The vampire (hollow leg)

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The Vampyr (published in 2000 ) is a historical and fantastic novel by Wolfgang Hohlbein and the second volume of the Chronicle of Immortals . The story of two vampires in the Transylvania of the 15th century is the first volume, On the Brink , continued.

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Andrej Delãny, sword master and - as he recently learned - an almost immortal vampire, sets out with his protégé Frederic to save the survivors of their destroyed village, who were sold to the Nubian pirate and slave trader Abu Dun. But the pursuit of his slave ship drives the two directly into the hands of their opponent. After a few small fights, they agree to a deal with him: he will release their relatives if Andrej, whose outstanding martial arts he has already seen, serves as his bodyguard for a year .

The very next day, Abu Dun's ship was attacked in the thick fog by the seagull , the ship of Inquisitor Domenicus, and set on fire. Abu Dun, Andrej and Frederic jump overboard in the ensuing chaos and swim to the shore. Soon they encounter the Knights of the Dragon Order , led by the cruel Prince Tepesch, a nobleman and warlord who, in his blood-red armor, sows terror among the Turkish invaders from the east.

But the people in this area are plagued not only by the looming war, but also by brutal murders in which the victims are literally torn to pieces and their blood is drunk. Andrej suspects nothing good and sets off the next morning with his companions to find the camp of the knights of the order. On the way they learn from some Turkish warriors that Sultan Selic has raised an army to repel the dragon knights and advance further west. The Turks appear friendly through Abu Dun's mediation when suddenly masked men storm them from all sides; under the leadership of a red-robed knight they are slaughtered. Andrei attacks him, but the knight is superior to him and lets him knock down.

When Andrej wakes up, he is tied up and introduced to the red knight, who turns out to be Prince Tepesch. He reveals to him that not only he, Frederic and Abu Dun are his guests, but also Inquisitor Domenicus and his sister Maria, Andrej's lover. They enjoy his protection and demand Andrei's extradition. However, Tepesch is ready to let him escape if he and Abu Dun sneak into the Turkish army camp in return and kill the sultan. Frederic remains as a hostage in the castle.

Finally Andrei reluctantly agrees and experiences, together with Abu Dun, a horrific slaughter that Tepesch and the others wreak in the Turkish army camp; Sultan Selic is alive impaled . Tepesch's bodyguard Vlad later lets Frederic and Abu Dun come to a secret meeting point, where he tells them that he knows what they are. He offers them to get all of them safely out of the country if in return they kill Tepesch, who, as he says, is becoming more and more of a monster.

When they set out to kill the prince, they fall into a trap in his room : Tepesch has been waiting for them and has provided one of his bodyguards, the golden knight Körber, to protect him. However, Andrej can kill him in a fierce sword fight and drink his blood, whereby the immense strength and experience of the older vampire is passed on to him. Then they want to flee with Frederic, but are surprised by Vlad, who surrounds them with crossbowmen and reveals his true identity to them: he is Prince Vladimir Tepesch III. Draculea , and the man they believed to be the prince is the real "Vlad". The entire mission was an elaborate plan to test Andrej's skills and lock him away when the battle was over.

Maria later visits Andrej in his dungeon and talks to him for a long time about his past and her brother. She learns how much suffering Domenicus has caused among alleged witches and black magicians , and begins to doubt him. After she has left, Dracuela takes her place and reveals to Andrej what he really wants: he wishes to be made into a vampire himself and thus achieve immortality . Andrei rejects this horrified.

The next day a kind of show trial takes place in the courtyard of the castle, which, however, surprisingly turns against the inquisitor. His bodyguard, Biehler, the last of the three golden knights who attacked Andrej's village, is grabbed and quartered by Draculea's men , while Domenicus is displayed in a cage. Then the prince turns to Andrej, who rejects his offer again. Frederic then agrees to make Dracuela a vampire if his friends are released for it. Andrej is horrified, but has to submit and rides off to the east.

In the devastated army camp of the Turks he frees the dying from their suffering, equips himself with new weapons and meets Abu Dun, who had previously fled. He reports that Sultan Mehmed is approaching with a huge army to take revenge on Draculea for Selic's death. Then there is a meeting with the Sultan, at which Andrei asks him to spare the people and the castle and in return agrees to bring Dracuela's head to him.

So Andrej returns to the castle on hidden paths, only to find the completely disturbed Maria there, who was abused by Draculea. Together they free Domenicus, who is dying. Maria asks Andrej to save her brother, but there is nothing he can do - and the only thing that could save the inquisitor is he is not ready to do. Instead, he penetrates deeper into the castle with Abu Dun, who has followed him, kills Vlad almost casually, and confronts Draculea, who is about to torture Frederic. They take him prisoner and want to hand him over to Mehmed, but at the last moment Frederic kills the prince. Mehmed then stabs the boy to death and returns to his army with Draculea's head to continue the campaign against the Christians.

Meanwhile, Frederic's wounds begin to heal and he comes to. But he is no longer Frederic, because during the torture he absorbed Draculea's soul, his experiences and his profound malice. He has become something different, and when he and Abu Dun flee from the advancing rearguard of the Dragon Knights, Andrej asks himself in horror what they have created.

background

This volume leads the figure of the Wallachian warrior prince Vlad III. Drăculea into the Chronicle of the Immortals, who is known to most people today as the inspiration for the figure of Count Dracula . Hohlbein had previously used it in the horror novel " Dunkel ", where it is presented differently.

The sentence Maria uttered, "He's not difficult, he's my brother." Is a quote from the expression "He ain't heavy, he's my brother", which is very well known in the English-speaking world.

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