Son Of The Dragon

III

2 YEARS LATER 

Two years, I had been courting Dorina for two years now. At first we didn't really know what to do. We had talked to each other about our previous lives the night that we had confessed of being reincarnated into this world. Turns out she had been born in England and she was attending medical school there. She was pretty shocked with my background, calling it impressive despite my insistence that it was rather boring. 

Soon our friendship blossomed into a romance that everyone in my family had bet on. Mirena had won a fair bit of money from Vlad in betting that Dorina and I would get together much sooner than he had expected. I mean, who would have thought that two people in the same exact situation would be drawn to one another. 

My little brother had been born the previous year and I could not help but to adore the little shit. I knew that his birth signified the start of the movie's plot though, so with it my personal training only grew more intense. 

Dorina had agreed that we would hold off on getting married until we had both turned 18, so that it wouldn't weird us out given our mental ages in comparison to our physical ages.

"Casimir, have you received word on when Dorina would be arriving" 

"Her letter said that she would be here within the day mother" 

"Oh, time has flown by so fast my baby boy, it is as if it was just yesterday that you were nursing at my t-" 

"Mother! Please, I do not need that imagery in my mind so close to my wedding day." 

Vlad entered the room chuckling, he had his riding outfit on and I raised an eyebrow. 

"Going out riding father?"

"We are going riding son, I believe that my gift for your wedding has been completed by the monks." 

I stared at him, the few gifts that he had gotten me had been rather odd. Usually he'd gift me some money or a weapon. One time when I had turned come of age at fourteen he attempted to take me to a brothel. I shook my head,

"Father, you know I do not like surprises." 

"Trust me my son, you will like this one surprise." 

Sighing I made off to my room to get changed into more durable clothing. Maybe I could finally get one of the monks to tell me about the vampire in the mountains. As I reentered the main hall I heard my mother and father playing with my little brother. 

"Mother, father, how is he?" 

"Casimir, you ask that every day as if the boy is going to disappear." 

"I just worry for him father, you know that there are dangers outside these walls." 

My mother looked at me with something akin to pride, Vlad chuckled and shook his head. 

"The guards can handle the security of our home, and your mother raised you by herself just fine when I was away so I hardly think she will have issues with your brother, -"

"Who I might point out, is much more docile and well behaved than you were, Casimir." My mother finished with a small smile. 

"I behaved as a child!" 

"Casimir, you climbed trees and attempted to start fights with Cazan on multiple occasions." 

"Well, Cazan is a boring asshole, a-and he smells like onions!" 

"Casimir! Language! Massa-." 

"Mother! No one cares! No!"

I turned around to walk out the doors and immediately I felt a sense of danger. Out of pure instinct I ducked as my brother's baby rattle flew past where my head had just been. Turning around with feigning shock on my face I pointed a finger at my mother. 

"You! I was wondering where Ingeras learned to throw things from." 

Vlad laughed as he broke away from Mirena and Ingeras, my brother. 

"Come son, the monks are waiting for us." 

I dodged another toy as I made my way over to my mother, kissing her on the cheek while avoiding her attempts to grab me and dashing out the doors cackling like a mad man. 

"That boy, I swear. He grows stranger and stranger every year" 

"Mirena, you love him as if he was still a baby boy."

"Vlad, he IS still my baby boy, even when he is old and gray" 

Vlad gives her one last kiss before turning to the door.

"Father, stop trying to eat mothers face. The the horses have been prepared." 

[Line break]

As we rode out of the castle walls, a dozen guards joined us. I had ridden horses in my past life, but there was something different with riding a horse here and now. It felt right, as if I had been meant to do this. The pounding of hooves pulled me into a meditative state as I thought about my current plans. 

Vlad had been an excellent teacher after I had pestered him into teaching me how to fight with a sword. He had been rather impressed at my hand to hand combat skills. Since this era did not have modern guns, I had heard that certain lords somehow had access to very rudimentary black powder weapons, I had kept up training with the fighting skill that I was taught in my past life. 

Cazan, my father's advisor, had been my test subject since I was ten. Poor guy always pulled the short stick and ended up getting choked out while he was talking with my father gaurds. It wasn't my fault it was so easy to sneak up behind him. Many of the castle guard had taken to calling me 'Viper' because I had the tendency to hit fast and hard, usually at my opponents throat or soft bits. 

I looked over to Vlad as he spoke with Cazan. I don't remember much about Cazan's character in the movie. I hadn't been paying much attention to my fathers court, usually I was out exploring on my own or visiting Dorina. 

