In the year of our Lord, 1442.
The Turkish Sultan enslaved 1,000 Transylvanian boys
to fill the ranks of his army.
These child slaves were beaten without mercy.
Trained to kill without conscience,
to crave blood of...all who fight...
the Turks.
From among these boys...
one grew into a warrior, so fierce...
that entire armies would retreat in terror...
with the mention of his name.
Vlad the Impaler.
Son...of the Dragon.
Sickened by his monstrous act,
Vlad came to bury his past with the dead
and returned to Transylvania to rule in peace.
His subjects called him Prince.
I call him father
but the world would come to know him as...
Dracula.
I left it...
where I found it.
What do you think, Vlad?
Bring it to me.
This belongs to a scout. One of Hamza Bey's men.
What the hell is a lone Turk doing out here?
Turkish scouts never travel alone. If there is one, there is more.
And whatever they scout... they conquer.
This is washed downstream.
It came from up there.
Broken Tooth Mountain.
Soon it'll be night. They'll seek refuge.
Dumitru, I need you to return to the castle. Alert the guards and double the sentry.
What? I'm not leaving you here.
The Turks crossed into my land unannounced, it's a sign of war.
What are you going to do if you find them?
I'll do what Princes do best, negotiate.
Nicolai, Andre, with me.
Move it.
Anything?
Smells like your feet.
They're inside.
How do you know?
Bats don't come out during the day. Something's disturbed them.
Come on.
What is it, my Lord?
The floor...
it's crushed bone.
The Turks didn't do this.
What's that?
We leave, now!
The creature you encountered was no accident, my Prince.
Four nights ago every brother in our order awoke from an identical dream,
I would not have thought it possible, had I not suffered the same vision myself that night.
All these creatures lay siege to this holy place.
The Romans mystics prophesized the coming of a great evil.
A vampire.
From the Greek word, Vry...
'to drink'.
The beast was once a mortal man,
who summoned the demon from the depth of hell
to trade for his dark power.
The demon tricked the man, granting his wish
but his price was eternally condemned to the darkness of that cave,
where he remains until he finds another...
to set him free.
Now you know its true face.
The people of Transylvania lived in enough fear of the Turks' return.
Promise me you'll guard this secret, brother.
Papa!
I miss you.
And I , you.
My big soldier.
What, an embrace, but no kiss?
- Are we going to argue? - You always leaving me and my family.
I miss you.
Something troubles you, what is it?
Only the impossible depth of your beauty,
puts the rest of the world to shame.
Pay no attention to your father, Ingeras.
Flattery is a cheap distraction from truth.
Ah, she knows all my tricks.
You're a terrible liar. It's one of your most endearing qualities.
It's Ingeras' time for bed.
- Can we go riding tomorrow, Papa? - Of course we can.
- You most certainly cannot! - Why not?
Because tomorrow is the day of our risen Lord.
- Ah, of course. - That's Easter.
What was I thinking...
So, what attacked you?
Wolves?
I suppose.
All I know...is that I've lost two good men today.
There is something more...
I was the same age as Ingeras, when I was sent to live with the Turks.
To fight for them.
If I never saw another, it would be too soon.
You're home now.
For almost as many years as you were gone.
I just want peace...
that's all.
My fellow Transylvanians, an Easter toast.
Ten years of peace and prosperity,
ever since our Prince came back to us.
My old friend, here is to 20 more.
Hamza Bey... welcome.
We were not expecting you so soon.
Sultan Mehmed The Second offers his salutations to you and your son.
Thank you. I have his tribute ready.
I am afraid...there is something more than a tribute to discuss.
The Turks have no enemies here.
Did you think we would not have noticed a battalion of our scouts...
- ...missing? - I did not kill them.
It still lives inside you, Lord Impaler.
Locked in a dark cage, hidden away.
But you and I, we both know it's there.
The Sultan's tribute, take it and leave.
There is one last thing.
The Sultan requires 1,000 boys to join his Janissary call.
- No! - Never!
Janissary! He ended that practice years ago.
When a soldier is plucked as a child...
and raised to know no other life...
he'll kill without question and die without complaint.
Any who are 15 years of age or older, will fight in Hungary.
Those 10 to 14 will be made ready for the seize on Vienna.
The Sultan expects obedience.
After all...it was your own father who gave you up without a fight.
Soft, but they'll do.
Don't, please.
Do you know who I am?
You mean who you were.
You have no army and no choice, Prince.
Follow our command, or suffer the consequences.
It must be done.
