### 279

Cautiously you enter the hill country of Tilos. You have been wandering for an hour when you hear a suspicious sound like a distant murmur. Coming to the top of a hill, you look out on to a shallow valley. At the bottom of the valley is a crawling mass of horror: hundreds of demons lurk there. Parts of many beasts exist in grotesque combinations, a perverse mockery of nature's laws. Hundreds of corrupted faces look up at you sat astride the great white stallion upon the highest ridge in the valley. Even the stolid temperament of the Simar steed is shaken. It stamps and snorts, obviously distressed. A sinister moan of disquiet ripples through the creatures' cursed ranks. You sway in the saddle, recoiling from the malice focused on you. At the far end of the valley, less than a mile away, a shimmering arc of fire hovers in the air: it is the portal. It is too far away for you to be able to close it from here, and the entire demon plague stands in your way. A commotion breaks out below, and the demons begin to edge their way slowly up the valley towards you.

If you have a Potion of Invulnerability, and wish to drink it now, turn to 8.

If not, turn to 121.

Concept copyright © 1986 Joe Dever and Gary Chalk.
Text copyright © 1986 Ian Page.
Illustrations copyright © 1986 Paul Bonner.