The Dracula Chronicles: The Path To Decay Read online

  Andrei turned to leave. “Thank you, Papa.”

  He ran straight into the woods. Several times when he looked up through the treetops, he felt the skies had turned darker still. It terrified him that those on the Dark Side might be able to see him right there. The images that flashed through his mind of what they might be alarmed him even more.

  The first drops of rain began to fall. He took a deep breath and dived into the pool. Already the waters had begun to swell. Still, he managed to swim across.

  He welcomed the feeling of the rocks beneath the waterfall against his hands. With a great effort he pulled himself up and out of the pool. He shivered as he wiped his eyes, his fingers and toes stinging from the cold. At once, he tried to put it out of his mind and searched for the broken piece of animal skull.

  Andrei dropped to his knees and retrieved it. He ran to the edge of the cave and held it out under the water. The weather had turned. Because of this the water fell faster and heavier than it had two days before. It knocked the fragment of skull clean from his hands and swept it away.

  He gasped in horror when it vanished into the water below. Sunset was upon him. In a blind panic, he turned and combed the cave for something else to use.

  Fear gripped his heart when, in the distance, he sensed them. He dropped to his knees and brushed away bits of rock and wood. Pieces of crockery and other utensils littered the area. He knew someone had once used the cave as a place of shelter and hoped there might be another discarded item he could use.

  His heart raced until something caught his eye in the corner. He scrambled across the rough surface, scratching his knees. Is it a cup? He grabbed the utensil and held it up in the dim light. It appeared to be a bowl of some sort. He emitted a deep sigh of relief. This shall suffice he thought.

  Andrei ran to the edge of the cave again. This time he clutched the bowl tightly in both hands. The water filled it in moments. He tried to remember the prayer his mother had taught him. In his excited state the words escaped him.

  “Dear God. Bless this cup,” he began.

  In that moment he heard a sound in the distance. They are coming for me.

  He trembled all over. Some of the water spilled from the bowl as he struggled to hold it still.

  “Close your eyes,” he heard his mother’s voice say from close behind. “Be at ease and say the prayer.”

  “I cannot remember it!” he cried.

  “Yes you can. You must.”

  “Help me, Mama.”

  “Dear God. Bless this chalice I offer up to You.”

  “Dear God. Bless this chalice I offer up to You.”

  “With Your power make this water most holy.”

  “With Your power make this water most holy.”

  “Arm me with the courage to stand strong and true.”

  “Arm me with the courage to stand strong and true.”

  “And to cast aside the Dark Pretender and all those unholy.”

  “And to cast aside the Dark Pretender and all those unholy.”

  Right away the water took on a dazzling blue hue. It glowed so bright it lit the entire inside of the cave this time.

  “Sprinkle the water. The way I showed you.”

  Deep in the woods the ground began to shake violently. It rumbled and sent small aftershocks for miles around. At the camp, the women screamed when their tents collapsed and the spits toppled over into the fires. The horses whinnied out loud and fought against their restraints.

  The sky turned suddenly black. Constantin looked up just as the first drops of rain fell. In moments, it began to beat down in torrents. It dowsed the fires and plunged the camp into darkness.

  “What is happening?” his wife asked him, fear in her voice.

  “I do not know,” he answered, his own voice trembling.

  “Where is Andrei?”

  “He is somewhere safe.”

  “What do you mean? Where is he?”

  “He said the evil ones can see him.”

  “Dear God,” she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “What do you mean?”

  “That is why he is here. That is why he is so special. He is here to save us all.”

  “We must go!” one of Andrei’s brothers shouted. “I know a place.”

  The tribe vacated the camp as one. They followed Andrei’s brother to a cave. It was situated a quarter of a mile from the camp in the opposite direction. Here he felt the people would be safe.

  At the epicentre of the earthquake, the ground opened. Animals of every variety fled from the woods. Despite the rain, a thousand birds sought the safety of the dark skies. No longer did they feel safe in their nests in the trees.

