Legion of Shadow (106 page)

826

Your magic spears into the brain, sending its grey matter spraying in all directions. Then the chamber begins to shake violently, throwing you from side to side. Desperately,
you struggle back to Avian’s side, slipping and sliding as the ground continues to tremble. Taking hold of the unconscious mage, you summon a shield with the last reserves of Daarko’s
stolen magic. . .

Then the chamber explodes, throwing you out into empty space.

All around you, black smoke and debris whirl through the air, accompanied by a deafening boom of thunder. Then you are falling at tremendous speed, buffeted by strong winds – and the giant
wads of charred flesh that slam against your shield. For several minutes you are caught in a spin. When you finally manage to right yourself, you see the city of Talanost stretching far, far below,
like a grimy black stain across the landscape.

Your shield stutters and fails, winking out in a flurry of sparks. Clinging to Avian, you continue to drop through the smoggy clouds, plummeting towards the ruined rooftops. Even with your
supernatural abilities, you doubt you will survive such a fall.

Below you, the market square tilts into view. The shadow spawn appear to be routing, scampering like a plague of rats through the narrow streets of the city. Ravenwing’s men follow close
on their heels, slashing and blasting at their fleeing enemy. It is a sight that brings some small satisfaction – the legion’s attempt to wrest control of the city has clearly
failed.

The buildings are rising towards you now at an unsettling speed. You close your eyes, bracing for impact, wondering – in these final moments – if Avian is the lucky one, not to have
witnessed this ignoble end. The mage is still slumped in your arms, his head lolling against your chest.

Then some force hits you with the power of a sledgehammer. You are dragged sideways, away from the jagged rooftop that would surely have spelled your end. Twisting round, you try and see what
has a hold of you, but there is nothing there. And yet, you can feel something pressing in on you, holding you in a constricted bubble. Then the force is gone and you are falling the rest of the
way, slamming down into the dusty street. From your shadow mark, a purple light flows quickly across your broken body, mending the splintered bones and torn muscle.

You slide out from beneath Avian, staggering back to your feet. Amongst the smoking mounds of rubble, you spy some of the doom orb’s pulpy remains. You may now help yourself to one of the
following rewards:

A rattle of armour forces you to turn. Someone is stumbling through the mist towards you. If you have the word
rival
on your hero sheet turn to
896
. Otherwise, turn to
901
.

827

You absorb the tomb robber’s essence, delighting in the wave of ecstasy that washes over you. (You may raise your
brawn
or
magic
score by 2 in your next
combat.) Kneeling beside the robber’s empty clothes, you search through his meagre belongings. You find 50 gold crowns and the following items, which you may take:

As you straighten, your eyes catch on the magic anomaly lurking across the other side of the room. Somehow, the creature must have brought you back in time. Looking over to the
room’s exit, you see the mould-covered anomaly covering the other side of the doorway, exactly as it had before. The robber had obviously been trapped here, unable to escape – his
skeleton was the one that you found in the room.

Up above, the storm vents its fury, the rainwater bouncing and spraying from the walls of the rough-hewn shaft. Pulling your hood down low over your face, you step through the curtain of water
and approach the time-shifting anomaly.

As before, the magical creature suddenly springs to life, its silken threads snapping around you. You cry out in pain, as the air is crushed from your lungs, the powerful tendrils gripping you
tightly as they drag you forwards, towards a brightening white light. Turn to
820
.

828

Avian drops his shield with a pained gasp. You rush to his side, putting an arm out to support him. He bats you away impatiently. ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’
Frantically, he begins rummaging around in his robes, his gaze fixed on the gargantuan doom orb which still floats above the city.

‘Ah, yes!’ The mage pulls out a small square of patterned cloth. With a flick of the wrist, he sends the cloth billowing outwards – its length rapidly unfurling into a
full-sized magic carpet. ‘We can’t leave the doom orb unchallenged!’ He steps onto the carpet, then offers out his hand. ‘If your magic is strong, I could use your
aid.’

If you have a
magic
score of 24 or above, you may accompany Avian Dale. (Turn to
921
.) Otherwise, you decline Avian’s offer, wishing to focus your efforts on the ground
battle. (Turn to
890
.)

829

Fetch brushes the dust from his robes. ‘I am the only one of my kind, as far as I know. My gift is unique – I was born with it.’

‘You can travel wherever you want?’ you ask in wonder.

‘Not exactly,’ he says, looking up and meeting your gaze. ‘I must have a connection with the place.’

‘But if you travel through the shroud, then aren’t you . . .’

Fetch nods, offering you a knowing smile. ‘Yes, I am more demon now than man. Each time I travel I lose a little more of my humanity. But it is a small price to pay. I think you will
agree?’ His eyes flick to your shadow mark, a cruel sneer visible beneath the shadows of his hood.

Turn to
792
to ask another question.

830

You find Waldo at the edge of the camp. He is sitting on a stool beside his tethered pony, picking stones from its hooves with a hooked knife. When he sees you approach, he
quickly gets to his feet, brushing himself down.

‘Can’t keep away, can you? Let me guess, you traded in that annoying swordsman at last?’

You pat the jingling pouch hanging at your belt. ‘Ha, you really think I’d get this much for him?’

Waldo’s eyes widen. ‘The spoils of war, eh?’ He quickly hops onto the seat of his cart to retrieve the magical chest.

