### 346

Desperately you tap the wall with the hilt of your weapon, praying for the dull, tell-tale thud of a thin or hollow partition through which you might effect an escape. The walls yield no such sound, but in the roof you discover an old trap-door hatch sealed off with bricks and mortar. The faint glimmer of light seeping through a hairline crack fills you with renewed hope.

With a flurry of blows the mortar crumbles and the bricks split and fall. Without waiting for the dust to settle, you climb through the jagged hole and emerge into a hall that is filled with a damp and earthy smell. Two rows of great stone pillars support the roof and a huge, granite sarcophagus stands in the centre of the floor. From within a black tunnel to your right, you hear the clanking of armour and the sound of approaching footsteps.

If you wish to hide behind one of the pillars, turn to 110.

If you wish to leave the hall by a tunnel to your left, turn to 201.

If you wish to lie in ambush for whatever is approaching the hall, turn to 319.

Text copyright © 1986 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1986 Gary Chalk.