Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

THE LITTLE WIZARD WAS DRINKING Beluga vodka and loved it; it was made with hyaline artesian water from a spring in Siberia. Sebastian was dressed all in red, and one would consider that he could glow in the dark. He was so brightly colored, definitely the loudest in the restaurant. He loved The Russian Tea Room and frequented it whenever he had the time. He had met his fiancé at the establishment. Sebastian was waiting for his contact to show up and for his lobster salad. The place was crowded, but he liked the atmosphere nonetheless. Going to the restaurant was a little like going home.

Sebastian was in a happy mood. He was recently engaged, and his business of selling spells was picking up. Yesterday he had made a cluster of real bees spell out I Love You to a new client who was most impressed, as was his new girl. Sebastian was also looking forward to moving out of New York to escape the nasty vampires. As a low-level wizard, he had limited protection; all it would take was for one vampire to be dissatisfied with his work for him to lose his head. Some of them were so insistent that they were impossible to refuse. But the day was bright, and things were heading in a positive direction.

Achak arrived outside The Russian Tea Room; he blurred to the front of the building, knowing that Sebastian was waiting for him. It was the first time he had worn a suit in over a year, and it felt foreign to him. He looked up at the sign of the dancing bears on the building and knew for sure that he was at the correct location. The scent of food made its way to where he stood under the canopy-covered sidewalk, making him hungry. There was also the smell of strong coffee from a nearby Starbucks. Achak had memorized the new spell, and his augmented energy should make it a manageable undertaking. Still, a wizard never knew precisely what would happen when trying out an enchantment for the first time. Most of the surprises from a spell gone wrong were not pleasant ones. He knew of one wizard that had accidentally killed himself, and it looked as though his cabin in the woods had been hit by a tornado, nothing but boards and splinters had remained when his spell had gone awry.

Achak walked into the restaurant confidently after scanning it and determining that there were no vampires present and no other wizards except for Sebastian. He walked right up to him and weaved the magical net over him with a circular motion from both hands going counterclockwise; it tightened around Sebastian as a bag twisted from the top. The net glowed as the wizard tried to scream, but the net wouldn’t permit any sound to escape. Achak threw him over his shoulder, turned, and walked straight out. Nobody dared to interfere as he exited with Sebastian in the bag. Once outside, he blurred in the direction of his forest home in Quebec. He hadn’t been able to locate a single wizard there, but he knew he would replace one in New York. In a way, New York City was the premier city in North America.

When Achak arrived at his wigwam in the Quebec forest, his magical fire continued to burn now alive for almost a week. It was one of the most challenging incantations that he had ever weaved. The skulls that danced in the fire now had smiles on their bony faces as they floated around with anticipation; they could almost taste the wizard in the net. They laughed and spat flames onto the ground starting small fires that quickly dissipated; they jostled for position as they faced Achak, colliding with one another.

Achak pulled out the Blood Book to study the spell more to ensure no ingredients were missing. He was excited yet cautious. He was confident yet aware of some things that could go wrong. One of the skulls was coughing inside the fire as it spat embers out, and it struck at his funny bone. He imagined that one of the burning skulls had caught an impossible cold.

“After this, not many will be able to stand up to me.”

Inside the bag, it was as if Sebastian looked through a checkered pattern into a fog; he could barely see fire and Achak. Why was this fellow out to get him when he appeared to be a stranger? Sebastian had a fire enchantment spell but was afraid to use it. What if it couldn’t puncture what he was in, and the blaze raged within such a small space? He could be consumed by his spell. Life went from looking up to looking down from a great height without a parachute. He had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he felt sick.

Achak retrieved four different colored pouches out of the wigwam and placed them on the Blood Book. One was blue, one red, one black, and the last one magenta. The magenta bag popped into the air and fell to the ground. It was tossed on the ground when he placed it back on the book. He was puzzled as the book didn’t like the Metaxymorpha meeki insects in the magenta bag. When he examined it closer, Achak realized that he had selected the wrong pouch. Who knows what would have occurred had he used it. What a silly amateur error, yet he was no amateur. He entered the wigwam and exchanged it for a purple pouch. Satisfied with the ingredients, he returned, took a pinch from each, and tossed it into the fire. The flames grew hotter and higher and more colorful as dark smoke headed into the atmosphere. The skulls pursued the ingredients inside the fire and hungrily devoured them.

Sebastian continued to kick occasionally, but it was no use. None of his spells were robust enough to burst out, except perhaps for the fire. All he could think was that his beloved would never know what happened to him if he didn’t survive this. He was in big trouble. When Achak picked up the bag with him in it, he realized that he would be tossed into the fire, so he attempted to unleash his fire spell with nothing to lose. The only thing released was a small amount of smoke from his fingertips.

Inside the flames, parts had formed a complete skeleton. Other skulls danced around in there, looking unhappy as they hadn’t been selected to be part of the entire skeleton. Sebastian was tossed into the flames bag and all; his scream was cut short as he died. Dark and heavy breathing surrounded the fire as the skeleton stepped out. It was an unusual sight to behold as it burned with magical flames. The monster, created in the form of a skeleton, continued to burn with enchanted blue and orange flame. The sound of the fire consuming oxygen was striking. Achak circled his creation and was happy with the result; he noticed its considerable heat.

“Do you know what you have to do?”

“Withdraw enchanted energy from others and give it to you.”

“How long do you think it will take?”

The flaming skeleton was annoyed. “How can I know that?”

It was a simple answer to a simple question, but it bothered Achak. Did that thing already have an attitude? He expected the creation to be totally compliant, but if it wasn’t, it was too late. He wasn’t sure if he could destroy it because it had been created with some of the most potent ingredients. He watched as the skeleton blurred short distances and headed off on its ungodly quest. Trees caught fire as it approached but were quickly extinguished without the energy to sustain.

“I want the girl wizard killed last. You will learn as you get stronger and progress. You will need that experience to face her. Once I get her energy, I should be sufficiently powerful to take on Dracula.”