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 earthwhere 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 chasingthe 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.
