THE ATTACK

The raid had gone surprisingly smoothly. The few guards had not suspected anything. Mac Gaoth had repeatedly disappeared to scout the area, while Nellie, Karen, and the men waited with the ponies at a safe distance. Finally, Mac Gaoth judged the right moment had come. While Nellie and a rather grumpy Cowan stayed with Fynn by the ponies, the men armed with knives sneaked towards the camp. Nellie listened but could hear nothing except the ebbing and flowing of the wind and occasionally the snorting of a pony. Then her father returned and smiled reassuringly at her.

"It all went smoothly. Two of the guards were asleep. We disturbed three others who were playing cards."

"Did you," she paused and had to swallow. "Did you kill them?"

Myles stroked his daughter's hair. "Of course not! We tied them up nicely and gagged them so they wouldn't scream. When we leave, the next shift will find them and set them free."

Nellie touched her father's cheek, barely visible in the darkness. "They didn't recognize you, did they? How fortunate that you blackened your faces with charcoal."

"No, nobody recognized us. Don't worry. Now take the reins of these ponies and follow me."

They had tied their animals in several small groups. The small, sturdy ponies obediently followed them into the courtyard of the old barracks where the weapons were stored. With practiced movements, the men wrapped rifles and cartridge boxes, swords and knives in the oilcloths they had brought and attached two bundles to each animal. Mac Gaoth circled the group, watching them. He paused repeatedly to listen. Suddenly, he froze. Nellie hadn't heard anything, but he hissed, "Someone's coming. I hear the voices of two men."

Myles and Fynn drew their knives, but Mac Gaoth waved them off. "You load the horses, I'll take care of them." He disappeared silently into the night. Meanwhile, the men hastily loaded the last ponies.

"Get on," Myles commanded his daughter and helped her into the saddle so forcefully that she almost fell off on the other side.

"And you too, Cowan. We might need to leave quickly. Stay close to your sister at all times!" Cowan nodded seriously and looked very grown-up.

Just as the men finished securing the last bundle, Mac Gaoth reappeared. A strange smile played on his lips. As he passed Nellie, that sharp, predatory scent filled her nostrils again. And there was something else in the air. The smell of blood? The pony snorted anxiously and stepped aside.

"Everything's fine. The way is clear. We can go," Mac Gaoth said, taking the lead. Although the night was already well advanced and he had covered a great distance on foot, he showed no signs of exhaustion. Nellie, on the other hand, had to stifle yawns repeatedly.

But suddenly she was wide awake. Her pony had veered off into a deep hollow and was now circling back to the path. That's when she saw the two bodies. The smell of blood, accompanied by a cloud of foul stench, enveloped her. The light of the crescent moon glided over the torn bodies with the throats ripped out. It was as if a pack of bloodhounds had attacked them. But there were no dogs anywhere in sight. Nellie should have heard them in the stillness of the night. The girl pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle a scream. Her pony quickened its pace and mercifully spared her from the gruesome sight. But even though her eyes could no longer see the corpses, the image remained etched in her memory.

"You're imagining things," her brother dismissed when she later recounted her observation to him. "It's dark, and your nerves aren't up to something like this."

Nellie trembled with anger. "My nerves have nothing to do with it! The moon was bright enough, and I know what I saw. The blood was still fresh and flowing from the many wounds."

Her brother rolled his eyes. "Assuming you saw correctly. Where could these beasts have suddenly come from and silently disappeared to?"

Nellie fell silent. The thought stirring within her was so monstrous that she dared not speak it aloud. Her brother wouldn't believe her anyway; he would just shower her with ridicule.

The procession resumed, forcing them to ride single file on the now narrowing path. Nellie saw Mac Gaoth's silhouette a little further ahead next to Lorcan on his pony. A chill ran down her spine, making her shiver.

"Ireen, no! You don't know what you're doing!"

The small vampire girl from England turned to Ivy. Wild determination was evident in her expression.

"I know that!" she replied with a hardness that made the others shudder. Franz Leopold was now close behind Ivy and Seymour, but he had to admit they were too late to stop them. They were four in total. Three figures rose behind Ireen. Franz Leopold didn't need to pick up their scent to know that their pursuers now had faces. Ugly faces! Behind them, Franz Leopold recognized a cart with two horses hitched to it, with another figure. A tall, black-haired vampire sat patiently on the driver's seat. Franz Leopold didn't attach much importance to the cart - what a tragic mistake! - because the three intruders now entered the courtyard and drew their swords. Long, pointed blades gleamed silver in the moonlight. Ivy groaned and braked abruptly.