Courage, anger, even love, none of these can matter to a Prince.
All that matters is his duty to his people.
What does it mean to be a royal hostage?
My father gave me to the Sultan to prove his loyalty.
Were you scared there? With them?
I wanted to make my father proud.
Do you have to give me to the Sultan?
That was a long time ago.
You've nothing to worry about, do you understand?
Good.
If I defied the order, they'd kill a 100 for every one I saved.
You told me you and Mehmed were once like brothers.
Why didn't you ask...
Isn't it possible he might show you some mercy?
Have you seen the like of it?
Soon the entire world will be Turk.
Lord Impaler...
my oldest of friends.
I miss our days together.
What I missed my time with you...
is the coffee.
It's true, my father's power is a cruel place for a young boy far from home.
But soon you talked like us, prayed like us, fought like us...
speakig of which...I am owed 1,000 boys.
Why have I not seen them?
Mehmed, my brother.
- I will grant you anything else... - I need soldiers...
brother.
Then take me.
I'm worth a 1,000 boys and you know it.
- Those kings would tremble if they knew. - Then accept my offer.
When we were boys, how I longed to fight side-by-side.
But now I'm Sultan, what need have I for one more soldier?
I will have my 1000 boys.
And one more.
Your son will be raised under my roof.
Just like you were raised under the roof by my father.
You may retain your throne.
But General Ismail will remain to see that my orders are fulfilled.
Please. Do not do this.
What is one son?
If you're virile, you'll make plenty more.
You promised this would never happen.
- Marina, listen... - The day you asked for my hand, do you remember what I said?
You said: 'No, stay my only friend..."
I knew what happens to the sons of the Queen.
You said things would be different.
You said that if I loved you, I should trust you.
- I love you. - Then trust me.
That's a death wish to start a war.
The Great Impaler can't please his woman.
It's fine, boys. Just saying the goodbyes, that's all.
Promise me, he's my family!
Stop it, don't touch me!
I won't let them do that!!
I'll go!
I can do it.
You're proud of me, aren't you?
Of course, I am.
You have chosen wisely
but I've to say...I'm a little disappointed, frankly...
I expected more...resistance from you.
- Run to your mother. - What?
Now!!
Mehmed will punish all of Transylvania for what you have done.
It's not a child's place to save his country.
Get my family to the castle.
Mehmed will be sending others soon enough. War will come!
You can't protect us.
I'll find a way.
Vlad, where are you going?
Whatever horror in Broken Tooth, I know it kills Turks.
You returned...
No one has ever returned...
It seems no one has ever had the privilege of leaving either.
Neither will you.
Those men were reeked of fear
and you...I sense hope.
Your silver offends me, cloak it from my sight.
What kind of man crawled into his own grave in search of hope, hm?
A desperate one.
The Turks threaten to destroy my kingdom.
Power like yours...I could stop them.
Save my people, save my family.
How supremely noble, Lord Impaler,
Haus Dracul, Son of the Devil.
You are mistaken.
It means Son of the Dragon, protector of the innocent.
Do your people know how many innocents you've killed?
Was it...hundreds?
Yes.
Lie to me again and I'll open you from your belly to your brain
and feed on your intestine.
Thousands.
And when you put them to the stake, what did you feel?
Shame, horror, power?
- Answer me! - Nothing!
I felt nothing. No greater crime than the act itself.
Then why spill blood if not for the pleasure of it?
Because men do not fear swords... they fear monsters.
They run from them. By putting one village to the stake, I spared ten more.
Sometimes the world no longer needs a hero.
Sometimes what it needs...is a monster.
And you believe you know what it is, to be a monster? Hm?
You have no idea
but I am going to show you.
For centuries these mouldering walls have been my gallows
and I'm bound to this cave, condemned by the one who turned me.
Oh, I've waited an eternity for a man of your strength,
your gifts, your will. A man, worthy of the dark...
and all it's powers.
For if I am your salvation, you are mine.
Drink, you will have a taste of my power
and the strength of 100 men,
the speed of a falling star,
dominion over the night and all it's creatures, to see and hear through their senses.
- Even heals grievous wounds... - At what price?
Once you drink, your thirst for human blood will be insatiable.
But if you can resist for three days...
you'll return to your mortal state, having sampled my power,
perhaps save your people.
- And if I feed? - The price will be worse than if you'd never stepped in here.
But I'll be set free. Having granted the darkness worthy of my offering,
you'll become its vessel, as I am.
A scourge on this earth, designed to destroy
everything you hold dear. Your land, your people, even your precious wife and son.
