Page 4 of Dark Hope (Dark Carpathians #38)

Chapter 4

Thunder boomed loudly. Dark clouds veined with lightning rolled across the night sky. The way the clouds looked as they rolled and boiled continuously seemed to be an ominous warning to the five men emerging from their sleep. Each had gone to earth apart from the others, as was their way.

Benedek awoke ravenous. Desperate for blood. The need consumed him. Whispers of temptation rebounded in his head. He found himself bursting into the turbulent sky even though he was aware the storm had been manufactured.

Benedek, Mataias cautioned. There are eyes in the clouds.

I am aware. My need for blood is all-consuming. I must find a town or city and indulge. He didn’t feel as if he had a choice. Need roared through his veins. He felt as if he hadn’t fed in centuries. It seemed as though feeding was all he could think about.

I, too, awoke starving, Nicu admitted. I saw the storm was not natural, and it didn’t matter to me. I cannot think of anything but feeding.

That sent a huge red flag to Benedek. It was insane that he felt so hungry and that the impulse to find sustenance was so overwhelming that it was more compulsion than instinct.

I also woke starved, Lojos said. I must feed immediately. He had also taken to the sky.

That really alarmed Benedek. Something was terribly wrong. Could compulsion be buried in the storm itself?

I am moving as fast as possible toward the small city, Tomas said. Hunger beats at me. The need for blood is paramount.

Wait! Benedek forced his brain to work when all it wanted to do was urge him to feed. Tomas, Lojos, Nicu, we’re caught in some kind of hideous trap.

He’s right, Nicu confirmed. We can’t give in to this compulsion.

Before we go to the city and get the blood we need, we must figure out what is happening to us, Benedek advised. He told the others what he knew to be true, but the thought of delaying feeding only deepened his craving. Every cell in his body urged him to continue with his flight. He needed. He wouldn’t survive if he didn’t fall on his prey and rip out their throats to get at the rich, hot blood.

The moment the thought entered his head, he was appalled. Shocked. He didn’t ever think that way. He didn’t feel anything other than the dark rush during battle. He had stopped hearing whispers of temptation to rip out throats centuries earlier. Why was it happening all over again and with such ferocity?

He forced his body to slow down. We need to talk, he told the others. Look for a place we can get together out from under the eyes of the storm.

I’m not certain I can wait, Lojos admitted.

I will lend my strength to yours, Mataias said. We cannot be lost after fighting for our honor all these centuries. Let me join with you, brother.

I fear whatever spell I’m under would have a chance to taint you as well, Mataias, Lojos protested. Better to lose one than all of us.

That is not the vow we took, Lojos. Mataias was firm. I will join with you. Open yourself to me. It was a firm, calm command.

Benedek was grateful at least one of his brethren could still think clearly. He took for granted his ability to always remain under perfect control. The whispers of temptation to turn vampire had disappeared so many centuries earlier, the intensity of the drive had faded into his memories. Even accessing his memories, he had never had such a compulsion to feed or an urge to kill while feeding.

Ancients didn’t feel. It was that simple. He shouldn’t be experiencing such out-of-control emotions. He shouldn’t feel as if he had no choice but to feed on fresh blood, yet the thought consumed him, just as it did the others. Even Nicu, who was extremely strong, felt the effects of the compulsion.

Benedek spotted a boulder jutting out from the side of a mountain. A crack ran along the edge and straight through the boulder. If there’s a cave, we might be able to shelter out of sight of those watching eyes.

I’m close, Nicu said. Let me check it out. I don’t like the feeling of being herded. That’s the way it feels to me.

Benedek found it interesting that Nicu used the terms “feels” and “feeling.” They were ancients. They shouldn’t be feeling anything.

Why the storm if they aren’t throwing lightning spears at us? Tomas asked.

Benedek thought that was a good question. There was no doubt the storm was orchestrated by a vampire. Why weren’t they being attacked? There was far too much mystery about this bizarre situation. He’d been battling vampires and demons for centuries. He believed he’d seen it all. There hadn’t been anything new in all that time, and now, unexpectedly, when he was seeking his lifemate, a bizarre event was unfolding.

Nicu broke off from the others, shifting to mist to drop from sight, so the spies in the clouds couldn’t follow where he was going.

My body didn’t want to shift. Try it and see what happens.

