Page 18 of Dark Hope (Dark Carpathians #38)

Chapter 18

Circle around, Nicu. Cut him off from the south. He’s shifted invisible, but he’s in the wind, I have his stench.

The dragons were fast, streaking in four directions. Nicu to the south. Mataias patrolled the western sky. Tomas guarded the east, and Lojos’ phantom green paced the sky to the north, trapping the vampire in the center of a very large wilderness area.

Benedek was hunting a wounded beast, the most dangerous of all opponents. Emil could be anywhere, blending into the rocks jutting out of the mountainside. He could be shimmering in the water, a part of his surroundings. He would be actively hunting Benedek. To try to track a powerful beast such as Emil into the wild required great skill.

Benedek reached for his oldest friend. Ainaakfél. In his language it was “old friend.” The dragon was very ancient. He lay in the forest, looking for all the world like an old tree that had gone down hundreds of years earlier. His belly and paws were in the soil, connected to the underground mycelium network. Any information he received from that source was always passed along to Benedek when needed.

Ainaakfél. Benedek whispered the call to the wind. I have need of you.

The ancient forest dragon had told Benedek he had many names over the thousands of years he had existed. H?n ku ka?wa o numamet— sky-owner. Numatorkuld— literally sky struggle or thunder. With that he had also been called Salama— lightning bolt. At one time, he had been En h?n ku pes?— the great protector. Benedek knew the dragon was all of those things. He called him Ainaakfél— old friend—and was grateful for having him. The name the old one went by mostly now was Szelem , which meant ghost. No doubt when he lay like a downed tree trunk for years on end, he felt like a ghost.

Lying like the tree trunk in the dark forest, Szelem appeared to be just that, a large downed tree with mushrooms, small trees, moss, shrubs and other foliage growing all over him. It was impossible to see the dragon unless you looked with the eyes of a believer. Benedek had spotted him immediately and, having met him over many centuries, sat and talked with him.

Waking him was not easy. Szelem rarely expended the energy anymore to interact with anyone. As far as Benedek knew, he was the dragon’s only friend. Centuries earlier, when Benedek was in such a bad way, locked in the ground, Szelem had deigned to speak with him, something he ordinarily just didn’t do. Benedek could only surmise the dragon had been a little lonely and felt sorry for the Carpathian trapped for so long in the ground.

They’d spoken of many things, including battle tactics. It wasn’t as if, in those days, Benedek had anything of real value to give to Szelem, but the dragon had always treated everything Benedek said as something worthy of contemplation. The dragon would spend long hours mulling over every word and then discussing the subject again with the young Carpathian.

Benedek learned quite a lot about the world, about the forest and nature, the planet he lived on. He learned battle tactics. He was told about vampires and how best to defeat them. Szelem was generous with his wisdom and counsel.

Before anything else, Benedek had to heal his wounds, get rid of any trace of blood, especially the scent of it, and then, without being detected, get to one of his brethren to replace what he’d lost. He had to be at full strength to hunt and succeed in killing the beast. He kept his feet from touching the ground, not disturbing so much as a blade of grass while he worked meticulously at driving parasites from his body and then closing every wound from the inside out. He quickly removed all traces of blood from his clothing, hair and flesh.

While he pushed parasites from his body and healed his wounds from the inside out, he continued to reach for Szelem. He had a strong feeling he would need the dragon, and he never ignored those warnings. Throughout the centuries he’d learned to count on his instincts.

Ainaakfél. I have need of an ally. Emil is more than a vampire. He has lived far too long and has acquired much power. He cannot be allowed into the world of innocents.

Deep groans echoed through the old growth of trees. The ground shivered. A low rumbling growl reverberated out of the darkness. The silver streak, which was a narrow, shallow ribbon of water coming out of the side of the rocks to make its way down the gorge, reacted, vibrating with a hollow booming that shook the foliage.

The moment he had cleaned the blood from his body, he shifted, turning to molecules to drift upward. He needed blood to fight such an adversary. He had lost far too much.

Nicu, coming to you.

