Our village had been plagued by mysterious deaths in the past few months. People were found with their throats ripped out and almost devoid of blood. It was the year 1600 in Gliwice Poland and my father was a wealthy landowner, an upper class commoner, but far from nobility. When I was supposed to be doing my chores alongside my mother I could often be found in the vast fields most likely under a tree where I had taken one of my father's horses out for a ride. Even though most girls were unable to ride I loved horses and took every chance I could to take one of the horses out. Of course I wasn't supposed to because of the recent unexplained deaths. But at the age of 19 I hardly had a care in the world.
It was on this day that I met the two strangers that would change my life forever. I saw them coming across the field on horseback. I sprang to my horse and drew my rapier and prepared to stand my ground. Also very unlike most of the girls my age I had been taught to wield a sword early on. I had a good friend that had trained as a knight and in our spare time he taught me. They drew near and I took in both men, one had steely moss green eyes and short spiky hair. The other had hair more fitting of the age, longish and shaggy, but a beautiful shade of brunette with a hint of the sun. Both men were dressed in the typical way that a modern day knight would be dressed.
They pulled their horses up just out of reach of my rapier, the short haired one held up his hand, "Woah there kitten. We mean you no harm. You can put away that pig sticker you have there." The other one smiled down at me, revealing perfect teeth and the most adorable dimples ever. "Why are you out here alone little one? You do know there have been people to come up missing only to be found later with their throats ripped out?", his voice was smooth and deep and his eyes bore into my soul. I continued to hold my ground, "And just how do you know that? Who are you?", I questioned with venom dripping from my tone. The short haired one spoke again, "I am Dean and this is my brother Sam. We were sent for by your King." Sam took over at this time, "We are experts on strange happenings and are here to try and rid your village of this terrible thing. We would be thankful of you to escort us into your village."
His eyes were so sincere and soft that I finally let my guard down. I lowered my rapier and walked to my horse a few yards away. I placed my rapier back into its scabbard. When I was mounted I turned toward the brothers, "I am Nikola. If you will follow me I'll make sure you make it to our village safely." I wasn't sure why I thought they wouldn't be safe without me but I said it none the less. Kicking my horse into motion, I was off in the direction of the village with the two brothers close behind me. Their steeds were strong and swift and of good breeding, unlike my own that was the horse of a commoner.
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The girl, Nikola, sat a horse unlike any girl I had ever come across. She was small and blonde and her eyes were a beautiful shade of green. She was shorter than most of the girls from this area and she seemed to be able to wield a rapier as well as most boys. I guessed her age to be somewhere around 20, a few years younger than my own age of 27. Looking over to Dean, I saw that he too was taking in the small girl that led us in the direction of her village. Of course Dean had noticed her, he had a way with women that few men did. It seemed so easy for him to give them his patented Dean leer and the girls fell for him without much effort.
We crossed over a bridge and were soon within the walls of the village where Nikola lived. My mind left what I had been thinking of and I began to look around to take in the surroundings. People were curious about Dean and me but they went on about their business nonetheless. They must be accustomed to Nikola because they didn't seem to be surprised to see her astride the horse at all. She reigned in sharply causing Dean and me to have to pull up short too. My horse, a sturdy stallion, snorted at the rude way I pulled on him to stop. "Ok here is the entrance to the home of our King.", Nikola responded none too politely. I looked up to see the entrance to a castle there inside the village grounds. Dean thanked Nikola and she was on her way before I could even say anything else to her. I didn't figure I would see her again.
A king's guard stood in front of our horses looking up at us. Dean and I dismounted and handed the reins to one of the stable boys standing nearby. "We are Sam and Dean Winchester. Your king called for us.", Dean says with all the authority of an older brother. "Ahhh yes he said to bring you in when you arrived." We followed the lanky guard through a series of doors and into a large hall with a throne at one end. The setting was lavish for the times with plenty of fruits and sweets spread out on a table close to the king's throne. He sat on the throne with his queen next to him on her own smaller throne. "Sire these are the Winchester brothers that you requested.", the guard said as he bowed to his king. The king motioned with his bejeweled hand, "Yes….yes come forward my boys." Dean and I stepped forward and inclined our heads toward the ground.
"Sire we understand that you have had some strange occurrences happen in your village. My brother and I are here to help you with that.", Dean began. The king held up a hand, "Please call me King Julian. This is the queen, Lena." Dean stepped forward and took the queen's hand, kissing it demurely and then stepping back so that I could do the same. King Julian smiled at the gesture and then went into the tale of what was happening in his village. "We have had several people come up missing these past few months. When they were finally found they had their throats ripped out and they were almost completely devoid of blood. The village chiurgeon seemed to think it could have been an animal that did these ghastly things but I'm not convinced. That's why I sent for you two." I stepped forward, "We will look into the matter and let you know as soon as we're able to determine what we're dealing with here."
The king nodded, "Now the guard that led you here will show you to your cottage. I have provided you with your own cottage a little ways down the road." Dean and I thanked the king and followed the guard back out to the village square. He led us to a small but well furnished cottage. Inside we found the cottage to be fully stocked with foods and utensils for cooking. There were two bedrooms separated by the living area and kitchen as well as an indoor bathroom. "Your horses are already set up in the stable just three doors down from here. The stable boys will help you with them anytime you need them. Please let any of us at the castle know if you need any more supplies.", the guard said before he turned on his heel and headed out the door.
"Well little brother I think I'm going to hit the pub and see what I can find out from the locals. What do you plan on doing?", Dean said to me as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I'll go see if I can do some research here in the town. Get a feel for the people here." Dean nodded and left the cottage. I took off my over coat and threw it on the chair beside the fire and then headed out too. I decided to check in on our horses first. Walking the short distance to the stable I rounded the corner and nearly took out a small blonde girl. When she whirled around to face me I saw that it was Nikola. She had braided her hair and changed into a pair of boys breeches.
