The Heart of Fire (66 page)

Virgil nods. ‘He’s had his eye on you for some time.’

You look up. ‘I’m nothing special.’

‘Oh really?’ He raises an eyebrow. ‘Visions of the future don’t make you special? Look, Avian is one of the good guys, trust me. A powerful mage – and not someone
you want to get on the wrong side of. Understand?’

You glance down at the bag. Opening it up, you discover a purse and a number of leather gourds inside. You have gained 30 gold crowns and may take any/all of the following:

You close the bag with a sigh of resignation. ‘I don’t have a choice in this, do I?’

‘No,’ replies the witchfinder firmly. ‘But remember this – Cernos is weak. The dwarven runes that were branded into his irons will have drained him of much of his power.
He’ll have gone to ground, regaining his strength, waiting for his moment – and that gives you a chance.’ He offers out his hand. ‘May the One God protect you.’

You ignore his gesture, pushing yourself off the bed and back onto unsteady feet. You wait for the pain and nausea to subside before fixing him with a determined stare. ‘So, when do I get
started?’ (Turn to
773
to begin Act 2 of your adventure.)

434

The bear lifts one of its big padded paws and points it at your chest. ‘The toymaker promised me a heart. If you won’t give it to me, then I’m going to take
yours!’ With a fearsome roar the creature lunges forward, claws looking to rip out your heart. It is time to fight:

Special abilities

If you manage to defeat this heartless teddy bear, turn to
105
.

435

‘Sweet child,’ echoes a woman’s voice, soft and seductive. ‘Your memories were . . . most nourishing . . .’ You spin around, to see a black hooded
figure swathed in shadow.

‘Who are you?’ you demand angrily, squinting in the murky half-light.

The woman pulls back her hood to reveal a hideous, monstrous face. The flesh is white and scaly, like a fish, swollen outwards to form a wide, sucker-like mouth. ‘I have fed on your mind,
prophet,’ whispers the voice in your head. ‘Now I will feed on your flesh!’ If you have the word
scars
on your hero sheet, turn to
673
.
Otherwise, turn to
572
.

436

You hurry through the portal. For a second you experience a lurching, dizzying sensation, like falling, then you find yourself stumbling forwards into a narrow stone
passageway. The air is cold and musty, a stark contrast to the blazing heat of the courtyard. Sadly, there is no sign of your companions – you can only assume that the doors they chose must
have taken them to different parts of the tower. And as for Anse . . . you hope that the paladin was able to escape from the fiery demon before it was too late.

Behind you is a smooth wall of black stone. With no other choice but forward, you warily advance along the passageway. As you progress, you become aware of a constant rumbling sound
reverberating through the rock. Every so often there is a thunderous clunk, like something suddenly locking into place. Then the rumbling starts again. You wonder if it might be the tower itself,
moving and rearranging itself in some strange fashion. It is a thought that brings little comfort.

After several hundred metres you come to a junction. Ahead, the passage ends in an archway, beyond which you can see a room bathed in firelight. To your right, a smaller side passage leads to a
plain wooden door.

437

‘You born yesterday, fool?’ the dark-skinned hunter scowls. ‘Tigris are worth good bounty back in the capital. Skin, bones – they’ll take it all.
And better alive.’

The weasel quickly wipes the wet hair from his eyes, circling you warily. ‘We don’t wanna lose her, so get on yer way. That babe is worth more than anything you could dream of
– and as for her, might skin the spiteful beast, make her pay good for this.’ He pats his leg where a bandana scarf has been used to poorly bind a wound. ‘I ain’t going back
to the buckmaster empty-handed, so you either move or I swear I’ll blow yer outta the way.’

438

A well-timed blow sends Andos tumbling backwards, giving you a chance to turn your attention to the spell books. Within moments, they have been reduced to shredded ribbons.

‘No!’ Andos crawls towards them, trying to catch their remains as they are lifted up on the breeze. You stand over him, your weapons raised.

‘Leave him be, Xenos! You are defeated!’

The boy’s body suddenly goes into spasm, a white foam drooling from the corners of his mouth. Then he drops to the ground, twitching and pale. You kneel by his side, putting a hand to his
shoulder.

‘Andos? Can you hear me?’

Suddenly, he lurches forward, coughing and spluttering.

‘What happened to me?’ he gasps, wiping spittle and sand from his chin. ‘You beat me up!’

‘No, I freed you, Andos.’ You lift up the torn cover of one of the books. ‘There was some demon or spirit inside you – they were using you to get to these.’

The boy sits up, his ginger hair matted with dust. ‘Bloomin’ ’eck, that’ll teach me. I’ve felt odd for days – all started when I borrowed Runtis’ eye
piece. I used it to read some of them inscriptions, on a rock at the other side of the isle. Then I got the headaches and . . .’ He plucks one of the charred papers out of the air, studying
its strange runes with a puzzled expression. ‘I suppose I owes you an apology. Never meant for all this to happen.’

‘Do you still have the eye piece?’ you ask with interest. ‘Perhaps I can safeguard it.’

‘Yeah, yeah – take it, I don’t want it!’ The boy reaches into the pocket of his breeches and pulls out a golden-rimmed monocle. He stuffs it into your hand before
clambering to his feet.

‘I better get back before old misery-guts sees I’m gone.’ After casting a frightened glance around the clearing, he scarpers into the forest.

You sit down to examine the monocle. If you are a mage, turn to
622
. Otherwise, after much head-scratching, you accept that its power is beyond your understanding.
Thankfully, Yootha at the trading post is willing to offer you 100 gold crowns to take it off your hands. When you have made your decision, return to the quest
map
to continue your journey.

439

You unwrap the grisly trophies and hold them out for the hunter. Bill picks up the jaguar paw, turning it over to inspect the long yellowed claws. ‘The mighty Gheira,
eh?’ He shakes his head in bewilderment. ‘And you’ve got more?’ He looks down at the spider’s eye and the snake fang. ‘Anansi and Kaala. Never thought I’d
see the day. Here, come with me.’

The hunter leads you into his hut, where a number of trunks and baskets are piled up next to a hammock. He takes a key from his pocket and moves over to the nearest of the trunks.
‘I’m a man of my word. And I promised you gold and treasure. So, let’s see what we got . . .’

If you are a rogue, turn to
499
. If you are a warrior, turn to
421
. If you are a mage, turn to
369
.

440

You emerge in a small room with a square pedestal at its centre. Resting on it is a gold staff and a roll of parchment. As you step towards it, you hear a child’s
laughter coming from above. ‘Time to play my favourite game!’

Glancing up, you see the boy is now standing on a balcony. He is raised up on tiptoe in order to see over the railing.

‘Paper, scissors, stone!’ he calls excitedly.

A sudden tremor causes the tower to shake, its foundations groaning as if in pain. The boy’s grin is suddenly replaced by a petulant frown. ‘No, not yet! I want to play!’

There is another quake, more extreme this time, shaking flakes of mortar loose from the walls. With a shriek the boy turns and hurries away, disappearing from sight.

With no other choice, you quickly examine the objects on the podium. Unfurling the scroll, you see that it contains a simple message:
Use the staff and follow my rules. Create your warriors,
with the following tools:

You pick up the staff, seeing that it has a number of glyphs carved into its length. When you pass your hand over these, they flicker with magic. You reread the message, realising that the boy
wants you to create a set of magical soldiers using certain materials. If you have the relevant materials to create a soldier, then you can craft it – watching with surprise as the staff
brings your silent automaton to life. Make a note of the warriors that you are able to make (you must also remove the relevant materials from your hero sheet).