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Solomonarul aimed the lightning at Gabriel’s heart and struck him.
Unfortunately, Muma Padurii’s command invited another group of guests to act. Growls began echoing across the meadow.
“What are these sounds?” asked Teodora. But everyone was too busy with the ritual to answer.
“It’sstrigoii,” I said as I could already smell their rancid breaths. “Protect Gabriel.” I removed my dagger under my skirt and prepared to attack the undead raccoons.
Ila, Iele's leader, immediately stepped back and added another protective dome around Gabriel. “Sisters, there’s too much power in one place for me to contain the dome. Help me,” Ila said.
Given that Lord Stoica’s exaltation ritual had ended, all the other nymphs redirected their forces to protect Gabriel. But Gabriel’s transformation took all their energy, so everyone else had to fend for themselves.
As I turned toward Anca, Teodora, and Lady Stoica, I noticed Anca was missing. She probably still suffered from her last encounter with thestrigoii.But Teodora didn’t even know where to look, so when one jumped on her from the back, the only thing she could do was yelp. I rushed to defend her, but another grabbed my foot and pulled me to the ground. I stabbed it straight in the heart, and it collapsed like a ragdoll. I turned to aid Teodora, fearing I was too late. Luckily, Solomonarul finished his part of the ritual and ran to save his pregnant wife. One slash through the creature’s neck, and the head plopped in Teodora’s lap. Her unyielding screams scared all the birds in the vicinity.
“You cannot scream, my sweet sparrow. That’s how they know where to attack,” Solomonarul said as Teodora covered her mouth. “It’s best to return home before others arrive.” But right as he said those words, a flock ofstrigoimarched toward us. Lady Stoica froze at the sight of all these undead monsters, but before they could even reach her, Tiberiu and his companions jumped straight into the action and ripped their hearts with bare hands. Still, in typicalstrigoifashion, when there was one, there were a dozen. So everyone had to put a shoulder in containing them. If the ritual couldn’t be finalized, all of this was in vain, and we would lose Gabriel.
Right when one would think Muma Padurii could use her witchy skills, she disappeared. But Ielele continued to protect Gabriel until he awoke. Solomonarul helped Teodora and Lady Stoica hide behind a tree and then continued fighting with the undead creatures. I kept the flask filled with blood close to my chest, fearing they would rip it from me. A few have tried, for which they received a dagger in their hearts. But I couldn’t fight them forever, so I joined Teodora and Lady Stoica behind the tree.
Though the first batch ofstrigoiwas leveled to the ground mainly by the werewolves and Solomonarul, the second one didn’t hesitate to attack with the same ferociousness. Oh, and let’s not forget the third batch who decided not to wait for a special invitation. Outnumbered barely described the situation. Now besides Gabriel’s life, I feared everyone else’s. Like always,strigoiibegan piling up on everyone with a beating heart until they found Teodora, Lady Stoica, and me. Gabriel’s mother tried to put herself in front to protect us, but I couldn’t let Gabriel lose his mother as well. So I threw myself at their mercy, as at least one of us had to survive. Wait, didn’t I just become a timekeeper? I could conjure a time-traveling spell. I hugged both of them and began reciting the only incantation I remembered.
“What are you doing?” yelped Teodora. “They’re going to kill us.”
Then we disappeared. While still in the time continuum, I recited another, and we found ourselves in Vlad the Impaler’s cellar. “No, no, no. That’s not what I want,” I said furiously. Darned be these new time-traveling powers.
Teodora and Lady Stoica didn’t say anything as they lost their ability to speak somewhere in the time continuum. I, instead, focused on imagining Muma Padurii’s meadow and how we would get there and said the spell slightly differently (the only time in history when Latin class saved lives).
This time we found ourselves behind a different tree. But to our dismay, a fresh batch ofstrigoiattacked us. And right when I thought everything was doomed, we heard a battle cry and a horse galloping. Who could it have been? As we and thestrigoiialike searched for the incoming attack when Marius, of all people, with Anca seated behind him, stormed into the meadow and began severingstrigoiheads left and right. The man knew how to make an entrance.
A flood of relief spread across my entire body. Still, the small respite didn’t stop thestrigoifrom attacking. With a massive battle in the middle of a meadow, I questioned if things could get worse. Then out of nowhere, a blow of energy threw the nymph several feet back. When we turned, we saw a silver-eyed Gabriel rise slowly and transform into his beastly form. His clothes ripped, turning into rags that barely covered his body. No one knew for sure if he would be able to control the beast. One could only hope.
Strigoiididn’t pay much attention to the newly-forged being and continued aiming for our necks. Until Gabriel roared so loud everyone froze. The following growls tamed the undead mosquitos and forced them to bow to him. What in the beastly communication skills was this?
Feeling safer, I emerged behind the tree, prepared to give him the flask of blood. Then Gabriel saw me. At first, I thought he recognized me, but when he sprinted toward me at full speed, my heart dropped like a boulder.
“Gabriel, it’s me, your wife,” I pleaded, but it was too late. Gabriel jumped and knocked me to the ground, preparing to rip my throat. “My name is Petra. You are the love of my life and my husband.” I stared into his burning silver eyes.
He didn’t care for any of that as he continued to growl on top of me.
“You have a daughter, Athena. She wants to meet her father,” I said desperately.
Gabriel’s beastly form stilled, and I didn’t plan on losing the opportunity. I opened the flask and poured it into his mouth. At the first taste of blood, his eyes became aflame. “Look at me. Recognize the love that I have for you and return to me. I need you, Gabriel.”
After gulping the entire flask in one go, Gabriel half-reverted to his human state. “What’s happening to me?” he asked.
“You are becoming the strongest being in The Other Realm, but you’re still my husband and the father of our daughter.” I extended an arm and caressed his face. I risked ending up with no hand, but it was worth it.
At the feel of my touch, Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Welcome back, Milord. Let’s get you more food. Then we can go home,” I said.
Chapter 28
For the next several months, Gabriel was bedridden, going in and out of his beastly form. Though, being a wife with a plan made things much smoother than the first time. Our friends brought the majority of the blood from different animals and spared ours in the process.
Everyone already knew about the Forest of the Impaled event, so we waited patiently for history to take its course. When the time approached, we didn’t stray away from walking the previous transformation’s steps as we anticipated Stan’s own fate being sealed by helping Gabriel. Thus, though very weak, we left Gabriel at the gates where Vlad the Impaler’s people would seize him and imprison him.
Afterward, we waited. I knew it would take months for Gabriel to finish the cycle of transformation, so I mainly lived at our house in the village and visited Lady Stoica, Anca, or Teodora on the regular. Any harsh life changes could be smoothed out in the company of good people. I witnessed Teodora’s belly growing, but also their intense smooching when Solomonarul would return home (that part I would’ve preferred to forget). I witnessed how Anca’s siblings grew older and helped Anca so much more than before. By the time they would reach their teenage years, Anca would be catered to like a queen. Or at least, that’s how she imagined it would be.
Marius returned home from an adventure of his own. He had chosen to stay with Lady Stoica for a while or until she bettered herself. Though I sensed he still yearned for a new adventure. I asked him how he found us in the meadow. He said the Wine Pitcher Lady told him where we were. In the end, she did send someone to our aid. Though I would’ve never imagined it would be Marius.
