Chapter 5: Velkan

Transylvania, 1888

Regaining consciousness, Velkan tried to gasp, water spraying out from his mouth. Remembering the werewolf attacking, he shot up into a sitting position, barely registering the river's sound in his ears. His right hand shot out, looking for a dropped gun, but Velkan's gun was nowhere on the pebbly river bank nor in its holster. After only a couple seconds searching, Velkan noticed the body lying across his legs, pinning him – a naked man with grey hair and the worn look of a peasant. The body from the waist down bobbed on the river's surface, the currents trying to drag it downstream, though Velkan's lower body was beached in shallow waters. The man's brown eyes were open and dead below Velkan's belly. With the body's angle, Velkan saw the bullet-hole in its chest. He remembered firing at the werewolf, and before that; him and Anna travelling to a village thirty miles north of Vaseria looking for one of Dracula's servants, barely slaughtering the witch coven who'd trapped the two of them. Though they hadn't been quick enough to kill the witches before they could magically alert Dracula with one of their spells, and a werewolf had arrived at the village in less than a day.

Velkan put his hands on the bank to hold him up. He looked around, trying to make out where he was. Beyond the bank, steep wooden hills rising sixty feet bordered the river, with no sign of the steep gorge Velkan had fallen from. He wasn't familiar with these parts, and had no idea how far downriver he could have been carried while unconscious. Velkan hissed in air slightly, mind registering slight pain in his back – a small injury behind his right shoulder. Had he felt with his hand, he would've found the small, open tear in his waistcoat and the shallow puncture in his skin underneath it. Velkan pushed the naked body off, letting it float downriver. Getting to his feet, he quickly looked among the river-bank for his gun. In a few seconds, he spotted a flash of chrome ten feet away and went to pick it up – his revolver. He opened the case, finding five bullets remained. Re-examining his surroundings, he looked at the hills and listened. It was quiet, but there was still distant birdsong, though Velkan couldn't hear any sounds of a road or nearby settlement. A thin grey mist hung over the hills' trees. It was day, but the smells and grey sky's light told Velkan night was near. Any Transylvanian knew better than to be out in the wilds at night, so Velkan took one last quick look around, before returning his gun to its holster and running into the trees and uphill. Velkan didn't know how he'd find Anna, but what he did know was he needed to find safe shelter, soon.

Velkan travelled a few miles, finding no road or farmland. Climbing a hill twice as high as the river's slopes, he gained a view for almost a dozen miles around. The river wound in a semicircle from on one side of the hill he was on to the other side. The landscape was covered in trees with no fields, roads or villages breaking through. The land behind Velkan's back was hilly woodland, while the outermost Carpathians rose in front of him. Velkan recognised the specific mountains, and knew he was twenty miles northwest of Vaseria. And he'd still have to cross into the mountains to reach the valley. He considered his options. If Anna thought he was still alive, she'd be searching for him right now, meaning she wouldn't be at the same place he'd shot the werewolf, but Velkan was closer to the other village than to Vaseria. Additionally, night was closing in. So Velkan set off in a northeasterly direction. Besides, he couldn't leave Anna on her own searching futilely for him.

Velkan walked for hours, thankful he hadn't encountered any bears, wolves or lynxes from the mountains yet. Before the Carpathians, the forest floor was made of precipices that regularly sloped downwards and upwards, and the trees thinned and then thickened again. As the sky darkened, Velkan's sense of urgency increased – he suspected he'd barely travelled seven miles. Thankfully, his eyesight remained sharp despite the mist and the light going. He and his family learned to be very in-tune with the sounds, temperature and air's aromas to stand a chance fighting evil creatures, it was one of the reasons they were called Royalty of the Gypsies. He could feel the moisture on his skin and hear birds tweeting hundreds of yards away.

Velkan stopped, ears picking up the distant growling breath. He turned his head in the growling's direction. He saw the bulky brown shape far away. Suddenly, the bear charged, making sticks and branches crunch loudly while it roared. Though slightly slowed since his fall, Velkan ran at a tree fast. He sprinted ten feet up its trunk, perching on a branch. Withdrawing his gun, he fired twice. One bullet went in the bear's back near its hindquarters, the other went into its left foreleg; it roared with rage but didn't stop. Knowing when the bear would be upon him, Velkan leapt from the branch in the opposite direction from the bear, one second before the bear scaled the trunk to the branch's height. Landing in a crouch, Velkan didn't remain that way for more than a second before getting up. Running faster than he'd ever run before – and he was a fast runner – the trees shot by around him in a blur. He looked behind his shoulder while running – the bear was taking longer than he'd thought it would to close, but was still managing it, being about twenty yards behind. Seeing a sudden fall in land ahead, Velkan pushed himself into a harder run, intending to make a sharp left-turn and let the bear fall. Then something slammed into his back, throwing him sideways – he hit a tree trunk so hard his ribs creaked. Slowly sliding down the bark, ringing filled Velkan's ears momentarily, all other sound becoming distorted. Then a burning, primal rage swelled inside him, a desire to destroy this beast that had attacked him. Hearing the bear's growl feet behind his head, Velkan's eyes shot open, an inhuman-sounding growl escaping through his grit teeth.

