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)
Suddenly she jerked the reins, turning the serpent at the last moment so he was heading directly at the house. The stones were thickest to the west, and she drove the serpent headfirst straight into the massive wall of stones. The house shook, but the stones held even covered in the venom that spewed from the serpent’s mouth when he hit so hard.
The skull cracked and he went down. She had leapt off just before he struck the wall, but now there was very little time. She knew he wasn’t dead, and he wouldn’t stay unconscious for long. Racing to the front of the serpent where the head lay cocked to one side, the skin cracked open, the tongue hanging out and the fangs broken, she called to Tora.
Need a large spike and hammer fast. While I do this, take out the demons as quickly as possible.
The hammer and long spike materialized right beside her. Silke didn’t hesitate. She wanted to kill the serpent as humanely as possible. She could only do that when it was unconscious. It wouldn’t stay that way for long, and when it woke, it would be more lethal than ever.
She drove the spike through its brain. It wasn’t an easy task. The serpent was huge, and even with a cracked head, it was extremely tough. She had to use every ounce of her strength. Around her, Tora used dragon fire to sweep up the last of the demons. The mage was the first to go. Tora had ferreted him out near the bow window while Silke struggled with each blow of the hammer to force the spike in a multitude of directions.
Pithing involved using multidirectional movement with the spike in the cranial cavity to ensure death. The entire brain had to be destroyed. In this case, Silke knew it was more important than ever to keep the serpent from rising again. She would never be able to fight it off. She was exhausted mentally and physically. Mentally from all the merges she’d done, and just this last task alone was extremely difficult physically, let alone everything else she’d done that day.
When she was certain the serpent couldn’t rise, she sank to the ground and looked around the yard at the ashes smoldering everywhere.
We still have to clean up, and I can’t even lift my arms, she admitted to Tora.
I can do that. Just rest before we go in to Fenja.
I can’t help worrying about Benedek, but I’m not going to chance disturbing him. I don’t want him distracted, Silke said. She was worried. He’d been covered in blood the last time she’d seen him.
He’s an ancient. A very skilled Carpathian hunter, Tora pointed out.
That’s true, but he’s chasing a vampire who escaped the underworld. Isn’t he exactly what the beast is that you and three other Carpathian women guard so carefully to prevent him going free? You told me that most hunters would be unable to take the vampire-beast down.
Benedek is not most hunters. Neither are the others, Tora assured.
Chapter
18
Circle around, Nicu. Cut him off from the south. He’s shifted invisible, but he’s in the wind, I have his stench.
The dragons were fast, streaking in four directions. Nicu to the south. Mataias patrolled the western sky. Tomas guarded the east, and Lojos’ phantom green paced the sky to the north, trapping the vampire in the center of a very large wilderness area.
Benedek was hunting a wounded beast, the most dangerous of all opponents. Emil could be anywhere, blending into the rocks jutting out of the mountainside. He could be shimmering in the water, a part of his surroundings. He would be actively hunting Benedek. To try to track a powerful beast such as Emil into the wild required great skill.
Benedek reached for his oldest friend. Ainaakfél. In his language it was “old friend.” The dragon was very ancient. He lay in the forest, looking for all the world like an old tree that had gone down hundreds of years earlier. His belly and paws were in the soil, connected to the underground mycelium network. Any information he received from that source was always passed along to Benedek when needed.
Ainaakfél. Benedek whispered the call to the wind. I have need of you.
The ancient forest dragon had told Benedek he had many names over the thousands of years he had existed. Hän ku kaśwa o numamet—sky-owner. Numatorkuld—literally sky struggle or thunder. With that he had also been called Salama—lightning bolt. At one time, he had been En hän ku pesä—the great protector. Benedek knew the dragon was all of those things. He called him Ainaakfél—old friend—and was grateful for having him. The name the old one went by mostly now was Szelem, which meant ghost. No doubt when he lay like a downed tree trunk for years on end, he felt like a ghost.