He’s building a storm. I can feel the electricity in the air, Nicu cautioned.

He’ll want to drive the dragons from the sky to give himself an escape route, Benedek said.

He still doesn’t realize, or refuses to see, that he is facing ancients. Some nearly as far gone as he is. We can provide shields for the dragons no matter what he throws at them, Tomas pointed out with confidence.

He is very powerful, Benedek cautioned. We don’t know his strengths yet, but he will have them. Watch yourselves. He wanted to warn them not to be too complacent.

When hunters lived as long as they had, when they had those scars developing on their souls, they looked forward to a battle. After centuries of feeling nothing at all, that rush was addicting. The more they sought out vampires to hunt and destroy, the thicker the scars. Eventually, the dark halves of their souls were covered in impossible-to-remove marks.

Benedek had studied those scars when he realized his power was growing. Not just growing but being amplified. He knew that the more he killed, not only would he feel that rush, but he would grow in power. Emil killed often as a vampire. Each time he fed. Every time he ran across humans, whether he needed to feed or not. Turning vampire had aided him in his quest for power simply because he enjoyed killing.

Nicu sat astride his large wolf dragon. When Benedek joined him, he immediately extended his wrist. Both hunters masked the scent of blood. Not one drop could enter the air. It would give their position away immediately. They couldn’t give a single advantage to Emil. The dragons and their riders patrolled the skies above the canyon. Their combined safeguards were enough to lock the vampire in the wilderness.

Are you able to feel where the vampire is? Benedek asked Szelem as he once more drifted down to the gorge.

More booming growls and groans reverberated through the ancient forest. There was a space of silence, but Benedek felt the ghost reaching for his voice. When it came, it was the same growl and groan echoing through the trees but this time only in Benedek’s mind.

He is…foul. Trees and soil shrink from his presence.

The words were measured and slow. The voice was so deep the sound penetrated through the hunter’s body so that every organ seemed to vibrate. Each time they conversed, Benedek always had to grow accustomed to that boom that shook the organs in his body.

It wasn’t news to Benedek that every living thing shrank from contact with the vampire. The undead left behind a trail of scorched earth where little could grow. The acid in their blood and the parasites they unleashed made it difficult for nature to recover.

Can you find him? Can the network pinpoint where he is?

Aboveground, even growing on the tree trunk that was really a dragon, mushrooms were plentiful. It was easy to spot birds and squirrels in the branches of the tree when walking through a forest. At night Benedek could see the moon shining through the limbs of the trees. Few knew of the mycelium network running beneath the carpet of moss, leaves and soil that made up the forest floor.

Benedek had spent a great deal of time in the ground healing or sleeping the sleep of his kind. He was very familiar with the millions of tiny threads that were mycelium. Mycelium was the mass of tiny threads that were interwoven in the trees. They wrapped around the tree roots or actually bored into them, making them part of the trees. Each tree was connected to the network via the mycelium threads, allowing communication and the sharing of nutrients and water.

Szelem, being partially buried in the soil, with mushrooms growing all over what appeared to be a downed tree trunk, was very connected to the entire community commonly known as the mycorrhizal network. When the mycelium connected to trees and plants, sending water and nutrients to where they were needed most, that was deemed the mycorrhizal network. Benedek thought of it as the communication center, much like the internet.

This one is clever.

Benedek sighed. The old dragon wasn’t giving him information he didn’t already have. He also hadn’t indicated if he could find the vampire. That didn’t bode well. The network should be able to find the undead anywhere in the forest. If the network knew, Szelem knew.

Yes. Benedek agreed, knowing the ancient dragon wouldn’t speak again until he responded. He is very cunning.

Benedek was careful not to move. Any disturbance would give away his position to the vampire. He was well aware he was chasing the most dangerous of adversaries, much like following a wounded leopard into its own territory. The big cat would turn and hunt the hunters. At the same time, he was aware of the night slipping away. He couldn’t afford to allow the vampire to rest and recuperate.

He does not touch the ground, or even the trees. He is in a different form. Something very small. There was speculation in the deep, booming voice.