Both hands grabbing bark above his head, Velkan threw himself upwards before the bear's paw slashed the trunk. He shot fifteen feet away, before stopping himself by grabbing branches with either hand. Whipping his head with a growling noise, he looked down at the bear again, filled with hate. The bear, head craned, roared and started climbing – Velkan didn't let it finish before leaping downwards, throwing his full body-weight at the bear. The strength in Velkan's muscles was such that the bear was knocked clean off the trunk, hitting the earth with Velkan atop it. Roaring, Velkan raised a fist meant to smash at the bear's eye socket – the roaring died as rational thought screamed in his mind, fist remaining raised. Looking at what he'd done, Velkan's eyes were wide, horrified brain toiling over his superhuman feats. Roaring, the bear swiped at Velkan's head – Velkan ducked just in time, before the bear swiped its other paw at his side, knocking him clean off. Hurtling several feet, then rolling down sloping earth, Velkan felt momentarily like a carriage had slammed into him fast. Then the boiling anger rose in him again. Hearing the bear charge, Velkan released all restraint. He rose to his feet inhumanly fast, leapt towards the bear twice as far as he'd normally be able to. When they collided, the bear's momentum won out, but it was slowed. Still running, the bear didn't have two seconds to try throwing Velkan off its head and neck, before he swung a fist which squashed its eyeball to gore. The bear screeched in pain, stopping and rising on its hind legs. Velkan leapt off, clinging to a nearby trunk like a squirrel, watching the bear stagger and bellow blindly. The iron smell of blood drove Velkan crazy. Staggering away from Velkan, the bear lowered on all fours with hindquarters facing the man, and bounded away. After only a couple seconds feeling the urge to pursue his challenger, Velkan's rational thought began returning.

His limbs felt slightly soft. He detached himself from the tree trunk, gracefully returning to standing on earth. The whole world seemed unreal, dreamlike to him as he tried to deny what the things he'd done meant, though his mind had already worked out it was the only explanation. He'd been afflicted with the werewolf's curse. Remembering the slight pain in his back, Velkan's hands went behind it, finding the tiny tear in his clothing and feeling the bump of the wound underneath. Horror filled Velkan, and he momentarily couldn't think straight. Of the many ways a Valerious could die, becoming a werewolf wasn't favoured – losing one's humanity in the build-up to the first full moon, and not dying but becoming one of Dracula's puppets. Velkan looked back in the direction he'd run from – he remembered leaping off the first branch, and his gun falling away. He half-staggered, then half-ran back in the direction he'd come from, looking among the ground's dead leaves. He searched for some minutes with increasing urgency, but found nothing.

"No," Velkan murmured. "NO!" He'd never yelled so loudly when in the wilderness, and immediately quietened when some birds and distant beasts cried in response. It might've just been him, but he thought he could hear even further away than was normal, even for him. Again aware of the aromas and the woods getting dimmer, Velkan reconsidered his options – he couldn't be allowed to live, especially since werewolves were among Dracula's most dangerous servants. It occurred to him he could allow a beast to come along and kill him, but he didn't know if anything besides silver would kill him while he was still a man. He thought if he could find his way back to the village – or a road – he could have someone kill him with silver. Hearing something growl far away, it occurred to Velkan any monsters that found him could take him to Dracula with certainty. His mind set, he forced himself to his feet and continued walking through the trees and dark-grey gloom.

Though Velkan jogged fast, he resisted the bestial tingle urging him to break out into a full-blown run – he knew he'd abandon all reason again if that happened. The sky continued darkening – it was virtually dusk now.

Velkan ran up a slope in the land, but stopped when a grey wolf crossed horizontally in front of him. Stopping, it growled and bared its teeth, green eyes boring Velkan. Four more wolves in varying sizes followed and passed the first, some of them also looking and growling at Velkan, before the first wolf followed at their tail. Velkan stared after them before continuing on his way. He thought the air seemed off, too cold and still, before he reached the top of the slope. Past the slope's top, the land sloped downwards again into a shallow valley. In the valley's stream, two women were sitting half-submerged, black hair falling over their backs mostly, though Velkan still saw ice-blue skin. His breathing slowed. Ielele.

The two women slowly turned as though sensing his gaze. They had finely-curved women's faces, devoid of feeling like perfectly-carved statues, and pure-black eyes. White rags on their arms, shoulders and waist barely covered their modesty. They looked straight at Velkan. A second passed. Then the ielele were moving from the stream towards Velkan with speed like passing clouds' shadows, two pale-blue blurs which left blackened trails of earth and shrubs behind them. Velkan turned to run, a second before an ielele appeared in front of his face, resuming its non-blurred form. It faced him for one second, before its eyes became giant, jagged black pits and its mouth a maw; unleashing a horrible wail that filled Velkan's ears, made him feel like they were bleeding. Velkan cried out a second, then somersaulted sideways – getting trapped between two ielele was certain death. He ran full speed, trying desperately to curve back into his intended route rather than run in the wrong direction. He was aware of the werewolf's power screaming as his blood sang, but he fought it down. Velkan could sense the ielele following by the air's unnatural vibrations and the cold following him.

