SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
DEW COVERED THE WILDFLOWERS in the forest; its sweet fragrance merged with the morning fog and was diluted. Shadows in the mist were gray and deceptive. A rabbit listened for intruders but heard nothing. Dawn was still until the sounds of birds gave music to the area, like paint on an artist’s canvas. It was the birth of another day in the Finger Lakes National Forest.
Sharpton and Oblivion walked the camp’s perimeter as they discussed the attack’s results. Sharpton was satisfied that twenty-seven humans had been killed by Alonzo and Bennet, but he had hoped for more. The red sheriffs had dispatched them too quickly, but that was okay. It was yet another story of vampires making news around the world. It was a baby step that he hoped would turn into monster strides.
Oblivion glanced at a crow in the tree and was suspicious of it. The bird was quiet as it stared down at them from the pine tree. It appeared to cock its head and listen. The wizard pretended that he didn’t notice the bird. “So what do you think our chances are? Realistically speaking.”
Sharpton adjusted his dark suit. “Once we kill a thousand humans, they’ll see they can’t stop us, and then they will have to consider giving New York City over to the vampires. I couldn’t guess the odds of success but imagine New York, with no humans, finally having a place to call our own. Vampires from all over the world will flock to the city where they’ll not only have to pay to get it but agree to follow my orders, and with some of that magic, they’ll be receptive. I have other wizards on the way that will spell the city, and they won’t be able to touch us. Their troops will burst into flame if they attempt to enter the city’s boundary. The city of vampires will only be a starting point. Humans need to be realistic about their place in our society. Since when do the feeble command the superior?”
Oblivion again glanced at the crow as it made its way across a branch. “That would make the whole world nervous. The United States of Vampires has a nice ring to it. I know it could take centuries, but still.”
“What is it with you and that crow up there?”
Oblivion shook his head slightly. He was assessing whether it was a namuhwoork or just a crow. As the so-called bird tried to fly away and sound the alarm, it was struck by a bolt of lightning from the wizard’s hand and killed. When the dead bird hit the ground, its body turned into the form of a human and then turned to bones. “That was a namuhwoork. It listened to every word and could have caused us big trouble.”
“I knew there was a reason I didn’t kill you. You will be my second in command when we take over the city but keep that to yourself for now. How goes the enchantment? We’ll need enough of that stuff to control at least a couple hundred, and that’s only to start.”
Oblivion was hesitant to tell him that it could take a month or more to get some of the rare ingredients. He needed at least a dozen of the ghostly white Cyphochilus beetles. He was in contact nightly via satellite phone with a colleague in Southeast Asia, where the bugs camouflaged themselves in pearly fungi. “I’m having a problem with finding two of the rarer ingredients. It could take a week or two.”
Sharpton considered issuing a threat, but now that the wizard had fully recovered, it might not be wise. “You need to be ready when I am. We have more vampires arriving today. You can give them the grand tour.”