Benedek immediately shifted to mist. Shifting started in the mind. He’d always been very fast at shifting from one form to another. This time there was a hesitation in his mind. A reluctance of the body, as if he couldn’t quite remember shifting. That hesitation was a microsecond but, in a battle, could easily cost him his life.

Whoever controlled the storm was exceptionally powerful. Behind the four gates that four Carpathian women guarded was an ancient Carpathian male, more beast than man, more demon than warrior and far more powerful than anyone could conceive. Had he finally turned vampire? Had he joined the forces of Lilith’s army? If he had, every hunter would be at risk.

I shifted but with trouble. Perhaps we should attack the clouds and see if this spell will leave us, Tomas said.

I couldn’t shift without the help of Mataias, Lojos admitted. This is a powerful enemy we’re up against.

That only added to the worry that Justice, the ancient Carpathian behind the gates, had joined the ranks of Lilith’s army.

Worry and anxiety were feelings. He didn’t worry. He was never anxious. He didn’t experience dark cravings for blood. This craving was so strong, so overwhelming, he could barely sort out his thoughts. The storm? Or were they pitted against a vampire who had been one of the greatest, the most legendary of all Carpathians?

The crack leads to a small cavern. We can shelter here and decide the best course of action, Nicu said.

Benedek dropped down toward the jutting boulder, the molecules blending with the mist and rain from the storm. Being a part of turbulent weather, he felt the powerful energy emanating from the boiling clouds. He knew the others did as well, the moment he faced them. They all had the same stoic, expressionless mask he knew he wore, but their eyes conveyed speculation. Even alarm at their predicament.

“If we attack the storm clouds, will we be unable to reverse what has been done to us?” Benedek asked the others.

They looked at one another, but no one replied. Lojos moved back from the others, shrinking into the shadows of the cavern. Mataias stepped between him and his brethren.

“I’m having trouble staying in control,” Lojos explained. “I smell your ancient blood and it incites the demon in me. Without my brother, I am uncertain if I could overcome this compulsion to turn.”

“It is difficult,” Tomas admitted. “Very difficult. If I went to the city to take sustenance, I am uncertain if I could keep from killing my prey while feeding.”

“At least it is something new,” Benedek pointed out. “There are five of us. One is unaffected by the compulsion. What is different?”

The five ancients took their time coming up with explanations, each thinking the problem through and attempting to come up with an explanation.

“Were you last coming up from the ground into the storm?” Benedek asked.

“I was first,” Mataias said. “I slept above my two brothers. I was born first, and I tend to think in terms of protecting them. They protect me as well, but it’s a mindset.”

“In other words, he makes the final decision if we don’t agree on something,” Tomas explained. “He’s always taken the position above us, no matter how much we’ve protested.”

“He can be very stubborn,” Lojos added. “But he’s never steered us wrong.”

Benedek thought Lojos was the most stubborn but also the wariest. He didn’t trust as easily as his brothers or give his allegiance without question. Those were traits Benedek admired. They would keep Lojos and his brothers alive.

“Were the storm clouds already in place when you rose, Mataias?” he asked.

Mataias rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Not entirely. The storm was building slowly away from our resting place. It was actually building more toward the south.”

Benedek exchanged a long look with Nicu. They both had found a resting place to the south of where the Smolnyckis had gone to ground.

“Could that be the reason Mataias escaped this mad compulsion?” Nicu ventured. “Whatever command was in the storm, we absorbed it as well as Lojos and Tomas because we rose when the storm was already directly overhead?”

“Lojos rose last,” Tomas said. “We’ve always gone in a certain order. Mataias, me and then Lojos. Perhaps the brunt of the spell was cast on Lojos and that’s why he’s having to fight so hard to keep from attacking one of us for our blood.”

Tomas was matter-of-fact about the danger from his brother. Benedek was as well. He could feel the terrible craving for rich, hot blood beating at him, but the strongest part of him kept him in control. Battling a friend or enemy was his way of life. It was every hunter’s way of life. They were far more pragmatic about the possibility that any of them could suddenly choose to turn.

“I’m with him,” Mataias said, his voice low. “He is in control.”

Was there a warning in Mataias’ tone? Benedek went over the reassurance numerous times. If Lojos chose to succumb to madness, would Mataias choose to follow him to aid and protect him? The triplets had been together their entire existence. He doubted if Mataias would allow his brother to turn without him. If the two went, it was very possible Tomas would follow. Or if Lojos turned, would the remaining brothers destroy the vampire before he could do any harm? That was the gamble. He was traveling with three brethren he knew and somewhat trusted as far as he ever trusted anyone, and now he was concerned about all three turning vampire.

