Vlad

He walked the battlements of his Carpathian fortress, the moon casting him in monochrome shadow. The castle towers, armed with cannons, rose high above. The courtyard, the castle's keep, stables, a blacksmith shop, and an immense hall lay within the fortress. The armory, busy by day, stood silent. The village day workers, gardeners, stable hands, and more had disappeared with the retreating sun.
Past the hall's ironwood doors stood tapestried walls. Weighty rugs lay on the floors. Fireplaces blazed, and candelabras cast flickering light in a library with a marble table. Corridors led to passageways, hidden chambers, escape tunnels, and a hall for Vlad's use alone. An iron door, clad in bolts no mortal could throw, led to stairs, descending to a cavern, an underground mausoleum where Vlad's coffin sat, empty by night and with its occupant by day.

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

Bathing in these depths was Desponia, the goddess of fertility, floating on her back, her immaculate face, the points of her hips and breasts breaking the surface as she floated in slow currents. She pulled herself from the pool, reaching for a robe, drying herself in preparation for a tunic of gossamer transparency, bare-shouldered with diving pleats. She proceeded to the library, greeting Vlad as he studied a scroll.

"The book of the dead?" she asked scathingly. "Dust laded and putrefied, the lingering valedictions of the pharaohs."

"At worst, this bit of Egyptology is a half-truth."

She knelt before him, supplicated herself, laid her head in his lap, and smiled.

"You are equal in measure to any god, my Lord: Vlad of the Dragon order, son of Dracul, and the Impaler. I require punishment tonight. I am Hell's death-dealing bitch and will have my satisfaction. Dishonored me!" she screamed, "Punish me better than the Gods have. Do not toy with me, villain."

"I need no instructions in punishment."

"Ah," said Desponia, "To the game board then."

An hour passed.

"My hounds have surrounded your jackals." Vlad said.

"Your hounds are a bore; should we stroll in the moonlight?"

"Must I suffer the moon? "We barely finish one activity, and you call for another."

Desponia rose from her seat, 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 little-used castle entrance.

"The moon is still brighter than expected."

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

"I know the spot. But the moon shines more brightly there due to the reflecting walls."

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, "it's night, yet I shield my eyes."

He paused and listened.

"Something comes quickly from above, through the underbrush. Quickly away, it's a trap!"

Desponia leaped to the top of the cliff. 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, but he is for battle and four hundred pounds to the bargain."

As she spoke, the animal thundered fast down the embankment with slashing tusks. Vlad sidestepped the charge, facing the beast as it circled with uncanny speed, searching for its opening. It pawed the ground, muscle expanding, becoming a hump along the top of its shoulders. And then he came on with a hellish velocity. Vlad sprang forward, catching the beast by the tusks and forcing its head to the ground, throttling its life.

"You do not know me, brother, yet you attack? You find your error too late. Death comes to you."

The animal thrashed helplessly, its eyes starting from their sockets as its legs churned to a slow stop.

"Release him, Vlad. He's only a brute. Besides, it's time for the gift I promised."

Vlad released his grip, letting the animal stagger to its hooves and limp away.

She leaped from the clifftop, landing at his side, and whispered. "My gift will come as a wind." She extended her arms as if reaching into the night with a silent incantation. All the forest came alive with its creature's voices.

"Would you favor a pet, Vlad?"

"What foolishness are you about?"

A wolf lurked out of the forest into the moonlight with glowing eyes. It loped over the crest and started toward them.

"Sit by me, wolf," Desponia said.

The animal lay at her feet, and she stroked the fine coat, pulling a vial pendant with 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 torpor, then suddenly grew before their eyes. When fully realized, it was 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 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. There is no approach the wolf does not sense."
"And what of your approach?"

"He is a creature of my design," she laughed, throwing her arms around his neck, "Do not imagine yourself entirely safe."

"How is he commanded?"

"What would you call him?"

"You answer questions with questions. I will name this wolf Onyx for his color."

"And like this, he will respond to your commands. You need only call his name,"

"Then, Onyx!"

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

"I favor this!" he said with a rare laugh. "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. You are powerful, my Lord, and of dreadful disposition? You would find no easy time with this wolf, though."

"To the test then!"

"Yes, but against whom and where would you have Onyx do battle?"

"Against your tiger in the fifty-fifth parallel, east of Siberia's Stanovoy range.

"The great birch forests? I know it well."

"Oh, and how so?"

"I spent some time there, watching soldiers die near the end of the First Punic War. That was a slaughter if ever I've created one. The Romans, with all their bluster, and the Carthaginians, with their belligerence, dying in front of me by the score. Strangely, it stays in my mind after all these centuries. No matter. If you allow it, I could prepare an adventure, a trip across the Black Sea to the port of Constanta. Once landed in Batumi, we can slaughter at will, then make for the Volga River and the Kama tributary. Adventures are sure to abound in those outposts. But there is another topic I would mention. There is a gypsy girl from Medias that I've taken as an occasional lover. I favor her."

"Yes, do not equivocate."

"She is in her prime. I would have 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 journey. You can sip her along the way."

"Very well," said Vlad, "Let us go back to the library for the moment as I have undone business there. I will have Ehrlich prepare a carriage and a team. We will go for this gypsy girl together, but I need blood tonight."

"Not so quickly, Vlad; I have another concern. Do you recall Hera's threat when we slaughtered the Saxons?"

"What of it?"

"She has called upon the gorgons to exact her revenge. Medusa's sister, Lamia, hunts us even as I speak."

"I had hoped to hear better news," said Vlad with a troubled expression.