75
You leave the city by the north gate. Here the Suhni River and the Belzar River meet. By following the Belzar River west, you will come directly to the Mountains of Morn and the Forbidden City of Gyanima. You set off.
You have travelled only a short way when you see a tall figure running towards you at great speed. It is Samu and you stop to wait for him.
‘You go to the Mountains?’ he asks, pointing to the west. You tell him that this is so. ‘Once, I was king of a great tribe—the Masbaté nomads of the Great Lissan Plain. Now, I am the only survivor. The Wytch-king saw the end of my people. The Shadakine fought and hounded us across the plains in their great chariots, led by the evil Wytch-king. Long we resisted him, but what use are swords and spears and brave warriors against the black arts? A great plague of demons sealed our doom. Shasarak has deprived me of my family and my people.’
He looks at you with smouldering eyes. ‘I will come with you. You will have need of strength as well as bravery. You have mine.’
