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.
Chapter
19
Red, pink and orange streaked across the evening sky. Beautiful clear colors that resonated right through Benedek as he rose. He thought of his woman as sunshine. Joy. A miracle. He thought of her as those very colors of beauty that he finally could observe thanks to Silke.
Benedek studied the ancient dragon. True to his word, Szelem had lain above his resting place, protecting him. If anyone came upon the downed tree, it would never occur to them they were looking at a live dragon. The long body resembled a tree trunk with moss-covered bark. Varieties of mushrooms grew in abundance, some poisonous, some edible. Several saplings and ferns sprouted from the crevices.
“Thank you again for coming to my aid,” Benedek said. “I would not have survived without your help, and Emil would have escaped into the world.”
Szelem didn’t turn his head toward Benedek. He merely lifted his eyelid to stare at Benedek with one soulful, intelligent eye. “You would have slain the vampire. Both might have died, but you would never have succumbed until he was gone from this world.”
Szelem spoke with utter confidence, as if there were no question he was right.
Benedek was polite enough to give the dragon’s words weight. Szelem rarely spoke, and when he did, he only spoke truth as he knew it.
“I would like to believe you are right,ainaakfél,” he said. “I would like to believe I could have held on long enough to take him with me. He was powerful.”
“You have grown powerful. Power isn’t good or evil, Benedek. The one wielding it chooses good or evil. They can choose to be honorable and do what they can for others, or they can choose to be selfish and get whatever they can in any manner possible. The question you must ask yourself is why you suppress your power when you have always followed an honorable code. Why do you think you would suddenly choose to stray from your code, especially now, when you have found your lifemate?”
The ancient dragon always asked the hard questions—and yet…perhaps the issues weren’t as difficult as Benedek made them out to be. Szelem often told him he overthought things and made them far more complicated than they had to be.
“It is something for me to give thought to, Szelem. I see you have settled on top of the soil rather than in it,” Benedek observed.
The dragon inclined his head. “I had forgotten the joy of flying. The feeling of battle. The camaraderie. Working with you was just as good for me as it was for you. You woke me up and made me realize I had given up on life. I have lived so long and thought to become part of the earth once more.”
Benedek understood that feeling—until he met Silke. She changed his world.
