Wolf's Bane (10 page)
You are within a few feet of the exit tunnel when a heavy sheet of iron falls from the ceiling and seals off your chosen route of escape. You spin around and glimpse the creatures in the pot who attempted to shoot you full of arrows. They are small, blue-skinned reptilians, with cruel crocodilian faces and curiously human hands. They are armed with finely crafted bows of gleaming white bone which you detect are capable of discharging six poisoned arrows every second. The reptilians are close to reloading these bows — you must act quickly if you are to avoid becoming the target of another deadly volley.
If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it,
turn to 277
.
If you possess Magi-magic and wish to use it,
turn to 219
.
If you possess a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 136
.
If you possess neither of these Disciplines, nor a Bow, or choose to use none of them,
turn to 82
.
Once outside, you focus your tracking skills and attempt to pick up your enemy's trail. You have a feeling that he may have doubled back on his tracks and so you retrace your steps to the street where you first appeared in this alien city. As you are nearing this place, you suddenly hear the ringing metallic
clang
of an iron girder falling from a height. The noise echoes from an alleyway off to your right and immediately you go to investigate.
At the end of the alley you discover a derelict warehouse. Fire has ravaged its interior and much of the roof has caved in, but amongst the debris you can see that it once stored metal cylinders and coils of wire. You stop at the entrance and listen. Your caution is rewarded when you hear footsteps at the rear of the building. You draw your weapon and enter, using the debris for cover as you inch your way towards the back of the ruined warehouse. You are moving between cover when suddenly you see the outline of a human form silhouetted against a broken window. Instantly you know that it is not Wolf's Bane: this figure is clad in grey, close-fitting armour and is holding a metallic spear. The realization makes you hesitate, and in that split second of indecision, the armoured figure sees you and raises its spear. A blinding flame ignites at its tip and a beam of white-hot light comes speeding towards your chest.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess Grand Pathsmanship, add 3 to the number you have picked.
If your total is now 5 or less,
turn to 312
.
If it is 6 or higher,
turn to 6
.
You motion to your companions to follow, and then you take your first step into the dark tomb. Suddenly there is a blinding flash of white light followed almost instantly by the deafening crackle of exploding electrical energies. Pain consumes your body as you are lifted into the air and thrown backwards by the blast. You have triggered a hidden power-glyph, a magical booby trap, and you have been caught by its explosive energy.
Pick a number from the Random Number (0=10). Now add 5 to the number you picked. The resulting total equals the number
ENDURANCE
points you lose.
Make the necessary adjustments to your Action Chart before
turning to 13
.
Your advanced Kai Mastery reveals to you that a hoard of precious platinum is stored in a chamber at the end of the left corridor.
If you wish to explore the left corridor,
turn to 95
.
If you choose instead to explore the right corridor,
turn to 137
.
The creature that is diving towards you suddenly freezes in mid-air. The morbid fear of death that had gripped your heart quickly evaporates, but you are left with a feeling of deep unease as your senses detect that something extraordinary is taking place around you. The hall has become filled with a deadly silence and everything, including the tongues of flame trailing from the creature's sword, and the blazing fire in the grate, is utterly frozen. It is as if time itself is standing still.
Wolf's Bane is a frozen statue, his face fixed in the malevolent sneer he was wearing in gleeful anticipation that you were about to meet your doom. You are beginning to think that perhaps you have been killed and that this is life after death, when suddenly you glimpse a blurred movement out of the corner of your eye.
From the shadows cast by the gallery there steps a young teenage girl. She is dressed in a leather jerkin and threadbare trousers which are cut short at the knees. She is barefoot and appears to be armed only with a mischievous grin.
‘Who … who are you? Why are you here?’ you stammer, dumbly. Casually she walks towards you and reaches up to touch a finger to the frozen fiery sword clutched in the taloned hands of Wolf's Bane's winged minion. There is a gentle
Pop!
and the creature disappears.
Illustration IV—Armed with only a mischievous grin, Alyss sees off Wolf's Bane's winged minion.
‘I'm Alyss, and I do hate cheats,’ she says, as she wanders over to where Wolf's Bane is standing immobile. Cheekily she pokes out her tongue at him and then she spins on her heel to face you.
‘Now, perhaps you can finish what you came here to do, Lone Wolf,’ she says, and claps her hands three times. A sudden rush of noise assails your ears and your senses reel as the reality of time comes flooding back into the hall.
With a loud and angry buzzing noise, the predatory dragonfly circles you twice and then dives down like a speeding hawk to make its initial attack.
Golasyx:
COMBAT SKILL
49
ENDURANCE
45
This creature is attempting to stab you with the tip of its spear-like proboscis as it swoops past; therefore you need only fight this combat for one round.
If you inflict an equal or greater
ENDURANCE
loss upon the enemy in this single round of combat,
turn to 163
.
If you sustain a greater
ENDURANCE
loss than your enemy,
turn to 221
.
Using your advanced mastery, you cause the dragonfly's wounds to close up and heal. Consciousness and strength return to its battered body and the creature is able to pull out of its dive before it is too late. It swoops deep into the cavernous moat of the tower to gather speed for its ascent into the clouds. As you soar past the top of the tower, you see that the dragonfly pens have been completely destroyed by the explosion. Fire rages through the uppermost levels of the tower, and is spreading quickly to those below.
You use your tracking skills to find your enemy's trail, but following it becomes increasingly difficult. You sense that he has used magic to assist his escape for the foliage hereabouts is entangled far tighter than in neighbouring areas of this jungle. Your progress is slowed, but eventually you reach a copse of toa trees where you hear the sound of running water away to your left. Your adversary's tracks turn in this direction and you follow them all the way to the banks of a fast-flowing watercourse.
