Son Of The Dragon

VI

The fire sent embers into the air, I set my bowl of rabbit stew down and brushed my hands off. My father and our men were all camped around the fire, many had retreated into their tents to get some sleep. We were a few miles off of the border of Bulgaria where we had cornered the sultans men. It had now been three years since I started joining my father on the battlefield. It had been on and off again with the battles. Dorina was reluctant to agree at first, citing the danger. 

Flashback

1 Month After The Wedding 

"Cas, you can't be serious about joining Vlad on these crusades against the Sultan."  

I was sitting on the bench by the fountain sketching when Dorina came out from the castle. My father had informed the small army we had that I was to join them in their latest fight against the Ottoman Empire in a week's time. Dorina had overheard and was now confronting me.  

"Love, I can't just sit around and get complacent. I've plateaued in terms of skill. How am I to defend myself when the time comes and I have to fight that vampire."  

She shuffled for a bit before swatting my legs off the bench and sitting down beside me.  

"You don't have to fight," I looked at her. "Let me finish, you don't have to fight all these battles. No one knows that the vampire is there. We can potentially just ignore it."  

"Dorina, you and I both know that no matter what we do the plot of the movie we are in, shit that's still weird to say, will progress no matter what. Just the other day there was whispers in town about how the Ottomans are creeping closer and closer to our borders."  

Dorina sighed in resignation, "if you have to fight can you at least promise me that yo-" kissing her before she could finish I took her hand.  

"Love, I promise that I will come home to you. Even if I have to fight off a thousand men. I will come home to you."  

"There you go again, being cheesy." She grinned as she stole another kiss.  

"Shut up," she giggled as I got up. "You know you love it."  

She followed suit before snatching my drawing pad and running off. I chased her around the garden before my father called me back into the castle to discuss our plans for the upcoming campaign.  

Flashback End

We were on the final legs of the Ottoman Campaign. We had pushed them further and further back from our borders. The Hungarian ruler had denied us aid, we were still successful nonetheless. Vlad had complimented me on my strategy. Not that I could truly take credit, I was only taking a page out of the Viet Congs guerilla warfare handbook. The massive ottoman army didn't stand a chance against the hit and run attacks we staged that only led to ambushes. We even utilized the civilian population, digging tunnels under homes into enemy camps and disguising our soldiers as civilians. The Ottomans had taken massive casualties not that they would ever admit it. 

The skirmishes and fight I had taken part in had honed my skill with the sword and other weapons to near godlike levels. I still couldn't beat my father in a duel however, Vlad was a monster on the battlefield. Without using the sword's abilities I could never win against him in a fair fight.  

Over the years that I wielded the sword I had learned more and more about it. Strangely enough I didn't need to use two hands to activate the sword's effects. With enough willpower I was able to use the sword with one hand, I figured that the sword ran mostly on will power after studying the rifts it could make. Sometimes I would even use it as a regular sword. Well to everyone it was just a regular sword. I never told anyone about the sword's powers. Not even Dorina, though she did have the same thought as me and mentioned that it looked familiar. 

A soldier came out from his tent and took my spot. I had offered to take the first watch, I clapped him on the shoulder as I returned back to my tent. Taking my boots off I lay down in the sleeping pad that I had set up. Tomorrow was the final push, and after that I would officially retire from the constant battles. Maybe I'd move away with Dorina, she had wanted to start a family. I hesitated due to the vision that I had, I feared that if we were to have a child it would fulfill some prophecy or something that would trigger the events of that vision to play out. Sighing I held my sword to my chest willing to sleep to come over me. These were thoughts for another day. 

Vlad POV

Dawn peaked over the horizon as the rest of the men came from their tents. Today was the day we would squash the Ottoman army. Mehmed's father had been cornered thanks to Casimir's strategies. 

He had come a long way from a boy that refused to socialize, it was as if he thrived in the battlefield. Casimir exited his tent and made his way over to the table where we had maps of the city that the Ottomans occupied. 

"Son, this is the final push. Are there any changes to the plan you would like to make?" 

He shook his head. "No father," he points a finger at the map. "Petru will take the southern entrance with a majority of our army, and we will flank from the enemy's rear with the remaining third. The Ottomans are tired and they do not expect us to hit them so soon after our last attack. If we hit them fast enough we may even catch the sultan off guard." 

Nodding I gave the orders to the men, Casimir reviewed the map a moment more before he mounted Roach and gathered our third of the army. Mounting my horse I followed him to our position. 

"Just one more day and then we shall return home for good Mirena." 

Mehmed I POV

The sun was now out over the horizon, the sound of hoofbeats echoed through the town. Ottoman soldiers scrambled to pick up their weapons and to wake their comrades. The enemy was on them in moments. Steel clashed against steel, blood was spilled on the streets. Friend and foe lay in pools of it that ran through the canals like crimson rivers. 

