The Heart of Fire (124 page)

Virgil gives an audible gasp.

You drop your hand quickly, concerned that you have drawn further attention to your on-going transformation.

But Virgil is staring into the shaft, a sudden gust of wind tugging at his coat. ‘No . . .’

You hurry to the edge. Below you, the glowing carvings of the Abussos are winking out one by one, snuffed out by a rising tide of darkness.

‘We need to move!’ snaps Virgil. ‘Quickly!’

He starts sprinting up the pathway, his boots squeaking across the smooth stone. You follow without question, all too aware of the wailing screams that are mounting in volume.

‘Can’t we fight it? What is it?’ You dare another glance into the shaft, horrified by the roiling, twisted shape that is fast-approaching. It looks like a black thunder-cloud,
flickering with lightning.

‘It’s Nyx!’ Virgil shouts above the screaming din. ‘A greater demon from the abyss. We have to get out of this shaft – before it overtakes us!’

As you approach the first of the circular platforms, you are startled to see figures moving across its surface. They have the appearance of ghosts, glowing with the same green light as the
carved walls. Sounds start to fill your ears, the cries of battle and the ring of steel.

‘The magic here is tainted!’ yells Virgil. ‘The Abussos will turn against us, use the memories to defend itself . . .’

The ghosts on the first platform fade, leaving a lone Lamuri warrior standing at its centre. He is a head taller than you, with a cloak of tiger skin draped across his broad shoulders. In one
hand he holds a large bone club, banded with silver and gold.

Virgil skids to a halt, eyeing the phantom warily. ‘Let us pass, we mean you no harm.’

The tiger-cloaked warrior spits at the ground. ‘I am mighty Shonac! First prince of Hanuman.’ He beats his chest three times. ‘From the forest I come, to lay claim to the
jewelled throne. Seven years of exile. Seven years I watch you grow weak. Look upon me, my people – you see Shonac, First of the Bloodied Claw – the ancestors chose me for your
king!’

‘It’s just a ghost – a memory,’ you implore, confused by the witchfinder’s hesitation. ‘It can’t harm us.’

However, when you try and step around the warrior his face suddenly creases into a savage snarl. He springs forward, his club snapping around in a green blur. The blow smashes into your side,
sending you skidding and tumbling to the very edge of the platform.

‘Just a ghost.’ Virgil scoffs derisively. ‘I told you – the Abussos is using its magic to defend itself ! If we don’t get past these guardians, we’re done
for.’

As you scramble back to your feet, you catch sight of the wind demon hurtling up the shaft. Its black form is ripping through the jade pathways like they were nothing but paper, sucking the
broken fragments into its whirling vortex. Determined not to share a similar fate, you turn back to the phantom warrior. You will have to defeat him and the many other ghosts of the Abussos, in
order to outrun the demon and find a means of escape. Turn to
630
.

802

Between the high-stacked shelves you see a ghostly figure pacing back and forth. It is a dwarf, a braided beard hanging down over his plain robes. His body is almost completely
translucent, its outline shimmering with a faint green light. He continues to pace, muttering to himself and wringing his hands in agitation. He shows no sign of having noticed you.

Will you:

803

Congratulations, for defeating Erkil while
hexed
you have won the following rare item:

Once you have updated your hero sheet, return to the quest
map
to continue your journey.

804

You head south out of the tainted marshland, finding yourself back amongst the thick jungle and its thrumming chorus of insects. After an hour the land starts to rise, taking
you through lush clearings of ferns and bright flowers into a set of fog-shrouded hills. These gradually become steeper until you are finally forced out onto a ledge of crumbling rock. Trying to
ignore the vertiginous drop, you ease yourself along the narrow path, following it round to its cloud-capped summit. If you have the word
explorer
on your hero sheet, turn to
504
. Otherwise, turn to
756
.

805

You decide to leave the looters to their ill-gotten gains, believing that the vault will hold greater reward. There is only one problem – getting into it. After studying
the strange patterns, you move closer to the wall and give one of the panels an experimental push. It gives slightly at your touch then slides forward, pivoting out of its original position. To
your surprise, you discover that each panel is on some sort of grooved axle and can be rotated clockwise – all save for the middle panel, which remains locked in place.

‘Dwarven thinking.’ Virgil scratches his chin. ‘The answer is usually a number, which needs to be spoken. Then the door opens. If you get it right . . .’

If you are able to solve the puzzle, then ‘speak your answer’ by turning to the relevant entry number. If you cannot solve the puzzle then, reluctantly, you are forced to give up
– the vault’s secrets remaining frustratingly hidden. Turn to
797
.

806

Congratulations! You have created the following item:

If you wish to create a different spell book, you can start the process again (turn to
850
). Otherwise, you may now leave the chamber and continue your journey. Turn
to
866
.

807

As you advance, the smell grows worse – a pungent, stagnant odour that makes you start to gag. It is accompanied by a loud crunching underfoot. You crouch down, taking a
closer look at the white crispy substance that covers the ground and crushing some between your fingers.