  Satanachia, Lucifer’s Grand General of War, emerged from the opening in the ground and breathed in the crisp December air. The feeling of the rain against his face was a pleasant one, though his kind had never cared for water. There was none of it in the places he frequented. Satisfied, he flexed his huge arms and fixed his armour.

  He had not ventured above ground in a very long time. With the amount of souls coming to Hell from conflict and war, it kept him busy. His lover, Sonnielion, stood at his side. She liked to be with him any time he walked the earth. Her trips to the surface were much more frequent. As the Demon of Hate she always busied herself in the lives of men.

  “There he is!” She spoke in a hiss, pointing to a faint blue glow in the distance.

  Satanachia looked at her with his black piercing eyes and then turned to follow the direction of her finger. “Come. It is time for him to die.”

  Andrei dipped his fingers into the bowl. He then sprinkled the water all along the edge of the cave.

  “They are coming,” his mother said. He detected a real urgency in her voice.

  Some others emerged from the opening. The assistant Grand General, Agaliarept, rose first. The Demon of Vengeance, Svengali, followed close behind.

  The four of them moved as one towards the waterfall. The Grand General smashed down every tree in his wake with his huge forearms. Sonnielion remained on his shoulder, eager to meet with Andrei.

  His soldiers poured out of the ground in their droves. As one of the most important demons, Satanachia commanded sixty legions. Their movement alerted the Archangel Raphael who called to his brother, Michael.

  Michael gazed down from the heavens. His hawk-like eyes focused on the area in Wallachia where he knew Andrei to be. He saw the army emerging from the bowels of the earth.

  “Sound the call,” Gabriel urged him.

  Michael put the foghorn that hung from his neck to his lips, and blew hard into it. The sound echoed around the heavens. In moments, his legions raced to his side. They followed his lead when he began his descent to the earth.

  Agaliarept sensed them up above. He picked up the pace and continued to follow the Grand General through the trees.

  “Ignore them,” his master said. “We have time.”

  Andrei watched the water glow where he had sprinkled it against the stone floor. Almost at once, the different points all merged as one. Just as before, the light extended upwards to form a solid blue shield.

  THE gypsies huddled together in their cave. They looked out at the rain as it started to beat down. The ground still continued to rumble and caused dust and dirt to fall from the roof of the cave above their heads. Rocks and other debris also fell down outside from above the entrance.

  “Where is Tania?” one of the gypsy women asked.

  At eighteen Tania was the youngest of Andrei’s sisters.

  The members of the tribe looked around. “Tania?” several of them called out.

  She did not respond.

  “Has anyone seen her?” Helga asked out loud.

  Everyone she looked at shook their heads.

  “Then we have to go and find her,” she told them.

  “I shall go,” Andrei’s eldest brother, Antoni, said. “She is my sister.”

  His father grabbed his arm. “No,” he ordered. “No one is to lea
ve this cave.”

  Antoni offered the elder a short sharp stare. It was a mark of disrespect that Constantin felt was becoming far too common of late.

  “I am her eldest brother,” he argued. “I have a duty to protect her.”

  “I am the head of this tribe. I have a duty to protect you all!”

  “She should not be alone out there, Papa.”

  “Andrei said no one was to venture out.”

  “Oh, Papa, Andrei is a boy. Do you think I care much for what he says?”

  “You best care for what I say. I am still the head of this tribe.”

  They fell silent when an animal-like roar met their ears. It struck fear into the hearts of the bravest of the men. No one had ever heard anything like it before.

  Antoni feared for Tania’s safety. “My little sister is all alone out there,” he said. “Do not think for a moment that I can remain here while she is.”

  “It is my last word on the subject. No one is to leave this cave.”

  “I no longer care, Papa,” Antoni said, his tone unnervingly calm. “You choose what you want to do over it. I am going to look for her.”

