Rise of the Seventh Reich

by Jeremy Croston

  No.

  Every region had their superstitions and myths, but those were just that - superstitions and myths. Thinking hard, I tried to remember what culture would’ve settled in these parts before modern Russia came to be. Was it the Persians? The Byzantine Empire? No, this felt a bit richer, deeper up here. Could it have been one of the Germanic tribes that broke off? The Slavics?

  “Mother of Mary, is Perun the basis for a mythical god?”

  “Tales vere exaggerated. I cannot call lightning storm at vill.”

  Perun was leaning up against the barn door. “You’re a god?”

  “Almighty might take exception. I am just Fallen Angel. I supported Lucifer, or Satan as he’s known, during the Uprising. My punishment is to roam land, my purgatory,” he said sadly.

  Still, being in the presence of someone like this, it was damn intimidating. “No wonder Cassie’s been kissing ass and walking on eggshells.”

  “Vitches can sense my true being when near. That vitch, least offensive I’ve met.”

  “You know what I’m up against, don’t you?”

  He nodded. “I know vorld is at war once more. I have chosen to stay out. Evil is spreading and infecting as ve speak.”

  “Can you help me?” I asked, pleading.

  “Time is not on your side. I upgraded veapon. If you can spare two days, I vill give you knowledge. Knowledge of past, knowledge that vill help.”

  I swallowed hard. Two days was probably a big ask, but we had a wealth of information and opportunity here. “I’ll stay for two days, Perun.”

  “Good. Now get over to fire and build it. We need to eat before ve talk.”

  My stomach rumbled. “Do you already have something for me to cook?”

  “Yes, you killed it earlier. Ve feast on bear tonight,” he boasted and slapped me on the back.

  I had to bite back the bile. I could’ve thrown up right then and there.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  “T his bear is tough, but tasty.”

  I couldn’t believe I was eating Baal Bear and I was even more surprised that Cassie was saying how tasty it was. “It’s not bad, I’ll give you two that,” I mustered.

  Perun ripped another chunk of meat off the bone he was holding. “Vhat do you know about Vlad Dracul?”

  “The normal stuff,” I answered. “He was a vampire, sadist, and tried to take over the world through the Vatican.”

  He swallowed the meat before inhaling more. “He vas a disciple of God. A man with good sense and a conscious - that is until he found out that his family was descended from fallen angels,” Perun told us.

  “Like that angels being daddies?”

  He snorted and a half-chewed chunk of daemon bear flew out of his mouth.

  That was repulsive.

  “One of the reasons ve vere sent to the Seven Circles was that too many sons of God vere marrying daughters of men, two, three, even four at a time. Some of the world’s greatest heroes and villains were the spawn of angel blood.”

  Perun delved into storyteller mode, talking about the likes of Goliath, Samson, and many more. Those who were first generation lineage to the angels had incredible strength and endurance. As the blood became diluted with more and more human blood, the power that the angels possessed was no longer a threat to the world.

  “God vanted to make sure that his children vere protected,” he finished his tale.

  “How does Vlad play a part?”

  “Good question, Castor. When he vas just a young man, his family sent him to the Vatican to study. Back then, the church vas the main institution of law, history, and power.”

  He didn’t even wait for me to poke for more information. A young Vlad discovered a great many tomes that told of a secret history, one where humanity’s true origins came from. The detailed family trees and the Vatican’s in-depth notes eventually led him to uncover the truth; the Dracul line had descended from a fallen angel. Vlad, eyes opened to this new reality, became obsessed with obtaining the power he deemed his birthright. The church, unwilling to play a part, became his main objective once he found his power. Gypsies and witches, they were the unfortunate ones who unlocked the path to Hell and his eventual deal with Satan.

  I could tell the story was coming to a conclusion. “This is first lesson, knowing Vlad Dracul. History is doomed to repeat as too many ignore the cycles that brought about calamity before. Too late to stop Koenig from ruining vorld, but not too late to teach you patterns.”

