NOTE: Normally I don't do author's notes in the chapters. However, I wanted to apologize to those that have been waiting for this chapter. Between some hectic stuff in life and a serious case of writer's block this chapter has been long in coming. This is the part that has been difficult to write, however, and I'm hoping that the following chapters will come more quickly. I did want to stop and thank all of those that offered me encouragement during this time. Thank you.

Yasha wiped away another trickle of sweat from the back of her neck and tried to ignore the furnace heat from the bubbling lava all around. The smell of sulfur hung heavily in the air. Hellish red light wavered across the platform before them, but the dark crevice that marred the wall swallowed all light that touched it. The brooding, menacing feeling that emanated from it made the paladin's skin prickle with goose bumps despite the heat.

"Well," Nathyrra said, crossing her arms, "we have explored the rest of this temple. This crevice is the only way left to go. The master vampire must be within."

Yasha nodded once. "It seems that way," she replied slowly. Certainly the master of this temple was beyond. She was as certain of this as she was of the angry pulse of Duty in her hand. Just as certain, in fact, that the depth of power she felt could not come from the vampire they had defeated upstairs. This felt much different, much worse. She scowled at the gaping hole in the wall, trying to filter through everything all of her senses were telling her for some idea of what they might face in the darkness beyond.

"So," Valen said, interrupting her thoughts. "Will we be entering it to track him down, my lady, or do you hope to kill him only with that dirty look?"

Yasha rolled her eyes towards the cavern ceiling then turned her attention to the tiefling. Pursing her lips, she gave him a considering look before responding. "Do you think that might work?" she asked dryly.

A corner of his mouth lifted and he raised an eyebrow. "Unlikely, I think."

She sighed dramatically, slumping her shoulders in mock dejection before shrugging. "Then I suppose we shall have to do it the hard way after all."

Yasha started forward, but stopped abruptly as an unnatural mist began to coalesce before the crevice. A sharper, more focused sense of evil came with it, along with the unmistakable presence of undead. The paladin readied Duty, fearing the source of the brooding menace was taking form, only to start with surprise as the figure finally took form. After his defeat upstairs, Yasha had presumed that they would not see the vampire again outside of his coffin, but Master Soldaris had come to meet them once more.

"You have made it this far, have you?" he asked, his voice deadly cool and his stance composed.

"Obviously," Yasha replied. She frowned at him hesitantly. "I am surprised to see you so lively…relatively speaking. All of your various undead lackeys were not especially mobile after they fled to their coffins."

He sneered, though Yasha thought she saw a flicker of fear or doubt on his face for a moment. "You have no idea how foolish you are. You will have no chance against Vix'thra, the sacred one."

The attack was sudden, but not unexpected. Yasha gritted her teeth as she felt his will come against hers, just as it had when she had first entered the temple, and just as he had attempted during their battle upstairs. There was wild fierceness to his alien presence that wasn't in it before, however; a desperation and anger that belied his calm exterior. The hostility smothered her, raking against her mind. She heard mocking laughter. Then, the assault stopped as quickly as it began. The laughter continued, however, and it took Yasha a moment to recognize the voice as Nathyrra's. She looked at the drow in surprise and confusion.

"Strange," the drow said dryly to the vampire before them. "Before, you spoke only of how you would kill us, drain us dry of blood, and offer our bones to your master. Now, it seems, it is your master that we need fear. Did something happen to change your plans?"

Yasha blinked rather owlishly at Nathyrra, still trying to center herself. She was laughing at the vampire; taunting him. But why? Valen stepped up beside her. He had raised his weapon sometime during her moments of mental conflict with the vampire, but he now fell back into a casual stance, eyeing Nathyrra narrowly. For his part, Soldaris stiffened and squared his shoulders as the drow's barbs hit their mark. Pulling his lips from his teeth in a feral snarl, he opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Deekin.

"Boss? You think he decided we didn't look tasty enough?"

Yasha licked her teeth, enjoying the confounded expression on the head priest's face as her mind cleared once again. The vampire was still blinking at the kobold, taken aback, when Yasha replied. "Perhaps," she replied slowly. "If so, I'm not certain if I should feel insulted or not."

"It is possible he has come to surrender," Valen added. The tiefling stood with his hands clasped in a relaxed grip on his great mace, which itself was pointed harmlessly at the floor. He looked, at first glance, as if he expected no threat from the undead creature before him, though Yasha saw the tense balance of his stance and the sharpness of the glance he threw in her direction.

"Surrender! You fools. Soon all the realms will worship my master, and his priesthood shall rule all the lands! Your soul will be Vix'thra's for all eternity!"

Yasha turned to face Soldaris once more. The effects of her companions' taunts were plain in the vampire's snarling words and bared teeth. She smiled.