"Silver!" Even Alisa, Luciano, and Mervyn, who had followed them, stopped. Franz Leopold could hear Luciano gasping. "There are the heirs of the Lycana," said Ireen with a strangely thin, high voice.

"Take them with you. I have done my part. Now let my sister go! You promised. One of the vampires turned to her. His gaunt face dripped with contempt.

"You foolish child! Your sister has long since perished in the sunlight. What a simpleton you are." Ireen let out a scream. "You gave me your word when you unjustly destroyed my servant in the grotto." "Unjustly? You wanted nothing to do with our agreement anymore. It was just a necessary demonstration to show you that you must keep your word!"

"You promised," Ireen repeated. The vampire next to him, who, unlike the others, could be called handsome, spat on the ground. "So what? We also said we only want the Lycana - and that no one else will be destroyed except your impure one if you obey." The gaunt one smiled coldly. "Yes, you are unusually simple. It was a good choice to pick you. And now get out of the way so we can finish what we have been striving for for so long!"

They simply left the girl standing there and advanced towards the other young vampires, who slowly backed away. "Malcolm!" screamed Ireen. His face appeared in the window opening of the tower. "We need weapons!" shouted Franz Leopold. "Karl Philipp!" The foreign vampires laughed. "The children want to defend themselves, how nice." The speaker made a move towards Ivy, but she gracefully jumped to the side with an elegant turn.

"Alisa!" She followed the call with her gaze. Malcolm threw an old sword out of the window, which had been stuck in a stand in the hall above. Alisa stepped back to catch the weapon, losing sight of the three attackers. The woman lunged forward with an incredible leap and would have hit Alisa completely helpless in the next moment, but Franz Leopold threw himself against her side, causing her thrust to narrowly miss. "Thank you!" shouted Alisa, now holding the sword somewhat awkwardly. "Give it to me!" demanded Franz Leopold. "Or can you fence, by any chance?" At that moment, Karl Philipp came running out of the tower, holding two light rapiers in his hands. "Franz, this one's for you!" The weapon whirled through the air. Franz Leopold caught it skillfully. Side by side, he and his cousin charged at the attackers.

"I never thought the Dracas would ever be of any use," said Luciano, who pulled the reluctant Alisa into cover after she had handed Mervyn the hefty sword. Malcolm ran into the courtyard, holding an axe and a spear. "Back to the tower, quickly! We can better hold them off there." Alisa and Luciano pressed themselves against the wall but couldn't bring themselves to go inside and thus stop following the fight.

Mervyn fought well, but the vampire woman was superior to him. She stabbed him in the shoulder. The silver penetrated skin and flesh, paralyzing his arm for a moment. The Lycana screamed. The sword slipped from his grip. Alisa picked up the spear that Malcolm had dropped and ran. She was too far away! Malcolm attacked with the axe. Alisa had only one chance.

She swung and hurled the heavy spear with all her strength at the vampire woman. She laughed shrilly and with a quick swing of her blade, knocked the oncoming spear off its course, causing it to tremble and stick a bit further in the ground. Mervyn staggered back, but she pursued him and raised the silver blade for the finishing blow.

"You gave me your word," screamed Ireen, who had stood dumbfounded among the fighters. She lunged forward. The tip of the sword pierced her chest right through to her back. Malcolm roared and struck with the axe at the vampire woman. She tried to pull the sword out of her victim's wound, but Ireen fell backwards. The grip slipped from her fingers. Malcolm brought the axe down. Although the vampire woman still managed to step back a bit, the blade plunged deep into her shoulder. Before Malcolm could secure the axe again, he was thrown to the side. It was Seymour, who threw himself between him and the second attacker before his sword struck. Ivy was right behind him. She ripped the silver sword out of Ireen's chest and attacked.