  Cassie was quietly jabbing the embers with her cooking stick. “Vlad is dead, so I guess I don’t see the point of learning about his history. He can no longer hurt the world,” she added.

  “Oh?”

  Perun seemed rather amused by this. It was my turn to show some brains around here. “Just because the man is dead doesn’t mean his influence will ever die.”

  “The boy is right.”

  Soon the only sounds were that of the flames crackling in the night. A random owl hoot or a distance wolf howl also broke up the quiet, but not by much. Perun stretched his arms out and yawned. “We call it night. Tomorrow, ve pick back up on history lesson. Visdom is one of the few things I can still teach.”

  Without even another motion towards us, he got up and trudged back to the big, main house.

  “He is certainly different, is he not, Castor?”

  I was deep in thought, contemplating how history seemed in an endless loop. “The facts line up. Abigail went crazy, though only after being poked and prodded by the church. And don’t even get me started on the corruption that fills the halls of the Vatican. Hypocrisy and heretics that date all the way back to Christ,” I went on, my voice gaining octaves with each passing word.

  “I’m not arguing...”

  “Each generation is worse than the last. This generation knows what happened with Vlad and still doesn’t care about making monsters that destroy lives, even the world! Why did they even keep Vlad’s journals?”

  I rattled off a few questions in quick succession, but none were meant to be answered. Cassie understood and just placed her hand on mine. “It is hard for people to give up that kind of power,” she assumed.

  With each passing travesty, it became clearer just where the heart of the discord began and ended. Vlad, like Koenig, was a symptom of the main disease. This begged the question, should we even be bothering with the war? It made more sense to let humanity sort that out while we made a play against the church.

  "The Vatican, that's where we go."

  "You sound just like Vlad."

  That irritated me. "Why should we ignore the problem?"

  "It's getting late. Sleep on it and we'll talk more in the morning."

  Cassie said that with such finality that I knew no amount of arguing would do any good. I kicked some snowy dirt onto the fire and called it a night. I fell asleep angry which led to a very restless and tense night. By the wee hours of the morning, I finally drifted off into a seamless and deep sleep.

  "Time to vake up, Brinza."

  Perun's booming base timbre would've woken up the dead. I jumped and hit my head on the wood mantle by the fireplace. That wasn't a great way to start today.

  As I rubbed the growing welt on my head, I noticed the fallen angel was carrying a few things; one being my flail. I couldn't help but to smile as he handed it over to me. It felt different, heavier but not by much.

  In his other hand was an oak case. The wood was freshly cut as the fragrance of the tree was still quite potent. It was beautifully crafted with copper details infused as well as a heavy lock. He was still holding it with no intention of handing it over. That intrigued me even more.

  "Come outside. I show you improvements."

  He didn't have to ask me twice.

  It looked to be well into the early afternoon already. I saw a plate of food on a stump next to the burning fire. Cassie was reading a very old book, but did look up in time to notice me and smile. Whatever she was reading must've been very interesting a
s she dove right back in. The cover was worn and beaten, but I thought I caught a glimpse of some sort of daemon on the front. I’d have to get confirmation on that later.

  “Sving flail for me,” Perun instructed.

  I reached it back and let it fly. Immediately, the changes were noticeable. The chain was a coppery color and the head of the flail split apart into two spiked protrusions. There was more elegance in the way it exited the handle, much smoother and the recoil was a hell of a lot quicker and easier to deal with. The moment the head snapped back into place; it was like a brand-new offensive instrument was born.

  My expectations were blown away. “How did you do that?”

  “I vas once blacksmith to all angels. I can do incredible things.”

  He was incredibly boastful, for good reason. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “No, don’t thank me. Do it again, this time vith arm at forty-five-degree angle.”