Very small. Not just small. Most likely not an owl. A bat? Most bat species roosted in dead or dying trees. They burrowed beneath the loose bark or found crevices made by lightning. Many preferred a tree cavity. Quite a few of the bat species were small.

Benedek turned his attention to the night sky. There were many shades of gray and some much darker shadowing. A few bats dipped and wheeled in the sky, but not many. He studied them carefully. It took patience to hunt a master vampire, and Emil was far more than that.

I see in your mind, Szelem said. I do not believe bat.

Something smaller, then? Benedek made it a question, but he felt he was on the right track. Emil had become tiny, something that wouldn’t be noticed in the vast wilderness under cover of darkness.

An insect or lizard would be on the tree or ground and the network would know. So something flying. Benedek scanned the forest and shrubbery around him. The gorge was deep but not particularly wide. It was filled with rock on either end, making it a chasm, albeit a small one. What flying night insect should he focus on finding?

Fingers of fog began to drift low to the ground, rolling in like waves of sand. He felt the touch of the vampire, light as it was, and knew the undead had built traps into the fog. The creature was looking for his location and using the fog to do it. This was one of those moments that Benedek knew was important. He was pitting himself against an adversary that was just like him only he’d most likely grown more powerful. Benedek had to outthink him. Use his brain, not just his fighting skills.

A moth, Szelem said. It makes sense that he would take that form. Benedek felt the rightness of his guess. The vampire was in that tiny form, moving through the forest without touching a tree or shrub, knowing if he did, Benedek was likely to find him.

A favorite place for moths is the oldest oak. It is in the center of this grove of trees.

What draws moths to it?

The sap runs down the trunk in thin rivulets and the moths eat it.

The fog wound through the trees so that the lower part of the trunks was obscured from view. It was rising slowly, mimicking a natural fog when it was anything but. The tiny droplets were already in the air. The moment the beads touched his skin, it would give away his position. He had to make his way to the old oak tree without Emil knowing. It was a game of cat and mouse, both hiding from the other.

Benedek chose the form of a small European tree frog. His body was small and grass green on top. The yellow-edged black stripe on his sides was very distinctive. From his nostrils to his abdomen ran a dark band. Rather than use a brown inflatable throat that would signify a male, he chose to make the throat white, presenting as a female. He doubted if Emil would consider he would show up as a female European tree frog.

The frog was capable of very long leaps, and he used that ability. Several times he detoured to jump onto a tree, appearing to chase a tasty meal. If he didn’t act like the frog, Emil would notice instantly. As it was, he blended in with other frogs, lizards, snakes and voles.

The higher the fog crept toward the canopy, threatening to completely blanket the surroundings, the more the frog began to perceive the trees and foliage around him changing. At first, the differences were very subtle, barely noticeable, but anything unusual drew Benedek’s immediate attention.

The looks of the trees themselves were changing as he viewed them through the frog’s eyes. Instead of oak, there was a more tropical look, with vines hanging down and flowers climbing up the trunks. The trees seemed taller and appeared more like kapoks, which grew in abundance in the Amazon forest, than old-growth oaks.

Something moved just above the frog’s head. Instinctively, Benedek leapt from the branch he was on to the next tree. A tree boa lifted its head, malevolent eyes following him. He’d narrowly escaped being eaten by the snake—a snake that lived in the Amazon forest, not there on the coast of Holland.

A shiver of awareness went through the little frog. In slow motion, he looked above him and found an owl staring down at him. Benedek leapt for the forest floor and plants and shrubbery he could hide in. He landed beside a clump of plants spread out over a diameter of several feet. The plant had pitcher-shaped leaves Benedek recognized as a trap for insects—and frogs. The plant was carnivorous—and it belonged in the Amazon forest.

Had the fog caused him to lose his mind? Was he hallucinating? The plants not only looked real but felt real. He didn’t dare shift from the shape he had taken, not when the fog acted as a map for the vampire.

Szelem. I am looking at trees and plants that belong in the Amazon. Not here. As he reached to connect with the ancient dragon, the little frog crept beneath the wide shelter of a moss-covered rock. The shadow of the owl passed overhead.