"Seymour, get aside!" Malcolm gripped the handle of the axe and followed suit. Ivy joined the fray. The attacker collapsed, struck by the deadly silver. Ivy swiftly turned and just managed to intercept the sword strike from the gaunt one that was aimed at her back. Meanwhile, Franz Leopold and Karl Philipp pressed the other vampire, forcing them to retreat until they backed against a tree trunk. Above in the window alcoves, the heirs' faces crowded, but there were no more weapons in the castle, so they obeyed Ivy's command to stay upstairs.

"The carriage!" shouted the besieged attacker, still fighting with their back pressed to the tree bark. "Tonka, the carriage! Quickly!" The vampire by the drawbridge let go of the reins. The horses pulled away. The hooves drummed over the wooden planks. With their manes flying, the two black horses burst through the gate and galloped towards the entrance to the tower. Alisa and Luciano threw themselves to the side. The two barrels on the flatbed bounced dangerously as the cart skidded around the curve and the high-spoke wheels scraped against the stone blocks of the small tower in the courtyard. Then the rear wheel broke, and the two barrels rolled towards the entrance to the main tower. The horses continued running with the broken wagon. The vampire didn't bother to catch them. She pulled out the smoldering torch that had been stuck in a holder next to her and leaped off the dangerously swaying coach box.

The barrels rolled, and with each turn, the inscription flashed once. Alisa let out a scream. "Gunpowder! They want to blow up the tower!" She grabbed Luciano and together they threw themselves at the first barrel and diverted its path. "Down there to the river!" cried Alisa. Luciano groaned with effort, but they managed to give the barrel a shove, sending it shooting over the silted harbor basin and splashing into the river. A fountain of water splashed up. However, the other barrel rolled all the way to the open entrance door. The vampire with the torch ran towards it. Ivy, who had recognized the danger, approached from the other direction. "Seymour!" The wolf shot past her and lunged at the vampire's side. She stumbled but recovered, then threw the torch at the barrel. It bounced off and fell into the grass beside the lid.

"We need to extinguish the fire," screamed Alisa. Ivy was closest to the barrel. She slid to her knees and raised the torch high. For a moment, it seemed like everyone in the courtyard and tower held their breath. Luciano raised his fists in triumph, but Alisa's scream made him freeze mid-motion. "The fuse!" Ivy looked down. She reached for the last inch of the fuse, but the sparking flame disappeared under the barrel lid. Ivy knew there was nothing more she could do to stop the catastrophe. She jumped up and ran. She managed to get a few steps away from the barrel before the young vampires' cries were drowned in an incredible explosion. The barrel was driven through the door into the antechamber of the castle. A blaze of fire surged through the former storage room, consuming everything in its path. A wave of heat shot up the stairs and spread with such force that the young vampires were knocked down and thrown against the walls. A carpet caught fire. The skin of those closest to the stairs blistered and turned black.

Outside the tower, Ivy was thrown into the air. Franz Leopold dropped his rapier and rushed forward. The attacker tried to take advantage of the opportunity and stab him in the back, but Karl Philipp had been attentively watching and ruthlessly exploited the weakness he presented. He forcefully thrust his rapier through the vampire's heart. The vampire stared at him in astonishment, like a butterfly impaled on a tree.

Franz Leopold ran, arms outstretched, his eyes fixed on Ivy's delicate figure hurtling towards him in a wave of heat and fire. He caught her before she hit the scorched grass, but the force threw him to the ground. His head thudded against a boulder. For a few moments, he felt his senses slipping away, but he felt her lying on him, and he held her fragile-looking body tightly in his arms. Then he heard voices. Alisa and Luciano, running towards them. Franz Leopold shook his head, forcing the fog in his mind to clear.

"Ivy! By all creatures of the night!" he heard Alisa cry out. Franz Leopold sat up. He cradled Ivy's lifeless form like a child in his arms. Her right side was unharmed, but her left side was blackened by the explosion, her hair singed, her skin on her face, shoulder, and arm burned to blackened crusts. Alisa and Luciano fell to their knees, staring down at her in speechless horror. Seymour lay beside her, burying his snout in her maimed hand.

