The Training

" I can't believe the price of these damn drinks," I said bitching about the three dollars I just paid for a large coke at the movies. "I could by a pack of cigarettes for the same price."

" That's really sad," said my friend Josh with his arm around Cassie.

" Sad but true," I sighed. Amanda walked over and put her head on my shoulder. " Well let's go."

Mid-way through the movie the lights were flashing but it wasn't because of the screen. I think it was just me.

After the movie was over, we were in the parking lot and the flashing came back. Following it were whispers. Whispers not in the parking lot but in my head. Then everything went black.

In the darkness I saw three lights. One on me, and the other two were on two women. These lights connected and the form of a triangle was made. Then a tall woman, with long hair darker than the darkest night and eyes glowing a deep sea blue, appeared in the center of the triangle.

"Welcome," she said, "My name is Lillith. And you three are now part of the Enlightened. The Enlightened are a small race that contain control over the powers of the darkness. Powers no mortal could ever dream of. We are the last of the Enlightened, you three and I. And the reason why I need you is to prevent the hand of Caine from rising and coming down on the world. For thousands of years of have waited for his return and now the time is near. He is ready to awake and bring back his empire for revenge on humanity. You have all been chosen for your skills in knowledge, wisdom, and combat. Now to introduce you." One of the girls arose. She was very slim and tall with long blonde hair. She was beautiful but in an evil way. "You are Critia, Mother Nature. The weather and all that is living are yours to command." The other girl arose as Critia came down. She was very thin. Skin and bones. She had short, spiked, blood red hair. "You are Lydia, Princess of Darkness, the darkness is yours to command." Then I arose as she came down. "You are Drakan, Prince of Darkness, the darkness is also yours to command except you are somewhat more powerful than Lydia is. In time you shall find out why. You are my children and together you will put an end to the dark reign of Caine. Awaken."

"I then woke up in the emergency room. Josh, Cassie, and Amanda were there.

"How are you?" asked Josh.

"I'm alright," I said.

"That's good. I'm going to go check on Kari but I'll be right back," he said.

"Kari?"

"Yeah," said Amanda, "The same thing happened to her that happened to you."

"And some other girl," added Cassie.

"It's like an epidemic," mentioned Amanda.

"Or maybe some strange coincidence," I suggested.

"Could be, Jason," said Amanda.

"Jason? Who's Jason?" I wondered aloud. They both looked shocked.

"Y-y-you are," stuttered Cassie.

"No, I'm not. My name is Drakan."

Josh entered the room looking just as confused and shocked as they were.

"What's wrong Josh?" asked Cassie.

"Kari is seriously different. She says her name is…"

"Lydia?" I let out as I saw her standing there in the doorway.

"Drakan?" she asked back. We just stood there staring at each other for awhile. And then we went outside for a cigarette.

"When do you think this all going to happen?" she asked me.

"Soon. But hopefully not too soon. I'd say a week at the least a month at the most. From this day until the day it happens, we must stay together. From sunrise to sunrise, all three of us."

"But where is Critia?" pondered Lydia.

"Right here," said a figure leaning against the wall. "So…where are we gonna stay?"

"My place is good enough for now," I offered.

"Then let's go." ordered Lydia.

"All right, everybody get your shit from your places and come to my house," I said.

After an hour or so Lydia arrived at my house. I kept on wondering about the two huge boxes in my basement addressed to me and Lydia. I opened the one addressed to me and inside I found a black leather trenchcoat, and a belt that had 9mm clips attached all around it.

"Great! Now where the fuck are the goddamn guns at?" I put on the trenchcoat, put my hands in the pockets, and there they were. With a 9mm clenched in each hand I was a happy boy.

Lydia received a shotgun with plenty of ammo to refill it with. But where's Critia?

'She's in Africa for she needs to learn how to use what she has been given.' This I heard in my head. It sounded like the voice of Lillith.

'So why are Lydia and I still here?' I wondered, hoping for an answer. I received one.

'To receive your presents. It is time for you two to begin your training too. You've both been given powers of unimaginable strength of which you need to learn and master. I shall see you both soon.'

"So it seems like we have a lot of training to do," said Lydia. Apparently she heard Lillith too.

"But how are we…" before I could finish a blue light surrounded us and everything went pitch black, yet again.

"Drakan, Lydia, welcome to the land of Nod. It is here that you will develop your skills and powers. This is where your training begins and ends and I shall help you through it." Said the ever so gentle voice of Lillith. She really was like a mother.

