Frankengeld Pt. 44

Previously in Frankengeld. After a fight with gargoyles, and then his Father, Damion has thrown his nemesis over the battlements into the chasm. But his not-actually-my-Father has held onto his errant son, and Damion has fallen too. Alicia has flown into the chasm to try to save him, and Helena has fallen to her knees on the cold stone slabs of the ancient tower, to cry uncontrollably.

Now read on...

Epilogue - 29th August in the year 1784.

[Note from the editor. Here the handwriting in the journal returns to that of Dr. Damion Von Frankengeld.]

I return to my journal today. I feel fit enough to write for the first time in what feels like a very long while. I have started on a new page because there appears to be a lot of water damage on the pages written by Helena. There is much of that fateful day in the ancient Frankengeld castle that I do not remember. I have had to rely on Helena, Alicia and the rest of my friends, to tell me a lot of what happened earlier in the day. But I do remember the final moments. They are etched into my memory.

Kurt had gloated like a true villain and threatened Alicia, Helena and myself with dreadful violence. I could stand no more from this man and ran at him. I struck him in the upper chest with the magical dagger given me by Lord Mutunus. Sadly, the strike was not sufficient to kill him and, as I drew my arm back to make a second blow, he grasped my wrists and started to force me to the ground and into submission. I struggled against him but he was too strong. As a bone in my left arm broke - it was the radius I later discovered - I lost hope, believing that life as a eunuch slave was to be my fate.

My future flashed before my eyes. The vision seemed to last for ever but can only have been a few seconds. I was to wear an iron slave collar for the remainder of my days. To have my tongue cut out and my scrotum sliced open. To feel Kurt remove my testicles and dangle them before my face before, doubtless, throwing them into burning coals with a cruel laugh. I was to be doomed to entertain him in his bed, whenever he felt the need for anal sex, unable to complain except by feeble moans or worse, screams. Wordless.

Alicia would be dust. My friends would have been slaughtered by the wolfwere women under Kurt's command.

And my darling Helena, she would be long dead.

But Helena was still very much alive on that dark tower top. As my despair threatened to paralyse me, she gave me the opportunity to overcome Kurt, and avoid this terrible fate. My medical assistant, with an excellent shot, weakened him with a bolt to the leg. I learned later that the bolt was tipped with orichalcum, a metal clearly as deadly to him as silver as he cried out and lost his balance. He shifted his weight to the unwounded limb to try to reassert control.

Behind Kurt I could see the moon against two mountain peaks, 'lying in its cradle', as the Oracle described it, and this gave me the courage to take my chance. I rose up, ignoring the pain in my arm, and threw all my weight against him, pushing him over the edge of the tower and into the chasm below. It caught him by surprise. I do not think he expected someone to sacrifice their own life to destroy him and he had not guarded against this move.

I remember the painful scraping of the rough stones of the battlements on my body as I was dragged over the edge, with Kurt's hand tight on my wrist. And the terrible feeling of falling into the abyss with his face staring up at me in a snarl. As I fell I reconciled myself to the fact that I was a dead man, but rejoiced that I was taking this evil person with me to his doom. Worth my loss, I decided, as I closed my eyes and thought of Helena so that her face, and not his, would be the last thing I saw.

But, astonishingly, I was saved! Saved by Alicia who flew faster than the wind to catch up with us. She came across Kurt and I as we fell into the chasm. And, tearing his grip from me, she pushed him away. Apparently the anger in him was terrible to behold, even to our vampire friend. He tumbled off to be impaled on a slender spike of rock, a fitting end for an impaler. Then Alicia put herself under me and, with her strange half-bat wings flapping furiously, tried to slow our descent. We struck hard but we had slowed. And it was she who hit first, and took the brunt of the harm, or I would now be dead.

Everything went black as I lost consciousness. She tells me that we lay together on the cold mountain side, tangled together, limbs outstretched, like lovers exhausted by their passion. And that it was several hours before her bones mended and she recovered enough strength to carry my unconscious body back up out of the abyss.

