“This is an awesome plan,” said Tiny enthusiastically as they strode purposefully across Wurthaven.
Will gave him an odd look. “I haven’t even said what it is yet.”
Tiny nodded. “I know.”
“You’re just going to take it on faith?”
“Considering how confidently you’re striding across the lawn, I can only assume that the plan is so audacious, so daring, so unanticipated, that the enemy will fall into a full rout without you even needing to confide the details to me before we engage them.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve gotten awfully eloquent lately.”
“It’s the company I’ve been keeping,” said Tiny. After a brief pause, he added, “Present company excepted, of course. I meant Sir Kyle and his officers. I’ve had to practice my speaking skills. You understand, now that I’m a gentleman and all that. No offense to you though, Will, still being a commoner, you probably wouldn’t understand.”
Will smirked. “None taken. So, do you want to hear what I intend to do?”
“Not really. If it’s so uncertain you have to share it with me then it probably isn’t very good. You might shake my confidence in you.”
“Are you done yet?”
“I’m out of ideas.”
“We’re going to steal the relic I was talking about a little while ago.”
“Yeah, I understood that part already,” said Tiny. “What’s the plan?”
“Well, that’s it really. I’ll sneak into the basement of the artifice building and use a few spells to spring it from where they’ve got it locked up. Then we clear out.”
Tiny was moving his hand in quick circles in front of him. “And then?”
“Then I’ll figure out how to use the relic. Hopefully once I know what sort of spells Ethelgren used, I’ll have a better idea of what we can do to stop all this.” Will waved his hands around to indicate the world in general.
“That isn’t much of a plan.”
Will nodded. “No, I suppose it isn’t. Do you have anything better?”
“We go to the king and report everything we know. With his authority and the men and resources at his disposal, not to mention the advice of his military advisors, I’m fairly certain he could do something significant.”
Just the thought of Lognion sent chills through Will and sparked phantom pains in the muscles of his back. “No good. The king whipped me half to death just a few days ago.”
Tiny stopped walking, his face blank. Will pulled up and watched him carefully. After a moment he noticed that the tips of the warrior’s ears were turning red. “You should have told me that, Will,” said his friend, his voice tense.
“We haven’t had a lot of time to talk since you got here. Are you all right?”
His friend was taking deep breaths. “Not particularly. You know I’ve been whipped twice myself.”
Both times because of me, thought Will.
“Did he have a reason of any kind?”
“Not really. He was threatening Laina for hiring an assassin, but in the end, it was mainly an excuse to take his frustration out on me, because I wouldn’t tell him where Selene was.” As he spoke, he saw a multitude of strange emotions crossing Tiny’s features. “Tiny, what’s wrong?”
“You know, I like how things have gone for me lately,” said his friend. Then he waved his arms in a circle. “Not the past few days, obviously, but I mean being a squire. Since joining the army I’ve gained a sense of purpose. I have friends, comrades, and we’re serving a higher purpose, protecting Terabinia—and serving the king. If I really start to believe the king is an evil bastard, that all sort of falls apart for me.”
Will was mildly shocked, not just at the big man’s convictions, but the amount of thought he had already put into them. He knew Tiny was a smart man, but his size still disarmed people. Always remember, he’s big, not dumb. “It’s always complicated, Tiny. Even if the king is a monster, which he surely is, the army still serves a noble purpose. Until he orders you to do something that directly contradicts your conscience, I don’t think you should fret over it.”
“Oh, I’ll fret all I want. Until I know exactly what to do in such a situation,” said Tiny. “For now, let’s stick to your stupid plan.”
***
A few minutes later, they were looking at the front entrance of the Artifice building. Will was familiar with the place, though he’d never been in its basement. He’d already put a silent-armor spell on his clothing, and he had a chameleon spell, a sleep spell, and an unlocking spell ready and prepared. He was fairly confident he wouldn’t have any significant problems.
“You just want me to wait out here?”
“I already know the place. You don’t. I’m a student, you aren’t. Plus, it’s easier to sneak around alone. If anything goes wrong, I’ll put them to sleep and come back.”
