Wolf's Bane (17 page)

Once more you focus your advanced Kai senses on the gloomy entrance to the tomb. You can detect no living creature or imminent threat of ambush, yet the area around the doorway radiates traces of a malevolent magic that makes you deeply suspicious. However, you are mindful of the fact that the impostor has entered the catacombs by this door, and the longer you delay in tracking him, the more he increases his chances of successfully evading your hunting party.

If you wish to suppress your sense of unease and enter the tomb,
turn to 72
.

If you choose to heed your senses and examine the entrance more closely,
turn to 173
.

Carefully you lower yourself through the hole and drop silently to the floor of the cellar beneath. You remain crouched where you land, not daring to move a muscle until you have scoured the darkness for any potential threat to your life. You detect an area of warmth radiating from behind a stack of rotting timbers and slowly you inch towards it, your weapon drawn in readiness to strike.

You have moved to within a few yards of the timber pile and feel confident that you have tracked down your enemy.

‘Come out, Wolf's Bane!’ you shout. ‘Don't hide from me like some cowardly dog!’

You sense movement and draw back your weapon in anticipation of your enemy's imminent attack. Then a loud, inhuman, blood-curdling howl issues from behind the pile of timber and in a terrifying moment your confidence is shattered. The enemy confronting you is not Wolf's Bane.

You glimpse the shadowy blur of a huge, black shape rising up from behind the timbers. Fangs gleam momentarily in the gloom as it opens its cavernous maw, and then, in the blink of an eye, it leaps over the pile and falls upon you.

Kataka:
COMBAT SKILL
 42   
ENDURANCE
 40

This creature is immune to all forms of psychic attack, except Kai-surge and Kai-blast.

If you win the combat,
turn to 333
.

You hit the stinking water and dive beneath the surface. Your swift reactions save you from being hit and wounded, but when you rise from the stinking mire and claw the muck from your eyes, you are horrified to see the serpent's tail swishing back towards your chest.

Instinctively you throw yourself flat against the wall and its deadly barbed tail misses you by inches. As it sweeps past, you draw your weapon in readiness to strike out at it the moment it comes within range.

Ukara (chained):
COMBAT SKILL
 44   
ENDURANCE
 45

This serpent is immune to all forms of psychic attack, except Kai-surge.

If you win the combat,
turn to 348
.

For what seems like an eternity, you plummet into the swirling heart of a supernatural vortex. Brilliant sparks and flashes of colour illuminate this funnel of darkness as items of furniture from the banquet hall explode and disintegrate, unable to withstand the extraordinary pressures generated by this cosmic whirlpool. You watch with shock and awe as the lifeless body of your adversary — Wolf's Bane — is transformed into a fiery meteor before your very eyes. Then, gradually, the spin of the vortex becomes less fierce and you feel the centripetal pull on your body easing. Beams of light penetrate the darkness and you see Alyss glide into view. She appears to be reclining, as if casually resting upon a couch after a weary day's work, and her expression is mildly pensive. She looks as if to her this whole terrifying journey is nothing more than an irritating inconvenience.

At last the vortex slows to a standstill and you feel ground solidifying beneath your feet. But the darkness gives way to a swirling mist which dissolves to reveal a horrifying sight. A deep and morbid terror returns to twist its knife in your guts when you suddenly realize where you are. You have been summoned to the throne hall of Naar — the seat of power of the King of the Darkness — the inner sanctum of ultimate Evil.

Turn to 331
.

Frantically you examine the portcullis, searching for some chink in its armour that you can exploit to your advantage. It is crudely constructed from criss-crossing strands of iron and steel, bolted and riveted wherever the bars connect, yet despite its crude appearance you soon discover that it is very tough and secure. You will not be able to break through this portal.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and have attained the rank of Sun Knight or higher,
turn to 272
.

If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline or have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 55
.

You muster your skill and plunge your hand into the water, close to where the creature's head has surfaced. In an instant, the black water around its neck and body freezes over, trapping and crushing the beast within a solid block of ice.

Free now to continue your pursuit, you leave the frozen cellar-beast and climb the steps to emerge amongst the ruins of the city. There is no sign of Wolf's Bane, but when you hurry to where you saw him last, you discover a flight of steps leading down into a wide underground passage. His tracks can be seen clearly embedded in the muddy floor of this tunnel.

The tunnel passes under a broad avenue and then surfaces in front of a grand two-storey building. This was once a busy warehouse that stored braided coils of fine copper cable. You avoid the main entrance in case your adversary is lying in ambush there, and enter instead by way of a flight of iron steps that leads to a second floor window. The moment you set foot inside the building you sense that Wolf's Bane is here. Warily you explore, your nerves stretched to breaking point as your eyes seek out detail in the darkness. You are approaching the west wing of this building when you suddenly catch sight of your opponent through a hole in the floor. He is sitting on his haunches behind a mound of wooden crates, busily eating a green-skinned fruit, and he is unaware that you are watching him.

