Shadow on the Sand (16 page)
The dwarves continue their meal, pausing only to light large hooded pipes. Through the bluish hue of the pipe smoke that clouds the low cabin roof, you notice that they are casting nervous glances at you, as if you might explode at any moment.
After five minutes have passed, Nolrim raises his tankard and proclaims a toast: ‘To Lone Wolf — a man among dwarves!’
The dwarves guffaw at Nolrim's wry toast and raise their tankards in a salute to your courage and fortitude. The Bor-brew has loosened their tongues, and they are eager to tell you of their past exploits.
You act purely by instinct. You dive to the floor and roll over; the blue flame screams past your head and explodes into the chamber wall, blasting a hole several feet deep in the steel-hard rock. You spring to your feet and dodge behind a massive pillar as the hideous laugh of Darklord Haakon echoes around the dust-choked chamber. As it rises in pitch, your mind is filled with agonizing pain.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Mindshield,
turn to 253
.
If you do not possess this Kai Discipline,
turn to 369
.
Your Kai sense of Tracking reveals that the winding path leads into the Zakhan's arboretum: his cathedral of trees. The stairs to the portal lead to a private chamber in the upper palace, but you still cannot tell what the chamber contains.
If you wish to follow the path,
turn to 391
.
If you decide to climb the stairs to the portal,
turn to 352
.
Emerging from a bank of cloud on the skyline is a flying ship. It is a small craft, no bigger than an Unoram river barge, with two triangular sails swept back either side of its curving prow. In the fading twilight you can make out a long pennant that flutters from its mast. A faint humming reaches your ears. Your first reaction is disbelief; what you are seeing must be a trick of the light or some fiendish illusion created by the Darklords. However, as the ship floats nearer, your senses tell you that it is indeed quite real.
If you have ever been given a Crystal Star Pendant,
turn to 336
.
If you do not have this Special Item,
turn to 275
.
You must act quickly if you are to avoid detection, for the creature in red is a Vordak: one of the powerful undead who serve the Darklords.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.
If the number you have picked is 0–2,
turn to 378
.
If the number is 3–9,
turn to 262
.
Suddenly, the pain subsides — but the onslaught has only just begun. A mist as black as the grave is seeping from Haakon's mouth. It creeps along his outstretched arm and settles like a cloud in the palm of his upturned hand. Whirling shadow-shapes draw into focus; wings and tentacles sprout and take form. A curse in the dark tongue shakes the whole chamber as a deadly flood of horror hurtles from his hand.
Illustration XIV—A deadly flood of horror hurtles from his hand.
Crypt Spawn:
COMBAT SKILL
24
ENDURANCE
40
If you win the combat,
turn to 353
.
The great black bird beats its massive wings, cawing hoarsely through the domed pen. Two black eyes, fierce and cold, fix you with a deadly stare as you edge nearer to its perch.
Grabbing the saddle pommel, you haul yourself up, but suddenly there is a flash of razor-sharp talons. Instinctively, you shield your face as a glint of orange sunlight is caught on the Itikar's curved beak, for it slashes the air barely inches above your head.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Animal Kinship,
turn to 308
.
If you possess an Onyx Medallion,
turn to 319
.
If you possess neither the Kai Discipline nor the Special Item, pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have reached the Kai Rank of Aspirant or higher, add 2 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 8–11,
turn to 287
.
If your total is 4–7,
turn to 240
.
If your total is 1–3,
turn to 370
.
If your total is 0,
turn to 257
.
The man is short of stature but broad-shouldered and strongly built, physical characteristics common among the tough mountain-dwellers in Vassagonia. He pulls a cork from a bottle of lime-green wine and pours three large measures into earthenware cups.
‘Kourshah!’ he exclaims, and downs the wine in one swift gulp.
If you wish to follow his example and drink the strange wine,
turn to 211
.
If you do not want to drink the wine, ask him where Tipasa can be found and
turn to 318
.
You are the first to recover from the surprise of the sudden encounter.
If you wish to attack the guards,
turn to 334
. (Ignore any wounds you may sustain in the first 2 rounds of combat.)
If you do not wish to fight them, you can evade before they have a chance to strike at you by running back up to stairs.
Turn to 209
.
As you near the entrance to a shadowy alley, you hear a woman's voice begging in the darkness: ‘Alms for a poor widow, young sirs?’ A decrepit old woman hobbles into the light, her features harsh, her face haggard and drawn. She repeats her plaintive cry: ‘Will you spare a coin for a poor widow's needs?’
If you wish to stop and question her,
turn to 265
.
If you wish to ignore her and continue on your way,
turn to 388
.
Eager to put distance between yourself and your merciless enemy, you race headlong through a tangle of trees and roots until you stumble upon a small domed hut of latticed wood, half hidden by a curtain of vines. Peering through the dense foliage, you see that the vines reach up to a wrought-iron walkway, which ends at an open stone door.
If you wish to climb up a vine to the walkway and escape through the open stone door,
turn to 352
.
If you wish to search for an exit from the arboretum at ground level,
turn to 332
.