A rustle in the leaves alerted the little frog and he leapt from his haven, one huge jump after another until he gained the safety of the roots of a kapok tree. He raced up the side of the tree, aware of the lizard hunting him. Did the vampire know he had taken the form of the frog and was sending enemies to kill him?

The fog had grown very thick so that a gray shroud covered the trees, making it difficult to see. Benedek used the map in his head, the one that told him where the oak tree should be. He couldn’t imagine that he’d been physically transported to the Amazon forest. It had to be an illusion Emil had built into the fog.

Look with the eyes of the hunter, not those of the hunted.

A lizard scrambled up the tree, tongue flicking out to scent the air. His lids came down and then back up as he visually inspected the branch he had clawed his way up.

You are the predator, not the prey.

O jel? peje terád, ainaakfél, Benedek swore at him in his native language.

For a moment there was silence, as if the forest held its breath, and then the ancient dragon laughed. The sound seemed to come from a deep hollow cave, the reverberating booming barely recognizable as a laugh.

You wish the sun to scorch your old friend? The dragon laughed again. This time he didn’t sound quite so rusty. He actually managed to sound amused. I stand by my advice, he added, the amusement fading quickly.

Benedek didn’t protest. Sometimes when he was speaking with the ancient dragon it felt as if they were talking in riddles, but as a rule, Szelem gave excellent advice. He simply had to puzzle out what he meant. The frog trembled and took another long leap away from the lizard to the closest tree.

He was to look through the eyes of a hunter, not be the hunted. Benedek contemplated just how to do that while the frog made its way from tree to tree. He continued to direct the small amphibian to the ancient oak from the map in his head. Looking around him did no good. It was disorienting to see a rainforest in place of the gorge with the stand of old-growth native trees and flora. Better to look with the eyes of the frog until he got to the tree with the sap running.

The answer dawned on him, and despite the gravity of the situation, he found himself sharing his amusement with the ancient dragon. He’d had it in his head that the vampire-beast was so much more powerful. How close was he to that same power? So close. He didn’t like to think of those scars on his soul, or his love of battle, but in all truth, those very traits were assets to him. He persisted in believing the worst of himself. But who better to stop the vampire than him?

I see you have come to your senses.

I am uncertain I have much in the way of sense at this point.

Why do men make things so complicated?

Benedek somewhat agreed with him. It was one of the reasons he preferred the wild. Preferred battle. Things were simple. Black and white.

Lightning forked across the sky, lighting up the forest around him in vivid deadly flashes. With each flash, the aftermath of sheer power burned bright through the fog. The momentary streaks of light illuminating the forest revealed the tropical plants and vines everywhere.

We are using the lightning to prevent Emil from escaping via the sky, Mataias said, but I feel his presence when I use the whips.

He is up to something, Lojos agreed.

Can he wrench the lightning from you? Benedek asked. The vampire was already controlling the fog. If he had special skills controlling weather, they could be in trouble. Mataias was adept with weather, and more than once he had stolen the lightning out from under a master vampire.

As more jagged forks rent the air, sparks scattered across the sky and rained down. The little frog stayed under the cover of a large leaf, waiting for the lightning to subside. The storm built in intensity rather than ebbed. Power moved in the fog. It was distinctive. Disturbing. Building with every flash of lightning.

Seal the sky without using lightning, he counseled. I believe he feeds off the lightning.

That can’t be, Tomas objected. We incinerate all vampires with lightning. If that’s true, how do we destroy this one?

It was a fair question. One Benedek had been asking himself ever since the thought entered his mind that Emil’s power was amplified by the lightning. Already, fortune seemed to favor the vampire. He was in command of the terrain, the weather and illusions. The vampire’s illusion of a rainforest was so perfect that it was difficult not to believe he was in one. The little frog certainly had to fight for its life as nearly every predator, animal, reptile, bird and plant seemed to be after him.

Weave the safeguards stronger in the sky so he cannot escape that way. Should I fail, it will take all of you to prevent him from being let loose into the world.

