The Eye of Winter's Fury (21 page)

Unable to endure the pain any longer, you decide to make for shore. Turn to
303
.

126

You plough through the powdery snow, your sled bouncing over the waves of hidden rock and ice. As you progress, the hummocks become steeper and sharper, the roughness of your passage putting your sled in serious danger of becoming wrecked.

You will need to take a challenge test using your
stability
attribute:

If you are successful, turn to
422
. If you fail, turn to
531
.

127

‘A traveller, you say.’ The woman appears unconvinced. ‘And tell me, why would you be travelling these parts? For the scenery?’ She raises her eyebrows.

‘Not a traveller, a merchant,’ you correct quickly. ‘But I was set upon by bandits, back on the road. I was the only one to get away and . . .’

‘The only one? Who were you travelling with?’

You wince, cursing your slip up. ‘I met some others. We thought we’d travel together, for safety.’

‘Didn’t do you much good now, did it?’ The woman huffs, then she nods to your sword. ‘Tell me, did you steal that sword or were you taught to use it? A fine blade for a boy like you.’

You glance down at the holy sword, Duran’s Heart – the named blade that was gifted to you for your thirteenth birthday. ‘I . . . it . . . I found it, yes. On one of the men who attacked us.’

‘A holy blade. And does that belong to the man also?’

Her eyes shift to the dried blood coating your sleeve. You look away, avoiding her glare. ‘He was . . . one of the bandits,’ you stutter, knowing the lie is written all over your face.

The woman shakes her head with a frown of disappointment. ‘You are a fool to think I’d believe your story. You are but a child. A thief, no doubt. One who got caught out, and now plans to rob me blind.’ She puts her basket down next to the chopping block, then rests her hands on the curved handle of the wood axe. ‘Are you good with that blade, son? You had better be . . .’

‘No wait!’ You raise your hands imploringly. ‘I’m no thief. You can have the sword – I can’t even touch the cursed thing.’

For the first time, the woman exhibits surprise. ‘Is this true?’ she gasps.

Too late, you realise what you have done, blurting out your secret with no mind to the consequences. To confess such a thing is almost tantamount to treason. ‘I can only touch the scabbard,’ you reply honestly, seeing no point in spinning out another lie now you’ve gone this far. ‘The inscriptions . . . if I put even a hand to them, they . . .’ You struggle for the words.

‘Reject you?’ the woman supplies thoughtfully.

You nod, trying to gauge her reaction. This secret is one you have only shared once before, with your nursemaid Molly. And you doubt she’ll be telling anyone now . . .

‘You’re no witchfinder, then,’ the woman’s brow creases. ‘Perhaps there is some truth in what you say after all.’ Make a note of the word
pauper
on your hero sheet, then turn to
256
.

128

You give the nod to Lawson, who nocks an arrow and takes careful aim. A few tense seconds pass before he fires his shot. It thuds cleanly into the beast’s forehead, throwing it backward into the tar. The thick waters ripple out from the body, then fold back in, sucking the creature down into the inky depths. Within moments, there is barely a disturbance on the surface of the lake.

Mitch shakes his head, then gives you a hurt look. ‘How could you?’

Before you can reply, Henna jumps to your defence. ‘It would only have brought more of them,’ she says briskly. ‘You heard it. That thing was making more noise than those pestering birds.’

Mitch glowers sullenly. ‘Still don’t make it right.’

‘Come on kids, we got work to do.’ Kirk ushers you away from the shore, back towards the cart. ‘Time to get our hands dirty.’ Turn to
263
.

129

You flick to the back of the book, comparing the glossary of markings with those that have been carved into the stone figures. It appears that they are Titans, and the runes are the individual marks that represent their names. However, there are – according to the book – supposed to be nine Titans, but only eight are shown in the carving.

‘One’s missing,’ you state, cross-referencing the marks in the book against those on the wall. ‘Here it is . . . Fafnir.’

