72

The figure at the fireplace does not reply. Instead, it stretches out a gloved hand and takes up an iron rod which is lying upon the stone mantle. The instant its fingers close around the haft, a crackling blue flame ignites at its tip.

‘Draw steel!’ commands Nathor, and his men respond by unsheathing their swords in readiness for combat. You focus your psychic powers at the figure and sense that it is not human: it possesses an aura of evil that marks it as a dark disciple, a magician versed in the forbidden black arts of the Nadziranim.

Suddenly there is a low, concussive boom and a spiral of blue flame shoots the length of the hall, fired from the tip of the figure’s iron stave. You are its intended target and you dive to the floor to avoid being hit. The bolt ricochets off the stone wall close behind you and shatters one of the tall windows into a thousand glittering shards.

‘Take him!’ shouts Nathor, and his men rush forward, but a second blast from the stave puts an end to their brave advance. All three are cut down by an arc of blue fire that leaves their corpses heaped and smouldering in the middle of the hall.

Nathor curses the sinister figure and it responds by uttering a chilling, inhuman laugh. Now you sense a new danger approaching—the being’s sickly laughter is summoning its minions to the hall.

‘Lord Nathor!’ you cry. ‘We cannot prevail here. We must escape … Follow me!’

And with these words, you race to the window and leap feet-first through its shattered pane.

Pick a number from the Random Number Table.

If the number you have picked is 0–4, turn to 219.

If it is 5–9, turn to 301.