Beneath the Blue Flame

Dinu Varmas awoke with a start. The woodcut was still on his lap. He straightened himself and placed the piece of wood on the small table near the large comfortable recliner.

He bent forward and sorted through a few books on the floor near the chair. He chose a thin volume on the battles fought by Vlad Dracula during his reign as prince of Wallachia, opened it and began reading: ‘Despite the bloodshed and punishments Dracula doled out, the power he possessed as a warrior and defender of his country was awe-inspiring. For years he kept Turkish occupation from his land. His reputation for ruthlessness eventually preceded him. Outsiders knew that fighting against Dracula was suicide- one would chance being killed in a fierce battle or captured and impaled. Either way, Vlad Dracula did everything in his power to preserve and protect his province’.

He wasn’t called Son of the Devil for nothing, Varmas thought. He read on. After some time and several more pages, he glanced at the clock. It was after one a.m.. He was about to close the book and head for bed when a word on the page caught his eye. Varmas opened the book and searched each page left and right for what he thought he had seen. A name, familiar. His fingers slid slowly from top to bottom scanning every sentence, and then… “Oh my God,” he whispered to himself. “Could it be?” He read the next three pages fervently. He read them twice. He sprung from his chair with the book, went to the computer, booted it up, and jumped on the internet for more information. He made notes on the inside page of the book. Ben would simply not believe this! He remained awake for another hour searching for anything more on what he’d found. He had to make certain he himself could believe it. Varmas picked up the phone to call Ben and then thought better of it. He would tell him in the morning.

The following day, Dinu Varmas looked surprised as two women and one man walked into the study room at the back of the library.

“Why don’t we use your office?” Ben asked.

“Because I don’t want to be disturbed,” replied Varmas. “I learned a few new things last night.” He pointed to the woodcut. “I was able to read the entire piece. That final part, the one I could not decipher earlier? It does not seem to coincide with the rest of the language. The carving is a bit cruder, as though it were done quickly.” He paused and then said, “I think it was meant as a counter-curse.”

“A counter curse?” Ben asked. This is getting better all the time, he thought.

“Yes. This is not an ordinary fifteenth century woodcut,” Varmas warned. “There was a greater purpose to it, something malevolent. Now, I don’t know who was involved, but I can tell you that someone was out to see Vlad Dracula dead. Which was not unusual. But after Dracula’s life was taken, this person would take his treasure as well. And whoever they were, they knew the blue flames would show where that treasure was.

“My theory is that Dracula somehow got hold of the woodcut and carved the counter-curse, as a kickback to the original carver, using the same supernatural powers that helped create it in the first place. In other words, the person who carved this in retaliation to Dracula would end up getting what he deserved. Dracula’s revenge was fierce. The question now is…do you still wish to go through with this?”

In the study room the four sat around the desk and listened to Varmas as he expanded upon his theory behind the creation of the woodcut. Ben, Manda and Gina remained silent and listened eagerly to the intelligent man in front of them. Ben realized he had forgotten about Varmas’ pretentious nature.

Dinu Varmas inhaled deeply and then offered the group a tentative choice. Ben watched his eyes. Varmas’ voice held the slightest quiver. “If you still want to search for this supposed wealth of Dracula’s…we will need tools and provisions for spending time in the forest.”

“How much time?” Gina asked. Ben glanced at Manda. He gave Gina’s shoulder a supportive squeeze and said, “Don’t worry, this time you’ll be prepared.”

“And you’ll have more company,” Manda said.

“More knowledgeable company,” Varmas said without smiling. He looked over the top of his glasses at the small audience before him. “Am I to understand that you will be showing us where you encountered the flames?” he said to Gina. She nodded. He continued to stare at the girl.

Gina met Varmas’ gaze and smiled shyly. Then she said, “Yes. I’ll take you there; or as close to the cave as I can remember. It was kind of hard to pay attention when Allan and I were lost. But I’ll do my best.”

The corners of Varmas’ mouth curled up as he looked at her, but not the corners of his eyes. He didn’t know what it was like to be lost in the darkness of an underground tunnel for two nights, and he was not sure he wanted to find out. Those eyes look scared to death, he thought. Still it is for her to deal with. It is her choice to return to the cave. A possible discovery could propel my dissertation and career forward quickly. He was glad he wasn’t the only one of the four of them who felt conflicted about their proposed excursion. However, finding and laying claim to a discovery of medieval wealth belonging to the most prominent ruler this land has ever known would be the discovery of his lifetime. It would push his thesis over the top; he’d be recognized as a major scholar on the political studies of Vlad Dracula and his impact on Romanian history and culture. People would listen to him.

He decided to go ahead with it. Varmas looked at each of his companions. They probably look up to me anyway for my inherent knowledge of the country and the history on what they are pursuing. “So…how will we obtain the necessary tools for a treasure hunt?” he asked. “I can get maps of the forest area and information on any tunnels running underground.” He had only to run to his apartment to get them. Varmas’ research for his dissertation included the cartography of the land as well the demographics and culture comparisons.

“How soon can you do that?” Ben asked. “Today is St. George’s Eve. If those flames are going to reveal themselves again, it will be tonight. We have to have everything together in a matter of hours.

“Manda and I can buy some shovels and pans, picks, cloth, things like that at a hardware store.”

Varmas cocked his head. “Hardware?”

Ben gave a short laugh that sounded more like an impatient snort. “We’ll take care of those things. Gina, will you pick up matches and a couple of flash lights?”

“You bet.”

“What else do we need? How far in do we need to go?”

Gina said, “I was near the mouth of the cave when I saw the first flames. There were more, though, deeper in the tunnel.”

Manda looked at the floor, then up at Ben. He was facing Varmas. She could see he was working through plans in his head.

“Perhaps you had better buy some food or snacks, something to hold us for the night’s work.”

“The night?” Gina’s voice quivered.

“Don’t worry.”

“Okay, so what else do we need?” Manda said, hoping her voice sounded like the good sport she was working so hard to be. She took a small notepad from her purse and began making list of necessities.

“We’ll split up and meet in front of the library at…” Ben looked at his watch, but Varmas interrupted before he could state the time to return.

“We can’t meet here. Not in front of the building. Park in the back parking lot and leave your packages low in the seat of your car. Once we are all together, we’ll drive out to the clearing where you picked up Gina.” He smiled a more genuine smile this time. Gina returned it.