He stalls to force us to go to ground, Nicu observed.

Emil knows I hunt him. He will be drawn out. Benedek poured confidence into his voice, into their minds. He had to believe it because they had no other choice.

Benedek directed the frog forward, keeping every sense alert for predators. If his internal map was correct, the ancient oak with the running sap should be straight ahead. Pitcher plants grew in abundance on the forest floor surrounding a large kapok tree. The air smelled sweet, the plants giving off the scent to attract insects and frogs to their doom. The plants covered the narrow game trail that had been the only path to the ancient oak.

Waves of evil rippled in the mist the closer he got to his destination. The little frog trembled but crept forward, drawn by the scent of food. A kapok tree rose up, the fog distorting it, giving it the look of a monster. Spines and conical thorns added to the menacing appearance. Many thick vines hung off the branches, dangling from the canopy like massive snakes. Instead of green leaves and flowers surrounding the trunk, vines of thorns and flowers, blackened and withered, climbed toward the canopy. The flowers emitted a foul smell calling to the frog, drawing in bats. A few had tasted the poisonous brew and staggered around on the forest floor or lay dead in the leaves and dirt in the cage of roots.

When Benedek looked through the eyes of the frog, he saw exactly what the vampire intended. He was in the Amazon rainforest surrounded by enemies. He was that little frog tempted to leap into the pitcher plant or find the flowers promising food but giving death. Benedek refused to be fooled. He looked with the eyes of a hunter—a predator.

He found a large-leaf elephant plant close to the tree, one he knew wasn’t poisonous. He quickly scanned for any predators that would harm his little frog before taking control and making the leap onto one of the giant leaves extending toward the kapok tree.

He went still, knowing patience often determined the winner. He didn’t allow the fact that the night was slipping away and hunted and hunter would have to go to ground to rush him. When he rose, Emil might very well escape their net. He had to be found and destroyed this night.

Wind swept through the canopy, rocking the branches and shaking leaves. Foliage swayed under the assault. A sliver of moonlight found its way through the heavy canopy and shroud of fog to illuminate the kapok tree. The illusion shimmered and faded. Benedek made out the ancient oak hidden behind the larger tree.

The oak stood as it had for hundreds of years, weathering every storm, giving refuge to birds and reptiles. Hidden within the crevices and knots had been the homes of countless creatures. Several long crevices held the golden sap that fed so many insects, including the moth. Several buzzed around the pencil-thin streams.

Ignoring the illusion that shimmered over the top of reality, Benedek kept his gaze fixed on the moths. He was forced to look with enhanced vision, as the wind carried rolling dark clouds across the moon and came and went capriciously, often obscuring light. The fog swirled around the kapok tree, distorting the vision and shadowing the oak tree.

It took close to ten minutes of patient observation before he pinpointed the one moth that didn’t behave as the others. Not once did it go near the enticing sap. It was a little larger than the other moths. Moths had scales, and this particular moth’s scales looked slightly different from the others’. Benedek had no doubt that those scales were armor. The abdomen was black and the six legs were ringed in black. The proboscis, on examination, looked as though it was stained with blood, not sap.

The moth suddenly flew straight at the oak tree, impaling a raccoon as it stuck its head out of a knot on the tree. The raccoon shrieked and tried to duck back inside the hollowed-out hole. The moth fluttered its wings, unmoved by the thrashing and flailing arms as the raccoon tried to bat the attacker off him.

Benedek used the frog to leap past the illusion of the kapok tree to land next to the oak tree. He shifted as he landed, his fist closing around the moth, ripping it from the raccoon’s head and crushing it. As he did, vines from the kapok tree whipped around his body, thick, muscular, not woody. Without looking, he knew it wasn’t natural vines wrapping him from head to toe, it was a giant green anaconda. The animal was enormous and incredibly strong. She had to be a good twenty feet or more and very heavy. She wrapped him up quickly, expertly, ripping him away from the oak tree to take him to the ground.

Benedek kept his fist tight around the moth, crushing it even though he was no longer able to see. The green anaconda was constricting his entire body, including his head. He tried shifting. It was impossible. Next, he tried changing the composition of the snake to render it harmless.