What had the cards said to him about trust? Trust his brethren, no one else. They had to be worrying about him turning. Or Nicu.

Benedek sighed. “This compulsion is not only pushing us to forget the honor, the code we have lived centuries upholding, but now it has the potential to turn us against one another. We have a very powerful opponent. I say we defeat him, the way we’ve defeated every enemy that has come at us in our lifetime.”

“I agree,” Nicu said. “I do not ever have the kinds of thoughts that are running wild in my mind.”

“We are lucky that you haven’t been caught in this compulsion, Mataias,” Benedek said. This was his quest, the finding of his lifemate. He was the acknowledged leader. It was up to him to find solutions. “You will have to be the voice of reason when any of us are out of control. I think if we all put our heads together, we can come up with a plan to defeat our enemy.”

“I agree,” Tomas said. “We aren’t going to allow this vampire to get us to forget our honor. I have a lifemate waiting for me. Each of us does. I refuse to give in to temptation now, when I know she’s alive and I can find her.”

Benedek liked the utter resolve in Tomas’ voice. “I find it telling that I am seeking my lifemate as all of you are, and we’ve been attacked in a way that would eternally prevent us from uniting with them.”

“Diabolical,” Lojos said. “And brilliant.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Nicu asked, looking straight at Benedek.

“Stick together. Trust each other. Have one another’s backs. We can’t trust ourselves when we feed, so it is imperative Mataias is watching us, ready to pull us back. We’ll have to feed in pairs until we figure out how to counteract the compulsion and hopefully reverse it. Or if worse comes to worst, Mataias will have to hunt for all of us and feed us, as the gatekeeper in the monastery did.”

“Do we attack the watchers in the clouds?” Tomas asked.

“It’s possible once the storm is gone the compulsion will be, too,” Mataias said. “I don’t hold out a lot of hope, but it is a possibility.”

“If they wanted us dead, they would have attacked us when they knew we were disoriented,” Nicu ventured. “Killing us isn’t the goal.”

“Clearly, they want us to turn,” Benedek said. “Can you imagine the triumph if they managed to get five ancients to join their ranks? We would be powerful weapons in their fight against this village. The guardian of the gate and the demon slayer must scare them. They would have attacked that village long before this when they realized we were on the way. Lilith can’t make her move yet for a reason we don’t know.”

“That makes it all the more important we don’t allow this to delay us any more than necessary to shake this compulsion,” Lojos said.

Benedek wasn’t as certain as the others that they could figure out what dark art had been used and how they could counter it. He didn’t have any real ideas. Not yet. His mind was still roaring for fresh blood. He had managed to find his control and discipline, hidden as he was in the small shelter away from the violence of the storm. That didn’t mean his control would stay with him once he left the cave.

And what of the demon slayer? His lifemate. He knew nothing of her other than that the enemy regarded her with enough respect to hold off attacking. He didn’t trust the unknown woman. He knew Nicu and the others held on to their honor through the vows they made to stay strong for their lifemates. He had that code carved into his back. He had done so with the hope that he would feel the way the others did, but he was already too far gone. His code of honor kept him alive, refusing to give in to any temptation so he could rid the world of every vampire, every demon, anything that threatened his people.

Over and over, throughout the centuries, he had learned not to trust anyone. Once, he had saved an entire village, fighting off a pack of vampires. He had nearly died from mortal wounds, wounds that should have killed him. Several of those in the village gave him blood, but three women tracked him to his shallow sleeping grounds. He had been unable to protect himself during their attack, which came before the sun set. He was in the paralysis of his kind.

The three women had been the very ones he had prevented the vampires from killing. They had been subjected to horrendous abuse before he had arrived on the scene and come to their aid. That didn’t earn him loyalty or even mercy. Their hatred of him was palpable as they dug at the earth above him to expose his helpless body to the rays of the sun.

He had learned so many times not to trust anyone, male or female, human or Carpathian. He kept those lessons close so he would never make the mistakes he had when he was younger. Unfortunately, he knew every bit of his heart was dead. He had lost all hope and belief in the true bonding of lifemates. He hoped his lifemate would settle for loyalty, fidelity and respect in place of love. Love seemed to be fleeting, one minute there and the next gone. He’d witnessed betrayal in human bonds thousands of times over the centuries.

