Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

ALEXANDER AND HIS DOG TESSY battled an ancient vampire named Caleb. He had been stalking two teenage girls when Alexander tried to talk to him, and he attacked. He was over a thousand years old and had mastered his swords; he was as comfortable with them as he was with his hands. He wielded the two old swords with eagle pommels; his skill was extraordinary. Caleb was tall and skinny, a distinguished-looking gentleman with his goatee, but he was far from a nobleman. He cut off Tessy’s left ear, but it grew back, and for his effrontery, she bit a chunk out of his right calf and tossed it. The red sheriff didn’t have sufficient reason to kill him but now had to try to end him just to survive the encounter.

Blade met blade in a furious battle. The fight was art in motion, two experienced swordsmen battling for their lives; thrust, parry, attack. Power and great skill were unleashed by both of them. Within seconds they were impressed with one another’s talent, even surprised. Neither liked the fact that they were evenly matched. Every single blow that Alexander swung at him was deflected and countered. The sound of Caleb’s sword cut through the air as he held his perfect position. No words were uttered as they spoke with their blades. But Caleb’s had a problem, a big one. The dog made it two against one; she jumped and sunk her fangs into the back of his neck as Alexander attacked from the front. The sheriff took his head off and watched as his skin turned to dust and his bones fell to the ground. Tessy grabbed the skeleton and shook it.

She had her fangs stuck into the back of his head and had to release them to get them out; she pried them out using both of her front paws for leverage. The dog ran to Alexander with a wagging tail for affection. “Good girl Tessy. That’ll teach him to cut your ear off.”

Tessy barked several times at something in the distance; he turned and saw it but was having trouble believing what he saw. A skeleton that was on fire was walking through the park. Its flames were emitting black smoke going straight into the air, even though a moderate wind should have been pushing at it. It was obviously a magical thing that was probably not selling Girl Scout cookies. Danger came in different forms, with many considering magic the worst.

“Tessy, it’d be good to get a break, wouldn’t it? Come on, let’s go see.”

As it stopped, the sheriff and his dog blurred over to the ungodly thing. It took note of the vampire and his dog but ignored them. It was trying hard to orient on the wizard it had been chasing but was having a difficult time of it. Sitting on the grass with several other people, the wizard Adoros had eaten a small spelled packet that temporarily changed his energy signature to that of a mortal. Even though the skeleton had pursued him for several miles, it no longer recognized his wizard’s magical properties. The sorcerer was only four feet away from his pursuer, but now he went unnoticed. The skeleton could not remember his face even though he had seen it.

Alexander and Tessy both looked confused. Unless it attacked someone, they wouldn’t battle it. The sound of the flames burning was pretty loud, and as people noticed it, they ran in the opposite direction. The sheriff attempted to read its mind but couldn’t. Perhaps there was none to be read. He considered that it just might be what turned both him and his dog to bones, magic was a difficult thing to deal with, and if the thing was as nasty as it appeared, they could be in big trouble. He pulled out his cell phone and called the only wizard he knew, but there was no answer.

The dog sniffed at it, and the only thing she could smell was a combination scent of burning fuel and vomit. She cocked her head at it trying to understand what it was. The shepherd considered biting it but decided to wait for the command. Tessy could sense the evil and was confused by the small skulls that occasionally appeared in its flames.

“Come here often?” Alexander said to it. He didn’t expect a response but thought that he would try anyway. It didn’t have a mouth to form words in the usual sense.

It cursed at him and added, “Go away, vampire.”

The sheriff’s eyebrows shifted. There was obviously some intelligence there. Could it be someone had been turned into that thing? Alexander had no knowledge of such a monster and was unsure what to do next. “Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”

“Mind your own business, vampire. This is your last warning. Your fangs won’t protect you.”

The sheriff took a couple of steps back and only observed. He wondered what a bullet would do to it. In any case, he was going to follow. The New York Times front page would be an exciting read tomorrow if anyone got a shot of it. The concealed wizard was aware that the spell that cloaked him was slowly wearing off; tiny particles of his energy were now escaping. Those fiery bones were detecting the particles, but with so little, he couldn’t zero in on it. It was becoming angrier and more annoyed by the second. It threw fire at Alexander, and he dodged it.

“Wait, Tessy, I know you want to attack it, but I have a bad feeling about that damn thing. Just wait. I need to think.”

The dog growled deep down in its throat.

The bones threw a ball of fire at the dog, and she dodged it, barking viciously at it, revealing her fangs; a human would have run as fast as it could to escape that scary sight. It laughed but stopped suddenly. A little more of the wizard’s energy was being released, tiny purplish blue particles floating in the air to the skeleton, but it couldn’t track it back to its source. The wizard Adoros was tempted to flee, but they were evenly matched in speed, and he was fortunate to have made it as far as he did. He considered that if the sheriff attacked it, that might be a significant enough diversion for him to escape, but all he could do was wait and hope.

A jogger that had entered the area couldn’t believe his eyes. The young fellow in yellow was sure they were filming a movie, but as he couldn’t see any cameras, he approached; he was attacked by the skeleton and set on fire, and in less than a second, nothing but ashes remained. He hadn’t even had time to scream.

Alexander and Tessy attacked. The sheriff’s sword went through the flames and passed through its bones without making contact as if fighting a ghost. Tessy grabbed its femur but was set aflame by the act, and she fell and squealed it as it consumed her. Her body attempted to heal itself, but it was evenly matched by the healing and tearing down of the fire. She lay prone on the grass as her beautiful fur burned. Alexander shot it several times, but it solved nothing. It didn’t react to the bullets. Every energy source it consumed made the thing stronger and helped it evolve.

“Now you die, vampire!” It rushed Alexander so fast that he didn’t have time to move. The collision sent him flying across the lawn with the flames sticking to him; he threw his sword and screamed in agony.