Rise of the Evening Star (Page 79)

That was you? Kendra said.

We had to make sure you had ample reason to accept

Errol’s help. And then, once you realized Errol was a threat,

I came to your rescue.

What happened to Case? Kendra asked.

The kobold? He’s off on some new mission, I presume.

His purpose was merely to alarm you.

Is Mrs. Price all right?

She’ll be fine, I’m sure, Vanessa said. We meant her no harm. She was a means to an end.

I’m not sure I get the moral of this lesson, Warren said.

Don’t trust people who help you?

More like, be careful who you trust, Vanessa said.

And don’t cross the Society. We’re always a step ahead.

So we shouldn’t team up, Kendra said.

You have no other choice, Vanessa laughed darkly.

Neither do I. None of us can flee. If we fight each other, none of us will leave here alive. You can’t afford to pass up my help defeating the guardian. Nor can I afford to pass up yours. And, albino or not, Warren is looking paler by the minute.

Kendra looked down at the panther. She glanced at

Warren. What do you think?

He sighed. Honestly, we’d better work with her to kill the cat. Even with a combined effort, it will be a challenge.409Anything good in the pouch? Vanessa asked.

Probably, but we don’t know one potion from another,

Kendra said.

I’m not sure I could be much help discerning potions,

Vanessa said. She looked at Warren. Your shirt is soaked.

The shirt bound to his abdomen was indeed drenched in blood. His naked chest was bathed in sweat. I’m all right.

Better than Christopher.

I’m quite good with a sword, Vanessa said.

I can hold my own, Warren replied.

Fair enough, finders keepers, she said. Patience is our best weapon. If we do this right, we can dispatch it without ever touching the ground.

You be our eyes, Kendra, Warren said, lowering himself.

Vanessa sank toward the floor as well. Kendra hovered, watching the baleful panther prowl below, gazing up at the flying people.

Vanessa and Warren floated apart from one another, dipping low enough to bait and tease the panther, rising out of reach when it leaped up at them. Vanessa finally got into a good position and hurled the spear into the panther’s ribs.

As the panther moved around, the spear eventually dislodged.

Warren lured the panther away, and Vanessa retrieved the weapon.

They continued baiting the panther until Vanessa harpooned it again. Soon the animal collapsed, and Warren finished it with the sword. Sharp blade, Vanessa remarked.

It cuts deep.410 Weapons ready, they hovered above the floor, watchingas the panther emerged from its own corpse, now the size of a tiger. Before long the glossy black coat had been punctured multiple times with the spear, and the great beast finally succumbed.

You’re not doing much with that sword, Vanessa commented.

I’ll use it when the time comes, Warren said.

Here comes the seventh life, Vanessa said.

This time, with a mighty roar that echoed through the tall room, the panther was reincarnated standing as tall as a horse, with dagger claws and saber-toothed fangs. Four writhing serpents, black with red markings, grew out of its powerful shoulders.

Now, that’s a cat, Warren said.

Warren and Vanessa started baiting the huge panther, but it did not come at them. Instead, it crouched near the center of the room, keeping the pedestal between itself and

Vanessa. They ventured lower and lower trying to tempt the panther to break cover.

Finally, with terrifying suddenness, the panther dashed at Warren and vaulted alarmingly high. Warren fell upwards at full speed, but not before a lashing serpent struck him on the calf. Vanessa was not in an ideal position, but used the opportunity to let the spear fly. It pierced the panther just above a rear leg. Bawling, the panther sprang at her as well, again achieving a phenomenal height, just missing her.

I got nipped on the calf, Warren said.

One of the snakes? Vanessa asked.411 Yeah. Warren rolled up his pant leg to look at the bitemarks.

Below them, the panther crouched near the pedestal, the spear still in its leg. Using small bursts of gravity and kicking her legs, Vanessa made her way awkwardly over to

Warren, moving vaguely like a jellyfish.

You’d better lend me the sword, Vanessa said. It will not be a gentle venom.

One of these potions counteracts poison, Kendra said.

And probably five of them are poison, Vanessa replied.

Time is essential, Warren. I’ll need you with me as we face the final forms.

Warren gave her the sword. Vanessa dropped tantalizingly close to the ground, lower than Warren had been when the giant panther reached him. The ferocious feline charged and pounced. Instead of soaring up to escape, as the panther anticipated, Vanessa dropped, and with a sweep of the sword opened a tremendous wound across the great cat’s underbelly.

Vanessa hit the ground hard and instantly took flight, but there was no need-the panther was lying on its side, serpents thrashing, body twitching. Warren dropped to the ground and retrieved the spear, then rejoined Vanessa in the air.

We’ve got another one coming, Vanessa announced as the body began to fold in upon itself. How are you holding up? she asked Warren.

So far so good, he said, but he looked exhausted.

Twin roars resounded through the towering room. The412 panther, much larger now than any horse, had sprouted asecond head. The doubly fierce creature had no snakes or other oddities. It paced beneath them with feral intensity.

You want to bait or throw? Vanessa asked.

I’d better bait, he said, giving her the spear and taking the sword.

Warren went lower, but not much lower. The panther was no longer cowering behind the pedestal; it paced in the open, as if daring them to come closer. Warren still looked to be well out of reach when the panther sprang and from gaping mouths expelled a spray of black sludge. The two-headed panther had not come up directly below Warren, and so the spray came at him diagonally, spattering his chest and legs.

Instantly Warren was screaming. Tendrils of smoke steamed up from where the volatile substance clung to him.

He dropped the sword and brushed frantically at the searing sludge. Thrashing and groaning, Warren rose ever higher until he reached the spikes in the roof and used them to make his way to the catwalk, where he collapsed.

Vanessa and Kendra followed Warren and knelt on the catwalk beside him. His body was charred wherever the sludge had splattered. Acid, or something, he muttered feverishly, eyes wild.

Vanessa cut open his pant leg. The flesh around the snakebite was swollen and discolored.

We can’t get him out of here? Kendra asked Vanessa.

The tower will not let us leave without the artifact,

Vanessa said. A safeguard to protect its secrets.413 Can any traps be worse than that thing? Kendra asked.Yes, Vanessa said. The traps that prevent a premature exit will be rigged to cause certain death. The guardian can be defeated; the traps probably cannot. Hand over the potion pouch. Warren is dying. Blind luck is better than none. Vanessa began considering various bottles, uncapping a few to sniff them. Below, the panther heads roared.