About seven seconds later, Velkan was vaguely aware of the ielele's vibrations stopping behind him, but didn't wonder why. Seeing the ground suddenly end ahead, Velkan ran, and leapt over the gorge, towards the opposite precipice. His body above the waist slammed into the ground above the edge, then began sliding away. One hand's fingertips dug into the earth, making tiny trenches, before Velkan could wholly disappear into the gorge. Hearing gurgling sounds, Velkan looked down. There was a camp at the gorge's bottom, a limbless animal skeleton hanging in a hang rope-like contraption over a burnt-out campfire. Directly below Velkan's boots, two Diwergi clothed in scarves and metal plates emerged from a cave mouth in the gorge's side. Craning their scarf-covered heads, they screeched in fury when their large, milky eyes saw Velkan, pointing the tools they'd been holding. Velkan let go of the edge, legs straight – his soles hit a Diwerger's head, crushing its spine. He looked at the other Diwerger, the pint-size creature charging and swinging its tool. Velkan raised an arm and the tool hit it, making bone crack. He screamed, pain exploding in his arm. The Diwerger swung again, but Velkan caught the tool with his other hand. Aware of the beast urging him to kill before restraining it, Velkan kicked the Diwerger in the chest, sending it reeling backwards. It snarled and ran back into the cave mouth. Velkan turned to run the opposite way up the gorge. He didn't make it ten yards before something pierced his leg and agony like Hell suddenly burned through it, making him collapse to his knees and scream.

Looking at his leg, Velkan saw the large metal dart inside it. The screw in the dart was slowly turning, burrowing into his flesh, while three needle-like tripod legs were slowly forcing the wound open wider. Velkan screamed against the pain again. Not a second later, he grabbed the dart and tore it out. He heard the whistle of another dart firing, and whipped round before it could hit. The lust for breaking seeping in behind his fury, Velkan ran full-speed at the Diwerger. He leapt just as the Diwerger fired its crossbow-weapon again, and drove his fist at its forehead. The whole forehead caved, dark fluid spraying out. Crying out, the Diwerger staggered backwards several steps before falling to the ground, its rabid snarling slowly dying.

Velkan stared wide-eyed for a moment, sense returning. Then he picked up the first killed Diwerger's rusted spanner, ran at the remaining Diwerger and swung the tool – the head went into the Diwerger's skull with a loud crunch, several more crunches following as Velkan forced the head in deeper to be sure. When the Diwerger was dead, Velkan let go and stepped back. Two kinds of monster had seen him alive – one of them having seen him use the werewolf's power. Dracula could see through some of his servants' eyes, and Velkan didn't know if that included the Diwergi, or if it included him while he was infected with the werewolf curse. He turned and rushed fast down the gorge, looking for a suitable part of the wall for climbing up.

Within an hour, the sky became near-black and snow started falling. Seeing surprisingly well through the dark, Velkan ran fast, avoiding stepping on fallen wood that might give him away. He felt shifts in the air currents indicating something flying, but there were only trees and black sky when he looked up. He'd experienced this phenomenon before – vampires were stalking him. Feeling the werewolf pulsing under his skin with excitement, Velkan pushed into a full-blown run, though his hope of escaping now was minimal.

Thinking he heard a distant laugh, Velkan looked sideways – he thought he saw a figure among the trees, so far away he could only make out its glowing eyes through the snowfall. It was there a second, before a tree passed in Velkan's line of sight and it was gone. Velkan hadn't smelled anything, nor sensed any shift at all – which indicated undead. A high laugh, sounding like only a harpy of Hell could make it, made Velkan look up; he saw nothing among the trees' gnarled branches. The ripple of a large creature's flight, near ground-level, made Velkan look right – nothing was visible, again. He heard a faint shriek on his left – he saw two figures in the trees, with glowing yellow eyes and blue eyes respectively. Ahead of Velkan, a thick opening between two trees grew closer. Hearing that phantom-shriek again behind him, Velkan looked over his shoulder, seeing the pink-eyed grinning woman's form shrinking behind him.

Velkan burst through the trees' opening – and barely stopped himself short of a narrow but deep gorge's edge. A hand suddenly seized his waistcoat's back and threw him back into the trees with tremendous strength. Crying out, Velkan saw Verona standing by the gorge's edge, growing further away in front of him, before his back hit a tree trunk hard. He bounced off, belly catching on a branch, then he landed in a crouch on the forest floor. Velkan groaned for less than two seconds, before a noose suddenly wrapped around his neck, choking him. Yanked to the forest floor, Velkan grabbed and fought the string-thin yet steel-strong noose furiously. He heard activity stirring all around him in the shrubbery, hearing Diwergi's gurgling voices and their small bodies' movements. Out of his eye's corner, he even saw some of them - all dressed in full clothing and goggles - emerging from the shrubbery, several wielding noose-ended poles. A second noose wrapped around Velkan's wrist, pulling his arm away from his neck, then more nooses wrapped around his ankle and other wrist. The beast roared furiously inside Velkan at being bound. In his panic, Velkan didn't repress it, raging and roaring inhumanly against the nooses pulling his limbs in different directions. He was enraged at the Diwergi and felt the beast's want to tear and kill them, to taste their blood. A soft chuckle got through to Velkan's mind, making him roll his eyes to look above his head. A beautiful woman wearing rich materials stepped towards him, the Diwergi clearing her path. She wore white baggy pants and a brassiere, leaving much of her flesh above the waist exposed, white-and-gold materials decorated with gold beads flowing past her arms and shoulders. Marishka. The other brides, who wore more dress-like gowns with bright-green and -pink colours respectively, closed in on different sides, the three forming a circle around Velkan's head. Velkan's eyes widened, then the beast made him growl.

