Hey all!
Thank you again to all of my readers: Sakura Dark Angel, Irena and Lord Makura.
Disclaimers: see previous chapters.
CHAPTER 5: MONSTERS
Suceava, Moldavia 1451
It was a warm summer night when the incident happened. The night had started out in a typical way. Vlad and Stefan had gone to a night out in the town. Usually these trips involved a large amount of drinking, celebrating and bedding town's girls. The two young men would not return to the castle till the early hours when the first rays of light could already be seen. However, on this particular night, things didn't follow the normal routine.
Sometime after midnight, a servant from the castle came to inform the two young masters that Bogdan II had summoned both of them back to the castle. Apparently his half-brother Petru Aron's influence in Moldavia had grown and the safety of Stefan was now questioned. With some reluctance, the 18 year old son of Prince Bogdan and his 19 year old Transylvanian cousin, took the horses and set back to castle.
Vlad, Stefan and the servant man had decided to take a route around the town, firstly to avoid any unfriendly town's people, and secondly to sober Stefan's head a little. The trio was riding quietly on an open road when Stefan spoke.
"Vlad, did I really drink more than I can handle or do you also see someone ahead of us?" he asked.
Vlad and the servant looked ahead of them. There was a man walking slowly towards them. He held his head down, keeping eyes to his feet, his hands were hanging on his sides uselessly, and his feet were dragging him forward.
"Maybe he is injured" servant guessed.
"No, look" Vlad said and pointed around them. From the darkness more people appeared, everyone walking as slowly as the first one. They all kept going ahead. The horses started to become unexplainably nervous.
"Bandits!" Vlad hissed.
"But, sir, why would they walk like this?" servant asked, some fear in his voice.
"Vlad, tell me this is wine talking and I'm not actually seeing this" Stefan whispered.
The man leading the people suddenly raised his head and Vlad saw a sight he would never forget. Man's eyes were glowing red, his mouth was full of sharp teeth and his flesh was purple, like a corpse. He raised his hands up and seemed as if he was trying to reach to something. Others behind him did the same.
"Master Stefan. Master Vlad. Who are these people?" servant man whispered with terror.
Vlad wasn't sure since he had never saw people with rotting flesh actually walking. Surely this must be some sort of a nightmare, he thought.
Servant suddenly screamed. Some of the strange people had managed to get close to him and threw him off his horse. He fell to the ground and before had time to get up five people were around him. Soon there were seven and then ten. The man's scream ran through the night as Vlad heard how the men, if you can call them that, started to bite his flesh.
They are eating him!
Vlad pulled his sword out as one of the men started get more and more closer. With a cold accuracy he moved his sword and the man's hand drop off. The man was momentarily stopped but then continued on, as if not caring. He didn't give any sings of being in pain.
"Stefan! Let us leave! Now!" Vlad shouted, shocked how even his sword had no use to him now.
Just then a sound was heard. Both Stefan and Vlad recognised it at once. Arrows had been shot. Lots of them. They appeared out of nowhere, carrying torches and hit the strange people. To Vlad's surprise this time they seemed to be feeling pain, some of them even stayed down and didn't get up anymore. From the darkness five horsemen appeared. They pulled their swords out and attacked the monsters. With trained movements they cut the heads off from their shoulders. Vlad understood at once that he had just witnessed the most efficient way of killing these things.
Stefan's horse was suddenly out of control and knocked the young man to the ground. He hit his head and didn't get up. One of the creatures was approaching him. Quickly Vlad was by Stefan's side and hit the creature's head of with his swords.
One of the horsemen approached them. "You! Did it bit you? Did that thing bit you or your friend?" he asked.
Vlad shook his head. He quickly looked at the man's armour. He had never seen anything like it. It had a cross carved in it. Around the man's neck Vlad saw a pendant that had a Roman number XIII.
"Try to avoid being bitten. If they bite even once, you will become just like them. Take your friend and leave quickly!" the man ordered.
Vlad didn't hesitate. He saw that Stefan had lost his consciousness and helped him to his horse. He then started to ride without any knowledge where he was really going.
He could hear some of the horsemen shouting behind him. "Use more silver arrows! Take care of the rest! And find the host! It can not be too far away!"
Vlad had no comprehension what the words meant but for once his curiosity was somewhere else and he rode like being chased by the devil himself. He tried to look around himself, to see any familiar places or if anymore of those monsters was appearing.
The smell of blood filled the air suddenly and Vlad found himself not only falling but also covered with blood. He fell the ground and saw in horror that his horse was lying all around the road in pieces. Vlad looked wildly around himself. Stefan was lying next to him, blissfully unaware of the nightmare going around him. Vlad raised his head and saw a man standing in the middle of what used to be Vlad's horse.
The man's facial features suggested that he was from the east, far beyond the mountains. His hair was long and red. His skin was very pale. He was wearing a long thick fur around him. From under the fur Vlad saw one of the man's hands. His fingers were long and thin and covered with blood. The man, if it was a man, raised the hand and licked the blood.
"I've never really liked horse blood. It lacks something" the man said softly. His voice was mesmerising. He watched directly to Vlad with his red eyes.
Vlad stood up and took his sword, ready to strike, but faster than he could see the man moved. With his bare hand the man shattered Vlad's sword to pieces. Vlad watched in disbelief.
"Quite impressive, wouldn't you say? You must feel rather helpless now. Suddenly all the weapons you could put your faith in are meaningless. The boundaries of humanity" man said. His voice had no menace. He sounded more like he was having fun.
The kind of defying panic that Vlad had felt the night Sultan first molest him filled him. And like that night, Vlad took hold of his cross. The man looked at the cross. For a moment a flash of rage appeared to his face, but then it was gone and he smiled again.
"You really think He is going to help you? You believe he really will save you, one of his lambs?" he asked mockingly.
Vlad kept holding the cross, but as he defiantly kept looking to man's red eyes, he felt like the man was talking inside his head.
"The cross is just as useless as your sword. Your God does not care for you. He doesn't care for anyone. You are powerless and weak when you are trying to find security and strength from Him. Give up the cross. Throw it away and you shall have the powers I have. You will know a life without boundaries. You will never be weak. Would you not want to have a power like this?" his poisonous voice asked.
Vlad felt dizzy. The cross suddenly felt like a terrible burden, something that limiting him. If he'd give it away he could have unlimited power. And oh, how tempted he was.
Just then the moment was broken by the sound of approaching horsemen. The man sighed dramatically.
"Ah, the sons of Iscariot once again ruin my night. Well, I'm sure we can continue our talk some other time" he said to Vlad and then, just like that, he was gone.
Vlad was holding his cross so tightly that his knuckles were white, when the horsemen came. One of them approached him. He quickly checked both Stefan and Vlad's throats.
"He escaped this time, but you are alright. Your cross drove him away. You are a brave and good man" the unknown horseman said and patted Vlad on the shoulder.
Vlad didn't feel much like brave or good. Though he could hide it somewhat, he was all but trembling in his boots. All he could do, as the horsemen took care of Stefan, was to watch in the dark and think of that man with horror…
…and curiosity.
To be continued…
Right, unlike my previous chapters, this one was completely fictional with no historical elements. We'll continue with the more historical things next time, I just need to plant the seeds of destruction to Vlad.
Remember to review!