"Protect the Sultan" the janissary who had shouted was felled by an arrow through the throat as more men poured in from another side of the town. 

The Sultan watched as the rest of his warriors fell. Turning to his remaining Janissary guards he gave them orders to escape with his son, forcibly if Mehmed refused to retreat. If he fell today so be it, he hoped that his son could avenge his demise. Who knew the boy he had raised as a warrior would be his executioner. The sound of his dying men droned out as a figure wreathed in crimson armor with the filigree of a dragon entered his quarters. 

"Vlad," the man stopped. "So it is you." 

"Your treachery ends here Marud." 

"Treachery? I only did what you would have also done." 

"The slaughter of innocents and enslavement of children is not what I would have done." 

Another man entered the room, this man had a familial appearance to Vlad. 

"This is my son," so it was. "He is to be your executioner." 

Vlad turned and left the room. "My son will avenge my death. Your son may kill me today, but mine will raze your insignificant little hamlet to the ground." 

A hard slap sent him down onto the ground, the man identified as Vlad's son drew his sword. 

"You can either draw your weapon, or die like a dog. Your choice my lord." The title was spat out as if it were poison. 

"I wish to know the name of my executioner." 

The man kicked him in the chest hard, knocking the wind out of him. 

"You do not need to know my name, you and your son are insignificant gnats to a dragon." 

Before he could process the words that had been said, steel rang out in a high pitch hum in the room. He felt blood start to trickle from his neck as his vision did a rotation. Blinking he was confused as he looked at his body. More blood poured out of his neck as he realized that in one smooth motion his head had been cut clean off. He prayed that his son had gotten away safely. His vision faded as he watched the man draw closer. 

Casimir POV

"Well that was anticlimactic." I said to the headless corpse. 

Wiping the blood off of the blade I sheathed it and took a knee observing the sultan's head. The light quickly faded from the dead man's eyes and I sighed. His son had somehow escaped in the chaos. Hopefully he would wise up and realize that Vlad will not take kindly to him sticking his nose around Wallacia. 

I picked up the head and walked out to the door where my father was waiting for me. I tossed the head to Petru. 

"Mount that on a spear," Vlad looked at me. "It is unnecessary but we need to send a message. Wallacia will not tolerate Ottoman rule, and for any who would follow in their footsteps, death will be their reward." 

Vlad exhaled a breath he had been holding. I could tell he was conflicted. I knew he would have done the same thing in the past, but I also knew that a major plot in the movie was him being disgusted with his past and hanging up his armor and sword due to it. If this fast tracked that I would not complain. 

We rode back to camp and I returned to my tent taking off my armor. I washed the blood from my face and hands in the basin that had been set up in a corner of my tent. Changing into a clean set of clothes I collapsed in my bed resting my aching muscles. That was another goal I completed. I was one step closer to being able to retire in peace with Dorina. All that was left was the vampire in the mountain, and the sultan's son. I really hoped the poor bastard would wise up and not demand my fathers support. Part of me knew that it was impossible. Historically Mehmed and Vlad did end up fighting to a stalemate. Both sides claimed victory, while denying defeat. 

Why couldn't Dorina and I have been reincarnated to a peaceful world or something. I knew that I had pretty much accepted being in this world off the bat since it was a second chance at life, but I would do anything to have been sent to some slice of life anime right about now. 

"You know, you're a strange man Brent Whitfield." 

I was immediately up and on my feet, sword in my hand as I faced the person that had somehow snuck into my tent. A figure in light orange robes sat in a corner of my tent.

"Tea?" The figure asked

A memory flared in the back of my mind, the orange robes, a hooded figure, the offer of tea out of the blue. It was impossible, it is not even in the same universe. 

"Brent Whitfield, I think you'll find that the universe you are thinking of is quite real." 

"Stop doing that, stop reading my mind. You shouldn't exist, not in this universe at least." 

"And yet here you are." I glared at the figure "You are an interesting case Brent Whitfield, or should I call you Casimir Tepes now?" 

Pulling another chair from, somewhere, the figure set it down on the ground and I took it. Setting it on the opposite side of the table I sat down and looked at the tea. 

"How are you here?" The figure lowered its hood. "What is the Sorcerer Supreme doing here?" 

"Answers will be given soon, let us just enjoy this tea for now. Do not worry, it's not poisoned." 

I hesitantly picked up a tea cup and took a sip. I had never been a big tea drinker in this life or my past life. Somehow the tea was good. 

'Fucking sorcerers and their stupid magic tea' 

"I assure you it's not magical. It's just a bit of honey." 

"Stop reading my mind!" 

"I apologize, it has been a while since I have met someone else who was so keen on fighting fate." 

