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...
The attack took place at night. The Dracula won out. I will compose my thoughts and write of every small thing that has been done or observed here relating to the affair that might be worth your notice.
Owing to the fact that the Ottoman troops were order'd to stay in their tents at night, Vlad and his men shear'd their beards clean and mask'd themselves as Turks. They invaded the camp rather easily. I, being of sound conscience to protect the King's charge and retrieve the Prince, kept my watch steadily on him and not the enemy. He wove through the tents like a viper on the hunt. Upon finding the Sultan's seal, he enter'd the tent and was gone to my eyes. I had little option but to go after him. It was then that the killing commenced. All around me, tents rattled from the death struggle of half-slumbering Turks. I raced to the Prince to find him inside a mistaken tent. Instead of discovering the fixtures for the Sultan's bedchamber, he was surround'd by treasures from the Ottoman wars, including artifacts whose origin could not be placed. The Prince of Wallachia was found kneeling over a set of stone tablets, tracing his fingers across the engravings. Of this, I must say I was both captivated and bewildered. The markings are strange and unlike anything I had yet seen, and he was lost in them.
Being cautious of persuading him to take heed of his own war, I chose instead to keep watch on the tent opening. It is for this decision that I am alive to send this missive. The Grand Vizier and holder of the Sultan's seal, Veli Mahmud Pasa, was at that very moment walking through the entrance. Unable to see me at his flank, he lifted his sword and struck down at Vlad. Dracula's life was spared by my quick swordsmanship alone. I thrust out my own blade and protect'd the Prince. Waking from his mesmerized state, Vlad spun in place and kill'd the Grand Vizier, flaying him lengthwise in a single, violent gesture.
Though he felt spied upon, Vlad now holds me in his favor and debt. We left the tent shortly after, but not before collecting much of the treasure, including the inexplicable stone tablets. When the remaining Turks discover'd the ambush, they went directly to handcannons. Though I had slain many during this raid, I abandon'd my sword, having too often found how little the assistance of steel can avail when opposed to iron and gunpowder.
I am now on the retreat, alone for the first time, and will send this letter when I discover the camp of my allies.
Seventeenth of June, Fourteen Hundred and Sixty-Two
Ezzelin von Klatka
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