whereupon the vampire , accepting his invitation , began to climb the steeple , and so soon as he had reached the battlements , the moravian , with a stroke of his sword , clove his skull in twain , hurling him down to the churchyard , whither , descending by the winding stairs , the stranger followed and cut his head off , and next day delivered it and the body to the villagers , who duly impaled and burnt them .