The Eye of Winter's Fury (84 page)

With a hellish shriek the summoned creature lurches towards you on tentacle-like roots while Ratatosk lopes to a safe distance, rummaging in his pouch for more enchanted seeds. It is time to fight:

	Special abilities
	Rat-a-tat-tat : Ratatosk continues to sow more of his dark seeds, summoning minions to his aid. At the start of each combat round, roll a die. On a result of or less, two new shadow saplings enter the combat (with the same attributes as the sapling shown above). If the result is or more, only one new shadow sapling enters the combat.
	Thorn fingers : At the end of each combat round, you must take 1 damage (ignoring armour ) from each shadow sapling currently in play.

If Ratatosk is defeated, the
rat-a-tat-tat
ability no longer applies. You must defeat Ratatosk and all shadow saplings currently in play in order to win the combat.

If you manage to overcome this rascally rodent, turn to
143
.

598

You weave between the snapping beaks and raking talons, using the advantage of speed to give you the edge over the cumbersome creatures. Finally the last of the nightwings goes flailing backwards against the battlements, its wings torn and useless. Before it can find its feet again you swing your weapons in a savage arc, severing the beast’s head in a spray of blue-black blood. Just like in the storybook, you have bested the vile monsters and saved the day!

You may now take one of the following rewards:

When you have updated your hero sheet, turn to
444
.

599

Legendary monster: Quelertang the Hailstorm

Tracks in the snow have brought you to the edge of a pit, where wind chimes made of bone sing eerily from the withered trees. Their dry, cracked bark leak an icy-blue sap, which oozes in thick rivulets down into the base of the crater. There a small child, no older than seven, stands shivering from the cold. He grips a spear in his pale frost-bitten hands, gawping in fear at the dark opening in the opposite wall.

You notice the child is lame – one of his legs is misshapen, probably from disease or a broken bone that was never set properly. Glancing round at the tracks cutting through the churned snow, and the singing bone charms arranged around the pit, you suspect this is some Skard ritual – or punishment. Any sign of weakness is frowned upon in the north. A child that cannot hunt for his tribe is no longer of any use.

Your boots scuff through the snow as you step up to the lip of the pit. The child’s head snaps round in your direction, frost glistening off his chapped lips and the snot frozen to his face. He looks so weak and afraid – and innocent. A mirror-image of yourself at that age.

A bone-chilling howl reverberates from the hole. The child gives a startled yelp, his attention flicking back to that impenetrable pool of darkness. He raises his spear and starts to limp backwards.

The wind picks up with a sudden fury, the bone chimes filling the air with a discordant din.

You draw your weapons, calling on Nanuk to pass his strength into you, heightening your senses and your spirit powers. Then you leap into the pit, landing in a crouch just as the monstrous apparition comes pouring out of the hole.

At first it seems to be a confusion of smoke and mist – a dust cloud that refuses to settle. Then you see the shards of ice spinning about its ethereal body. You manage to grab the boy, pushing him to safety as a flurry of ice is hurled in your direction at frightening speed. Twisting aside, you manage to dodge the worst of the bullets, but the force of the wind blows you back against the wall.

You barely have a chance to recover before the demon is surging across the pit, its body growing bigger as its whirling form picks up more ice and rocks to hurl in your direction. It is time to fight:

	Special abilities
	Hailstorm : At the end of each combat round, the hail bullets automatically inflict 1 damage, ignoring armour, for every 10 health that Quelertang has remaining. (For example, if Quelertang had 65 health , the hailstorm would inflict 6 damage.)
	Buffeting gale : If you have the insulated ability you can reduce Quelertang’s damage score by 2.
	Body of air : Quelertang is immune to bleed , decay , disease and venom .

If you manage to defeat this chilling maelstrom, turn to
742
.

600

You must use these ancient defences to defeat the four advancing stone guardians. The diagram on the facing page shows a map of the hall. The circles represent locations where you can place an orb. Each orb has a different magical power – by choosing their locations carefully, you can combine their magics to devastating effect. Will you be able to defeat the guardians before they can reach you?

1.	The four guardians begin on the first arrow at the top left of the diagram. (You may want to copy this diagram onto paper and use numbered counters to represent each guardian. The diagram is also available to download and print from www.destiny-quest.com .)
2.	In each combat round, the guardians all move forward one square.
3.	Each time the guardians move into a new square, they immediately activate the orb/s that have been placed next to that square. (See below for orb effects.)
4.	When a guardian reaches the final arrow (at the bottom right), it will engage you in normal combat with the health it has remaining.