Tiny’s eyes were slits. “Something always goes wrong when you’re involved.” He looked over his shoulder. “There will be several search squads here in a few minutes. Shouldn’t you wait until after they’re gone?”
Will shook his head, already walking toward the building. “Easier while the soldiers have everyone rattled. I can get it, hide, and wait until they’re gone.”
“If you say so.”
He was too far away to continue the conversation. Will strode through the entrance with casual confidence. He walked past a couple of students and down the main hall, wondering where he would find the basement stairs. A young man at the front desk stopped him with a question. “What are you looking for?”
“Professor Dugas,” said Will immediately.
“His office is over at the Engineering building.”
“Sorry, I meant Salsbury—Professor Salsbury.”
The other student, who Will didn’t recognize, shook his head. “Sorry, he isn’t in today. All the staff are in a meeting at Administration.”
God damn it, just leave me alone, thought Will. He didn’t want to have to start disabling people before he even got started. “I’ll just leave a note on his door. Do you know where it is?”
“Second floor. You’ll see the signs.”
Will thanked him and headed down the hall, breathing a sigh of relief. He wanted to be out of sight before the soldiers entered and chaos ensued. The main stairs were off to the right, halfway down the main corridor, and now that he thought about it, they were probably the best place to start looking. They provided access to all the upper floors, so it seemed logical that the basement stairs probably originated in the same area.
Once there, he decided it was less than obvious. The stairs were wide enough for three students to walk abreast, and they led upward only, stopping solidly on the ground level. On either side of the stairs were side doors that led into maintenance areas and closets respectively. A man looked up at him curiously as he looked into the maintenance room. Will nodded and ducked out. “Wrong turn.”
There were two other doors, but neither of them led to anything. Maybe the basement stairs start in the maintenance area. If it’s only used for storage, that might make sense. Moving back to that door, he cracked it until he caught sight of the man within. He seemed to be working on something. Will’s sleep spell sent him sagging to the floor. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. Down the hall, he could hear a commotion as the soldiers entered the front doors of the building and made their announcements.
Shit, if they find him sleeping, that will arouse their suspicion, he realized. Glancing around the room, Will took stock. On the opposite side of the room were two double doors leading somewhere. On the left side were lockers and a rack for storing cleaning implements and supplies; to the right was a cluttered desk and an old ratty chair. Perfect.
Sleep spells didn’t keep the target in an enforced slumber, but right after the spell took effect the subject tended to be very hard to wake. Will got a grip underneath the worker’s arms and dragged him over to the desk. Lifting him up high enough to settle into the chair was difficult, but he managed it, though he was grateful that the man was relatively skinny. From there he simply arranged the fellow with his head on his arms, leaning over the desk. The soldiers would hopefully assume he had fallen asleep on the job.
He could hear loud steps in the hall, so he moved on to the double doors, since there was no other obvious exit. It was a relief when he saw a modest stair behind them, leading downward. There was no light, so once he closed the doors behind him, he had to adjust his vision. Simply increasing his light sensitivity wouldn’t do, for there was no light. He had to change to heart-light before he could brave the stairs.
Will was halfway down the stairs when he had an unsettling thought. How often does anyone come down here? If the answer was almost never, and the area was unlit, well that made it an almost perfect place for vampires to hide. His heart rate doubled in the span of seconds. Damn it, stay calm, he told himself. His pounding heart ignored him.
He’d already used his sleep spell and he’d meant to replace it, but now he wondered if another sleep spell was really the right choice. Taking several steps back up the stairs, he constructed an Ethelgren’s Illumination without debating it further. His fear of vampires was far greater than his fear of soldiers.
Better prepared, he slowly descended. There was no door at the bottom, just an opening into a large room interspersed with heavy stone pillars to support the building above. As he looked around, he realized that the size of the area was deceptive. There were crates stacked up here and there, along with dusty pieces of furniture and other items that were no longer in use. The effect of all that was to give the impression of walls, when in fact it was merely an interruption of his line of sight. As he moved farther in it was apparent that the basement was fully as large as the floor above, and it was a single room.