She found Helena being comforted by our friends in the Mystery Club, all of whom had survived their encounter with the Harem. With the death of Kurt, which they could sense by some supernatural means, the wolfwere of the Harem had surrendered and accepted life over a useless death. Some had chosen to remain wolf, others had decided on human form, but all had been cured of their affliction by my potion. The wolves immediately formed a pack and took to the mountains.

I am told it took many more hours before I woke, to find myself in Helena's arms, and all my friends around me. The return journey was slow and painful but we had prevailed. Those wolfwere of Kurt's Harem who had chosen human form followed our party back to Carlsbruck, where they were presented to the townsfolk as slaves recently rescued from an evil Lord's seraglio. The Chief of Police took charge of the relocation of those women and accepted my word that Kurt would never again be a danger to Carlsbruck and Durishaus. I think he guessed that we had dealt with Kurt unlawfully, as vigilantes, but was not going to cause trouble with intrusive questions. He was, I think, happy he did not have to take a powerful nobleman to trial, with all the problems that might entail. For him the case is closed.

My brother now rules over Durishaus though he is much subdued by his injury and loss and it will take many months for him to recover from the tragedies that surround him. At least he is no longer wolfwere. I arranged for a dose of the cure to be administered to him, as part of my treatments of his wound. Belali nurses him by day, and Gerda watches over her husband at night. She guards him as only the undying can, with infinite patience. She has mastered her nature, to some degree, drinks heartily of not-blood tonic, and is taking instruction from Alicia to develop her powers for the good of mankind.

Elodie has moved in with Erik and now helps him to run the Ritter Kaffeehaus. She has declared she wants nothing more of nobility. She just desires to be free to write her poems, and love whom she pleases. Living, unmarried, with Erik has caused some tongues in Carlsbruck to wag, but I am just pleased that she has found a man who respects and loves her, giving her the freedom she deserves.

Freida is now officially a Consulting Detective, and is often away. The Chief of Police has sung her praises amongst his associates in nearby towns to the degree that they also seek her advice and insights. Lord Philip, with Poppy and her foolish dog, sometimes accompany her in his strangely decorated coach and they have adopted Stephan as their driver. Stephan and the dog are well matched, both seek the kitchen, or pantry, as their first place to investigate, whatever the crime.

When Freida and the others are at home the Mystery Club still meets at Madam Minna's home. At present we have no major crime to investigate, but surely that cannot last and soon, no doubt, we will be on the trail of another villain.

Alicia, who saved my life, has become great friends with Monifa and together they have acquired a cottage near the cemetery. The Lawyer has forgiven Alicia for associating with the living, and made the purchase himself using ancient gold. So Alicia has moved out of the mausoleum, severing the last link with an unlife surrounded by death, and is developing skills that, I believe, will serve her well as we approach the 19th century.

At number 34 life continues much as normal. Una has become very capable at creating tonics and other medicinal compounds. And, after the apothecary retired a month ago, we have become the primary source in the town for such materials. Anya cleans, Yani does his duties, and Helena, my darling Helena, is my constant companion.

She nursed me, held me tight when the nightmares came, and lifted my spirits when I was sad. And now it seems she is to have a child. Pregnancy suits her, she almost glows. We are unsure if the father is myself, a satyr, a glass-blower, or one of the others she has generously 'entertained' but we await the birth contented and happy. The child will be loved, whatever its heritage.

My cousin, Victor Frankenstein, has gone quiet after his wedding to Elizabeth but I suspect he may not have given up on his life's work. He blames others, specifically Fritz, for his failure to create his New Man in the form he wished. Something to do with the wrong brain. This is a bad sign, a sign of denial of his part in the creation of a murderous creature that took his servant's life, and that of an innocent little girl. And now I have heard he has a new associate, a Doctor Polidori. Who knows what that strange clerical-looking man is proposing? I'm sure we have not heard the last of them.

Damion, Helena, and their friends will return in the "Brides of Frankengeld."