I looked at the sorcerer supreme. If she was here that means that pretty soon a whole lot of bullshit was going to happen. From aliens to gods fighting against gods. There went an early retirement. Dorina would flip shit once I told her that the MCU was a part of this reality. Maybe she could give me some insight on what was going to happen. I had not been a big Marvel fan in my past life, I barely remembered who the sorcerer supreme was and I had actually watched 'Doctor Strange'. 

"You live a very interesting life." The sorcerer interrupted my thoughts. "I came here to warn you but first I guess I do owe you some answers." 

Dorina POV

Casimir had been gone for nearly a year since his last visit. I had gotten a letter a few weeks ago telling me that he was on his way back. I could barely contain my excitement, Mirena was in a similar state. I guess the prospect of having her husband home permanently was just as appealing as having Casimir take me on adventures outside of the castle. Ingeras had grown up, now five years old closing on six the kid was a ball of energy. 

"Aunty Dorina! Did you hear, uncle Casimir and father are on their way home." 

"Yes I heard you little brat, now go back to your mother so she can give you a bath." 

Ingeras yelped and laughed as he ran from me. I chased him around for a bit before leading him to his mother who picked him up with surprising strength. I waved to the little boy as his mother carried him off to the baths. 

"I should probably bathe as well, Cas should be home any day now." I walked over to the newly finished room that Vlad and Mirena had commissioned for Casimir and I. 

We had our own personal bath in the room saving us time. Casimir had insisted that they all had personal baths installed in each room, Vlad had agreed immediately stating that he was tired of the guards constantly trying to get a peek into the women's bath house. 

The old bath house had been repurposed into a workshop and training ground for Casimir. He had created, well plagiarized, many different things over the years. One of the local favorites was moonshine. The tavern had brought casks of the stuff. Another project he had was creating muskets, though he had trouble finding craftsmen capable of making the barrels. Instead Casimir had refined the production of black powder. The guards were now armed with explosives which honestly kind of frightened me. 

Vlad and his advisors didn't question Casimir on his creations. They just seized the opportunity for more power. Hell even my father had sent a request for cases of the rudimentary grenades and Vlad had obliged. Casimir realized that introducing grenades to medieval soldier was probably not a good idea and informed Vlad that the last one he would make, Vlad insisted on a compromise so now the explosives were stored in a separate room underground. The creation of the grenades was also passed off to several craftsmen who had been taught how to make them. 

I lay in the wooden tub for a few more minutes basking in the warmth of the water. The floral scent clinging to my skin. There was a knock on the door and a servant girl peeked into the room.

"Lady Dorina, Prince Vlad has been seen approaching the castle." 

I nodded and dismissed the girl before drying off and putting on a fresh dress. Another downside to living in the fourteenth century, people looked at you funny if you were a woman and you wore pants. I missed wearing pants, dresses are so restricting. Oh well, it wasn't as if I was expected to grapple anyone to submission any time soon. 

I exited the room and made my way out into the great hall. Servants had set up a small feast, Mirena and Ingeras were already waiting by the door. I joined them, holding my breath as I heard the sound of boots approaching the doors. The doors fly open and Vlad along with Casimir enter with smiles on their faces when they see us. I ran to Casimir and threw myself into his arms as he laughed and swung me around in a circle. Our lips met in a heated kiss before he set me down cupping my cheek. 

"I've missed you my love." He whispered to me in English.

Leaning into his touch I looked into his eyes. "And I've missed you my dearest."  

We share another kiss before we move to take our seats at the head of the table along with Vlad and Mirena who had their own little reunion. Ingeras had somehow climbed into Casimir's arms after greeting Vlad but jumped off as we sat down to take his own seat. 

Stories were shared and jokes told, Casimir laughed along but I could tell that something was troubling him. I cleaned off my hands before squeezing his leg under the table. He visibly relaxes and makes eye contact with me. He excuses us as he takes my hand leading us back out into the gardens. It was slowly becoming my favorite spot in the castle. 

Casimir led me to the bench and he gestured for me to take a seat. 

" So I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"  

I looked into his eyes, whatever it was bugging him I knew it was serious. 

"You know I like to save dessert for last, give me the good news first."  

We had always spoken in English when we discussed more fantastical aspects of our world. I knew that whatever it was had to do with our current situation. 

"Well good news is that we wiped out the Ottomans and pushed them as far as we could away from our borders."  

He took a big breath before continuing. "Bad news is that the sultan's son escaped," he raised a finger to stop me from interrupting. "And worse news, is that our universe just got bigger."  

Questions flashed through my mind, "What do you mean by 'our universe getting bigger'?"  

"This is why I wanted you seated for this, I just had a conversation with a certain orange robed sorcerer who offered me tea the first chance she got. Need I say more?"  

I felt my heart skip a beat. There was no way, if he just mentioned who I think he just mentioned. Then our lives just got even more complicated than before. I felt panic build up in my system, I barely registered Casimir sitting down next to me and pulling me close to comfort me and to rein in my panic attack. 

