can't just LEAVE!"

"That's your opinion."

"Well, whatever. You do what you want, but I won't be stuck protecting your ass all the time again." The goblin jumped off of its perch and began to waddle away, but was stopped when they heard a feminine scream from the castle gardens.

D jumped up to see what the raucous was all about and found Dina being restrained by the arms of a menacing lizard-like barbaroi monster. The dhampire leaned out the window to get a better look. His father ran outside, stopping barely in time to miss the rays of morning sunlight peeking under the stone canopy.

"Father!!" Dina cried.

"Let her go!" Dracula shouted.

"Master! Leave it to me!" A humanoid guardian jumped from the roof of the canopy. He was completely white, save his sky blue eyes, with a thin layer of fur covering his body. He had a tail, huge bird wings, the feet of a big cat, and a long white main. He stood in between Dracula and the barbaroi, with a sword drawn, facing the monster.

"Angelo! Be careful!" Dracula said, concerned about his protector.

"Worry about yourself, My Lord!" Angelo lunged at the barbaroi, but the beast threw the dagger at him, puncturing his chest and knocking the guardian to the ground. Then the two griffins from before charged at either side of the beast, one's face was met by a devastating claw, the other was whipped around with a slippery pink tongue and thrown to the ground.

D lifted a leg, pressing his knee against the windowsill, but the symbiot jumped out in front of the dhampire outstretching its little arms before him.

"Don't, D! You're too weak to fight!" It shouted.

"What're you gonna do now?" The reptilian monster hissed at Dracula.

"Get off of me!!" Dina screamed, trying to free one of her hands from the hold the monster had on her to grab one of her own weapons, but was unsuccessful.

Dracula looked up at D, who stood in the window helplessly, only wishing he had the strength to put the intruder out of its misery.

"I really don't want to have to do this again..." The vampire king said turning back to the monster. "Barbaroi warrior. I'll give you one chance to change your mind. Let go of the girl and I'll let you leave unharmed."

"That's enough!" The beast barked. "You must come with me or else!!" He drew another dagger and rose it high above his head, ready to stab her in the heart. The monster began to shake; it dropped the dagger as its fingers unwillingly uncoiled around the handle of the weapon. Dina, finally able to break free, ran and stood behind her father. The reptilian beast screamed as it was tossed up into the air and thrown above the forest where it exploded in mid air, its body parts could barely be seen, where the trio was, falling to the ground as it died.

Dracula sighed a tired sigh of relief, then looked around. "Is everyone alright?"

Angelo walked up to him with a clawed hand over his wound. "Don't they know when to stop?" He growled. "This has been going on for three weeks now!"

"Why are the barbaroi attacking the castle?" D asked the symbiot solemnly.

"Don't know." The ghostly symbiot said hovering at D's right side. "Someone's hiring them, but who?" The goblin wondered. "I didn't think anyone knew this castle was still inhabited anymore..."

D started back with the symbiot following close behind him. "They do now..."