If you possess Magi-magic and have attained the rank of Grand Thane (and wish to use your skill),
turn to 81
.

If you possess a Bow and wish to use it,
turn to 106
.

If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it,
turn to 319
.

If you possess none of these skills, or have yet to reach the required level of Kai rank, or simply choose not to use them,
turn instead to 20
.

Cautiously you inch your way nearer to the open tomb. Lying across the threshold is a slab of stone which stirs your curiosity. A closer inspection reveals an intricate design scratched upon its surface. It has been smeared with dirt and a magical spell of shielding has been placed upon it to disguise its true purpose. Yet you realize immediately what it is and you recoil from the slab, hurriedly retreating a dozen paces. It is a glyph of power: a magical booby trap that has been expertly camouflaged to keep it secret. If anyone or anything were to step upon or pass over this glyph, the energy contained within it would be released in one devastating instant.

You warn the others of what you have found and tell them to retreat with you to a safe distance. From the cover of a gravestone, several yards from the tomb, you instruct Star Lynx to pick up a rock and hurl it through the open doorway. He selects an apple-sized chunk of granite and lobs it accurately into the open tomb.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
.

If the number you have chosen is 0–4,
turn to 211
.

If it is 5–9,
turn to 53
.

The moment you enter the mouth of the skull-rock you are engulfed by a dense fog that is icy cold and impenetrable to your sight and senses. The thunderous noise of the temple's destruction ends abruptly, as if a great door has suddenly been closed upon it. You strain your Kai skills to aid your pursuit of Wolf's Bane but to no avail; the ivory-white fog hides everything, swamping and distorting your sense of time and direction.

You keep moving, forcing yourself onwards, even though the surface beneath your feet has become viscous and uncertain. After what seems like an eternity spent wandering through this cloudy limbo, you gradually feel the ground hardening and sense that the impenetrable fog is beginning to dissipate. Patches of grey appear in the creamy whiteness. Then the fog dissolves completely and you find yourself standing in the middle of a rubble-strewn street, surrounded by the bleak and derelict remains of a decaying, alien city.

It is the dead of night and a fine drizzle falls from a storm-laden sky, dampening this dreary landscape. Everywhere you look you see the hollow shells of buildings. They are heaped with mounds of broken stone, twisted rusty iron, and shattered glass. There are no trees, no blades of grass, no animals here. Everything is cold, grey, and dead.

You examine the paved surface of the street and detect your enemy's footprints. They are fresh and they lead you to a small courtyard flanked by two buildings: a large municipal hall and a smaller two-storey dwelling. Wolf's Bane's tracks end in the middle of the wet courtyard and you sense that they have been deliberately erased. Despite your advanced hunting skills, you are unable to determine into which building your enemy has escaped.

If you wish to enter the municipal hall,
turn to 148
.

If you wish to investigate the two-storey dwelling,
turn to 267
.

The giant serpent resists your mental command to retreat, yet the strain of doing so leaves its body in a state of partial paralysis. Cautiously you advance, keeping a wary eye on its trembling form as you skirt around the serpent and inch your way towards the opposite tunnel. However, you have progressed only a few yards when you feel the floor sloping away beneath your feet. The water is getting deeper.

If you possess Magi-magic and have attained the rank of Grand Thane or higher,
turn to 234
.

If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline or have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery,
turn to 25
.

You use your Kai Mastery to blur the outline of your body in the hope that the onrushing bolt of energy will miss its mark.

Pick a number from the
Random Number Table
. For every level of Kai rank you have attained above that of Grand Guardian, add 1 to the number you have picked.

If your total is now 4 or less,
turn to 291
.

If it is 5 or higher,
turn to 166
.

You pick up the ticking bomb and examine it carefully. Below the illuminated panel, which is counting down the seconds, you see four small windows which display a sequence of numbers. Beneath these windows are tiny buttons which, when pressed, change the numbers that are displayed. The third window in the sequence is blank and, when you concentrate upon it, your Kai senses reveal to you that by keying in the missing number in the sequence you will prevent the bomb from exploding.

Study the following sequence of numbers carefully. When you think you know the solution,
turn to the entry
that is the same as your answer.
¹¹

If you guess incorrectly, or if you cannot determine the missing number,
turn instead to 269
.

Your psychic powers prove very effective: the giant insect obeys your command not to attack. Yet, before it flies away, it sprays the stamen with a misty vapour which causes the petals to close up.

Hurriedly you retreat along the stamen and narrowly avoid being crushed to death as the huge petals fold in on themselves. Your innate Kai Discipline of Animal Mastery has saved you from a confrontation with the giant insect, yet the creature has used its own innate abilities to thwart your chances of escaping from the plant this way. The vapour condenses and runs along the stamen, making it difficult for you to maintain your grip, and reluctantly you are forced to retreat all the way down to the bowl of the corolla, to where the hollow stem is now the only chance you have of getting out of this plant alive.

Turn to 103
.