Fangs To My Blood

– Would you question my decisions, Ivan?

Dumitru jumps from the podium where he was perched and stands right in front of the young wolf. Ivan is one of the last born of the pack. He’s only forty years old and the vampires he serves are rather kind towards him, exactly as Anton. So, he doesn’t feel the urgency of the situation. This is not the case neither for all the werewolves, and certainly nor for our leader whose angry tone clacks in the night air.

– It’s definitely not, Dumitru. I just think …

Our leader grabs him by the throat and lifts him above the ground, cutting off his breathing.

– You are not asked to think. The pack has been suffering for too long under the yoke of these murderers. I’m getting tired of us being the villains in history.

Too many deaths, too many massacres. We have been doing the dirty work of vampires for two centuries. And for this sole purpose we were created by Zoran himself. We are the guardians of the vampire king. Our duty is exterminating humans bitten by vampires to prevent their transformation. Zoran did so in order to put an end to the untimely increase of his people without having to get his hands dirty. He did not want to bend down to finish his own meals. Protecting the castle all day is also one of our duties. Since vampires are the most vulnerable as they are confined inside, with no way to escape in case of danger. He just forgot that wolves are by nature wild. Some of our people have already tried to escape to live differently, but Zoran tracked them down so easily and eliminated them to the last man; thus, making them an example to other lycanthropes who would tempt to do the same.

Dumitru releases Ivan who collapses down to the ground, taking a steady breath after some laborious inspirations.

– The vampire king is preparing to flee after his losses and the desertion of humans in the region. The only choice he will have is to leave his castle. It will be a unique opportunity for us to capture him and make him confess how he created us.

Dumitru has been looking for the secret of our creation for two hundred years without any significant progress. He did some research. He integrated into the human world to learn every single thing related to genetics. But he unsuccessfully didn't manage to create a werewolf. At one point, he even believed that vampire blood was flowing through our veins, but it turns out that our lycanthrope nature violently rejects the venom of vampires. The thing that caused paralysis and excruciating pain to our body for days. This is a very common way of punishing us in vampires' compound. I’ve never paid for it. The only vampire I serve is Anton and he has always been so kind and respectful to me. A rare commodity among vampires who most often consider us as a sub-race. Our leader has long wanted to increase our numbers to provide relative protection against any attack through numerical superiority. He also thinks that it is a specific feature in our blood that allows Zoran to easily find the deserters of the pack. It has never been a question of capture, but of killing. Why this turnaround? Something is going on.

After an hour of talking about which strategy to adopt, each werewolf goes back to his business. We agreed upon keeping our habits without any change so as not to arouse even more the suspicions of the vampire king. For my part, I have a few hours left before I have to find Anton. I take this occasion to go see Dumitru. Like Ivan, I find it curious to embark on a war for which we are neither ready nor able. I walk into our leader’s house without knocking. One of my privileges. We have known each other for nearly a hundred and fifty years and have been friends for as long as I can remember. As a result, I became his second and I do not understand why he did not keep me informed of his plan earlier.

– I suspected that you would come to see me.

After a hug, I take the time to check my friend who is changed a lot. He becomes more tired than usual. In fact, being at Zoran’s personal service has been wearing him down for so long. If I were him, I’m not sure I would have survived more than a century without going crazy.

– What’s going on, Dumitru? I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t risk an attack on Zoran without a good reason.

His deep sigh does not bode good things. I have never seen my friend so tired and so defeated.

– You are right, Adrian. I have to admit that I am putting my personal interests ahead of those of the pack for once, but I will not apologize and nothing will change my mind. I’m running out of time.

– What do you mean ?

Certainly, He has been working in secret for years, to protect our people from Zoran’s madness putting his safety in the back. Sometimes he provokes the Vampire King’s wrath. How are things different today?

– I'm dying, Adrian.

– What ? It’s impossible !

– Look at me closely, brother.

I concentrate on his face and then pick up what disturbed me at first: wrinkles have appeared at the corners of his eyes and I see discreet white hair among his thick black locks. Signs of aging in the same way as humans.

– You are getting old.

– Yes, absolutely. I am the oldest lycanthrope in the pack and we mistakenly assumed that we were immortal like vampires since none of us showed signs of old age. That is not the case. Time catches up with me and my end comes quickly. Every day, I feel a little more of my strength abandoning me. Our decline begins probably after our two hundred years and it is much more precipitous than for humans.

Then I understand why he wants to quickly launch the offensive and capture Zoran.