The stone pillars that supported the multilevel building above were massive, approximately ten feet in width and scattered no more than twenty feet apart. Between those and the sheer amount of stuff stored between them, the open basement was more of a labyrinth.
“How the hell am I going to find it in all this junk?” he muttered quietly. It could be in a box, or a display case, or buried under any number of things. The sheer size of the area he needed to search was daunting. If I ever need to protect something important, I’m going to hide it in a place like this. Locks can’t stop me, but this has me completely flummoxed.
He decided to work outward until he reached one of the outer walls, then make a rough circuit of the entire area. After that he would cut across a few times. He probably wouldn’t find the relic, but if it was in something obvious, he might get lucky. If not, he would at least have a mental image of the layout and the various regions of junk to be searched.
There were also the soldiers to consider. They’ll do the upper floors, knowing they won’t find anything, just to be thorough. Once those are done, they’ll cordon off the lower level and make a serious search of the basement. He didn’t actually know any of that for sure, but it seemed like the wisest course. Either way, they would likely be coming down before he found what he was looking for, so he would need to figure out where he would hide.
Inside something was a bad idea, whereas standing against a blank wall was probably the best. An empty section of wall wouldn’t be searched, and the chameleon spell would work best there. Moving forward, he began inspecting the area around him, with an eye for both the relic and an empty section of wall.
He almost forgot his fear of finding vampires. Almost.
Looking up, he saw something odd protruding from the low ceiling. In the gray on gray of his current vision, it took a moment to sort out what he was seeing. It looked something like a pile of rags, or it would have if it had been lying on the ground, but this was the ceiling.
Then it moved, and he saw a hand. His mouth went dry. Fuck!
It was a mass of vampires, huddled together on the ceiling, clinging there by their fingertips, as though gravity wasn’t really a concern. Will froze in place, his eyes glued to the enemy above. Are they asleep? He was alone, so it seemed improbable that they would have feared to attack him.
Then he saw a face; its eyes blinked slowly as it watched him. They were perfectly aware of his presence. They don’t know I can see them in the dark, he realized. And they’re probably thinking I’ll leave. If they kill me it would give away their hiding place, in the middle of the day, so they couldn’t relocate to someplace safer.
They weren’t afraid; they were smart.
That didn’t help his stomach, which was tied in a knot, or his heart, which was beating a rapid drumbeat in his ears. Can they hear that? Since they hadn’t attacked, he guessed not. He probably wasn’t close enough.
A short distance back, he heard the doors at the top of the stairs open. He had misjudged; the soldiers intended to search the basement first. Boots sounded on the stairs, and the mass on the ceiling shifted, beginning to scatter outward. There was about to be a battle, and Will was right in the middle of where it would happen.
The first three men to enter were normal soldiers, but behind them were two sorcerers. Light spells shot out in two directions, illuminating the area. They weren’t the right sort of light spells to destroy vampires—apparently the Driven hadn’t learned those spells. Until a week ago no one had really believed that vampires existed, and most probably thought they’d never existed. And according to Janice, Ethelgren’s biography had been removed.
How much other information had been deliberately destroyed over the years? If it was a coincidence, it was an awfully convenient one for the vampires. Will doubted it was anything but deliberate, the result of years, decades, perhaps even centuries of planning. And now I’m in a basement where a relic of a legendary vampire hunter is stored, and it just so happens there’s a whole gaggle of the monsters here as well.
It all came together in his head in a flash of clarity. They’d been looking for Ethelgren’s Exhortation. It was possible they’d been here for days, searching through the assorted junk, trying to find one of the last good weapons that might be used against them.
Hell, maybe the curse on the relic was a carefully created fabrication. Maybe the vampires had been selectively killing those who touched it to instill fear. Then again, that’s a little much, thought Will. There’s paranoid and then there’s crazy.
The vampires had scattered and were approaching the basement entrance from all directions. Will prepared to release his illumination spell when something unexpected happened. Both the sorcerers who had created the light spells fell as bolts of blue light speared through their chests.
