The Eye of Winter's Fury (72 page)

‘Nonsense, I can’t possibly allow it,’ she replies, her tone smooth and confident. ‘This is a sacred hall – and I will not have . . . death brought here.’

You bristle with rage. ‘Sura sent me – why won’t you people listen?’

Syn arches her back, startled by your outrage. ‘You are truly some wild animal,’ she says in a tight voice. ‘I do not have the time or the patience to tame you.’

The woman’s cold calmness only incites your rage further. A growl issues from your lips as you leap for her, but hands settle around your arms, pulling you back. Aslev and one of the other einherjar grip you tightly.

‘Let me go!’ you hiss sharply.

‘You’re doing this all wrong,’ whispers Aslev.

‘Throw them both from this hall,’ says the woman, turning her long pale neck to regard Anise. ‘The dogs need feeding. And they are not as choosy of their meat as I.’

‘No!’ You snarl, trying to break free. ‘I came here to save you – to help defeat the witch!’

The woman’s head snaps round, looking you straight in the eye. ‘The dogs will rip the lies out of you, corpse-walker.’ The stillness of her face makes her words all the more chilling.

She turns and walks away, her supple body moving gracefully across the frosted floor.

‘Damn you!’ you spit, struggling again to free yourself.

Aslev pushes his face close to your own. ‘Stop!’ he growls.

You glance at him, teeth clenched. ‘Unhand me, or I swear I will not be responsible . . .’

‘Just wait – and calm yourself.’ Aslev removes his hands from you, then intercepts the other einherjar who is struggling to drag Anise from the chamber. Words are exchanged – both Skards look back towards the dais. The woman has departed, having exited through an archway at the back of the hall. Aslev nods then hurries back to you, glancing back towards the arch. ‘Do what you have to do,’ he states quickly. ‘You will get one chance at this. If you have the . . . power you say you have, then now is your time.’

You break from the other warrior’s grip, glaring at him angrily – then you look to Aslev. ‘Is this another trick?’

The white-haired Skard flushes with anger. He stabs a gloved finger in your direction. ‘Listen and understand, southlander. We endanger our lives and our names for this. Now, do what you must – enter the Norr.’

‘No, please . . .’ Anise runs to your side, pulling on your cloak. ‘We should go from here. There is nothing you can do.’

You turn to her. ‘What did you mean, when you said your mother was right?’

Anise looks surprised by the question. ‘She was an asynjur. Syn had her executed for speaking out. My mother knew they couldn’t save Skoll – keeping him frozen here, like this, only keeps our people from choosing a new Drokke. Don’t you see, I think this is what she wants. Syn Hulda . . . she is not what she seems. I am sure of it.’

‘Is that why you are nameless?’ You put a hand to her cheek, your thumb wiping away her tears.

The girl nods, lowering her head in shame. ‘I was cast out . . . Syn has made it known to all. My family, my bloodline is cursed.’

You look past her shoulder, meeting Aslev’s gaze. You exchange a knowing look. He steps forward, his hands settling around her arms. Anise glances round, then struggles against his grip. ‘What . . . what are you doing?’ she snaps.

‘I have to do this,’ you whisper tenderly. ‘I will come back, I promise.’

‘No!’ Anise wrestles to free herself. ‘It’s too dangerous!’

You approach the wall of ice, your gaze settling on the distorted image of the half-giant Skard seated on his frozen throne.
Nanuk
. You close your eyes, placing the palms of your hands against the cold ice. You let its frigid chill flow into you, numbing your mind, your senses.
Find the other asynjur. Take me to them.

Sounds drift away one by one. Slowly, you erase the world around you, letting your spirit lift free of your dead body, rising up to become one with the dream-world of the Norr. Turn to
311
.

522

You place the ‘one of crowns’ on the discard pile and pick a new stone from the bag. You have gained the ‘two of moons’.

You have the following stones:

The monk decides to play his hand. Turn to
593
.

523

You cut Skoll and Anise free of their bindings. The warrior slumps to his knees, still groggy from whatever charm spell the coven used to
entrap them. Anise throws her arms around you, holding you tight.

‘Where did you go?’ she whispers. Her fingers stroke your new armaments, brought back from the Norr and still smouldering with dark magics.

‘Just exorcising a few demons,’ you smile thinly.

Skoll finds his feet, staggering slightly until he regains his balance. Pushing hair out of his eyes, he offers you a bemused grin. ‘Rescued again. This will do nothing for my standing.’ He scans the bodies, then makes towards a pile of belongings stacked on a wooden pallet. He has spied his helmet and his pack. He starts towards them, then pauses, glancing back.

‘First time north of the face, you should take in the view.’ He nods to the wide tunnel across the other side of the cave, its black walls edged by the brightness of daylight. ‘I’ll get the rest of our gear.’

You follow Anise up the tunnel, her hand inside your own as you step out onto the shelf of rock. Below you, a plain of melting snow breaks into a rust-coloured wasteland dotted with jagged peaks and ridges. A dead land, mirrored by the listless yellow sky, its wide expanse dotted with floating islands of rock. They hang in the sky like dark clouds, their undersides dripping with dust and a foul decay.

