.
169
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 .
170
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 .
174
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 .
177
You pick up the ticking bomb and examine it carefully. Below the illuminated panel, which is counting down the
169
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 .
170
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 .
174
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 .
177
You pick up the ticking bomb and examine it carefully. Below the illuminated panel, which is counting down the
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