  Over the next few hours, Perun barked out orders on how to move the flail. If he didn’t like the way I did it, he’d yell at me, “Again!” with vigor until I did it right. He taught me how to snap it onto the ground at the feet of an enemy, how to effectively twirl it around my head for greater lengths of time, and even how to lasso a target I didn’t want to kill.

  That last one would come in very handy with Cassie around.

  Soon, my jacket was off and I was drenched in sweat. “It’s been a good long time since my last workout like that.”

  “Good, exercise burns hate out.”

  “Huh?”

  He pointed with a thumb over at Cassie who’d given up reading to watch the action. “Vitch tell me you hate church. You plan to burn it down. Kid, you think you have it bad? God himself kicked me out,” Perun laid into me.

  It was hard to argue with that logic. “The hypocrisy and the hateful bigotry needs to end. They are at the root of all these cycles of hate.”

  “I not disagree. I just leery of your own hatred. Vlad went down path; nearly burned vorld.”

  “I’m not Vlad,” I protested, tired of the comparisons.

  “No, you are even more.”

  Cassie stood up, her eyes piercing Perun. “Tell him what you told me,” she insisted.

  I turned back to the large, hairy man. “Castor, you know that your soul has traces of Vlad’s spiritual energies, no?” he asked.

  “I do.”

  “The more you turn the key, the more you allow Vlad’s essence to take hold.”

  The perplexed look I gave had to have been a clue. Cassie stepped up to the challenge to explain. “When Francisco opened the channels way back when we first met, it was a two-way passthrough. Magic, spiritual energies, whatever you may call them is not sentient like we are, but it does have influence. Some of us give into the the more unsavory moments because it is our personalities. Others do their best to fight it off. However, the more you rely upon that energy, the less and less likely you are to stave off the more sinister side effects.”

  I guessed that was what happened to her. “You seem to have self-control,” I commented.

  “Do I? Or is it that I know if I lose control again and give into those carnal feelings that I’ll lose any chance I have of keeping you in my life?”

  Whoa. Then she finished, “Is that self-control or the actions of a woman who might be in love?”

  “Really?” was about all I could muster.

  “Truly Castor.”

  A gruff snort broke up the moment. “Love can be discussed later. The day is drawing to a close and ve still have much to discuss.”

  Our chaperone put a stop to any potential feelings discussions, mood killer. “I know about the Dracul side and Vlad. Is the next part of the lesson about the Brinzas? Do you know much about them, or even know them?”

  “I vonce knew a man named Denis, his little one went by Ivan. Yes, I knew Brinzas, but that conversation for morning. I have much to do the remainder of the evening.”

  My body and mind were frozen as he basically confirmed he knew my ancestors but we’d talk about it later. By the time I was ready for a comeback, Perun was gone, having taken the oak case with him. The barn door closed with a very loud locking sound. He’d been very serious about no more discussion tonight.

  “It’s going to be a very long night, Cassie.”

  “I figured as much. Let’s try to make the most of it, however.”

  Chapter Twenty Four

  I t was well past midnight and the two of us were still very much awake, sitting in front of the fire. During moments of conversational breaks, I’d loop Luka in with what was going on. Perun knew who I was the moment I showed up here, I declared.

  A fallen angel could either be a very good ally or a powerful enemy, he responded. Tread carefully the next time you see him.

  Luka’s advice was always very good and sound.

  “What does your grandfather think?” Cassie asked.

  “That we need to be smart with how we confront Perun in the morning.”

  The fire began to wane for a second before Cassie sparked it back again. It was nice not needing to rekindle the fire every so often manually as I had the first two nights until I fell asleep. There was nothing worse than frozen drool on the side of one's face when they woke up.

  Perun's latest revelation wasn't the only thing keeping us up. There was the unspoken tension about our feelings for each other. Cassie was a black magic witch, one who had on multiple occasions used her gifts to kill, deceive, and betray. Hell, she had deceived and betrayed me, the man with whom she declared feelings for.

  Even with all the evidence, I couldn't overlook the sincerity in her emotions.