To view the trader’s special deals, turn to
815
if you are a warrior,
839
if you are a rogue or
914
if you are a mage. For the rarer and more
expensive items, turn to
803
if you are a warrior,
903
if you are a rogue or
881
if you are a mage.

831

At the end of the corridor, another passageway branches to the left, ending in a statue of a knight, his head bowed. In the wall facing you is an immense door, fashioned from
ivory and gold. Each of its panels has been intricately decorated, depicting a number of embossed scenes. As you edge closer, you see that they all feature a knight on horseback, battling a
nightmarish menagerie of fearsome monsters. In the centre of the door is a gold circle and inset within it is an ivory chalice.

‘Where does this lead to?’ you ask in wonderment.

Lansbury moves her light closer to the door. ‘These panels depict scenes from Arthurian legend. This could be the entrance to his tomb – or a treasure vault perhaps.’

Nyms places a hand against the centre of the door and pushes against it. Nothing happens. He looks back at the group with a meekish smile. ‘OK, it was worth a try.’

‘How does this open?’ snaps Caeleb impatiently, glancing at Lansbury. ‘Some magic?’

Lansbury steps back, her eyes quickly roving across the door’s surface. ‘I sense magic here – very old magic. But clearly Zul’s followers couldn’t open it . . . or
they never made it this far.’

‘Then this is a dead end,’ growls Caeleb, gesturing to the statue at the end of the passageway. ‘We’ll have to go back.’

‘Hmm . . .’ Lansbury raises her staff and walks towards the knight.

Her white light picks out its detailed features – a young man, with a fringe of hair curling out from beneath a chainmail coif. His eyes are closed, his hands resting on the pommel of his
sword. Lansbury leans closer; then reaches forward with a finger, pushing the stone at the centre of the sword’s guard. There is a click followed by a deep rumbling, as the statue slides back
into a hidden recess, revealing a secret archway in the wall.

‘Good find,’ grins Nyms, nodding with approval.

Caeleb shoulders through the group. ‘Let’s finish this,’ he murmurs. Turn to
790
.

832

(Make a note of the word
companion
on your hero sheet.)

Forced back against the shield, you are uncertain how long you will be able to hold off against these fearsome adversaries. Suddenly, a bright flash of light draws your attention skywards. From
out of the smog, you see white shapes swooping down over the ruined city, their vapour trails blazing bright like comets. Beneath them, a series of explosions swell out across the square, cutting a
vicious swathe through the tightly-packed ranks of shadow spawn.

‘The airborne regulars!’ You punch the air as the mages hurtle past on their flying carpets.

Then, at the far side of the square, you hear the resonating blast of a horn. From your vantage point, it is difficult to see through the thronging masses, but it looks like a battalion of
Ravenwing’s militia have made it across the city. You catch the glimmer of polished armour and a fluttering standard, proudly displaying the black raven. Aid has finally arrived.

For your victory over the decayers, you may now help yourself to the following reward:

When you have updated your character sheet, turn to
895
.

833

The rain falls in relentless grey sheets, pounding the ash-covered ground and spattering off your cloak and hood. The mist that once afforded you cover has now dispersed,
forcing your party to use the cover of the outlying tombs.

Minutes later, huddled cold and shivering beside the crumbling statue of some long-forgotten hero, you find yourselves looking out on a cracked stone square. At its far side stands the domed
building, looking more like a temple than a tomb. A staircase leads up to its main entrance: an open doorway, flanked by two pillars of rune-covered stone.

‘We’re too late,’ growls Caeleb.

You follow his gaze to a tall tablet of rock, rising several hundred metres into the chill grey sky. Perched on the rock’s summit is a huge demonic creature.

Nyms sucks air through his teeth. ‘Judah’s light . . .’

The creature’s skeletal body and tattered wings share a passing resemblance to a bone wyvern, but this monster is at least four times their size, its serrated-beak and talons covered in
spiked iron plates.

‘What is that?’ you gasp.

‘Some mockery of life,’ hisses Lansbury, her grip tightening around her staff. ‘Zul’s forces are already here. We should go back.’

Caeleb turns in surprise. ‘But their presence here only lends our task a greater urgency. We have to stop them raising Arthurian and more of his knights!’

Your eyes haven’t left the undead creature, marvelling at the dark magics that have given it life. ‘Are you suggesting that we try and slip past that?’ A red fire burns in the
creature’s hollow eye sockets, forming a gleaming trail as its head roves back and forth. ‘It’s a sentry. It will alert others.’

‘Bah, it’s nothing worse than we’ve faced before,’ says Nyms, drawing his twin blades. ‘I have no fear of it. Besides,’ he cocks his head to one side, his
eyes flicking to Lansbury, ‘we have a healer.’

The medic purses her lips. ‘Don’t be foolish. There is always another way. Look.’ Lansbury points to a row of smaller outbuildings that form a ring around the temple. ‘We
can use those for cover and go around the other side. I’m sure this place will have another entrance of some sort.’

‘What do you think?’ asks Caeleb, his narrowed eyes peering at you through the visor of his helmet. ‘If we don’t make a decision soon I’ll be standing here in fifty
pounds of rusted steel.’

834

The ranger’s belongings are now yours for the taking. You may choose one of the following: