The Dungeons of Torgar (12 page)
Read The Dungeons of Torgar Online
Authors: Joe Dever
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #Lone Wolf, #Magnamund
The smell of their blood makes your stomach heave, but your grim labour does not go unrewarded. Inside the bushes you discover their catch of fish. There are enough speckled trout here for 5 Meals. If you take any of the fish remember to record them on your
Action Chart
.
To cross the river and continue,
turn to 335
.
With terrifying ease the Demonlord throws open the stone door, which splits asunder as it slams against the temple wall. You release your Arrow and send it burrowing deep into the creature's chest. The Demonlord laughs mockingly and plucks the shaft from his body as if it were no more of an irritation than a tiny splinter. No blood oozes from the wound and the puncture seals itself quickly to leave no mark on the creamy skin of the supernatural creature.
‘Surrender yourself, mortal!’ he commands. ‘And I shall spare you the agonies of death.’
If you possess the Sommerswerd,
turn to 286
.
If you do not possess this Special Item,
turn to 333
.
Both you and the Lencian officer, whose name is Captain Prarg, ride back and forth, rallying the few soldiers left to support the hard-pressed knights locked in battle at the bridge. A motley company of crossbowmen, halberdiers, wounded men-at-arms, wagon drivers, cooks, heralds, and battle-shocked pikemen are finally assembled, and they march forward with their shields raised and their weapons poised.
On your left, the Prince's reserves respond to a signal from the hill and advance to support their leader. On your right, massed ranks of Lencian spearmen are locked in pitched combat the length of the orchard wall. As you near the bridge you encounter the bodies of those slain by the crackling rays of electric fire. The sight of their tortured forms, weapons fused in their lifeless hands, sends a wave of shock through your company. ‘Forward, men!’ shouts Captain Prarg. ‘Raise your eyes and advance!’
The bridge looms out of the battle-smoke ahead and your men surge towards the macabre struggle taking place. The bodies of the dead lie six deep, covering the whole area of the approach and filling the ditch on either side. War-cries roar with harsh anger and the air is alive with the clangour of striking steel and the howl of violent death.
Illustration IX—A Drakkarim Death Knight draws back his weapon and prepares to strike at your neck.
‘Charge!’ you shout, and the company pours across the bridge. Reinforced by fresh troops, the knights finally break through the barricade and into the streets beyond. The struggle grows ever more intense as the Drakkarim defenders throw themselves into the fray with total disregard for their lives. One such defender, an élite Drakkarim Death Knight, hacks his way through the leading pikemen and slays your horse with one terrible blow of his two-handed axe. As you fall, he draws back his weapon, its razor-sharp blade trailing scarlet spray, and prepares to strike at your neck.
Death Knight:
COMBAT SKILL
24
ENDURANCE
40
Owing to his state of battle-frenzy, your enemy is immune to Mindblast (but not Psi-surge).
If you win the combat
turn to 206
.
Your Arrow grazes one of the magicians and thuds into the shield of a Drakkarim warrior standing behind him. The wound is superficial and it does not prevent the magician from hurling his sphere at the Palmyrions.
The foot knights of Lencia are the first to go forward, their densely packed columns marching in perfect order towards the bridge at the centre of the enemy line. As they come within range there is a sound like rushing water and a cloud of black arrows pours down on their armoured ranks. Huge gaps appear in the line and the columns seem to sway under the impact before continuing the assault. They are flanked to the south by crossbowmen, who are firing their weapons as they advance. Unlike the knights, they wear very little armour and over half their number are felled by arrows when they halt to reload their cumbersome bows. The survivors retreat, taking cover among the massed ranks of Lencian spearmen who are advancing towards the orchard.
Prince Graygor signals to his pikemen and men-at-arms to support the Lencian knights, who are engaged in a bitter hand-to-hand fight at the stone bridge. They are within 100 yards of the bridge when a crackling ray of electric fire sweeps down from the ruins of the temple. It rips through their packed ranks with devastating effect, blasting the pikemen high into the air.
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Divination and have reached the rank of Tutelary or higher,
turn to 323
.
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Huntmastery and have reached the rank of Principalin or higher,
turn to 258
.
If you have neither of these skills or have yet to reach these levels of Magnakai training,
turn to 42
.
The officer shrugs his shoulders and climbs back onto his horse. ‘He's probably an outlaw or a deserter from the Eruan army,’ he says to his men. ‘Either way we must ride on; we've wasted too much time here already.’
He spurs his horse forward and you are forced to leap aside as the riders surge across the bridge and disappear along the road that leads to the Moggador Forest.
The captain nods to the owner. You hear a
click
followed by a rush of air as the crossbow bolt hurtles towards your back. Your senses scream a warning and you respond by hurling yourself onto the floor. A look of terror barely has time to register on the captain's face before the speeding missile embeds itself between his startled eyes.
‘Get him!’ shouts the owner, and three stocky drinkers rush forward with short swords held ready to strike. The first attacker loses his sword and the hand that holds it. As he reels back, screaming, the others exchange a fearful glance and halt in their tracks.
