Romania

 

He strode the battlements of his Carpathian fortress. A silver moon cast him in monochrome shadow as he glanced over the parapets and down the curtain walls to the craggy trenches below. The castle towers, armed with cannons, rose high above. The courtyard, the castle’s keep, stables, a blacksmith shop, and a great hall stood within the walls.

The armory, busy by day, was silent. The castle’s day workers, a gardener, the stable hands, and more had disappeared with the retreating sun.

Past the ironwood doors of the great hall were tapestried walls and weighty rugs, fireplaces, candelabras, a long table of marble, and shelves of books. Corridors led to passageways, hidden chambers, escape tunnels, and a hall for Vlad’s personal use. At the end of the passageway stood an iron door, a bolt no mortal could throw. Stairs descended into a tunnel that led to a cavern, an underground mausoleum where Vlad’s coffin sat, empty by night and with its occupant by day.

Deeper yet, a grotto shimmered under a vaulted ceiling, an expansive pool, hewed from rock, fed from a wellspring, steaming, unchecked, overspilling, disappearing into a crevasse.

Desponia, goddess of mysteries, floated there, her immaculate face, the points of her hips and breasts breaking the surface as she bathed in the slow currents.

She pulled herself from the pool, reached for a robe, and dried herself in preparation for a tunic of gossamer transparency, bare-shouldered with diving pleats. She proceeded to the great hall and greeted Vlad as he studied a scroll.

“The Book of the Dead?” she asked scathingly. "Dust laded and putrefied, the lingering valedictions of the pharaohs."

She lay seductively across the table.

“At worst, this bit of Egyptology is a half-truth,” he said with a dismissive gesture. “The symbols are curses when scribed improperly, here and most dangerously here,” he said, pointing to a symbol.

“There is more to lose than gain through a study of these spells, Vlad. Must I remind you?”

“So, I’ve heard you say on other occasions.”

“You doubt a truth that is plain to the naked eye? I stand at your side, Vlad, but do not be deceived. You toyed with a pharaoh’s curse and lost your humanity.”

“It was by chance.”

“Do not contradict me, vampire! If only to preserve our tainted legacy, see the thing clearly.”

“You took my side in battle.”

“Hell’s death-dealing b***h took your side. And after we erected a forest of the impaled. We had need of grand perversions.”

“And in the end?”

“We are dishonored through our villainy, yet still you toy with the scrolls.”

“Destiny put the scrolls into my hands.”

“I wonder if  I’ve spoken too much. There is something I have for you.”

“I need no gift beyond your presence.”

“Let me guide you in this. You need only follow me along the castle’s southern corridor. From there, it is but a few stairs to moonlight.”

“Must I suffer the moon? I’ve barely made a study of the scroll.”

Despoina slid off the table, standing before Vlad with her icy beauty, reaching with white, sculpted arms, tugging at her tunic, letting it slip to her waist.

“What would please you, Vlad?”

“I’ve not fed in a month."

"I’ll keep you in my clutches yet. But first, accept a different gift. Follow me.”

“You’ve only to lead the way.”

“In haste.” she warned, “the sun may rise.”

“It is not yet midnight!”

He followed her out of the hall and along the corridor to a remote castle entrance.

“The moon is still brighter than expected,” he said, shielding his eyes.

“Follow me into the wood; there is a clearing at the bottom of a small embankment with a feldspar cliff.”

“I know the place. But the moon shines more brightly there due to the reflecting cliffside.”

They reached the clearing, following a spiraling slope to the foot of cliffs that rose for twenty feet.

“Dam the moon with its lunar insanity,” Vlad complained.

He paused and listened.

“Something comes quickly through the underbrush. Leap away!”

Desponia leaped to the top of the cliff while Vlad stood his ground, watching the hilltop, unable to see past the crest. An animal entered the gap with an aggressive snort.

“It’s a boar,” Desponia shouted, “By the Gods, he is for battle and four hundred pounds to the bargain.”

