### 13

The shriek of metal on metal reverberates along the tunnel as great iron cogs grind into action.1 Slowly, the portcullis rises into the roof. Wasting no time, you duck beneath the pointed bars and hurry into the passage beyond.

Rats flee, squeaking, as you stalk along the slippery flagstones. You wince as their claws rasp on the wet rock and their hairless tails furrow the stinking green slime that covers the surface of the tunnel floor. The passage widens as it approaches a staircase that leads down. Halfway down the stairs you disturb a colony of bats nesting in the ceiling. They squeal angrily and whirl around your head, battering you with their wings and nipping at your face with their sharp, needle-like teeth.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Animal Control or Psi-surge, turn to 180.

If you have neither of these skills, turn to 285.

[1] This section is the correct answer to the dial problem from section 306.

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