Chapter 4
The three finished their lunch and then headed to the rendezvous location outside the terminal. There sat a nervous-looking young man in lederhosen who sat atop an open horse-drawn carriage. He looked around uneasily then waved for the companions to climb in.
“I am Hans, and as I told you, I will only take you to the edge of the village but no further.” He held out a scrawny hand and Gustav placed Transylvania currency in it. The boy nodded, suspiciously eyed the three passengers, then turned without saying another word and drove his horse towards the village.
The carriage left the terminal and was soon weaving through dark wooded areas, splattering and crunching over rocky creek beds. Beneath the canopy of trees, the sun was largely concealed from view, and a sense of foreboding fell upon Ergo. Whatever they were heading toward, it couldn’t be good.
Angst, however, seemed unaffected. He reached into his bag and withdrew a leather case that he unstrapped and opened like a book. Inside was what appeared to be a crossbow, along with a collection of silver bolts with razor tips. He handed it to Henry and explained that it was for his defense while with his daughter in the village. Angst had his own series of weapons, as well.
Ergo listened curiously and asked if he’d brought along anything for him to use. Angst nodded and revealed another leather packet. He opened it carefully and revealed a smooth, tightly bound bullwhip.
“Vampires and the creatures that lurk in castles are especially susceptible to damage from a whip,” he said, and he handed the whip to Ergo.
Ergo frowned. “Wouldn’t something like a projectile weapon make more sense, like a machine gun or heavy firepower…?”
“Silence! I tell you, with a whip you can take down any number of zombies, roaming skeletons, massive bats, even rhythmically-swerving stone statue heads. Whatever the vampire sends against you. This is all you need.”
“I’ve never used a whip before.” Ergo sighed as he turned the weapon in his hand.
“It’s not that hard to learn. Many heroes use these kind of things routinely for a number of purposes. You’ll pick it up quickly. You can also use it to swing easily from—”
The horse pulling the carriage suddenly whinnied in terror and the driver pulled back on the reins. They had just reached a clearing, and before them was the tiny village of Sumpf. Small white cottages dotted the rolling, serene hillside. But the driver seemed terror-stricken and, following his gaze, Ergo beheld the source of his dark horror.
There, shooting skyward along the horizon, was the same castle Ergo had seen in the diner photos, except it was magnificent in size and seemed to crackle with visceral evil.
The driver couldn’t take any more. “Go go go, you awful people! You curse me to bring me here! Just go!” he pleaded. Then he grabbed Ergo’s bag and threw it to the ground beside the carriage. Henry and Angst hastily gathered their things before the driver could and jumped down. The boy seized the reins, he hauled the horse around in a tight u-turn, and the horse and carriage tore away in a shower of dirt and gravel, almost instantly gone from sight.
“The count’s castle,” noted Angst coolly. He too seemed transfixed by the dark structure. Henry stared and nodded.
Several villagers, all dressed in rustic attire, cautiously approached. Suddenly a young woman cut through the crowd and ran to them, grabbing Henry in a hug.
“I can’t believe you made it all zis way, Father,” she said cheerfully.
Henry nodded. “Your letters were distressing, Ingeborg. I’ve brought some friends who can help…” He glanced about. All of the villagers were now paying rapt attention, their faces masks of fear and interest. Ergo stepped up, too.
“I have some experience with this kind of thing, and we will do what we can. A newspaper at the airport mentioned that there was a villager involved in a bat attack. Can we speak with that person?”
A villager rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you read the headline? The villager was involved in a fatal attack, so of course, he died from the bat attack, because it was a fatal one. Gosh…”
Ergo grimaced.
Angst stepped up beside Ergo, ignoring the stupidity about the newspaper. “We are here to help you.”
The crowd muttered and numerous heads wagged. A particularly feisty villager spoke up. “That creature has already taken nearly twenty of our people. How do you think you’ll fare any different?”
Angst was unfazed. “Don’t ask foolish questions.” He turned and walked away from the crowd, toward the castle. At the edge of the village, a winding stone pathway lead up the mountainside directly to the castle. “We don’t have much light left,” he said to Ergo. “We need to go now and dispatch this creature. It will be weakest during the day. Find it and destroy it. The sooner we do this, the sooner we can return. Henry, you will stay here with your daughter and the villagers and protect them. Use the weapons I gave you.”
Henry nodded in compliance. There was more suspicious muttering amongst the villagers.
“Perhaps,” muttered Angst, as if talking to himself. “Ergo, there is a matter we must discuss in private.”
Ergo was surprised but he nodded compliantly. He and Angst stepped from the mob to a quieter section of the village beside a row of cabbages.
“Ergo, distressingly, there was a letter given to me at the airport terminal. I haven’t had the chance to look at it yet, but it’s addressed to both you and I.”
“You and me?” responded Ergo.
Angst ignored the grammatical correction. “I thought it only right that we read this together, although how someone could have known about our arrival on such short notice…”
“And both of our involvement with… vampires… in the past…” said Ergo with cold suspicion.
Angst looked at Ergo with foreboding as he opened the envelope seal and removed a crisp, perfectly folded piece of cream-colored paper. He showed it to Ergo while reading it aloud:
The magnificent and noble Count Frederick von Stoltfus greets both of you weary travelers and extends his warmest welcome to the scenic and noble country of Transylvania. He would like to share with you his hospitality and cordially invites both of you to a banquet tonight at sunset. The Count can reveal no additional details regarding the event, other than that it will be a monumental, life-changing opportunity for both of you…
P.S. You will both receive a free gift!