"Are you talking about who I think you're talking about?"  

"Yeah, the fucking Sorcerer Supreme you mean?" 

"The fucking Sorcerer Supreme." I repeated as I slumped into his arms. 

Casimir POV 

I held Dorina a bit longer, the news had hit her harder than I had expected. I felt her breathing calm down substantially, she had fallen asleep in my arms. I smiled as I brushed a strand of her hair from her face tucking it behind her ear. I picked her up as gently as I could. I carried her around the back, I doubt the feast had ended. I slowly opened the doors to the room that we shared and lay her on our bed. Removing her shoes I tucked her in biting back a laugh as she grumbled something about stupid magicians ruin our retirement plan. 

Taking a quick bath I put on my sleepwear before joining her in bed. She immediately cuddled closer into my arms and laid her head on my chest with a satisfied sigh. Kissing her forehead I whispered a goodnight as I joined her in a dreamless sleep. 

I woke up with a start as I felt something collide with my jaw. Groaning, I felt whatever hit me smash into my jaw again and I jumped out of bed expecting a fight. I looked down and saw Dorina peacefully asleep with a smile on her face. I watched as she threw another lazy elbow into the spot I had just been. Shaking my head I slowly snuck back onto the bed before jumping on top and her smothering her surprised yell with a pillow. She screamed bloody murder and thrashed beneath me. I laughed and relented before rolling off of her and onto my back. She immediately straddled my waist and I found her hand around my neck. 

"Oooh, so kinky. Are you sure you want to start something this early in the morning love?"  

She takes her hand away from my neck and collapses onto my chest but doesn't move from her position. 

"Why were you trying to smother me with a pillow? Love."  

She sat back up as she asked me, looking at her I realized that she must have gotten up last night because she was only wearing one of my shirts. She saw me looking and she grinned as she started to grind her hips into mine. Grabbing her hips stopping her, 

"You started it by elbowing me in the face. Twice." 

Her eyes widened before she started apologizing, soon I found my pants flying across the room. Well this was one way to start my morning. 

[Line Break] 

We had elected to spend the entire day in our room until a servant was sent to fetch us. Sharing another intimate moment in the bath we quickly got dressed and made our way to the great hall. Dorina had a skip in her step and I smiled as I followed behind. Happy that I had gotten the chance to ease the tension of the fact that our world had just gotten bigger. 

Vlad and Mirena were sitting on their seat a messenger who looked way too well dressed kneeling before the thrones. Dorina and I took our seats and the messenger stood back up. 

"I come bearing a message from the church. Pope Sixtus requests your presence Prince Vlad. Your attendance has also been requested." 

The messenger had turned to me. Before I could say anything my father answered for me. 

"We shall depart at the end of the week." 

The messenger nodded and turned to leave the room. As the messenger turned I recognized the crest on his cloak. It was the crest of the Order of the Dragon. The same one Vlad had or was still a part of. Once the messenger had exited the hall Mirena left to start packing and Vlad turned to me. 

"Son, this is important. If the pope wants you present then you must have caught his attention. Either it is due to your actions in leading battles against the Turks or your recent creations there is a reason he has also summoned you."

"I understand father, it was just an unexpected turn of events." 

"I believe that we are allowed guests so fret not, Dorina can come along with you." 

Nodding, I took Dorina's hand as we walked back to our room. Dorina sat on the corner of our bed as I started to pace around the room. The Order of the Dragon, they made the Spanish Inquisition look like Girl Scouts. There was nothing like devout Catholic knights at the beck and call of the Holy See. Not a lot of information was available on the Order. Going off of how Vlad was like then they were a force to be reckoned with. 

"What do you think he wants?" I stopped packing as I turned to Dorina. 

"Honestly? I have no idea, if your letters were anything to go by then you fought pretty dirty, that's not something a devout group of people would see as 'chivalrous'. Then again the Vatican in this day and age liked to hoard power. Maybe they want to have you under their thumb." 

I thought about it for a moment, there was some sense to what Dorina had said. In my experience no one ever did anything without expecting something in return. This was especially true with the religious fanatics, and currently the entire Holy See was full of fanatics. 

"Let's just be cautious, whatever they want and whatever they give us should not be taken lightly. They would want something in return. Hell they only freed Vlad from the Sultan after he had agreed to join the Order of the Dragon." 

Dorina sighed as she slumped back into the bed. 

"Why is our life so damn complicated?" She looked over at me as I joined her laying by her side. 

"Life would be pretty boring. I'm just glad you're here with me. I think I'd have gone crazy by now if I had never met you." 

She scooted closer and snuggled into my arm, I turned my head to look at her. 

"Have I ever told you about how much I love you?" 

"Every day you're here Cas, and despite how cheesy you are at times I love you too."