– You hope to counteract the effects of aging by learning the secrets of our birth.

– Yes. Zoran has always been a master of our destiny for far a long time. And I would not allow him to be a master of my death. Why would these monsters roam the earth indefinitely without any respect for life when we would only have two hundred years? Two hundred years of slavery, what’s more. I’ve been thinking about my revenge for more than a century. It’s high time to act and take our revenge. If I have to leave this Earth, it will not be alone. I intend to drag the sharp teeth into my fall.

Indeed, Dumitru has been brooding over his reprisals since the death of his blood brother a hundred and fifty years earlier. Andrej died under mysterious conditions and Dumitru never accepted it. The wolf was my predecessor to Anton and I’m sure the vampire had nothing to do with this arbitrary execution. Or at least, he never gave me a reason to think differently. Our leader is convinced that his brother was killed because he saw something at the castle that he shouldn’t have seen. Consequently, they shut him up. I do not think that this is a sufficient reason to risk the lives of our comrades by acting without thinking.

– We could take the time to develop a stronger plan…

His groaning voice echoes in the room.

– NO.

He is taking up a calmer tone, which in no way removes the virulence of his remarks.

– I wouldn’t die because of the vampire king. We will capture him and make him reveal to us the secrets of our existence even if I have to make him suffer for hours for it. And then I’d kill him after I tortured him to the height of his black soul.

I realize at this moment that he's scared. Afraid of death. A death that he can do nothing against. Our leader is strong. One does not remain at the service of a tyrant for two centuries without hardening himself. He always wanted to control everything related to the punishments inflicted by the vampires on the leadership of the pack. However, he can do nothing against the time that passes and that steals his life. He can’t fight time himself.

– Will you support me?

– As always. But I want to talk about the trap again. I do really understand your thirst to live but it won’t be to the detriment of our brothers' lives.

He nods slowly, realizing that he is crossing the line.

– Will you be my safeguard if madness awaits me?

– I can put you in your place if necessary, but I'm sure you won't give me any reason to do so.

– Who knows? The approach to death changes everything. I wish you never see this torment. I'll make sure that it never happens to you.

Finally, my discussion with Dumitru leaves me sad and depressed. These words run around my head on my way to Anton. I have to meet him at the foot of the castle so he can feed himself and I can finish the poor bastard who served him food before he was reborn as a vampire. Our leader is determined in his quest, but his personal reasons take precedence over the common good. He thinks collateral damage is acceptable. I do strongly disagree with that. His health conditions must not make the death of any of us acceptable. Furthermore, attacking Zoran head on is a sheer madness. It’s a death sentence for the wolf that will be captured, and the same thing for the whole pack. If we do not succeed, nothing can stop the vampire king from killing us until the last one. All he has to do is recreate younger, more obedient werewolves, like Ivan. Undoubtedly, I am certain that Zoran will have eaten before leaving his home and his strength is much greater than ours. It is also faster and more devious. The only occasion we will be left with is to capture him just before sunrise, where he will be most vulnerable. The sun is the vampires’ biggest enemy, before us and our desire for freedom. UV rays are fatal to them. In his search for shelter to spend the day, the vampire king may be less attentive to his surroundings. This would allow us to capture him alive. Because the difficulty is there. It would be so easy to attack him numerously and tear his throat without waiting or hesitating. But that’s not our goal, because if he dies, we won’t get the answers we need to survive.

Lost in the midst of all these ideas and battle plans, I realize that I arrived at the meeting point by guessing on the ground the gigantic shadow of the place guardian. The silhouette of the three-headed stone dragon is really enormous. There is a legend that talks about it. By the way, Russia is full of legends, some concerning me. Myths about werewolves and vampires are passed down from one generation to another. But I like most that one of the dragons. It’s about the dragon Zmeï Gorynytch, guardian of the Kalinov Bridge, the only access to Zoran Castle and which marks the border between life and death, was defeated by a brave knight with a pure heart who came to free a princess held prisoner. Legend says it that the horrible fire-breathing dragon will come back to life when a princess needs him and a soul of such extraordinary blood as his murderer comes before him to ask for his assistance. Actually, I prefer this story to that one about werewolves in the surrounding villages. We are described as soul devourers, cannibals and monsters of the underworld. certainly, there is not that soul pure enough to awaken the legendary dragon and make it appear. I don’t know what the blind windows of the castle are hiding in the background of the statue, but nothing good can remain with the vampire king, the greatest murderer of the Middle Ages.