  A bolt of lightning lit the countryside beyond the cave. They all paused to look at the bright flash. Antoni gave him one last look and then stepped out into the rain.

  The elder looked around at the others. He saw Andrei’s three other brothers stood close by. “Well?” he said. “Go with him!”

  Tania had seen Andrei run off into the woods. When she was sure no one was looking, she went off after him. The dark shadows frightened her. Still, she knew he was not too far ahead.

  She followed the path through the trees. Up ahead, she heard the sound of a waterfall. Then the earth shook violently beneath her feet and caused her to fall down. She hit the ground hard and whacked her shoulder against a tree stump.

  The ground continued to shake, so she crawled along for cover on her hands and knees. Finding a fallen oak, she scrambled across the wet ground and hid behind it for a moment. Tears welled in her eyes at the ache in her shoulder. The heavens opened and the rain lashed down. Cold and wet through to the bone, she wished she had not left the safety of the camp. Darkness engulfed her on all sides, but she needed to find Andrei. With her fears spurring her on, she got up and ran along the path in search of him. The rain on the frozen ground turned the layer of snow there to slush and caused her to fall several more times.

  ANDREI stepped back from the force field of blue light. He looked around for his mother, but saw no sign of her.

  “Make the circle,” he heard her say. “Time is short.”

  Andrei walked to the centre of the cave. He examined the floor and dropped to his knees. Dipping his fingers into the bowl, he continued the ritual. The earth rumbled hard again just as it had done only moments before. It jostled him about and caused his knees to scrape against the hard floor.

  He winced, but pressed the tip of his index finger against the cold damp stone. The blue light transferred at his touch. A series of harsh crashing sounds met his ears. He faltered for a moment as they reverberated about the cave.

  “Mark the circle,” his mother urged.

  The three Archangels each gave a strong flap of their mighty wings. It propelled them faster in their descent. Michael took to the front. With his head tucked into his chest, he extended his wings wide to add speed to his dive.

  Michael’s legions filled the night skies above him. To them the message was clear. They had to save Andrei at all costs.

  Below, the demon hordes turned the woods black. Thousands of Hell’s soldiers poured out through the porthole to follow their Grand General.

  In the bowels of the earth Lucifer cavorted with his wife, Lilith. Lilith, a Gorgon, was the most highly favoured of his three concubines. They moved about together in mounds of hot sulphur. There, she straddled him from above.

  Very small beside her husband, Lilith buried her face in his mighty chest. Her head of snakes writhed about. Each one of the black serpents flicked its tongue against his neck.

  Lucifer had just returned from one of his many visits with Vlad Dracula. Lilith did not like his involvement with the young prince. She knew his motives for doing it and accepted them. But now that she had him in her clutches, she wanted to remind him of why she was his most favoured.

  He closed his eyes and laid back for her to do as she pleased. She was a real master in all forms of sexual activity. He relaxed against the hot sulphur. The sensations it gave him as it touched against his flesh excited him always.

  The foghorn sounded in the heavens and he opened his eyes at once. “Move!” he ordered her.

  She continued to run her tongue along the contours of his chest. “Rest easy, husband,” she groaned, delighting at the feel of him inside her.

  He grabbed her head of snakes in his huge right hand. “Move away from me!” he ordered.

  “You do not need to be involved on the surface,” she argued. “Let Satanachia deal with it. That is his role, and not for you to concern yourself with.”

  Lucifer lifted her by two of the serpents. Tears stung her eyes as he stood up and tossed her aside. Sulphur clouds rose up where she hit the ground and rolled over a couple of times. She rose onto her haunches at once. Her eyes glowed red with fire. The snakes on her head recoiled and spat at him as he glared back at her.

  He looked to his throne through the smoky haze and held out his arm. In an instant, his mighty triton landed in his outstretched palm. Cast in the deepest fires of Hell, it was the weapon he liked to carry into battle.