More soldiers were coming down, and a third sorcerer appeared, stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades. Seeing what had happened, he lifted his hands and a force-wall appeared in front of him just before more bolts of blue splashed against it.
There was a spellcaster among the vampires. Will released Ethelgren’s Illumination as that thought percolated through his awareness.
As before, the searing white orbs shot outward, raising howls of rage and fury from the vampires as they burned and died, but this time there were a few differences. As the globes moved away and Will opened his eyes slightly, he saw that two of the creatures hadn’t died, and both of them turned their eyes on the source of the brilliance, squinting against the glare.
He began moving sideways, trying to get away from the epicenter, which turned out to be wise. More blue bolts flashed into the area where he had been standing, coming from the hand of one of the two vampires, a tall male with a commanding presence and long, black hair. The one beside it he recognized—it was the child-like female he had met before, Alexa.
They adapted quickly to the bright light, and he could see them tracking his position as he ducked to the side. His point-defense shield appeared several times in rapid succession, blocking more of the deadly blue bolts as the vampire wizard focused on him. The creature’s aim was perfect; any one of the attacks would have nailed him, despite his movement.
The vampire smiled, showing long fangs, then reached up with a piece of cord in his hands and began to casually tie his long hair back. The expression in his eyes said it all. ‘I’m going to enjoy this.’ Will felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. Alexa merely looked at him and smirked, as though she knew he was in over his head. She made no move to attack.
Meanwhile, the soldiers and sorcerers coming down from the floor above weren’t idle. One continued to hold the force-wall, protecting them as they formed up, while several other sorcerers readied spells. The soldiers moved to either side, preparing to guard the flanks when the shield was released.
The lead vampire continued to ignore them, reserving his attention for Will. “Alexa told me about you, but I hardly dared believe her words. Are you real, child? Or have I begun to have delusions after so many years?”
Will didn’t have another illumination spell ready, not that it would have helped. The chameleon spell and unlocking spell would similarly be useless. I’m fucked, he thought. Royally, fucked. So he tried what had worked before, with Alexa. “Alexa is your pet? That means you must be Androv? Is that correct?”
The vampire gaped at him in mock surprise. “How long it has been since I heard that name from mortal lips? Who was your teacher, child?”
Alexa hissed. “Just kill him, my lord. He uses words only to delay.”
Will glanced at her, and his deadly intent found expression. A force-lance blasted forth, only to stop as a point-defense shield appeared in front of the small vampire’s head. Androv smiled graciously, then growled at his subordinate. “Silence, Alexa. Leave the conversation to your betters.” He looked back at Will. “It has been centuries since I’ve encountered a true practitioner of the arcane. I thought they were extinct, among your kind at least. Who was your master?”
“It’s rude to ask questions without offering something in exchange,” countered Will. From behind the vampire, he could see that the sorcerers were finally ready with their planned attack. Keep talking just a little longer, you pompous prick.
The force-wall dropped, and lances of fire flashed forward, followed by four fire elementals. Even before he saw the results, Will knew they wouldn’t be good. Fire? He’s a wizard. Even I could handle that.
Sure enough, the fire-lances faded out as they reached Androv, dribbling away into impotence. The elementals should have been more of a problem, but a force-dome sprang up at the last instant around the vampire. No! It’s two force-domes! realized Will. But that’s impossible. He knew that no caster could have more than one force effect in play at any given moment. Then his eyes spotted the trick.
It wasn’t two force domes; it was a single spell with a complex shape. It was open above and below the vampire, but around him was a circular wall that was more like a tunnel. A cylinder with the elementals trapped inside it.
And he reflex cast that, thought Will. Shit.
“Pardon me for a moment,” said Androv, and then the vampire vanished. Or so Will thought at first. After a second, he realized the monster had simply vaulted over the ring of force, landing in front of the surprised sorcerers and soldiers. One of them managed to raise a force-dome, but it didn’t save them. The ground beneath their feet exploded upward, sending jagged shards of stone through the bodies of everyone inside the dome. The king’s men were dead before they could finish falling.
Another highly specific spell, and again Will knew it almost certainly hadn’t been prepared in advance. It had been reflex cast. None of the spells Will knew could save him from such a monster, not even if he was able to reflex cast all of them. He was overmatched in every single way.
As the sorcerers died, their elementals began to fade away, no longer forced to manifest, though they had already set fire to some of the boxes and furniture that had been trapped near them. The force-ring vanished, and Androv turned back to Will. “You said I shouldn’t ask questions without offering something in exchange. How about this? Are you here looking for this?” The vampire reached into a coat pocket and withdrew a short iron rod decorated with silver runes. The end had metal flanges mounted on it, like a small mace. Will knew immediately what it must be. “We found this yesterday. It’s a shame you didn’t come sooner.”
“You should be careful,” said Will. “I hear that all the previous owners had bad luck.”
The vampire laughed. “Bad luck is for inferior beings. You should know better than that. After all, your luck has improved considerably today.”
Will noted that the smoke was increasing rapidly in the enclosed basement. Eventually it would choke him to death, but in the interim it might provide an advantage. He already knew that vampires could see heart-light as well as ordinary light, but the flames and smoke were already creating a chaotic haze that his own vision was having difficulty with.
It was his normal sight that was making up the difference, using the ordinary light produced by the flames. He adjusted his vision until the smoke vanished, and the room was clear except for the solid objects within. “I’m not feeling very lucky,” said Will, waiting for the smoke to grow thicker. He began walking rapidly to his left, causing the smoke to swirl and making it difficult for the vampires to track him visually.
“Clever, boy, clever!” shouted Androv. “The reason you’re lucky is because I found you first! Most of my minions would simply devour you, but I understand your true worth! How far have you progressed? Are you merely first-order? Or did you manage second-order?”
Will said nothing, but he released the chameleon spell. Between it, and the smoke and flames, even the vampires would find it hard to see him. He watched them and saw that their heads were no longer tracking his position. Instead they swiveled back and forth, trying to catch sight of him again. Androv snapped his fingers, and Alexa moved forward. “Be careful, my sweet. We want him alive.”
Alive? Will felt a stone appear in the pit of his stomach. He wants to recruit me.
“You can’t escape, young wizard. The smoke obscures everything, for both of us. But I know you need air to live. The door is your only hope and I’ll be waiting here for you.”
So you think, asshole.
The master vampire was still holding the relic in his hand as Will quickly formed a force-lance. Point-defense shields only worked when you could see the attack coming. Androv screamed as Will’s spell removed the vampire’s arm at the elbow, sending the relic and the hand holding it skittering away into the smoke-filled basement.
Androv responded with a volley of blue bolts, but Will was able to see them coming. He blocked those that threatened to skewer him, then began circling in the other direction, heading toward Alexa, who was stalking blindly through the smoke. As he moved, he prepared another force-lance.
She must have heard something, for she shifted the direction of her travel, moving around a collection of bookcases and wardrobes to circle around behind him. But he could see her every move. Reaching down, Will picked up a broom someone had dropped and tossed it ahead and to the right, so that it landed ten feet in front of him.
Alexa pounced.
Taking aim, he blew her left leg off. The leg would limit her movement, and since it was the same one he had nearly removed last time, it had a sense of irony that he felt sure she wouldn’t miss.
He backed away quietly, but with his next breath the smoke was too powerful, and a choking cough escaped his lips. Alexa leapt toward him on her remaining leg.
She moved too fast for him to dodge, but a point-defense shield met her in midair, stopping her forward motion and causing her to fall. Then a force-lance took her in the shoulder, shattering her clavicle and spine. It had been a reflex cast spell. Damn, I wish I could do that on command. Currently, panic seemed to be a good motivator for his new ability.
Turning, he began to run, coughing as he went. He had to get out soon, or the smoke would be the death of him. He headed in the direction he had seen the relic fall, which was also in the direction of the exit. Unfortunately, his coughing also gave his position away, and he saw Androv running past boxes on his right, moving to intercept him. Will stopped and focused, and then he felt what he had hoped for. Keeping his eyes on the moving vampire, he began to fire force-lances, one after another in rapid succession.
It was like finding a rough spot on your tooth with your tongue, impossible to forget. Once he had latched onto the knack of it, he was able to launch the bolts at will.
But the master vampire had anticipated him after his previous surprise attack. The creature was moving with some kind of mobile shield protecting him. The force-lances scattered impotently away from it.
Will ducked sideways between two looming piles of wooden crates that were just beginning to catch fire, hoping to buy himself some time. But he couldn’t stop coughing. Androv would find him in seconds.
Not that it mattered. Spells had failed him. He was utterly inferior to the vampire wizard in every regard. Magic, usually his greatest tool, was about to be his undoing. For a moment his mind flashed to all the people who he would miss. Selene, his mother, Tiny, Janice, his half-sisters, and perhaps even Mark Nerrow—then the man’s face brought an idea to him.
Will summoned a small object from the limnthal and placed it on the ground in front of him. Then he summoned a second and took five steps back, waiting and coughing. One might be enough, but the second was his insurance against failure.
Seven feet away, Androv rounded the corner like a vengeful ghost. He was close enough to see Will through the smoke, and the vampire’s eyes lit with triumph, seeing the end of his chase.
Will put the point-defense shield directly in front of the vampire’s chest, forcing him to stop exactly where he wished, then his eyes dropped, and he fired a force-lance at the vial at Androv’s feet.
The vampire’s reflexes were too fast for a human to comprehend, and if it had relied on them Will’s gambit would probably have failed. But Androv was a wizard first and foremost, and he trusted his magic more. He blocked the force-lance with a point-defense shield and started to grin at the human who had been foolish enough to try and trap him.
His smile vanished as the second vial of alchemist’s fire, the one Will had thrown, landed beside the first, shattering and exploding into raging white flames. The fire swept over the master vampire, clinging to his clothes, and a moment later the second vial exploded as well, adding to the conflagration as the monster screamed and howled in wounded fury.
Will backed away, and his foot stepped on something, causing him to stumble. Looking down, he saw the object of his quest, Ethelgren’s Exhortation. Snatching up the rod, he stored it in the limnthal and started running. His coughing was getting pretty bad by then, and his heart was beginning to pound strangely in his chest—never a good sign.
Circling back, he found the exit and saw Alexa crawling across the floor, trying to reach her burning master. He summoned a third alchemist’s fire and tossed it at her for good measure, then he ran for the stairs.
The smoke was worse there, for it was billowing outward and climbing upward with him. He was staggering before he reached the top, and he fell to his knees when he reached the maintenance room. Crawling forward, he looked around and was grateful to see that the soldiers had woken the maintenance man, for the room was empty.
He started to climb back to his feet, but the air was much clearer close to the floor, so Will settled for a determined crawl. The rest of the soldiers seemed to have retreated from the building, for as he reached the hallway, he saw that there was no one in sight. The smoke above him was a thick cloud now. Only a foot or two of air just above the floor was still clear enough to breathe and his lungs were still spasming with the smoke he had inhaled in the basement.
Leaving the central stairs, Will headed toward the front entrance, but he wondered if he would make it before the smoke overcame him. I defeated an evil master wizard-vampire, only to die crawling out of a burning building. Typical.
His hope died when he came to the end of the hall. In the smoke and confusion, he had gone the wrong way. Now he would have to crawl back in the direction he had come. He wanted to scream in frustration, not that he had the air to do so. He started crawling back, but he knew he wouldn’t make it.
Then two massive feet appeared on the floor in front of him. A giant hand caught the back of his tunic and another gripped the waistband of his trousers. Tiny was there, and with Will hanging between his two hands like a toddler caught doing something terrible, the big man began to run, stomping through the hall.
Trying to hold his breath, Will saw that the big man had a towel wrapped around his head. That’s a good idea, he thought. I should have done that too. Might have made it easier, at least for a while.
A few seconds later, Tiny kicked open the main door, and Will was blinded by the sunshine. Fresh air flooded his lungs, kicking off a fresh round of coughing, which eventually resulted in Will losing control of his stomach. Still grateful, he vomited onto Tiny’s boots, then passed out.