Dark Secret

'I do not know. Colby carries the blood of the Dragonseekers, but Kirja did not seem to have knowledge of it.' Rafael studied Vikirnoff's weathered features. 'We are surrounded by treachery these days, making it impossible to tell enemy from friend quite often. This woman may be leading you straight into a trap.'

Vikirnoff shrugged. 'It is of little consequence. I am no fledgling and have been long in this world. I have acquired a few skills along the way.' There was a hard edge to his face, a darker shadow moving in the black eyes. 'I am not so easily killed.' He shook his head. 'Something about this is not quite right.'

'I agree. It seems off-kilter, but I cannot say how.'

'There is a substantial wind, yet the leaves of the bushes near the entrance of the mines do not even waver. They remain still when the leaves all around us are moving. The breeze should move all the leaves, not just those near us,' Vikirnoff pointed out.

Rafael studied the phenomenon. 'Are we perhaps looking at an illusion? A scene Kirja set up as a safeguard?'

'If so, it is one I have not seen in all my centuries of hunting. It is an extremely large illusion to hold while he lies sleeping beneath the ground.'

'Kirja is no ordinary vampire,' Rafael said. 'He was never ordinary as a hunter, but showed exceptional skills as did all of his family. If any of the undead could do such a thing, it would be Kirja. And I doubt if he is resting.'

Vikirnoff shifted, and in the familiar image of the owl, spread wings and took flight, spiraling over the area, dropping lower and lower as he circled the mines. If it is an illusion, it is a good one.

'It is,' Rafael said aloud. He shifted once again into the eagle form, leaving the safety of the trees to fly over the massive boulders at the entrance. They looked real enough, but Rafael no longer trusted his sight.

The owl flew toward the largest boulder, feet extended as if to land. At the last moment, he veered off. There is nothing there. I would have hit the ground.

Rafael landed on the ground off to the side of the mine entrances. 'We are going to have to forget sight and use our other senses to tell us where the actual entrance is.'

Vikirnoff shifted beside him. 'We could try going underground. Kirja has already made a tunnel beneath the earth.'

Rafael shook his head. 'Not his tunnel. He is a master at fighting beneath the ground. The opening is here. I will find it.' He shifted once more, becoming a small unassuming bat.

Vikirnoff watched the dipping and wheeling of the bat. The night creature would be able to feel any objects in its path and know the exact distance to them. Very simple, but very clever.

It is an illusion. The entrance to the mines is ten feet to the left. We can go in through the cracks using mist. At least we know we are in the right place. He must be in there to have set up such an enormous safeguard. He could not hope to keep it throughout the daylight hours.

Vikirnoff joined Rafael in the same form, using the bat's radar to judge the distance to the boulders at the real entrance to the mines. They moved with care, streaming as a vapor trail through a large crack between rocks, making their way into the dark tunnel. It was safer to proceed as vapor, not touching the walls or ground where they might trigger a trap. That worked until they turned a corner and encountered a giant spider web. The strands of the web were closely woven. It was impossible for even vapor to slip through without disturbing the silky threads. A very small spider sat in the corner of the web.

The hunters shifted into Carpathian form to study the design of the thick web. It looked silky and fragile, a delicate work of art, yet Rafael felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in warning.

'Have you seen this before?' Vikirnoff asked, keeping a wary eye on the harmless-looking spider.

Rafael inched closer, bending to look at the fibers. They appeared that of a normal web, yet there were no holes, no lacy effect. The design was solid and tight. He looked at the small spider to identify the species. It stared back at him. The bubble eyes blinked and Rafael found himself staring into the eyes of evil, of intelligence. Kirja stared back at him, venomous hatred and malevolence roiling in the depths of his glare.

Rafael leapt away from the web, dragging Vikirnoff with him as the tiny spider burst into a thousand spiders, all springing at them with poisonous fangs. Rafael incinerated the arachnids quickly, but not before quite a few of them managed to sink their poisonous fangs into his and Vikirnoff's arms and legs. The tiny bites left bloody swollen sores, seeping with venom, burning through flesh and tissue.

