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‘Here,’ she says, ‘they are both yours if you promise to take me with you. I know the secret ways out of here. I will lead you.’
‘Grey Star,’ says Shan, ‘be on your guard. This witch is a Shadakine slave. How can we trust her?’ The Shadakine guards are drawing near.
‘We have no choice,’ you reply. ‘We have to trust her.’
You agree to Tanith’s bargain, and she hands over your Staff and Backpack.29 ‘Follow me,’ she says, opening a door to her right. You both rush through and she closes it behind you, dropping a bar across it to delay your pursuers. You are in a small, sparsely furnished chamber.
‘The citadel is honeycombed with secret passages that wind into the hill it stands upon. We will take one of these routes,’ she says, confidently. She walks to the centre of the room and takes hold of an iron ring that is attached to a flagstone. She pulls on the ring, lifting the flagstone away to reveal a dark passage below. She takes a torch from the wall and enters the passage. ‘Come now, they will soon be on our heels.’
You follow without hesitation.