Karl Philipp, momentarily distracted by the explosion, turned back to his opponent. He looked into the black eyes, reflecting only hatred and rage. With slow, feeble movements, the unfamiliar vampire attempted to grasp the hilt of the rapier to pull it out of his chest. Obviously, Karl Philipp had missed the center of his heart. With calmness, the Dracas now picked up the silver sword his opponent had dropped and severed his head from his shoulders. Then he hurried to Malcolm's side, who was still trying to fend off the third attacker with his axe. Against the two furious young vampires, he stood no chance! The two dropped their bloody weapons and ran to the others who had gathered around Ivy. Now the remaining heirs stumbled out of the tower, silently forming a circle around the victorious fighters. Malcolm knelt beside Alisa and pulled her into his arms.

"Are you alright?" "Of course!" she brushed off, squirming out of his embrace, though it felt good to be pressed against his chest, but in front of others? Malcolm took her hands and examined them with a look of concern. Only now did Alisa notice that neither Luciano nor she had emerged from the explosion completely unscathed. Their clothes, hands, and faces were blackened, and blisters formed on their palms. "Nothing serious!" she insisted.

Ivy opened her eyes. For a moment, her gaze wandered confusedly over the many solemn faces turned towards her. Then she apparently noticed that Franz Leopold was holding her in his arms. "Leo, you can let go of me now," she said softly, rising up. "The pain will fade." She gasped and gave Franz Leopold a weak smile, but then she noticed her burnt hand, and shock froze her features. She glanced up her arm to her shoulder and then frantically reached for her cheek and hair with her unharmed hand; on this side, only charred remnants remained of her once-silveren tresses. Her expression changed to sheer horror. "Seymour!" she screamed shrilly. "What should I do now?" The wolf whimpered and pressed even closer to her.

"You're not doing anything tonight," said Franz Leopold gently, wrapping his arm around her waist. "I'll carry you to your coffin, and then your wounds will heal soon. The pain is surely terrible, but it will pass. It was just ordinary fire! Mervyn is worse off!" Ivy jerked upright. "The sword! The silver sword injured him! Where is he?"

With a lopsided smile, Mervyn approached. Sören had already pulled down his smock and securely bandaged the wound on his shoulder. Nevertheless, dark blood still seeped through the bandage. "Don't worry, cousin dear, Tara will draw the poison out of me - if she ever shows up here again."

Alisa freed herself from Malcolm and jumped up. "I still have Tara's vial in my bundle upstairs. It helped Seymour and also healed the wound I received in Rome quickly." She ran into the tower and up the spiral staircase to the upper hall. On the way back, she paused at the foot of the stairs and glanced into the storage room, now covered in soot. The wooden coffins were completely burned, only two strangely deformed metal boxes were discernible.

"Poor Áine," thought Alisa. "There was no escape for you." She turned away to bring the potion to Mervyn. With Sören's help, she reopened the bandage, dripped the magical fluid into the wound, and then tightly bound the fabric strips again. Together, they helped Mervyn up the stairs and laid him in his coffin.

The others still seemed to be in shock, slowly releasing them from its grip. Ivy looked around, but except for her and Mervyn, no one seemed to have received more than a few blisters and some blackened skin. Except Ireen! Ivy sprang up. The pain made her stagger, and she stumbled against Franz Leopold, who caught her firmly by the waist.

"Ireen!" she groaned. Malcolm turned around. "She's over there!" Karl Philipp gave indifferent information. Malcolm, Ivy, and Franz Leopold slowly crossed the meadow towards the fallen body, beside which a figure knelt. It was Rowena, who had been bending over her cousin.

"They've extinguished her," Rowena said bitterly. "I warned her, but she thought it was too late to turn back!" Malcolm sank down beside her. The sight pained him. Her heart had been pierced by the silver blade. Ireen was gone.

"What did you warn her about?" Ivy asked softly. "To trust those vampires and fulfill the pact! They abducted her older sister Anne, whom she cherished dearly, and threatened to torture her to death in the sunlight if Ireen didn't do a few things for them. They gave her a box of little bats she was supposed to keep in touch with them."

"So they wouldn't lose our trail!" Ivy nodded. "Why did she agree to that and not say anything?" Malcolm couldn't believe it. "Those vampires, whoever they were, wanted to annihilate the heirs of all families!"

"She loved Anne very much. Besides, they said they were only interested in the heirs of the Lycana."

"What?"

