A redemption of my recently drawn picture, The Wounded Bat. But in Paint 3D this time. This serves as a followup but also to give myself a second chance to draw a cute bat.

-- After venturing through Count Dracula's gloomy castle together with the Vampire Hunter, all the while conquering the horrors within, like walking skeletons, Medusa Heads, Werewolves and especially countless enemy bats, Leather managed to make his way to the final staircase, which would lead the two friends to the Count's throne room. The throne room was dark, cold and uninviting. Leather sat on the Hunter's shoulder as he heard the conversation between the Hunter and the evil Count unfold. ''Die, monster!'', the Hunter spoke while holding his whip, ''you don't belong in this world! I have come to destroy you. Perish my kind no more!'' The Count's reaction consisted of a series of bold statements, topping it off with a quote that surprised Leather, yet the Vampire Hunter wasn't impressed. ''Quit the nonsense!'', the Count shouted, ''what is a man like you good for? You HUMANS, took the one woman that I cherished away from me, because your blind faith in who you call God, led you to foolishly believe she was capable of witchcraft!'' ''Those seeking peace, and go to extreme lengths to find it, surely can't be evil'' was the Hunter's response, ''If one seeks to bring peace to the world, one should help out those in need, and have trust in their loved ones. But I doubt you'll ever understand that'' Leather witnessed the conversation while anxiously sitting on the Hunter's shoulder. Eventually, the Count grew tired of the ongoing talk, and became frustrated. Yet, he managed to hold it in, and instead, he threw the glass containing a red liquid he had been holding this entire time, on the floor. Leather and the Vampire Hunter could hear a tinkling sound as the glass hit the ground. The Count stood up from the beautiful golden throne he was sitting on, shouting: ''Enough talk! HAVE AT YOU!''

The next moment, he temporarily disappeared from view, using a pillar of light he summoned out of thin air. A second later, he reappeared in a second beam of light, now being way closer to the Hunter. The next moment, a fight between the two men ensued. Leather kept swooping from one side of the room to the other. One reason he did this, was to stay close to his muscular ally during the fight, but more importantly: to avoid the many supernatural powers the Count summoned -- multiple lightning bolts striking the ground at once; massive fireballs coming from the inside of the Count's cape; making sharply-edged swords fly in the direction of the Hunter, seemingly from out of thin air; and transforming himself into a series of bats in order to swoop across the room in mere SECONDS. After five-or-so minutes, the Count spread his arms, and a black mist surrounded him. He disappeared into an impossibly large shadow, only to rapidly grow in size. When the black mist vanished, the Count had transformed himself into a towering beast that looked like a fusion between a bull and a dragon. Never before had Leather encountered a being as horrifying as this one! He cowered in fear, flying upwards, where a massive chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. The thing started swinging back and forth when Leather landed on top of it, and between dozens of small burning candles. From the top of the chandelier, he watched the Vampire Hunter duking it out with the gigantic monster, which jumped across the room and occasionally spewed fire. Every now and then, Leather had to suddenly move out of the way, because the beast sprung up impossibly high and fired multiple fiery orbs down to the ground, as a way of catching the Hunter off guard.

As he sat on top of the chandelier, Leather began to grow nervous. What should he do? What if that beast sprang up again and hit the chandelier? He heard the whip of the Hunter continuously slamming against the scales of the huge dragon-bull hybrid, and the flames the apparition fired back at the man. ''Wait...'', Leather thought, ''...the chandelier! That's it!'' Suddenly, Leather knew what to do! He looked for the thread that attached the chandelier to the ceiling of Dracula's throne room, and he started gnawing on it. After a few seconds, the whole object started to spin around, and eventually detached from the ceiling! Leather could just barely free himself from the falling chandelier before it fell down -- and it did at the perfect timing, too! As it turned out, Dracula as the horned monster was standing in the exact range from where the chandelier would land. Startled, the Vampire Hunter did a few steps backwards as he didn't see the tumbling chandelier coming! As the monster let out a roar in pain, the Hunter took his opportunity and struck with his whip, accompanied by Leather, who homed in on the beast at the exact same time. The monster flinched, as it started shaking, and began to glow. The next moment, a bright light enveloped the apparition, followed by the screaming of the Count, only to disappear into the surrounding darkness... The only thing left was a couple of black, foggy spheres that flew in different directions and escaped through a different window each. Then... nothing. No sounds. No voices. Finally, the fight was over. The Hunter had vanquished the Lord of Darkness. Staring at the throne that was still sitting in the back of the room, ...he thought. The fight had been fought, many sacrifices had been made. Those sacrifices were at the hands of the Hunter and his companion Leather. And yet... the Hunter knew that Count Dracula would eventually return, looking for a chance to reclaim the land, enveloping it in darkness until someone would stand up and wage battle once again, like Leather and he just did. He wouldn't be around anymore by the time that moment would come.

