### 74

Placing your hands upon his chest, you try to seal the open wound. He has lost a lot of blood and although he is sweating heavily, his skin is cold to the touch. His eyes suddenly roll open and he shouts a garbled warning.

'Pirates . . .Lakuri pirates . . .beware the red sails . . .repel boarders!'

The captain is soon unconscious once more. You wrap him in blankets and place a cushion beneath his head, but he has drifted off into a sleep from which he will not awake. Back on deck, the bodies of the dead crew have been gathered together. Captain Kelman approaches you and hands you a vicious-looking black scimitar.

'This is no pirate sword, Lone Wolf. This weapon was forged in the furnaces of Helgedad. It is a Darklord blade.'

It is daunting news. If the Darklords have allied the Lakuri pirates to their cause, the voyage to Durenor will be a perilous one. You fling the black sword into the sea and return to the Green Sceptre. As you set sail for the east, you watch as the Durenor merchantman slips beneath the waves.

Turn to 240.

Text copyright © 1984 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1984 Gary Chalk.