"I have only loved once"

-4-

The sounds of the fight took all over the church's place, and the echoes spread between the brick walls. Clanking of armor and steel weapons, sometimes disappearing for a brief second. And yelling, oh there were a lot of people and vampires yelling at each other. The black-haired man stood in front of the church, his dark coat lying on the ground, with a sword attached to a thick belt on his right hip and a dagger in his hand. He was prepared to defend himself in case of any attack. He had that odd gut feeling, growing stronger and stronger. Was it stress? Or his heart remembering the Aztec vampire as someone who loved him, now being right behind the church's front wall, fighting with his now guy friend.

Memories caused it, Kwahu realized. His mind stormed under all these little talks, he felt his lover's lips on his skin, how his hands moved all over the Mohican's body. He saw these green orbs staring into his soul after he told an unfunny joke again. All the love he had missed for the past three decades, was now gone, from his lover's side. Olrox found someone new and moved on after the loss. At this moment the Indigenous American vampire just wanted to disappear, to run away from confrontation, thoughts of regret killing him inside. And shame. Shame taking over his consciousness, the shame of being judged after all these years, the shame of how he has changed. He argued with himself, zoning out of the real world, drowning in his thoughts again.

And then he saw how a black, foggy, humanoid form flew through one of the windows, holding in their arms a man, he saw before.

"It must be Olrox's new lover," Kwahu thought. And as the knight screamed some inaudible sentences, they moved further toward the fields behind the city's border.

Soon, the vampire himself turned into a mist and followed them, keeping a safe distance. He then saw Mizrak, as his name was, landing on the ground, and the fog turned into Olrox. He was holding the knight tightly, with hands wrapped around his waist. The Aztec vampire said something about not letting Mizrak go back to the town.

"If you go back, she'll kill you. And I don't want you to die, Mizrak." He said, his voice shaking. The knight released himself from the vampire's grip and walked a few steps before turning around. Now facing Olrox, he couldn't believe the vampire's words.

"You wouldn't understand. You're an animal which lost its soul centuries ago." The short-haired man replied without hesitation. He then turned around and started running back to the town. Olrox felt tears slowly running down his cheeks. He has lost someone he trusted, again. Or maybe it was only his imagination? Maybe Mizrak never felt anything more than just pure physical attraction, maybe he just wanted the vampire as a reward from his god?

--

The only thing Olrox saw from between the trees, was Drolta flying with such speed right in Richter's direction, that she would definitely kill him with just one strike. He watched as they fought other vampires off, but his sight was mostly focused on the muscular man's strong physique. Mizrak was barely able to defend himself from the opponents, and there were so many of them hungry vampires, that it was sure he would fail. Suddenly, a bright light flashed everyone around, and everything went silent. Time felt like slowing down, as a tall man with long, almost white hair pierced Drolta's chest with a sword. Was it Alucard? Yes, It must have been him, which meant the dhampir got the letters. The pink-haired vampire's corpse fell to the ground and shrank with a hiss. Then, as Richter with Annette and Maria stood in shock, facing Alucard, Mizrak was still fighting.

Suddenly one of the vampires drew its claws into the knight's back, shredding the cape, breaking through his armor, and leaving deep cuts in his muscles. Mizrak chose his own destiny and was fully aware of the possibility of dying right there and then. And after a second, he was down on his knees, covering his head with his arms, screaming from pain. This is it, he thought. This is the moment he is about to leave the world and enter God's garden.