The Captives of Kaag (13 page)

You break free from the combat and run headlong through the tunnel without looking back. The Plaak are incapable of pursuing you at speed and within minutes you have managed to leave them far behind.

The tunnel continues for several hundred yards before arriving at an empty circular room. The only feature here is a rusty iron ladder, fixed precariously to the wall, which ascends through a hole in the ceiling to a level above. There is no other exit from this chamber and so, with caution guiding your every move, you climb the rust-eaten rungs.

You rise through the hole to find yourself in a corridor which is strewn with human bones. Skeletons lie mixed in tangled heaps and many of the skulls and loose bones seem to have been gnawed. The psychic residues of pain and terror left by these luckless victims press in upon your senses, making you feel queasy and claustrophobic. With pounding heart you advance along the bone-choked passage, stepping carefully through the skeletons to avoid making a sound. But you have taken less than a dozen steps when something unexpected makes you freeze in your tracks.

Turn to 218
.

You twist aside and the liquid passes over your right shoulder to splash, with a sizzling hiss, across the chamber floor. Droplets of the fluid spray your face and cloak, but your mastery of Grand Nexus saves you from being burned by this highly corrosive acid, an acid which would have instantly sealed the doom of a lesser mortal.

Shaken but undeterred, you scramble to your feet and face the octopoid once more, determined to defeat it in combat.

If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 243
.

If you do not,
turn to 192
.

You take up the Spear and notice three notches cut along the shaft where the guard has recorded the lives he has taken with this crudely made weapon. (If you wish to keep this Spear, remember to record it on your
Weapons List
.)

You push open the heavy door carefully and glimpse the Drakkar striding along a corridor. He reaches the end and starts to descend a staircase to the ground floor. You enter and move stealthily towards the stairs. As you draw nearer, you see a gallery which overlooks the cavernous lower level. To your right, set flush to the wall, is a black oak door.

Slowly you approach the gallery's railed parapet where you look down at an unnerving sight.

Turn to 47
.

Your senses tell you that you possess the correct key to open this door long before you have even approached the door itself. You retrieve the key from your Backpack, insert it in the lock, and twist it confidently. The lock clicks open and you pass through into the chamber beyond.

Turn to 328
.

The avenue continues to a square where stands a massive horseshoe-shaped arch, crafted from dull blue metal which is engraved with runes and evil insignia. A score of battle-weary Giaks, some Drakkarim, and a Gourgaz are resting nearby. No guards have been posted around their makeshift camp and your arrival here goes unnoticed.

Beyond them, in the middle distance, you see the base of the great citadel. It is a truly awesome sight, a pyramid of jet-black stone which rises to a needle-sharp peak more than ten thousand feet above the streets of the city.

Illustration VII
—Battle-weary Giaks, Drakkarim, and a Gourgaz rest near the massive horseshoe shaped arch.

Soon a rickety wooden cart, drawn by two ugly, ox-like creatures in harness, trundles into the square. It halts and its Giak driver pulls back the tarpaulin which is covering its cargo, revealing haunches of grey-green meat stacked in a pile. Unceremoniously, the driver tosses them to the soldiers who devour them with obvious relish. It is an unwholesome sight, made even more so when you realize that what they are eating is freshly slaughtered Giak meat.

Turn to 250
.

Your Arrow slams into the centre of the crystal and cracks it open. There is a flash of sparks; then the shimmering wall of light which imprisons Banedon flickers and disappears completely.

Turn to 188
.

The Gourgaz, followed obediently by his squad of ragged Giak warriors, crosses a mile-wide section of derelict buildings before entering a broad, clear avenue where there is very little cover. Unhampered by the terrain, you watch as they start to outdistance you, but you are not lured into following them. You decide to stay in the ruins rather than run the risk of being detected out in the open. However, within a matter of minutes you discover the reason why the Gourgaz took his troops out into the open. The ground in this section of the ruins is unsafe. It is riddled with pot-holes and concealed cellars, covered by rotten wooden beams and slabs of paper-thin plaster. Suddenly one such section gives way beneath your feet and you find yourself falling headlong into coal-black darkness.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you have the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to the number you have picked.

If your total score is now 0–5,
turn to 32
.

If it is 6 or more,
turn to 51
.

You climb the broad staircase, ascending more than twenty levels. Your camouflage disciplines keep you hidden from the inhabitants of the citadel that you encounter during your ascent, but as you climb higher, you notice that these encounters are becoming fewer and fewer.

At the top of the staircase you are engulfed by a furnace-like heat. A deserted corridor extends into the distance, its walls glowing a deep dull red. Yet beyond this initial section you detect that the tunnel is far cooler.

If you wish to try to reach the cooler section of this tunnel,
turn to 313
.

If you decide not to enter the tunnel, you can descend the stairs to a lower, cooler level, by
turning to 24
.