- I would die before I harm them. - Indeed you'll, I'm afraid.
I, however, would at last be free to unleash my wrath against the one who betrayed me.
And one day, I will call on you to serve me, my pawn, ending the mortal game...of revenge.
- This is not a game! - Aah, won't better way to endure eternity?
For this, little Prince, is the ultimate game.
Light versus dark.
Hope versus despair.
And all the world's fate hangs in the balance.
And it will be my great pleasure to disappoint you.
Drink.
Let the games begin.
What now?
Now...
you die.
Papa!
Fire!
- You came back. - I always will.
- Where were you? - Searching for the strength I needed.
You're back.
A good Prince would had given them up!
A good Prince would have paid that price for peace.
But I give you my word...
we will not be defeated!
They brought war to our land!
They will pay dearly for it.
Fire!
Negotiations failed.
Do not ask me what happened on this field tonight.
Trust only that I will use all I have to keep us safe.
But we will not be safe if we stay here!
We must leave directly for Cosia Monastery. It's high in the mountains,
too remote for cannon fire.
It's our best chance of survival.
We'll take enough of our people so that our absence is noticed.
That way, when Mehmed learns what has happened here,
he'll come hunting for us.
Word, from Castle Dracula.
Vlad has defeated thousands of our men.
Then send a hundred thousand, I'll lead them.
When I march into Europe, I will have his head upon my spear
and his child at my side.
We can fight the way our great grandfathers fought.
Use the forests, the mountains around the Burgo Pass.
- 4 or 5 months of that. - Not months.
I'm going to win this war in three days.
Why not two? That'd really impress us.
What is it?
I need some air.
I'm sorry.
Don't think I haven't noticed you following me.
You're mistaken.
I follow them. They recognize one of their own.
The night is their kingdom...
blood, their sustenance.
And some they say, can live for as long as there're prey to be devoured.
Spare me your ravings.
They said the one who escaped the mountain,
hides behind the face of a man.
Well, if that man is me...
you know a knife would not do you any good.
Of course not.
Why do you think I stayed?
I know there is only
so far on this earth they can run
and it's not far enough.
Let me serve you.
Stay away from me.
Yes, master.
Fulfill your destiny.
Set me free.
We found him in the field. He ​​asked for you.
A message from Prince Vlad.
He hopes...you enjoy the view.
Your scars are gone?
What's happening to you?
I met a dead man on Brooken Tooth.
Not a ghost...something else.
No! Stop it! Let God strike down whoever did this to you.
I chose this.
This is the strength you sought?
But why?
Because I sent corpses back to Mehmed
instead of our son.
- You did this for us? - In two days I'll be restored.
I just have to resist.
Resist what?
Resist what, Vlad? Tell me!
The thirst...
for blood.
And if you were to give in?
Then I become this for eternity.
You will not do this, won't you?
I swear, I will not give in.
Then God will forgive you.
Vlad!
Mehmed is getting closer. You might want to move out soon.
I need you to get to the monastery as quickly as you can.
- Mehmed's men will be close behind. - No!
Listen to me.
I will reach you after sundown.
I promise you.
I love you.
My husband agrees with your council.
We'll depart now, under your temporary command.
- What? Where is Vlad going to be? - Spying on the Turks.
- He insists on doing his own reconnaissance. - No.
- I won't allow it. - It's too late. He's already gone.
All right, everyone, prepare to move out!
Tell the Sultan where his enemies will be buried.
Listen.
We are nearly there.
Go to the rear!
Couldn't these monks put the gate a little bit closer!
Stay behind me.
Didn't the Turks teach you anything, eh? I saw your blade coming from...
Ingeras, run!
Where is your prince now,
My Lady?
It's OK.
Vlad...
Dumitru, listen, listen!
Come here.
Never leave us again, Papa.
Never. I will always watch over you.
To the gate!
Keep moving along! This way!
You should never have strayed from us.
- whatever your reasons were. - Quiet!
- Get these men off their knees! - Stand up, do you hear me? Stand up!
The Turks are coming! Prayers will not defend these walls!
Do you believe we can do this?
Mehmed's men will be coming from the north.
Double our sentries on the perimeter walls. Go! Do it now!
What's in there?
Something I hoped to never use again.
Come now.
The men say that Vlad has become a monster.
I fear this will only inflate the rumors of the Prince's dark magic.
Only if we allow it.
Men cannot fear what they cannot see.
Remember when you first joined my army?
You wanted to pick up your sword and fight!