Off in the distance I saw the forest and the river that led to Broken Tooth mountain, I remembered that this was the mountain that the master vampire had been holed up in. I had avoided the place like the plague as there was no reason to go anywhere near it, yet. 

I knew the temptation of power was strong, I mean who wouldn't want eternal life and powers that let you fight off an army. I remembered a scene where Vlad literally smashed an entire army with a giant cloud of bats. Most legends claimed that if you killed the vampire that made you then you would be cured, others claimed that once the vampire that made you died, then you would die with it as well. Dorina and I had settled for capturing the master vampire, though we didn't know how yet. 

'These freaky ass monks better have some books on how to deal with homeless Charles Dance up in that mountain.'

"What was that son?" 

'Had I thought out loud?' 

"Nothing father, I just said that I hope that these monks better have what we're looking for." 

Vlad nodded and rode ahead again, catching up with Cazan and another guard that I saw around more that the others. I think his name was Petru, and he may or may be the captain of my fathers guard. 

As we drew closer to the rather humble monastery we dismounted our horses and I followed my father to the front of our group. 

"Listen Casimir, the monks are rather conserved, let me do the talking." I nodded at him and he turned back to the door. Knocking with the large iron ring we waited. 

The sound of shuffling footsteps came from the other side as the doors swung inwards inviting all of us in. A monk greeted my father, and I took a closer look at the monk. 

This was the fucker that exposed him to his people in the movie, I narrowed my eyes at the monk. Vlad noticed and quickly put his hand on my shoulder snapping me out of my one sided glaring contest. 

"This is my firstborn, Casimir, we are here to pick up the sword I had made for him" 

Wait, sword? We had plenty of swords in the castle. I even had a few I had won from guests over the years. This must have been a special sword then. Maybe it's magic I chuckled internally at the thought. Then again I'm literally in a world that till eighteen years ago only existed in a movie. A magical sword wasn't too crazy to think about. 

"Ah yes, the young lords own weapon. I had it made to your exact specifications, my Prince." Vlad nodded in acknowledgement. 

"Casimir follow Brother Lucian here, he I believe he has a few words for you" 

"Yes father," he held out his hand "father?" 

"This is our family's crest on this ring, Casimir, wear it with pride." 

I looked at his outstretched hand, noticing the glint of silver. I took the ring from him and observed it, there was two dragons fighting over a sword on the crest. The movie had left out what the design on Vlad's ring was, all I knew was that this ring was pure silver and would burn a vampire. Sliding the ring onto my right middle finger I made a move to clasped arms with my father, but Vlad pulled me into a hug much to my surprise. 

"I am so proud of you son, you have come so far, and now you're getting married" 

"Father, I made a vow to cherish and protect our family. I intend to keep it" Vlad nods and pushes me towards the monk who looked amused at the scene. 

I gestured towards the only corridor,  "Lead the way Brother Lucian."  The monk looks at my father and quietly turns around walking slowly so that I could keep pace. 

[Line break] 

The monastery was strange, to say the least. There was clutter in unlikely places. As I followed Brother Lucian, I could not help but to notice that there were hardly any other monks. 

"Brother Lucian, where are the other monks?" 

"They are in the prayer hall." 

The answer was short, almost like it was rehearsed. I couldn't sense any danger so I just brushed it off as monks doing whatever the hell they did in this time and era. The hallway got darker as we moved further into the monastery, I felt warm air flowing from unseen vents. 

'There's probably some sort of craft room or a foundry nearby,' I thought to myself. 

"Brother Lucian, what business do monks have in creating weapons for my father? Forgive my ignorance, as I was not educated on the workings in a monetary such as this, nor the lifestyles of monks" 

"There is nothing to forgive young lord, we do not forge weapons here." 

"But my father sai-"

"As I said, we do not create weapons, we merely have come to collect a number of items throughout the ages that the house of god has come to find." 

The imagery of monks roaming the land treasure hunting almost made me laugh, monks dressed as Indiana Jones. Now that would have been a sight. Despite the monastery seemingly being rather small on the outside, these halls seemed to go on for miles.

Strange indeed, Brother Lucian and I finally arrived at a set of doors that looked like they had been here longer than the monastery. Brother Lucian knocked on the ancient looking doors and waited, footsteps echoed on the other side. 

How big was this room for those steps to echo like that. From the outside, this monastery was significantly smaller than the castle. 

'I swear if this is some convoluted Doctor Who expanded space bullshit' 

The sound of a massive lock being unlocked pulled me from my thoughts. As the doors opened I stared intently, looking for some 'bigger on the inside, smaller on the outside' nonsense. 

There was none. 

As we entered the room I shivered slightly, the halls had been much warmer. Another monk who Brother Lucian quietly conversed with looked my way before nodding and walking off back into the darkness. 

