Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
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.