The Heart of Fire (102 page)

652

As soon as you near the foot of the stairs the four warriors come alive, their rigid bodies snapping into battle-ready stances. For several heartbeats there is silence –
broken only by the flames, crackling and spitting in the braziers – then the four warriors surge forward with shrieking hollers, their swords igniting into blazing torches of flame. It is
time to fight:

Special abilities

In this combat, choose a maiden to attack. If you win the combat round, you must strike against your chosen maiden (or multiple maidens if you have an ability that lets you do
so). If you lose the combat, your chosen maiden will strike against you as a single opponent. Once you have defeated all four maidens, you win the combat.

If you manage to defeat these four fiery maidens, turn to
699
. You can flee this combat at any time by leaving the ziggurat and heading through the open doorway.
Turn to
595
.

653

You soon lose control of the raft as you are buffeted through the chaotic tumult of logs and stone. Finally the raft crashes against a line of rocks, splitting through its
base. You cling to the wood, almost willing it to stay together, but it is too late – the raft breaks apart, pitching you into the churning waters.

For the next few minutes you are tumbling in darkness, dimly aware of the forest debris whipping past. Then you break above the surface, grateful to see a river bank blurring by within
arm’s reach. Quickly you grab hold of a tree root, using it to steady yourself against the rushing force of the water. Then you slowly pull yourself up onto the bank.

You lie there panting, shaken by your ordeal but glad that you are still alive. After taking a few moments to recover and catch your breath, you set off again – following the banks of the
river. Turn to
703
.

654

The phoenix implodes, drawing heat and flame into the centre of its body. There is a bright flash, then the spirit is gone – vaporised into wisps of smoke. No trace of
the phoenix remains, save for a single glowing feather, which drifts down to land at your feet. You stoop to retrieve it, noticing that its crimson fronds are beaded with glistening tears.

You may now take any/all of the following items:

With the ghostly spirit defeated, you decide to leave and head up the stairs. Turn to
775
.

655

It is a fierce and desperate battle as you struggle to beat back the relentless tide of snapping fangs. Thankfully Scar-face comes to your aid, his claws and teeth ripping
through the bodies and making short work of the remaining creatures.

Exhausted, you turn to look at the carpet of bodies that surround you. There must have been over a hundred of the strange creatures. Thankfully, everyone survived the encounter – only a
couple of the tigris have minor wounds.

Scar-face picks up the nearest body and stabs his claws into its back, ripping open the black-furred carapace. You grimace with disgust as he proceeds to scoop out the white pulpy flesh.
‘This looks good,’ he smiles, taking a taste. ‘Want some?’

If you wish you may now take any/all of the following:

After a brief rest the party continues across the cave, making for a tunnel in the far wall. As you are about to follow, something on the ground catches your eye. You hurry over to investigate,
stooping down to take a closer look. It turns out to be a golden compass, rare and valuable – but its glass face has been smashed and the needle bent. On the back of the compass an
inscription reads:
My dearest Sebastian. May your heart always point you in the right direction. Ellie
. You wonder what could have happened to Sebastian, to make him drop such a prized
object.

You look up to see a ledge, jutting several metres above the tunnel opening. The pitted wall to either side offers a number of potential hand and foot holds, providing you with a means of
reaching it. Grey-hair looks back, as the others head into the tunnel.

‘Let it go, bright claw. We keep moving.’

656

You awake to find yourself lying next to the dirt track, your wounds bound by palm leaves and vines. A sickly scent wafts up from the makeshift bandages, where a thick poultice
seeps around the edges. It seems that the tigris are not without some skill with herbs and natural remedies, which may well have saved your life.

Surprised to feel no pain, you lever yourself into a sitting position. There is no sign of the other tigris. You are reminded of the Sheva leader’s words at the compound: ‘Those that
fall we leave. They are lost to us.’

True to their word, the tigris have left you behind. You have no hard feelings – your wounds would only have slowed them up, and the dangers they face are many. After retrieving your pack
and weapons, you start back through the forest. Return to the quest
map
to continue your adventure.

657

Exhausted, you sag back against the rocks, watching as the seawater rushes in around the three bodies, leaving bloody smears across the sand. These three old crones must have
once been sirens, luring sailors to this cove to prey on their remains. The maps were just another part of their seductive game, tempting travellers with false tales of paradise. At least you have
finally put paid to their dastardly schemes.

For defeating the sirens, you may now choose one of the following rewards:

You follow the crones’ footprints back to a small cave. As you expected, it is full of bones and other gruesome trophies. Not wishing to stay any longer than necessary, you quickly rummage
through the contents. You find several pouches of gold (you have gained 100 gold crowns) and the following items, which you may take:

The putrid stench finally forces you back out of the cave. Return to the quest
map
to continue your adventure.

658

Halfway to the bottom of the gorge you pass an opening in the rock wall. Its angular shape and smooth edges suggest something man-made rather than a natural feature. You also
notice several strange markings cut into the stone around its edge, but they make little sense to you.

659

As you gaze into the depths of the crystal ball, a scene starts to form in your mind’s eye. You are looking down on a store room filled with stone tablets. At its centre
is a podium, fashioned from sculptured bands of black and red granite. Resting on it is a small carved statue. In the far wall there looks to be a doorway, but it is blocked by a row of metal
bars.

You put your hands to the crystal, surprised to discover that it is warm to the touch. As you continue to hold them there, the scene in your head starts to change – the metal bars flash
with magic then lift up into the ceiling, leaving the doorway open and the secret cache accessible. (Make a note of the key word
barrier
on your hero sheet.)

660

You sever the creature’s wings, dropping it to the ground. As the drecko scrabbles in vain to defend itself, you step in quickly and deliver a killing blow.

You may now help yourself to one of the following rewards:

Shaken by your ordeal, you decide to leave the rest of the jungle beasts safely behind bars. Turn to
466
.

661

The benches are set in two rows, the aisle way between them leading through to an open balcony. There, silhouetted against the bright haze, is a stone lectern. An open book
rests on its slanted arms, the yellowed pages rustling back and forth in the breeze.