Chapter Ten: 1462 September

The Pale Horse

Rev 6:1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Rev 6:3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

Rev 6:5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Rev 6:7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

"Here you go," Aysel said as she placed a bowl of oatmeal in front of the Count. He made a disgusted face.

"Miss Aysel, what is this?" He asked. Shyriyh playfully smacked his shoulder.

"It is oatmeal. Very tasty," she said as she lifted her spoon and tasted a bit to prove to him that it wasn't poisonous.

She looked up when the servant girl walked over to the window and peered out at the Count's land. It had been over eight months since Aysel had lost her love, over eight months since the Turkish soldiers raided the Count's property, and about eight months was all it took to bring out the deadliest war in Transylvania.

"Sir," Aysel turned and walked over to the Count.

"What is it, Aysel?" He asked as he pushed his oatmeal away.

"They are battling on your land again," she said as she sighed and picked up her own bowl of oatmeal. The Count scowled and walked over to the window.

Outside were at least sixty men stabbing each other with swords and stakes. It was getting ridiculous. At least every other day there was a tiny skirmish out on the Count's lands, a few dead bodies left over and no one to stop it.

"Do you think it will stop anytime soon?" Shyriyh asked nervously as she walked over to the Count and strung her arms around his waist. She rested her head on his back before he answered.

"I do not think it be so," he sighed. "The Turks want to initiate another siege. They think Rumania should be their land and they plan on taking everyone in it."

Shyriyh felt a tear fall down her cheek and onto the Count's military uniform.

"Vlad, I'm really worried. They already raided the castle once… what if they do it again?" She said. She heard him sigh lightly before he turned around to face her.

"Shyriyh, my darling, I will have the military forces do all they can to prevent it being so," he said as he embraced her. It was then that the knock sounded from the main doors. That fateful sound… like the last beatings of the Count's pure heart.

"Just a moment," he said with a smile as he turned around and walked towards the doors. Shyriyh followed him out just as he opened them. A man was standing there. He was wearing a very long black coat and a hat. It blocked most of his face but Shyriyh could still see the lower half. He looked so very familiar…

"I am here to see Count Vladislaus Dracula," he said as he tipped his hat upward, showing his entire face.

"I am he. What is it you desire me for, sir?" The Count asked as he began walking towards the man.

"My name is Gabriel, and I am here to vanquish evil," he said with a sly smile.

"Are you a soldier, Sir Gabriel?" The Count asked with a nervous look to his face. Shyriyh could tell there was something wrong with this situation. She wasn't exactly sure what it was but she was sure about the fact that she just wanted to grab her love and run back into their castle.

"No, I am a demon hunter," he said as casually as if he were telling the Count his name.

"A demon hunter?" The Count said with a confused twist to his lovely face.

"Yes, that is correct and the Lord has sent me to destroy that which will become so," Gabriel said and it was then that Shyriyh saw the faint shadow of angel wings behind this mysterious man.

"The Archangel! Vlad!" She screamed but it was too late. Gabriel was able to form one movement out of two he was so quick… he pulled a long, silver stake out of his jacket and stabbed it into the Count's throat. "Vlad!" Shyriyh screamed. She attempted to send an electrical current at the Archangel standing before her but it was no use. He pulled yet another stake out of his jacket and stabbed this one though the Count's heart.

"You are to be what evil represents!" The Archangel shouted towards the dying Count. "You would have been King!" And before Shyriyh could attack him he disappeared as if mist. She paid no heed and ran straight for the bleeding Count.

"Vlad!" She lifted him in her arms and pulled the two silver stakes out before he coughed up blood onto her white dress.

"W-who…?" The Count rasped.

"Not now, my Love. Aysel!" She called the servant woman.

"What is it? Oh!" She nearly fainted when she saw her master lying on the ground, struggling for his last breathes.

"Aysel, go get the medical box! Go!" Shyriyh cried.

"Yes!" The servant girl ran on legs like feathers as the Elven Princess cradled her departing love.

"You shall be well again, do not worry, Vlad," she said as she stroked his silky face which had become as pale as newly fallen snow. No more should the Count see such a lovely sight…

"Sh-Shyr… iyh…" He coughed more blood onto both himself and Shyriyh.

"Shh," she said as she sobbed silently and held him tight. A moment later the servant girl returned with the medical box.

"Here," she said as she placed it next to Shyriyh and turned away from the scene. She could not bear it.

"Hold on, Love, hold on. Please," the Elf pleaded as the Count lay dying slowly and painfully. She took out a cloth and tried to stop the bleeding but it was no use. It continued to drip madly from his once perfect lips.

"Vlad!" She screamed in her own pain as the Count began to cough and choke. She tried to get his breath working again.

"Sh-Shyriyh—go away from here," he said with a voice that was slowly drowning in blood. His own blood.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"When I am dead, you must take Aysel and l-leave here, it is too…" he coughed a bit more blood before continuing. "It is t-too dangerous here," he said. Shyriyh burst into the tears she was trying to hard to keep inside.

"No Vlad, no… you will not die. I will take care of you, and we will get married soon. You said we should get married in June because June is a pretty month… and then we shall have that little girl you were talking about and, Vlad… I will not let you die," Shyriyh sobbed, knowing that no matter what she said there wasn't much she could do. That's what made her cry so much.

The Count coughed and choked until Shyriyh sat him up a bit. That was when the large amount of blood was tossed out of his stomach. He was bleeding inside… hemorrhaging.

"Vlad," Shyriyh hugged him tightly and could care less that his blood was running madly down her neck. "Vlad, Vlad, Vlad," she sobbed her so hard her eyes and throat hurt… but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything but her Count.

"I l-love you, I love y-you Shyriyh," the Count said with a peaceful smile on his face which hid all his pain. His heart was bleeding out and now he was numb. The only pain he felt was holding the knowledge that he would soon be leaving his love. The only person who had ever really loved him…

"I love you too, Vlad," she told him. "You are going to here that for the rest of your life," she insisted. But the Count shook his head wearily.

"Goodnight my darling," he said as he laid his head back on her lap.

"Vlad?" Shyriyh said, feeling a shot of dread beginning to drown her. This caused Aysel, who was sobbing as well, to turn around.

"Count?" She bent down next to the lovers, determined to overcome her nervousness about blood.

"Vlad?" Shyriyh shook her Count's shoulder gently and felt the heaviness of death about his body. Death.

And hark! Shall come the pale rider…

Upon the pale horse…

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

-Revelations 6:7 of the Fourth Seal

Pale rider upon a pale horse and hark you shalst be called death to bring about such with plague, famine, and war. Pale rider upon a pale horse.