'Drakan, think about Lydia and ask yourself what she is thinking about,' spoke the thoughts of Lillith. I did as instructed.

'This place is very strange. Nothing but darkness. How are we supposed to train here? I wonder what Drakan is thinking about over there.'

'Not much. Just wondering what you're thinking about.'

'Drakan?! But how are you?'

'Telepathy. It appears we both have it.'

'Now Drakan I want you to concentrate harder on reading her mind for, like I told you before, your powers are stronger,' Lillith's voice reminded me. Once again I did as she told me to but this time I found out everything that Lydia's mind had stored inside of it. Her memories became mine, her knowledge became my knowledge. Next I was taught telekinesis. I learned this by concentrating on Lydia again. I pictured her in my mind being lifted up and she began to rise. I could also do the same with myself. Lydia also learned to do this. In time she and I learned how to move like lightning, borrow the strength of the earth, to be as stone, to hide ourselves from hunters, to command obedience, and to demand respect. Then she told Lydia that her training was over and she sent her back, but I stayed.

"You still have more training to do, Drakan," she said. She then taught me how to alter forms, have dominion over animals, see past sight, hear past sound, smell past smell, feel how others feel, heal as though I was never damaged, and to be as agile as a spider.

"There is still one thing left for you to learn," said Lillith, "Look deep inside of your soul, there is a fire there. A fire that burns a dark blue. Do you see it?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Good," she said, "Bring it out of you by focusing it to the palms of your hands." I did so and a blue flame began to come out of each hand. "Now use your telekinesis to shoot the fire out." I did this and a huge blue fireball shot across the darkness. "You are to only use this when the time is right."

"How will I know when the time is right?"

"Instinct will tell you." Great, my instincts are usually wrong. "You're going back now the dawning of the rise is coming soon. Good luck, Drakan." With that the blue light surrounded me once again and I was back in my basement.

There was Lydia, passed out on the couch. She looked so peaceful. I wondered that since I was the Prince of Darkness and she was the Princess does that make us a couple to be? She is beautiful. I wondered what that would be like.

As the night grew on I kept thinking about how this was all going to turn out. What was I going to face and was I ready to face it yet? And if we fail than that would be it. There would be no other hope for this world, no second chance for the human race to survive. That was a lot of weight that was being put on shoulders and finally the dawn came but the light was dim.

Day 1- The Beginning

I stand here now in front of the mirror in the bathroom of basement. Looking at myself. I stand here six feet tall with a normal build, shoulder-length bluish-black hair. My wardrobe consisted of black jeans, a black long sleeve shirt, combat boots, and a long black leather trenchcoat. This and the pair of sunglasses I was wearing made me look like the executioner I was about to be. I needed some gloves though so I put my black, leather, fingerless, biker gloves. Perfect. I need some practice though. I've gotta make sure I still have my skills and I know the best way to do such.

Around ten in the morning and I'm downtown on Third and Main. There's a mafia in an abandoned building on Third Street. They made life pretty miserable for a friend of mine a long time ago. I think I'm going to pay them a little visit just for kicks.

"So what are we doing today T?"

"We gots that crack dealer of ours that be doing bad in business, Snuffy. He hadn't made his payment in quite some time. Probably skimpin' us. So it seems as though we gots to take care of that muthafucka, if y'all gets my drift."

"Yeah we gets it T."

"Mornin' boys," I say lighting up a cigarette in the corner of the room.

"Who da fuck is you?" one asks me.

"Drakan. A name to be remembered by your children. So that they know who not to fuck with when the business becomes theirs."

"Why's dat?"

"You're about to get a good look at why." With that I shoot out the lights. I dive for the person nearest to me and I bend him backwards so that the back of his head touches his ass. I look for the next one. Even though there is no light in the room I can see everything perfectly. The next guy sees the cherry on my cigarette and goes after it. This is a dumb move for I put my cigarette out in his eye then I literally put a dent in his face if not his whole head. I go after the third one and I knock him to the floor then I rip out his heart. And then their leader, T, opens up the door and runs out. I follow after him down a few flights of steps having somewhat of a gun fight with him as the chase goes on. But wait, I just remembered.

'T, Terome, I demand that you come to me at once.' He drops his gun and starts walking towards me.

"Do you see this Terome?" I say, showing him the heart of the last guy. He nods his head. "This was once the black, beating heart of your friend and co-worker. With this in your hand the cops will think that you did all that inhuman massacre upstairs. And you will confess to them that you did so. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he replies.

