75

You leap across the gap, but, as you land, you slip on the broken flooring and gash both knees: lose 2 ENDURANCE points. Cursing your luck, you hobble towards the curtain through which Magnaarn disappeared and pull it aside to find a short flight of stone steps. You climb them and discover that they emerge at a turret at the very top of the Palace Tower, the highest point in the city of Darke.

Here you find Magnaarn, cowering with his crooked back pressed hard against the frost-covered wall. You sense that he has very nearly succumbed to the evil power of the Doomstone; he is treading a fine line between life and undeath. Yet, even though he is but a whisker away from eternal damnation, he musters enough spite to challenge you to a fight to the death.

‘Very well, Drakkar,’ you reply. ‘Let battle commence.’

Warlord Magnaarn (with Nyras Sceptre): COMBAT SKILL 50   ENDURANCE 36

If you win this combat, turn to 350.