'He definitely knows we are hunting him,' Rafael said as he pushed the poison out through the pores of his body. Beside him, Vikirnoff did the same. 'Every step we take is going to be dangerous. Not only is he good at illusion, but he is a master of mutating a species.' He scorched the last remaining spiders.

Vikirnoff nodded grimly. 'In all my centuries of battling the undead, I have never faced a vampire this powerful. I think he is strong enough to kill us both if we come at him one at a time.'

'Unfortunately, I think you are right,' Rafael agreed.

They began to follow the tunnel as it slanted downward, taking them deeper beneath the ground. They tested each step with caution, all senses alert to impending danger. The beams were rotted and split above their heads. The large timbers supporting the ceiling beams also showed dangerous signs of age. An old track lay half buried along the ground. A collection of dusty, forgotten tools lay scattered across the ground.

'Why do I feel as if we are entering the devil's lair?' Rafael asked. He pitched his voice low.

'Because we are,' Vikirnoff answered. 'What is that noise?'

Rafael glanced at the ancient hunter. 'It sounds like miners.'

They rounded the corner and saw a dozen men working with pickaxes on the walls of the shaft. Several lanterns hung from the overhead beam, casting a dim yellow light over the workers below. As Vikirnoff and Rafael watched, two men manipulated a heavy, ore-filled car into place on the rickety rails. No one seemed to notice the presence of the two Carpathians.

The two hunters looked at one another. 'It has to be an illusion,' Vikirnoff said.

None of the miners turned at the sound of his voice. The men continued to work industriously, the sound of the picks hitting rock ringing through the shaft.

'They are wearing modern clothes,' Rafael pointed out. He studied the scene in front of them, looking for the hidden trap he knew had to be there.

'It could be he is slowing us down, making the point we cannot trust our own senses.'

'How did he set them in motion?' Rafael wanted to know. 'If his illusion can tear into the rock, it can just as easily tear into us.'

The pickaxes continued to ring out against the rock in a steady rhythm. Vikirnoff tapped his hand against his leg, following the pattern. 'Do you hear that? Maybe something in the beat?'

Rafael crouched down, studying the scene from every angle. 'Could be. He is tricking more than one sense. Sight, smell, hearing. He has done a superb job.' There was admiration in his voice. 'Look at the ground. There are no footprints in the dirt. They do not leave any evidence of their existence. See where the picks hit the rock?'

'The scene repeats itself as if it's looped,' Vikirnoff said. 'If we disturb it, by entering into it, would that trigger a trap, or dispel the scene?'

'He would not have gone to this trouble without some kind of a trap.' Rafael rubbed his chin. 'Unless it is a delaying tactic.'

'If it is, it is a darned good one. You stay clear just in case I trigger an attack.' Vikirnoff approached the miners with caution. None of them looked up. No one spoke. They continued with their work as if he wasn't walking in their midst. He glanced at Rafael. 'Any ideas?'

'Take the pickax out of one of their hands and see if that disrupts the scene,' Rafael suggested.

Vikirnoff stepped up beside a miner and easily pulled the tool from the man's hands. There was a brief moment of eerie silence as the ringing of the picks abruptly stopped. Immediately the tools fell to the ground and the men dissolved into skeletons, the bones sprawling all over the floor of the mine-shaft. Scraps of clothing lay rotting and the smell of decomposing bodies immediately filled the already foul air.

'Well, now we know for certain what happened to the missing people from the town and outlying ranches,' Rafael said grimly. 'This is definitely Kirja's lair.' He stepped past the grotesque scene, careful not to disturb the bones.

They moved down the tunnel in total darkness. Almost at once there was a rustle behind them followed by the rattle of bone clicking against bone. The hunters whirled around to face the army of skeletons rising from the floor, bones reassembling to form warriors wielding the pickaxes with menacing intent, the eyeless skulls staring straight ahead.