"Good." I say. I then walk outside. I feel a burning sensation in my chest. Looks like I took a few hits and I watch as they heal instantly. This makes me wonder if I can even be killed.

'Yes, you can.'

'How Lillith?'

'By the removal or destruction of your brain and heart. But both must be destroyed in order for you to die. Otherwise you are pretty much immortal.'

'So it takes that much to destroy me.'

'Don't let it go to your head, it can be done very easily when you think about it. Anyway Drakan, look at the sun. It's black. On the day when the moon runs as blood and the sun rises black in the sky, that is the day of the Damned, when Caine's children will rise again. The dead that rise tonight shall consume all that is living within no time and nothing can stop everything from becoming a member of the undead.'

'Then tell me this: What the fuck is the purpose of trying to save this planet if everything's going to be dead even if we win?'

'You are wrong there. Life will return to those who lost it to Caine's empire, but only if Caine is destroyed. Which will be my battle, but if I fail then you must fight him yourself, Drakan.'

'How does one destroy someone as powerful Caine?'

'By using the fire in your soul. Farewell Drakan, and once again, good luck.'

Good luck she says. I'm one of the most powerful beings in this world and I'm fucking scared shitless of what's ahead of me. As I start on may home that damn blue light surrounds me again and this time it sends me to some Arabian type of place. Beside me are Lydia and Critia. We roam the city for most of the day and when night falls we go to the graveyard. The moon never looked so beautiful as it does tonight. It seems as though the night sky is bleeding. Then the ground starts to shake, the earth starts to crack, and the most dreaded thing in history is coming back. Hands are popping out of the ground, helping to lift up the rotted corpses that would soon be minions of Caine. I feel like I'm in some dumb horror flick like: "Night of the Living Dead".

I break out my trusty handguns which, I just found out, were packed with silver, armor-piercing bullets. Goddamn I'm starting to love this job. Lydia pulls out the shotgun and what does Critia pullout? A fucking silver bow and arrow set. That would really suck to be her at this point in time. Especially knowing that you could have probably gotten something a lot better.

I start off the attack on the living dead by taking out three of them as they're still trying to get out of their graves. They fall back and hit their tombstones, breaking them in half.

"Looks like we're dealing with some heavy motherfuckers," I announce.

"No shit," remarks Lydia. Smart-ass bitch. Of course she earns her keep by running through and blasting every zombie in the chest with her silver shrapnel shooting shotgun. It really rips those goddamn things apart. I must say I am jealous.

Now here comes little Miss Mother Nature with her dinky little bow and arrows. I still think that is so fucking pathetic looking. She shoots an arrow and it completely misses one zombie.

"Good one. Now watch how it's done," I do two or three complete body flips up in the air and shoot of my babies several times, killing five zombies in a matter of seconds. Damn I'm good.

"How's that?" I ask Critia.

"Fuck you, show-off."

"Same to you, you uptight bitch. Let's see you do better."

"Okay," she says. With that she fires off another arrow. I ready to laugh but It goes through one zombie to another and another and eventually ends up connecting seven zombies to a tree, blowing up, and sending zombie parts everywhere. Holy shit!

"How's that Drakan?"

"Not bad."

"Not bad?!"

"It was damn good, ya happy?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Bitch."

"Prick." By the time she and I have finally finished this game, Lydia has already destroyed the rest of them. But as we leave the graveyard they start coming back. That was waste of good ammo.

For the rest of the night we just sit back and watch for this is all we can really do. We watch as all the living turn into slaves of the undead. The living aren't actually dead themselves. The vampires of Caine's empire need their blood to survive. However they are chained and handcuffed then put on a wagon. We follow one of these wagons to the grave of Caine. Now we must wait for dawn to come. All I can think about is how much uglier this is going to get.

Day 2- The Return of Caine

Morning comes around and one of the slaves spots us. Lydia and I have the power to make ourselves hidden from others but Critia is stuck. The slave came back with two other slaves and they take her away.

'Drakan, what are we going to do?'

'Let's follow them and see where they are taking her.' Nobody can see us for only the slaves are out and moving. The whole place looks like a shipment of coffins just got lost in the middle of an Arabian Desert. If anybody out there wasn't made a slave, and they saw this, they'd find it very unusual.

