He was riding in the front line. He heard about the voivode's noble decision of protesting the oppression of his land by refusing to send payment and children to be turned into Muslim puppets. However, they didn't take no for an answer and decided to take the children themselves. Filled with determination, but also a certain fear, he decided to enroll for the interception.
He looked behind him to the figure riding in the very back of the group. The voivode was not extremely tall, yet he had a very strong and stocky build, giving him an intimidating look. He was wearing armor with a fur coat, a fur hat with long locks of brown, curly hair beneath and had a large Hungarian saber at his side. He was surrounded by several bodyguards, all mercenaries of various origins, all imposing like him, with cold looks on their faces. The entire group was not very large, the quantity of trained military available being rather modest. A number of thoughts crossed his mind, with one particularly recurrent since enrolling.
"Am I ready to die tonight?" He shuddered at the thought. He rationalized it away, it was not his being that was important at the moment, but the nation's.
Going along the Danube, they reached a forested area. It was close to midnight and they had only the moon and torches to light the path. Mihail found himself approached by one of his comrades.
"Vodă ordered we stop and camp here for the night."
Though he wouldn't admit it, Mihail was relieved by the stop, not only because he was exhausted, but also because it was a good delay for what was coming. He offered along a few others to guard the group for a few hours after which they'd continue the mission. Some stayed at the camp while Mihail went with the others to scout the area. As they marched around and beyond the camp, they started discussing.
"Fellows, what do you reckon is going to happen after the mission if we're still alive?" asked the one in front of the group.
"Turks will keep coming over and I'll have to keep killing them. It is as it always was," responded an old man.
"God forgive me but I wish I could pull out," responded a younger man.
"We all will pull out soon enough. Specifically, we will be pulling swords out of ourselves," said another while chuckling, yet with a grim expression on his face.
"By God I'll eat. I have been hungry for so long I feel I could eat their entire army now," said Mihail as the others gave out a hearty laugh.
They went on while joking and telling each other about their lives at home and things went pretty uneventful for about a few hours. Yet, as they were about to go back to the camp they heard powerful sounds in the distance. Screams and animalistic growls. Quickly, yet carefully they advanced towards the source of the noise, soon to discover a gruesome scene. The dozens of bodies that vaguely resembled Ottoman military sitting mangled within a clearing. It looked like an animalistic deed, their guts and throats being spilled and ripped apart while their faces were frozen in expressions ranging from rage to horror. Yet, there wasn't much blood in sight. The leader of the group started making the sign of the cross while the others remained motionless for some time.
"What in the name of the Lord happened here?" went Mihail.
"A-a pack of wolves, perhaps?" went the young man beside him.
"Do you see any wolf corpse here? Do you think they couldn't put down even one?" asked the old man.
"I don't know! Whatever it is we can't deal with by ourselves. We should get back and warn the rest," responded the young man. Everyone agreed.
As they were running back towards the camp fog started settling in. Looking around Mihail saw in the distance what looked like a few Wallachian soldiers running in the opposite direction.
"Hey! Turn back, it isn't safe! " he yelled.
The others looked as the soldiers continued seemingly without taking notice. They were running at incredible speeds, fading into the distance with every second. Within a few moments, Mihail made a decision.
"Ahh. You go back to the camp and warn the others. I will try to get the ones going towards the danger."
"I am coming along!" said the leader.
The two followed the tracks which were stomped in the soil with extreme force. They followed for several minutes until they had the soldiers in sight again, as they, seven in number, stopped in place. As he was about to call out for them, Mihail was stopped by his partner.
"Are you seeing this?" he said as he pointed towards the one in the middle.
Truly, the man let out a groan as he arched back at an unnatural angle, his arms thrown up, as his body started to bulge. Limbs started to change as they saw the armor and clothes turn into a thick, black fur. The eyes started to glow with an eery yellow light. The "man" was thrashing around during the process until he finally landed on all fours and never got back up. Indeed, before their eyes a man turned into a massive tailless wolf.
"I'm asking again. Did you see that?"
"Against all odds, I did," said Mihail, still stunned.
Guided more by morbid curiosity now more than anything, they followed from a safe distance. The soldiers and the beast seemed to slow down as they were getting closer to their destination. In the far distance, the pair could see the village where they were likely going to get face to face with the Ottoman military later. The soldier group suddenly came to a halt and then quickly charged forward while letting out battle roars, along with some other, non-human sounds. The pair followed to the location soon enough. Despite them being ready for nearly anything, what they saw exceeded their expectations.
Instead of using swords, sabers, spears or any other weapon they had at their disposal against the Ottoman formation, the soldiers were using only the ones attached to their bodies. Mihail recognized the soldiers as the bodyguard mercenaries he saw in the evening, though they were looking much more frightening. Their eyes were glowing with a yellowish red light and their faces had expressions of pure savagery and hunger. The pair watched as the beasts were picking their enemies up, pinning them to the ground, tearing their limbs apart, effortlessly twisting their necks and sinking their teeth (or rather fangs) into them. The wolf charged into multiple soldiers and tore apart them with quick, yet deep bites. It wasn't satisfied with killing, it tore further into the fresh cadavers until they became unrecognizable.
