Trials of Love, the Frostclaw Chronicles 7: The Vampire of the Eastern
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"Sister, he has arrived." One of the cloaked figures spoke as the roar of the armored beast soon became a roar of defeat, "And he has already defeated our shadow hound. I knew that he was a strong warrior, but no one has dispatched of a shadow hound that easily in under just a single minute." The other said before they looked into a bowl of water, seeing the mighty beast laying on the ground with the body cut clean apart, "And if we can get him to surrender himself to the darkness, he will become the ultimate instrument to finally kill that new Frostclaw Tribe." Both looked at Lyra that was hanging tied from the jaws of a giant dragon statue, her face obviously showing pure anger, "Let us go, you savages!" Both of them grinned, "Very soon, when your beloved little knight comes to rescue you." Lyra grunted as she heard them laughing, her head turning to the side as she whimpered, "Alex, please save us."
Down in the first set of stairs, Alex was ascending with his katana at hand while reflecting the projectiles from gargoyles, the fireballs getting absorbed by his blade before he taunted them a little, "Come on, I have seen newborn cubs throwing harder than you are." The screeches of annoyance from the gargoyles could be heard as they threw more and more fireballs at Alex that quickly got absorbed before he looked at his blade and sighed, "I hope this works." He saw how the gargoyles moved in closer, their screeching getting louder as Alex grabbed the hilt of the katana with both hands and prepared a swing before letting it go, "Hi Mikadzuki! (Fire Crescent Moon)"
Using the very same magic as the gargoyles had, Alex managed to unleash a crescent moon of fire with his katana that cut through the entire horde of gargoyles, but it seemed like they still could fly straight towards him before Alex slowly sheathed the blade, causing all of them to stop in their track from confusion before the blade fully sheathed itself and their screams of pain began when the vibration of the impact was enough to trigger the chain reaction to split them apart, "Yoake! (Daybreak)"
The two cloaked figures saw this and looked at each other, one of them speaking up, "Sister, I think we truly underestimated him." The other nodded, "Very much, dear sister. At this pace, he will reach the tenth floor in no time." It was then that they could hear someone singing and soon saw how Lyra calmed down and almost fell asleep from the song itself, "What is going on?"
It was Alex singing as he was heading towards the second set of stairs, his katana unsheathed yet again and swinging at anyone coming towards him, "It's time to break the chain to bring the love up. Beyond the peak of control, then higher and higher. All our senses come together, when we get it to the love. It's lifting us up." Both of the cloaked figures saw how it was like Alex was powering up when they witnessed a stone golem becoming nothing but rubble on the floor and soon Lyra opened her eyes and sang too, "Give me love in stereo! Give me more of the attraction! Cause I'm dying for some more!" There was like a short pause before they got louder, "Give me love in stereo! Give me total satisfaction! Cause love can only give it all!"
They just watched in horror as Alex quickly cleared the second and third floor before beginning the second verse, "It's time to detonate and time to rebuild reality. Still getting all we need to keep pushing our senses. Thinking it's part of the illusion, when we get it to the emotions. It's lifting us up." With a jump and agility that rivaled even Lyra and Peridot, Alex fought in midair with more gargoyles when the fifth to ninth floor was quickly left behind, "Give me love in stereo! Give me more of the attraction! Cause I'm dying for some more!" With the last set of stairs to walk up, Alex slowly sheathed his blade and continued upwards, "Give me love in stereo! Give me total satisfaction! Cause love can only give it all!"
The cloaked figures moved over towards Lyra and stood ready as they heard his voice getting louder and closer, "You took the best of me, you'll get the rest of what is left!" Then the voice went silent before the screech of a gargoyle could be heard, only to a moment later be answered by the same gargoyle soon coming up the stairs with fear in its eyes and guts spilling out from a gash on its belly. Lyra looked with pure shock at this before one of the cloaked figures quickly disintegrated the pitiful creature, just as Alex finally reached the top of the stairs.
"I am here, bitches! Let my wife go!" Alex growled out and Lyra screamed loudly in joy, "Alex!" The two cloaked figures discarded their robes and Alex gasped out when he moved backwards, "No, this cannot be." The perpetrators were both white dragonesses with dark red hair, standing the same height as each other, only difference being that one lacked the right eye while the other lacked the left eye. Both grinned wildly, "Guess our reputation exceeds our knowledge." Alex stood frozen in fear, "Sister told me about you two once. You are the Fifth and Sixth Primes of the Shadowtails. Sacine the Tigress Opal and Ririne the Dragoness Amethyst. When one died from a mysterious disease, the other took her place."
