This was supposed to be an easy task. Ali Zubar was repeating this to himself as his heart pounded madly. Kushtrim sent him with a group of five janissaries to take a letter from an old Armenian merchant. He was waiting for them in the shadow of the prominent Ruprechtskirche, as if he drew courage from the vicinity of the old temple. The group of Turks quickly headed toward their quarters, hugging the shadows of the moonlit streets. Something was wrong, Ali felt they were being followed. After a few minutes of quick march Tarbak who was the rear guard halted suddenly and went into one of the side streets with his sabre drawn. The rest of the group slowed down, not knowing what caught the attention of their comrade. Suddenly a terrible scream sounded from the darkness and then abruptly broken, ended in wheeze. Before A l i was able to react, Yusuf and Gana moved after Tarbak, diving into the street. There were sounds of fighting and then silence…
Ali did not intend to check what happened with his three men. He waved his hand at the remaining two and they ran down the street. But something, this unseen terror that just swallowed three Crete war veterans, followed their every step. Sahsar was the next one to die, a huge grey shape fell upon him from the roof and gave him no chance of defence. Ali ran faster and faster, his heart pounded and sweat ran into his eyes. He did not turn back so he did not see how the last of the janissaries – a bulky A Albanian called Berisha – attacked their pursuer trying to avenge his comrades. The fight was painfully short, the axe of the Turkish soldier missed the target and the long claws of the assailant mass acred his face. He died without a sound, bleeding out within seconds.
The last of the Turkish messengers ran through strangely deserted streets of the Old Town, tightly holding the package with the letter. Panicked, focused only on escaping, he did not notice the girl before it was too late. She was standing in the middle of the street, aiming a crossbow at him. He managed to get five, maybe six meters from her when a bolt shot with a sure hand hit his left eye. He fell on the ground with a yell, letting the letter go.
The package fell at the girl’s feet and she looked impassively at the dying Turk. Her companion, who just massacred the janissaries, came up to her. A massive shape, covered in thick fur, it crouched on its hind legs and turned its long, wolf muzzle towards the girl. He growled dully, it sounded more like a murmur of a big cat than of a wolf. Its companion stroked its muzzle, not minding the blood that stained her hand.
– Yes brother, we did it – she said quietly and a smile finally came to her face, for the first time this night – Let’s see if this letter is really so valuable…
Anna and Valerius Farkas are twins. Their family is cursed with lycanthropy. Valery is affected by it, while Anna is not. The Farkas house originally comes from the Transylvanian town of Szeszarmy. They used to rule the region, but have since declined. Anna and Valery’s father fought along Rákóczi and died fighting the Turks in 1660. The Ottomans captured their holding and granted it to their vassal, who banished the mother with the twins. They are now in their twenties and live with their distant relatives in Vienna. Trying to make ends meet, they take on all kinds of jobs. As you can imagine they don’t go for Sultan’s subjects so they will not work for Ottomans.
Little-known fact
There are several preserved examples of Balestrino crossbows in museum collections. These weapons were called the assassins’ crossbows, however this is more of a Victorian invention. Tests proved that their power was limited and they were rather gadgets and a display of craftsman’s abilities.
Farkas family are the part of The Blood Moon Set.
