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From the view, you judge that this window is set high up in the south wall of the Grand Palace. Far below you can see the buildings of the capital, in miniature clusters inside the white city wall. To the south-east lies Lake Inrahim, an immense salt-water plain that is completely dry and cracked. To the north, a road stretches across the causeway to the town of Chula, just visible on the horizon. To the south-west lie the barren, sun-scorched Dahir mountains and the shifting ocean of sand known as the Dry Main.

The bars of the window are badly corroded; it would be easy to dislodge them. However, the drop of several hundred feet to the city below means that there is no hope of escape this way. You climb down from the table and hurry along the corridor.

Turn to 182.

Text copyright © 1985 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1985 Gary Chalk.