The Elixir

by George Willson

  “Be patient with me,” Voivode said. “The work will come in time, and perhaps I can discover that part of the cure which I lost so long ago.”

  “I will not be far,” Karian warned, and then he climbed out the window. Voivode walked to the nearest chair and sat out of exhaustion. Between Karian and Harker, there was more anger within his walls than he had dealt with in many, many years.

  “Are you all right?” David asked with genuine concern.

  “I will be fine,” Voivode assured him. “Harker is understandably tense over this matter, and I confess that I am to the point that I am ready to leave. How are our preparations?”

  “Nearly complete,” David said. “I have been taking crates to a storage location in Arefu over the past week, and I believe only our agreement with Karian has kept the Mutations from attacking me on the way. I still believe that if I tried to get Harker out, they might go for us.”

  “Karian knows about him,” Voivode said. “This could be his chance to go.”

  “It is still better to wait to be sure,” David said. “Cargo is one thing. I don’t want to risk a life. I have a couple more to take down there, which I’ll have done by tomorrow. My contact there is ready to ship them when we give the word. This way, they won’t get to Carfax before we do. We’ll be taking a passenger ship to England, while our possessions will be on a cargo ship.”

  “Why would it not come with us?” Voivode asked.

  “Timing more than anything else,” David explained. “Since our exit will be abrupt, we will want the next ship out, and by taking a ship, we’ll ensure the Mutations cannot follow us. The cargo will take a subsequent ship, and again, by going over water, we’ll help to make sure the Mutations cannot follow. Train is much, much quicker, but only by taking water bound transport can we be sure we aren’t followed.”

  “Honestly, how much time do you think we have with Karian?” Voivode asked.

  “Hard to say,” David said. “He’s smart enough to figure out what we’re doing, and I am concerned that he’ll sort it out before we go. This is another reason that our exit must be as soon as the skies open up. We can’t give him that time.”

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Two days later, Harker stood at his window gently chipping away at the mortar with his stolen knife. He had been doing this quietly for a few hours a day ever since he had swiped the knife from the dining room, and he since he had observed that Voivode tended to be up at night rather than the day, he always did his chipping during the day. He continually tested the bars to see if he could budge them, but so far, he was still trapped.

  On this particular afternoon, the normal silence of the mountains was interrupted by the sound of horses. He thought this could be the coachman who had brought him here weeks ago, and so he put down his knife and left his room. In the hall, the sounds were fainter, but as he moved to the main entrance, he could just make out the horse hooves on the hard castle grounds outside and a male voice.

  He pounded on the inside of the massive door which kept him from leaving.

  “Hey!” he yelled, without any concern for Voivode overhearing. He hoped that if this was someone from the outside, they might be able to take him away from this place. “Can anyone hear me?” he screamed desperately, but there was no change outside, and the person never came to the door.

  He turned and sunk to the floor against the door, wondering when he would be allowed to go. He saw no reason to remain any longer, and yet here he remained. The sounds outside decreased to nothing as the horses were led from the courtyard, and he was alone again.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Having heard Jonathan pound on the door, David made his way through the castle’s back entrance through the halls that bypassed the main foyer to Voivode’s room. He needed to speak with Voivode about Mr. Harker, since they could not have him raising a ruckus. He truly felt bad about how they were treating him, but at the same time, David felt he had little choice.

  As soon as he opened the back passage to Voivode’s ante room, he spotted Karian waiting for him with Voivode seated in one of the chairs. David sighed and walked in to deal with their persistent and unwanted guest.

  “What do you want, Karian?” David asked.

  “A little more respect from you, for one thing,” Karian said. “Is that any way to speak to an elder?”

  “If that elder continues to break into my home, then yes,” David responded. “My question stands.”

  “I have been following your movements between here and Arefu,” Karian said, and David hoped the concern he felt went unnoticed. “I’ve also been observing and listening to you for some time. I can gather the fact that you are attempting to leave, but what I cannot decipher is where you’re going. How about you answer that for me?”

  David looked at him blankly, unwilling to share anything or make any statement that could be interpreted.

  “Very well,” Karian continued. “I would also surmise that your visitor is some hapless human whom you’ve employed to assist you in this move. I would go so far as to say it is somewhere a good distance away, and you needed someone familiar with that land to acquire a property for you. Where I must admit I am running into trouble is his unfamiliar language. Since I know most of the languages of this area, I would guess it is somewhere up north. One of the Scandinavian lands or perhaps those of the Saxons?”

  He looked at David for some clue, but David continued to stare blankly at him, only half listening to ensure he did not give anything away. Karian gave an irritated nod.

  “What is most annoying is that both you and Voivode appear to have learned it,” Karian continued, “for not only have you used it regularly with your visitor, but you have been speaking to each other in this strange tongue which makes it almost impossible for me to understand you.

  “Mark this, though. I know those crates are for moving. I know you’re leaving, and if you try to take Voivode or your little friend from this place, I will simply kill the human. Perhaps, I can set my Mutations on the nearby towns to keep you busy for awhile. Think about it.”