The animal thundered fast down the embankment with slashing tusks. Vlad sidestepped the charge, facing the beast as it circled with uncanny speed.

It pawed the ground. Muscle formed a hump along the top of its shoulder blades. He let go with a snort, then came on.  Vlad sprang to the challenge, catching the beast by the tusks and forcing its head onto the ground.

“You do not know me, brother,” he hissed, “yet you attack?”

The boar’s squeals echoed through the woods. Vlad cut them short with a throttling chokehold.

“Yes,” Vlad said, leaning in, “you find your error, but too late. Death comes for you.”

The animal thrashed helplessly, its eyes starting from their sockets as its legs churned.

Desponia’s eyes narrowed. She laughed derisively. 

“Release him, Vlad,” she said.  “He’s only a brute. Besides, it’s time for the gift I promised.”

Vlad rolled his eyes to the clifftop. “Very well, Desponia, but you spoil my entertainment.” He lifted the boar with a single hand and tossed it aside. The animal staggered to its feet and limped away.

Desponia leaped from the clifftop, landed at his side, and whispered. “My gift will come as a wind.”

She extended her arms, and all the forest came alive with the mournful voices of its creatures. “Would you favor a pet, Vlad?”

“What foolishness are you about?”

A wolf with glowing eyes came lurking from the forest. It loped over the crest and started toward them.

“Sit by me, wolf,” Desponia said. 

It lay at her feet. She stroked the fine coat and took a vial pendant with drops of blood from around her neck. 

“Do not,” Vlad cautioned, stepping forward with a warning hand.

“This blood is my own. Remember Vlad; I am kin to Poseidon. Stay your hand and leave me my amusements--behold!”

She broke the vial, dripping her blood on the animal’s tongue. The beast fell into a torpor, then suddenly grew before their eyes. When fully realized, it was a thing four times what it had been. Its howl shook the forest.

“He is yours for a guardian.  Always at your side. On your command, he is invisible to the human eye. Caution though, some animals will know him for what he is, a fox, for example, and there are a handful of others.”

“But no human can see him,” Vlad mused. “This pleases me. What’s more, he is powerful.”

“As much so as the Siberian tiger. No approach goes undetected by him.”

“And what of your approach?”

“I created him. Your safety is dependent on mine.”

“How is he commanded?”

“What would you call him?”

“You answer questions with questions. I will name him Onyx for his color.”

“Then call him.”

“Onyx!”

The wolf vanished. In the next instant, Vlad felt the animal licking his hand.

“I favor this! I would test this animal’s power. And its courage, too.”

“He is suitable for any challenge. His powers are nearly equal to your own. As you have just demonstrated, you are powerful, my Lord, and of a dreadful disposition, yet you would find no easy time against this wolf. Where would you have Onyx do battle?”

“Give me a moment to think. . .the fifty-fifth parallel, east of Siberia’s Stanovoy range in the great birch forests.”

“Ah, the realm of the Siberian tiger himself. I know the area well enough.”

“Oh, and how so?”

“I spent a bit of time there near the end of the First Punic War. That was a slaughter if ever I’ve seen one. The Romans with all their bluster, and the Carthaginians with their self-importance. Strange to say that it stays in my mind after all these centuries. No matter. I’ve traveled the route a number of times.”

“Is that so?”

“If you’ll allow, it’s a straight shot from the port of Constanta, across the Black Sea, then straight to Batumi. From there, we make the Volga River and travel north to the Kama tributary. It’s all quite simple. Adventures are sure to abound. But there is another topic I would mention.” 

“By all means.”

“There is a gypsy girl from Medias that I’ve taken as an occasional lover. I favor her.”

“Yes, yes, do not equivocate.”

“She is in her prime. I shall render her immortal to maintain the freshness of her body. She works in a tavern on the outskirts of the village, The Plow and Stars. Send a carriage for her.  She will accompany us on our Siberian journey.

You can sip her along the way.”