When my generals blindfolded you...
you did not believe that you could march without seeing
but you could.
Now march with me. Your Sultan will guide you!
Prince Vlad, the vampire is vulnerable to daylight
and to pure silver.
Yet the Holy Cross exerts no power over you.
That can only mean you have yet to seal your fate with human blood.
Let me kill you now, my Prince, please,
before your people do. Rumors have spread of what you've become.
You can still repent.
You'll do well to run, Lucian.
It's true, he's a monster!
Please, listen. He is your Prince. Give him a chance to explain!
- Please! Stop, please! - Kill the monster!
Satan lives in his heart!
He was trying to save his soul.
Take him to my room and shut the door. Do not let him not look outside.
- OK. - Mama!
This is your loyalty? Your gratitude?
Fools.
Do you think you're alive because you can fight?
You're alive because of me!
Because of what I did to save you!
This is not who you are.
Return to your stations.
Believe me, there's still more to fear!
Lord,
if you've not yet forsaken me,
grant me the strength to resist the darkness.
Allow me to endure this test one more day.
I beg you.
Please...
Are you sick?
If you're sick, I thought this might make you feel better.
Thank you. Come.
You'll make a great leader some day
You think of others before yourself.
When the Turks came to take me, you stopped them.
That's why you got sick, isn't it? To save me?
Yes,
and I'll do it all again.
They are almost here.
Dawn will be breaking soon and with it the loss of my power.
- If we've not won this war by then... - I'll fight beside you until death.
Your death would end my fight.
We have done the duty of any good parent,
protected our child,
protected all the children in the kingdom.
Perhaps our destiny was not to rule in this life.
Do you remember our wedding vow?
Why think separately of this life and the next...
...when one is born from the last.
Time is always too short for those who need it .
But for those who love...last forever.
Hold your positions!
Fire!
Where is he?
Fire!
Find your father, go!
Where is he?
You can keep running if you like.
Mama!
- Let me go! - No!
Mirena!
- No, please. - Ingeras!
Please stay with me.
I cannot do this without you.
There's still time for you to stop them.
Drink my blood.
No... I cannot take your life.
My life is lost already
but our son's is not.
I love you.
Do it now!
Please.
Do it now.
Do you want vengeance?
Drink.
I know now hell is real.
So I know there is a heaven.
Neither this world nor the next shall keep us apart.
I will honor your sacrifice and I vow that our son shall be safe.
Of all my lands, this is the one I love the least.
Look to the East.
The sun should be risen by now, should it not?
What is that?
It is the Prince. He's coming.
I used to think there were too many of you.
Now, it's not enough.
I understand you've a weakness
for silver.
Papa!
He is waiting for you.
You're slower brother...and weaker.
Go on, take it.
Is this the monster that terrified my men?
You grow more weary by the moment.
Tell me, how long can you bear it in here, huh?
Long enough to strike your name from the history books.
Papa!
Take a last look at your father, Ingeras.
- No! - Look how pathetic he is.
Stop, please!
If I put a stake thru' your heart,
it will kill you...
like any other man.
- A fitting death, for Lord...Impaler. - No!
Papa!
That's no longer my name.
My name is Dracula.
Son of the Devil.
It's all right. I'm here.
- You old goat. - I don't feel old.
- How many are left? - None, except for your son, of course.
A distraction we can now...dispense with.
What have I thought you?
Repeated, over and over, since you were a boy?
All that matters is a Prince's duty to his people.
Don't you realize?
They all are our enemies now.
When he is gone, you'll be free.
You forget who I am!
Leave him.
Come with me, child.
Please.
Get back!
This has to stop. Please! Please, Vlad's son.
I do not want to leave you.
- You have to go with him. - No!
Do not leave his sight.
Please know that I will always love you.
Always.
- No! - Go!
- No! - You take care of him!
No, papa!
He's safe now, Mirena.
The Turks never conquered the capitals of Europe.
Prince Vlad Dracula was a hero.
But, there're no pictures or statues of him.
I am his legacy.
His sacrifice taught me that even after the darkest night,
the sun will rise again.
Drink, master.
For if the heart is strong enough, the soul is reborn
with each new day,
in life after life,
age after age,
forever.
Beautiful...
the flowers, my Lady.
My lady?
- Where are you from? - A long way from here.
Well, good night.
Why think seperately of this life and the next...
when one is born from the last.
It's my favorite poem.
It speaks to your yearning, of one soul pleading for another.
I'm Mina.
Vlad.
Let the games begin.
Sub redone by: :: Lweka ::