Flight from the Dark (18 page)
Read Flight from the Dark Online
Authors: Joe Dever
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #Lone Wolf, #Magnamund
Two soldiers and a sergeant run towards you, their crossbows aimed at your head. As they get nearer, they recognize your Kai cloak and a look of relief spreads across their faces.
‘My Lord,’ says the sergeant, ‘where are the other Kai Masters? We are in desperate need of their wisdom. The Darklords press us most cruelly and our casualties are high.’
You inform the brave soldier of the fate of your kinsmen, and the urgency of your mission to see the King. He takes you back to the barges where an officer accompanies you on horseback towards the high walls and the main gate of Holmgard.
The slimy creature lets out a long, ghastly death-cry and collapses. You are near to panic and scramble to your feet, grabbing what you think to be your belt from the jaws of the dead beast. You can see light in the far distance, and you sprint for it as fast as you can. When you finally emerge into the daylight, you fall onto the leafy ground and fight for breath in painful gasps.
Slowly sitting upright, you notice that you are still wearing your belt — you had not lost it after all. What you grabbed from the jaw of the Burrowcrawler was a leather strap with a small pouch and a sheathed Dagger halfway along it. You break open the clasp to find it contains 20 Gold Crowns. You may take both the Dagger and the Crowns if you are able to.
Feeling a little better now, you gather your Equipment together and push on eastwards into the forest.
As you race across the open field towards the wood, a Kraan dives at you and claws your arm. Before you can fight back, it has flown off again, shrieking with cold malice.
You enter the wood, but you have lost 2
ENDURANCE
points.
You walk for nearly an hour along the twisting river's edge. Beyond the next turn you can hear the faint noise of battle. You carefully climb a steep hillock to get a better view of the area.
After what seems an eternity of struggling, you reach the peak of the steep hill. Behind you, above the canopy of trees, you can see the still smouldering remains of the monastery. To the north, a column of jet-black smoke rises high into the sky. Small orange tongues of flame flicker at its base. Your heart sinks as you realize that the port of Toran is ablaze.
Suddenly, a piercing cry above warns you that a Kraan is about to attack. It is about thirty yards away and diving for the kill.
If you are going to stand and fight it as it swoops down,
turn to 17
.
If you are going to evade its attack and slide down the other side of the hill, away from the Kraan,
turn to 89
.
From the top of the tower you can see above the trees in all directions. Far to the north, a column of jet-black smoke rises high into the sky. Small orange tongues of flame flicker at its base. Your heart sinks as you realize that the port of Toran is ablaze. From the southwest, the wind carries the noise of battle. It is close; no more than five miles at most.
On the floor of the watchtower is a large oblong box.
If you wish to open this box,
turn to 290
.
If you would prefer to descend the ladder and leave the tower, taking care to use only the good rungs,
turn to 140
.
You pull up your hood and drop down behind the rocks that litter the mouth of the cave. Holding your breath, you curl up into a tight ball, and completely cover yourself with your green cloak. Only a few minutes later the Giaks clamber over the rocky ledge outside, their evil yellow eyes furtively searching every crevice of the hillside.
Then cursing in their strange tongue, they leave the ledge and start to climb towards the peak. You silently thank your old Masters for teaching you the Kai Discipline of Camouflage — it has probably saved your life on this occasion.
If you wish to explore the cave,
turn to 33
.
If you wish to leave and descend the hill in case the Giaks return,
turn to 248
.
Upon seeing you emerge from the woods, the Giak officer shouts
‘Ogot! Ogot!’
to his cowering troops, who flee the ruins and run to the safety of the forest.
Shaking his mailed fist at you, the black-clad Giak screams,
‘RANEG ROGAG OK — ORGADAKA OKAK ROGAG GAJ!’
before leaving. Surveying the scene of battle, you count over fifteen Giak dead lying among the broken pillars of Raumas.
The young wizard wipes his brow and walks towards you, his hand extended in friendship.
