It was four o‘ clock, and Nicolae closed his shepherd business for the day. Having finished packing rice with lamb stew, Sorina and the family set off for the castle.

   “I can’t wait to see the princess,” said Sorina, feeling very excited.

   Maria, just like with previous occasions, was extremely happy to see her friend at the castle hall. But, in the presence of his parents, her shy nature set in, cautiously walking towards the family. Until this point, Maria was only familiar with Jonathan.

   Realizing that the parents were accepting of her vampire appearance, she became more confident in their presence.

   “Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, ma’am,” she greeted each parent, struggling to bow without wearing a skirt.

   “Good afternoon, your Majesty,” greeted both parents as they bowed before Maria.

   “Maria!” greeted Jonathan, with the pair running to give each other a hug.

   “How was your day?” asked Jonathan.

    “Fine,” said Maria. “And yours?”

   “It’s been great,” said Jonathan.

   “Your Highness, I brought you something to eat,” said Sorina, stretching the nylon bag forward.

   “Thank you, ma’am,” said Maria, taking the nylon bag from Sorina.

   “Your Majesty,” said Nicolae, “I believe that my son had told you why we are here.”

   “Yes,” said Maria, looking up at Nicolae. “But, I still don’t understand what the Vampiress’ Staff is, or if I’d seen it.”

   “Your Highness,” said Sorina, “before you rose up from your slumber, just where were you sleeping? Maybe we can look there for answers.”

   With time passed, Maria honestly forgot all about it, but it immediately came back to her.

   “Follow me,” she instructed, walking towards the much deeper parts of the shadowy hall. The family quickly followed, and realized that, much to their awe, they had entered into what looked like the castle’s throne room. Despite his many visitations, this was  Jonathan’s first time seeing it.

   “The throne room? Was here your resting place?” asked Sorina.

   “No. Not here,” said Maria. “But, we’re close.”

   Much to their confusion,  the family watched  Maria dashing her way to a wall behind her parents’ thrones. There, she grabbed onto the old royal banner, and pulled it over the left throne, revealing the wall’s ancient wooden facade.

   “My resting place is this way”, she said, pointing at a door at the center of the facade, apparently smashed outwards. “The passageway behind the wall will take us below the castle.”

   Thus, Jonathan and his parents followed, and everyone soon found themselves in a very dark passageway. The darkness prompted both Jonathan and his father to bring out their phones, using their flashlights as torches. Just beyond was a stairway leading downstairs, with block stairs unevenly built.

   “Mind your steps!” cautioned Maria.

   The passageway had torches that, in Medieval times, would usually be lid to help people see. But, limited to only their flashlights, and without a window to let in sunlight, everyone, especially Nicolae and Sorina, carefully took their steps.

   “We’re here,” announced Maria.

   From the entrance, at awe, the Fier family got a good glimpse of the “Hall of the Kings,” the royal tomb where past monarchs were laid to rest. It had multiple stained glass windows, one on each wall segment for allowing a generous amount of sunlight. Within the tomb itself, one could see stone monuments, and statues modeled after past monarchs, all serving the purpose of remembering the deceased rulers of the Kingdom of Iacob Mihaianu. Many were located between existing graves, while others were much closer to the walls.

   “Maria, are these your ancestors?” asked Jonathan, pointing at some of the statues.

   “Yes,” said Maria. “So, what clues are we looking for?”

   “Honey,” Sorina said to Nicolae, “did you remember the entry, in the old scroll, saying, ‘We gift to her the Vampiress' Staff in the tomb’?”

   “I swear I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary when I rose from deep sleep,” Maria said to the Feir family.

   “Maybe not you specific, your Highness,” said Nicolae, “but maybe a statue of you?”

   “But, the statues were made to remember the deceased,” pointed Maria. “And, from all that were said about me, no one believed that I died.”

   “Or, maybe the statue could be serving another purpose,” suggested Jonathan, pointing. “Look!”

   Sure enough, what looked like a statue, resembling Maria in a royal garment, wearing a crown, could be seen at a distance. On its right hand was something black and metallic, with its upper segment stereotypically shaped like a bat.

   “Wait. Is that the Vampiress’ Staff?” bellowed Maria, feeling a bit shocked and excited.

