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)
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.
Something moved just above the frog’s head. Instinctively, Benedek leapt from the branch he was on to the next tree. A tree boa lifted its head, malevolent eyes following him. He’d narrowly escaped being eaten by the snake—a snake that lived in the Amazon forest, not there on the coast of Holland.
A shiver of awareness went through the little frog. In slow motion, he looked above him and found an owl staring down at him. Benedek leapt for the forest floor and plants and shrubbery he could hide in. He landed beside a clump of plants spread out over a diameter of several feet. The plant had pitcher-shaped leaves Benedek recognized as a trap for insects—and frogs. The plant was carnivorous—and it belonged in the Amazon forest.
Had the fog caused him to lose his mind? Was he hallucinating? The plants not only looked real but felt real. He didn’t dare shift from the shape he had taken, not when the fog acted as a map for the vampire.
Szelem. I am looking at trees and plants that belong in the Amazon. Not here. As he reached to connect with the ancient dragon, the little frog crept beneath the wide shelter of a moss-covered rock. The shadow of the owl passed overhead.
A rustle in the leaves alerted the little frog and he leapt from his haven, one huge jump after another until he gained the safety of the roots of a kapok tree. He raced up the side of the tree, aware of the lizard hunting him. Did the vampire know he had taken the form of the frog and was sending enemies to kill him?
The fog had grown very thick so that a gray shroud covered the trees, making it difficult to see. Benedek used the map in his head, the one that told him where the oak tree should be. He couldn’t imagine that he’d been physically transported to the Amazon forest. It had to be an illusion Emil had built into the fog.
Look with the eyes of the hunter, not those of the hunted.
A lizard scrambled up the tree, tongue flicking out to scent the air. His lids came down and then back up as he visually inspected the branch he had clawed his way up.
You are the predator, not the prey.
O jelä peje terád, ainaakfél, Benedek swore at him in his native language.
For a moment there was silence, as if the forest held its breath, and then the ancient dragon laughed. The sound seemed to come from a deep hollow cave, the reverberating booming barely recognizable as a laugh.