Vlad, Ingeras, and I rode to the meeting spot designated by the Turks. Petru followed behind with a small company of guards. The Turks had arrived first, they sneered at Vlad as he dismounted. Ingeras shuffled nervously on his feet, Vlad had told him about the exchange the day before.
Broken Tooth Mountain loomed in the distance. The Turks dismounted as Vlad took Ingeras' hand. I slowly got off of Roach and laid a hand on the pommel of Excalibur. As Vlad and Ingeras approached the lead Turk the Turk smiled.
"Vlad Draculae, frankly I am disappointed."
When Vlad didn't react to his taunt the man continued.
"I had expected you to put up more of a… resistance."
Vlad looked at Ingeras before turning to me, he took a knee and whispered. "Run to your brother." Ingeras looked confused at first. Vlad repeated the order.
Ingeras started running, meeting him halfway, I pulled him behind me as Vlad literally disarmed the man who had tainted him before systematically killing everyone else in the Turkish envoy. Turning to me he had a look of regret on his face.
"Mehmed will no doubt send more men. We need to go back to the castle to prepare."
Nodding, I turned to Ingeras and motioned for him to rejoin our father. I remounted Roach and rode back to the castle at breakneck speeds. Reaching the front gates in half the time it took us to get to the meeting point I immediately started telling the guards to get all the civilians behind the walls. I sent for a messenger to tell Dorina and Mirena to stay put at the Villa. They were much safer there than on the road.
Hours pass, Vlad returned not too long ago visibly tired. Ingeras was told to hide in his room and a small army of soldiers formed outside the castle gate. I approached Vlad and pulled him to the side.
"Father, I can defeat the Turks," he begins to say something. "Before you say anything else, let me finish."
He nods and I continue. "I can defeat the Turks, by myself, using this sword and a power I recently acquired. However in doing so there will be some questions that arise that I can not answer."
"You do not have to do this alone, our army will stand behind you."
"Father, you would have done the same thing had you been given the chance. I only ask that you promise to take care of Dorina should anything happen to me."
Vlad looks conflicted, I knew I had him. Morality wise Vlad always valued innocent lives over his own. It was the same reason that he went to face the ottomans alone in the movie. Nodding, he put a hand on my shoulder.
"I swear it on our name son, she will have a place here should the worst come to pass."
I offered him a smile before taking off my cloak revealing my armor beneath it. His eyes widen in recognition of the crest and design. He turned to the gathered soldiers and ordered them to return back behind the castle walls. He looks at me one more time before turning and following the guards.
I turned towards the approaching army and grinned. This would mark the first time I go all out with my new powers. I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing. Thousands of heartbeats, I followed the sounds till I honed in on one.
"Huh, that's different. Mehmed actually came with his army. Is this his full army then?"
I willed clouds to gather and cover the moon, darkness was cast on the land and I heard cries of shock come from the Turkish ranks. Focusing my hearing some more I got a rough count of their numbers. Nearly a quarter of a million, Vlad had wiped out this army with a handful of baby vampires. I had Excalibur along with many times the power Vlad had wielded in the movie.
For a moment the thought of slaughtering so many people almost made me sick, almost. The sound of a cannon being fired erased what little sympathy I had left for these men. The shot went high and sailed over the castle. More blasts rang out from the darkness , many impacting the walls. Growling I burst into a cloud of bats and charged into the heart of the enemy force.
Men screamed as I tore through their ranks like paper. Blood sprayed on my face as I ripped a man's throat out with my teeth. I felt a slash bounce off my armor and I backhanded the man who attacked me hard enough to crush his helmet. Soon I was surrounded, grinning a bloody smile I drew Excalibur and set both hands on the handle. Power exploded from me in a wave that sent men stumbling back. Dozens fell in one swing. Parrying multiple swords I ripped out a man's heart through his armor. Shattering swords as I swung Excalibur my world became a blur as I fought and tore through walls of flesh. Shifting between my human form and a cloud of bats I made short work of the first thousand or so men. Word spread of my rampage to the following ranks and they tried to stop me with spears. Keeping their distance from my sword and claws.
That didn't matter as I burst into a swarm of bats tearing through them like a dark cloud made out of thousands of sharp teeth. I lost track of how many soldiers fell by my hand. Hundreds impaled with their own spears, headless corpses littered the earth. Rivers of blood ran through the scarred land. I was completely drenched in blood and gristle by the time I stood in front of Mehmed and his elite Janissary guard.
Fear etched on his face, his guards' swords shook as their hands trembled. With a shout they charged at me with the remainder of their army and I danced between them parrying and redirecting their stabs and slashes. Swatting a sword away I plunged my hand through the man's chest. Using the man's body I blocked an arrow that Mehmed shot at me. Pulling my hand free I caught another arrow sent my way. In one motion I beheaded the rest of his guards. Before stabbing Excalibur into the ground and throwing my arms wide.
"Come on Sultan, is that all you've got?"
Mehmed screams as he charges at me with his saber. I stood there and didn't even attempt to block or evade his attack. The sword pierced through my neck and I coughed up blood. Mehmed smiled as he pulled back thinking he had won. Smiling, I ripped the sword from my flesh. Mehmed could only watch in horror as the wound stitched itself shut in a matter of seconds.
"You're a monster."
I turned into a cloud of bats and reformed behind him. Before he could turn around I sank my fangs through his neck through his armor and drained all of his blood in two big gulps. I let his desiccated body fall to the ground.
"Only to men like you." Wiping my mouth I looked around at the carnage that surrounded me.