“I believe if we attack those watching from the storm clouds, the cravings will either go away altogether or lessen,” he finally said. “Whoever is orchestrating the storm can feed our need for blood. Without the storm raging, we might have a better chance to break free. That’s my assessment. Does anyone have a different take? A reason to leave the storm raging and the spies in place untouched?”

The men were silent, contemplating the idea of striking at the watchers and what the repercussions might be.

Lojos shrugged. “I’m willing to risk it. Anything to lighten the burden Mataias is carrying for me.”

“I say let’s go for it,” Nicu weighed in. “It may give us a reprieve, but at the very least, we can try to feed without them watching us and pushing us to kill.”

Tomas thought it over carefully. He wasn’t a man to make snap decisions. He heaved a sigh and rubbed at his temple. “I vote to go after them.”

All of them turned to Mataias. He tapped his thigh with a steady finger as he weighed the pros and cons of attacking the spies in the storm. “I think it best if we keep the eyes off us, so I’m in agreement with all of you. Most likely they’ll be waiting for us. If they had eyes on us when we managed to turn to mist, they will be looking for the most likely place we have taken shelter.”

“That’s a good point,” Benedek said. “We’ll have to orchestrate the attack carefully. We’ll have to shift inside this cave and go out one by one in separate directions until we’re all in place. Once we’re ready, we can strike hard.”

They discussed how best to find the watchers in the clouds. How to take over the lightning whips so they couldn’t be used against them. Benedek wanted time to study the storm, how it was developed and what, if any, safeguards were used to protect the demons spying on them. That would tell him quite a bit about their enemy. Every Carpathian hunter had a signature. He’d been around far too many centuries not to be aware of other hunters. He had familiarized himself with any he came across and those he heard of but never met. His mind held facts about all of them because they were all potential enemies.

“Lilith was injured in the battle in Dellys,” Benedek said. “All of us felt that moment when Petru struck at her and scored. Essentially, we won because he took her out of the fight. It is possible she’s still healing, trying to gather her power, and that’s why she hasn’t attacked Nachtbloem. These delaying tactics are giving her more time to heal and prepare her army for war. She has plans for us, and I’ll admit as a general she’s quite brilliant, but she’s also emotional. Very emotional. If these spies lose us, she may well turn on them and the vampire creating the storm. She has a low tolerance for mistakes.”

That brought him back to the thought of his lifemate. The demon slayer. What would she do if she saw them all now? Understand the battle they waged for their honor? He had been driven to find her, to reclaim his soul, but the others came with him to aid her. They had lifemates and yet they risked themselves to help him—and her. Would she be able to look beyond the fight inside them—if she was able to see it? A demon slayer was intuitive. They could never hope to enter her realm and act as if nothing were wrong.

He would have to confess he was close to turning, and so were his brethren. Would she be able to trust total strangers to wage a war with blood and battle all around them, preying every moment on their dark cravings? She would worry, with good reason, about those in the village they would use for sustenance. She would have to worry about herself. He certainly couldn’t claim his soul until he knew what was happening to him. Or could he? Would taking back his soul stop the vile compulsion?

He didn’t voice his concern for his lifemate’s reaction because there was no use in worrying about something that hadn’t happened and might never happen. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and turned his attention to the battle plan. He was good at strategy. He was a Carpathian who planned each battle, never acting impulsively. Despite the intensity of the unfamiliar cravings, he focused solely on how they would defeat their enemy.

“Mataias, it will be important for you to gain control of the lightning. The rest of us will be in position to strike at the spies once you signal you’ve taken over. If we’re lucky, we will be able to destroy one or two of them before they can be pulled back,” Benedek said. He gave the coordinates for each hunter to position himself.

“Most likely they will have demons with extraordinary vision and one or two with the ability to track through scent. If possible, let’s destroy them completely. If that isn’t possible, do as much damage as we can so we sideline them in the coming war.”

Each hunter would drift into the clouds, become part of the storm, coming from different angles at the two roiling clouds they knew held spies. With Mataias taking over the lightning, that left two hunters for each cloud. If they angled their attack correctly, had the element of surprise and simultaneously attacked, they had a good chance of defeating their enemy.

“Mataias will have to leave first,” Benedek directed. “Drift out. They’ll be watching. There can’t be a hint of any of us leaving.”

“I will be embedded with Lojos as well,” Mataias said. “That way if, when we emerge, the compulsion becomes stronger, I’ll know it before he does and can warn all of you.”