  Karian backed toward the window, and left them. David shook his head in irritation.

  “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another,” David complained, ensuring he switched to English. “I’ve got Harker screaming out in the main hall, and Karian in here threatening the humans. Did he say anything else?”

  “I told him I was not aware of your movements, and could not, therefore, give him any details,” Voivode said with a smile. “He was rather cross about it.”

  David smiled and chuckled. “I imagine so.

  “These threats won’t deter us, but I am grateful I left Harker here. I have one more crate to take to Arefu, which I will do tomorrow. After that, we just need to wait for the rain.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Two more days had passed since Harker’s failure to rouse any attention at the main door. Voivode had emerged some time after, but Harker did not speak to him. His captor had made further socialization attempts, but Harker was not interested in conversation.

  Eventually, Voivode stopped trying and left him alone in his room to chip away at the window. As he worked at it, the sun had gone down, but he did not care. He continued his work.

  At some point during the night, someone approached the castle carrying a bag over his shoulder. He watched as the person climbed the wall and entered through a hole in the brickwork to a lower level that was sealed off to him. He could only guess the person was one of Voivode’s other guests, or perhaps, it was the old man himself out for some kind of stroll.

  “Monster!” a shrill, female voice sounded from the main gate of the castle. Harker tried to get any kind of better view from his small opening, but his view was hopelessly limited to just the castle’s south face. “Give me back my child!”

  Harker’s stomach dropped. Could there have been a child in that bag? He continued peering through the darkness at the front of the castle, and then he saw a woman cross around t
he side of the structure, looking up at the windows.

  “Please,” she cried into the night, and then she spotted Jonathan looking down at her. She stumbled across the uneven ground and walked toward him. “Give me back my child!” she screamed angrily.

  Jonathan was not certain as to how he should respond, but then, he saw shapes on the ground moving toward her. She broke her gaze from him and looked around her at the dark shapes surrounding her. There were at least four of them, but he was not sure what kind of animal they could be. He was certain they were animals since they moved on all fours, but through the dark, he could not make out any kind of familiar features. He assumed some kind of wolf, but they were almost completely obscured.

  The woman held out her hands, hopelessly. One of them snarled and jumped at her. She screamed, and Jonathan ducked away from the window to shield himself from the inevitable carnage. She screamed again, and he moved away from the window to hide deeper in the room in the hopes of shielding himself from the grotesque sounds that would follow. He could not return to his window on this night. He could not bear the sight of what must be happening out there.

  Knowing the fate of her child to be taken by whatever horror lived within this castle, Harker could not pity her fate, for had she found her child, she might well have wished to die anyway. He did not know what else he could do other than what he was doing now.

  He left his room and walked to the library. He would attempt to read while the creatures of the night finished their dreadful work, and then, he would return to work on the window. He was tired, but did not feel he would be able to sleep after the horrific sounds he had heard. He was more determined than ever to escape this castle of night, gloom, and fear.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  David had been patrolling the grounds outside the castle when he heard the woman. He knew her screams would attract attention, and he wondered what brought her to the castle. Then she spoke of her child, and he realized that for some reason, at least one of the Mutations had made its way into town and taken a child. He knew the Mutations did have occasion to terrorize the local townships, which had given rise to the superstition that Voivode was some kind of evil, and he supposed Karian’s threat had involved their doing this with renewed vigor.

  He followed her voice and spotted her looking into Harker’s window at the man who looked back at her. Then he saw the Mutations. Four of them approached her, ready to strike.

  David wasted no time in rushing for them, and as soon as the first lunged for her, pushing her to the ground, David reached her and ran his sword through the striking Mutation. The force pushed the Mutation off to the side where it slid off David’s sword onto the ground, dead.

  He stood before the woman for only a second before he made a swing for another Mutation. The Mutation dodged his blow, but David was ready for this. As he swung, he reached for the Mutation’s ragged clothing, and lifting the surprised Mutation off the ground, he tossed him into the forest, sending him crashing into a tree.

  He noticed as he released the previous Mutation, another tried to make a move on him. David brought his sword around in one movement and beheaded the attacker, leaving only one remaining. He resumed his protective stance in front of the woman, and upon the death of his fellows, the fourth Mutation turned tail and disappeared into the forest.

  David was grateful and felt extremely fortunate that he was able to deal with so many at once. He had moved solely on instinct, as they do, which he felt may have helped him this time. Over the years, he had become adept at reading the Mutations and their habits. Instinct had served them well in the beginning, but David had long since adapted to their fighting style allowing him to more easily defeat them.

  He turned to the woman sitting on the ground, cringing away from him. “Are you all right?” he asked, kneeling to her. He could see she was crying and supporting herself with her hands on the ground, making no attempt to stand.

  “My baby,” she said. “Where is my baby?”

  “Why do you believe your child is here?” he asked.

