Destiny found herself in a much larger cavern deep beneath the mountain. The smell of sulfur was nearly overpowering, the air thick and hot. Noxious gas seeped and swirled from the green pools that dotted the earth. Yellow vapor hung heavily in the air. She took great care to examine the ground before she took her true form, placing her feet on solid ground, her knees slightly bent, her body relaxed, ready to spring into action should there be need. Destiny had the feeling the need would be great and would come soon. Very soon.
She studied the chamber, not moving, hardly breathing, not wanting to disturb the flow of air, not wanting to trigger a dangerous trap. There were two openings leading deeper beneath the mountain; she could catch glimpses of subterranean passages which probably extended for miles. Sharp natural spears hung from the ceiling of the cave, great columns of mineral built up to form a legion of armaments, poised over her head. The stalactites made Destiny nervous. The enemy was close by, and in his lair he had the advantage.
Cautiously she scanned the chamber, using more than her physical vision. The stench of evil permeated the area, burning her eyes so that tears welled up. Destiny was careful not to rub her eyes. It was likely that the thick vapor filling the chamber was dangerous.
A hunter must presume that everything in the vampire’s lair is a lethal trap. You cannot overlook the smallest detail, especially anything that appears to be natural. Nicolae had taught her that. Her savior. Her mortal enemy. He had prepared her with painstaking care for her battles with the undead. She lived because of him, yet she would be forced to face him in battle.
Impatient with her thoughts, Destiny shook her head. She couldn’t afford to have her attention divided. Determinedly she pushed him out of her mind and turned her complete concentration to the problem at hand. She scanned the chamber, noting the position of each rock, of the dark, gleaming pools, of the vents of steam rising from them. She paid attention to the holes in the floor, the uneven ground, committing the layout to memory before she ever took a step.
Very cautiously she moved to her left, wishing she dared to be out in the open, away from the walls, but the risk was too great. Something moved just out of her line of vision. She felt the stir of air, the subtle difference in the swirl of vapor as it rose from the pool. A tendril of yellowish mist broke off from the vents of steam and floated idly toward her.
Something brushed her leg, tugged at the tightly woven material of her leggings. Destiny resisted looking. Instead she leapt upwards, kicking out with the edge of her foot, shattering two stalactites and sending the remains plummeting into the bubbling pools. She landed lightly in a crouched position on the other side of the chamber. Her hands were up, ready for defense, as she surveyed the results of her handiwork.
The ceiling over her head was alive with movement for a moment, the natural-looking formations swaying slightly with the vibrations of violence. One cracked along its length, exposing briefly a dark interior and a whisper of movement before the crack faded into a seamless formation of minerals.
Without hesitation Destiny launched her attack, running along the walls of the chamber with long, light strides, her soles barely touching the wall’s surface as she raced around the circumference, climbing higher with each step until she had reached the ceiling once again. There, she exploded into action, driving both feet into the one stalactite that had remained perfectly still. Dagger in hand, she attacked as the force of her blow broke open the cocoon, exposing the vampire. Her momentum carried her past the creature, but she whipped around in midair and plunged the sharp blade deep into the chest of the undead.
The vampire’s scream was hideous, resonating throughout the chamber as he fell to earth. His cries were a command, and instantly the stalactites overhead rocked, then erupted with great winged predators. Miniature pteranodons burst from the cocoons, wings spread and flapping fiercely, great beaks opened wide. Vapor swirled and spread as the wings fanned the air.
The dinosaur-birds had bodies much the size of an eagle but their wingspans were shorter than either the eagle’s or the extinct pteranodon’s. Engineered by the vampire, the carnivores were designed to guard the chamber and keep out enemies. They flew at Destiny’s face, snapping at her body with their fierce beaks.
She had landed near a bubbling pool. Carefully she stayed close to the walls of the chamber, knowing she would be easy prey for the screaming birds out in the open. The noise was an assault on her ears, yet she made no attempt to control the volume with her preternatural senses. She needed to hear the slightest whisper of sound in the cave. She punched one bird hard in the neck, knocking it from the sky as she leapt over the pool to reach the vampire, which was crawling away from her.
She landed on her feet, but something hit her left leg hard, knocking it out from under her so that she lurched sideways. In that instant, the vampire reversed directions and was on her, his face a vicious mask of hatred, his breath fetid, the bloody dagger he had pulled from his chest in his fist.
Destiny spun to face him, her hand going for his wrist. He was wounded, had suffered severe blood loss, so she was confident she was the stronger of the two. She trapped his wrist and wrenched his hand back toward him. Ducking to avoid talons coming at her face from above, she drove the knife into his chest a second time.
The vampire roared with hatred, tearing at the dagger. Destiny whirled to face a second attack from behind. A monstrous lizard was climbing up out of the bubbling pool, saliva dripping from its formidable jaws. Its long tail, which had already scored a hit against her leg, knocking her aside earlier, was swinging ominously. The creature looked much like a Komodo dragon, with clawed feet and a peculiar swinging gait. Its speed was incredible as it rushed her. Destiny had no time to seize the heart from the vampire; she had to dissolve and scatter her molecules through the noxious vapor in order to save herself.
The vapor in the chamber was heavy and carried in it some kind of trap she had never encountered before. Immediately it seemed to latch on to the molecules of mist, soaking them up like a thirsty sponge. Panic flared in her, a sudden realization that she had been careless and was now caught in a trap.
Shape-shift into one of the birds. Nicolae’s magical voice was calm, steadying. Close by.
Destiny did so instantly, taking the image from his mind rather than from her own, not realizing she had automatically reached for him, shared with him her peril, allowing him to “see” the trap and the chamber through her. She flapped and screeched right along with the rest of the strange creatures, all the while eyeing the vampire below her.
To her horror, the giant reptile shifted into human form, becoming a tall thin man with a beaked nose and graying hair. He reached out casually to the other vampire, helping him to his feet. In Destiny’s mind, Nicolae went very still. Vampires traveled together at times, but they used one another, sacrificed one another. In all the long centuries of his battles, Nicolae had never witnessed one vampire helping another.
“Come, my dear, I grow tired of this little charade,” the taller vampire said. He clapped his hands and the birds fell from the air, plummeting into the bubbling pools to scream impotently as they disappeared under the surface. “Vernon needs blood. I think you had best supply him, since you were the one to cause his distress.”
Destiny settled to earth, shape-shifting to her true form as she did so. “Well, well, it’s old-friend week, I see,” she said, smiling coolly at the two vampires. She kept her eyes fixed on the taller one. He was strong and without a single wound and very, very dangerous. “I’m surprised a big bad vampire such as you would associate with a weakling like Vernon. He seems a bit out of your league. Three times I scored a hit on him—a bit much, don’t you think?” There was taunting amusement in her voice. Her face was a pleasant mask, confident and serene, while inside, her brain was working out a way to escape. The hunter was now the hunted, but she would never, ever allow herself to be taken alive by such monsters.