295

You flee from the skeletal horde and hide in an empty outbuilding, close to the base of the watchtower, until you are sure the coast is clear. As you emerge from hiding, you hear Captain Lanza’s stirring cry ring out above the noise of battle: ‘For Lencia and the House of Sarnac!’ Despite the odds, he and his men have beaten back the enemy and are now within a stone’s throw of the quay. You rush along the street, towards the harbour, and join them at a small flagstoned square close to the quayside.

‘Captain—we must save the ice-boat!’ you shout, pointing to the ship which is being attacked by the skeleton horde. ‘Indeed we must,’ he replies, dourly. He draws together a handful of his men to form a protective wall around you and, the moment their shields lock together, you move with them towards the ice-boat.

Twenty yards from the quayside, you break away from their protective wall and sprint towards the ship’s gangplank. You are halfway along the plank when you find yourself confronted by a wedge of skeletal warriors, armed with crude axes and swords. Courageously you leap into their midst, striking them down with blurring speed and deadly accuracy. But as the last one falls, its corpse-like body almost severed at the waist, you hear a noise behind you which makes you spin around in fearful expectation.

Turn to 78.