tattered blue coats bear the emblem of a crown set above the crest of Vadera identifying them to be of the same regiment — the Imperial Vadera Guard — one of Lencia's finest. Using your Magnakai skills to avoid detection, you make your way to the fence and try to attract their attention. One of their number, a captain, sees you and is immediately suspicious. You signal to him to come closer and, reluctantly at first, he crawls towards the fence.
Illustration VIII —A captain of the Imperial Vadera Guard crawls reluctantly towards the fence in response to your signal.
‘You're not Drakkarim or Lencian. Who are you? What do you want?’ he hisses, through cracked lips that are blue with hunger and cold. ‘Is this another Drakkarim trick devised to torment us?’
‘This is no trick,’ you whisper in reply, trying hard to reassure him, ‘I'm an ally in the service of your King. I want to help you and your men to escape.’
He holds you with his steely-grey eyes and slowly shakes his head.
‘It's too late to help us,’ he says, sadly. ‘We're too weak to resist. Some have tried and they've all died in the jaws of the dogs. No, you save yourself, stranger. Forget us.’
‘But if you stay here you'll starve to death,’ you retort. ‘Surely it's better to die fighting than waste away. The garrison here is small, barely forty in number. I could cause a diversion and draw their dogs away. Your men may be weakened but still they outnumber the enemy five times over. For Ishir's sake, man, have you lost the will to live?’
The Lencian captain glances over his shoulder at his starving comrades and, when he turns to face you once more, you see a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes.
‘All of these men have been more than a week without food or shelter. Many have died, many are near to death. I fear they are too weak to fight an enemy who has food in his belly and a sword in his hand. Perhaps … if we had weapons … ’
‘If you do as I say, you'll have weapons enough to pluck this town from under their very noses,’ you reply, earnestly.
The Lencian narrows his eyes, and for a moment, the trace of a smile softens his gaunt features.
‘Very well, stranger. Tell me your plan.’
Turn to 61 .
151
Thanks to your Kai skills, the two Tukodak guards do not see you until it is too late. From the base of the stone ramp you launch a lightning attack which dispatches them both before they can attempt to raise the alarm.
Turn to 311 .
152
You utter the words of the Brotherhood Spell Lightning Hand and a crackling blast of electrical energy leaps from your fingers. The fiery bolt hits the advancing creature, stunning it momentarily, but it soon recovers and presses home its attack with renewed determination.
Turn to 297 .
153
You crash down upon the unsuspecting lancer, but the shock of impact does not unseat him and desperately he struggles to fend you off. He wounds your forearm with his sabre before you succeed in knocking him out of the saddle: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
You seize control of the startled horse and take off across the square, unholstering the lance as you gallop headlong towards the mass of Drakkarim soldiers who stand between you and the platform.
Turn to 63 .
154
You reach the hamlet and hurry along its solitary road. Flanking you are two rows of low cottages, their thick-thatched roofs still intact despite the fiery carnage that has swept so near. Off to the right you see a barn-like building standing with its door ajar. A brazier of coals, an anvil, and a scattering of iron strips prove it to have once been a busy smithy. But now, like the surrounding buildings, it is seemingly deserted.
Illustration IX —A Lencian Crusader rushes out into the road brandishing a heavy steel mace in his left hand.
You are passing the open door when suddenly you hear a man's voice. He has a strong Lencian accent and he is cursing you, thinking you to be a turncoat Stornland mercenary. As you turn to
Illustration VIII —A captain of the Imperial Vadera Guard crawls reluctantly towards the fence in response to your signal.
‘You're not Drakkarim or Lencian. Who are you? What do you want?’ he hisses, through cracked lips that are blue with hunger and cold. ‘Is this another Drakkarim trick devised to torment us?’
‘This is no trick,’ you whisper in reply, trying hard to reassure him, ‘I'm an ally in the service of your King. I want to help you and your men to escape.’
He holds you with his steely-grey eyes and slowly shakes his head.
‘It's too late to help us,’ he says, sadly. ‘We're too weak to resist. Some have tried and they've all died in the jaws of the dogs. No, you save yourself, stranger. Forget us.’
‘But if you stay here you'll starve to death,’ you retort. ‘Surely it's better to die fighting than waste away. The garrison here is small, barely forty in number. I could cause a diversion and draw their dogs away. Your men may be weakened but still they outnumber the enemy five times over. For Ishir's sake, man, have you lost the will to live?’
The Lencian captain glances over his shoulder at his starving comrades and, when he turns to face you once more, you see a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes.
‘All of these men have been more than a week without food or shelter. Many have died, many are near to death. I fear they are too weak to fight an enemy who has food in his belly and a sword in his hand. Perhaps … if we had weapons … ’
‘If you do as I say, you'll have weapons enough to pluck this town from under their very noses,’ you reply, earnestly.
The Lencian narrows his eyes, and for a moment, the trace of a smile softens his gaunt features.
‘Very well, stranger. Tell me your plan.’
Turn to 61 .
151
Thanks to your Kai skills, the two Tukodak guards do not see you until it is too late. From the base of the stone ramp you launch a lightning attack which dispatches them both before they can attempt to raise the alarm.
Turn to 311 .
152
You utter the words of the Brotherhood Spell Lightning Hand and a crackling blast of electrical energy leaps from your fingers. The fiery bolt hits the advancing creature, stunning it momentarily, but it soon recovers and presses home its attack with renewed determination.
Turn to 297 .
153
You crash down upon the unsuspecting lancer, but the shock of impact does not unseat him and desperately he struggles to fend you off. He wounds your forearm with his sabre before you succeed in knocking him out of the saddle: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.
You seize control of the startled horse and take off across the square, unholstering the lance as you gallop headlong towards the mass of Drakkarim soldiers who stand between you and the platform.
Turn to 63 .
154
You reach the hamlet and hurry along its solitary road. Flanking you are two rows of low cottages, their thick-thatched roofs still intact despite the fiery carnage that has swept so near. Off to the right you see a barn-like building standing with its door ajar. A brazier of coals, an anvil, and a scattering of iron strips prove it to have once been a busy smithy. But now, like the surrounding buildings, it is seemingly deserted.
Illustration IX —A Lencian Crusader rushes out into the road brandishing a heavy steel mace in his left hand.
You are passing the open door when suddenly you hear a man's voice. He has a strong Lencian accent and he is cursing you, thinking you to be a turncoat Stornland mercenary. As you turn to
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