Benedek admired the way Mataias calmly and candidly shared with all of them what he intended to do. He didn’t make it seem as if he believed Lojos couldn’t handle the compulsion on his own, only that he would monitor to see if the cravings worsened for everyone. He understood how the other triplets would follow the lead of their brother. Throughout the long centuries, they had learned they could count on him. Benedek hoped they all could. This challenge was one of the biggest they’d had in several centuries, if not ever.

Rain poured down and fog rose from the ground to surround the boulder and other rocks and mounds of dirt. Twice the earth trembled beneath their feet as if something tried to find them through the ground. They were hovering above the floor of the cave to ensure that if trackers were put beneath them, they would be unable to sense them or attack. Still, there were only so many places the hunters could have disappeared into. That crack in the boulder was the best odds, and the vampire was smart enough to play those odds.

Mataias shifted, changing to mere molecules as he drifted through the tiny crack extremely slowly, mingling with the fog rising from rock and vegetation.

I feel powerful energy. Very dark. He used the telepathic path of the brethren of the monastery. No vampire would have that pathway. Clouds directly above. Flashes of lightning illuminate the spies, revealing their eyes, ears and noses when the lightning blazes.

Two of the traits Benedek most admired in Nicu was his low energy and absolute calm. Mataias possessed those same traits. He wasn’t going to panic or hurry because he felt the power of the enemy.

Storm driven by a vampire. An ancient. I know I’ve felt this signature before. Each cloud holds three demons.

It made sense that each cloud would hold three demons if they were sent to spy. One would have acute hearing, another a superior sense of smell and the last, tremendous eyesight.

Vampire very close. Not in clouds, but I sense his presence. He’s not paying much attention to the lightning. Just keeping it going to ensure he has it to defend himself if he needs to.

Are you able to read his thoughts? Benedek voiced the question they all immediately had.

Mataias was silent as he slowly drifted closer to the nearest cloud. Finally, he answered thoughtfully. He is broadcasting loudly. He was once one of us. An ancient. Close to your age, Benedek. He is eager to defeat you, to bring you to Lilith as her servant. He expects to get great rewards from her.

He was silent again while Benedek considered what he’d said. It’s personal? Or any one of us will do?

Benedek had merged his mind slowly with Mataias’ to get a feel for the vampire. Mataias was correct in that the vampire felt familiar. Where had their paths crossed? Benedek hadn’t been raised anywhere near the Carpathian Mountains, where the prince resided. Marius and his gang of Carpathian misfits had wanted to reside far from other hunters, so no one would know what they were doing. Had this vampire been raised near the others? Near Nicu?

Mataias was very stealthily commandeering the lightning whips. The vampire had turned his attention to the cave, certain his prey was there. He sent servants under the ground to feel for them. He sent insects burrowing through the walls of dirt to find them.

One by one, Tomas, Nicu and Lojos had followed Mataias out. Benedek brought up the rear, knowing each small rise of the earth and every stinging beetle crawling out of the dirt in the walls was seeking them. He was excellent at masking his presence. He’d perfected the art in his younger days when Marius sought vengeance for the killings of his sons. He’d hunted Benedek for years, doing his best to track him. Benedek had stayed close to the territory Marius claimed, striking at his sons one at a time, and then waiting with patience for time to go by before he hunted the next one.

Marius was relentless. He thought himself skilled. No one had believed Benedek was adept enough to hunt the way he had. Sometimes he’d watched his family for hours, right out in the open, so still, blending in with his surroundings, his energy so low he couldn’t be detected. It was a skill he continued to develop throughout the centuries that stood him in good stead when hunting.

The insects burst from the walls of the cavern and the dirt rose inches as something moved beneath it seeking to find them. Benedek carefully observed the stinging beetles. They were definitely mutations of the original insect. He studied them, paying attention not only to the way they looked and acted but how they felt. Often vampires used the same dark spells to corrupt insects or rodents, ensnaring them to do their bidding, but they didn’t mutate the insects themselves. If the bugs were fed their blood or the blood of humans, that could contribute to their mutations, but these beetles appeared to have been bred specifically as hunters.

Lilith again. Her demonic ways. She had armies of demons and vampires who had been trapped in her world. She used insects she created as well as rodents and other hapless creatures to aid her in gaining a foothold in the world. She wanted to rule her own empire, not play second fiddle to her husband in the underworld. Benedek had to hand it to her. She’d been at it for centuries and no matter how many times she was defeated, she always seemed to come back with an even more reprehensible plan.