Normally, he could easily deal with a snake by changing its composition, but it seemed to have safeguards woven into or around the scales. Without warning, the snake bit down on his fist, sinking teeth into his hand. The snake had recurved teeth, sharp enough to pierce right through his palm and the back of his hand. The anaconda wasn’t venomous, but it didn’t need to be. Emil had ensured its teeth cut like a saw even though they were still backward.

Benedek forced his hand deeper into the mouth of the snake to get past the teeth. If he called down a rider for help, that would create a gap Emil might use to escape. The moth was still, but he knew the vampire was alive.

Szelem, are you able to break free? His one ally was embedded in the earth. He knew it would take time to free the dragon from the soil if he chose to come to his aid. It was one thing to give advice; it was another to be disturbed from a resting place you’d chosen to live out your remaining days.

Benedek wasn’t certain he had the time. He had to come up with other ways to defeat Emil. When the snake had first wrapped him up like a mummy, he had expanded his chest and arms to give himself a little wiggle room. He didn’t exhale, which would allow the snake to tighten even more. The snake weighed a good thousand pounds. It was crushing him as it lay in rings around him. It tried to roll toward the expanse of water just a few feet away in the illusion of the rainforest. The last thing he wanted was for the snake to get to the water.

I will get free.

The answer was that same booming sound that reverberated through Benedek’s body. At once the ground shivered. Trembled. Protests were heard in the wind. In the fog. The moth wiggled and stabbed with its proboscis, frantic as Emil felt the response of the earth. He had no idea why the ground rolled and heaved as if alive. He only knew he wasn’t the one controlling it.

Benedek remained perfectly still, expanding his mind. He was used to using physical strength against his opponents. What did Silke do? She went after their brains. If nothing else, he could see the memory of the moment when Emil placed the safeguards on the scales. The tail was vulnerable to pain if he could bring down the safeguards. The eyes were also vulnerable to attack. There was little else on the snake that would render the large creature defenseless.

Fortunately, he’d had centuries of pushing aside pain. It was automatic when he was in a battle with a vampire. He lowered his energy even more as he expanded his mind, reaching for the brain of the snake. Hunger was overwhelming. Emil had amped up the one thing that made the snake aggressive and dangerous. The anaconda was hunting for food, and it had caught Benedek. It wouldn’t want to give him up easily.

The safeguards were woven with a pattern Benedek recognized from the old days. Immediately, he began to bring the weave down. He was hampered by not being able to physically use his hands, but he meticulously did so in his mind. He concentrated on the tail first and then the head. He became aware of the fact that he had to speed things up. He was losing his strength, not breathing, and his hand was all but mangled. The snake couldn’t bite down on him as long as he kept his fist jammed deep in its mouth, but that didn’t stop Emil from tearing it up from the inside.

The ground heaved again, a series of quakes. Loud deep groans echoed through the forest. The booming sounded like the beat of a drum. The way the ground pitched and rolled aided the snake as it tried to get closer to the water.

Benedek instituted a two-pronged attack on his adversary. Utilizing Emil’s illusion, he called jaguars to him, instructing them to bite the tail of the anaconda savagely, to sink their teeth into the eyes. They did so as the ground shook and shivered and the snake rolled and then screamed in pain, loosening the coils around Benedek’s body.

He freed himself but lost his grip on the moth as he was forced to push off the ground to get away from the furious, pain-maddened snake. The moment he rose from the ground, Emil was there, kicking him hard in the chest, slamming one hand to his jaw, nearly breaking every bone in his face. Benedek stumbled backward, going just beyond the kapok tree into a shallow depression in the rock formation making up the gorge wall.

His back hit the rock hard just inside what could have been the opening to a cave. It was definitely shallow, narrow and dark. He took a moment to draw in air and knew it was a mistake. He smelled…death. The fog moved, and at his feet was a collection of white bones. Human bones. Jaguar bones. Emil loomed in front of him, a dark, imposing figure of pure evil. He smirked, showing his stained teeth in a bizarre smile.

