AN ACID-SPITTING PANTHER?

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.

Chapter 20