"Yes, they claimed they only wanted to abduct them. Ireen was always a bit naive. She believed them when they said they wouldn't harm her, but I immediately knew it had to be a lie." Rowena looked Ivy directly in the eyes. "It was probably not difficult for the strangers to convince Ireen. After all, the English have considered the Irish inferior and dispensable for centuries or at least justified in enslaving and exploiting them - after all, they refuse to accept the true faith! The Vyrad's opinion of the Lycana differs little from that of humans!"

Shame and horror spread across Malcolm's face.

"No, dear cousin, you don't need to look so guilty," Rowena waved off. "I'm just saying what you're also thinking, so don't degrade yourself to a hypocrite now! Shall I repeat what you said about Mervyn and Ivy? That you don't understand how Alisa could associate with someone like her?"

Malcolm raised his hand defensively to silence his cousin.

"Since when have you known this? Why didn't you say anything? You made yourself complicit!"

Rowena shrugged. "I only found out a few moments before she let the strangers in. Perhaps Ireen sensed that there wouldn't be another opportunity for her to tell you herself. Maybe doubts tormented her, now that she had to redeem her guilt."

"It's not easy to shed prejudices that have been built up over centuries," Ivy said. "That's why this academy was founded. It takes time, but despite this tragedy, I am confident that we are on the right path. Look, even Karl Philipp fought for all of us tonight!"

Malcolm sank to his knees before Ivy and reached for her unharmed hand. "I am truly sorry! I beg your forgiveness for everything I said and thought about you and the Lycana. It's not much for what our family has done, and I understand if you don't accept my apology."

"Of course, I accept it, and I know that Ireen's sacrifice has brought us all a bit closer together. I don't resent her. She let her fears guide her and blinded herself. But when she realized that, she didn't hesitate to give her life for us. That's penance enough!"

Malcolm rose heavily.

"Now you just need to convey your remorse to Alisa," Rowena said. "Because what good is your confession of guilt if you're not truly repentant in her eyes! That's why you just did it, cousin, didn't you?"

"That's not true!" he exclaimed indignantly. Rowena gazed at him penetratingly for a few moments, then her gaze became dreamy and distant again, as it always was. She leaned down to Ireen.

"I think we should lay her in her coffin. Even though she can no longer feel it, it wouldn't be kind of us to let the sun burn her body."

Malcolm nodded and took the body in his arms. "We should all go into the tower. I don't think the Lycana will return tonight."

They were a little startled to see that the sun was already close, about to rise over the Lough at any moment. They hurried back into the tower. There was no longer a door to lock, but they hoped that the protective spell would still keep unwanted visitors out.

"I believe your remorse is sincere," Ivy said quietly to Malcolm as she entered the tower behind him. "And I won't fail to mention it to Alisa."

Malcolm said nothing. Silently, he carried Ireen's bloody body up into the hall and laid her in her coffin. If it had been a normal blade, her body could have regenerated, but silver in a vampire's heart meant its destruction.

They left the bodies of the foreign vampires lying in the courtyard. Only Franz Leopold noticed that there were only three corpses visible. Two men and one woman. He couldn't spot the vampire on the driver's seat, whom they called Tonka, but the approaching day prevented him from searching for her. If she lay injured by the destroyed wagon near the wall, the sun's rays would bring her a painful end. The force of the explosion had also thrown her away. Tonka tumbled over a few times and then got up. As the smoke cleared, she had to admit that her plan had failed. The tower still stood and would probably survive for a few more centuries. Cursed Irish! Who would have thought they were capable of building such robust castles. Her three companions had fallen. By a few children! Tonka couldn't believe it. Even if she managed to destroy some of the heirs, the grand plan had failed. It was time to forge a new one. But first, she had to disappear from here inconspicuously. She crawled behind the wreckage of the wagon. The shaft was also broken, and the two horses had freed themselves from their harnesses and were now running freely across the yard. But what did she need a horse for? She was hardly injured and still had enough strength for a transformation.

A bat fluttered from behind the wreckage of the wagon and flew across the courtyard. Now she saw that there was nothing and no one left to help her three companions. Tonka circled once more and then flew away to find a safe place where she could endure the day.

She thought of Danilo, Jovan, and Vesna. Not that she felt pity or sorrow for them. It annoyed her that the three had been so easily defeated, especially since they had always boasted about their abilities. Now they were extinguished, and it was up to her to return home to entangle the heirs in a new web of intrigue and attacks that would ultimately destroy them.