Benedek drifted from the cavern through the crack now lined with beetles. They didn’t detect him, not by movement, scent or energy. Centuries of hunting and perfecting his art paid off in moments like this one when he was the perceived prey. Mataias had appropriated the lightning whips from the second cloud and was in place.

Any direction on the vampire? Lojos inquired. I can’t find him.

He is hiding in the rocks just above the cave, Benedek answered. The energy there is blank. No natural feel whatsoever. But I cannot pinpoint his exact location.

Do you want us to hunt him? Tomas asked.

Benedek gave it the briefest moment of consideration. They might get the vampire, but he wasn’t a sure thing. The demons were, and destroying them would impede Lilith and hopefully lessen the compulsion on them.

We go after the demons, and if the vampire reveals himself, Mataias will attack him with the lightning whips until one or all of us can join in that battle.

The others indicated their approval and waited until they were all in position. The vampire was having difficulty maintaining the ferocity of the storm while he was actively looking for the five hunters. The clouds were rolling with less aggression, and the rain, although continuing to fall, didn’t pound down as it had before. The fury of the storm lessened even more as the vampire turned his attention away from his spies to seek the hunters.

Benedek and Nicu simultaneously struck at the demons in the cloud. Benedek emerged behind the three who were peering down at the boulder, one sniffing continuously and one leaning out, turning his head the way an owl might. The third cocked his head from one side to the other to better catch a sound through the din of the rain.

Lojos and Tomas positioned themselves just as Benedek and Nicu had—one in front of the demons and one behind them. When Benedek and Nicu emerged from the clouds, they did as well, striking at their targets without hesitation.

Benedek took the head of the demon with the best eyesight, slicing through the neck with a crystal sword he had forged in a replica of Safia Meziane’s blade. Safia was lifemate to Petru, one of the brethren from the monastery. Safia had passed her knowledge and skill as a demon slayer to him and the others, knowing they might be heading to another battle with Lilith and her army.

He continued with the sacred blade, in one powerful motion, taking the demon with the nose for tracking and then the one with acute hearing. Lights burst from the sword, scattering across the sky and mingling with the dark, roiling clouds. The colors streaked through the various shades of gray. Although he couldn’t see them for himself, Benedek knew they were various colors because Safia had shown them to him in her mind. The colors pierced the clouds like spears, surrounding the bodies of the demons, penetrating their mass, so that holes began to appear in their chests, arms and legs.

Benedek was adept with weapons. Killing demons wasn’t the same as destroying them. To prevent them from returning to Lilith, where she could either punish them or destroy them herself out of sheer anger, the hunters had to ensure the demons were completely extinguished. That meant using the crystal sword Safia had so graciously shown them how to forge and use.

As the demon heads dropped toward the ground, Nicu used his crystal sword to attack. Lights shot across the sky in various shades, each going through the tumbling heads so that more and more holes appeared through the grotesque masks until the heads and bodies were mere pinpoints of shooting lights.

At the same time, Lojos and Tomas attacked the demons in the cloud they had selected, using the same exact technique. They struck fast, appearing for the briefest of seconds, already slicing the crystal sword through the necks of the demons and using the weapon to annihilate the bodies. Hundreds of holes turned into thousands. When the remains hit the ground, there was very little left of what had once been six demons. The bodies continued to disintegrate, smoke rising to mingle with the rolling fog.

Benedek felt him then, the rage and hatred of the vampire as he witnessed the loss of his spies. The clouds spun and darkened dramatically. Thunder boomed, shaking the ground. The sky lit up as lightning sheets illuminated the grayish shadow figure crouching low, his face turned up toward the clouds.

Whips of lightning cracked across the sky, jumping from ground to cloud, striking at the rocks above the boulder as Mataias attacked. The vampire leapt from the rocks to the ground, shrieking hatred and defiance. The earth trembled, rocks tumbling down while trees and shrubs shook with the violent earthquake.

As Benedek and the others streaked toward the vampire, Benedek saw a crack appear in the ground, widening as it grew. An orange-red glow illuminated the abyss briefly as a tangle of fiery razor wire lassoed the vampire’s feet. He screamed even louder as the cruel rope of fire tightened like a noose around his ankles and the vampire was dragged into the flaming chasm. The earth slammed closed over his head. At once the storm dissipated and the ground settled into calm.