Mydnight's Hero (28 page)
The Knight Bachelor recognizes the linen currency of Sheasu and a flicker of fear registers in the depths of his cruel eyes. He glances at Karvas and then he bellows a command to his men to move in and take you both captive.
Reluctantly you raise your hands. Better to surrender to these horsemen and live to fight another day than attempt to resist such overwhelming odds and place the Prince's life in peril.
The pain fades as you feel your mental defences strengthening and locking together to form an impenetrable wall. The attacking pulses break like waves smashing themselves against a rocky shore, and then abruptly their energy dissipates and the attack ceases.
It is early in the afternoon when you see the ruins of an ancient fortress. They lie less than a mile from the trail, on a plateau of rock at the base of a shallow ravine. As you descend the trail and draw closer to the ruins, you hear a distant rumble of thunder. Within minutes it has begun to rain and soon you find yourself caught in a torrential downpour. Your Magnakai Pathsmanship skills warn you that heavy rain in these barren mountains brings with it the danger of a sudden flash flood.
The sheeting rain is making it impossible to see the trail ahead. Rather than continue and risk flood or fall, you leave the trail to seek shelter in the ruined fortress.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.
If the number you have picked is 0–4,
turn to 72
.
If it is 5–9,
turn to 310
.
The barrel of oil explodes with a bright yellow flash and the searing blast knocks you flat onto your back.
Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. If the number you have picked is odd (i.e. 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9), reduce your current
ENDURANCE
score by 3. If the number is even (i.e. 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8), reduce your current
ENDURANCE
score by 5.
Wincing from the stinging pain of your burns, you pull yourself into a sitting position in time to see a billowing mushroom of oily flame rising up into the darkening sky above. Instinctively you draw upon your Magnakai skill of Nexus to extinguish the fire at the base of the mast and, as these tongues of flame wither and die, Prince Karvas rushes forward to smother the smoking remains with his journeyman's cloak.
When the final tumbler clicks into place, you press your shoulder gently against the door and it creaks open a few inches.
13
The torchlit corridor outside the cell is unguarded, and you beckon Karvas to follow as you push the door open and leave.
[13] This is the correct answer to the tumbler lock puzzle in
Section 113
.
The tavern-keeper looks at the Ren with a mixture of suspicion and disdain. ‘Bah, lousy Bakhasian coinage,’ he spits, and he takes away the frothing tankards and places them under the counter.
‘I'll not accept Ren in my tavern. There's some in this town that do, but I'll touch nothing that comes from Bhanar since my son, Foulse, was murdered last year in Bakhasa.’ The tavern-keeper looks to the garrison soldiers seated at the table and indicates, with a jerk of his thumb towards the door, that he wants them to throw you out.
‘That won't be necessary,’ says Karvas, and he tugs at your sleeve. ‘We'll leave of our own accord.’
You abandon the Ren (erase these from your
Action Chart
) and return to your horses. You are disappointed that you have not been able to slake your thirst, but you are also mindful that you still have many miles to travel before you reach Seroa.
If you wish to visit the trading post before you leave Battle Pass,
turn to 120
.
If you decide to depart without further delay,
turn to 230
.
You recite the words of the Brotherhood Spell
Lightning Hand
and extend your right arm towards the nearest shrine-bearer. A crackling arc of magical energy leaps from your fingers and strikes the man in the chest, knocking him to the ground. As he releases his grip of the platform, it tilts over and the tiger-head idol tumbles from its wooden base. It hits the cobblestones with a mighty crash, breaks in two, and releases a whirling cone of red flame from its hollow core that engulfs the remaining bearers. In the blink of an eye the three men are transformed into smouldering heaps of ash.
Cries of fear and outrage echo along the street as the Bakhasian soldiers witness the deaths of their comrades and the destruction of their unholy symbol. Before they can gather themselves and give chase, you and Karvas rush across the street and make a hasty escape along the dark alleyway beyond.
You reach to your Belt Pouch and withdraw a handful of shiny Gold Crowns. The sight of the glimmering coins makes the trader's eyes widen with avarice, but you sense that his greed is tempered by a gnawing fear that you are really an assassin.
If you wish to offer some Gold Crowns to the trader in return for what he knows about Prince Karvas,
turn to 112
.
If you decide to put the coins back in your pouch,
turn to 276
.
Once more the deadly blades draw sparks from the stone ceiling as they whirl about. They gather speed until you can no longer focus on them, and then they come screeching down towards your head.
Sadanzo's sorcerous blades:
COMBAT SKILL
46
ENDURANCE
20
These blades are immune to all forms of psychic attack. If you possess the Kai Weapon ‘Valiance’, you may add the additional
COMBAT SKILL
bonus (versus magicians) to your score when calculating your Combat Ratio.
If you win the fight,
turn to 106
.
During your wait to enter the city, you must eat a Meal or lose 3
ENDURANCE
points. (You are unable to use Grand Huntmastery in this instance, for you are unable to leave the queue in order to forage for food.)
