Vlad was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall in the Common Room when he heard the shuffle of feet. His arms crossed over his chest. He closed his eyes as he realised who it was.
And why they must be here.
Some things never change among fledglings.
"Hey," Tibor purred. "Look who it is. It's Dirt. I thought you'd be in your room, Dirt. Maybe I went too easy on you?"
"Maybe," Vlad echoed.
"Hey, why don't you stand up when your seniors come into the room? You know it's rude, don't you?"
Vlad cracked his eyes open.
Tibor was taller than he was. Broader at the shoulders, too.
And, while the training they were receiving was a joke, the young vampire had still managed to form enough muscle to appear threatening.
He could also channel his blood energy to create a cold effect over his fist.
What else could he do?
From what he'd seen, Vlad doubted the fledgling could do very much at all.
And if he was their vocal leader, then this didn't bode well for the future of the Court.
Something had to be done.
He rose steadily to his feet, his back against the wall.
"There," Tibor cried, waving a hand at Vlad. "He knows how to be polite. Very good, junior. Tell us now, do you still look down on the Black Dragon Court?"
Vlad said nothing.
What was there to say?
Some things, he'd learned, just needed to follow their course.
"Are you not going to answer?" Tibor leaned in close. "Is your tongue impaled on your fang?"
Vlad's gaze shifted away from Tibor and swept the room.
The collection of fledglings looked uncomfortable.
This pleased Vlad a little. At least the bullying of juniors wasn't something they took delight in. That would have been too much for him to endure.
"The reason you do this…" Vlad said softly to Tibor. "Is to defend the Court. This, I respect."
Tibor blinked. "Huh?"
"I do this for the same reason," Vlad said, suddenly seeing his path light up for him. He felt his heart pump harder as he realised what he needed to do. The confusion he'd been feeling seemed to clear like a fog in the sun.
"What?"
Vlad's fist blurred in the space between them.
It hit Tibor's chin with a sound that cracked through the room.
An ugly sound.
The fledgling flew off his feet and was tossed aside by the strength of the blow which Vlad had reinforced with his precious blood energy.
The gathered fledglings took a step back, gasping in shock as he turned his gaze to them.
Then, slitting his eyelids, he moved to the door.
"Where are you going?" Ist called. "You can't just hit your senior like this!"
The others made a sound of agreement.
Then silence slit the room as Vlad carefully locked the door.
Before turning.
He cracked his knuckles as a cruel grin slowly formed on his face.
"Forgive me, brothers," Vlad said as he advanced on them slowly. "But I truly am doing this for your own good…"
"Is he crazy?" One of them muttered. "He thinks he can fight all of us?"
Ist's eyes widened as he stared into Vlad's gaze and recognised something the others hadn't yet comprehended.
The lack of fear.
The complete understanding of the situation.
Vlad had something none of them had.
Experience.
"Run," Ist croaked. "Run!"
"It will do you no good," Vlad chuckled. "The best thing you can all do is line up and take your beating!"
They dodn't understand, Vlad thought. But they will. I will teach them.
He dove into them, possessed by a driving need to utterly break them.
Break the fragile little shells which had formed around them as they had grown far too complacent in a Court which had lost its fangs.
Every punch was delivered with an accuracy and efficiency beyond what the fledglings had experienced.
And, despite their resistance, they fell like wheat to a scythe.
Standing over a circle of moaning bodies, his fists dripping red, Vlad nodded at them all.
"You'll understand soon," he told them. "Soon everything will make sense again and this craziness will be a dream. A nightmare you will tell future fledglings. Let this lesson stick, my seniors. Let it stay in your hearts until you are ash!"
"You're crazy," Tibor groaned, rolling away from him. Crawling on the floor. Trying to get to the door.
"No." Vlad walked up to him and kicked him hard in the ribs. "I am the only sane one here. And you are all weak. Weak. Weak. Weak. You think that petty trick with your blood energy is an achievement? Icy Touch is nothing! Nothing! And you think it was I who disrespected the Court? It was you who disrespected it by being weak! By picking up a Turkish weapon! Did you not remember it was the Turks who once tried to take everything from us? They tried to cross the mountains. And what did the Black Dragon Court do? We threw them back? Then feasted on their villages for days!"
"That's ancient history," Tibor spat.
"Perhaps for you," Vlad murmured.
He squatted beside Tibor, who shrank away from him.
"You're a monster."
"Aren't we all?"
Tibor blinked.
"Well?" Vlad slapped the fledgling's head gently. "Answer the question. Aren't we vampires? Aren't we the strongest in the world?"
"Y-y-yes?"
"Then why do you live in a filthy ruin?" Vlad squinted at him. "Why do you pick up a Turkish weapon? And a useless club, at that. Are you a caveman living in a cave? Are you a peasant unable to use a noble blade?"
"You know nothing," Tibor hissed. "The art of the sword is lost! And we have no money to repair the castle."
Vlad smiled at the vampire, pleased to see he'd found his spine.
That's what the Black Dragon Court should be about.
Perhaps there was potential here.
"You have hands," Vlad said, snatching Tibor's wrist and holding it up. "But I see you also don't have many callouses. Where are your blisters, my senior? Where are the marks of hard work and toil?"
"What are you talking about? We work hard! We train every day!"
"And still you have the hands of a sweet little maid," Vlad said. "But this shall change."
"Change?"
Ist started coughing blood as he rolled onto his side. He glanced up at Vlad. "What are you going to do?"
"Not I, my brothers. You." He showed his cruel grin to them again. "It's clear to me that the Court has neglected your training. Well. Then that means it's up to us to fix this mistake."
"Mistake?"
"The first thing I want is a clean barracks. The charcoal on the walls offends me." He sighed heavily. "It is a sign of our failure. We must clean this mark before we can start again. Remove it. All of it. By morning."
"What?"
"I said clean it."
"How?"
"Did I hit your head too hard? Get some rags and water. That would be a start."
Tibor looked horrified. "But it's impossible! That filth has been there for almost two hundred years!"
"Would you like another beating?"
"No!"
"If there's even a speck of that shit on the wall by morning, I will beat you all. Every one of you. And this time, I will not go so easy on you."
More moans answered him.
He lifted his hand threateningly.
"My seniors, why are you being lazy? You don't have much time to do the cleaning. Hurry now. My hand is itchy."
"You can't be serious!" Tibor yelled.
Vlad clenched his fingers into a fist. "What?"
"Wait!" Tibor scrambled unsteadily to his feet, clutching at his bruised belly. "I'm going!"
"All of you!" Vlad shouted. "Move! Anyone who doesn't move, I will assume wants another beating!"
It was a mad scramble to get to the door.
He watched as they bustled out of the room and let out a long sigh.
"Ferenc," he murmured. "I'm sorry. But I may break some of them. I am not a suitable or kind teacher."
He heard the clank of buckets and smiled.
He'd half expected them to go running to one of the elders.
Instead, they'd chosen to follow his instructions. That showed they understood the situation well enough. Maybe more would survive than he thought.
But would they thrive?
He pursed his lips.
That was yet to be seen.
On the other side of the courtyard, from his little room's window, elder Janos watched as the fledglings started filling buckets from the well.
Surprised, he stared as they started dipping rags into the gathered water and began scrubbing at the walls.
The thick soot and dust quickly started to dissolve.
Were they actually trying to clean the walls?
The elder lifted a hand to his mouth.
What had caused this sudden desire from them to clean the ruin? Their motivation seemed almost frenzied.
He watched as they worked.
"Amazing," he breathed as he saw the colour of stone which had been buried under black grime for the first time. "I must tell the Count…"
***
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