245

Cautiously, you ascend the staircase, taking care not to slip on the slimy steps. As you near the surface, you catch your first glimpse of the full moon that shines down on the desolate plain of Taklakot. It is covered with pot-holes and as the night wind blows across them, they sigh and wail like some monstrous creature in pain. ‘How long has the full moon been shining?’ you ask Urik.

‘Me know not,’ he says, shrugging his shoulders. Once more you push on across the moonlit valley, taking pains to avoid the many fissures and holes that crack the surface. ‘I feel the Shadow Gate,’ says Urik suddenly. ‘It below the ground.’

At that moment there is a long, baleful cry and a gruesome sight emerges from the shadow of a crevice; a snake-like creature, its body is bone-white and skeletal. ‘Scree Wyrm,’ breathes Hugi, his voice shaking with fear.

If you wish to stand and fight the Scree Wyrm, turn to 273.

If you wish to evade it, turn to 243.