7

The searing flash of the lightning strike singes the skin on your face and hands (lose 3 ENDURANCE points), and leaves you blinded for a few moments. When your vision returns, you muster all of your Kai senses and focus them on the narrow strip of land which separates the fissures. Bolts of searing energy leap out of these chasms and soar past the skyship on either side to explode with thunderous cacophony among the roiling clouds. The crew cower with terror, but you maintain your nerve and let your Kai skills take full control of the wheel. After several nerve-racking miles the fissures eventually taper off and then disappear completely. As the Starstrider emerges from the gauntlet of deadly white fire, the crew gives a loud cheer in appreciation of your skilful helmsmanship. Gladly you acknowledge their praise, but you keep a grip on the helm for your Kai senses are screaming a warning that the danger is not yet over.

You are five miles clear of the fissures when the steering becomes dangerously erratic. The Starstrider is losing altitude and her deck is beginning to tilt alarmingly to starboard. Soon it becomes almost impossible to stand upright. Acraban appears from below and struggles valiantly across the sloping deck to join you at the helm. The young sorcerer looks gaunt and exhausted, and his ginger hair is matted with grime and sweat. Clearly his efforts to repair the ailing skyship have severely drained his magical energies.

‘We have lost one stabilizer and the other is badly damaged,’ he says, grimly. ‘I have done all I can to repair it but I fear it will fail at any moment. Without stabilizers we cannot stay airborne.’

Acraban takes the helm and orders his crew to prepare for a crash landing. Some of the young men tie themselves to the ship’s mast, while others brace themselves against the rails and put their fate in the hands of the Goddess Ishir. Prince Karvas has found refuge in a rope locker which is bolted to the main deck. He lifts the lid and calls for you to join him. There is sufficient space for two inside.

If you wish to climb into the rope locker alongside Prince Karvas, turn to 79.

If you choose to stay with Acraban at the ship’s helm, turn to 199.