"What is happening?" whispered Mihail.
"Nosferatu, as strange as it may sound. We shouldn't be seeing this."
As more Turks were downed and went out of sight into the thick fog, Mihail was hit by the realization that there weren't many left and he might meet their fate would he not get away as soon as possible. As he'd notice soon, his companion was hit by that realization before him. Looking behind him, his companion was running at full speed away from the scene while screaming like his life depended on it. As he was about to follow, he felt a rush of wind bolt past him and watched as a blurry humanoid figure moving at incredible speeds collided with the running man, throwing him several meters away. The Nosferatu climbed over him and stabbed him repeatedly with its clawed hands.
Hearing footsteps, Mihail found himself being slowly approached by the Nosferatu and the giant wolf. Searching desperately at his throat, he grasped his silver cross and held it high in front of them while backstepping. He stared intently as the wolf rose its shoulders and got on two feet as its body started shaping back while the fog started disappearing. As the fur faded way, revealing armor and a coat, the snout retracted and the face morphed back, revealing a thin and reddish face, unknown how much naturally and how much from bloodstains, clean shaved save for a thick moustache, a strong and aquiline nose with swollen nostrils and wide, green eyes under bushy, black eyebrows that gave them an intimidating look . Undoubtedly, the one standing in front of him was Vlad Țepes, Dracula.
Dracula seemed to gather his thoughts while glaring towards Mihail, who was paralyzed by fear. After some time, he addressed him:
"What is your name, young man?" Dracula said in a calm, stern voice.
As Mihail was too frightened to speak, one of the now more human looking bodyguards leaned in to the voivode's side.
"Ah, Mihail Ioan Constantin, it is my pleasure to meet you, even in such inconvenient circumstances. I suppose it's only fair I owe you an explanation for what you have witnessed."
Mihail remained unresponsive.
"See, we are no longer regular people. This is how it has been for some time. We are what is known as-"
"Nosferatu!" interjected Mihail.
"Ah great, we finally have come to a dialogue! Indeed, we are Nosferatu. I can understand your reaction to such a display, for the unknowing looker it does seem not only unpardonable but even as far as unholy."
"Satanic!"
"Alas, I believe that is a fair assessment. But the manner we committed the acts you witnessed in was a simple result of our nature. You do not blame us for our nature, do you? Or are the acts themselves that you find immoral?" Dracula said while staring him into the eyes.
"You killed him!" Mihail yelled as he pointed towards his fallen companion.
"Unfortunately, that was necessary. He was going to run away and reveal these unpleasant events to the others and only succeed in creating division between our people. But you do not need to get the same treatment, I believe we can make an agreement."
Mihail slightly lowered the cross, allowing Dracula to make few steps forward. Despite being around the same height, Dracula's presence felt like it was towering over him. He felt like a replacement for the noble's non-existent shadow.
"What have you just witnessed is nothing more than an act of feeding. Unorthodox, yes, however simply feeding nonetheless. How are those laying there," Dracula said pointing to the corpses, "any different from common animals? Perhaps the fact that an animal at the very least attacks out of need rather than maliciousness. But those are nothing more than God-forsaken beasts, driven by their primitive desires to steal, kill, dominate and conquer. We are indeed lucky we have not fallen victims to the same fate as our brethren in neighboring lands but that will not be the case for much longer unless we show opposition! And that is why these men chose to take the powers of the night, so our people do not fall needlessly."
"What about your highness?"
"To be truthful, I did seek out the dark arts in case I would be to fall as my allies have. And so I did, brought back as a ghoulish man. Since then, I took upon the duty of choosing the best and most trustworthy of my men and share my power with. That is why we decided to stop the group and clear out the path for them. Together, we are to join in defending our brothers and eliminate the invasion. The people think there is going to be a war, but what is to be is so much more."
Now standing only a foot away from him, while staring intently into Mihail's eyes, he put his fist to his chest and said in with a fire-like force in his voice:
"As his Holiness, Pope Pius II ordered, we are to start a crusade. Soldier or peasant, man or woman, adult or child, we will all unite and fight as one! We will capture them, kill them, impale them and in our case, eat them! We will raze each one that steps on our ground, no, we will exterminate them all and build forests with their corpses all the way to their devilish ruler Mehmet until they either all surrender or perish! This is what I offer you, a choice of how to help your people. Will you rather choose to be the nourishment for the great crusaders or take what I give you and feast by their side?"
Mihail remained silent. Dracula rose his voice once again.
"You have to choose, soldier! Human or Wallachian!"
As Mihail unsheathed his sword and rose it towards the sky, he picked the silver cross, dropped it to the ground, and as it shattered the fog started settling again.
"Long live Wallachia!"