You carefully insert the Key and turn it clockwise. You hear a dull
click
— the Key works. You lift out the pin, and the large granite door slowly swings towards you on hidden hinges. The grey half-light of the Graveyard floods into the tomb. The exit is overgrown with graveweed and you suffer many cuts to your face and arms as you fight your way through to the surface.
Looking back, you see the tomb door slowly close and a cruel inhuman laugh seems to rise out of the very ground on which you stand. In blind panic, you race through the eerie necropolis towards the south gate.
Within a few minutes, you can see the Kraan hovering over a hilltop behind you. At a quick count you can make out at least sixteen of these horrible creatures, each of which has at least two Giaks riding upon its back. They are armed with long spears and wear tall pointed helmets of dull bronze. You hear the excited grunts of the Giaks. They have spotted you.
You jump for the entrance of the tunnel some twenty-five feet below, but your boot gets caught in a thorny briar and you hang helplessly upside down — weaponless and vulnerable. Fortunately for you the end is swift: As the first Giak lance pierces your heart, death is instantaneous.
Your life and your mission end here.
As the creature dies, its body slowly dissolves into a vile green liquid. You notice that the grass and plants beneath the smoking fluid are beginning to shrivel and die. But a large valuable looking Gem lies on the ground near to the decaying body.
If you wish to take the Gem,
turn to 76
.
If you would rather leave as quickly as possible,
turn to 118
.
As you descend the ridge towards the Graveyard of the Ancients, you are aware of a strange mist and cloud that swirls all around this grey and forbidding place, blocking the sun and keeping the Graveyard in perpetual gloom.
A creeping chill seems to penetrate your very bones. Your horse becomes startled and no matter how you urge him on, he refuses to go any nearer to this dreadful place. So you must leave your horse and press on by foot.
Fatigued by your exertions, you stop to rest for a few minutes at a fallen tree. You notice a large bundle, beneath the trunk.
If you wish to examine the contents of the bundle,
turn to 315
.
If you wish to leave it where it is and continue your mission,
turn to 213
.
Surrounded by thorny briars and closely packed roots, you see the entrance of a tunnel disappearing into the hillside beyond. It is approximately seven feet in height and just over ten feet wide. As you get closer, you can feel a slight breeze coming from the inky blackness. If the other end of this tunnel emerges on the far side of the hill, it could save you many hours of difficult climbing. But it could also harbour unknown danger.
If you wish to enter the tunnel,
turn to 170
.
If you would prefer to climb the hillside,
turn to 280
.
You walk for nearly ten minutes along a dark and winding corridor, and then start to climb a steep staircase to a small wooden door. The man presses a secret catch and the door opens. You enter a large, plushly decorated bedroom with a huge marble bath that takes up one corner of the room. The man suggests that you refresh yourself here whilst he seeks an audience with the King.
You quickly bathe and change into some white robes that have been left out on a large marble table. Shortly, the man returns and leads you through a long corridor lined with exquisite tapestries. You finally arrive at a large door guarded by two soldiers wearing silver armour.
You are about to meet the King.
You have cut your way through the thick undergrowth for nearly half an hour when you hear the beat of wings high above the trees. Looking up you can just make out the shape of a Kraan approaching from the north. It is one of the monsters that attacked the monastery and on its back are two grey-skinned creatures armed with long spears.
These are Mountain Giaks — evil servants of the Darklords, full of hatred and malice. Many centuries ago, their ancestors were used by the Darklords to build the infernal city of Helgedad, which lies in the volcanic wastelands beyond the Durncrag range of mountains. The construction of the city was long and torturous and only the strongest of the Giaks survived the heat and poisonous atmosphere of Helgedad.
Hidden by the trees, you freeze, keeping absolutely still as the Kraan passes overhead and disappears towards the south. When you are sure that it has gone, you move off once again into the forest.
As the stream vanishes up into the rocky hillside, you can see on the track above four soldiers and their officer. They wear the uniform of the King's army.
Illustration XVIII—You can see on the track above four soldiers and their officer wearing the uniform of the King's army.
If you wish to use the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense,
turn to 48
.
If you wish to use the Kai Discipline of Camouflage and wait for them to pass,
turn to 73
.
If you wish to approach them,
turn to 162
.