Castlevania Nocturne: A Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak: A Belmont's Advice

Emma walked quietly along the woodland trail listening to the birds chirp in the early morning, Above the trees she saw the blue sky lighten at the coming dawn, and felt the chill of early spring prickle her glyphs. Richter walked next to her, with Alucard and Annette behind them.

She was very grateful to have Richter on this journey with her, else her Alucard wouldn't have opted to stop at Juste's. Emma insisted they pay him a quick visit to inform him about the Erzsebet situation, but her father was adamant they didn't stop for anything. Only when Richter voiced the same opinion, did Alucard begrudgingly okay the idea. It's not like it wasn't on their way anyway.

"Only briefly to alert him about Erzsebet. Then we must go." Alucard stated firmly.

"Are you going to be this stringent the entire journey?" Emma questioned.

"Yes." Alucard said bluntly. "This isn't a merrily little adventure Emma. The fate of the world rests in our hands. Every moment we divert is time wasted."

Emma sighed as the skin on her belly protested agitated. She remained virtually quiet while her father spoke about the mummy's history. "So the mummy was stolen by thieves, tomb robbers, bandits, and disappeared into the desert."

"Why would anyone steal a corpse?" Richter wondered.

"I thought they might have dumped it in the river because they had no use for it. Drolta thought so too, that perhaps it was lost forever."

Emma bristled remembering the dream about the priestess who became a monster. No doubt the massacre of her people and the mummy's theft destroyed her. She felt sympathy for the person she was and relieved the demon she had become was destroyed. Or so she thought...

"But you were able to pick up its trail." Annette said

"Yes with the help of the Miracle Makers watching humanity's every move. Peculiar creatures, angels.Insufferable at times. They're immortal yes, but they can be very grating to work with."'

"I hope you don't think of my mother that way." Emma glanced behind her.

"Your mother is very different." Alucard replied. "She is everything an angel should be."

"Except for the bit about having children." Richter smirked, trying to break the tension. "Good thing for both of us, ey Em?"

"Sometimes it's good to break the rules." Emma nudged Richter. "We're both here because of it." Her smile drifted. "Father, when exactly was the mummy stolen?"

"According to the dates recovered, about 1199 AD." Alucard informed, making Emma nearly trip. "Bandits raided the temple hearing of the mummy's potential wealth. Turns out all sorts of people will pay for an ancient corpse, buy it and sell it on, with no idea what it really is and the extraordinary power it contains."

"Apparently...." Emma rubbed her forehead.

"Emma...are you all right?" Richter noticed the conflicted look on Emma's face.

"I'm fine." Emma sighed. "Last night I had....." Her words died seeing a pillar of smoke above the trees. "Oh shit." Richter cursed running up ahead. Emma followed as fast as she could in a brisk power walk, gasping in horror.

Juste's cabin was set ablaze.The grounds littered with vampire corpses. Alucard shifted into a wolf and ran into the woods. Wait here. he growled in Emma's mind. Annette and Richter urgently searched the area. "Juste!!" Richter cried out scouring the bodies.

Emma shifted into a white saker falcon and searched from the air. With her sharpened eyes she caught Richter inspecting a corpse in the water and Annette staring at something unseen across the lake. There! She dove towards the familiar figure standing at the edge of the lake relieving himself into the water.

Emma touched the ground on her human feet. "I should drown you myself for nearly giving me a heart attack."

"Good to see you to Emma." Juste zipped up his pants and turned to meet her. "Do you normally threaten somebody with death while they're taking their steed to water?" Richter humorously stepped out of the lake.

"You're disgusting!" Emma snapped.

The wolf leapt onto the roof and shifted into a human. "Do you normally piss in the lake you drink from?"

"Alucard." Juste's said happily before his smile faded to a look of pure exhaustion. "This doesn't bode well. The group gathered together, though not before Alucard chided Emma. "I told you to wait."He growled stiffly.

"I was fine. We were never in any danger, Juste took care of that." Emma grumbled. Juste lifted his brows at their tense reaction. "There was an eclipse." Juste crossed his arms.

"We know." Richter shrugged.

"Fucking vampires everywhere." Juste scratched his beard. "I've never seen one before. An eclipse."

"I've seen a few." Emma chimed in. "I was actually born during one."

"So I've heard." Juste mused. "But this one was different.This one was magic anyway, wasn't it."

"Erzsebet Bathory, the Vampire Messiah." Alucard said in his low rasp. "She can turn day to night."

"So what will it take to kill her?" asked Juste.