"Such a disobedient little pup," Marishka purred darkly.

"Obviously in need of discipline," Verona murmured. Aleera, the red-haired bride with the bright-pink gown, grinned, eyes turning pink, a feral growl escaping her throat as her white fangs lengthened. Crouching slightly, Marishka tsk-tsk'd and grinned, looking almost sweet. Then, in a flash of movement, Aleera raised her heel and brought it down on Velkan's face.

Velkan watched, the thirteen-year-old boy's arms folded in front of his hunting coat, one boot's heel on the wall behind him. The blindfolded younger girl in hunting breeches, corset and spencer stood, poised with her training singlestick raised. Velkan made a high-pitched whistling sound. The dog ran forward. Anna barely turned her head, then ran left, putting her stick on her belt, and leapt. She grabbed the rope's end five feet off the floor, scaling it while the dog jumped and barked below. Stopping some way up, her foot found the square platform protruding on the upper-wall, and she got on. She barely stopped to keep her balance, when the platform began falling like a trapdoor on a hinge – she leapt to the next one along, then along to the next one as the previous platform collapsed. After the fourth platform fell, Anna leapt into the air, grabbing the rope that was diagonally hanging from the ceiling. The rope's end attached to the wall came loose and Anna swung forward. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed and switched to the next rope, scaling down it. Face serious, Velkan pulled the lever beside him. The giant bag on a rope swung towards Anna. She turned her head a second before it slammed into her, making her cry out. She fell five feet before re-seizing the rope. She resumed climbing down, boots hitting the floor.

Velkan whistled, prompting the dog to turn and scarper. Raising his singlestick, Velkan ran straight towards Anna. She was still for less than a full second before turning heel, running to another rope and hurriedly climbing it. Sheathing his stick, Velkan climbed after her, the rope swaying with both their weight. When his hair was level with Anna's knees, Velkan removed his stick. Anna raised a leg and kicked - Velkan barely dodged. Then Anna raised her legs and folded them, heels joined with the rope in-between. Velkan climbed higher to reach her. Before he'd raised his singlestick, Anna grabbed his other hand and tore it loose, making him fall six feet. He cried out briefly, before hitting the floor. On the floor he wheezed for two seconds, before performing a kip-up. Sprinting to another wall, Velkan pulled another lever. Barrels in the walls started firing spheres in beelines. Anna climbed seemingly unheeded, if anything going faster. A ball missed her by an inch a few times, before she reached a skirting board close to the ceiling. She leapt onto the board's ledge, and started scaling it precariously. Velkan pulled another lever. A large wooden effigy, shaped like a person with wings, shot forward, attached to a wheel on rope. Turning her head, Anna waited four seconds. Then she thrust her singlestick, hitting the bat-effigy's torso, and spun a split-second before the effigy hit the wall where she'd just been. With a spring in her feet, she leapt off the wall, somersaulted, and landed in a crouching position. Smiling, Velkan began marching towards her.

"You did well-" Anna rose and spun when Velkan spoke, stick raised. Velkan immediately paused, impressed. "Anna – it's alright, you've finished." Anna's blindfolded face looks surprised, but she still didn't lower her guard. "This isn't a test, I promise." He slowly reached towards her face. "You know I never hurt you with my hands." Velkan slowly clasped the blindfold, then lifted it. Seeing him with her bright eyes, Anna grinned, looking proud and pleased at once. Velkan himself smiled proudly. "I told Father you could carry on the family quest." Smile turning slightly mischievous, he added: "After trying the training hall three times." Anna's smile instantly thinned and she hit her stick on Velkan's arm. Velkan barely flinched, hard as the blow had been, and smiled mischievously - Anna returned the smile after a moment. Anna walked past him and he turned his head, watching her leave.

"Anna…" Velkan slowly came to. Sound was unclear, and all he saw were blurred dark colours. His back was on a rough, uneven surface, and he got the sensation he was moving. He started lifting his head, and a sharp jab in his side sent an unpleasant sensation through his body, making him hurt and shudder. When it ceased after several seconds, foam was leaking between Velkan's lips. He got three seconds' reprieve before the sting reoccurred in his other side, making him grit his teeth and groan. The memory's pleasantness fully evaporated, leaving him with suffering. Looking around, Velkan saw he was strapped to a wooden rack on wheels, trundling up a wooded slope. His waistcoat and shirt were unbuttoned, leaving the front of his chest exposed. Snow was barely falling, and the ground was a mix of white and earthy-dark. About fifteen Diwergi were around Velkan – some leading, some pushing or pulling the wagon, a few standing on the wagon's sides with long-poled prods. A Diwerger poked Velkan's skin with its prod, stinging him again.

