The son of the devil

Disturbance at a funeral

They were riding at a hurried pace. Vlad kicked with the heels and the horse went faster. He was followed by the others, but he didn't acknowledge anyone. All he was thinking was to get there in time. Five minutes later they passed the top of the slope and entered the church courtyard.

He jumped down from the saddle and felt his ribs shake and he gritted his teeth in pain as he started walking towards the back where there looked to be people gathered. From there he could hear cries and curses. He gripped his sword as he drew nearer to the place where the ruckus was coming.

As he pushed through to get in front he heard people cursing and threatening someone. When his field of vision was finally free, he saw the girl from earlier crying. A couple of armed servants by the way they dressed were trying to get her out of there, while a dozen others were trying to keep the crowd under control. She was slapping the hands reaching for her, which was starting to anger the servants. One of them lost control and slapped her full on the face, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground.

"You little b***h!" growled the servant."Our young lord is dead and you have the privilege to be his bride and yet you make a fuss about it. Your family received already the mercy of our lord. So stop fussing around and come with us to fulfill your part of the deal."

The people were starting to push the guards, trying to get to the girl. The guards drew their swords trying to intimidate the mob. Vlad didn't know what happened, but was glad about the ruckus. It would keep the guards occupied while he was getting started. Gritting his teeth he took a step towards the girl. The guard closest to him saw him and swung the sword trying to cut his throat.

But his sword screeched and sparks flew as it hit Tanase's sword. Vlad stopped only for a moment while he got his own sword out of the scabbard. Slid the sword over the guard's throat and walked further to the servants trying to coerce the girl. He heard swords clashing behind him and screams and knew the others were fighting too. Another guard came running towards him with his sword raised. He simply sidestepped the strike and pushed his own blade where the neck met the collarbone. He heard the guard gasp and when he drew the blade out, he collapsed without further movement. One of the two servants noticed him advancing with the sword in his hand and blood dripping on the ground from the tip of his sword. He drew his partner's attention by tapping him on the shoulder and then gestured towards Vlad without a single word to be spoken.

His partner snapped at his partner first.

"What is it now? I wish our lord would have cut your hands as well as your tongue! Stop pushing me! Help me get her in the crypt to keep company to our young lord tonight."

Vlad's face didn't show any emotion as he kept walking. He had ten more steps when the one tongue-tied grabbed his partner's head and turned it towards Vlad.

Vlad saw his eyes grow wider and he smiled waving with his left hand.

"Sorry to interrupt your banter, but that girl is not going in any crypt, no matter who ordered it. Now, step away from her and I will not pursue this further. Don't know what kind of degenerate would resort to such distasteful ways. And I don't care as long as it stops here and now. Now, go and tell your lord what I just said."

The servant sneered while drawing his sword.

"And who are you to interfere in our lord's plans? A boy barely out of childhood dares to mock us? Leave and don't ever stop otherwise your life will be worthless. As about her, she'll join our young master in the crypt, no matter how hard you'd try to stop it from happening."

Vlad nodded.

"Very well. My life might be worthless, but I'll try to make it expensive for you to buy it. I tried to play nice and give your master the choice to step down. But you, as simple lackeys, refused it. So be it!"

His fist gripped the sword tighter as he started walking again. His chest was in pain and he felt sweat trickling down his side. He stared the talking servant in the eyes.

"Any last words? Say them now, you'll get no other chance."

The servant spit at him as he swung his sword. Vlad frowned in disgust as he retreated a couple of steps out of range of both spit and sword. He scowled.

"You disgust me! Why did you spit at me? If there's something I hate almost as much as betrayal, that is being humiliated. If you would have attacked me, I would have understood. Now, there's no more mercy for you."

He ignored the pain as he jumped forward thrusting with his sword aiming for the bellybutton. The servant stepped to the side and hit with his sword aimed at his back. The chain mail crunched and he felt the air rush out of his lungs. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword blindly to his side hitting nothing but air. The pain in his chest started to grow stronger by the second. He turned and barely managed to dodge the blade headed for his neck. He cursed at his ineptitude in fighting. Lifting the sword, he parried another hit meant to decapitate him. His sword trembled as he felt the shock of the hit traveling from his fist to his shoulder, making it go numb for a while. He stepped back again to put distance between them. For a moment the thought of running away crossed his mind. But he banished this thought as soon as it arrived. What use running away could get him? After all, he was a stranger in this place and most likely men were already after him to collect his head.

The servant started grinning at him. He felt anger starting to infuse every fibre of his body. All he wanted to do now was to wipe away that smirk from his face. He doubted he ever hated anyone as he hated that servant for making him conscious of his shortcomings. He felt his heart start to beat faster as a shiver went through his spine, making him tremble. He knew it must have been the adrenaline finally kicking in. And with it, he finally felt the pain in his chest was no more debilitating. He felt like a switch has been turned off in his head and before he realized anything he felt himself drop into an abyss of darkness. He screamed and waved his hands trying to find something to stop him from falling, but to no avail. He kept falling for what felt like an eternity. The sea of darkness was everywhere and it scared him, but now he couldn't even scream anymore. He felt his throat sore.

He didn't know for how long time he was in that limbo of darkness, but it all ended when he felt a strong hit at the back of his head and he lost his consciousness.

The next time he was conscious of his body, he felt wrapped in pain. He was aching all over. But the sharpest pain was that at the back of his head. He didn't know where he was until he remember him surrounded by the darkness and he opened his eyes terrified at the thought he would still be falling. It took a few moments to correlate the input he was receiving through his senses.

First thing he noticed was the constant chatter in whispers close to him, while he was staring into the blue sky covered by white clouds. He finally realized he was lying on his back. The next thing he realized was his hands and feet were tight bound and he was unable to move. He tried to say something, but all he could manage was a groan. That seemed to be noticed, because the chatter stopped and a silhouette stood tall in his field of vision. The sun was in his eyes while looking up at the silhouette and he had to close his eyes. He heard Tanase's voice worried.

"He's awake!"

"Hopefully, he truly is back and not the beast he was earlier!" He heard the venom in Dan's voice.

Vlad opened his eyes immediately and, ignoring the sunlight, looked again at the silhouette standing over him. Slowly he recognized it as Tanase. He gritted his teeth while pulling at the ropes tying him down.

"Why am I tied down here? Release me this instant! What's wrong with you people?"

A shy voice was heard at the moment and what it said made him stop struggling while his mind was reeling.

"He's talking at least. I don't think he's the beast from earlier. Then it was interested in only slaughter. He even wounded the young mistress when she tried to interfere for my life."

He turned his head and looked to where the voice was coming from. He gasped seeing the girl from earlier with dark splotches of color on her face. She was wrapping a white cloth around someone's arm. Red was seeping through that white cloth. He knew the one being bandaged from the clothes and the mane of blonde hair. When she turned her head, he saw the fear in her eyes. And he understood she was afraid of him.