The moment you utter the name, the portal glows brighter – then
bursts into a blinding light, forcing you to cover your eyes. When the piercing radiance finally diminishes, you see that the oval portal has disappeared. Water rushes out of the space beyond, near to freezing, almost knocking you over with the force of its passage, carrying broken fragments of pottery and other debris with it.

The torrent quickly subsides as the water spreads out across the room and into the adjoining passages, leaving you ankle deep in floating wreckage.

‘Think this was a storeroom,’ says Caul. He ducks his head into the newly-opened cavity. It is small, although a rock fall at the rear of the chamber may have cut off deeper sections. You can see a number of empty shelves lining the walls, which must have once held the pots and other items now floating around you. A steady stream of water trickles from a crack in the store-room’s ceiling.

‘Disappointing,’ sighs Caul, scrunching up his face. ‘Thought there might have been some chests of gold, at least.’

You search through the wreckage, looking for anything that might be salvageable. To your relief, there are a few sealed pots that appear to have survived intact. If you wish, you may now take any/all of the following:

You also find a
plain glass orb
. If you wish to take this item, simply make a note of it on your hero sheet, it does not take up backpack space. Once you have finished picking through the debris, you re-join Caul and head out of the chamber. Turn to
494
.

130

‘I’m afraid what you see today is merely a shadow of our former strength. Back when I joined the order, we were trained as cavaliers.
We’d ride out across Glory Bridge and take the fight to our enemies – goblins and trolls, mostly, but the Skards also, when they wanted to test us.’ Everard points to an iron bridge, spanning the rift. Lines of angled spears have been set in rows across its length, forming a painful mile of death to anyone foolish enough to set their might against it.

‘But I’m afraid your father never considered the north a threat.’ Everard glances at you warily. ‘I never judged him for it – perhaps he had good reason. But our coffers are low and our equipment is less than it was. Soldiers don’t come here to ride out across the Glory Bridge anymore, they come here if they’ve got nowhere else to go. This really is the end of the road.’

A statement you can well believe.

Your gaze sweeps along the ragged line of battlements, fronted by a tiered succession of curtain walls. A few lone guards are visible along the walkways – little more than ants in comparison to the vastness of the fortifications. ‘There’s something I don’t understand, though.’ You gesture towards the rift. ‘Goblins and trolls, they’re creatures of the underworld. If they can’t take the keep – why don’t they just tunnel underneath it?’

Everard smiles knowingly. ‘That’s every smart rookie’s first thought. These walls go deep – and I mean deep. Serious magic at play. I understand a hundred White Abbots gave their lives to inscribe the walls of this place. Their life blood, their magic, is in every stone. Anything evil tries to break through . . .’ He chuckles and shakes his head. ‘I’ve heard the screams. It’s not pretty.’

131

For defeating the mighty yeti, you may now help yourself to one of the following rewards:

You have also gained a
sasquatch pelt
(simply make a note of this on your hero sheet, it doesn’t take up backpack space). When you have updated your sheet, turn to
631
.

132

Without the book, you have no knowledge of the rules and feel uncertain about giving the guard advice. This game is clearly for high stakes – and if you make the wrong move, you dread to consider the consequences.

If you wish to try and help the guard anyway, turn to
335
. Otherwise, you can refuse to aid the guard and await the outcome, turn to
321
.

133

At the foot of the stone there is a carved grid, filled with a number of strange symbols and markings.

On closer inspection, you discover that one of the symbols is missing. Four square tiles lie next to the stone, which you assume the fengle must have found. Perhaps one of these tiles is meant to be placed in the grid to solve a puzzle.

The other fengles are getting closer, their cries getting louder and more urgent. You realise that you will only have a chance to try one symbol before you will need to make a run for it. But which one will you choose?

134

You place the ‘one of snakes’ on the discard pile and pick a new stone from the bag. You have gained the ‘four of stars’.

You have the following stones:

The monk takes his turn, then waits for you to make your next move.