Voyagers
“Lucien?” Myra said. “He’s the monster you mentioned?”
“I didn’t know he was a monster back then,” the Prince said. “It took me a long time to realize it, and even longer to admit it to myself. No matter what, I learned a lot from Lucien, and he influenced who I became.”
“Great,” said Myra. “The influences in your life you’ve mentioned so far are Khan Boris and Lucien, and you describe both of them as monsters. That explains a few things about you.”
The Prince poked at the fire with a stick. “And this only shows how naïve you are. If you think I’m a monster, you have never seen a true one, and you should hope you never do.”
Sissi yawned and immediately turned a deep red.
Vlad smiled, his eyes kind. “Does my tale bore you, dear girl?”
Sissi’s eyes grew wide, and she vigorously shook her head, sprinkling snow everywhere. A few snowflakes fell into the fire and melted. “Not at all, Your Highness! But it’s getting late.”
“Indeed,” he said. “My apologies.”
He took the metal coffee pot, and Myra watched in fascination as he separated the two parts, poured water in the lower compartment, filled the funnel with ground coffee, and reassembled everything again, his fingers moving so fast they became a blur. He placed the pot over hot charcoals and waited until the steam whistled out.
“I’ve never drunk coffee before,” Sissi said, accepting the offered cup.
“Then you might not like it,” said Vlad, “but it will keep you awake.”
Myra took her own cup and breathed in the heavy, comforting aroma. The coffee was thick and black, with a thin layer of golden foam along the edge. Snow fell around her, the snowflakes dancing, chasing, fighting, but ultimately joining their sisters on the ground, forming a soft, clean blanket. Everything looked so clean covered in snow. As if it could hide all the blood and pain beneath.
“Vlad, I’m confused,” she said. “Your wife had visions, and at least one of them actually happened. Are you saying your religion is the true one?”
The Prince cleaned the metal filter from the used coffee grounds, somehow not bothered by the scorching heat. “You are not listening. There is no one true religion. But there is magic in this world—the dark magic that gives me life, the magic that allows the sun to burn me to dust, the magic druids used to place wards around your Resistance, the magic I used to counteract these spells. Different peoples have found different ways to tap into these forces and channel them for their purposes, but the magic is one for everyone, no matter what we call it.”
Sissi gave her cup a cautious sniff. She took a small sip and made a face but sipped again. “I guess the Vikings had their own ways to channel this magic,” she said. “Did Callisto come with you on your trip?”
“She was happy to see I felt well enough to take initiative. But she kept warning me about one thing. ‘You can join the Vikings’ raids if you wish,’ she said after we reunited and I told her of my plans. ‘I myself have done it in the past. But remember this—if you join the fights, you must do so with the strength of an ordinary human. You cannot, ever, use your vampire strength to change the course of history, and you cannot reveal your true nature.’
“Our trip seemed to take forever. We had to change vessels all the time, hiding during the day and feeding at night. But there were only so many sailors we could drink and throw overboard before people noticed something strange was happening, or before the crew decreased so much in number that they were not enough to man the ship. And so we moved from one ship to the next. Crossing the Black Sea, and then through the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, we reached the Mediterranean, and, after many days, finally the Atlantic Ocean.
“Callisto tried to use the time to teach me and Lucien the tongue of the Vikings, but I was too impatient, my mind focused on the adventures ahead. The three of us spoke Greek to each other, as the only common tongue between us, but she told us we needed to learn more languages if we wished to enjoy this world to its fullest.
“By the time we reached Anglia, autumn had come, and the nights were growing longer. Fierce winds blew over the stony shores, and we sought shelter in the woods. Trees rose further away from the sea, golden and red, russet and bright orange. Colorful leaves covered the ground like a thick carpet, rustling as we walked over them. Winds blew down more leaves in a bright, vibrant rain. I watched a leaf fall on Callisto’s hair, blood-red against the black. It took me back to the time when I first met her—a forest spirit in enchanted mountains. But this time was long past and faded into legend. And now the time had come to carve new legends of our own.
“We spent a few weeks wandering the land, exploring stormy shores and golden woods. We passed through villages and entered churches, trying to decipher all the beautiful books we found. We fed only when we needed and moved on, until we heard rumors of barbarians raiding the coastal settlements.
“The Northmen had been spotted sailing south, and the King of Wessex had sent out soldiers to some of the villages they were expected to invade next. ‘We should go there and wait for the raids,’ Callisto said. ‘Once the Vikings land, we can join them in defeating the King’s men and show them we are on their side.’
“The following night, Callisto disappeared and returned in a few hours, carrying a pile of clothes. ‘I found the site of a recent raid,’ she said. ‘I hope you won’t mind wearing the clothes of dead men; we need them to fit in. Once we have established contact, we can purchase our own clothes.’
“She put on a blood-red tunic that looked captivating against her black hair. Once we had all dressed and put leather-mail armor on top of our tunics to complete the picture of human warriors, Callisto braided her hair and showed us how to braid our own.
“I looked at her, so fierce, so wild. She was the perfect picture of a merciless warrior who would destroy anything standing in her way. If my heart could beat, it would have leapt out of my chest and embraced her.
“Luckily for us, the Vikings arrived after nightfall. We watched from a hidden spot in the woods as these beautiful, graceful longships landed on the coast, and the people of the north swarmed on these green shores in a flurry of round shields, war paint, flying braids, raised axes and intoxicated cries. I was in love.
“But it was not mere villagers they faced. The King’s army was here. With cries of terror and disgust, they rose to face their invaders. ‘Barbarians,’ they called. ‘Heathens.’ I laughed and grabbed my sword’s handle.
“‘Remember,’ Callisto said, ‘we fight as humans.’
“It was easier said than done. We left our hideout and swept the shores, weapons raised, our cries joining the humans’. The smell of blood intoxicated me. I wished to grab the Wessex warriors and drink them to the last drop here and now. I thirsted for their taste and their defeat. But Callisto’s warm but determined brown eyes fixed on me and kept me in check.
“Warriors or not, the men of Wessex stood no chance. After the battle started to die down, Callisto pulled me and Lucien aside and led us back to the woods.
“‘This made me feel alive,’ I said, but suddenly my heart grew cold. After becoming a vampire, I had killed to eat, or sometimes to punish. But now I had killed scores of men I knew nothing about, men I had no plans to drink, and it had felt good. My eyes wandered far, to the place where the bloody battlefield stood behind the trees. Can you face a man and shoot him to death? I had asked Erniké the last time I had seen her. If you say this, you are either a monster or a fool. Had I become a monster?
“The coldness disappeared, and a resolute smile spread across my lips. This was who I was now. If it meant I was a monster, then so be it.
“‘We should do it more often,’ Lucien said. ‘Shall we return to the battlefield later on to check if anyone is still alive and edible?’
“‘Only if we can do it unseen,’ said Callisto.
“I wondered how they could think about food in this moment. I had experienced something life-changing and my thoughts were flying in all directions. ‘What do we do now?’ I asked. ‘How do we approach these people?’
“Lucien raised his gloved hand to silence me and pointed to the edge of the woods. ‘Looks like we don’t have to worry about that,’ he whispered.
“I followed his finger with my eyes and smiled. A figure was approaching in quick, determined strides, and I saw moonlight spill over a polished axe.”