The sight is both breath-taking and haunting.

Anise tightens her grip on your hand. ‘This is it, the last stage of our journey.’

You nod, keeping silent, the spinner’s words weighing heavy on your mind.
A sacrifice will have to be made, boy. Only you will be able to choose, life or death
.

You turn to look upon Anise. So beautiful, despite the firm set of her features, skin as delicate and white as egg shells. ‘I won’t let any harm come to you, I promise.’

Tears leak from the corners of her eyes. ‘I know.’

You take Anise in your arms and hold her close. (Return to the Act 2 quest map to continue your journey.)

524

You soon discover the challenge of the slope is not the slipperiness of the ice, but the ridges and razor-backed rocks that protrude from
its surface. Your sled bounces and swings across the hard ground, its runners threatening to break at any moment.

You will need to take a challenge test using your
stability
attribute:

If you are successful, turn to
103
. Otherwise, turn to
214
.

525

Another set of stairs brings you to what you assume was once a barracks. The shattered remains of bunk beds occupy the left and right-hand walls, joining rusted weapons and shields that have spilled out of several toppled weapon racks.

In the centre of the room is a square wooden table, which appears to have escaped the rest of the devastation. Seated at it are two ghosts, one a guard clad in rusted plate and chainmail, the other a tall hooded figure swathed in mottled black robes. Both of them seem intent on playing a game involving small runic stones. The guard looks to be losing, his ghostly-green expression one of fear and dismay as he studies the dice-sized stones in his hand. You enter the room warily, fearing that they may attack or sound an alarm – but both of the ghosts remain focused on their game, oblivious to their surroundings.

526

You opt to go first, throwing yourself into a full-on sprint. Fire roars all around you, the glyphs sparking with magic as your boots strike the stone. To survive the ‘corridor of doom’ you must pass a number
of
speed
challenges. Each challenge you successfully complete allows you to move to the next challenge on the list.

If you fail a drake fire challenge, you must immediately take 12 damage, ignoring
armour
. You may then move onto the next challenge. If you fail a lightning challenge, you are knocked back to the previous challenge on the list, which you must pass again to proceed:

If you still have
health
remaining after completing all the challenges then you have reached the end of the corridor. Turn to
637
. If you lose all your
health
, you must count this as a defeat on your hero sheet. You may then try the challenge again, or opt to find an alternative route (turn to
672
).

527

Lured by the thought of treasure, you slide down the slope into the sludgy slime. To your relief, you only sink up to your waist in the foul substance, but its acidic properties are slowly eating away at your clothing and flesh and corroding your weapons. (You must lose one attribute point from any two of your equipped items.)

You press on into the pool, moving as quickly as the thick sludge will allow. With great effort, you manage to reach the first of the bobbing objects – all glowing with a faint green residue of magic. If you wish, you may take one of the following items:

You must now decide if you will risk heading deeper into the pool to grab more items (turn to
736
) or wade back to shore and leave the chamber (turn to
303
).

528

The drakeling struggles to maintain its course, dipping lower into the rift.

‘Come on! Faster!’ You try and urge the creature to greater effort, but you sense the magic failing – slowly drawing itself back inside you, leaving the coldness of the grave to take hold of the creature once again.

A sheer wall of rock veers to your left as the drakeling gives its last breath, then starts to plummet. To your surprise, the fall is short and abrupt, ending with the crunch of bones – thankfully, the drake-ling’s. You have crashed onto a narrow ledge, jutting out from the side of the rift. In the wall facing you are two openings. One looks like it was carved by design, with a cracked archway stretching across the entrance. The other looks like a fresh opening, little more than a jagged crevice, most likely caused by the recent quakes.

You turn and look back across the mile of emptiness to the far side of the rift. A dust cloud hangs heavy in the air, obscuring what was once the keep. From the chunks of stone still spilling into the abyss, you doubt anything of the structure now remains. Even the bridge, which once spanned the gulf, is now crumbling and coming away from the rock, its shattered parts spinning end over end, oddly silent as they are swallowed by the bottomless void.

The way home – lost forever.

Another tremor shakes the ground, almost causing you to pitch forward into that same darkness. You quickly step away from the
edge, your attention shifting back to the two openings. Perhaps one will provide a safe path back to the surface.

529

‘It’s the final race – and the stakes are high. Only ten competitors left, the best of the best, and Ryker’s got a real challenge in store. Bleak Peak – the mountain that takes no prisoners. Have your wits about you, kid, because there can only be one winner – and unless you got the guts and the cunning to beat the opposition, you’re gonna be eating dirt.’ Turn to
79
.

530

You half expected the camp to be bustling with activity, but it is oddly quiet – only a few men and women are trudging through the snow, attending to their chores. You see Desnar leading a small entourage towards the edge of the camp. He is carrying a spear of bone in one hand and a leather pack in the other. At his side you see the boy from the lakeside who had run to fetch the others.

‘What’s happening?’ You look to Sura for an explanation.