The next morning when Vlad woke he was alone. Dazedly he reached out to where Aleera should have been and felt that the bed was still warm. She must have just woken up and gone down to make breakfast. Smiling to himself, he rose and dressed and went downstairs. However, rather than the vision of his wife bathed in morning light before the open window and their children chattering at the table, he was greeted only by an empty kitchen and a small note left on the table. Written on the top in Aleera's fanciful script was his name. It read:

Vladislaus,

Anna came earlier with some urgent business for me. Not wanting to wake you I took the children along. She asked that you join us at the Hall as soon as you wake.

Aleera

A knot formed in the pit of his stomach. From experience he knew that 'urgent business' for Anna never meant anything less than life-threatening—something along the lines of 'Hell-beasts have invaded the Hall and Aleera needed to come because we're all dying here!' Running to the forge he grabbed his sword and armor and rushed out of the house. With every sense on hyperdrive he could not fail to notice the disturbing silence of the town, usually so busy at this time of the morning. Suddenly, a scream, recognizable as that of his young daughter, Elena, rang out over the eerily quiet town. Vlad's heart skipped a beat and he prayed he wasn't too late as he whipped around a corner and tore into the Hall's front yard. What he saw was so shocking that he froze in mid-stride, for there before the Hall which was once his family home, playing with his children, was Vladislaus' father.

Upon noticing his arrival the happy little group calmed and turned to him curiously. There was a pregnant pause as Vlad's eyes met his father's. The latter's filled strangely, Vlad thought, with tears, and he began to shuffle, then to run towards him. Instinctively Vladislaus retreated but was not fast enough and was caught up in a tight embrace.

"Oh my son, my boy, I've missed you so much," said the apparition, but Vladislaus did not return the embrace, waiting to be crushed by his father's vengeful spirit. Surprisingly, he was released and held at arm's length by the ghost. The man looked at him with concern.

"My son, do you not recognize your own father?" it asked.

"You are not my father," he replied, "my father rests in heaven thanks to my death and would have no reason or wish to see me." The ghost frowned, tears seeming to be coming to his eyes again. He held Vlad's face firmly in his hands, causing him to flinch but he still could not pull away.

"Yes, thanks to your finally being vanquished as Dracula, my son, I was able to rest in peace, but since that time I have been watching you. Our Lord told me of how you were redeemed." At this Vladislaus glanced up with sudden interest, for a demon or a figment could never know such confidences with the Lord Almighty.

"I have seen the man you have become, Vladislaus," here tears began to truly come to his eyes and he choked out the last few words, "I have never been—more proud of you. I love you, my son, and you may know—that you were forgiven by me and—everyone else in the family, long ago." With those last words, Vladislaus could resist no longer. Tears welled up in his eyes and his legs, unable to hold him any longer, gave out. He returned his father's warm embrace on his knees, muttering apologies and how much he loved his father and had missed him too over the years. Finally they stood and parted as Aleera, Anna and the children came over to them, tears of joy wetting the women's faces and happiness etched into every line of the children's. They played and talked and even had a faux duel with Gabriel who had hereunto been standing off to the side in respect of such an intimate family reunion. All too soon, it was time for Valerious the Elder to go, and everyone embraced one final time, knowing they would all be together forever soon enough before he waved goodbye and walked back into the Father's Light.

The next morning when Vlad awoke he was crying, crying because he was the happiest he thought he'd been in his entire life, excepting his wedding and his children's births. Aleera smiled brightly at her husband, and together they rose to meet the day in peace.

Fin