After six or seven prods over three minutes, Velkan viciously fought against his bonds, unleashing a werewolf's roar. The Diwergi weren't hindered. When the party left the trees, Velkan saw the mountain they were on was high, several surrounding peaks level with the height they were at. The party advanced to and began entering a cave mouth. Velkan remembered reading about two Valerious who'd entered Diwerger tunnels – the Diwergi were said to have carved tunnels through the entire Carpathian range – hoping to find Dracula's lair; what remains the Diwergi had sent back had discouraged other Valerious from retrying this. Velkan's legs in front of him were swallowed by the cave, then his torso, then he was in total darkness. The Diwergi lit torches, enabling Velkan to see – the tunnel was circularly cut, small and cramped with uneven surfaces. In the tunnel space, lit only by yellow flame-light which turned the rocky walls brownish shades before the tunnel's length disappeared into blackness, Velkan felt like he were being taken into Hell.

Velkan had no idea how much time passed, during which he was constantly prodded. For all he knew, it could've been ten minutes, two days, or months. Despite the tunnels' freezing cold, Velkan's shocked body felt on-fire. Hearing wind howling and seeing new light ahead, Velkan strained his neck to look – the party was at an exit. He was prodded again and grunted, but returned his eyes to the exit, eyes widening in horror as the blue light grew closer. The sky was heavy with impenetrable clouds, their blue colour like a moonlit night, Velkan's only clue to whether it was night or day. One of the first things Velkan saw was the mountain-sized monstrosity, rising many hundreds of feet above him. It looked black, three huge towers making up the structure atop the rocky base. Snow fell and whirled amid the howling winds. Snow-covered mountains enclosed the monstrous mountain-structure on all sides, but gave it a vast space inside their wall, seemingly almost reverently.

The party went down a narrow path carved in the mountains' sides – it was too narrow for any Diwergi to walk abreast of the rack, so Velkan had a reprieve from the prods. Then the cold started reaching him. Shuddering, Velkan felt like the werewolf curse were a thing burning and swelling inside him, sweat breaking through his skin despite the cold. He involuntarily grunted, every few grunts sounding like a werewolf's snarl. After what felt like a couple hours, the party reached a mile-long bridge to the mountain-fortress's base and crossed, a mouth in the rock waiting at the end. As the rack entered, Velkan's teeth were grit and lips peeled back, wolfish growls and groans escaping him. Velkan passed through a vast cave, hundreds of stalactites hanging above, then the party came out into a hall that could only have been made for a giant. It was barely less cold than outside. Tiny-seeming torches were lit on monstrous columns, providing light to see. Everything was dull-grey, but the ceiling and walls were well-carved with intricate, discomforting patterns. If the werewolf curse had felt swollen outside the castle, now Velkan felt like he'd burst from it, a want for blood and destruction burning his insides.

A dark laugh echoed in the hall, making the Diwergi halt. It was made by a man's voice, one Velkan recognised and hated deeply – and on a level he'd never admit to, feared. Velkan saw a bat-like large shadow, flying unnaturally-fast across walls and columns' surfaces, present for less than two seconds.

"Welcome, Prince Velkan!" Count Dracula's voice boomed – it first sounded welcoming, then said Velkan's title mockingly. Velkan couldn't stop his chest heaving, feeling like he were about to explode with the curse's urges to tear, kill, dismember and drink blood. He let out a scream that felt, going through his throat, like it could break glass half a mile away. Velkan slammed the back of his head into the rack, screaming voice deepening. He felt something on his face tearing apart like dead skin, skull lengthening. The tearing something began sloughing off the rest of Velkan's body, hair sprouting through the new skin underneath. He felt cramps more awful than any growing pains as his bones changed shape and realigned, muscles swelling and popping massively. In several seconds, Velkan's screaming turned wholly to roaring, his face forming into a wolfish muzzle, his body covered in brown fur under his torn clothing. Velkan's thoughts and memories sank into darkness, like a soul drowning in a dark abyss. Snarling and roaring, the werewolf fought to get its taloned hands free of their restraints, wanting to tear apart the weakling creatures around it. The man who part of the beast recognised as Master laughed – the beast listened with one ear, struggles slightly lessening.

"I'm aware that my brides think you are in need of discipline," Dracula said darkly.

"Father, I am ready!" the frizzy-haired girl insisted vehemently. Loading silver bullets into his revolver, the teenaged boy watched on, feeling a twang of sympathy for his sister.

"There is a great difference between training, and hunting two werewolves, Anna," the long-haired, eyepatch-wearing man said while removing a flintlock from the armoury's set. Boris Valerious' voice was gentle and smooth, sounding almost like that of a singer.

"I have trained daily for months, just like Velkan has," Anna insisted.

"Velkan has had more experience in the field than you have," their father replied. "My answer remains the same Anna – no." Velkan saw Anna lower her eyes, almost hang her head even. Neither of them dared directly defy their father, he was possibly the only person Velkan knew Anna would ever stand down to - and even then, just barely. The flame-lit armoury became relatively quiet, save for the sounds of Velkan loading his revolver and Father slotting weapons into their holsters and places on his person. After only a couple seconds, Father turned his head to Anna, moustached face soft. He stepped towards her, putting a strong-looking yet gentle hand on her shoulder – it made Anna look directly into his face. "Be patient, Anna," Father said softly. "I promise you, when you are ready I will let you fight with me and your brother. But for now, please, do this for me." A silent pause passed, Anna's eyes lowering to the floor in relent – which was something Velkan rarely saw happen when Anna argued with someone. Father's moustache rose slightly to indicate he was smiling thankfully. Then he turned and marched away from Anna in Velkan's direction, broadsword at his side inside his fur-lined overcoat. When he passed towards the armoury's exit, Velkan shot Anna a sympathetic look – she raised her head, and he saw the sour dismay in her eyes. Not two seconds later, Velkan turned and broke eye contact, following Father.