The letter just ended abruptly, with no signature. Ergo shuddered, and Angst appeared alarmed as well.
“I’ve never been invited to a banquet before by a vampire,” said Angst, “and especially not one with a terrible, prescient awareness of my unannounced arrival.”
Ergo studied the letter silently.
“I propose we meet with the villagers and tell them we plan to go to the castle, but we’ll keep this notice between you and I.”
So maybe he noticed the grammar correction earlier but preferred to ignore it. Ergo nodded and quietly trembled. Angst returned to the village elders and spoke with them, listening to more of their accounts of terror from the castle. He cast another fearful glance at the menacing tower that cast its looming spell over the village.
The time was coming soon, Ergo realized, so maybe he should try out Angst’s gift. Backing away from the villagers, he found an open field by the edge of a garden, one guarded by a shaggy scarecrow. Ergo clenched his teeth then wildly flailed the whip at his target, snapped the whip a few times, and succeeded in completely missing the scarecrow. With his last lash of the whip, it shot around both of his ankles and sent him tumbling backwards.
Henry helped Ergo free of the binding and back to his feet.
“I wanted to tell you thank you again for agreeing to help. I see that you’re practicing with the gift of Angst, but I have one other thing for you that will hopefully help out…”
He handed Ergo a small fabric pouch tied with a thin leather lace.
“If you run into problems, and you most certainly will, open this and use
it. I read about this somewhere and it might just help…”
Ergo looked puzzled and was about to open the little package for a look when Angst strolled up and noticed the whip around Ergo’s shoulders.
“You’ve been practicing. Good. It’s time to meet with the villagers before we go.”
Within the largest building of the village, a sort of community center, Ergo, Angst, and Henry were treated to a banquet as best the villagers could provide, featuring roasted game meats and vegetables. Many villagers proposed toasts in their honor, lifting high their mugs of beer, and the travelers were regarded as heroes, their sudden appearance there something like a divine appointment to liberate the village and bring back peace.
Henry sat with his daughter and listened to the sordid details of recent events. He learned how more and more villagers had been taken away, and how a lingering fear hung over all regarding who would be taken in the next ubiquitous abduction.
Angst, meanwhile, was deep in discussion with one of the village elders. Ergo sat across the room chewing on a roasted carrot, his appetite all but gone. He watched as the elder speaking with Angst made several animated hand gestures of closed fists suddenly opening wide.
The meal finally finished. Angst wiped his mouth with a cloth then rose and addressed the villagers. He described in detail who he was and gave an account of his years of hunting vampires and similar creatures, establishing clearly that he held no fear or reservations about the mission before him. But before he finished, the room began to shake. Something large and powerful landed on the roof, followed by other noisy bangs.
Screams and panicked shouts arose from the crowd. Another bang, and suddenly sections of the roof began to be torn away, sending chunks of debris tumbling to the ground. Wicked faces of bat-like creatures appeared, peering through the holes, and, to Ergo’s horror, the creatures dropped into the room and clawed at the peasants with sharp, shiny black talons.
The peasants scurried and dashed about the room, some hiding below tables, others fleeing through the doors, but none dared fight back. Except for Inge, who grabbed a torch from the wall and waved it bravely at one creature, but all to no avail. With one swipe of the creature’s arm the torch was sent flying from her hands and dashing against a window, where it proceeded to set the curtains ablaze.
With people scattering madly there was no one to put it out and the flames flared higher. Ergo hesitated. He’d lost track of Henry and Angst, and he wanted to fight the fire, but instead he charged toward the bat creature attacking Inge. Ergo jumped and slammed both feet solidly into the creature’s head, jolting it aside and into a table, scattering earthenware and candles to the floor.
The black creature shuddered, turned and glared at Ergo angrily with a fiercely monstrous face, then grabbed Inge with its talons and shot through the hole in the roof. Other creatures followed, as if knowing a villager was captured and their task was finished, and they too escaped through the ruptured ceiling.
The walls of the center erupted with flames and Ergo and the last cowering villagers hurried out, just prior to its total and complete collapse. Henry wailed in anguish, his eyes streaming with tears as he watched the black shapes soar away in the diminishing light of twilight. Shaking with terror, he toppled to the ground.
Ergo dragged the beefy man away from the tumult. The shock had been too much for the poor fellow. Peasants continued to scurry about in a frenzy, bemoaning the latest horrors inflicted upon their village.
Angst climbed atop an empty carriage, held aloft a torch, then whistled loudly. The villagers settled down enough to give the man their attention. “Ergo and I will travel to meet with the count tonight. I will demand that he leave this village alone, and if he refuses, he will be destroyed. Go to your homes and bar the doors, seal the windows, and pray we return… for if we fail…” The torchlight flickered ominously upon his face.
“We’ve tried that before and he’s stopped us from approaching the castle,” chimed one of the villagers, his face twisted into a scowl. “What makes you any different?”
“I’ve encountered many creatures like this before, and together with Ergo we will bring an end to it tonight!”
The villagers nodded silently and shuffled back to their homes. Hammering echoed through the evening. Angst gave instructions to the village doctor to tend to Henry during their absence.
“Prepare yourself, Ergo,” said Angst through gritted teeth. “The time has come to encounter incredible things, the likes of which you’ve never seen. This will be a night unlike anything you’ve experienced before.”
The boy took one last look about the village as the sun set long shadows across the hillside. The smoldering remains of the center continued to pour a baleful haze into the air and, in the distance, the darkening silhouette of the castle beckoned.