The dragonesses laughed menially, "Well then, this means only one thing. You are bound by the myth of creation. You are the one chosen to give your own genes to create the ultimate being." Alex looked at them both, "So what?" Sacine grinned as the empty eye socket soon came to life with the eye of a feline, "You came here for your wife, so lets make a fair trade. You join back with the darkness you discarded, and we will let you both live." Alex's eyes narrowed before looking at Lyra who was crying, "Alex, do not do it!" Alex looked forward at both of the dragonesses before he lowered his head, "I cannot find another way this time. I accept." Lyra's voice rung out, "Alex, no! You will die if Sasha gets to know!" Both the dragonesses just grinned and tossed Alex a dagger infused with the same dark essence that once rested within him. Wasting no second, he plunged the dagger into his chest and growled as the darkness slowly manifested itself and Lyra was released, quickly rushing over to Alex's side as she cried, "Alex, you fool! How could you..."
It was then that Alex drew his katana and looked at her, "Tell my sister that I am sorry. I failed to become a good husband to the one I really love the most." He took a better hold of the blade and turned it around, preparing to strike before noticing Lyra holding him closely to her, "No... Alex, if you plan to do this, then I will come with you!" The dragonesses growled, "Insolent fool! You will do as we say!" Alex looked at them before uttering one line, "The power of love always remain the strongest force!" Lyra looked up at him and they shared one warm kiss before Alex stabbed them both through the chests, piercing their hearts before their minds were clouded by a thick fog.
The fog grew thicker and thicker by the seconds and Alex opened his eyes before coming face to face with what he could only describe as a bolt of light, "Young one. Your will to rather choose to seal off the darkness with death and also not leaving your loved one behind may be an act of bravery or lack of heart. But in the eyes of a true warrior, you never left the light, you carried it in your heart." The bolt of light slowly radiated less light before Alex noticed Lyra standing near a cherryblossom tree, waiting for him with the warmest smile. Standing up, Alex walked over towards her, each step he took slowly making flowers grow before he stood right in front of her, both their smiles showing on their faces before the cherryblossoms began to swirl around them and from their chests, their hearts slowly came out and fused into one as Lyra slowly transformed into a hybrid of a nine-tailed fox and a shark with a golden priestess outfit, while Alex sprouted two wings from his back and his entire body began to transform until Lyra rushed in close to hug him until they felt their heart syncing with one another, unleashing a blast of light.
Both the dragonesses covered their eyes when the explosion of light grabbed them and they growled before an ear-piercing screech was heard and where they had seen two close-to-death lovers, now instead stood a large bat that radiated pure sunlight. Sacine quickly lifted a hand in an attempt to use her magic to tame the vile solar beast, but to no vain when she soon screamed in fear as it quickly moved and wrapped both arms around her, slowly crushing her as she screamed in pain and fear, "Sister, help me!" Ririne threw spell after spell at the beast, but nothing seemed to even affect it, she had no way of defeating it. Soon her eyes went wide as the beast finally made the last crush before Sacine's head popped from the amount of blood going to her head, the body slowly turning into ashes before the beast looked at her, "Who are you?!?" The beast screeched loudly before she screamed in fear and rushed for the stairs, followed by the beast that unleashed beams of sunlight to exorcise all the dark beings inside. Ririne barely got down to the eighth floor before the beast grabbed her in its feet, securing her arms so they could not be used before flying back up to the top floor, hissing to her before speaking, "You asked who I am. It is we, and we are your worst nightmare!" With a final screech from the beast and a scream from Ririne, she found her head getting caught by the jaws before it was torn clean off only to be spit out as it turned to dust. This also left the amulets that they had been sealed within.
With no purpose to remain in this form, Alex and Lyra returned back to their normal selves. Lyra looked at Alex, "That was amazing! Sadly I do not think anyone will believe us when we tell this." Alex nodded, before drawing his sword and stabbed both the amulets, their magic disappearing before they felt themselves being unleashed from their prison.
When they both woke up, they groaned and noticed they had been connected to an IV and were in some kind of hospital. Loud gasps were heard when they looked forward and saw the entire family standing there, Sasha rushing over to hug them both, "You are back! We were so worried!" Alex laughed and held her close, "That we are, but you will not believe what we have been up to for real." Sasha looked confused before Lyra held up the amulets, causing Sasha's eyes to narrow, "A soul prison made with volcanic iron. I should have known that it was their doing! Also, brother. You are shrouded in darkness again." Alex looked at her and then at Lyra, both smiling before Alex spoke up, "Living without the bad stuff of life will never teach you a thing. But with the help of love, you can learn to never fall to the temptation." Lyra smiled before noticing something on the back of the amulets. There was an engraved picture of a monstrous bat on one and a nine-tailed fox priestess on the other. Both smiled at it before sharing a warm kiss, during the presence of their loving family.

The End.