Legion of Shadow (121 page)

‘I don’t see anything,’ you shout, struggling to get your bearings.

Suddenly, you see flashes of magic ahead. Something hurtles past in a ball of flames, accompanied by a high-pitched scream. Then the smog begins to thin and you find yourself speeding over a
landscape of grey, bulbous flesh. The doom orb.

With a sickening lurch, the carpet veers to the side, missing a tentacle-like appendage by scant inches. The sudden movement throws you off balance, forcing you to grip the edges of the carpet
to steady yourself.

Around you, there are explosions of light, as the other mages sweep across the face of the orb, flinging spells at its immense body. But each time the spells hit its flesh, a meshwork of magic
flashes into being, causing them to spark and fizzle uselessly. ‘It has a shield!’ you shout above the roar of the wind.

‘I know,’ cries Avian, taking the carpet down towards the surface. ‘The shield is blocking magic. . . but we can get past it.’

A column of black fire bursts out from a crater-sized hole. Avian swerves aside, dodging the blast. Several of the other mages are less lucky however, their carpets slamming into the flames and
exploding into balls of spinning light.

‘There!’ Avian points to something below. Squinting through your grime-stained goggles, you see a trench of fatty tissue stretching out across the face of the creature’s body.
The floor of the trench is dotted with hundreds of circular holes, some of which are opening and closing, occasionally expelling geysers of gas into the air. ‘One of those should take us
through into the brain.’

You do a double-take. ‘Take us through to
what
?’

The carpet tilts into a sickening series of spins, finally levelling out as one of the open holes speeds towards you. A second later and you are zooming down a circular tunnel, its slime-covered
walls streaking past in a pink-white blur.

‘Do you know where you are going?’ you yell hoarsely, aware that you are now inside a vast maze of tunnels, branching out through the innards of the beast.

Avian swerves, guiding the carpet into a smaller side passage, its floor and ceiling pulsing with blue light. ‘We need to follow these neural pulses,’ says Avian, deviating down
another passageway where the light is rippling in dazzling halos.

‘I’ve done some crazy things, mage – but this . . .’

As you hurtle deeper into the doom orb, you become aware of an angry buzzing sound, getting louder and louder. Glancing back, you see a swarm of wasp-like creatures in close pursuit.
‘We’ve got company!’

Avian looks back. ‘Sentries. Hold on. We’re almost—’

The mage’s words are cut short as the carpet starts to brake suddenly, throwing you forwards. As you slam into Avian, you look over his shoulder to see what has caused the sudden
interruption.

The tunnel ahead is covered by a large pink membrane, its bloated surface branched with veins. As the carpet slides to a halt next to it, you hear a loud hiss from above. Looking up, you see a
cluster of tentacles dangling from the ceiling of the tunnel. Each one is secreting a glowing green resin, which starts to mist, forming dense clouds of vapour.

‘Poison!’ gasps Avian, summoning magic to his hands. ‘We need to break through this membrane – quickly!’

‘I think we have bigger problems . . .’ You spin round, as the buzzing sentries swarm closer, their abdomens tapering back into sword-sized stingers. In order to continue deeper into
the orb, you will have to overcome its deadly defences:

Special abilities

If you win a combat round against the sentries, you can choose to apply your damage to the membrane or the poison nodes (or both, if you have an ability that lets you do so).
Once the membrane is reduced to zero
health
, you have broken through and automatically win the combat.

If you manage to break through the membrane before the sentries and poison defeat you, turn to
877
.

922

The anomaly breaks apart into glittering strands of green magic, which streak towards your arm. As they hit the branded flesh, you feel a cold surge of power rush into your
body. The magic is old and corrupted, but it is welcome all the same, feeding your muscles and enhancing your senses. When the last of the anomaly has been absorbed, you stumble back, half-gasping
and half-laughing at your newfound power.

Lansbury is at your side, regarding you with a mixture of horror and fascination. Nyms on the other hand, is patting you on the back.

‘Nice move,’ he grins. ‘And look – your way of finding secret doors is much more interesting.’

You look up, to see a square opening cut into the stone of the wall, previously covered by the magical growth. Caeleb helps you to your feet, watching you intently from between the slits of his
helm.

‘Are you OK?’ he asks. ‘Is that thing . . . inside you now?’

You nod, lifting your arm to reveal the absorbed magic, flickering along the branded mark. Caeleb jerks his head away. ‘It reeks of evil,’ he growls.

‘And it will be the death of you,’ hisses Lansbury, knocking your arm away with her staff. Her face is flushed with both anger and upset. ‘You have no idea of the magic you are
playing with!’

Nyms shrugs his shoulders. ‘No complaints here, I don’t have to look at that disgusting snot-beast anymore. Now, what’re we doing people? I say, secret room equals
treasure.’

‘And I say, we have more pressing concerns,’ snaps Caeleb. ‘We cannot let Zul’s followers gain the upper hand.’

923

The apprentice is defeated, his ghoulish creation dropping to the ground in a jumble of blood-flecked bones. Meanwhile, Caeleb is still trading blows with the tutor, who has
summoned a black blade into his hands. Deflecting the mage’s desperate strikes with his shield, the cavalier thrusts his sword past the necromancer’s guard, taking him down.

‘Nice work,’ grins Nyms, wandering over. He brushes the wet ash from his leathers. ‘Anyone would think you no longer needed me.’

Caeleb kneels beside the necromancer, wiping his bloody sword against the mage’s robes. ‘And anyone would think a rogue couldn’t dodge a fireball.’ He looks up, his eyes
glinting mischievously beneath his helm.

Nyms scowls, rubbing his right shoulder. ‘Yeah, took me a bit by surprise, that’s all.’

You cast a nervous glance over your shoulder, fearful that the battle might have drawn the attention of the bone sentry. But thankfully, there is no sign of the winged abomination. Sheathing
your weapons, you search the body of the apprentice. You find 30 gold crowns and may help yourself to one of the following items:

If you are a mage, turn to
850
. Otherwise, turn to
883
.

924

You sprint to the end of the building, then kick off from its edge, soaring effortlessly over the glittering sea of bodies. You twist in mid-air, sending bolts of black fire
into the ranks of shadow spawn, your dark magic ripping through their bodies and leaving charred craters in the earth.

As you level out into a dive, you draw your weapons, flipping over at the last moment to land in front of Lansbury’s shield. Surrounding you are the decayers – giant-sized undead;
their mummified bodies cloaked in a thick cloud of green noxious gas. From between the creatures’ damp, rotted bandages, you see worm-like parasites twisting and snaking around their diseased
bodies, spewing forth an endless swarm of deadly spores into the foul-smelling air.

‘The spores!’ shouts Lansbury desperately. ‘They explode on contact. Keep them away from the shield!’

With a snarl of fury, you charge into the pestilent undead, hoping to buy time for your companions until help arrives. You must fight: