The sons of the wind E-Book

A. Schaefer

• Herausgeber: novum pro Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 467

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Dark does not know how many generations of humans and magical beings he will influence when he founds his Cult of Dragon Mages. He cannot know how many will die to banish the Dark God Sombra. But Dark knows that evil must not be allowed to gain power over Carrera. Some five hundred years later, the time has come. And Dark is lucky, because apart from setting up a wedding, it doesn't seem to take much to save the land. But every wedding is just the beginning, sometimes of something good, sometimes, however, of much further suffering. But the prophecy seems to come true and slowly the most important characters come together. The vampire hunter, master swordsman, shapeshifter, warrior and Amazon find each other.

Leseprobe

The sons of the wind

Acknowledgement

For wonderful and stimulating ideas, for extraordinary personalities and a helping hand when I was once stuck, I would like to express a big thank you to my sister. Thanks also to my brother for his interest and his selfless, financial support. Without him, my book would not be on the shelf now. A special thank you to my father for the time-consuming design of my cover. Thank you! I would not have had the patience for that on the PC. A heartfelt thank you, of course, to my mother, who always believed in me. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friend Alice for her open ear and the many pleasant hours spent writing little stories together.

Sons of the Wind I

The altar of sacrifice

Content:

Prologue

The Vampire Hunter and the Mistress of the Vampires

The dragon mage and his brother

The power of gold

Act of revenge

Burnt souls - new hope?

Prologue

"THEY'RE IN TOWN! FLY! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Several times the high priest of the dragon mages was jostled and stumbled. Time and again he managed to stay on his feet and keep running. He was almost one ninety tall and slender. His poison green hair fell into his emerald eyes with a kind of casual elegance. Hanging from one of his pointed ears was a two-inch earring shaped like a feather. He wore a sleeveless white shirt - now filthy - and equally white pants. He had no shoes on. The green-melted cloak of the dragon mages, torn by the battle, he had dropped somewhere. Around his upper arm was a golden hoop, in whose coils a serpentine dragon body was reflected.

He hurried through the destroyed streets. Almost all the buildings he passed had collapsed. Doors were hanging off their hinges. Windows were smashed. He had lost count of how many murdered loved ones he had passed. Tear-streaked marks stood out on his boyishly handsome face.

A deafening bang sounded as a gigantic piece of the city wall was blown away. Dark, the high priest, turned his head in panic and looked back. He could see the Black Army advancing and the creatures of darkness. He shuddered. Suddenly his foot caught and he fell hard, scraping his hands. He looked around for the cause and immediately regretted it. Dark had stumbled upon the disfigured corpse of his disciple Tai. Fighting back tears and disgust, he picked himself up and ran on, blinded by tears. However, he could not prevent horror-filled premonitions from forming in his mind:What if I'm too late? What if I can't save him? What if I fail just as I did with Tai?Only very slowly and with great effort was he able to suppress these thoughts. He had to pull himself together. Under no circumstances could he allow such ideas to continue to take shape in his mind.

When he finally reached his cottage, which was located deep in the center of the mage city, he stood rooted to the spot. A shiver of fear ran down his spine. The door had been smashed.

"No - please don't!" he breathed.

Panic gripped him again. Nevertheless, he laboriously brought his fear under control and cautiously entered his house. The floorboards above him creaked, so someone had to be upstairs. He fervently hoped that it was only Joaquin and not one of those monsters that attacked the city of Sugiawa mages. Monsters against whom no magic helped, as he and his comrades-in-arms had learned with great loss when they had tried to defend the city from the onslaught of the Black Army. Now only a few desperate people were still fighting. The rest of the people had fled headlong. Some had even forgotten their children from fear. Like most, he had declared the city lost. Now he tried to save at least his son's life. He slid silently up the stairs. On the upper floor was the entrance to Joaquin's room. Only splinters of wood remained from the strong wood of the door. There were nasty cracks and scratches in the frame. The board, which had once been the door of the room, had flung it away with such force that it had shattered into a thousand pieces on the opposite wall. He let his eyes wander around the room with a dark foreboding. The furniture of the small room had been razed to the ground. His son Joaquin sat laughing on the ground among the rubble of his once modest but beautiful room. He clapped his hands in an incomprehensible pattern, making a long bone-thin creature dance to the beat of his hands.

Despite the horror he had just seen, it elicited a smile from the dragon mage.

Joaquin turned his head toward him and beamed. "He's funny, isn't he?"

His father shook his head with a sigh. When would the boy finally learn that not all visitors were friends and playmates? He walked up to him and lifted him in his arms. The boy stopped clapping and the bone creature collapsed from exhaustion. "Just wait Dark," it hissed with its last breaths. "You and your bastard, you can't escape us ... the city is completely surrounded ... the Black Army is everywhere ... everywhere ... even in the air ... and under the ground ... everywhere ... even in people you know ..."

The dragon mage turned away from the dead creature and wanted to disappear through the door. But there just entered a troop of soldiers, all armored by black armor, on which was emblazoned the red salamander. The sign of Sombra, the god of hate and darkness, the ruler of the Black Army.

Dark backed away to the window. But from there, more skeletons were just climbing in. The thin, pale skin was stretched tightly over the black bones that shone through. They were trapped.

Help me Veneno,the dragon mage mentally shouted to his friend.

A split second passed, then the roof was torn away with a deafening roar. The followers of the Lord of Darkness backed away in panic as a giant scaled head loomed over them. The gigantic, poison-green dragon tore open its mouth and swallowed Dark and his eight-year-old son. It pushed off from the house so violently to take to the skies that it disintegrated into its component parts. He flew up to a plateau nearby and gingerly touched down. After making sure no one was in their immediate vicinity, the dragon laid its head on the barren rock and opened its mouth. Dark and Joaquin climbed past its man-sized fangs into the open. Dark stepped to the edge of the plateau and looked down on the burning mage city. His green eyes saw scorched fields, destroyed houses, fleeing people. And all this made his heart cry. It contracted painfully until he could no longer breathe and thought he would suffocate. An endless stream of tears ran down his face, which was disfigured by bloody scratches. He felt a small hand clinging to his and looked down at his son. He fell to his knees beside him and hugged the boy tightly.

"Father, what's wrong?" asked Joaquin in amazement, because still he didn't understand the seriousness of the situation, still everything was just a game for him.

The poison-green dragon Veneno, nudging his master lightly with his nose, suddenly raised his scaled head abruptly. Dark, warned by him, wiped away his tears and followed the dragon's gaze.

Three black-clad figures had appeared in the middle of the plateau. They flipped back the hoods of their cloaks almost simultaneously, and Dark froze as he recognized the woman. It was none other than Selina, the last one he had trained as a priestess. Her long, ice-blue hair framed her delicate countenance. Her now compassionless blue eyes bored into his. Nothing about her reminded him of the shy, helpful girl he had taught eight years ago.

The man who formed the front of the trio was completely unknown to him. He was a good two meters tall, had pupil-less black eyes and a murderous smile on his pale face.

The third in the group was apparently an animal man. He had bushy, lux-like ears and whiskers. They adorned his corpse-pale face, while his yellow eyes pierced mischievously. His short, disheveled hair was black as night.

"We demand that you pay your debt, Dark, High Priest of the Dragon Mages and leader of the Corps of Dragons," the big man said with a dripping sneer. Nevertheless, it was an unmistakable demand, which Dark should comply with as soon as possible if he wanted to live to see another morning.

"Who are you to dare make any demands of me? Make yourself known!" the dragon mage fiercely demanded of the stranger. But the latter just grinned unimpressed and took a step towards the dragon, his rider and his son. Joaquin did a quick, - for all present - unpredictable stupidity. He pushed his father over the edge of the cliff with a powerful push of his almost limitless magic. Dark was so surprised he couldn't even scream. His gaze bored into the sad eyes of his only son, who had only a farewell for him on his silent lips. Veneno did exactly what the boy had hoped for - he jumped down the cliff behind his master.

Joaquin turned back to the three arrivals. "You were one of the beautiful people!" he said, looking at the man with the empty, black eyes. Then his gaze fell on the animal man. "And you were once a wealthy landowner, until a devastating fire that took everything from you - power, property, ... family." Finally, he turned to the young woman. "Your eyes only tell me that I know you," he finally said, confused and curious at the same time.

"Who we are doesn't matter," the beastman replied, growling. "You will come with us now to pay your father's debt."

"Agreed!" replied Joaquin, grinning mischievously. Selina raised her head in surprise. "If you can?"

"What do you mean, if we can?" laughed the malice of an elf whose soul had been thrown to the demons and only by a miracle remained unharmed. But he did not know that. Nor did he even know his true name. He knew only the one by which he was always called: Marek - Master of Vampires. The name meant nothing more than a will-less puppet, and that's exactly what he was, will-less, a servant for eternity.

The animal man made a move that no human could have dodged. But Joaquin didn't need to, because he clapped his hands once again. The dark creature froze in midair. Selina and Marek narrowed their eyes suspiciously as the boy clapped his hands a second time. The beast-man, looking incredulous and horrified, began to leap about wildly like a puppet to the beat of Joaquin's hands. His two comrades could no longer hold on and burst into roaring laughter.

Meanwhile, Veneno had caught his master and flown back to the plateau. He spread the limbs of his right claw and grabbed the boy in flight. The latter was still laughing and instead of shouting loudly in fear, he shouted enthusiastically, "Faster! Higher! Come on, Veneno!"

While the dragon put distance between himself and the worshippers of the Dark Gods as quickly as possible, the tortured beast-man rose, cursing. Marek and Selina stepped up to the edge. In the next instant, a pair of powerful vampire wings sprouted from each of their backs. Marek had received vampire abilities from the god Sombra as compensation for the loss of his soul. Selina's magical ability, on the other hand, was to control vampires. However, she was able to transfer her abilities to herself.

"When you have recovered as far as possible, Pinius, see that you get to the Dragon Temple, and preferably get there before they do. You and I will go after them directly," Marek said without any emotion.

With that, they rose gracefully into the air and chased after the dragon as it hurried away.

The Dragon Temple was already coming into view, and Veneno sank lower as Marek and Selina finally caught up to them. Joaquin noticed them first, having shadowed both their scent and their magic. The boy squealed gleefully, pointing at Marek and singing happily:

"Bats, bats I eat for breakfast!

Eat I with radish fine, bats, you are mine!"

Dark and Veneno looked behind and discovered the reason for Joaquin's strange chant. The dragon rider was able to pull his head in just in time before Marek cut him off with his claws. The dragon sank even lower and spiraled between the trees. They now reached the clearing of the dragon temple.

Veneno, take Joa to the temple! Sombra's henchmen have no power there and neither does he, of course,Dark mentally ordered his friend.

And what do you do?

Hold them off as long as I can!

With these words, he jumped out of the saddle and landed on all fours in the grass. In a split second, he had erected a powerful shield against which Selina and Marek smashed with a loud crash before falling ungently to the ground. They shook violently and their wings and Marek's sharp claws disappeared.

Slightly confused, they stood up. When they realized what had stopped them, the former elf tilted his head and grinned.

"You want to stop us alone, human?" he asked mockingly, raising his left hand languidly.

Selina opened her right hand and they simultaneously hurled black energy arrows at the shimmering green shield Dark was struggling to maintain through clenched teeth.

"Why are you making it unnecessarily difficult for us and for yourself? You're at the end of your rope, dragon magic or not!" said Marek with a scornful look. "Just give us the boy and you can go your way unharmed!"

"Never!" hissed Dark. Slowly, it was getting exhausting. He could feel the magic draining his life force. If he didn't think of something soon, the effort would kill him.

In the meantime, Veneno and Joaquin had arrived at the Dragon Temple. At the foot of the stairs stood a figure cloaked in black, Pinius. The dragon landed ten feet away from him. He couldn't just fly over the steps and drop the boy off at the gate of the temple. For it was an unwritten law that one could only walk up these sacred steps, but never run or even fly over them. Otherwise, God Lecto would take the soul of the offender.

Joaquin again made an amused sound and began to warble a little song, clapping his hands:

"Animal man, hungry man, animal man, do not despair,

don't worry in this country your head doesn't hang on the wall!

Animal man, must toil, hunt many people,

the animals you usually eat, they don't go hungry!"

For better or worse, Pinius had had to start dancing again and was now screaming like a banshee: "Stop it, you damned brat! Let me ..." But Joaquin was having far too much fun to stop.

Veneno slowly but surely urged the boy up the steps of the Sacred Staircase. While the boy climbed the one thousand and one steps backwards, he continued to compose new verses for the dark magician and clapped in time, while the beast-man, gasping for breath, made complicated turns, jumps and steps.

A black bolt of lightning struck Pinius and instantly burned him to ashes. Dark's shield broke and he was hurled back to the first step of the Sacred Stairs. Veneno rammed his nose into Joaquin's stomach and hurled the gasping boy to the temple gates. Then he jumped to his master and stood protectively over him. Rubbing his aching belly, the boy crawled into the temple . There he collapsed from pain and exhaustion. He no longer saw the threatening shadow that was brewing over him.

Meanwhile, Sombra, the god of darkness, manifested before Dark and his scaled friend. His silvery hair blew as if a storm was ruffling it, although there was perfect calm. A blizzard raged in his eyes. His black robe, on which a red salamander was depicted, fluttered. All these movements were due to his gigantic magical strength. His power pulsated within him and was emitted in waves. A mere thought could be enough to kill his enemy.

He had been chosen centuries ago as the god of darkness because of his infinite hatred and the fact that he belonged to the highest elite as a magician. The Lord of time and world had called him and he had followed the call. Never again would he have to feel the pain of a lost love.

The true I of the Lord of time and world had never been seen by anyone, not even those whom he had made gods. One of his many gifts was that of shape-shifting. He appeared sometimes as a child, sometimes as an old man, sometimes as a charming princess, but never in his true form. To Sombra he had appeared as a middle-aged wizard. Now the god stood over Dark, eyeing the frightened dragon rider and his flying lizard disparagingly. Behind him stood Marek.

"I have waited patiently for eight years for you to keep your word and bring me your firstborn. But you didn't, so I'm coming for it! Tell me where it is!"

"At the temple," Dark replied quietly.

Sombra glanced at the dragon riders' sanctuary and noticed the blue-black cloud brewing above it.

"I never believed it was true what they say about your Holy Stairs, but now ..." said the god, staring at the phenomenon.

Dark jumped up and was about to run up the stairs as well. But Sombra stopped him with a single movement of his index finger.

Selina was meanwhile climbing the steps. Serenely, as if she had all the time in the world, she entered the temple. A being had appeared there, with eyes as brown as the earth, skin as blue as the sea, hair as misshapen as the wind, and clothing as red as flames blazing. It was a messenger of Lecto, the god who was also known as the Saint. But it was also known that this exalted one was willing to compromise. If he got away with it better than his counterpart. He had been accepted into the circle of the gods almost eight hundred years ago. Thus he was older than Sombra, but by far not as powerful. The Lord of Darkness was the most powerful of all, so even an old, more experienced mage would bend to his will simply to protect his own existence.

Lecto would take the boy to himself because he had disobeyed a sacred law and thus trampled on the commandments of a god.

Selina fell to her knees before the demigod.

"I beg you, spare my boy! He is innocent!"

"We come to take a corrupted soul," the creature replied impassively. "And we're not leaving without it!"

"But his soul is pure! Take mine in his place! I offer you my soul, but spare his in return! He is still a child!"

The creature looked at her with its brown, unfeeling eyes, then it sucked the soul out of her body.

Joaquin had regained consciousness and watched the transmigration speechlessly. He looked at Selina. Suddenly he saw her face in one of his memories and knew with one hundred percent certainty who she was.

"Mother!" he cried in panic and ran to her. But when he reached her, he could only save her limp head from hitting the marble floor.

"Fix her!" yelled Joaquin rudely at the messenger of the gods.

But this looked at the boy only uncomprehendingly. Finally he condescended to answer: "Decide which soul of yours I shall take with me, either theirs or yours!

"I'll do you one better!" the boy said quickly.

"What?"

"Love!"

"Love?"

"My love! I sacrifice this feeling to save my mother!"

"If you add courage, compassion and helpfulness, I agree," a deep, greedy voice rang out around them. Lecto was most pleased with this proposal. For without such feelings the boy was worthless to the god of hate. How could someone be blackmailed and mentally tortured if there was no one who meant anything to him.

"Agreed!" said Joaquin. His voice no longer matched his age; he now spoke like a confident man handling an important contract.

"So be it," Lecto's voice rang out once again.

Joaquin still saw how the messenger returned the soul to his mother. Then he felt a tugging behind his belly button that became more and more unbearable until he finally sank to his knees in pain. After a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity to him, the pain gradually subsided. An incredible emptiness filled him. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and looked into his mother's tear-soaked eyes.

"What did you give him in return?" she asked, stunned.

"My love, courage, compassion and helpfulness ...," Joaquin replied softly.

"Shall we see how your father is doing?" she asked softly, trying to change the subject. Since she knew only too well what a loss of such feelings meant for a child.

He shrugged his shoulders indifferently, but rose anyway. They opened the gate and looked down the Holy Stairs. Down there, the High Priest, the Dragon Mage, and his friend, the gigantic, poison-green dragon Veneno, lay in their own blood, no longer stirring. Sombra and Marek were nowhere to be seen.

Selina struggled to keep herself from jumping down the steps. Joaquin, on the other hand, was completely unconcerned by the sight of his father and his friend. His only concern was for his own safety. He was thinking all the time how he should best escape if Sombra appeared again. The latter was certainly still around and was only waiting for him to leave the temple.

When they had passed the last step, Selina hurried to Dark. She turned him on his back and laid his head in her lap. With sad eyes, she stroked a strand of bloody hair from his face. Joaquin just stood beside her, unconcerned.

"Is he still alive?" he asked, purely out of interest.

Selina gave him a quick glance. "Yes. Would you please go see how Veneno is doing?"

"Can do."

"Selina ... Why?" Dark struggled to get the words out after opening his eyes a little.

"Because I sold my soul," she replied softly, full of deep regret. "For power."

Selina had laid her soul at Sombra's feet to be taught by him. She had realized that she was a Dark Sorceress and thus could not learn light magic. Healing magic was impossible for any Black Magician to perform. Since the Lord of Darkness was the only one from whom she could learn her kind of magic, she had gone to him and begged him on her knees, which he had of course taken advantage of.

"Do you regret it?" she asked after a while.

"What, that we ran into each other?"

She nodded sorrowfully.

Dark laughed, but immediately lapsed into a coughing fit. After catching his breath, he said, "Even if we could turn back time, I'd do it again!"

"But you see where our ...," she broke off.

"Love! Just say it, or didn't you feel that way?"

Selina smiled with relief and nodded. "Yes, I do, and I still feel it, Dark. But you see for yourself where our love has led! The City of Mages is destroyed, and the Corps of Dragons is all but exterminated."

"This is not our fault, Selina!" said Dark with a gentle smile. "Either way, Sombra would have destroyed the Mage City at some point for the sheer joy of seeing others suffer. It's just a cheap excuse for us to blame ourselves, even though we're not to blame."

"Mother?"

She turned to Joaquin.

"Veneno is still alive."

"Is he badly hurt?" she asked, concerned.

I'll get through it,Veneno said mentally.

"He says he's going to make it," Dark said with relief, sitting up with a groan of pain.

"Well, wonderful, there's the child!" said Sombra, appearing in front of them, Marek at his side. "But it's a boy?! Why don't you have a daughter, you idiot? Can you tell me what to do with a non-swimming toad? The last dragon mage was already so untalented! Can you tell me how long I have to wait for a suitable sacrifice? This ridiculous cohort doesn't even have a shapeshifter to offer! The last one, he had a daughter, but unfortunately one who was punished with all childhood diseases and died after two years! And what do you bring me here, you oh so great dragon mages? Bastards with whom you can do nothing but feed the dogs!"

"Then leave him alone!", Dark hissed at him.

"You want me tosparea human being?" said Sombra incredulously. "Where are we going when the god of hate and darkness starts handing out mercy letters!!!?"

"To a better world," Selina said softly.

Sombra shook with laughter. He laughed so profusely that tears even came to his eyes. Gasping for air, he rubbed them away.

"Do you see where even talking about grace like that leads?" he said. "I'm even showing some human emotion."

"And what is so bad about being human? Why do you resist becoming human? It has so much beauty ...", Selina began again. But the Lord of Darkness interrupted her.

"When I want to be a mindless insect, I'll let you know. But thank you for your generous offer."

"You leave me no choice, Master," she said, rising slowly. She swallowed hard once more to dispel the paralyzing fear before she could grasp it and not let go.

"Don't make yourself unhappy, little one," Sombra replied impassively. "If your attempt to eliminate me fails - and it will - you will face an eternal life of endless torture like Trian. You remember Trian, don't you?"

You bet she remembered. Trian had been in the Fire Mountains for almost five hundred years and was tortured daily. Sombra, however, carefully ensured that he did not die. He had cast a time spell on him to allow him to live forever. Because when the god of hate said endless torture, he meant it.

Selina stepped right in front of him and grabbed his upper arms. His muscles did not even tense. The god raised his left eyebrow and looked at her arrogantly and, as it were, bored.What can she do to me,he thought condescendingly.

"I, Selina, daughter of Sainia, give you, Eric of Levida, now known as the God of Darkness, all my ardent love that was meant for Dark. May it save your soul after all."

A fiery glow surrounded her entire body, which now passed over to Sombra. The blazing glow gradually disappeared in his body and Selina slumped down, powerless and exhausted.

"I told you it wouldn't work."Although I must admit that it surprises me. I'm surprised that this love can't affect me. Whereas the Lord of time and the world had told me that this feeling is not sustainable for my body.

At the very moment he completed this thought, he felt a painful tearing around his cold heart that spread more and more throughout his body. A last shriek of pain escaped his throat before he burst into a thousand pieces. Black blood, guts and scraps of skin poured over those present. Only Joaquin managed to protect himself from the unusual projectiles with his magic, as he was the only one who had taken the entire spectacle in his stride.

Marek stared at Selina with eyes sparkling with hatred. He raised his hand. But instead of punishing her, he pierced Dark's chest with a flash of black light. Then he swung his cloak around him and disappeared.

Dark had fallen silently onto his back. His eyes and mouth were open in surprise. Neither Selina, who had sacrificed all her love to smash Sombra's body, nor Joaquin showed any emotion as they surveyed Marek's deed. Only Veneno had crawled to his master's side and nudged him hopefully. But it was too late. The great dragon mage was dead. The dragon launched a wailing roar skyward that could be heard throughout Sugiawa, and everyone would know that another dragon rider had died, leaving behind a lonely friend. But the dragons would know by the call of the fire lizard that it was Dark who had met his death. And this, after so long a dragon mage had finally appeared in Sugiawa.

None of them would know how long it would take for an heir of dragon magic to be born. How long did they have to wait until the one came who would shatter the darkness, unite the peoples, and thus finally bring peace to the warring lands? How long did the peoples of Sugiawa have towaitfor the White Dragon - the bringer of peace, the protector? Would he come at all sometime? Or would Sombra rule forever? Although he had lost his body, he was still there. And very soon he would have acquired a new vessel. When that happened, an age of war and darkness would once again descend upon Sugiawa, probably spreading to nearby lands like Carrera - the kingdom of men. According to a centuries-old legend, the people who would assist the Dragon Mage and awaken the White Dragon would be born there. Five mortals whose fates would be inextricably intertwined. Even if they tried to rebel against it. In the end, they would never abandon each other.

Vampire Hunter ... Warrior ... Master Swordsman ... Shapeshifter ... Amazon ...

Chapter 1

The vampire hunter and the mistress of the bloodsuckers

Five hundred years passed and the island of Sugiawa blossomed again. The eastern half of the island was the purest sandy desert, but in the west the plants grew again and the people lived again in harmony.

The vampires and dragons ravaged the fields and villages of the mortals with relish. The lindworms were still incensed and beside themselves that a human - mage or not - had dared to kill their leader, their long-awaited dragon mage. While the bloodsuckers were incited by Sina - she had discarded her true name Selina, as her self-chosen one meantblack ladyand better suited her current nature - to attack the humans. First of all, she wanted to feast on the suffering of humans, and secondly, newborn vampires were much more breathtaking to have sex with than those who were gradually getting on in years.

The murders and raids continued unabated until a great warrior came to the land. He had just arrived with his comrades and was resting in a small village in the northwest when a band of vampires attacked. They were lying lazily under the trees, sheltered from the sun and drinking too much. Their horses also rested in the shade. Most of the men had long been heavily drunk, only one was listening to the stories about the cursed island. "Dragon and vampire attacks have been part of everyday life for a long time now," the village elder said to the young man, who had long black hair and a face with hawkish features.

Sina, who preferred to observe this village, immediately saw in him a new, potential victim. He was tall, strong, arrogant and thought he was invincible. Exactly the qualities that always gave her the most fun when breaking the will of her victims. She liked him from the first moment, especially his merciless expression in his blue-black eyes.

"And now you want me and my men to stop it?" he asked, bored.

Sina giggled softly. She lolls stark naked on her gigantic bed in the pillows and peers through a magic hole at the young man. "You are so delightfully naive," she purred. "It will truly give me great pleasure to ride you, little vampire hunter and dragon slayer!"

"It would be most welcome, sir," the elder hastily replied, bowing several times to the young man, who merely eyed him condescendingly.

"What do I get in return?" he finally asked, looking arrogantly into his face.What can he give me that I don't already have,he thought.

Sina moved closer to thescoutand gently stroked his image. "You're getting more than you bargained for, sweetie!"

The village elder beckoned two peasant boys, who placed a small box in front of the man and opened it. He bent down. The box was filled to the brim with gold pieces. Greedily, he took one of the coins from the box and examined it closely before saying, "Deal! I'll kill the vampires and dragons if they come too close to your village."

"Well, good luck then." Sina couldn't suppress a fit of laughter. After she calmed down, she called six of the older vampires to her and sent them off to bring her the young man with the hawk-eye.Finally, something exciting is happening. I was so bored already!

That evening, a big party was given in honor of the new vampire and dragon slayer André. The villagers did not care whether he had already proven himself. He would get the money anyway only afterwards, if he was still alive then.

A loud screech silenced everyone, only the drunks kept laughing. The young man was still relatively sober. He rose, his sword tied around his waist again. On his back he carried two butterfly swords and over his rump was a small silver dagger. The inheritance of his late father. He commanded the villagers to be quiet and meant them to stay together and stand in the fairground so that they could not be ambushed by a vampire. They did as instructed, dragging the drunks with them. André sensed one of the vampires close by and hurled his dagger between the branches of a nearby willow. An eerie screech and the vampire fell lifeless from the tree to the ground, where it crumbled to dust. A murmur of admiration went through the astonished villagers as the young man retrieved his dagger and waited for the next.

They also came and immediately five of them pounced on the murderer of their brother. He dodged them and killed one after the other. It did not cost him much effort, since he had done it so many times before. Now a roar of cheers swelled behind him and he turned, grinning.That was easier than I thought,he thought with satisfaction.

"We are eternally in your debt young warrior, please tell us your name," the elder asked, bowing once again to the young man.

"My name is André de Grafia," he replied, accepting the gold for his services.

The party went on and there was boisterous dancing and laughing. No one noticed that they were being watched.

"Not bad at all, sweetie," Sina whispered in a tone that would have brought down any priest's self-control. "Looks like I'll have to come over in person." She rose with a slinky, lithe movement that could make men pant, and slipped on a silken, almost see-through robe.

Restless thoughts circled around in Dark's head. Although he was now only a ghost, he still felt obligated to his people.The island seems to have recovered, but in the hearts of the living beings, hatred and unbridled rage against each other are building up. There will never be peace unless Sombra's spirit is also extinguished. Besides, there is still Marek's evil energy, which only brings ruin. But how long have I waited? And still no heir has appeared. It can't go on like this, even Veneno is getting restless. There must be a way to continue the line of dragon mages. How else can the prophecy be fulfilled?

Lord, we should stop it, it is in vain,Veneno's thoughts sounded.You are dead. You can no longer produce offspring to bring a dragon mage to earth. And Joaquin is an archmage, apart from this obstacle, he is completely incapable of love. He will never be a dragon mage! Our project has failed.

Don't say that! Wait, give me some more time! I'll find a solution.

Dark paced back and forth in his study, which adjoined the Hall of Sages, which was above the clouds. Every now and then he would stop and think frantically about the problem he was facing. When he had left his life then, he had not thought of preparing Joaquin for dragon magic. But now that he thought about it, it was probably unimportant after all. It had come to his attention that his only son had no love, let alone compassion. Which, unfortunately, were two indispensable conditions for becoming a dragon mage.

But how could he bring an heir of this rare and hard-to-learn magic to earth when he was dead? He ran his hand over his face and stopped at the window. It had no glass pane. But there was no need for it. A spell protected the hall from wind and weather. Apart from that, very few of the gods still had a body. Therefore, the protection was actually almost superfluous. No spirit could feel heat or cold.

The Hall of the Sages was a place above the clouds where the gods met on very special occasions. They did this in order to confer - when the balance was dangerously disturbed, for example, when the number of vampires was overflowing - and to sort out the problem. But they were always careful not to create discord.

Mortals, like Dark had been, were taken in special cases and their souls lived on in Sugiawa - to protect. He would continue to fight Sombra until the next dragon mage was ready to take it from him. His sister Lyneri, the goddess of love and life, had stood up for him. Only together did they have a chance to stop the Lord of Darkness.

Dark's ghostly body dissolved more and more in the Hall of Sages and reassembled in the Temple of the Dragon Mages.

Veneno raised his head. He lay in the dragon temple coiled around the pedestal on which Dark's human body rested. This was chalk-pale and ice-cold. The long pointed ears stood out a little from his head. The green eyes were closed. Dark looked sadly at his crystal-enclosed body. For a long time they were silent . An hour, two hours ... The sun was setting outside and Dark was still looking at his old body. Suddenly an idea came to him.

Veneno?, he asked timidly.Couldn't you take me into your body for a certain time?

Of course, Lord!

The dragon opened his mind and let Dark perform his spell that merged their spirits. Dark quickly realized that he was indeed still able to perform magic, but only on other beings who opened their minds to him.

Let's fly around the island,Dark said, and Veneno trotted to the exit. Outside the temple he spread his wings and jumped into the air. He quickly gained altitude and flew over the trees. After five hundred years, Dark finally felt free again. The cool night air blew toward them and Veneno began to make jokes. He spun a few spirals in the air and snapped out of the ensuing dive at the last moment before they could crash to the ground. Veneno had grown even more in the last five hundred years. From his former thirty meters to a proud forty meters, making him the largest dragon that had ever existed. He flew over the village where the new vampire hunter was, and made an abrupt swerve to avoid the dagger that was thrown at him. In this action, their spirits were torn apart and Dark hurled it away into the sky. Veneno let out a furious roar and shot after his master, but he remained gone. Rage boiled up inside Veneno.How dare he spoil my master's most beautiful day in five hundred years? That's what he's paying for!

He started to dive and shot towards the small village. The wings pressed tightly to the body to get a higher speed. With a terrible crash, he landed on one of the wooden huts, which was immediately leveled to the ground under his weight. A low rumble came from his throat as he faced André and their eyes met. He let his mind slide into that of the young vampire hunter.

He is headstrong, selfish, power-hungry and so obsessed with material things that his heart has become totally corrupt and impure. So it would be no loss to mankind if I eliminate another power-mad maniac,the dragon thought angrily.

He bared his teeth, then spewed a jet flame from his left nostril. André dodged at the last moment. He disappeared from Veneno's sight and suddenly appeared above the dragon. André had drawn his sword and grazed Veneno's foreleg with it as the dragon dodged. Green blood poured from his leg and André grinned in victory. With his sword he had as good as won - he thought.

Stop playing around," Veneno sneered into André's head. The latter took a step back in surprise.

"The dragon speaks???"

Of course I can speak! What did you think, that we dragons are dumb like fish?

