COMPLETE! The Wasteland. A woman screams in the night. Spotlights flash on a pile of dust in the desolate patch of land that lay just beyond the tall crosses that picket the boundary of Encampment R-34. A group of curious students leave their bunkho...
To Matthias Corvinus, the worshipful King, be this letter taken.
As instructed, I will record my activities leading to this very day, when I have deliver'd to your grounds the Prince of Wallachia.
Two nights after sending a gypsy rider to Hungary with my recent missives, I enter'd the camp of Vlad Tepes. I had discovered him swiftly, as he took no efforts in hiding himself from view, but proceed'd with the utmost caution, fearing my abandonment would be question'd. On the contrary, Vlad was relieved to find me breathing, and had my Turkish attire removed and burned, which I took to be an honor. The High Gypsy escort'd me bare to Vlad's quarters, where I was join'd with the most handsome of enslaved Bulgarian women. Having been separated from the joys of the flesh in a manner fit for monks, and facing death at every turn, I was seized in the common way with the most malignant form of lust, and attend'd to my symptoms. When sleep was taking me, I observed the High Gypsy in the corner of the tent coaxing the passions out of the Dracula for the engraved stone tablets. For more hours than could well be numbered, they discuss'd the stones and their importance. Of what, I could not hear, but I discern'd that these tablets were discover'd by a defeat'd people at the rumor'd land across the sea. I am of the mind that our realm is a flat one, with a sea that has a conclusion. Truly, these tablets and their fabled land bewilder me. Know that he has entrust'd them to the privacy of the gypsy.
After a certain time, I deliver'd your instructions to the two remaining members of the Black Army. I then convinced Vlad to join me for a walk apart from the noise of camp so that I may learn of his greatness during my absence and record it for him, before we advance to Hungary. I knew very well that if I should venture to take him down along the road, his forces would destroy us in the most ghastly fashion. Due to the success I found in saving his life during the night attack, he very rarely saw occasion to protect himself in my presence. In this, I found success where others could not, and the Black Army was able to seize him in the quietness of the moon.
I proudly proclaim that this affair is now set in a true light, and found to be effectual. For the crown is protected, Christendom is saved, and the wings of a demon have been clipped. Imprisoning Vlad the Impaler is more than justice, my King, it is a service to mankind.
There is one additional observation which I have made, and it concerns the High Gypsy. I witness'd him the morning last outside the market, where he smiled in my direction and depart'd. Be watchful of him, my King. I know this man to be of a darker sort than most. He goes by the name Kumpan, and I claim he is standing watch for the day of the Prince's release. I pray he perishes before such a day.
First of July, Fourteen Hundred and Sixty-Two
Ezzelin von Klatka
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