They take Critia up to somewhat of an alter that has a sacrifice table and a throne behind it. They strip her down to the nude and tie her to the sacrifice table. One slave is at a far corner of the alter lighting candles and so is another at the opposite corner. The whole place is a replica of a dark cathedral. The earth begins shaking again only this time it's so great the earth around us begins to crack. A dreadful yell of agonizing pain that has been shut up for milleniums and milleniums comes out of the cracks. This sound is followed by a red light coming out of the cracks. The earth begins to tremble even more and finally comes the Emperor Caine. He sees the sacrifice given to him and he is pleased.

"What is your name, my dear?" he asks her.

"Critia," she responds.

'Drakan…'

'Just wait Lydia.'

"She shall make an excellent bride," with this he bites into her neck and drinks. Then he slits his wrist and makes her drink of it. She twitches for a little bit and then screams a scream so ear-piercing I'm surprised I can hear afterwards. "There, there, my dear. Everything is all right you're just dying from the inside. It's how you become one of my kindred. Behold, your new queen, Empress Critia." A huge beast of a vampire stands behind her with a dark blue, velvet cloak and puts it over her shoulders. Just then I accidentally sneeze.

"It seems as though we are not alone. And so we are not as my eyes can see. It looks like we have two visitors trying to hide. Well guess what children? The sun is down and my descendants are beginning to awaken. They'd be more than happy to show you the door, wouldn't you my children?" And all of them answer: "Yes father." Oh shit! This is going to be fun.

All the slaves that are in the alter can see us now and they chase us out of the alter. We come outside only to see all of the coffins opening. Just fuckin' great! This is an instant déjà vu of the graveyard scene last night. Only this time I'm not playing competition with someone else. I'm fighting to live. Running back and forth through the camp of coffins I shoot at just about anything that moves. Sometimes I kill them, other times I morally wound them. Either way they ain't gettin' back up for awhile. At the end of it, Lydia and I are the only ones standing. We're both seriously wounded but we're the only ones standing. As we stand among the field of coffins Caine and his new bitch come out of the alter.

"Very good, however silver does not kill them. It hurts them, but it doesn't kill them." Just then a blue light appears and it is Lillith. She seems rather pissed. This is different to me. I have never seen Lillith pissed and could never imagine her as so.

"You've gone to far Caine, it's time that this stops before it even begins."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Lillith."

"Then I shall make you do such." She tries to go for him but Critia stands in the way.

"If you want him you will have to go through me."

"I have no problem with that." With that the catfight begins. Critia pulls out her bow and pulls back an arrow, she fires it and it misses. Lillith makes a staff appear out of nowhere and uses that as her weapon. Lillith goes for Critia's head but Critia ducks and trips Lillith with her bow. Critia then does a back flip and prepares another arrow for another shot. This worries me for she has a way of hitting things on the second chance. She lets go of the string and the arrow flies into Lillith's left leg. This seriously pisses off Lillith and she makes the end of her staff turn into a point making it a spear. Lillith gets back up and acts like she's going for Critia's head but instead stabs Critia when she squats down. The spear is now sticking straight out of Critia's chest but she's not dead. I feel her heart still beating. She's just too weak to get back up.

Now Lillith is limping towards Caine. As she is doing so I see red flames coming out of her hands. She fires the fireball at Caine but he immediately dodges it. She tries again and the same thing happens. She prepares for the third one but gets hit by Caine. Caine then opens up a can of whoop ass on her. With punches and kicks going so fast that it's hard to keep up with what is happening. She waits for the right moment and hits him at point blank range with the fireball. This send them both in opposite directions. Caine is pissed now and decides to throw boulders at Lillith. They never seem to make it. My main concern however is that those damn things don't hit Lydia and I. But of course, with my luck, I wasn't paying attention and one flies right over my head and on to Lydia. The boulder was so big you couldn't even tell there was a body underneath it.

"LYDIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" echoes and echoes for miles. My anger, rage, and hatred mix together. This thing about saving the world has now turned into a personal thing. I remember who Lydia was before all this shit ever started. Lydia was a good friend of mine when I was still human. Her name was Kari, Kari Scoville. She was always such a sweet thing to me. And now she's gone.

The fight still rages on with Lillith and Caine. Caine has stopped throwing rocks but Lillith is throwing fireballs. Caine gets in close again and starts wailing on her but she fights back this time. They are both moving at rates so fast that I don't know who's winning and who's losing. Caine finally pins Lillith to the ground, turns her head, and drinks from her neck. She looks at me in horror and with her last bit of strength surrounds me in that blue light once again and once again I'm back in the land of darkness: The land of Nod.

