Whitman scratched his beard. "So it really exists?"
"Well, it did." Regdar sighed. "I and my companions sent it back to the planes." Regdar stopped for a minute, rubbed his face, and swallowed away the tightness in his throat. "We were fighting a crazed blackguard who wanted a powerful artifact from inside the city. She almost got it, too, but Naull managed to trap her inside a magic bubble." He looked up into the night sky. "It worked great, except that Naull was trapped inside the sphere as well. To keep the artifact out of the hands of evil, we sent the city back through its planar gate." He paused. "Naull was still trapped inside."
Everyone sat silent, not even chewing their food.
Clemf was the first to break the silence. "You watched her go?"
Regdar closed his eyes and nodded.
"And you assumed she was dead," added Tasca.
Regdar shrugged. "The city went to the Elemental Plane of Fire. Once her spell ended, there was no way she could survive there."
"And this cleric friend of yours, Jozan," said Whitman, "he had proof that she's still alive."
Regdar nodded. "Proof enough to persuade him. I know what you're all thinking, but if there's even a chance that she didn't die in that fire, then I have to find out for myself." He looked at them all in turn. "Like I said back in the barrack, this is a volunteer mission. You're under no obligation to stay."
There was a moment of silence, cut only by the sound of the crackling flames.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," said Tasca, "but I was sold when he told me we were going to rescue a kidnapped woman from a band of slavers." The elf pulled another mushroom off his branch. "I have a terrible weakness for damsels in distress."
Whitman glared at the elf. "We're with you, Regdar."
The others nodded.
Regdar smiled. "I know. I know."
Krunk was awakened by Tasca when the moon was high overhead.
"Your turn," said the elf before he climbed into his bedroll.
Krunk rolled to his feet and wiped the sleep from his eyes. The others were fast asleep.
The fire burned low in the pit Whitman had made. Tasca had been smart to keep it small. There was no point in attracting more attention than necessary.
Picking up his mace, Krunk walked around the fire. A small pile of branches rested nearby. Krunk smiled. Despite what Whitman said about him, Tasca was an upstanding fellow.
Krunk sat for a while, poking at the fire with a long stick, throwing another branch on when the flames grew too weak.
The night passed slowly, stars moving imperceptibly across the sky. The dwarf became sleepy again. Shaking his head, Krunk got to his feet and went to collect more wood for the fire.
Before trudging to the riverbank, the cleric hung his mace from his belt. It was mid-summer, and the waters of the River Delnir were low. Spring runoff had deposited plenty of firewood high on the banks, and Krunk quickly made a heaping pile to carry back.
"That should last till morning," he said as he bent down to pick up the wood.
Something that felt like two huge rocks hit him on the back. His face crashed into the pile of branches, and he was pinned to the ground. The air was driven from his lungs.
Krunk twisted as hard as he could to right and left, but he was stuck. Whatever was on top of him was either larger or stronger than he, or both. He heard a crackle and a pop, like a bone being separated from its joint. A burst of warm, damp air rushed across the back of his neck, setting all the tiny hairs on end.
The dwarf cleric could hear his heart beat in his ears. His thoughts raced. The smell of rotting flesh reached his nose, and a sharp pain ran down his spine. In a flash he understood.
Vampire.
Regdar awoke with a start, his hand instinctively wrapped around his greatsword. He shook his head and sat up. The others were sleeping, and the fire had all but gone out. A smoking pile of dull, red embers was all that remained.
"Krunk," he said in a loud whisper.
Only the sound of the running river, several paces away, answered back.
"Krunk," he said again, a little louder this time.
In the low glow of the embers, Regdar could see Whitman sit up straight, clutching his hammer to his chest.
Regdar got to his feet and crossed to the dwarf. Without a word, Whitman reached over and shook Tasca awake, laying his finger across his hps, signaling silence. The elf got the hint and lifted himself from his sleeping roll while retrieving his rapier.
Regdar turned to wake Clemf.
A heavy, wooden club swung through the air, just missing his head. The big fighter stumbled back and let out a shout, surprised by the attack. In front of him, hunched over the sleeping form of Clemf, stood a ghastly black and green monstrosity.
The creature's body was covered in rippled scales, and the back of its neck sported something like a fish's fin. Though it looked like a giant lizard with a long, winding tongue, it stood erect like a man. In one hand it held the club that had almost crushed Regdar's head. In the other it carried a large shield.
At first, Regdar thought the creature's eyes were reflecting the dull glow of the fire. Then he realized they were burning a fiery red all their own. The monster, whatever it was, opened its mouth and let out a whooshing hiss. Its teeth were long and jagged, but what impressed Regdar the most were the fangs that protruded from the thing's upper and lower jaws. Four in all, and each looked as long and sharp as Tasca's rapier.
Clemf, still curled under his blanket, rolled over and continued sleeping while the monster crouched above him.
Circling to one side, Regdar moved away from the fire, trying his best to get behind the thing. His ploy worked, because the creature spun and moved away from Clemf.
"That's a good little lizard vampire thing," said Regdar, wishing he had gone to sleep in his armor. "Come and get it."
As if responding to the big fighter's taunt, the lizard creature leaped at him. It moved with surprising speed and grace, its tail slithering along the ground behind it. Regdar dodged back, fighting defensively, keeping anything he might not want bitten off as far away from the creature's mouth as possible.
The greatclub swiped in at waist level. Regdar bashed it away. A claw slashed out of nowhere from the other side. Regdar sidestepped it. Teeth snapped shut before his face, moonlight glinting from the long, sharp fangs. Regdar almost gagged on the foul stench of rotting flesh. He stumbled back again.
The creature paced forward, letting out another hiss.
"Foul beast," hollered Whitman. His hammer was poised for a blow.
The lizard creature reacted quickly and swung its tail at the stout dwarf. Whitman tried to jump clear, but the scaly appendage hit him in the feet. He tumbled across the ground and down the river embankment.
Regdar lunged forward, taking advantage of the distraction. His blade caught the creature below the jaw, opening a wound along its neck. Black ooze dribbled out, and the beast's attention returned to the human fighter. It waggled its long, gray tongue, slopping foul-smelling liquid all over the ground and on Regdar's sword.
The creature hissed, then spun around in time to catch Tasca's rapier on its shield. The blade made a hollow thump as it hit, and the tip stuck in the soft material. Leaping into the air, the elf kicked out with both feet against the lizard thing's shield, one on each side of his lodged sword. The impact forced the creature back a step, and Tasca fell to the ground, his sword once again in his hand.
Regdar stepped in again, taking a mighty swing at the vampire's tail. He connected with a crash. A heavy scale broke into bits and scattered in the moonlight. Regdar was rewarded with a heavy thump to the chest as the tail flicked back. It knocked the wind from his lungs and the man from his feet.