In real life he died in battle. Dracula s army began killing Turks without mercy. Out of sheer joy, Dracula ascended a hill in order to see better his men massacring the Turks. Thus, detached from his army and his men some took him for a Turk, and one of them struck him with a lance. Death on the field of battle did not mark the end of Dracula.
Contemporary chroniclers tell what happened next.
His head, severed from his body, was sent to Constantinople where the Sultan had it impaled. He wanted all to see Vlad Tepes would kill no more. Dracula may have been dead, but tales about him lived. Mixed with the local folklore of vampires, Vlad the Impaler took on legendary status after death.