Velkan and Father rode towards the thick woods that grew down the valley, villagers and mountain gypsies on horseback joining up with their party the closer they got – it was a larger number than was usual, seeing as they knew from the attacks on the village's eastern border that there were two werewolves to be hunted. The plan was the usual, with a slight tweak – one of them would act as bait to draw the werewolves out, then the others would emerge from cover and surprise-attack; occupying the beasts by firing bullets and springing multiple traps, while Velkan and Boris would divide and conquer, finishing either werewolf off using silver weapons. It was near-dusk when the party entered the woodlands. They began hiding bear-traps under the leaves littering the ground, and hanging more bear-traps on ropes from the tree-branches, ready to drop and snap shut on the werewolves' bones. Velkan was tied with rope to a tree trunk, though the bindings were loose enough that he'd be able to throw them off quickly once the werewolves came – he knew his father would've preferred to be the bait himself, but facts were Velkan was quicker and more agile.

Velkan patiently waited for about an hour, twilight turning the woodland's gloom dark-blue. The party were silently nestled among brushes and foliage, eyes slowly scanning around, ears alert for the slightest shift in sound such as evening birds going silent. Velkan's ears practically pricked up – almost indiscernible, there was the slightest growl on his left, behind his turned head. Velkan flexed his hands' muscles slightly, wanting them relaxed if he was to escape with his life. At the very same time, the rest of the forest became as silent as the true dead, like they themselves hadn't noticed the predator in their midst. Velkan heard the slightest scratching-sound, of leaves delicately brushing his stalker as it stealthily moved. By the sound, Velkan guessed the werewolf was about twenty-five feet away from him. He turned his head slightly towards his left, but barely enough to look out of one eye's corner, scanning the overhead branches and sloping land, searching for any sign of the other werewolf. Velkan heard the soft, rhythmic hiss of animal-nostrils inhaling in two intervals. Then the werewolf's growl rose slightly, and the sound of leaves brushing started trailing sideways, in the direction Velkan's chest was facing. Velkan barely had the chance to turn his head before, in front of his chest, he heard another werewolf's loud growl further away, followed by two pistol-shots. His mind was momentarily stunned, re-reading what he'd heard before confirming the entire party had been present here at the ambush site. Then he heard a sight cry in the pistol-shots' direction – a familiar young girl's cry.

"Anna!" Velkan hissed, horrified. "IT'S ANNA!" he yelled at the top of his voice, looking at the shrubbery. Less than two seconds passed before shots started firing from the shrubbery at the first werewolf, Velkan's pistol-wielding father rising from his hiding place. The werewolf growled loudly, silhouette through the leaves and branches thrashing, but the sound almost mattered less to Velkan than two more pistol-shots being heard ahead of him. He was already throwing his bindings off. Briefly glancing left as the werewolf growled again, he saw its silhouette, sprinting on two legs in a blur, towards where the noise had come from. Velkan was crossing fifteen feet of earth in three seconds, throwing his coat off to leave him clad only in his waistcoat and pantaloons, and he drew a pistol from his belt in half that time. The land in front of him sloped upwards, but that only pushed him to work his legs even harder, hearing two more pistol-shots go off. Less than four seconds later, Velkan heard another shot mixed with werewolves' snarling – it was closer than when he'd been tied to the tree. He heard that familiar voice outright scream for a moment. Velkan burst through the shrubs into the small clearing. He saw his sister on her belly, being dragged along the leaf-littered ground towards the shrubbery across the clearing. An unusually-small, brown-furred werewolf was crouched beside her, baring its huge teeth as it menaced her, while a larger silhouette loomed through the shrubbery behind Anna. Velkan aimed his pistol. Roaring, the concealed werewolf suddenly leapt six feet onto a tree's lower branch, yellow eyes glaring menacingly at Velkan; Anna cried out as she was suspended in the air, held by her by the ankle. The smaller werewolf turned and snarled at Velkan. He adjusted his aim and fired. The werewolf leapt into the air a split-second before the bullet would have penetrated it, huge-fanged maw wide and clawed hands brandished, clawed feet's pads facing Velkan's head.

BLAM-BLAM!

The gypsies and villagers ran forward, firing – the werewolf screeched and lost focus, Velkan sidestepping a split-second before it crashed to earth. He fired a bullet from his gun at the downed form, but didn't stop for half-a-second before looking back at the trees. The other werewolf turned its back and leaped. Velkan fired another bullet, just as the werewolf's head and pointed ears disappeared below the shrubbery.

