Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Around the rocks, coming out of the fog, were a dozen vampires, all looking the same. Heads tilted to one side, as if their necks were broken, and flopped obscenely with every movement as they shifted from one foot to another. Their skulls were blackened as if they’d been through a fire. Inside, through the gaping holes, small red flames could be seen occasionally flaring brightly and then receding. When the flame rose, the vampires would shudder and shriek in unison and then lift their arms to their heads and try to rock the flames loose.
“You will suffer a thousand deaths for this,” Bumbus snarled. When he spoke, all the vampires spoke at the same time.
Safia recognized the tactic. The vampire had replicated itself, making it nearly impossible for the hunter to find the real vampire in the midst of all the impostors. She had to discover the true vampire and isolate him from the others. He would be the one she would have to destroy, no matter if the others attacked her. They would be illusions. She knew illusions could seem very real and be terrifying. That was what could get her killed.
She took a deep breath and watched carefully as the vampires placed their feet in a complicated dance pattern meant to mesmerize. The footwork was exact. She studied the drag marks in the dirt. The soil appeared blackened and in places withered, shrinking from contact with the undead’s rotted flesh. Bodies were the same. Movement the same.
“Go away.” Her voice trembled. She shooed at the ring of vampires with her fingers as if waving them away from her. She sounded scared because she was. Inside, where it mattered, she was pure steel. Ready. She had planned out every move. She just needed to find the right vampire.
His broken neck and scorched skull had to be her answer. She assessed each vampire as if they were paper dolls and she had to find the one thing different about them. She was aware of the ticking clock. If she didn’t hurry, his partner was certain to join him. She didn’t want that to happen. She needed to face one vampire at a time to test herself.
The moment she spoke, the vampire’s mouth widened into a slashing, ghastly smile. She barely caught a glimpse of jagged teeth in the blackened maw. It was only that low red light flickering that lit up the stained, serrated, spiked teeth enough for her to make them out.
She tapped the crystal sword gently, and immediately, the fiery light leapt like a flame throughout the skull, bursting through every gaping hole in the vampires. That brilliant red light shot a greater distance in every direction from one vampire than from any of the other vampires. As he swayed with the others, rocking back and forth, moaning, adjusting his head to fit it back on his shoulders, she targeted him.
“Come to me.” The vampires all beckoned to her, lifting their arms and using their fingers to gesture to her to go to them.
She took a reluctant step out of the circle of boulders as if she couldn’t help herself. The vampires grinned evilly.
“Yes, that’s it. Come here. Kneel before us.”
Safia thought that was a little dramatic. She made a show of stopping and starting, as if she couldn’t help herself, always angling toward the real Bumbus.
PERSONAL POWER. ENTRAPMENT. SUFFERING.
CHAPTER
6
Hurry, girl. I haven’t all night to wait for you.” The circle of vampires looked cautiously around the night sky, attempting to pierce the veil of thick gray fog.
It was obvious to Safia that Bumbus didn’t want to share her with Larriot, the vampire over him. She shook her head as she continued to slowly stumble forward. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“You should have thought about that before you played with your little light.” His voice grated harshly on her ears.
The small veneer of civilization was fast disappearing. Spittle began to run down the sides of the mouths of all the vampires. Maggots wiggled in the stream and hit the ground with the drops of poisonous saliva.
Safia concentrated on one thing only. The target. The chest where the undead’s heart lay like a stone. She had to incinerate his heart in order to destroy him. That was the only thing that mattered to her.
She took another step closer to Bumbus, and the circle of vampires tightened around her. Their foul breath made it difficult to breathe. She felt their triumph. They began to clack their talons together in eager anticipation. She slipped her hand inside her coat, sliding the crystal sword back into the loop and drawing her long sword with the spiral blade. She kept the sword concealed in the folds of the coat while she once more sent her senses reaching out into the night to test for other vampires or demons that might be hidden from her. It had been drilled into her not to take anything for granted. Bumbus could very well be used as a decoy.