It takes you more than an hour to reach the South Gate, even though you give up your horses in exchange for better positions in the queue. As soon as the gate guards nod their approval, you hurry through the gatehouse arch and into the city beyond.
Your search of the guard's pockets uncovers the following items:
- 20 Ren (equivalent to 2 Gold Crowns)
- Dagger
- Potion of Laumspur (restores 4
ENDURANCE
points when swallowed after combat)
If you wish to keep any of these items, remember to make the necessary adjustments to your
Action Chart
.
To continue,
turn to 16
.
The Marshal of the Guard has his men confiscate your Weapons, your Kai Weapon, your Backpack, and all of your Special Items. (They leave only your Belt Pouch and its contents. On your
Action Chart
mark each of the confiscated items with an asterisk [*] to indicate that they are no longer in your possession, but do not erase them at this time.) Then he marches you and Karvas under close escort to the cells below the main hall, where you are shackled to the wall in irons. Karvas is shocked by this brutal treatment and he cannot reason why Lodamos would treat you both this way.
An hour passes before the door to the cell is thrown open and in strides Baron Lodamos, escorted by a bodyguard of his toughest fighting men. Prince Karvas pleads for your immediate release, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
‘Do you not recognize me, my lord?’ he asks. ‘Do you not remember the days we spent hunting wild boar in the Ioma Forest?’
Cautiously the Baron approaches the Prince. He has one of his bodyguards come forward with a torch so that he may look at his face. The elderly Baron scrutinizes the Prince's every feature, including the birthmark on his wrist.
‘The resemblance is uncanny, I grant you that,’ he says, ‘but you are most likely another impostor, another of Sadanzo's sorcerous creations sent here to assassinate me. No, I refuse to believe that you are Prince Karvas.’
The Baron turns to leave the cell and signals to his bodyguard to follow, but Karvas begs him to stay. Hurriedly he recalls some of the visits he made to Varedo when he was a young boy, and he recounts the summer Lodamos spent teaching him to hunt and ride. Some of the details he recalls would only be known by the real Prince Karvas, and this is enough to make Baron Lodamos stop and hesitate.
‘You have a persuasive tongue,’ he says, ‘but I am not convinced. Sadanzo is a cunning foe. Yet there is one way I can be sure.’
Baron Lodamos turns to the sergeant of his bodyguard and says: ‘Very well, Guntor. Take them both to the chapel. Only there will their true identities be revealed.’
To continue,
turn to 300
.
You hurry past the gate guards and through the open archway into a flagstoned concourse. By keeping low and hiding in the shadows, you and Karvas are able to cross this open plaza undetected and make your way along an empty avenue which bisects the city's west quarter. Grimy two-storey houses of carved hardwood pass by on either side, silent behind their bolts and shutters.
The avenue leads to a stone bridge that traverses the River Tehda and then continues into the heart of the east quarter. Here you almost collide with a patrol of armed guards which is marching towards the river, and hurriedly you are forced to take cover in a timber yard to avoid being seen. You study the ten-strong patrol as it marches past. These men are clad in black quilted tunics and wide silk leggings, and they are armed with curved swords and hand-axes. They are almond-eyed and they all have shiny black hair tied in a knot at the nape of their necks. Their leader, a stocky bull-necked sergeant, wears the emblem of Sejanoz emblazoned upon a scarlet armband. Patiently you wait for them to reach the bridge but, as they do so, another patrol comes marching along the avenue from the opposite direction. The east quarter of Bakhasa is a busy place, even at this late hour. Rather than risk being seen and captured, you decide to remain hidden here in the timber yard and attempt to get a few hours sleep before dawn.
Unless you possess the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3
ENDURANCE
points.
To continue,
turn to 340
.
You urge your horse towards the wooded hillock and enter the trees with just seconds to spare before the leading fanji come flashing past. You look about you but Karvas is nowhere to be seen. You fear he has been trampled by the stampede, but then he suddenly appears from out of the thundering wall of beasts. He is bruised and battered but he is still astride his horse and in full control of him. He veers his frightened steed away from the herd and comes galloping up the slope of the hillock towards the sanctuary of the trees. He pulls to a halt by your side and strokes the neck of his whinnying horse to reassure and calm him.
As the herd rush past the hillock, you glimpse more than a dozen horsemen who are galloping close behind them. They are hunters and they are picking off the best fanji at close quarters with bows and spears. Two of these fur-clad plainsmen see you and Karvas recovering among the trees, and instantly they steer their horses away from the herd and urge them towards the hillock. You sense that they suspect you and the Prince are after their quarry and, as they ride closer, they mouth curses and fire their bows at you.
Their steel-tipped shafts arc through the air and thud into the trees close by.
If you possess a Bow and wish to return fire at these hunters,
turn to 278
.
If you wish to attempt to evade them,
turn to 133
.