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Blast. There went the element of surprise. Instead of a raid, they'd be rushing into an ambush. Better to rethink the plan. Why not ambush them instead?

Marrec called loudly, "Hello in there. Why don't you come out? Fallon, we know you're here. Come out, Ash unharmed, and we may not extract the full measure of vengeance that you deserve."

He heard a voice speaking, inside, very quietly. It sounded like a woman's voice, but he couldn't make out her individual words.

Then Fallon's unmistakable baritone responded, "I don't think so. We, uhm, I prefer it in here where it's cooler."

Marrec responded, "Who is this 'we' you speak of? Don't try to hide it; we tracked more than just you and Ash into this ruin."

"No one you want to meet. Leave here. We're not coming out."

Marrec paused, then looked back toward Ususi, who still remained at the edge of the clearing. He yelled to her, "Wizard-why don't you see about flushing our friends out where we can see them? Be careful, though; we don't want to hurt Ash."

He saw Ususi rise and step forward. She looked at him, shrugged, and shook her head no. Marrec wondered if, based on the kind of magic he'd seen her throw around in the past, she was unable to whip up a spell quite so discerning. Then the wizard raised one finger, cocking her head. Marrec read that gesture as 'But…'

Next, she brought two fingers to her face, one to each eye, then extended her hand to point to the side of the structure where Marrec and Elowen crouched. Marrec looked to where she pointed. Solid wall.

Finally, Ususi incanted a spell. When she finished, she pointed to the wall again, a section of which ghosted into empty space. Marrec realized she had created a second entrance. Their element of surprise was back.

"Go," he hissed to Elowen.

He and the elf rushed into the new opening. Gunggari, ever the bravest of them, dashed in through the main entrance.

It was utterly dark, except for the flickering magical light still clinging to Justlance's tip; the glow around Dymondheart was too dim to provide light.

Two figures crouched on either side of the main entrance. One was nearly a giant, corpse-white, save for obscene tattoos crawling across his body. He was poised and ready with a great hammer. The other was a thin woman in form-fitting black armor, so tight and articulated that it looked as if it could be a second skin. An aura of tiny, biting insects surrounded her. Mosquitoes? Though not as tall as the man, Marrec somehow knew she was the more potent of the two.

Further back in the shadows stood three more figures. Ash. And that bastard traitor Fallon, holding Ash's hand in a death grip. Near him stood a bone-slender woman in an obsidian cape. Tomes, scrolls, and wands spilled from her belt. Close cropped hair the color of dying flowers grew on her head.

Everyone in the chamber turned to look at him, caught by surprise by his and Elowen's self-made access.

Then Gunggari charged in through the main entrance, his dizheri spinning in his hand like a mill wheel. One edge caught the big man, who hissed, falling back a pace. Marrec's eyes caught the glint of two overly developed canines. The big man was a vampire. He prayed Gunggari could handle one vampire, while he confronted the woman in articulated armor.

Elowen raced across the intervening ground toward the purple-haired caster. Good, keep that one occupied, he silently encouraged the hunter. He and Gunggari had enough on their plates without having to worry about spells from the periphery.

The woman's armor caught Justlance's first thrust. She grinned.

Oh, oh, Marrec thought. Two more canines.

"They're all vampires!" yelled Marrec.

"Great Ones preserve me," murmured Gunggari. Marrec knew his friend hated night walkers more than anything else, a hate that bordered on fear.

The woman, still chuckling, said, "That's the least of your worries. I am Damanda-the right hand of the Rotting Man." Marrec knew what that meant-in addition to being vampiric, she was also a blightlord. This fight was going to be a lot tougher than he'd anticipated.

If he