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The hunters moved further through the tu
"He is counting on that fact. All he has to do is keep us from finding his resting place until the sun is high," Vikirnoff agreed. "I have never fought a vampire with such safeguards."
"He has had centuries to perfect his skills." Rafael turned his head, listening to the rustles coming from behind them. "Do you hear that?"
"The skeletons are trying to re-form for another attack."
They were in a maze of tu
Vikirnoff peered closely at the strange warted growth. "I do not like the look of this, and there are millions of centipedes covering the floor. The timbers are rotted almost completely through. I say we do not touch anything as we go down this tu
Rafael took one look at the carpet of centipedes. He swore in the ancient language. "Kirja is well aware we are close. I can feel him now. He ca
Vikirnoff raised his eyebrow. "I ca
Rafael flashed a brief grin. "He knows my aversion to centipedes. A childish thing, but of course he would use it."
The eyebrow rose higher. "We are of the earth. How could a creature such as a centipede bother one such as you? You have dominion over such things."
"I had four brothers, Vikirnoff," Rafael pointed out. His form shimmered, became transparent, and shifted to that of a very small bat.
Vikirnoff followed suit, but not before he glanced back toward the tu
Only if we do not get to him. Once he is gone, all of his servants will cease to exist. I say we move fast. Watch that fungus near the entrance to this shaft on your right. There is something strange about it. Rafael used the bat's radar to calculate the distance to the plant, but it kept changing, as if the plant moved.
Something struck at the bat hard, clipping a wing and knocking it to the ground. The centipedes immediately began to feast. Vikirnoff shifted one wing, reaching down to drag the small bat from the grasp of the greedy insects. Bite marks covered the body and small patches of blood seeped from various wounds.
Rafael shook off the clinging centipedes, flapping his wings to gain height. Thanks. Now we know what that fungus is. It has teeth.
Probably poison.
I felt it go in. Burns like hell. He is close. Go to the right, Vikirnoff. Watch yourself. The fungus is everywhere. There is a pocket of gas here.
He is behind that mass of boulders. I feel him. The centipedes are frantic to get at us and the fungus is snapping teeth like mad dogs. He has to be inside the chamber.
Rafael. I am trying to tell you gas is seeping out into this tu
A trick. He is up to his old tricks. He loved to play with fire.
I do not want to get cooked. Vikirnoff was adamant about it.
It is time to let him work for us. I have an idea. Go back to the tu
"What is the plan?" Vikirnoff asked.
Rafael gestured toward the heavy boulders guarding the entrance to the chamber at the end of the tu
Soon, clones of the two hunters stood near the chamber entrance, centipedes swarming up their bodies and fungus striking viciously while Rafael directed the clones to unweave the complicated safeguards the vampire had erected around his lair.
As the clones worked, Rafael removed the remaining poisons from his body. The process went more slowly than normal; Rafael fed most of his power into the illusions he'd created. He had to make them real enough to generate body heat. "If we are lucky, Kirja will believe those clones really are us and if he does, he'll try to kill us by igniting the gas. We will not risk triggering another one of his traps and it will leave us free to unravel the safeguards."
"I hope he hurries because I can hear the skeletons heading this way," Vikirnoff said grimly. "I would recommend we levitate to keep away from his warriors, but he would have thought of that." He didn't say what they both knew. Time was ru
"I ca
Vikirnoff began the complicated procedure of unlocking the spell guarding the vampire's lair. Behind them the clack and rattle of bones grew louder. The floor rustled with dark, malevolent insects, and the shadows wailed at them, held off only by the white-hot light Rafael continued to maintain.
The explosion came without warning, rocking the entire mine. The trapped vampire had ignited the pocket of gas. A red-orange fireball roared down the length of the tu
As the hunters moved cautiously down the now-empty mine shaft, Vikirnoff's hands flowed gracefully in the air as he hurried to unravel the vampire's safeguards. Rafael continued to feed energy into the white-hot light surrounding them, keeping the shadows at bay. More than once, the dark, amorphous shapes lunged at the Carpathians only to shriek and fall back when Rafael struck at them with the lasered beam of light.
"The last safeguard is down," Vikirnoff said.
"Stand clear. He will have something waiting in the chamber." Rafael pressed his body against the blackened side of the tu
Gas and steam poured from the interior, carrying with it a noxious, foul odor. Bats with sharpened fangs followed, a dark cloud of them, swarming the hunters instantly. Vikirnoff flung up a barrier as he and Rafael peered into the heated cavern. The bats crashed into the invisible barrier over and over, smashing their bodies in frenzied need to carry out the commands of the undead. The hunters stepped onto the steaming floor of Kirja's lair.
The chamber was hot and the vaporous gas held traces of sulfur and poison. The Carpathians floated upward as the acids in the soil melted their boots, seeking to penetrate to their skin. "Good one, Kirja," Rafael muttered, shaking his head to rid himself of the lethargy seeping into his body and mind, making him careless.
They began to quarter the ground, seeking the exact position where the vampire lay beneath the poisonous brew of acid and foul soil. "Here, Vikirnoff," Rafael said, indicating a spot directly below him. "He is here."