Day 3- Iris

I walk through the darkness mourning the loss of what I had left. Now I have nothing. Now I am nothing. The world is under Caine's command now. There's no way that I could ever hope to beat him, no way at all. The world depends on me but I can't give it the help it needs anymore. Fuck it! Fuck this!

"FUCK IT ALL TO HELL!" I find myself at the throne that Lillith once sat on, she shall sit on it no more. I sit down on it, hang my head, and begin to cry.

"Who are you and what's wrong?" that voice sounds familiar. Brooke? It can't be.

"Is that you Brooke?" Is it really her? But how? It is her! She's alive! I can't believe it. My best friend is still alive after all this shit happened.

"Who's Brooke?" she asks

"You are," I tell her "Don't you remember?"

"No, my name is Iris. Lillith brought me here and taught me things I never knew. She said that when the time was right that I would go back to the world."

"I think the time has come, but not just yet. First lets see what you've got."

"Okay," she says. Next thing I know there's a blur diving into my stomach and sending me into a wall.

"Not bad, for starters." However I use telekinesis to pick her up, turn her upside down, and pin her against the wall.

"Let me down!"

"You didn't say please," so I drop her. Yes I know it's a mean thing to do somebody who was my best friend but it's just a practice run, no harm done. She then alters her form so that out of her finger tips come six inch long claws. She comes at me with them and I do a forward body flip over her head, land behind her, alter my right leg into long spike, and I sweep her legs out from under her making her fall on her face. She tries to punch me in the chest with a full force wing but I fortify myself and it does nothing except hurt her hand.

'I know what you're thinking Iris. That I've been well trained. Probably even better than you have. Just remember I can read your mind as I am doing right now so I know every move before you even think of it.' Just then she comes out of nowhere and starts hitting me with constant punches. After the first three, the other hundred I block with ease but then she does a back hand spring and kicks me in the jaw. This sends me to the ground and she does a forward body flip herself and lands on me pinning me to the ground. I lose.

"Who seems to have been trained better now?"

"Okay it looks like we're ready for the world" Is the world ready for us?

I begin to concentrate on the two of us and the fact that we want to get out of this place. The blue light surrounds us both and then we're in a city.

I can tell by the World Trade Center and the Empire State Building that I teleported us to New York.

"This isn't where we want to be," I tell her.

"Then take us there," she says.

"I can't for I don't know how." We roam the streets for a while until I catch someone out of the corner of my eye. I run towards him and catch him.

"Are the any vampires here?" I ask, no response. "Answer me or I'll rip your fucking throat out. Now are there any vampires here? If so, where are they?"

"The Empire State Building, top floor."

"Good boy," I tell him bringing out one of my guns. "Here's your reward." I press the barrel against his temple and fire. Brain pieces go all over the street.

"Was that really necessary?" asks Iris.

"Yes," I answer.

We arrive at the Empire State Building. Inside I tell Iris to wait in the lobby just in case anyone shows up unexpectedly. I take the elevator all the way up to the top. I walk out the elevator and look around, no one here. I hear voices so I follow them to a big room. I hide myself so I can watch them for a bit before I start any chaos.

"Caine's followers might be here any minute to come and take us away. What are we going to do?"

"Patience! We will fight them, of course. They're not going to take us without a fight. I can only hope that we win though. I would hate to be executed by such a ruthless person such as Caine." Caine executes his own kindred? For what? Amusement?

"We should have never made a life of crime. We should have never used our powers against mankind."

"Well it's to late for that now, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," I remark. "Looks like you boys are royally fucked, wouldn't you agree?"

"Who's there?"

"Your executioner, your angel of mercy, your bringer of death. Either way you look at it I'm going to kill you all. Unless you tell me what I want to know."

"What's that?"

"Where is Caine?"

"Wait for his kindred to arrive, they will take you to him." Sure they will and they'll bring the magic elves to put us all in bags too. Sorry I know a trap when I see one.

"Yeah sure, you expect me to just wait here and you guys aren't going to do shit except just look like you're about to pounce me. Yeah that's it, and I'm going to be stupid and just stand unsuspectedly like nothing is going to happen at all."

"Well, yeah."

"Bullshit," I say with a smirk. I grab the guy nearest to me and I throw him against the wall. His face made perfect contact with it. The next vampire comes up to me and immediately gets four bullets in the chest. Another one comes up from behind me and breaks a fucking chair over my back.

