### 157

After following the coastline northwards for an hour, you happen upon a narrow path that rises from the beach and zig-zags up to the top of the cliffs. The path appears deserted, and you decide to use it rather than risk being caught by the rising tide.

The climb to the top is long and arduous and by the time you reach the peak, the weather has taken a turn for the worse. An icy, rain-laden wind whips inland from the sea, its chilling bite accompanied by sheet lightning that illuminates the stark landscape before you. The blue-white flash reveals a vast, dead world of pitted spurs and crags, where every tree is petrified and every rock looks like a dead man's skull. You pull your warm cape close about your shoulders and set off towards a ridge that is peppered with dark hollows. You pray that one of them will offer some shelter from the coming storm.

Upon reaching the ridge, you discover that most of the hollows are merely patches of dark earth sandwiched between the honeycombed rock. The rain has become torrential, and you are about to abandon all hope of finding dry shelter, when suddenly your tracking instincts alert you to a cave-like opening at the far end of the ridge. You investigate and discover that it is indeed the entrance to a cave, one that is both wind- and watertight and, to your relief, quite empty. You are now very hungry and must eat a Meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points.

If you have the Magnakai Discipline of Animal Control and Divination, turn to 234.

If you do not possess both these skills, turn to 307.

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