  "You know I got feelings for you too, right?"

  "I do, Castor."

  "You also know that I'm struggling mightily with everything that’s happening.”

  She lowered her head. “How could you love someone with as much guilt and blood on their hands as I have?”

  Why did I immediately grab her hands? “We are all stained with sin,” I told her.

  You love the girl.

  Luka’s words haunted me the rest of the night as neither of us said anything, we just sat there, holding each other. It wasn’t until the morning light greeted us that we stirred again. Cassie looked a tad embarrassed by the situation, yet when I didn’t remove my hand from hers, she looked to relax. Luka was right. The heart wanted what the heart wanted. We just weren’t in a place where we could really talk about it.

  “Perun’s waiting for us,” she said, not all that enthusiastically.

  “How can you tell?”

  “There’s a very large shadow being cast in the window.”

  Sure enough, when I looked over, I could make out the outline of the oversized man. It struck me as odd that he’d be lingering around, almost anxiously, for us to step out into the morning light. I felt it was best to make him wait a few more minutes. Besides, I was quite comfortable and happy with the current arrangement.

  Apparently, his patience was starting to run thin. Seeing as how Cassie and I were in no hurry, he lightly knocked on the door. “Breakfast is ready.”

  “He’s not going to leave us alone until we go, Castor.”

  “Fine. Besides, I’m sure you’re as hungry as I am.”

  When we opened the door, he let us pass and make our way over to the common area. He wasn’t lying, food had already been prepared and he’d brought out a new book for Cassie. I was still very wary of him after the previous night’s information drop and subsequent storming off. However, this appeared to be some sort of peace offering.

  Another peace offering seemed to be that mysterious oak case was back. This time, the top lock was popped open. I was tempted to go over and open it but I didn’t want to give him what he wanted, at least right away.

  “What are these books he gives you, Cassie?”

  “The one I was reading yesterday was a bestiary he’s been compiling of infamous monsters and legends. He actually is letting me have
it.”

  I pointed to the new one. “Do you know what this one is?”

  She picked it up and flipped through a few pages. “It’s a rough history of witch covens and gypsy clans. I always knew the two went hand and hand, but maybe this book can prove just how they intertwine,” she answered with excitement.

  Perun found a spot on his familiar stump. "I don't like lying. I knew who you were from first moment," he fessed up.

  "Why didn't you say so?"

  "Protection. These are dangerous times vith ears everywhere. Longer ve ignore obvious, longer ve have to learn."

  It was a mysterious statement; the longer I was around older beings, the more it became clear they loved half-truths and vague statements. Radu was the same way. Wait, did Perun know Radu?

  "You've spoken about Vlad Dracul, but never mentioned Radu. Did you know him, too?"

  The gruff snort was a dead giveaway. "He stubborn fool he refused help. I'm surprised he's not dead," Perun said flatly.

  "He's almost dead," I corrected him.

  That surprised the angel. "Koenig?" he asked correctly.

  "Yeah, he did something to him but he's with a shaman right now. Fingers crossed that he'll be okay."

  Perun didn't say anything more about that. "You going to open case or not?"

  Well, since he asked nicely, I complied. The moment I swung the heavy wood lid upward to reveal the treasures inside. Two revolvers were waiting inside, mostly copper with silver detailing engraved. I'd never seen such guns before, the beauty and craftsmanship were remarkable. I was actually afraid to touch them.

  "They're loaded, try them."

  My hand trembled as I removed one from its spot. "It's perfectly balanced," I commented.

  "Of course, it is. Vhat type of blacksmith do you take me for?"

  My excitement boiled over and I fired off two shots from the pistol. The recoil was soft, the concussive force of the firearm seen when it put a crater sized hole in one of the trees surrounding the homestead. Easily a two-hundred-and-fifty-meter shot. The tree, no longer stable with the damage done by the pistol, fell back over, sending up snow, dust, and birds. The poor critters lost their home in my act of exuberance.