### 31

The memory of the dead woman's face flashes into your mind as you stare into Roark's eyes, glitteringly black beneath his wide-brimmed hat. The resemblance is so striking--the same aquiline nose and sallow flesh--that they must be related.

Suddenly, the riders appear and spread out in a semicircle to surround you. A voice shouts, 'Arla is dead--the Northlander killed her!'

The lordling's face is transformed into a mask of trembling hatred. Madness flashes in his eyes as he rips open the front of his tunic and tears an amulet from a black chain around his throat.

'Come, come, Tagazin, I summon thee. From the pit of eternal pain I summon thee!'

The skin on your arms and neck prickles with fear as you hear Roark's terrible invocation. You cast your eyes around you for an escape route; only the churchyard offers a way past the lordling and his men. However, as you spur your horse through the stone gateway, you are frozen with terror by what lies ahead.

Turn to 270.

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