Lone Ranger Chapter 27

27.

Father Lamiere pushed himself up from the subsided flood water. He was wet all over but his concern was the two who pledged their lives for his. He saw the two were safe with their arms on the railings of the overturned carriage. He approached them and then stopped in his stride. He turned to look at the structure that had saved his life. The church still stood firm despite the floodwater rushing at it. He saw then the washed away timber planks had revealed the stone foundation of the structure with its main pillars. It was those stones which had lent strength on the earlier derelict structure. It’s new look gave strength to the priest. He smiled and said a word of prayer for the sanctuary there.

“Father Lamiere, look to the east.” Remus motioned to the priest. Father Lamiere looked over and saw the adversary of his. His face turned pale when he saw the others standing on the wagon.

“Lord has mercy on my soul.” Father Lamiere spoke under his breath. The figure there was not Man or Beast but of both in his eyes. The distinct double horns and the hoofed bend limbs betrayed the identity of the figure. The figure was naked standing there.

“It’s the Devil.” Father Lamiere shouted. Remus rushed forth with the daggers before the priest could stop him. His ran was halted by the arrival of five armed guards who stood at the side of the wagon.

“Halt, you fool!” The demon shouted from the wagon top. “Father Lamiere, hold your cur with the lease. I am very glad to meet you once more. You have pursued me for years or shall I say from youth to the ages.”

“Vlad, your days are limited. So swear on my name and on my father.” Father Lamiere raised his reply. “He had started the pursuit which his father had done and it will be me who will end it.”

“It’s the folly of the generations from yours but I give respect to you. Where were from then? Moldavia was it.” The demon who was called Vlad replied. “My stepbrother escapades have eluded mine and yet we share the same name but I am the bastard of the family. Vlad the Impeller was his name yet mine was banished to the monastery. Little was known that his escapades were a part of mine too. I gave him a name that he may not have done by himself.”

“Yes, Vlad who was your stepbrother shared the blood binge with you as a ritual of strength. It was the doing of yours to place fear on the enemies. It was the doing of yours that heads were impaled.” Father Lamiere added to the claims of the one named Vlad Tapas. “My ancestors pursued you since then. They knew of the hidden hands of the other Vlad. The demon that was Vlad Tapas placed the burden on Vlad Tepes. His curse was to be named the same by your father but you shared a different mother.”

“Yes, your forefathers created the myth that stood time. We were the so-named blood drinkers but we were not the vampires you tell the world. We were nobles then driven from our heritage and hunted like wild beasts. We prevailed with the show of strength inside us but outnumbered we were driven to the few. It was a ritual to drink blood for us to show our solidarity. The ritual of blood binge was to place fear upon us. Soon it became our drink of the meets. More joined us and more blood were spew for our ritual.”

“We soon discover that with the ritual, we were getting stronger in the body and our fighting skills improved.” Vlad smiled. “We had a little help. My stay at the monastery when young was not of minor chores but to learn the ancient books. I found the spell I had cast then into the ritual made us what we are today.”

“We were the warriors of strength, and we recognized Vlad Tepes as the leader in his own right but he faced an adversary far greater in numbers. I assisted him in the fear-mongering and then the events that strengthen it. Your forefathers expanded the myth that stood time.” Vlad Tapas smiled and laughed harder. “Without me, Vlad Tepes rebellion would have ended earlier.”

“As I have stated, we were few and to face many we needed alliance. Our alliance was strong but the time of the war was wrong. We lost to a bigger alliance. We retreated and then went our ways. I continued in the ritual and with patience, I grew my army. I grew an army that is within yours. Like the blood that coursed through the veins, it will eventually come back to the heart. I am that heart. I had to stay hidden. I then became Vance Hawkins.”

Hawkins held up a heart from a victim unknown. He raised it high and squeezed the blood from it.

“I am in need to quench my thirst with blood. The blood strengthens us and added ferocity to our skills. We drank from the cups as per the ritual but once I tasted the pure blood from the veins, it was unlike any I ever drank. I felt my strength and above all, it gave me invincibility.”

“It also stirred my desire.” Hawkins laughed. “Many have moaned in my desire. More so when I bite into them.”

“The bite that you took on my family also stirred the vengeance to remove you.” Father Lamiere replied. “So swear once more the House of Ibrahim Zumin.”

“Yes, Fatime Zumin was the first. She was the Goddess to me. Just as I have done then, I will end the line of the Zumin. The veins at the neck of the Zumin are so refreshing and yet it pumped hard to leave the body.” The demon laughed out loud. “But before you take leave of this life, behold the sight before you. Before your coming, here was an army paid for with gold and promises. They were here with the efforts of another army of devoted followers who desires nothing than the pureblood from the veins. Yet with their efforts, I could pay for the ones who will work for gold. You destroyed the wrong army. I can have many more with the payment of gold.”

The one who stood next to the demon laughed out. Hawkins turned to it and smiled.

“Let me tell you of the one who stood next to me. He reached out from the heavens to assist me.” Hawkins motioned to the other.

“Heavens? Blasphemy….” Father Lamiere snapped back but his words were cut short. The one he named The devil stood out and then laughed out louder. The laugh reverted on the subsiding flood levels and echoed in the valley.

“Father Lamiere, I hailed you and your family in the generations to pursue this mad creature.” The one who was named the Devil voiced out. “I am called many named but I prefer the one favored by myself when I stepped here on this world. Please ….Pardon me it demeaned my status if I would to say please.”

“My preferred name is Samael. I was the ruler of the Fifth Heaven and ruled once over two million Angels in comparison to your feeble thousands here.”

Father Lamiere hushed his fear for Samael was well known in the books. The words to describe Samael was that his ‘height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder feel the need to prostrate in awe’. Even Moses had prayed to God in these words, ‘O may it is Thy will, my God and the God of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel’.

“Samael, I ….” Hawkins turned to the one he had rescued from the deep pits.

“Silence, slave! Do not address me unless I summoned you. Your service had been recognized and my standing with you here had repaid your service. Now that I am freed once more, I will take leave of you. I have my own wars to fight.”

“Farewell, demon.” With that wings appeared from his back and then he took flight. Hawkins stared at the departing ally of his and then faced the ones standing to kill him.

“I guess you cannot trust the Devil after all.” Hawkins smiled. “When he is also the demon.”

From the flooded waters figures rose up baring their fangs.