"No, not that, but I hadn't been convinced otherwise yet either."

Why did you attack me?

"Because I have sworn that I will kill any dragon or vampire that comes too close to the village."

Don't make me laugh, you couldn't even kill a fly, let alone a dragon. Besides, you are not worthy to own the blade Dolor. Do you have the slightest idea what this sword was forged from?

"That doesn't interest me in the least. Now it's mine, I don't live in the past or the future. I live now."

Yes, you are still alive. Say your last prayer, man!

Veneno, wait!,Dark shouted into Veneno's angry thoughts.

Lord? Where are you?

Open your mind, my friend!

The dragon obeyed instantly and Dark connected with it mentally again.

I'm glad you didn't fly so far away or I probably wouldn't have found you.

I'm sorry, sir.

It doesn't need to. But why is your body so tense? Why are your thoughts so upset?

Veneno scowled and nodded at the human, who still held the sword Dolor in his hands and pointed it at the dragon.

Listen carefully, human,Dark said to André, and he startled. Now there was a second, masculine voice coming from the dragon, sounding uncontrollably in his head.Don't attack my friend, or it will be the last thing you ever do!

"Are you threatening me?"

Yes, I think so. So take it and I have one more request.

Veneno and André both looked stunned.

Bequeath your sword to your firstborn son!

"I will," André said after a moment's consideration. "But who are you?"

My name is Dark! Mark my words, otherwise I will be forced to raise other pages. Farewell!

You're just going to let him get away with it?

Yes, Veneno, I do. I just had a great idea. Just let me do it and we'll soon have a dragon mage on earth again.

Although Veneno didn't like it, he spread his wings and shot off into the sky. Something told him that Dark's great plan also had a catch.

Hopefully it's not another one of his boozy ideas, the green dragon hoped, and flew back to the Temple of the Dragon Mages.

Once there, Dark severed the spiritual bond and disappeared back into the Hall of Sages. Veneno lay down again around the pedestal and guarded the corpse of his master.

Sina had entered the village elder's hut at sunrise, used her vampiric abilities and made all those present her slaves. The old man and his wife and the two sons were now under her control. She stood in front of the head of the small family and pushed his chin up so that, as they all knelt before her, he had to look up at her. Sina had him completely under her spell with her gaze.

"Who am I?" she asked, making sure everything was going the way she wanted it to.

"My fourteen-year-old daughter," he breathed, unable to form a clear thought.

Sina had drawn an illusion veil around herself. Her hair now looked brown. It was long and wavy. Her eyes were a soft green. She had a slender, but also womanly figure, which she had not changed. Her breasts were full and nicely rounded. She wore a peasant dress with an ugly brown coloring and yet looked simply divine in it.

"And what is your job?"

"I will protect you from the men! After your kidnapping, I will beg André de Grafia to go and rescue you," he whispered with a stunned expression in his eyes.

Sina was forced to be praised by the old man who was to represent her father, because André was from Carrera. There, it was the custom for the man to choose the woman, whose opinion, however, counted for nothing. The girl's father had the task of looking for a suitable husband for her. And so Sina wanted to keep it here too. She would act shy and stay in the background, while she incited André with her seemingly unwanted, provocative movements and tempting looks, until he could no longer contain the urge in him and literally forced her to have intercourse.

When the small village gradually awoke, Sina went to the well with a bucket to fetch water. Each of the peasants who caught sight of her suddenly knew that she was the daughter of the village elder. She had cast a simple confusion spell over the people in the village.

Sina was in the process of carrying the bucket out of the well, and was particularly clumsy and helpless in doing so, so that the warriors, and thus André as well, took notice of her. The vampire hunter stood up, gave his men a meaningful look and strutted with a swollen chest to the young woman who was struggling with the water.

"Can I help you, my lady?" he asked gallantly, grasping the handle of the crank to pull up the bucket. Sina looked up at him, playfully startled and relieved. "Yes, thank you, my lord." She gave him a charming smile and turned to face him so that her plump breasts brushed his muscular arm. He swallowed to keep himself under control. Then she took a step back and he hauled up the full bucket of water. When he placed it on the edge of the well, the sorceress immediately approached. She reached for the bucket at the same time he did and their hands met. With feigned embarrassment, she looked up at him. Tentatively, but tantalizingly, she smiled at him. Her eyes shone with lust, bringing him to the edge of his hard-won self-control. He swallowed again, this time a little tense.

"I'll carry it for you," he said, smiling, though he sounded a little pressed. Sina realized immediately that he had taken the bait. She probably wouldn't need the old man much at all.

"I thank you, my lord. My father always says that it is too dangerous for me to cross a man's path. But I think he must have been mistaken. It's not dangerous, it's beautiful."

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied, although he was already indulging in dirty fantasies. Suddenly another thought occurred to him.How to get her father to let me have her. At least once. Just one night I want with her!While André was spasmodically racking his brains over this insignificant little problem, the second stage of Sina's plan was already beginning.

As they stood in the front doorway, the village elder came rushing toward them, pulled his daughter away from the vampire hunter, and pushed André out the door. Before slamming it behind him, he shouted angrily, "You can have my gold, but not my daughter!" Then he slammed it shut. As if blindsided, the young man with the hawk's eye stood in front of the house. Disgruntled and still agitated, he wondered if, when darkness fell, he should enter her house through the window. Suddenly he heard shouting and loud noise from the hut. He turned back and rushed into the house. On the floor, trembling, lay the family of four. The beautiful young woman had disappeared from the face of the earth.