  “Because this is where the monster who lives here would bring them,” she answered.

  “This is the castle of Voivode Draculya,” David told her frankly. “He would not take your child.” She reeled on him, delivering a slap across his face that not even he saw coming. It actually hurt.

  “He is an unholy demon spawned by Satan himself,” she insisted, confirming the rather unfavorable reputation that the Mutations had helped to give Voivode. “I know my baby is here.”

  David looked to the castle and noted the hole that had been broken into the wall leading to the lower floor that was accessible from the north side collapse. He had doubts, but since this woman had risked her life by coming to what she believed was certain death, he thought it would be prudent to investigate the possibility. He looked back to her, and through the tears and hate in her eyes, he could read a ferocity that would not be deterred.

  “There are creatures in these mountains,” David told her. “They live in the collapsed lower levels of the castle, and it’s possible they have your child.”

  “Please,” she pleaded with him. “Help me.”

  “Of course,” he assured her. “What’s your name?”

  “Nadezhda,” she replied.

  “I’m David,” David said, extending a hand to help her up. “Just stay with me, and—”

  But the scream of the child cut him off, and there was no longer any doubt about what had happened. The Mutations had taken her child, and they had brought it to their den within the castle itself. He could not allow this to happen, but before he reacted, Nadezhda jumped to her feet and ran towards the opening screaming the child’s name of Sandu.

  David bolted toward the opening as well, easily beating her there. The hole was just large enough for a person to crawl through, and it rested about six feet off the ground. He wanted to tell her to remain outside, but he also knew that would be advice unheeded.

  “Stay close to me,” he warned, and jumped directly into the hole in the wall. He glanced around the darkened area and noting its emptiness, he held out his hand for Nadezhda to grasp and climb up.

  Looking back to the darkness, David removed a torch from his belt which was one of the few pieces of Fempiror technology he kept on hand, though he rarely used it since the moonlight was normally sufficient to light his way, and he did not need anything drawing attention to him in the dark. He pulled the sliding handle down on the side of the self-lighting torch which struck a bit of flint as it slid a cover off the flame end of the device. The spark lit the end of the torch which was still fueled by a combustible liquid, which was normally little more than an alcoholic drink from a local pub. Simple as it was, the woman stared at it, surprised at how quickly he was able to come up with a flame.

  “How did you,” she began, but David knew they did not have time to discuss it and interrupted her.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  They slowly walked through the torch-lit hall, watching for any sign of trouble. She wanted to move quicker, but he held her back. He could not stop her from lunging forward with what happened next.

  “Mama!” a little voice cried out. The sound echoed through the halls, and with that, there was no stopping Nadezhda from throwing caution to the wind and sprinting as fast as she could move through the dark halls. David drew his sword and ran after her, a trail of smoke in his wake.

  Nadezhda frantically paused for mere seconds at every room until they came upon the right place. In a room lit by the moon streaming in through a gaping hole in the wall sat little Sandu, who could be no more than four, surrounded by Mutations who appeared to be vying for the privilege of taking the first drink of him. With the entry of the torchlight, the Mutations all turned to David and snarled like the animals they had become, their canines glistening in the limited light.

  “Dear God in heaven,” Nadezhda breathed.

  “Take this,” David said, handing her the torch. “Get b
ehind me!”

  The Mutations attacked, and David was easily able to cut down the first one that lunged for him. As was typical for them, however, the next one was able to avoid his rapid swings, but he was not necessarily aiming to hit them as much as he was simply inching his way across the room to get to Sandu while attempting to keep Nadezhda protected behind him.

  The Mutations variously attempted to advance on him, but their instincts also kept them dodging, which continued to keep them away from him. He knew as long as he kept swinging, they would keep their distance. Still, they formed a wall around the child.

  David decided to drop his guard for a second to try and entice one to attack. It worked, and as soon as the Mutation made his move, David raised his sword and ran him through. He swung the dead Mutation into the others surrounding Sandu, and while they scattered, they left the boy open. David leapt forward, snagged the boy by the hand and lifted him out of the pile of Mutations. Without another glance, he made a hasty exit with Sandu in one arm and his mother in tow.

  “Stay close,” he cried out as they ran through the hall toward the hole where they had come in. David hazarded a glance back and saw the Mutations closing in, clambering on the walls and ceiling as well as the floor, creating an apparent flood of them. He noted that Nadezhda had looked back as well, her mouth agape at the sight, and she lost some of her speed.

  “Eyes forward,” David urged, and together, they looked toward their destination, and upon reaching it, they both jumped out of the hole. David landed gently on his feet while Nadezhda rolled to a stop, dropping the torch and snuffing out its flame.

  David set Sandu on the ground, helped Nadezhda to her feet, and retrieved the torch. They looked back to the hole as he hooked the torch back on his belt, and Mutations were streaming out of it.

  “This isn’t over yet,” David said, picking up Sandu, and leading the pair to the forest ahead of them.