“You’re so predictable, Benedek, just like the other hunters will be. So easy to become my prey. Carpathian blood is delicious, and ancient Carpathian blood is even better. You will make me stronger than ever.”

Benedek didn’t waste time talking. He rushed the vampire, using blurring speed, hit a sharp barrier, a web of razor wire. He bounced back, blood dripping from his chest, shoulders and hips and thighs. Pieces of razor wire remained in his flesh.

Emil shifted, his body bloating, morphing into a giant spider. Extremely hairy, he was dark brown and muddy gray with bands of black on his underside and front legs. He had eight eyes, the top two staring malevolently at his prey. The second row, which had four eyes, held triumph. The third row had two more eyes spaced widely apart. Those eyes looked around him.

Benedek recognized the aggressive Brazilian wandering spider immediately. It was one of the most venomous spiders on the planet. With Emil taking that shape, and it appeared as if he’d done so on numerous occasions—he was too comfortable in the form—the venom had to be even more toxic than normal.

The spider lifted its four front legs and displayed the fangs already dripping with venom. The bristles on his legs stood up as he moved back and forth in front of Benedek, displaying signs of agitation and aggression.

Emil darted forward, rushing at Benedek, using his fangs as jabbing spears. Benedek had no choice but to use blurring speed to get away from those wicked fangs. He ran into more razor wire, a net of it, clearly Emil’s web. The wire sliced into his back and arms, across the back of his neck, thighs and buttocks. He bled from dozens of deep cuts.

The spider moved left and then right before charging again, scuttling so fast he was a mere blur. He spit venom and simultaneously shot razor wire at Benedek. Benedek stumbled backward and went down. Instantly, the spider reared over him, stabbing down at his heart with his fangs.

Benedek rolled to the side, into the razor wire, an unexpected move Emil wasn’t prepared for. Exhausted, losing too much blood, he shoved backward with his heels, trying to gain enough purchase to get to his feet. He didn’t want vengeance or even the rush of the battle. He was surrounded by nature, and a natural calm came over him. Lying as he was on the ground, he felt the rip in the soil, as if the first few layers had been peeled away.

A fierce wind blew through the trees, so strong it created turbulence, sending leaves and dead branches rising in a cyclone from the forest floor. It drove away the fog and the illusion of the rainforest. The wind rushed between Benedek and the spider, pushing the bloated Brazilian wandering spider away from the Carpathian hunter. Emil staggered back under the force of the wind carrying a hot, feral scent, one with a hint of fire.

The dragon emerged from the darkness, looking for all the world like a tree with mushrooms, small trees and other life-forms growing over his body. For all that, he was graceful and fast. He was a big dragon, and old, but he maneuvered every tight spot easily, his eyes fixed on his prey. The great jaws parted and a steady barrage of purest dragon fire streamed from his mouth. He hit true, engulfing the giant spider with the white-hot fire.

Emil screamed and writhed, taking back his form, his hands going up to build a shield. The ancient dragon was too fast. Too calm. Too much a part of nature. He didn’t kill the vampire for revenge. Forests broke down organic matter. This was the cycle of life. There was no hatred. Only that same calm Benedek had found.

Szelem simply destroyed evil systematically. He targeted the withered heart, concentrating the stream of fire so there would be no coming back. He incinerated the vampire, keeping the fire steady until there was nothing left but a very fine ash.

Szelem set down on the soil and made his way to Benedek. “I have given you blood many times before, ainaakfél. I give it to you now. You must go to ground. I will be above you to watch over you.”

“Thank you for coming to my aid. He would have killed me.”

The ancient dragon studied the worn face. “I don’t believe that is true. Perhaps both of you would have died in the end, but you would have taken him with you.”

Benedek was too tired to wonder if it was true. He called to his friends, let the dragon attend his wounds and reached for the one person he worried most about.

Silke?

To his relief, she answered immediately. It is done.

Here as well.

Sunset then, she said.

He wished she would be lying beside him in the rejuvenating soil, but he’d take what he could get. Sunset.