### 165

The dwarf stops hammering. 'Is that you, Filcher?' he asks, squinting along the tunnel. When he realizes you are not Filcher, he curses and hurls his mattock at your head. You duck aside, but the pick-like weapon spins past and catches Paido full in the chest. He screams and falls, dying, at your feet. Desperately you try to save him, but the wound is fatal. Anger wells up inside, and you turn to confront his killer, only to find yourself staring into the muzzle of a Bor musket. The dwarf pulls the trigger, and you are decapitated by the blast.

It may be some consolation to learn that your killer did not escape unpunished. The shock wave of the blast brought down the tunnel ceiling and buried him alive.

Your life and your quest end here.

Text copyright © 1987 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1987 Gary Chalk.