The dragon's harem

The spawn dragged Alcott through the cave, forcing his body through the tight cracks and crevices until they reached a slightly open cavern.

A shirtless bald man with a body fully of scars, ashen pale skin, open wounds and burns all over his body is hanging upside down from the ceiling, asleep with both his hands tucked close to his chest with the long claw piercing into his chest. He had a withered face with red spots around his eyes and lips as black as the abyss, closed shut.

That was the vampire lord, using his feet claws to latch to the ceiling like a bat while his hands long claws pierced his lungs and heart, forcing his body into a deep sleep akin to death.

“My lord, I brought a powerful prey.” She threw Alcott’s body on the ground.

The vampire lord opened his eyes slowly, “I told you not to disturb me…wench.”

“But…” She cried and he growled.

“Get out of here, now!” The vampire growled, his voice causing the spawn to cough blood.

“What in the hell would injure a vampire lord like that? And those wounds aren’t even healing.” Alcott slowly stood and the spawn got even more terrified, wasn’t he at death’s door?

The spawn swung her long claw at Alcott’s neck only for her to get punched so hard that all of her teeth flew out and shattered on the stone walls. “Something is off here. What did happen to you?” Alcott glared at the vampire lord.

“That ugly face…Alcott the dragon slayer?” The vampire looked at him, “You…you might be able to help. Kill me while I’m still… conscious.”

It was then that Alcott saw it, something wiggling beneath the vampire lord’s skin. With a single glare with his vampire eyesight he could see them, maggots, thousands of them living inside the vampire’s body, trying to eat him from the inside out.

“Those aren’t normal worms…abominations?!” Alcott gasped and the vampire lord looked at him.

“I do not know what those things are…a single worm infected me, I went insane, drunk on bloodlust and killed my wife and children…When I came back to my senses, my body was already infested with thousands of them.”

The vampire lord told his story. When he woke up in a house painted red with the blood of his family, he knew it, something was trying to control him, use his body as a catalyst to regenerate and come back to life.

The vampire lord already knew the whole area and knew that there was a very deep cave beneath a nearby farmhouse. That’s why he came here, to bury himself in the cave and hibernate for a few centuries to expel that force in peace.

Sadly, when he snuck into the farmhouse, the two sisters pulled up on him and the older one stabbed him in the back with a knife when he tried to hide. That small insignificant wound was enough to cause whatever is inside him to gain control for a fraction of a second, enough to rip the older sister in half and badly injure the younger one who was running to call for help.

The older one couldn’t be saved but the younger one was still alive so he turned her into a spawn, prolonging her life. He then told her to stay low and hide until he figured something out in the cave. He’ll need to use all of his will power to resist the monster inside him, which means that he shouldn’t be disturbed.

The vampire lord then retreated into the cave where he heavily injured himself, biting his own flesh out to tame himself and get under control. He then stopped regenerating and hung up from the ceiling, ready to hibernate.

Killing the vampire lord is a risky move, if he and Alcott were to fight for real, the city above would be destroyed. All he could do was think of a way to help the vampire lord region control over his body.

“Those maggots infesting your body…they don’t feel similar to a monster that I just killed. They aren’t normal.” Alcott said, and the vampire lord looked at him, “Are you a genius? I would’ve never expected that a normal maggot cannot harm a VAMPIRE LORD!”

“I mean… forget it.” Alcott scratched his head, “I can kill you…but…”

“Listen to me, mortal. It’s not that I fear death, but I’ve already killed my wife and children. This thing gripping my body, it’ll fight back…our clash shall wash this whole city in blood, my neighbours and friends would all end up killed without a burial.”

“I understand. I have the strength to kill, in less than a minute at that. But…a minute is a long enough time to soak the city in blood.” Alcott glared at the vampire lord, “You rest and try to suppress it. I’ll find someone powerful enough to finish you off, or rid you of that parasitic maggot.”

“My her blood blesses you.” The vampire lord replied with a smile and Alcott stopped, “Scarlett is my wife, call her Ginger now. Will she be able to help you?”

“I do not know the power the old queen carries, but…a new blood queen had been born an hour or two ago. Scarlett might be the rightful heir to Vlad’s throne, but this new one snatched that right with the sheer power of her blood.”

“Explain why my vampiric blood tingled earlier, do you know who this queen is?” Alcott looked at the vampire lord.

“You aren’t a full blow pure blood vampire, so you won’t get that information. She is that Eris, the baron’s wife, the woman owning the funeral parlor. Most vampires would only know the scent of her blood, but I’ve seen her face before. The moment I felt the birth of the new queen and smelled her blood in the wind, I knew it was her.”

“Then you’re in luck, she is my daughter-in-law. I might be able to find a solution to this. For now, I have to report back.” Alcott was about to leave but the vampire lord called him back, “Take this…it might help. But, be careful.”

The vampire lord slashed his palm and covered it in a sphere of condensed blood to prevent the maggots from escaping. Alcott took the palm and headed back to report back to Claug.

He knocked on the door, “You know I’m here.”

“Then why didn’t you enter yet? Come inside, we need to talk.” He walked in and found Meryem sitting with Claug inside the room.

“The situation is bad,” Alcott said with a stern face, and Claug looked at him with a smile, “Father…it gets worse.”

She pulled a whole jar filled with maggots and showed it to him, “I was watching you the whole time. The moment you discovered the maggots, I asked Meryem to investigate. But I’ll take his infected hand, still worth studying to save him.”

Meryme looked at Alcott, “The vampire wasn’t the only one infected, hundreds of people all around the city are the same. That vampire lord was just strong enough and noticed the maggots invading his body.”

“Wait, hundreds? Is anyone in the castle infected?” Alcott gasped and Claug shook her head.

“No, the maggots are smart, they actively avoided anyone in the castle or close to Arad’s house to avoid arousing suspicion. I bet that a collective mind controls them, and it’s that mind of an abomination.” She stared at him, “You fought one around here not long ago, I bet this is him trying to come back.”

“Smart? How did they end up in a vampire lord then?” Alcott pulled a chair and sat down.

“That vampire lord managed to hide himself for two thousand years. Those maggots are smart, but they aren’t probably smarter than a normal person. They couldn’t tell the man was a vampire lord until it was too late.” Claug explained and then waved her hand over her crystal orb.

“I still don’t have a clear vision of what that thing’s plan is or where its core is hiding, but there is another big problem.” Claug looked at Alcott, “This place is a village that’s trying to accommodate as many people as a massive city, the water supply and sewer system isn’t enough to handle all of that. A plague is starting, and it’s somehow related to those maggots.”

She pulled a small dark green potion, “Take this, it’s a poison that I made. It’s deadly to humans and those maggots, but you should be able to tank it. Drink it so if those maggots infected your body, they’ll die.”

Alcott gulped the poison in a single breath, his skin turned lightly pale as veins bulged all over his body. His eyes were bloodshot and he could feel an excruciating pain all over his body. His heart stopped three times as he stood there and his vision almost fully disappeared before he could make a recovery, only having his werewolf body to thank.

“Where should I go next?” He looked at Claug and she waved her hand, “Underground, secure the area and investigate both the waste dump and water supplies. Take Meryem with you.”