"FATHER!" Velkan yelled – the man was already running ahead, passing Velkan, who immediately followed at his tail while a mob formed around the small werewolf. Hearts pounding, father and son heard snarling as they sprinted through the shrubbery, then an agonised beastly screech. They barely stopped themselves short of the steep fall's precipice, looking down. They saw Anna twenty feet away, backing away on her hands and rear – five feet from her, the werewolf was groaning, one clawed hand by its head, a blade's handle protruding from one eye socket. It suddenly leapt straight at Anna, claws brandished. She swung another knife with a grunt, in the same spit-second Velkan and Father fired their weapons into the beast's back. The beast's head collided with a tree trunk, above Anna's head, before collapsing to the earth beside her. Velkan and his father rushed down the land-slope. Velkan registered the werewolf was slowly getting itself back up, growling, in about the same second Anna drove her bright-chrome blade into its neck with a loud yell. The creature gave a growling moan, then collapsed back to the earth.

"Anna, are you alright?!" Father exclaimed, reaching the girl just before Velkan. He cupped her face in both his gloved hands, and she didn't immediately respond, distant-seeming eyes on the werewolf's corpse that had just started regaining its human form. Slowing with the danger having passed, Velkan half-skidded into a crouch beside Father, looking his child sister over – her face was bruised, and deep-looking claw-marks had been raked through one thigh.

"Were you bitten?" Velkan asked urgently, barely registering the sound of the party descending the slope behind him. Anna's eyes connected with his, and she shook her head firmly. A pause passed before Velkan grabbed her head and pulled her into an embrace, sighing in relief.

Three minutes later, the Valerious and the party were hurriedly mounting their horses, wanting to clear the woods immediately with night upon them. Father helped Anna onto Velkan's horse behind his back, and she didn't object – she'd been dead-silent since killing the werewolf. While their father rushed to his own horse, Velkan couldn't stop himself looking back at Anna, re-examining the deep scratch on her thigh. Her first battle-scar. He reached a hand over his shoulder and shook her shoulder gently – she looked up at him.

It wouldn't be until after they were home safe he would tell her from the bottom of his heart, "You did well."

The man sat on the platform, surrounded by walls on only two sides, linked to the walls by a metal collar with chains. After his initial arrival at the castle, Velkan hadn't stayed a werewolf for long before changing back, but he still felt the werewolf curse's power in him strongly. He saw the vampires come and go moderately frequently. Dracula and Verona paid him next to no attention, but Aleera and Marishka were happy to take time taunting him – grinning at him like one might at a pet, saying, Poor, poor hurt thing. Or, Is the pup happy or sad? They also enjoyed running their hands through his now-dirty hair like petting a dog. Velkan usually tried to look anywhere else and avoid responding, except for twice when he'd tried fighting his leash to reach them. Both times, they'd backhanded him to the wall hard enough for him to taste blood. Velkan could hardly remember a time when he hadn't constantly felt pain. When he wasn't watching vampires or Diwergi pass, he was often tortured by a squat, stringy-haired man with beady eyes – Igor, he called himself. Igor was particularly fond of using an electric prod on Velkan, grinning hideously. Compared to the Diwergi's prods, Igor's left burning pain in Velkan's insides for some time, if he didn't transform from the pain and rage. A werewolf transforming as many times as Velkan had must've been unprecedented, as it was rare for a bitten person to fully turn into a werewolf before their first full moon.

Velkan remembered the ninth time Igor had come. He'd first heard the prod crackling as it touched the nearby curtains. Igor had stood in front of Velkan, making a groaning sound in his throat, then he'd plunged the prod at a gap in Velkan's tattered shirt. Velkan had yelled, involuntarily jumping when shocked. Igor had paused one second before prodding again.

"Why are you doing this?" Velkan had growled during a slightly longer-than-usual pause between jabs.

"It's what I do," Igor had replied bluntly, before jabbing again.

"Why is it what you do?!" Velkan had groaned after the initial shock had passed. Igor had paused momentarily, and Velkan had gotten the impression he hadn't liked being asked that. When the moment had passed, Igor had prodded particularly-hard, grunting.

When Velkan had had episodes of half-asleep stupor or passed out from being tortured, he'd glimpsed things – blurred images, impressions of thoughts and meanings – which he'd thought weren't made by his mind. They'd come involuntarily, and most of these things had seemed or felt excessively indulgent, or carried strong feelings of wrath and hate. After some time, Velkan had pieced together he was looking into Dracula's mind, just as Dracula could see through his servants'. Velkan had thought about trying to look deeper to discover Dracula's secrets – hoping they might give him the chance to escape, or even kill Dracula before the werewolf curse consumed him. He'd plunged towards the mental impressions while half-asleep – the memories and thoughts had become slightly clearer, but they'd initially moved slightly further away the closer Velkan had gotten. Though Velkan had eventually reached the thoughts, worming his way between the outermost thoughts to those deeper inside. Memories and sensations had assaulted Velkan's mind almost too fast for him to understand – initially Dracula's passing thoughts, then Velkan had encountered his many deeper thoughts, which all oriented towards some specific goal that wasn't clear to Velkan. Velkan had tried focusing his own thoughts on what he was after, hoping it would somehow give him Dracula's thoughts he sought: Kill Dracula. Several images had rushed by, not all of them understandable. Werewolf. Teeth. Silver liquid. Clear liquid. Metal needle and tube. Then all the thoughts had vanished, leaving Velkan in a dreamless limbo moments before he'd woken up. He'd toiled over the images for hours, hoping to God they'd meant anything, before he came to a very-meaningful conclusion.