"Fucking creepy ass monks" I muttered in English 

If Brother Lucian had heard me he did not show it, instead he gestured to the monk who had returned with an item, I'm assuming a sword, wrapped in crimson cloth. 

The monk handed me the wrapped sword and bowed slightly before walking back into the shadows. I looked at the spot the unnamed monk had disappeared to, and looking around I realised where I was. 

This was the library, this was where monks had told Vlad about Broken Tooth Mountain and the vampire that lived in it. I set the sword, still wrapped, on the table close by and turned to Brother Lucian. He seemed confused as to why I had not yet unveiled the sword. 

"Brother Lucian, I need you to be completely honest with me."

He looked at me in still in slight confusion before speaking,

"I will try my best young lord" 

"Do you have information on the being that resides in Broken Tooth Mountain?" 

Barely concealed emotions flashed through the monks face, shock, worry, then fear. 

"Young lord, I know no-"

"Lucian," I had him by the short and curlies. "Do not deny my question. I know of the being that resides in that mountain. I merely wish to know if there is any way to destroy it, or for any historical information you may have on it." 

The monk gulped, then sat down on a chair that I had not noticed before. He sighed and called for the other monk. 

"Bring me the books we have on Broken Tooth." 

The still unnamed monk hesitated before walking back into the shelves. Returning moments later with several books that looked like they had seen better days. 

"These books were written long before this monastery was founded, it was brought here by the first Brother. I dare not speak its name, much less mention the creature's name. Their names have power and may bring their ire here." 

I reached out and took one of the books, the leather bound tome felt like it would fall apart in my hands if I were to flip a page too hard. I gingerly set the book down on the table and as gently as I could began to read. 

I had heard of books in the medieval times being written in Latin, the strange thing about these books however was that they were written in some form of old English. 

"None of us could quite read the language it is written in, we believe that it is some dialect of Latin that died off along with our first Brother" 

"No one has attempted to translate these texts?" 

"No young lord, we fear the demon in the mountain far too much and none of the brothers here know that language." 

Nodding to the monk, I turned back to the ancient pages. 

I wasn't going to mention that I could read the words just fine, I did not want to end up being baited into becoming a monk in this day and age. 

The books had a surprising amount of information on Caligula, the creature had a name. I had found its origins in one of the books, apparently it had been a Roman king that had seemed to summon a demon in order to bind said demon to himself. This would have given him terrifying powers, such as true immortality and being able to bend reality to his will. Unfortunately for Caligula, fortunately for the world, the demon had tricked him and in exchange for a shadow of the powers he was promised, bound his life to blood. 

There was no further mention of what transpired after Caligula had made a deal with the demon, only that monks looking for food and water had stumbled into the cave and that's where they discovered that Caligula had been imprisoned in the cave for some reason, but only after the vampire had ripped them to shreds leading to only one of the monks surviving. I guess stupidity transcends space and time. For men claiming to be so educated, they foolishly went into a dark cave that apparently reeked of blood. Who else but and idiot would do that.

In the movies, the vampire had said that he was imprisoned there by the demon he made the deal with. Yet this was in contradiction to the book I had just finished reading, as the demon had only bound Caligula's life to blood. His weakness to the sun came from some other reason that was not written in the book. Picking up another book I began to read through the pages. 

The monk, despite being afraid of the mountain, had kept detailed records of Caligula. Apparently he had tempted more than one person into freeing him from the cave. Which brought me back to the reason why he was trapped in the cave in the first place. A theory I had, laughable as it was, revolves around the idea of vampires needing to be invited into homes in order for them to cross the threshold. 

If I was right, it would explain why he was freed in the movie once Vlad became a full vampire. After all, land belonging to the dead, or undead, in this case was not private property and anyone could enter. 

"Brother Lucian, do you happen to have a map of my fathers domains and the surrounding areas?" 

The monk who had been silently watching me seemingly flip through the books indiscriminately stood up and walked over to a shelf. Upon his return he unfurled a large map on another table. 

Walking over to the map I looked around at the landmarks. There's our castle, and there's Broken Tooth. I looked at the map again and my heart quickened in pace. There it was, my theory looked more and more plausible as I looked at the map.

"Is this map to date?" 

"It was last updated several years ago my young lord, there have been no changes to the borders nor has there been any new lands established." 

I let out a laugh as pieces of the puzzle fell into place in my head, I gave the monk who had been shocked by my outburst a clap on the shoulder as I returned the books to him. 

"My dear monk, strange as you are, you have given me all the answers to my problems." 

