“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 theboulder 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 thebugs 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 thestorm 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.
