Dark Slayer Page 0,119

right ahead," Gregori said with a small elegant bow toward the ancient hunter.

Vikirnoff looked around, a frown on his face. Everything slowed a bit as he tried to see with all of his senses. The ferocious battle continued, but now the ghouls were white and flaky and suspiciously round in body and head. The arms appeared to be nothing more than branches and old twigs. The missiles were snowballs, splattering against their chests and faces.

Vikirnoff took a breath and let it out. The scene cleared and completely focused. Color swept up his neck and flooded his face.

"I believe you just got spanked," Gregori said. "And by a girl."

"Terad keje-get scorched, Gregori," Vikirnoff snapped. "It is an illusion," he called to the others. "She is good with magic. A delaying tactic only. They know we follow them."

The fighting slowed and then halted as the hunters slowly realized they'd been duped. Around them, snowmen lay fallen, slashed, heads rolling with grinning faces laughing up at them.

"I cannot believe we fell for this," Tariq said. "She is better than I gave her credit for. I did not, for one moment, feel a surge of energy."

The hunters looked at one another. It was Lojos, renowned for being a great warrior, who voiced his appreciation. "Not only was there no surge of energy, the illusion was absolutely seamless. This is no amateur. Even the skill of the snowmen fighting was superb." If he could have felt admiration it would have been in his voice, but his emotions had long since faded and all he could do was voice his acknowledgment of the expertise.

"Pick up the trail, Vikirnoff," Mataias said with relentless purpose. "There is not even a faint trace left behind. We will have to use the call of your blood to track them."

Gregori smirked a bit. "Yes, Vikirnoff. You use that. I am certain you will have no problems finding them." The snow was coming down so hard that he almost failed to see Vikirnoff's face, but it was well worth the extra effort to see the hunter's exasperated expression.

"If your lifemate had been duped repeatedly by someone, you would not be so quick to trust him, Gregori," Vikirnoff accused.

"Perhaps not, but I would trust my prince."

Vikirnoff stalked away, leading the group of hunters across the meadow thick with snowmen and back into the forest. The scent was so faint, even with the call of his own blood, as if somehow it had been diluted. Wary of traps now, they had to move much more slowly, spread out in a standard search pattern, all senses alert. There were no tracks, no visible signs of Razvan and Ivory's passage. Twice Vikirnoff had to back-track and wind his way deeper into the forest where the trees were taller and closer together.

The canopy wove an umbrella overhead, blocking the worst of the snow so that the layers on the ground weren't quite as deep, although the branches overhead were piled high and every open space had high drifts.

Tariq clawed a spiderweb from his face as they infiltrated the darker recesses of the forest. The webs here were much more abundant, as often happened in less-traveled areas.

"It does not appear they came this way," he cautioned. "The webs are intact."

The hunters halted, maintaining at least a five-foot distance between one another. They inspected the numerous spiderwebs that stretched from tree to tree. Sparkling like diamonds from the ice crystals coating the intricate strands, the webs actually draped over many of the trees and stretched between them in labyrinths of artfully connected roadways. They had seen the ice spiders' elaborate webs before, mostly in caves deep beneath the ground, but once in a while they were treated to the rare sight during a prolonged cold winter.

"These webs have been undisturbed for many weeks," Andre added, stepping close to one of the larger ones to study the insects trapped there. Even a few hapless lizards and birds had been snared by the strong webs. "I doubt they passed this way."

"Perhaps as mist?" Mataias suggested. "They might have slipped through."

"Not an ice spiderweb," Lojos objected. "Everyone knows you cannot simply slip through."

"Ice spiders are small, but ferocious," Tomas reminded. "If you stumble upon a colony in the caves you had better fear for your life. This looks like a colony."

"Without a doubt," Nicolae agreed. "If we go into the middle of that, we had better be prepared to burn them out. Even with everything wet, we could destroy this forest."

Vikirnoff glanced