Bodies lay broken and shredded, the haze of bloodlust left my mind and I closed my eyes, willing rain to fall and wash away the blood and grime. I had figured out how to control the weather a month ago when I had gotten annoyed at the clouds. As the rain pinged off of my armor I heard Vlad approaching along with some men from the castle. Many had looks of shock and fear, some looked like they would be sick. I took my sword from where I had left it stabbed into the ground and wiped it on a Turkish flag. Vlad looked at me in worry as I sheathed Excalibur.
Before I could explain the destruction I had wrought another voice came from the crowd.
"Vampir!"
My head snapped over to the voice, it was Brother Lucian. The monk had a finger pointed at me. The monk pulled out a cross and held it in front of him and I raised an eyebrow at his actions. Confusion flew across his face, he took a phial of what I assumed was holy water and splashed it at my face. When nothing happened he frowned as the men laughed at him.
"Men! You have to believe me. I saw it with my own two eyes. He drained Mehmed of his blood, look." The monk points at Mehmed's desiccated body.
The men around me gasp in alarm and take a step back from me. Vlad frowns at all of them and stands by my side.
"Have you all lost your mind, this is my son. He just saved us all from a terrible fate!"
"Father, if the monk wishes to believe that I am a vampire then let him. I care not for his opinion on the matter."
I let out a sharp whistle and Roach came galloping through the mud and bodies. Mounting my horse I looked at Vlad.
"You do what must be done, father. I am just glad that I protected you and my brother. I will return to my villa, I am sure my wife wishes to be informed of the accusations against me."
Before he could say anything I turned Roach around and rode off. Anger brewing in my stomach.
"Where the fuck did that monk come from, if he had been close enough to see me kill Mehmed he must have been in the camp, which brings a whole sleugh of other questions. Was that creepy fuck working for the Turks?"
The ride home to my villa was quiet, I had taken off my armor and stored it back in my rift. I had changed into travel clothes and a cloak that hid my face, I had both gauntlets strapped to my arms and Excalibur wrapped and hidden away from sight. As I reached my villa I noticed that the curtains had been shut. Drawing a dagger from my boot I made my way inside silently. I focused my hearing and found Dorina and Mirena, they were sitting in the kitchens talking. I sighed in relief and sheathed the dagger.
Dorina greeted me with a hug and a kiss when I entered. My mother smiled in my direction. I stepped over to the table they had occupied and sat down with a sigh.
"What's wrong Cas?"
"The monks," my mother looked at me. "They are accusing me of being a vampire."
Dorina's eyes widened, my mother didn't notice and motioned for me to continue. I explained what had happened leaving out details of me slaughtering the enemy army. Once I finished retelling my story my mother sighed as Dorina put a hand over mine on the table.
"I have a feeling that you left something out Casimir, but you are and always will be my baby boy. Nothing anyone says will change that."
Mirena stood up after telling us she would be returning home in a day since the Turks had been dealt with. Dorina and I offered to help her pack her belongings. She refused and told us to spend the time with each other as accusations from the church were rarely solved in a few days.
I planned to spend the rest of the day storing things in the rift in preparation for the worst. Dorina offered me comforting words and I took her hand, kissing her knuckles. I placed a hand on her belly. She was growing bigger every day and I worried for her safety. Soon she would be too pregnant to move around too much. I told her I'd see her in a bit as I made my way around the villa looking for the things we would need.
I continued to plan for the worst case scenario and went over to the armoury. I stashed a few crates of grenades in my rift along with spare swords and knives. Then I made my way over to the kitchens to stock up on salted meats, barrels of water, oil, and a few sacks of flour. I had yet to find a limit on how much I could store in my rift. The ability was becoming a little broken, I found that I could store anything I could lift into the rift. The size of the opening would adjust to whatever I was putting through it. I made my way over to my workshop and started packing away everything I had been working on. All the projects, blueprints, and experimental contraptions. Sighing I thought about what else I would need should I be forced to run.
Realising what I was missing I made my way to a spare room and promptly shoved a whole bed through the rift along with some furniture. Stuffing a dozen or so blankets and sheets into the rift I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of it all. I closed the rift and brushed if my hands. I had pretty much put an entire house into a pocket dimension. I was taking being over prepared up a notch. I wanted to be able to live in comfort no matter where I was. Making my way over to my secret treasury I began shoving chests willed silver, gems, and gold into my rift. Now I was going overboard. Sure it might have been a little paranoid, but it never hurt being a little prepared for anything.
The next day came and we bid my mother a safe journey. She offered us some advice and told us to stick together no matter what may come. Kissing her on the cheek I sent her off, Demitru nodding at me in farewell. As their carriage disappeared into the distance I led Dorina back to our room. I massaged her feet as she lay back on the bed.
"I bet you're really wishing you had called the wedding off now."
"Don't say that," she glares at me. "There is nothing I regret in this life. Every moment I spend with you has been a joy."
"We may be hunted down by fanatical nuts."
"Then we'll do that together Cas, just like always."
"I love you so much, did you know that?"
"How can I forget, you tell me that same line almost everyday."
"And you love me for it Dori, don't you deny it."
"Yes I do." She sighed as I finished massaging her feet.
Wiping the rest of the balm off my hands with a clean towel I lay next to her in bed. As I caressed her growing belly she began to run her fingers through my hair while singing a song.
I never meant to be the one,
Who kept you from the dark.
But now I know my wound are sewn,
because of who you are.
I will take this burden on,
And become the holy one.
"Love," she 'hmmed'. "I didn't know you had an emo phase."
She giggled as she lightly slapped my chest. "Everyone had an emo phase."
I closed my eyes and listened to her as she continued to sing.
So hear my voice,
Remind you not to bleed.
I am here,
Saviour
Will be there, when you are feeling alone. Oh
A saviour,
For all that you do.
So live freely without their harm.
I slowly drifted off into sleep as she hummed the rest of the song. My worries faded away as I listened to her begin another song.