288

A mile from the tavern you slip from the saddle and crash onto the highway. Paido wheels his horse around and comes to your aid, his face etched deep with anxiety. From his pocket he takes a healing pad of Laumspur and presses it on your shattered arm, holding it in place with a strap from his saddlebag. The strap acts as a tourniquet and stems the flow of blood that has discoloured the muddy soil so much that it resembles a red blanket.

‘This is cursed luck, Lone Wolf,’ says Paido, as he lifts you carefully back onto your horse. ‘Your quest has hardly begun and already you have fallen foul of a poisoned bolt, and by no fault of your own.’

If you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Curing and have reached the rank of Primate, turn to 156.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to reach the Kai rank of Primate, turn to 322.