### 185

The limb wavers, then, hesitantly, it falls back to the edge of the abyss. With an arrow drawn to your lips you watch it retreat, your eye focused along the shaft at a point near the middle of the velvety black tendril. It continues to withdraw, then, as the tip is about to disappear from sight, there is a deafening screech. Suddenly a huge shape explodes from the crevasse, rising at such speed that its features are a blur. Instinctively you aim at the centre of this bulbous black form, and send your shaft whistling to meet its lightning-fast attack. The arrow strikes, and the creature screeches again--this time in pain.

You dive to the floor to avoid being hit by this howling horror, but it skims your scalp before slamming into the cavern wall. You glance back, expecting to see it slumped lifelessly on the floor, but to your surprise you see that it is still moving. Like a punctured balloon, it rebounds from the wall, then soars in a spiral towards the roof. There it is impaled on a cluster of stalactites that crack and give way under the impact of its vast weight. For a fleeting second you glimpse its ghastly features--its pear-shaped horny head and bulb-tipped antennae--before it plummets for the last time into the coal-black depths of the crevasse.

Turn to 87.

Text copyright © 1988 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1988 Brian Williams.