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