‘Bats,’ sniffs Grey-hair with revulsion. His eyes flick to the ceiling, where you hear the whisper of wings.

You sniff the white goo and suddenly flinch away, realisation dawning. ‘Bat guano,’ you scowl, quickly wiping your hand against your chest.

‘Good for earth. Bad for smell,’ grins the elderly tigris, his whiskers bristling around a sly smile.

A few metres ahead the tunnel widens into another cave. At its centre is a rectangular mound, too angular to be a natural formation. Scar-face scrapes the guano from its surface, then beckons
you over.

‘Dwarf stone,’ he says, pointing to the runes carved into the surface. You note that there are four square tiles set into the lid, each one showing a different glyph. There is an
empty depression where you assume there was once a fifth tile.

If you have the
rune stone
, turn to
470
. Otherwise, your attempts to break into the stone container prove in vain. You rejoin the others and continue into the
opposite tunnel. Turn to
513
.

808

Congratulations, for defeating Ixion while
hexed
you have won the following rare item:

Once you have updated your hero sheet, return to the quest
map
to continue your journey.

809

The smooth surface of the door suddenly ripples like water, forming itself into a pair of narrowed eyes, a hawkish nose and a wide-lipped mouth. ‘Halt!’ it speaks
in common. ‘Who goes there?’

You start to draw your weapons, but Virgil puts a hand to your arm urging restraint. ‘This arratoch is harmless. A door guardian, nothing more.’ He turns back to the enchanted
visage, protruding from the marble. ‘We seek to pass. Did your master provide a means of passage?’

The guardian takes a moment before responding. ‘Answer my riddle, and you may enter.’ It then proceeds to reel off a dwarven children’s rhyme:

Deep, deep, seven sleep, kings under the hill.

Twenty yards and ten again,

Two hundred dwarves were marching then,

A fathom more, but four less when,

They fell into a dragon’s den.

How many feet are we?

If you are able to solve the riddle, then speak your answer by turning to the relevant entry number. Otherwise, the guardian refuses to let you pass. You have no choice but to leave by the south
exit (turn to
854
) or the east exit (turn to
839
).

810

You scurry from one building to the next, hugging the walls, keeping to the shadows. Somewhere in the distance, you can hear the keening wail of the wind demon. It is still
searching for you, hounding your steps.

For nearly an hour you have traversed the subterranean city, its buildings all sculptured from the same black stone. A few have still held traces of their former residents – dusty animal
skins on the floor, stone benches and tables, a few pots and tools, writing etched into tablets. Nothing that has proved useful or brought you any closer to finding the sword.

‘How will we find anything in this place?’ You glance back at Virgil. The witchfinder has resorted to one blade to light his way, fearing the brighter glow from its twin will draw
unwanted attention. He scans the skies with a worried frown.

‘I am starting to lose my faith, I’ll admit.’

The street you are following curves around the side of a sculptured pillar, bringing you to a raised courtyard. Its centre dips away into a bowl-shaped crater, where ash has been piled into
peaked mounds.

‘They burnt the dead,’ Virgil concludes grimly. ‘A final act before the survivors fled.’

You remember back to the Lamuri ruins and the swarms of undead that had infested the temples and buildings.

‘A wise choice,’ you remark. ‘But it hasn’t erased what happened here. I can still feel it . . . the evil is everywhere.’

Across the courtyard looms a domed building of red-black granite, with a tattered banner flapping above its bronzed doors. The cloth is heavy with dust and grime, but you can still make out the
faded sigils sown into the cloth: a hammer and a flame.

‘The sacred union,’ states Virgil. ‘The dwarves always had two kings to rule, in every city. One the hammer, the other the flame.’

You glance at him, confused.

‘Their society was built around two ideals. Might and strength on the one hand, learning and magic on the other. Together they believed it united them, made them strong. But those
divisions . . . well, you know your history . . .’

You recall reading of the great dwarven wars, when their cities were torn apart by civil strife and bloodshed. Tartarus had been spared such an event, the city having been abandoned long before
the wars. Little consolation for its former inhabitants, you reflect grimly.

‘At least this building has some character about it,’ says Virgil, lightening the mood. ‘Let’s see what’s inside.’ Turn to
378
.

811

The dwarf ’s stone-hard skin turns your blades and magic, its weight adding further strength to each of his own attacks. Your second sight can barely keep up with the
onslaught, his axe nicking your leg, his blade slicing across your chest. A loose stone turns beneath your foot, forcing you to stumble. In that instant, the dwarf sees his chance to finish the
fight – but your misstep has given you a fortuitous opening. As the dwarf raises his weapons to strike, you thrust under his guard, piercing through his stone chest. For an instant the dwarf
stands frozen in mid-step, eyes wide in astonishment. Then his stone body crumbles around your weapon, dropping to the ground into a pile of grey dust.