Chapter 10 Chapter nine

My vision blurred again.I wanted to yell, I wanted to tell Murphys I didn't want to watch it anymore, but it was too late.When the picture gradually became clearer, the familiar scenery of Eastern Europe appeared in front of my eyes. I saw a large group of travelers in a hurry on the steep Carpathian Mountains. Some people rode horses, some people walked, and there were several carriages. Planning to cross the Borgo Pass. It is late autumn at the moment.The mountains and plains are golden, the leaves of the birch trees have fallen to the ground, and the silver trunks are shining. In the distance are tall oak trees and beech trees, and further away is a dark green pine forest. Under the clear blue sky, the mountain tops are covered with perennial snow.But these people did not stop to admire the view, they looked back in fear as they galloped along the narrow mountain road.

They are no ordinary travelers, they are fugitives. In October 1451, civil strife broke out in Moldavia.Pitru Aaron, supported by Poland, took the lead in rebelling against the enemy and killed his brother, Grand Duke Bogdan II of Moldavia.Bogdan was Vlad's uncle. His death caused Vlad, who was under his protection at the time, and Vlad's cousin, Bogdan's eighteen-year-old son Stephen, to start years of exile. At that time, the Borgo Pass was the border between Moldavia and Transylvania.After passing this pass, the frontier is the border of Hungary. "Are you sure?" Stephen asked his cousin more than once, "Are we really going to Hungary?"

I saw D again, a little older than the last time I saw him, galloping.At this point he has not yet earned the title of "Dracula" for himself, he is still Vlad the Runaway. Vlad looked back at Stephen with a look of pity in his eyes.He remembered hearing the sad news of his father's tragic death in Turkey a few years ago. He and Stephen were the same age.No, he was younger then.Vlad sighed, and said in his heart: Actually, you are much luckier than me. But what he said was: "Yes, Stephen, we are going to Hunyadi for peace." "He killed your father! My uncle!" Stephen reminded him loudly.His crying voice was torn apart by the wind, it sounded miserable and shrill.He hadn't recovered from the news that his father had been killed.

Vlad didn't answer him.He kicked the horse's belly hard, and the horse under his crotch rushed forward like a madman, crossing the last stretch of the Borgo Pass.As the sun was setting, he galloped across the golden fields of Transylvania. Stephen rode his horse and followed his cousin from behind. "Have you really thought about it?" He asked unwillingly. "We have no other choice, Stephen." Vlad patiently explained to his cousin, "Aaron has the support of the Poles, and Hungary is our strongest backer." Both Moldavia and Wallachia are small countries.Moldavia has always oscillated between Poland and Hungary due to its location, just as Wallachia has always oscillated between Hungary and Turkey.When the national strength is still weak, if you don't take refuge in this side, you can only take refuge in the other side.Just like what his father Deku did back then.

But he is not his father. "I won't surrender to that boy Mohammad. Not even die," he said to Stephen. Muhammad was the new Sultan of the Turks, only nineteen years old, but more fierce, brave and ambitious than his dead father.The new Sultan bears the same name as the Muslim Prophet, Allah guides him from heaven, and the whole of Christendom trembles under the Ottoman cavalry. "I heard that Muhammad killed his own brother in order to keep the throne." Stephen clicked his tongue. "The poor child is even just a baby." Vlad took a deep breath.He hated Muhammad for another reason.Because his own brother Dora was with each other.During those days in Turkey, Dora had always had a good relationship with Muhammad.Dora even converted to Islam for the other party.

Sooner or later, Dora would fight him on the battlefield, Vlad thought, for the throne of Wallachia.Yes.This has been the case since ancient times.It's just that he doesn't know if he will be as cruel as Muhammad. "We'll just bring all our belongings there..." Stephen was still hesitating, "But will Hunyadi take us in?" Vlad understood his cousin's doubts.The Hunyadi placed their sworn rivals, the Danishti family, on the throne of Wallachia.Otherwise, his father and elder brother would not have died.But things are different now.After the death of the old Turkish Sultan, Danny Sti saw the situation and publicly declared his allegiance to the new Sultan Muhammad.They had already turned their backs on their original ally Hungary, which gave Vlad an opportunity.

What Stephen didn't know was that Vlad and Hunyadi had another secret connection - they were both members of the Dragon Knights.Vlad remembered this man when he was a little boy, following his father and brother to the Order's meetings as a reserve member. Compared with his father, Hunyadi was much younger. He was in his prime, tall and mighty like a bull, with a square and resolute face.However, his hairline has receded very far back, the hair at the lower edge is very curly, and there are two thick and curly beards on his lips.Vlad remembered this man because he and his brother Mircea had secretly teased about the mustache.

They also heard that Hunyadi was actually the founder of the Order of the Dragon and the illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.He still doesn't know if it's true. In any case, as Dracula, the son of the dragon, D cannot forgive the tragedy that Hunyadi brought to his family and territory; but as Vlad, the dragon knight, he needs to find someone to be his guide.An elder, a senior, a knight mentor more competent than his dead father.He will not rely on foreign clans because of the throne, nor will he give unfair treatment to other children because he favors his eldest son too much.And Hunyadi is such a most suitable candidate.He was a great Hungarian military commander who fought against the Turkish army all his life and was invincible.

What's more, if it wasn't for Hunyadi, he would probably still be imprisoned in the Turkish court.With that hideous Muhammad and Radu who turned his back on Christ. But now he's officially a member of the Order of the Dragon.Vlad the Dragon Knight, they called him like his father back then, bathed in the holy radiance of Christ, swung his long sword to slay demons. In the heart of young Vlad, Hunyadi, also a member of the Dragon Knights, is a qualified role model and hero. He can make himself stronger. Vlad gripped the reins tightly, the rings on his fingers hurting him.He knew that according to the rules of the Knights, even if he was his enemy, Hunyadi would not say no to the orphan of a former colleague.

"He will take us in." Vlad looked at the last golden-red sunset in the sky, and said with great certainty, as if he was comforting Stephen and himself, "He will definitely."