"What happened?" roared André, yanking the village elder up by the collar. "Where is your daughter?"

"Vampires," he breathed in a panic, completely exhausted. "They took her!" André looked out the door and caught sight of two vampires with a third figure in their claws above the forest.

"Damn it!" the vampire hunter cursed loudly. "Where are they taking her?"

"To theBlack Castle, to the vampire lord!" Marek had ruled there for a long time. But after Master Sombra lost his body, most of the Dark Ones had traveled with him to Carrera to look for a way to get him a new body. Thiswas also true for Marek. However, the people were not aware of his absence. Since Sina was also able to control vampires, he had given her this task.

When the Black Sorceress arrived at her favorite bedroom, she sent all the vampires down to the dungeons to rest in the darkness. Through her magic, she was able to protect the creatures of darkness from the corrosive sun. However, this protection did not last very long. It was now almost noon. She threw the scratchy peasant dress into the air and let it disappear. Then she ran naked into the adjoining bathroom and let herself slide into the basin filled with hot water.

"I'm curious to see how long you'll take, André," she said softly.

Dusk had just fallen when André stopped on a sweaty horse in front of the Black Castle.

"This is supposed to be the Black Castle?" he wondered in confusion as he looked up at the large, white, welcoming palace.

He swung out of the saddle and left the exhausted animal at the open gate. Carefully he entered and immediately found himself in a beautiful castle garden.I seriously wonder if I'm in the right place,he thought in confusion. As if in answer, he suddenly saw Sina in the form of the village elder's daughter disappear behind the roses. Immediately he went after her. He pursued her through the entire garden and into the castle through a small back door. He hurried after her through numerous corridors. In front of a door that was ajar, he paused to catch his breath. Very slowly and carefully, he pushed the door open to peek inside. But he could see no one. Slowly he entered and looked around. There was someone on the balcony after all, he realized. He was nervous because he did not know who was waiting for him there. He half expected the master of the house. But when he peered around the red curtains, to his relief he saw the young woman he so desired. She was wearing a tempting red dress that showed off her assets only too well. His breath caught for a moment. A hot surge of excitement flooded his body. He wanted her now! He wanted her right here on the spot! He took a determined step before his mind finally kicked in again, forcing him to self-control.Once out of the castle,he promised himself. To not jump her right away. André was about to speak up when it suddenly occurred to him that he didn't even know her name. "What's your name, anyway?" He felt like a complete idiot when she then also started giggling cautiously.

"I'm Selina," she finally said in a velvety, tantalizing voice that was far from chaste. He swallowed hard once again and reminded himself that this was the wrong time for lovemaking.

"Selina, we have to leave before the sun fully sets and the vampires come crawling out of their holes! Come on!" He grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her along with him. But his decision not to do anything with her was shredded in mid-air by Selina, as she deliberately stumbled as they passed the large, inviting bed that André had left completely unattended when they came in. Now, at any rate, he was knocked right into the soft pillows by her violent impact into his back. She landed seemingly awkwardly on top of him. As he turned to look at her, her breasts rubbed irresistibly against his arm. He felt that her nipples were hard with desire. Conspiratorially, she smiled down at him. She leaned down to him and whispered in his ear, "Do you want to miss this unique chance of togetherness? Once I get back home, I'm sure I'll be so sheltered it will border on sexual coercion! Help me!" Her pleaded request was almost too much for him. But still he could hold himself together. Even though it seemed like cruel torture to him not to get involved with this angel who was so obviously luring him.

"We have to go! Come now! Please!", André's voice was clenched as he forced the words out between his teeth. He gasped from the effort to control himself. His pants had been far too tight for him for quite a while. The urge to lose himself in them was becoming unbearable. But she did nothing to make it easier for him, quite the opposite. Coquettishly, she sat wide-legged on his taut thighs, where she could feel his arousal very intensely. His cock rebelled violently. He wanted to break out of the prison that the pants represented and penetrate the young woman who had nothing on under her short red dress.

When she leaned forward smoothly and playfully ran her tongue over his lower lip, his mind finally said goodbye. With a heavy groan, he grabbed her and threw her under him. Quickly he had torn off her dress and rid himself of his own, much too tight clothes. His swords and daggers struck dully on the velvet carpet that filled the entire room.

Like an animal he fell upon her. More and more violently he drove his member in and out of her. And every time he withdrew, she moaned in protest. Whereby every advance he made elicited cries of pleasure from her.

Selina had clung tightly to him, her perfect, slender legs encircling his hips. Her hands she had buried in his black hair and she pulled him to her. His kiss was hot and urgent as his pelvis. His tongue had thrust into her mouth like his cock into her cavity. Had she not given herself to him so willingly, force might have been used by him. So fiercely did the desire for her consume him. Again and again he got a new orgasm, again and again he drove her to climax and still he remained insatiable.

It was well past midnight when he finally let go of her and sank into the pillows beside her, exhausted and drenched in sweat. Completely exhausted, but blissfully happy, Selina snuggled up to André. Intertwined, they fell asleep. After Dark, he was the first man for whom she felt such desire, and she would not let anyone take him away from her. A spark of desire had returned. It felt like it had when the dragon mage had courted her. She felt wanted for a long time. Sina felt that perhaps through this man it was possible for her to learn to love again, the feeling she had sacrificed for peace when she had hurled all her power against the most powerful of the dark gods.

But with this desire came jealousy:He belongs to me alone! I will never let him go,she swore to herself.