"I'm afraid my soul is previously spoken for," she replied crisply. If looks could kill, she would have been in real trouble, but thankfully that wasn't a power common in vampires. It seemed, however, that he didn't appreciate them adding insult to his injuries. She considered, just for a moment, what she would do if he did attempt to surrender. Unfortunately, she would have to accept it, but she took some guilty satisfaction in the certainty she felt that it was not the vampire's intention at all.

"Why would he risk himself to surrender?" Yasha continued. "We were not able to find him in his bolthole, wherever that was. He could have stayed there until he had regained all of his strength. No, he came because his master bade him to." She looked at the vampire questioningly. "One, final act of loyalty?"

Master Soldaris, however, was evidently no longer in a talkative mood. He leapt forward with savage fury, no longer bothering with the spells he had used to such devastating effect before. Instead, he dove forward with supernatural speed. Everything wavered as a wave of pure power hit her mind. She staggered, and between one heartbeat and the next he was on her. Turning instinctively, she avoided most of the impact as he slammed into her, but his claws scrambled over the mail at her throat and he pushed her back with sheer brute force. The lava still bubbled behind her. She could feel its heat. Her feet scrambled for some purchase on the stone floor. He was inside her defenses. Neither Duty nor her shield would help. For a time stopping moment, she knew for certain that even magic of her enchanted gauntlets would not give her the strength to stop the vampire's momentum.

But she had been trained diligently by Master Drogan. That training and her own experience kept panic at bay for those crucial seconds. She did the last thing her expected. Her shield and Duty slipped from her hands, and she threw herself backwards. He followed her, bearing her down towards the ground with tremendous force. He didn't guess her intentions until it was too late. His own strength and momentum turned against him as Yasha used all of her own augmented strength to throw him sideways, off of her and off of the narrow path.

She saw the realization hit him. He seemed frozen in time for a moment, a look of horror on his face. There was no time for him to turn to mist and avoid his fate before he fell into the lava.

Yasha turned her face away, shielding her head with her arms as the vampire's cry was abruptly cut off. Pinpricks of pain burned into her back and shoulders as tiny embers hissed into her skin. She lay like that for a few moments, breathing raggedly, as her body trembled with the delayed rush of adrenaline, pain and panic. She sucked in a deep breath of the sulfur laden air, forcing herself to calm, mumbling a prayer of thanks to Torm for her continued survival.

Many footsteps surrounded her, and she heard Deekin's worried voice close by her head. "Boss! Boss! You OK?"

Yasha looked up at the kobold. Both he and Valen stood beside her, watching her with concern. "I'm…I'm fine, Deekin. Thank you." She smiled wanly at Valen when he offered her a hand up, and let him help pull her onto her shaking legs.

Nathyrra nodded once at her, and turned towards the lava. She eyed the place where the vampire had fallen dubiously.

Yasha followed her gaze and rubbed her own neck ruefully. "I suppose a stake through the heart is a more traditional way to kill a vampire."

"This seems fairly effective, however," Valen replied dryly. "Quick thinking, my lady."

Yasha smiled hesitantly at the admiration and relief in Valen's voice. "Thank you."

Beside her, Deekin huffed. "Boss? Deekin's thinking that's anti-climatic, though."

Brows furrowing, Yasha tilted her head and tried very hard not to scowl down at the little bard. "What?"

He blinked up at her. "Deekin's thinking it won't work well for his book, boss. Big vampire master with big threatening speech and then, 'poof', he's gone. Deekin's thinking his bark was worse than his bite."

Yasha felt her face go slack-jawed for a moment. "Worse than," she echoed in shock. The beginnings of a toothy grin touch the kobold's face, and Yasha crossed her arms. "Deekin, I cannot believe you just said that about a vampire."

Behind her, she heard Valen's quiet chuckle. Even Nathyrra seemed vaguely amused. "Sorry boss," he said, smiling quickly. Then he turned towards the lava and considered it for a moment. "Still, Deekin thinking he writes the vampire out of the book. Or give him bit part, maybe."

Shaking her head, Yasha walked away from the ledge where the vampire had fallen. She didn't particular want to consider the bubbling pool of molten rock any longer, nor the vampire's fate that she had so very narrowly avoided. She collected Duty and her shield, and walked towards the huge crack in the wall that she had been approaching before. Darkness still brooded in its depths, and as she got closer, the smell of old, dry death replaced the smell of the lava. Duty burned with holy fire as she poked the sword within the crevice, pushing away the shadows enough to show an uneven but ancient path leading down. The powerful menace still survived, and lurked somewhere below them.

"Damn."

"What's wrong?" Nathyrra asked from behind her.

"Sometimes I do hate it when I'm right," she replied, turning. "Buck up, Deekin. I think you may get your climatic battle after all."

He smiled at her, dashing away from the lava's edge. "Really boss? Huzzah! Deekin knew he could count on you!"

Staring back into the dark entryway, Yasha wished she felt half as enthusiastic and confident as Deekin sounded.