   “Just as I thought,” commented Sornia with a grin. “Who’s going to take it out?”

   “Let me see if I can,” said Nicolae, walking towards the statue.

   It was a bit tricky to pull the staff out, for the statue was standing on top of a stone base, making it taller than either of the adults. Nicolae tried sliding the staff by pushing it upwards, but the momentum wasn’t enough to push it all the way up. And, to complicate matters, at the bottom of the staff is a metallic ball with a slightly larger diameter than the staff’s rod body.

   “How did they even get the staff in there?” wondered Nicolae. “The ball at the bottom is wider than the statue’s hole.”

   “Maybe they made the staff at the same time?” suggested Jonathan.

   “Hey, there’s an inscription on the base,” said Sorina, pointing. She and Maria read out the following: “Even our beloved must fall to break our chains.”

   “What does it mean?” wondered Sorina.

   Everyone paused and tried to figure out the meaning.

   “It means that someone has to break the monument,” suggested Maria.

   “But how?” asked Jonathan. “It looks heavier than any of us.”

   “I can shapeshift into a minotaur, and knock it over,” said Maria. “I should be big enough for it.”

   “I forgot!” exclaimed Jonathan. “You can change into any creature! So, go ahead!”

   “I can’t,” said Maria.

   “But, why not?” asked Jonathan.

   “I... umm...,” said Maria, with cheeks turned red, “need to take off my clothes. You know minotaurs are usually larger than a human.”

   “I see,” commented Jonathan.

   Maria then made her way behind a monument to prepare for her transformation. “Don’t look!” she told the Fier family, as she began to take off her clothes.

   Moments later, Maria transmorphed into a minotaur, growing in height till she was fully changed.  She was still a bit shorter than her statue, but strong enough to attempt toppling it.

   It was heavy, but Maria was able to topple the statue, with the right hand smashing the floor on impact, freeing the Vampiress‘ Staff. Jonathan and his father helped in removing the rubble over the staff, with Sorina assisting the two.

   “I think it looks okay,” said Jonathan, as he lifted the staff up for a closer look. “So, this is the Vampiress’ Staff that was on the portrait?”

   “It has to be it,” said his mother, taking the staff from Jonathan. “The head is even bat-like, just like on the scroll.”

   “The Vampiress’ Staff has no owners besides its rightful owner,” echoed a whispering, haunting voice. “Damnation to any other who takes possession of the staff.”

   The voice, seemingly aware that anyone else other than Maria had possession of the Vampiress’ Staff, kept the Fier family on high alert.

   “Honey, what’s going on?” asked the frightened Sorina, getting close to her husband.

   “I don’t know,” said Nicolae, giving comfort to his wife.

   Jonathan, standing guard, attempted to give his parents cover, in case anything out of the ordinary were to occur, but no one was prepared for what came next.

   “Hey!” bellowed Jonathan, as he noticed that the floor between his feet, block by block, began to split apart.

   Maria, finishing putting on her t-shirt, saw the commotion and ran towards the Fier family with urgency. ”Don’t move!” she yelled at them.

   Without warning, the walls, and all the contents in the “Hall of the Kings” broke apart, and vanished into the light, leaving just the four individuals floating in a void. But, just as uncertainty hit everyone, the floor blocks came back and reassembled.

   But, something abnormal happened.

   “This isn’t the ‘Hall of the Kings’,” commented Maria.

   The floor was back, but not the graves, statues, or monuments. In fact, the four were now in an open field made out of blocks. There was no sign of life, not even an ancient structure, on sight, giving a clear view of the early evening sky.

   “Are we back in the countryside?” asked Sorina.

   “I don’t think so, dear,” said Nicolae. “There are no hills around us, not to mention that the entire ground is made out of blocks.”

   “Maria, do you have any idea where we might be?” asked Jonathan. 

   “I don’t know,” said Maria. “This place is unfamiliar to me as well.”

   “Should we look around?” suggested Jonathan.

   With her eyes wide opened, and eyebrows raised, Maria took a few steps back.

   “What‘s wrong?” asked Jonathan.

   Lost in words, Maria pointed away from the Feirs, prompting Jonathan, and then his parents, to look around that direction.