The Heart of Fire (101 page)

‘Oh, am I surplus to requirements now?’ You stalk towards him, shaking the ball in your fist. ‘Care to tell me what
this
is? I don’t remember agreeing to carry
your little toys!’

Avian continues to study the runes. Virgil merely grunts. ‘I wasn’t even sure it would work. That’s an Elven beacon stone. You could be more grateful . . .’

‘Grateful?’ Your voice rises by several octaves as you hurl the ball at the nearest wall. Virgil winces as it smashes like glass, sending splinters tinkling across the ground.
‘What am I?’ you snarl. ‘Just an experiment to you? I had Cernos . . . I was about to take his heart! Then that ridiculous ball starts flashing and-’

The witchfinder raises a gloved hand. ‘I’d cool that anger of yours. The demon-blood is volatile.’ His steely gaze takes in your transformation. ‘Soon, you
will—’

‘Become like him! Say it! I’m becoming a demon – the very monster I was sent here to kill!’

‘Look, we’ll find Cernos,’ replies Virgil coolly. ‘He won’t have got far.’

You gesture wildly at the two men. ‘And this is what you call aid? Did you not think to bring an army?’

Avian addresses you for the first time, speaking over his shoulder. ‘The beacon would not transport so many. Besides, you can’t lead an army into Tartarus . . .’ He taps
another rune. All of a sudden, the whole spiral of markings flash with a brilliant red glow. The mage leans away, then steps back – waiting for the runes to settle back to their dormant
state. ‘Ah, this is impossible!’ he mutters angrily. ‘The weaves are too complex. I’ve never seen their like before.’

Virgil removes his hat and scratches at his close-cropped hair. ‘And Cernos had the key . . .’

As you study the markings on the door, you are reminded of the dwarven device from Duerdoun which led you through the forest of thorns. You turn over your palms, revealing the grooved runes that
were burnt into the flesh. An idea forms – a desperate one, but it might be possible.

‘Out of my way.’

You walk over to the door. Avian turns in surprise. ‘Don’t tell me you’re serious . . .’

Ignoring the mage, you stoop to examine the circular device. There is a line of runes spiralling around to a missing section at its centre, where you assume the key was meant to be inserted. You
place your hands, palm outwards, into the cavity – feeling the scarred tissue fit around the subtle depressions in the rock. Then you twist your hands, moving them slowly – rotating
them to the left as Cernos had done with the key. The rock moves with you, the runes flickering to life with a soft glow. A second later there is a click, followed by a deep rumbling. The doors
start to open.

Avian gives a snort of disbelief. ‘Unbelievable!’

Virgil plants his hat back on his head, a wolfish grin spreading across his face. ‘We’re in!’ He tugs a pouch loose from his belt and tosses it to you.

‘What’s this?’ You ask, snatching it out of the air.

‘It’s a doggy bag,’ he replies, his grin widening further. ‘You looked hungry.’

You open the bag and look inside. You may now take any/all of the following items:

With your hands absent from the device, the doors start to close.

‘It’s time to move!’ shouts Avian. ‘Come on!’

Quickly, the three of you hurry through the doorway – making it through with only seconds to spare. However, celebration is far from anyone’s mind. Ahead of you lies Tartarus, the
infamous city of the dwarves. Until now its gate has been closed for thousands of years, sealing away its secrets . . . and its past.

You draw back in horror at the gruesome sight that lies before you. ‘One God have mercy, what happened here?’ You struggle for breath, your mouth dry from the suffocating heat.

‘Ragnarok,’ states Virgil grimly. ‘That’s what happened.’

You may now turn to
590
to begin the Act 3 green quest, The bridge of screams.

648

The man puts up a fierce fight, but he is weak and malnourished. Your repeated blows soon silence his bestial snarls. Stepping over the body, you scan the contents of the
cabin. Resting on the bed is a leather cord with a pendant attached to it, shaped like a boot. You lift it up, discovering that the boot contains a small inscription on one side:
Walk proud.
Forever. Yootha
. If you wish to take the pendant, make a note of the word
restless
on your hero sheet.

You quickly scan the rest of the squalid mess, doubting there is anything here that would warrant your interest. However, as you move to leave, your foot knocks into a basket jutting out from
under the bed. You stoop to examine it, finding a variety of brightly-coloured mushrooms packed inside. They look freshly-picked and succulent. If you wish to try the mushrooms, turn to
814
. If you would prefer to leave the cabin, turn to
618
.

649

Using your chosen reagents you craft a runed stave, its jewelled headpiece raging with elemental fury. If you wish, you may now lay claim to:

If you wish to craft another item, turn to
755
. Otherwise, return to the
map
to continue your adventure.

650

As the last mandrill hits the floor the monkey king leaps straight out of his seat, alighting on the back of his throne. Raising his fist in the air, he mutters some arcane
gibberish – and suddenly a long red staff appears in his hand, its gold end-pieces crackling with magic. You charge forward, your weapons sweeping down to smash through the staff – but
the monkey somersaults away, your blows ringing harmlessly against the gold throne.

Twisting around you see the monkey is now whirling the magic staff above his head, creating a tornado of swirling light. It quickly surrounds him in a bright halo, his body becoming a dark
shadow that starts to expand – growing larger and larger.

When the staff stops and the tornado subsides, you find yourself facing a giant monkey – now grown to ten times his normal size. As you back away, trying to comprehend this sudden change
of events, you see the monkey make a peculiar gesture, pinching the side of his chest. Then you realise he is actually pulling tufts of hair loose and scattering them across the stones. Wherever
the hairs land there is a flash of magic – and a small monkey rises up out of the ground, long-limbed and black like a spider. Within seconds you are surrounded by a dozen of the spindly
creatures, which immediately leap straight at you, snapping and biting. You struggle to bat them away, their combined weight threatening to drag you to the floor. But these spider-monkeys are
merely a distraction. Through the chaos of grappling bodies, you glimpse the giant monkey stomping towards you, his staff raised to strike. It is time to fight:

Special abilities

In this combat you roll against Hanuman’s
speed
. If you win a combat round, you can choose to apply your damage to Hanuman or the spider monkeys. If you manage to
disarm Hanuman (see monkey magic), the spider monkeys are also automatically defeated.

If you manage to defeat the monkey king, turn to
737
. Otherwise, you have failed to assault the temple. Restore your
health
and turn to
449
.

651

The last elemental crumbles to dust, its broken runes fizzing weakly. Lorcan sheathes his weapons and steps away, his eyes roving across the lake of magma. You notice the
golden staff resting in a harness against his back – the staff he used previously to escape.

‘I suppose I should offer you my thanks.’ You watch him closely, still wary of his sudden reappearance. ‘Twice now. I’d say this is becoming a habit.’

Lorcan cracks his knuckles. ‘I do what I’m told. Nothing more.’ He glances around, then nods towards the smoking rubble. ‘We should salvage what we can – may as
well take something from this experience other than bruises and platitudes.’

(Each hero may now help themselves to one reward.) For warrior rewards, turn to
637
. For rogue rewards, turn to
830
. For mage rewards,
turn to
873
.