"My young lord, I do not understa-"

"You need not understand Brother, I swear to you I shall vanquish that foul creature and with it, save the land from damnation." 

I walked over to the sword that I had all but forgot and threw the wrappings open revealing the masterpiece beneath. I stared for a moment, it seemed as if the sword was calling to me, begging for me to pick it up. 

"This sword looks oddly familiar Lucian, where did you come by it?" 

"The brothers found it in a collapsed tower in some old Roman ruins. They say that it is old, though we could not decipher the runes etched onto it." 

I turned to Lucian for a moment observing his face, it didn't seem like a lie. Turning back to the sword I looked at the swirling patterns on the blade and the ice-like gem on the pommel. Strange runes were carved by the guard along the length of the blade. The leather bound grip looked too new to have been a lost artifact in Roman ruins. Damascus blades in the modern age had been poor imitations of the legendary metal, if I was right then this sword was made of true Damascus steel. Not only making it worth a fortune, but also bringing up its origins once again.

I closed my eyes and shifted through my memories. I swore I had seen this sword before, not in this movie as most of the swords here had been curved. I opened my eyes again and sighed, I didn't have an answer, nor did my memories as to the sword's origin. I touched the blade of the sword, feeling the rippling pattern beneath my fingers, tracing over the runes by the guard. I grasped the handle with one hand and marveled at the balance and weight. It was as if the sword was made specifically for me.

The sword was shorter than a broadsword, yet much longer than a typical Roman short sword. The grip left enough room for my other hand. Maybe it's a hand and a half sword, a bastard sword they called it. 

As my other hand made contact with the handle I felt a pulse of power erupt from the sword. The ice-like gem was glowing a brilliant blue. Brother Lucian screamed something and moved towards me. Another pulse of power blasted from the sword and sent the monk flying to the opposite wall. The tables fractured and chairs were thrown. The sword pulsed once more and my world went black. 

[Line Break] 

No POV

Blood dripped onto the floor of his cave, he had just successfully lured a farmer and his wife into his cave and drained them of their warm lifeblood. As he wiped his mouth clean of the life giving liquid he looked down at the crumpled bodies. 

The stench of soiled undergarments permeated in his cave and his nose twitched at the offending odor. Dragging the bodies to the entrance of his cave he kicked them down off his mountain and into the river far below the entrance to his home. 

Making his way back into his cave he started plotting to lure in his next meal when I was immediately pushed over by a wave of pure power. His whole cave shook and bits of rock and dirt fell from the ceiling. Another wave of power washed over him and for the first time in his long life he felt fear. The last time he had felt power such as this was when he had summoned that infernal demon. As another wave of power washed over him like a wave threatening to crush him he felt nauseous and the blood he had recently consumed came rushing out of his mouth. 

He slowly pulled himself up on shaking limbs. This power was exactly what he needed. Despite the fear in his gut he shuffled back into his cave and began to plan. 

Dorina POV

Her escort had stopped so that the horses could get a small break, excitement and anticipation caused her to bounce from one leg to another. She was getting married to the only other person to know who she truly was today after all. 

"Mother, how much longer are we waiting here?" 

"Your father should be preparing the guards to move any moment now. Have patience Dorina." 

She grumbled and slumped back on her seat in their carriage with a pout. She looked out of the window on her side and watched the clouds go by. 

'Who would have thought, that after coming into this world I'd be getting married to Dracula's son' 

She smiled at the memories that came to the forefront of her mind when she thought about Casimir. They had been together for two years now, in her old life it would have been scandalous to think that she would marry someone she did not at least know for several more years. Yet, when they were together everything just seemed to fit. It was as if they had been made for each other. Casimir vehemently denied 'true love' but ignored the fact that they had basically fallen in love the moment they met. She would never understand men and their ways of thought. Her father was appalled by her vulgar mouth, her mother disappointed. Casimir however, maybe it was due to the fact that they came from the same world, found her vulgar vocabulary endearing and entertaining. 

He had often said that her English accent, despite her not hearing it, was rather funny if we went off of where we were located. 

"Mother? Father is taking an awfully long time maybe I shou-"

Before she could finish a wave of something rocked the carriage and the horses reared up in fear. Her mother immediately wrapped her arms around her in a protective manner just in time as another wave shook the carriage some more. Fear blossomed in her heart as she looked around outside her window. Some horses had run off and the guards were busy trying to reign them in. She felt something tugging her mind as another wave of whatever hit her carriage. She looked at her mother who said something she couldn't hear due to the ringing in her ears. She felt a trickle of blood from her nose, lifting a hand she wiped it off and looked at the crimson liquid on her finger. 

'Casimir' she called out mentally as her world went black..