"This isn't wrestling, dipshit." I alter my hand into a claw, tear into his chest, and rip out his heart. "If you can survive without that, then you creatures truly are amazing." But he drops to the floor. I hear the cocking of a shotgun and then one of them fires buckshot into my stomach when I turn around.

"Motherfucker, that's a fifty-dollar shirt." I grab the shotgun from him and hit him in the face with the butt of it. "My turn." I fire it off and blow off his head. "Since that won't stop you, this should." I whip out my guns and tear apart his chest. Then I get tripped from behind. What is it with them and attacking me from behind? He tries to come at my head with the spiked end of a flag pole but I push him away with telekinesis. I then grab his head with my hands and make it so he can see his back. He turns around and starts coming after me! They don't give up! I grab him with my hands and then burn him with the fire in my soul and watch him as burns a bright blue.

Just then twenty other vampires start coming through the windows.

"You're coming with us, all of you."

"You're all going to die," I say and bring out my guns again. I fire until I'm out of ammo. There's two left standing, well shit! I dive for both of them, knocking down one with each hand. However they turn the event around by somehow getting fast enough to cuff both my hands and ankles. I'm fucked.

Two other vampires come through the door with Iris cuffed too.

"We found this girl downstairs. She put up a fight, but we managed to get her."

"This one put up a fight too. But he made a bad move, didn't you fuckhead?" This one kicks me in the ribs. Man he's gonna pay for that shit. "Let's take these fuckers back to Caine."

Day 4- The Rise of Gehenna

On the way back, I kept thinking about how everything just seemed like a test to me before. All the shit that happened before wasn't really all that challenging to me. It seemed easy, almost too easy. I kept thinking that it was just a show to piss me off and to turn the battle between Caine and I into a personal thing. It worked, because when I see that motherfucker he's going to wish I never had the chance to come back.

But still, what happened before was just a test. The real thing was about to happen and I had to be ready.

But what about Iris? I mean what are the chances of my best friend being the one selected to fight beside me side in a huge battle? It all just doesn't make sense to me. I remember reading prophecies about the birth of a girl with a moon imprinted on her. And I don't remember that crescent moon being on the back of her neck before I saw her in the land of Nod. But it was told she was the last hope and yet I'm the one destine to fight Caine. Am I going to die? Or is something else going to happen that only Iris can prevent it? It's all to confusing. Maybe I should have asked Lillith more questions before I jumped into this. At first I thought: Get cool powers, save the world, and become a legendary hero. Who could ask for anything more besides a shitload of money? But now I'm thinking that if the whole world is depending on me to save them, then we're all royally fucked.

I still don't understand the whole concept of Iris. I mean I know she's tough and one hell of a fighter, shit she just whooped my ass and I'm supposed to be the hero. However it's the prophecies that bother me. They talk of how this woman with the moon imprinted on her is the last hope and that she will determine the fate of us all. What is that supposed to mean? Determine the fate of us all? I don't understand. It was a prophecy by a vampire. Maybe she kills all the vampires while I'm battling Caine.

I don't even think I'm supposed to win in the battle against Caine. For I've also read prophecies that state that Caine is to die by the hand of the Dark Father. I'm not the Dark Father, I'm the Prince of Darkness. There is a difference in the title, not much of one but there is one. The battle between us is going to be one hell of a battle, that much I know. I'm not going down easy. If I do die, I'm taking him with me. I don't know how I'll do such, but I'll find a way.

Back to Iris though, how powerful is she? I don't even know what all Lillith has taught her or what powers she possesses. And I'd hate to say it but it kinda frightens me.

Man, my mind is racing. I can't even keep up with what I'm thinking.

I look up at the sky and it is nothing but black, and this is during the daytime. I know that we're here. Where the throne once stood there is now a huge temple. The take us to the temple. One vampire comes in and then after a few minutes he comes back out.

"Send them to the dungeon." They take us inside the temple and after going through hallway after hallway we finally reach the dungeon. They chain Iris and I to the wall.

"Your execution will have to wait until tomorrow," says one of them, shutting the cell door.

'Drakan, what are we going to do?'

'Sit here and wait to die.'

'WHAT?!'

'Just kidding, I'll figure out something. I can't believe they actually think that a normal cell is going to hold us.'

'So what are we going to do?'

'Sleep. When we wake up in the morning we'll bust out of here, okay?'