If you wish to advance and attack them,
turn to 274
.
If you wish to try to escape from the log tavern,
turn to 68
.
The arrows screech past on all sides but your lightning reactions save you and your mount from their merciless bite. You dig in your heels, urging your horse on towards the ford, but as you are about to enter the shallows an arrow buries itself deep in your horse's neck. He shrieks in pain and crashes to his knees, hurling you into the river. You gulp a mouthful of the icy water and struggle to your feet, coughing and cursing, just in time to see your ambushers pour out of the nearest hut and advance towards you. Some are reloading their bows as they run.
If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 131
.
If you wish to try to escape by wading across the ford,
turn to 166
.
If you wish to draw a hand weapon and prepare for combat,
turn to 251
.
You land with a jolt at the edge of the chasm, but the soil is dry and flaky and disintegrates on impact. Frantically you make a grab for a tangle of roots and hold fast as your legs swing wildly in the void. But the weight and violent movement of your body proves more than the roots can withstand. They tear loose and you tumble backwards into the chasm.
You reach a square near the centre of the town where a unit of enemy reserves are gathered, awaiting the order to join the battle. They are Krorn — hideous-looking creatures from the Moggador and Akamazim forests. They are approached by a swarthy giant of a man, with a short black beard and shiny bald head, who brandishes a massive war-axe fashioned from a fiery red metal. The axe must weigh more than its wielder but he waves it above his head as if it were no heavier than a stick of wood. Judging from his features and from what you have heard during your travels through Eru, this warrior is Baron Shinzar — the enemy commander.
If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 96
.
If not,
turn to 73
.
A sudden calm descends on the surrounding forest as the last of the ghosts is dispelled by your attack. But the silence is soon shattered by a chilling howl that comes from somewhere deep beneath the ground. Shaken by your encounter and anxious to avoid further conflict with the evil spirits of this isle, you enter the forest and hurry away towards the east.
Your senses tell you that the man is lying: he is not the partisan leader. He repeats the question but still you hesitate to answer. You cast your eyes over each man in turn and your senses confirm your suspicions: none of these men is Sebb Jarel.
If you wish to ask the mouse-like man why he is lying,
turn to 51
.
If you wish to draw a weapon and challenge him to prove his identity,
turn to 132
.
If you wish to leave the cave,
turn to 23
.
The warrior lord looks at you reproachfully, and from a pocket of his surcoat he takes out a glittering gem. ‘The Elder Magi of Dessi have bestowed upon us generous gifts to aid our fight against the Darklands,’ he says, holding the gem in the palm of his hand. Then he breathes the words of an incantation and green flames dance wildly around the sparkling jewel.
If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen,
turn to 262
.
If you do not possess this skill,
turn to 64
.
‘Just as I thought,’ says the sergeant, anger in his voice. ‘This is Halgar's whip. And judging by these bloodstains I'd wager he didn't part with it gladly.’
On hearing this, the other partisans reach for their swords and you catch the glint of murder in their eyes. You begin to explain but they refuse to listen. Instead they unsheathe their blades and encircle you slowly. (Delete the Bullwhip from your list of Special Items.)
If you wish to evade combat,
turn to 39
.
If you wish to stand your ground and fight them,
turn to 118
.
You sense that the crystal rods are generating a powerful charge of negative energy. The Lorestones are being bombarded with this energy in the hope that eventually it will destroy them. If you are to retrieve the Lorestones safely you must first shut off this power. However, by doing so, you would remove the means by which they are being kept suspended in the air, and they would then fall into the pit.
You ponder the problem for several minutes before you hit upon a solution.
Using your much improved Kai skills, you disappear into the forest, leaving no trace of your passing. Even the smell of your blood is masked by your ability to secrete neutralizing oils through the pores of your skin which act as a chemical camouflage.
As the last of the Death Knights falls dead at your feet, you clamber over the corpses and run towards the stairs. Paido arms himself with a Drakkarim sword and follows as you pound up the steps towards the two triangular doors.
Majestically the Palace Guard advance across the field of battle, their lances raised like the spines of a steel porcupine, their scarlet and yellow pennons streaming behind them in the wind. The enemy shower them with a rain of arrows, yet the Eruans seemingly ignore these deadly shafts and continue undeterred. It is not until they reach the ditch that the constant bow-fire begins to abrade their ranks. However, it does little to slow their pace as the Prince gives the order to charge. The knights level their lances as they reach the bottom of the hill. Above them a regiment of Drakkarim pikemen brace themselves to receive the attack and a blaze of lightning hurtles down from the temple wall. You wince as it streaks down the hill, but miraculously it misses its intended target and explodes near the ditch, hurling nothing but scorched mud and the bodies of those already slain into the sky.
The Prince's battle-cry rings out and his knights slam into the Drakkarim to break like a wave against their wall of pikes. The Prince and a small group of his stoutest guardsmen break through and gallop on towards the temple whilst the remaining knights engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The Prince and his group reach the temple and you see them dismount and enter the ruins. Such bravery stirs your admiration, for they know the deadly danger that lurks there, yet they confront it unflinchingly.