  “Why do you have your triton?” she asked him. “Who are you looking to fight?”

  “Did you not hear Michael sound the horn?”

  “This is not the time to fight him,” she advised. “Stay out of his way.”

  “There is never a wrong time to fight Michael. This is as good a day as any.”

  “He is too strong.”

  Lucifer did not care for the remark. “We shall soon see.”

  WALLACHIA.

  THE WATERFALL ON THE DIMBOVITA RIVER.

  DECEMBER 13, 1447. JUST AFTER SUNSET.

  Tania stood on the edge of the pool. The bright blue light behind the waterfall drew her there. “Andrei?” she called out.

  She heard the sound of falling trees behind her. “Andrei!” she cried out again.

  The noise of ten thousand pairs of feet stamping against the ground turned her head. She screamed when she saw Satanachia smashing his way through the trees.

  Tania felt her stomach tighten. She turned again to the waterfall and waved her arms up and down in anguish. “Andrei!”

  Andrei heard her for the first time. He had finished the circle, but had not added the four points. Fear gripped his heart and he stopped.

  “Do not stop,” his mother urged.

  “But that is Tania calling. She is my sister; your daughter.”

  “It does not matter. You must finish the circle. Add the four points.”

  “But Mama?”

  “Do it, Andrei!”

  He marked the four points. His focus was broken and he did not do it correctly.

  “Andrei!” his mother despaired. “Do it the way I have shown you!”

  He tried to put the cries of his sister out of his mind. Slowly, but surely, he marked the four points in the correct manner.

  “Mark the Sign of the Cross on your forehead. And then on your chest.”

  Andrei did as she instructed. He made the Sign of the Cross on his breastbone. At that moment, his aura appeared all around him.

  The two demons stopped a few feet away from the girl. Tania put her hands over her face when they neared her. She possessed neither the courage nor the strength to scream any more. Instead, she stood there a quivering wreck.

  Sonnielion glared at her with real hate. She walked up to Tania and sniffed her body before meeting her eye to eye. Tania felt her legs weaken. Somehow she managed to stay on her feet. Sonnielion’s eyes lit up when she re
alised her identity.

  She turned to her lover and grinned. “This mortal is a blood relation of the one we seek.” She returned her attention to Tania. “A sister no less.”

  He eyed Tania for a moment, but then looked back beyond his legions.

  Lucifer stood there, tall and proud. He extended both his arms, holding out his mighty triton. When he knew he had the full attention of this, one of the many armies in his domain, he dropped his head back and roared.

  His legions saluted him. Their roar angered Michael and his brothers. The group of lowly demons who followed Lucifer everywhere raced about as shadows in the night. They darted in and out of the soldiers and cleared a path for their master as the soldiers moved to each side to allow Lucifer the room to walk through.

  Sonnielion grabbed Tania by the hair and lifted her into the air. Her black wings extended from her back and lifted them both into the air above the pool. Tania screamed at the pain. Her weight pulled against the roots of her hair, causing her eyes to well up.

  Andrei tried to look beyond the blue shield. Her cries pained him deep inside.

  “Heed my words,” his mother said. “Close your eyes and clear your mind.”

  Andrei did not do this at once. He wanted to leave the cave and aid his sister.

  His mother lost patience with him. “If you do not, you open a window for them to creep through.”

  “You want me to forget my sister is out there, Mama?”

  “Yes. No matter what you might hear, you must keep your eyes closed and your mind clear.”

  Andrei did as she said. As hard as he found it, he blocked Tania from his mind. His mother materialised and stood between him and the blue shield. A terrible pain in her shoulder blades forced her down onto her knees. Moments later, she dropped forward and fell against her hands.

  She closed her eyes while the pain intensified. A powerful burning sensation passed over her body. Two wounds opened behind her shoulders and blood seeped down her back. She cried out and choked, a long line of saliva extending from her mouth to the floor.