303

Hurriedly you and Prarg fix the oars in place and row with all your strength, retracing your route all the way back to where the channel first divided. Once here, you slow your boat to a halt and take some time to reconsider your plans.

Reluctantly you decide to navigate the left channel. Rather than run the risk of making any noise, you stow the oars and allow the stinking marsh wind to propel your boat along the channel, albeit at a far slower speed. Gradually you approach the cluster of huts and, as you pass before them, you see eight dwellings, each built of mud-daubed roots and thatched with rotting vegetation. They are empty but they have not been deserted. The shoreline is littered with bones, the remnants of past meals, and nearby is a crude wooden frame on which the skins of a snake and a lizard have been stretched out to dry.

‘It’s a Ciquali camp,’ whispers Prarg nervously, his eyes scouring the surrounding waters for the slightest sign of movement. During your travels you have heard tales about the Ciquali, none of which are favourable. They are the bane of the Hellswamp—a breed of vicious amphibians, intelligent and cunning, with a taste for human flesh that makes them especially dangerous.

‘Our luck’s good, Lone Wolf,’ says Prarg, as gradually the wind carries you beyond the huts. ‘The camp’s empty—they must be away hunting. Perhaps it was they who were lying in wait for us along the other passage?’

As soon as you lose sight of the settlement, you hoist the sail and catch the prevailing wind which propels you northwards along Dakushna’s Channel. You are hungry, and unless you possess Grand Huntmastery, you must now eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

To continue, turn to 322.