The huge bat-shadow flew over the wall behind Velkan, making the dirty-skinned man look up. On the curtain nearest him, the shadow flew to the floor and silently shifted in shape. The now man-shaped shadow stalked sideways, vanishing past the curtain's edge. A man with all-black clothing and dark hair in a ponytail stepped out, hands behind his back. Count Dracula's mouth was a straight line and his face completely calm. The look he gave Velkan was ice-cold.

"I give you hospitality, and while you are in my home, you look through private drawers that aren't meant to be looked through," the Count said, voice cold with a pit-black undertone. Velkan looked anywhere but at the Count's eyes, glaring defiantly. The Count approached, footsteps echoing, until he was so close he could've kicked out at Velkan. "Which I take it means, you're looking for answers to questions you don't want to ask." When Velkan didn't reply after two seconds, Dracula said: "So, you've seen what my secret is."

"Werewolf venom," Velkan growled, glaring defiantly into Dracula's face. "It can kill you." A pause passed, Dracula's face remaining unreadable with eyebrows raised.

"Are you going to kill me, my attack-dog?" Dracula murmured the last part hoarsely, voice barely above a whisper. Velkan lunged as fast as he could, momentarily releasing all restraint – Dracula sent him to the floor with a stroke of his hand. Velkan tasted blood in his mouth.

"There is more," Velkan practically groaned after a few seconds. "You have a cure for the curse of the werewolf."

"I do," Dracula said almost-nonchalantly. "I used to keep it on my person always, but when four-hundred years have passed you by and no-one has matched you, you tire of the habit." Dracula turned on his heel, hands behind his back. "Once, there were more than a hundred werewolves in this part of the world. Thanks to your family, now there are almost none left." Velkan, who hadn't moved since being struck, looked at Dracula's back.

"Is that why I'm being kept alive?" Velkan growled loathingly. "To spread the curse of the werewolf again?"

"A tempting idea; werewolves were always among my favourite creatures," Dracula murmured like he hadn't considered it. He turned back. "But that was not my intention when the Diwergi brought you here." Speaking of the Diwergi reminded Velkan of something else.

"How… may I ask-" He snarled those three words with the slightest mocking undertone. "-do the Diwergi know where your lair is?" Velkan momentarily thought he saw something terrible burning in Dracula's eyes, giving him the urge to cringe away. Then it vanished.

"You may ask," Dracula said. "They are a subterranean people who have long slept under the Mountains. They sensed me coming to power and came to my service." A cold smile spread on Dracula's face as he added, seemingly lost in his musings, "They've taken a liking to the current age's technology." Mood suddenly shifting, Dracula said: "Are you going to keep asking me questions about how your family can kill me?" Velkan glared with a mix of defiance and hopelessness at the Count.

"I'll return to my earlier question: why am I here?" Velkan growled.

"A Valerious bitten by a werewolf," Dracula said, pacing back-and-forth, looking delighted. "One of Valerious the Elder's noble descendants turned into the monster he hunts. The son of the house sworn to vanquish me turned into my attack-dog." Dracula chuckled, grinning wickedly at Velkan. "What would your father and mother say?"

Velkan lunged with a yell, chains stopping his face a foot from Dracula's, baring his teeth. Dracula looked nonchalant verging on pleased. The werewolf curse wasn't stirring strongly in Velkan right now, he suspected in spite of the fact this was its Master.

"You don't need to worry for your sister's wellbeing, you're unlikely to see her alive again," Dracula said, turning and walking away from Velkan.

"What are you going to do?!" Velkan shouted, fighting the chains. Dracula stopped.

"You're reasonably smart, Prince Velkan," he said patronisingly. "You tell me."

"You will not have her, Count!" Velkan snarled, fighting to get further than his chains allowed.

"We shall see." Dracula turned and looked back at Velkan, face as dark as night. "I have plans afoot which I will not allow any hindrances to interfere with, including Anna Valerious. Every obstacle will either fall or bend to my will – just as you shall soon enough." Dracula turned his back on Velkan again. "There's no need to worry about saving your strength. You will have plenty when the moon is next full." Velkan resumed fighting the chains.

"You will not touch my sister!" Velkan snarled through his teeth. "I will kill you myself first!" Dracula nonchalantly raised a hand, making the thumb and fingers snap together and apart like a duck's beak. Then he abruptly clenched his hand, and Velkan had an odd squeezing sensation inside him. Suddenly, he felt the werewolf curse rapidly swelling, the beast's bloodthirsty howl spreading through his insides. Jaw rigid, Velkan was aware of his muscles tearing and expanding. A strangled yell escaped through his teeth. Then his mouth opened, unleashing bestial roars. Velkan frantically tore at his skin, ripping it away in sloughs as the second skin broke through underneath and sprouted hair.

A/N: Some of you have probably noticed this chapter incorporates a new take on a scene from the Van Helsing novelisation.

Please R&R and tell me what you think.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and expect to see you next week.