Similarly, Leather sat motionless on the ground, staring at the Hunter, waiting for him to make a decision. Suddenly, something unexpected happened: Leather felt the floor shaking, in fact -- the entire throne room was violently rumbling! ''Come'', the Hunter spoke, gesturing the small bat to come with him. Leather did just that, lifting himself off the shaking ground and flying after the Hunter, who ran towards the exit of the throne room and awkwardly walked down the steps of the stone staircase. In no time, they had reached the end of the staircase, and they made their way through the various rooms of the castle -- the fireplace room; a worn-down library; an outdoor garden filled to the brim with man-eating plants; the dining room; the knight's hall... all of which were places they had already fully explored by the time they were about to enter the throne room of the Count. As Leather flew after his human companion, thoughts of their perilous journey flashed through his head -- the many times they decimated the numerous horrifying enemies that awaited them inside the library, the dining room, and the haunted garden. The countless times Leather managed to save the Hunter from falling down a deep pit multiple times. And how they managed to climb and fight their way to the throne room of the evil Count Dracula. As Leather was flying around in one of the rooms, he noticed an exit, a big, wooden door he knew for certain would lead back to the main entrance of the castle. He pointed it out to the Hunter, and after they came to an agreement on which path to take, they passed through the final door and ended up on the stone bridge connecting the piece of land the castle was sitting on with the rest of the earth. Finally, Leather and the man were safe.

After a few minutes, the two friends managed to find a spot on a faraway cliff and watched the entire castle crumble and fall into the abyss. Big waves formed as large chunks of the castle's walls fell into the water below. Meanwhile, Leather could see the tip of the sun emerging from the horizon, making the thin clouds disappear and vanquishing the horrible night, just like the Hunter had vanquished the immortal Lord of Darkness. The Hunter squatted next to a tired Leather and touched his left wing, which was still wrapped in the dark blue piece of cloth. ''Now that was an adventure, wasn't it?'', the Hunter said in a calm voice, as to not startle his bat friend. Leather simply nodded. ''Is your wing feeling better already?'', the man asked. ''Ehh... a little'', Leather replied. He was getting drowsy. He was used to his night routine, and his time to rest was getting closer as the sun was rising. The Hunter got up, and Leather came off the ground using both his good and his injured wing, which was now starting to heal. The Hunter watched as Leather flew up, and opened his hand so Leather could rest on it. ''Thank you for being on my side, Leather'', he said, ''we did it. With our combined powers, we managed to defeat the Count. I must thank you for saving me so many times on our journey'' Leather looked back at the Vampire Hunter, and saw the trust in his eyes. The trust towards him. They had formed a team. A bond. But now that the morning had arrived, it was time for Leather to go and find a place to sleep -- after all, the ruins that remained after the castle collapsed didn't necessarily provide the best resting place for a small bat. ''Now, you must be sleepy, my friend'', the Hunter said, ''go. Go find a place to rest. I must venture on, since a Vampire Hunter's quest to vanquish the evil and to make peace, never comes to a complete end. You were a great help, and I'll remember our adventure. Our journey. Go, Leather'' With these words, the man got up, and as soon as he turned around, away from the sun that was becoming increasingly more visible, Leather flew up and started looking for a place where he could stay for the time being. Suddenly, he remembered something important. He immediately turned around and flew back to the Hunter: ''Ehmm... Kind of a strange question to ask this late, mister, but... what is your name?'' The Hunter looked at the bat with a smile, and his answer was short, yet kind: ''... ... .....Richter. Richter Belmont, my friend''

🦇 THE END

Here's the drawing that serves as the Paint 3D version's prequel --
🔰🔰🔰
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/46414155/