The Eye of Winter's Fury (76 page)

The guard displays a matching Royal Hoard, but his hand beats his opponent’s, with a higher house and the two of crowns.

‘You cheated! You cheated!’ The hooded figure stands, his dark form seeming to stretch and grow larger. Bony hands reach for the guard, the cowl finally falling back to reveal a grinning skull.

Undaunted by his foe, the guard raises an arm – summoning a magical sword to his hand. Leaning away from the grasping fingers, he drives the shimmering blade through the mottled robes, eliciting an ear-piercing shriek from the ghoulish skeleton.

‘I win!’ He grins, withdrawing the blade and watching in triumph as the robes slide empty to the floor. ‘Game over.’

He turns to you, then points past your shoulder with the tip of his sword. You follow the line of the blade to a cobwebbed corner of the room. Suddenly, a pair of stones start to lift out from one of the walls, flipping outwards to reveal a secret alcove. ‘Your reward,’ he replies. ‘For Valeron. For Glory.’ Then he tilts back his head, eyes focusing on something unseen – and vanishes from sight.

‘Treasure! Look!’ Anise is already crossing the room to the alcove. ‘There’s potions here!’

You hurry to join her, eager to discover what rewards the guard has left behind. As well as 40 gold crowns, you may also take any/all of the following items:

You may now search the room, if you haven’t already (turn to
310
) or leave through the open doorway (turn to
188
).

556

Legendary monster:
Naglfar
the Corpse Ship

Birds rise up out of the gully; ragged-looking vultures with barely a scrap of meat on their bones. They wheel overhead in wide circles, their hoarse cries announcing the approach of the
Naglfar
.

You are crouched on a narrow tongue of rock, overlooking the canyon. A dry wind beats about your face, driving more stinging ash and dust into your eyes. You rub at them angrily, only making the discomfort worse. Blinking, you try and refocus.

The bow of the ghost ship swings round the gully, moving into plain sight. Green mould and barnacles cling to its massive bulk – itself a horrific creation, fashioned from the nails of the dead, or so Skoll believes. Swirling tides of magic surge beneath its prow, making the craft appear to hover above the ashen ground.

The ghost ship shimmers like a desert mirage: something caught between worlds, sailing the thin divide that separates life from death. Thirteen night-black sails bunch in the wind, each one displaying thirteen skulls. Thirteen, the number of the curved beaks carved into its lofty crow’s nest, each spitting spectral flames into the hellish sky.

Thirteen. Unlucky for some.

The ship’s hull has been ruptured, leaving a deep gouge running along most of its port side. A green glow seeps from this ghastly maw, illuminating the ground like a gruesome search light. Its brightness leaves the ship’s carved figurehead in shadow, but its malign silhouette – a wailing horned demon – is unmistakably chilling.

Naglfar
. The whaling vessel that brought the witch north and was wrecked off the coast hundreds of years ago. Whether it was anger or revenge that guided her actions, or even some twisted gratitude, the witch has raised the ship from the ocean – crew and all – to forever sail over her blighted wasteland; damned for all eternity.

You want that ship.

It drifts closer, creaking ominously as it rocks back and forth on unseen currents. The captain stands rigid at the wheel, while crewmen scurry across the deck and through the rigging; performing the same tasks they once did in life. Before they were drowned in the cold waters of the North Sea.

You rise, grimacing at the discomfort from your cramping muscles. Your deterioration is worsening – you glance down at your hands, trembling like an old man’s. Part of your face is now rotted to bone. You can feel the wind fingering the spaces, pulling against the last threads of sinew.

Another corpse for the corpse ship,
you reflect dourly.

The ship passes beneath your position. You lean over, eyes scanning back to the rocks at the far side of the gully. Skoll is moving forward, swinging a grapple above his head. Then he lets fly. A dark line streaks towards the ship, then there is a deafening crunch as the barbed head breaks through the lower stern. The
Naglfar
’s bow lifts skyward as the vessel lurches back, pulling against the rope. The other end is bound tight to the largest boulder in the rock-pile, anchoring the ship in place – directly below you.

Spectral claws flash from your fingertips. Then you are running for the edge, springing off at the last moment, magic flickering around your limbs as you power yourself towards the main mast. You reach it with ease, claws ripping into the mouldy fabric of the sail. Startled cries sound from below. You drop quickly, hitting the deck. The nearest sailor, his bloated body partly encrusted with coral, takes a swing at you with his cutlass. You elbow him in the face, smashing through rotted bone, then gut him with your claws. His body turns to grey ashes, carried away on the wind.

You spin sharply, a blast of magic racing from your hands. It slams into the gunner on the poop deck, who had been training a crossbow on Skoll. The charge hits him in the side, blowing ash into the air as he explodes.

You continue to move swiftly, relying on magic to power your limbs. A flick of your hand throws a nearby net over the starboard rail. Anise breaks from cover beneath the ship, snatching the knotted ropes to use as a ladder.

The captain stumbles past his surprised crew, a whale-bone leg tapping noisily against the deck. The tattered remains of an admiral’s coat hang off his bony limbs, the shoulders decorated with fronds of black seaweed. Beneath the shadows of a tri-horned hat, you spy a single eye of burning fury. The other is covered by a barnacled eye-patch.

‘I’m taking your ship,’ you state firmly, baring your weapons.

The captain pats at a conch shell hanging around his neck. Some sign of his status, you suspect. The crew look from you to the captain, then back again – seemingly awaiting an order, or perhaps undecided who they should be following.

The captain’s jaws creak open, revealing black stumps for teeth. ‘I am Captain Caverdos and this is the
Naglfar
.
My
ship.’ With startling speed he whips a bright cutlass from his belt, holding its point towards your throat. ‘While I carry this conch, the crew answers to me, and only me – savvy?’ He glances around at his mesmerised crewmen. ‘What yer waitin’ for – the tide to take us? Ten bloated leeches for the first one to bring me ’is head!’

The crew draw their swords and daggers. Behind you there is a crack as a trapdoor is thrown open and a burly half-giant pulls himself up from below. Gripped in his meaty fist is a club fashioned from part of a shark’s jaw.

‘But there’s more of ’em,’ whines one of the sailors. He points to Anise, who has now clambered onto the deck, her short sword ringing out of its scabbard. Skoll swings over the rail to join her, a wicked battle axe in each hand. There is a moment’s tense silence as both sides eye one another.

Then the captain gives a blustery snort of rage and charges – his attack finally inciting his cowardly crewmen into action. It is time to fight:

	Special abilities
	All hands to the deck : At the start of each combat round after the first, a new sailor (with the same stats as those above) joins the combat.
	Aura of command (*): While the Captain is alive, the sailors have an armour of 6. This is reduced to 3 if the Captain is defeated.
	Mako’s bite : For each your hero rolls for attack speed (before or after a reroll), you are caught by Mako’s shark axe and must take 4 damage, ignoring armour . If Mako is defeated you can ignore this ability.
	Mutiny on the Naglfar : The crew of the ship have a morale of 15. When this is reduced to zero any surviving crew will immediately surrender, winning you the combat. Each sailor you defeat reduces the crew’s morale by 1. Defeating the Captain will reduce morale by 5 and defeating Mako will reduce it by 3. The combat must continue until the crew’s morale is reduced to zero.
	Overwhelmed : Skoll and Anise are keeping the crew distracted, but time is against you. If a combat round ends with seven sailors in play (after passive effects have been applied), then you have automatically lost the combat.