'Okay.'

'Good night, Iris.'

'Good night, Drakan.'

Day 5- The Final Battle

I wake up the next morning to the sound of the guards bitching at each other. They're in our cell and the door is shut. I try to get up only to find out that I'm tied down to my bed. As I eavesdrop in on their conversation I find out that they're arguing over who gets to have their way with Iris first. She's still asleep and they've already tied her down too.

But seriously, do they really think that these are going to hold me? Something tells me I'm very underestimated by these morons.

They begin to rip off her top and start fondling her breasts. She wakes up and tries to put up resistance but they smack her hard enough to knock her out. That crosses the line.

I alter my hands into claws and quietly slice through the straps holding down my arms. I look over at where Iris is and now she is totally nude. One of the guards is positioning himself for his pleasure.

I finish off the rest of the straps and dive into the guard on top of her. Using my claws I slice open a huge gash in his throat. The other one tries to attack me but fails miserably when I grab him by the neck and slam him into the bars of the cell door.

'Iris. IRIS! Wake up, Iris.' She slowly begins to wake up and realizes her lack of clothes. She looks at me in shock as though I'm the one who did this. 'It wasn't me, it was the guards.'

'I see them. I believe you.' I rob one of the guards of his eighteenth century style clothing and hand them to her.

'Put these on, we're getting the fuck out of here.' On the way out of the cell there are three guards blocking the hallway. Iris pulls out some metal rod that she's had in her boot for quite some time. The rod extends into a full pointed staff. She runs towards them and takes all three out in no time.

'Go find Caine, I have some work to do.' So maybe I was right in thinking that she was supposed to take out the vampires.

I run out of the dungeon only to find a whole city constructed outside. Its residents? Vampires. I look around to see a swarm of angry, blood-sucking creatures ready to rip out my throat. I release a fireball through the middle of the big swarm decreasing their numbers by half.

"Where is Caine?" The remaining pointed towards a huge temple. "Thanks."

I storm into the temple and guards start coming at me from left and right. To make it simple I shoot fireballs in both directions. There are still a few left but they are not really that much to worry about so I just move on. I sneak through the temple as quiet as can be. I cloak myself so that nobody can see me. I decide to take out my guns for safety precautions but there not there. Shit! Goddamn mother-fucking guards, they took my guns. What am I going to do now? I walk into a room and I see Lydia and Lillith hanging on a wall. Twisted fuckers. I can't believe this. I wonder though. I search Lydia for the shotgun she had. I know it's sick but I need some kind of weapon just in case more guards want to pop up out of nowhere. I find it and a few boxes of ammunition to go along with it. Silver doesn't kill them but it sure hurts like hell.

'Drakan.' Lillith? 'I'm still alive but not for long. On my back there is a sword. It is yours.'

'Why didn't you use this when you were fighting Caine?'

'Because, I wasn't supposed to win. I was supposed to lose.'

'What?! That's bullshit! What do you mean "supposed to"? You decide your own fate, don't you?'

'Look at yourself. Did you make the decision to become what you are? Did you decide to save the world? Did you decide to fight Caine?' She's right. Everything that happened up to now has not been my decision. I didn't decide to become the hero of the day, I was chosen to be such. I see what she means and I understand that not everything that happens to you in life is your decision. In fact some times you have a destiny to fulfill. And this is my destiny, it's time to fulfill it.

I grab the sword and start to head out.

'Drakan?'

'Yeah I know, good luck, right?'

'Be careful.' With that her head falls down and she dies.

This temple is fucking huge. There's no way I'm going to be able to find that bastard in this goddamn place. As I walk around trying to find out where the throne room is I run into Critia overlooking the city on a balcony. She lifts up her head. She knows that I'm hear.

"Who's there?"

"Your friend Critia. Don't you remember me?"

"Drakan, how could I forget you?" She flings a dagger at me but completely misses.

"You know you really have a way of fucking up the first the first shot, you might wanna work on that. I on the other hand…" I shoot a shell into her stomach. "…have a way of making the first shot a very painful one." She takes her bow off of her back and prepares an arrow.

"You forgot though, Drakan, my second shot is even deadlier than your first." She fires the arrow and it goes straight through my chest. That bitch is going to die.

"Well there is one thing you forgot about me."

"What's that?" I jump up and kick her in the jaw. I unsheathe the sword and slice off her left hand.