As the craft emerges into the sunlight, a terrible noise fills the air — the screeching cacophony of Kraan-riders, sweeping down from the table of rock. They have been waiting patiently for the
Skyrider
to appear before launching their ambush, for they have been certain of your hiding place since before the dawn. The Black Crystal Cube enabled them to track your escape route through the Dahir Mountains, its signal to them as clear as a burning beacon in the night.
You sense it is the Cube which has betrayed your escape and snatch it from your pocket, but before you can hurl the accursed object away, it explodes in your hand.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, add 3 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 0–6,
turn to 385
.
If your total is now 7–12,
turn to 251
.
There is another searing blast, which hits the base of the huge pillar behind which you have taken refuge; it severs the stone in an instant. Your body is torn to pieces as the pillar explodes into a million fragments — the little of you that remains is buried beneath tons of falling sand and stone.
Your life and the hopes of Sommerlund end here.
The Drakkarim rush into the guard room, bellowing like Kalte mammoths and hacking madly at the air with their cruel, black swords. The leader advances on you, a mane of jet-black hair streaming from the open back of his helm, his sword held low for a thrust that will disembowel you. You sidestep and drive your weapon into his armoured chest. The black metal buckles, crushing his ribs, killing him instantly, but before he has fallen to the ground, two more Drakkarim are upon you. You cannot evade combat and must fight them to the death.
Drakkarim:
COMBAT SKILL
18
ENDURANCE
34
If you win the combat,
turn to 290
.
You try to sidestep as the lethal blade hurtles towards you, but in the darkness you cannot be sure of the direction of its flight. You are hit in the chest, the blow smashing the air from your lungs. Lights flash before your eyes, and an explosion rings in your ears. You fall to your knees, and a sensation of numbness spreads through your chest. Through a haze of swirling mist, you see the Drakkar flung backwards, his breastplate torn open by dwarf shot. Banedon appears; his face is ashen grey. His lips move, but you cannot hear what he is saying. Images of Sommerlund swim in your mind and then slowly fade as oblivion engulfs you.
Your life and the last hope of Sommerlund end here.
Holding the Prism in the centre of the beam, you divert the light towards the hole in the floor. You hear the sound of stone grating on stone as the door slowly opens to reveal a large chamber. It is dimly lit, but in the dust that covers the marble floor you can see footprints too numerous to count. As you enter, you suddenly catch sight of a rough stone throne, facing the wall on the far side of the chamber. Behind you the door slides shut with unnerving speed.
In a complete daze you tumble and spin, totally unaware of whether you are falling head- or feet-first. The warm wind tears at your face, forcing your eyelids and mouth open. You can barely breathe. You scream with terror until you hit the upper branches of a toa tree; in the next instant you hit water. You rapidly surface again, and instinctively begin to pump your legs.
You have no idea in which direction you are swimming, but in three strokes you find yourself at the side of this deep, sculptured pool of clear water. Still shaking from the shock of impact, you crawl your way out onto a mossy bank. Miraculously, you have escaped injury, but your ordeal is far from over. The Drakkarim and the palace guards watched you fall and at this very moment are racing down from the tower and the bridge to the palace gardens.
Ahead of you, beyond a tree-lined colonnade, a flight of steps ascends to a small portal in the wall of the upper palace. To your right, a leafy tunnel winds away into the trees and shrubs.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Tracking,
turn to 220
.
If you wish to climb the stairs to the small portal,
turn to 352
.
If you wish to follow the winding path,
turn to 391
.
Rows of stalactites hang from the roof of the cave, like the fangs of some incredible monster, and the bubbling of a distant geyser echoes eerily through the unknown depths.
You begin to explore and eventually reach a place where a natural bridge of rock arches over a steaming course of water, red with ore. Huddled beneath the bridge is a pathetic figure, its body bent and emaciated. A tattered blanket covers his face, and in his withered hands he clutches a crude fishing rod. A small catch of lavacrabs lies on the bank, their claws twitching as they slowly die. As you move nearer, the figure raises his face to stare at you. It is a man, but the sight of his face shocks you to the core.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Healing,
turn to 344
.
If you do not possess this Kai Discipline,
turn to 208
.
Your speed and stealth carry you across the gangplank undetected. Your attack is silent and deadly.
If you wish to search the guard's body,
turn to 207
.
If you decide to ignore the body, hurry into the Itikar's pen and
turn to 224
.
The jala tastes as good as it smells and, after your dusty trek through the hills, is a welcome relief to your parched throat. Restore 1
ENDURANCE
point.
‘Do you know where we may be able to find a man called Tipasa the Wanderer?’ asks Banedon, successfully hiding his Northland accent with his expert mastery of the Ikareshi dialect.
‘I'm sorry, friend, but I have never heard of this man,’ replies one of the men.
‘You would be wise,’ interrupts the other, ‘to ask the widow Soushilla. There is little in Ikaresh that she does not know.’
‘Where can she be found?’ you ask.
‘At her tavern, of course,’ they reply, simultaneously. ‘Cross Eagle Square and you'll find it on the way to the Dougga Market.’
You thank the Ikareshi and leave the eating house. Retracing your steps to the square, you set off towards the Dougga Market in search of Soushilla the Widow.