Less than fifty yards downstream there is a primitive settlement of huts that form an untidy line along the edge of the stream. The tracks appear to lead to this settlement but you can see no sign of Wolf's Bane. The place looks deserted.
If you wish to stay in the jungle and observe the settlement,
turn to 215
.
If you choose to continue your pursuit, you can approach the settlement under cover of the jungle, by
turning to 297
.
You motion your companions to follow as you leave this chamber by a tunnel in its south wall. This new passage gradually descends by slope and stair through deeper levels of the catacombs. You detect no trace of the impostor and, when eventually the tunnel comes to a dead end, you curse your ill luck and turn reluctantly to retrace your steps. It is then that you sense a faint but lingering aura of Evil close to the tunnel floor.
Closer inspection reveals a trapdoor set into the flagstones. You pull this heavy hatch open and discover a circular chute and a ladder descending into darkness. Your heart misses a beat when you notice fresh tracks on the ladder's iron rungs: at last you have found the impostor's trail.
Cautiously you lead the descent into the chute, using your powers of infravision to scan for signs of movement in the damp darkness below. After several minutes you reach the bottom of the ladder where you discover a large vaulted chamber. Around its walls are positioned urns and grey stone caskets, each embellished with traces of gold. There is an unexpected air of opulence about this vault which prompts you to guess that it is a secret burial tomb.
If you have ever visited the Graveyard of the Ancients in a previous
Lone Wolf
adventure,
turn to 182
.
If you have never visited this place,
turn to 206
.
You make your way towards the avenue and take cover in a darkened alleyway, an ideal place from which to observe the passing traffic. Thirty minutes elapse before a hover-wagon glides into view at the city end of the avenue. It is bound for the tower, but you note that its cargo compartment is completely sealed and so you decide to let it pass and wait for a more suitable target. Fortunately, you do not have to wait too long. Within the space of a few minutes another appears. This one, like the first, has no driver, but its cargo bay is open to the elements. As you wait for it to get closer, you judge its speed and prepare yourself to leap aboard as it passes. It is less heavily laden than the first wagon and is moving much quicker; leaping aboard this speeding wagon is not going to be easy.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If you possess the Discipline of Grand Pathsmanship, add 3 to the number you have picked. If your current
ENDURANCE
points score is 12 or less, deduct 2 from the number you have picked.
If your total is now 2 or less,
turn to 301
.
If it is 3 or higher,
turn to 185
.
The grating rumble of heavy stone on stone heralds the sudden appearance of the impostor. Like some secret door to a nightmare realm, the entire far wall of this vault is slowly sliding open. Violent tremors shake the floor and orange tongues of flaming gas shoot from the ever-widening gap. Silhouetted in the centre of this fiery portal is a warrior clad in a parody of the robes of a Kai Grand Master. His stature and his facial features bear an uncanny resemblance to your own, yet the two of you are not entirely identical. The eyes of this impostor betray his true nature for they are black and cold; they are like two tiny windows through which you can see the evil lurking deep within his heart.
The portal crackles and roars like a blazing furnace yet it radiates no heat. You sense powerful magic at work here and you shout a command to your young Kai comrades to prepare themselves for combat. They react as one, their years of training suppressing their fears, and swiftly they draw arms and form up in a protective circle around you. The impostor unsheathes his black-bladed sword and gives vent to a chilling laugh that momentarily drowns the roar of the flames. His cruel laughter fills your head and suddenly the stone walls of the vault seem to writhe and buckle inwards. Your psychic Kai defences resist this illusion and the distortion ceases, yet as it does so you realize that something important has changed. You command your companions to retreat towards the chute but they do not respond. They are completely rigid, frozen immobile like four stone statues.
‘Ha ha ha … ’ cackles the impostor, ‘so we meet at last, Lone Wolf.’ He advances a little nearer and you feel an icy chill wash over you. The body of this bogus Kai Lord radiates coldness.
‘How I have enjoyed myself in your guise,’ he sneers. ‘Let me introduce myself … I am Wolf's Bane. An apt name, don't you think?’
‘What is your purpose?’ you growl in reply, your hand poised to draw a weapon in case he should attempt to launch a sudden attack.
‘Why, I've come to kill you, of course,’ he retorts, his voice full of contempt. ‘There should be but one Grand Master and only I am worthy of such distinction.’ The impostor narrows his coal-black eyes and curls back his lip in disdain.
Illustration V—‘Why, I've come to kill you, of course,’ retorts Wolf's Bane in contempt.
‘And I intend to prove my worthiness, Lone Wolf,’ he adds, with quiet menace.
‘How so?’
‘By a duel,’ he replies. ‘I challenge you to a duel. A fight to the finish. A fight between just you and I, Lone Wolf.’
‘And if I refuse your challenge?’ you retort, defiantly.
‘Then your four frail acolytes will die.’ The impostor sweeps his sword in a wide arc, as if to emphasize his threat, and the fiery wall at his back begins to change. The plumes of flame twist and spin with increasing speed until the wall is transformed into a swirling vortex. Fear tightens its icy fingers around your throat as you witness the creation of a Shadow Gate — a portal to another plane of existence. At once you know his threat is real. If he were to direct the power of the vortex towards your paralysed companions, they would be helpless to resist. They would be sucked into the Shadow Gate and destroyed.
‘Very well,’ you say, ‘I accept your challenge.’
Wolf's Bane gives a triumphant smile and whirls his black sword around his head. Then he dashes the blade to the floor and, in a terrifying instant, a mighty gust of wind tears the two of you off your feet and sends you both hurtling into the fiery heart of the dread Shadow Gate.