He nodded. "It's the entrance to the stairwell. I remember those crimson marble steps well." He smiled broadly. "Good work, Daile."

"Glad you agree," she beamed smugly.

"You know, modesty was one of your mother's most becoming traits."

Daile smiled winningly. "Well, then, I suppose I'm just my father's daughter."

Ren laughed gruffly, squeezing her shoulder. He couldn't argue with that.

Daile took the scrying glass, peering through it again. She could see the head of the stairwell in the center of some half-formed chamber, close to the huge statue where in an hour they were supposed to meet the others. Spindly vaults gave the chamber a vaguely cathedral-like aspect. Dozens of stone sarcophagi lined its perimeter.

Daile was about to lower the glass when movement caught her eye. She watched as a mule deer bounded into the open-air room. It was the first sign of life she had noticed in the ruins. The deer wandered through the hall. Clearly the poor beast was lost, separated from its herd. The animal ventured close to one of the stone sarcophagi standing upright along the edge of the chamber. What happened next made Daile gasp in horror.

As the deer passed by, the lid of the sarcophagus flew open. A half-dozen long, skeletal arms reached out, clutching at the animal. The deer thrashed wildly, eyes rolling in terror, but the skeletal arms dragged the little mule deer into the coffin. Abruptly the lid slammed shut. The hall was still once again.

Daile lowered the scrying glass, trembling.

"Daile, what is it?" Ren gripped her shaking hands. "You look as if you've just seen a ghost."

She swallowed hard. "Actually, I think it was something worse."

She described what she had seen. Ren's face was grim.

"Kern and the others are in terrible danger, Daile. That hall is near where they'll be waiting for us. If they happen to wander by those sarcophagi…"

Father and daughter dashed down the guard tower's rickety stairs. They started off at a run, picking their way through the chaos of crumbling walls and piles of stone.

They had gone only a short way when a shadow blotted out the sun.

Daile looked up, her heart freezing in her chest. A winged, jet black stallion swooped down toward her and Ren, snorting fire from its nostrils. An armored knight sat astride its back, aiming a steel-tipped lance at Ren.

Daile and Ren barely had time to throw themselves to the ground as the knight bore down on them. The stallion's wings sent dust devils whirling wildly as the knight's lance dug a deep furrow in the earth mere inches from Ren's head. Then the armored rider pulled hard on the reins. The stallion soared into the sky once more, then whirled, ready to dive again.

Daile did not hesitate. She leaped to her feet, lifting her bow and loosing a red-feathered arrow in one swift motion. The arrow streaked through the air, plunging up to its fetching into the winged horse's chest. The night stallion let out a death scream. The arrow had pierced its heart. The beast's wings crumpled limply as it plummeted to the ground, trailing its flailing rider by the reins.

The night stallion burst into flames as it struck the ground, black, greasy smoke billowing up from the mass of ruined flesh and bone. The black knight crashed into a pile of jagged stones nearby, his lance splintering, dark armor caving in all along one side of his body. He lay still.

Ren nodded grimly at Daile as she lowered her bow. "That was a good shot-"

He halted.

Slowly, the black knight pulled himself to his feet. Daile and Ren stared in astonishment. How, by all the gods, could he have survived that fall? Armor creaking, the knight took a step toward the two rangers, then another, and another. As he moved, his dark plate mail began to groan and bend. With a ringing pop, a large dent unbent itself. The knight's armor was regenerating! Quickly, Daile loosed two arrows in quick succession, but both bounced harmlessly off the armored knight's mail. Ren stood protectively in front of her.

"What do you want of us?" he growled fiercely.

The knight halted a scant ten paces away. "To kill you," he spoke in a strangely hissing voice. His armor became whole and gleaming once again. "I have been ordered to slay a vile paladin raised from the grave. But I will destroy any vermin in my path. That includes both of you." With a fluid motion, the knight drew a bastard sword as darkly polished as obsidian.

"No," Ren said, stepping forward. Damn, but he was getting too old for this nonsense. "Let your argument be with me alone. I offer you a challenge of single combat, knight."

"Father!" Daile cried desperately.

"Quiet, Daile."

The knight nodded. "Very well," he rasped. "But it will be to the death, ranger."

"So be it."

The knight waved a black gauntlet, and suddenly three smoky bands encircled Daile, pinning her arms to her waist so she couldn't move.

"To ensure our duel will be uninterrupted," the black knight explained.

Ren gave Daile a reassuring look, then he turned to face the knight, unsheathing his two-handed sword. There was no more preamble. The two warriors circled around each other warily. There was nothing Daile could do but watch.

Each of the warriors made a few preliminary feints and slashes, testing the other's reflexes, probing for weaknesses. Suddenly the black knight swung his blade high. Ren met it with his own sword. Sparks flew. Then the two whirled around, circling again. Swords clashed again, and again.

Ren feigned a stumble as he parried, and his foe took the bait. The black knight lunged forward with a killing blow. Quickly, Ren regained his balance, spinning inside his enemy's guard. As he did, he transferred his sword to one hand and reached into his boot for the dagger called Left. He brought the dagger up in a swift thrust, slipping it through the gap between two steel plates and thrusting it up into the knight's shoulder. The black knight screamed in fury. With unnatural strength, he hurled Ren backward. The ranger flew through the air and hit the ground with a grunt of pain, his sword flying from his grip.

He was definitely getting too old for this nonsense.

"You have made me angry, human," the knight hissed venomously. "You will regret that mistake." Suddenly the knight's form began to undulate. Smooth armor transformed into scaly hide. Countless barbed spikes sprouted into being. In heartbeats, the black knight was gone. In his place stood a long-limbed fiend, its muzzle wrinkled into a rictus, displaying a mouthful of teeth sharp as broken glass.

Ren scrambled to his feet, calling the dagger Left back to his hand with a mental command. As it pulled free of the monster, black ichor gushed from the wound. The fiend shrieked.

"No one has ever caused me such pain! You will die for that, human." The fiend extended long dark talons. "Die!" It lunged toward the ranger.

Ren cast a quick glance at Daile. Her face was white with fear. He swallowed hard, and thrust both of his magical daggers, Right and Left, before him, bracing his arms. The fiend careened into the ranger, gripping him with its spine-covered arms.

The fiend crushed Ren with its embrace, driving its barbs deep into the man's flesh. How glorious, how satisfying it was, to squeeze the life out of the wretched human. Then, strangely, the fiend felt its fatal embrace weakening. The strength was siphoned from its arms. Gradually, realization dawned. The fiend looked down to spot the two enchanted daggers buried deep in its body. It felt the ichor that was its lifeblood gushing from its wounds.

Hoag stumbled backward. "Mistress, save me!" the monster shrieked in anguish. There was no reply.

The creature toppled to the ground, dead. In moments its body dissolved into a foul, steaming puddle of black liquid.