"Never…" there goes her left arm "let me…" her right arm "live…" her stomach "long enough…" her head "to fight back." For the finishing blow I thrust through her heart and lift up splitting her in half. Now to find Caine.

On my way through the temple I see a guard and pin him to the wall.

"Where's Caine?"

"Take the stairs down the hallway, he's on the next floor." I do as he instructs. The next floor is nothing but the throne room. This room is tremendous. There he is sitting on his throne.

'Drakan it's time for you to Awaken…' Lillith? '…as the Dark Father.' I feel myself growing stronger. A sudden feeling of power rushes through my body. I feel more powerful than I was before.

"Drakan, so nice of you to join the party. I learned the little power that Lillith taught you. Would you like to see it?" Black fire forms from his hands and he shoots it across the room at one of his guards setting him on fire. "I never liked him anyway."

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" he says

"Let's." A black fireball comes toward me but I dodge it. I run up to him and slash him in the stomach with my sword. I then backup and slash his spine. I come in for a cut on his chest but he grabs the sword and flings it across the room.

"Now what are you going to do?"

"This." I fire a blast of buckshot which takes off his left arm. I reload and fire another blast through his chest. He counterattacks with a claw to my face and a knee to my stomach. I grab his leg and pull up making him fall on his ass. I try to fire a round into his face but he grabs the shotgun and flings me forwards. I lay on the ground until I see the edge of a sword coming for me. I roll away to dodge it and go for my sword. He starts shooting fireballs at me repeatedly, one after another. They keep barely missing me as I run forward and the heat of the fireballs warm my back.

I do a forward flip and grab my sword in the middle of it. I run towards him but he shoots a fireball straight at me but I quickly move out of the way. I jump up to attack him from above and he shoots a fireball at a part of the ceiling that is loose. I come down as though to stab him but move out of the way for debris was following behind me.

Before he has time to realize it the roof lands on his legs trapping him. He tries everything in his power to get out from beneath it but he can't. He's now a mouse caught in a trap, which seals his fate.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the almighty, all-powerful, leader of the vampires. 'All shall bow down to the hand of Caine!' What a crock of shit! Well Caine, I have news for your new empire: It's about to burn to the ground." A bring the fire out of my soul, focus it to my hands, put my hands together, and fire. Fireball after fireball comes smashing down on him. All my rage builds up and the intensity of the fire increases. My hands hurt, but I still fire. All my muscles feel like they're about to burst, but I keep shooting. I will not stop until I can't stand. And eventually I do fall to the ground on my knees. I can barely move. It takes me a few minutes to recover and when I do I walk over to the flaming skeleton that used to be Caine. Just to make sure he's dead for good, I pick up the flaming bones and smash them to pieces. I'm surprised that I didn't cremate the motherfucker. So I've now fulfilled my destiny, now what? Iris!

I wonder how she is doing. I left her and I guess she was taking on the whole Gehenna Empire. I walk outside to see dead vampires everywhere, and she's still fighting! I decide to help her out, take some of the weight off of her shoulders. I run through a group of the bloodsuckers swinging my sword madly. Nothing left but shredded meat. I keep this up for awhile until the last of the vampires are gone. When the last one dies blackness begins to replace everything very slowly, until I'm the only thing left.

"Very well done, Drakan. You passed your test with flying colors."

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I am the Angel of Mercy: Gabriel. I've come to deliver the good news to you."

"What's that?"

"The powers that were given to you were given to you for a purpose. The test that we've been giving you for the past couple of days was for a purpose."

"And that purpose would be?"

"To see if you were worthy enough to be the Black Angel."

"What is 'The Black Angel?'"

"A person who has dealt with a life of pain so that he can understand others that feel it. A person who despises those who do things that are extremely wrong and punishes them with ruthless vengeance. A person like you, Drakan."

"So what do I do?"

"Exactly what I told you." With that he disappears. Great in the past few days I've been given three different titles. Drakan: Prince of Darkness, Dark Father, and now Black Angel. Not to mention the past few days have been nothing but a mental mind fuck that truly never happened it just seems like it did and it was all just a test to see if I was worthy?! Now I'm some Black Angel, that probably has some important job, but I have no clue what the hell it is because the Old Angel of Mercy is a fucking senile crackhead. "Do exactly as I told you." You didn't tell me shit, you dumbass motherfucker!

So now what am I going to do? I guess I'll just sit in the darkness and wait for something to happen. This all happened so fast that my mind has no idea what's going on. The main question on my mind is: What happens next?