The moment the heavy iron bridge crashes down across the moat you leap upon it and race towards the dais. But as you near its centre a wall of sparkling magical flame erupts at either end, sealing off both routes completely. In desperation you call telepathically to Banedon, hoping to awaken him to consciousness, but you are unable to make contact. Then, unexpectedly, your psychic calls are answered by a blood-chilling scream.

Horror floods your mind when you realize that the person on the dais is not your friend Banedon — it is a Helghast. As the creature rises and its features twist and distort before your gaze, you cast an anxious glance back across the bridge towards the great door. Standing there now are two Drakkarim guards with a slavering boar-like beast which is straining on its leash. Suddenly the magical flame vanishes and, with relish, they release the creature and send it bounding towards you.

If you have a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 335
.

If you do not,
turn to 89
.

You have retreated barely a dozen yards along the passage when suddenly a troop of Drakkarim appear in the distance, blocking your escape. They howl like demons and unshoulder their bows as they come rushing along the tunnel towards you.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.

If the number you have picked is 0,
turn to 275
.

If it is 1–3,
turn to 283
.

If it is 4–9,
turn to 36
.

The moment you step inside the building your breath is snatched away by an overpowering stench. It takes some considerable effort to stem the waves of nausea welling up from the pit of your stomach as, slowly, you follow a corridor which winds its way deeper into this foul place. The smell is atrocious, but not unfamiliar, and when the passage finally reaches its destination your suspicions are confirmed. What you can smell is the stench of Giak blood.

Before you is a vast, low-ceilinged hall, filled with butchered carcasses hanging from hooks drilled into a criss-cross of roof beams. A dozen Giaks stand at gore-stained benches, cleavers in hand, hacking the grey-green meat into more manageable sizes. It does not seem to worry them in the least that the meat they are crudely shaping is of their own kind.

Your churning stomach prompts you quickly to leave this abattoir by means of another passage. This ends abruptly at a flight of stairs, at the foot of which is a door secured by a large wooden bolt.

If you wish to descend the stairs,
turn to 38
.

If you choose to investigate the door,
turn to 279
.

You move stealthily to a new position, directly opposite the tower, and wait for the traffic of Giaks and Drakkarim to clear. The street is soon empty and you get ready to make your move.

If you wish to ascend the stairs which lead directly to the tower roof,
turn to 53
.

If you prefer to attempt to climb the tower wall,
turn to 277
.

Slowly a brooding, malignant vapour arises from the creature's corpse to hover in the air above it. You sense a powerful magical aura radiating from this sinister shadow and, as you back away from it, a mass of swirling sparks begin flickering at its core. Banedon calls for your help, his cry echoing faintly in your mind. You spin around and see him falling sideways to the floor of the platform, unconscious and unmoving. Fear runs cold in your veins, a fear that grows wilder when you glance once more at the hovering shadow, for now it has descended to the ground and from beneath its curtain-like base there pours a seething tide of black-bodied insects, some as large as mice.

Illustration VIII
—Black-bodied insects seethe from the base of the hovering shadow.

If your current
ENDURANCE
points score is 12 or lower
turn to 30
.

If it is 13 or more
turn to 77
.

The fell creature pins you to the ground and you feel its steely fingers clawing at your throat. In sheer desperation, you twist and writhe like a snake to free yourself from its deadly grip. For an instant its hold falters and you exploit this weakness to the full. Swiftly you bring your knees up to your chest and kick out at the creature's midriff whilst holding firm to the neck of its robe. The Helghast is sent tumbling over your shoulder to plummet, head-first, into the flame-filled moat.

Open-mouthed, the two Drakkarim stumble to a halt and stare down into the crackling fire. Nervously they glance at each other, fearful of suffering a similar fate; then they turn and run towards the open chamber door. Determined not to let them escape, you give chase and catch up with them within a few yards of the entrance.

Drakkarim:
COMBAT SKILL
 26   
ENDURANCE
 35

If you win this combat,
turn to 340
.

The torchlit stairs spiral down to a busy hall where several stairways and tunnels converge. You stay hidden in the shadows while you observe the creatures, mainly Giaks and Drakkarim, who are using this hall to move from one passage to another. All, without exception, are clad in uniforms which have been dyed a muddy shade of orange.

After a short while, the hall clears and you hurry across it towards a tunnel directly opposite. It is the only exit from the hall to have been ignored by the flow of traffic, and you choose it in the hope that it will be empty of guards. An archway off the tunnel reveals a chamber where the floor appears to be carpeted with a fine grey-green dust. Your senses tingle with a premonition of danger as you stare at the phosphorescent lichen clinging to the rough-hewn walls. The glow from the lichen illuminates several stout pilasters supporting the vaulted ceiling and an arched exit on the far side. The surface of the dusty floor is perfectly flat, undisturbed by tracks of any kind.

If you wish to cross the dusty floor and enter the archway opposite,
turn to 301
.

If you choose to ignore this hall and continue along the tunnel,
turn to 82
.