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The instant you strike the killing blow, Kraagenskûl emits a howl so loud that it shakes the very foundations of the building, a howl that conveys his total despair and eternal damnation. He falls, yet as he does so, his withered frame vanishes before your eyes. A tattered grey robe and a flickering black sword are all that mark the place where his doom was sealed.

Quickly you leave the chamber by a stair that leads to the roof. The Zlanbeast, Kraagenskûl's personal winged mount, sniffs the air and shuffles along its perch with a nervous, rolling gait. It senses that you are its natural enemy and it is determined to resist your attempts to subdue it. More than an hour elapses before you have control over the creature, and can climb into the saddle without it trying frantically to hook and gouge you with its great curved claws. You pull on the reins and urge the beast skywards, eager to leave this port of evil, but no sooner has it cleared the roof than you are engulfed by a squadron of screeching Kraan swooping down from the night sky. They have flown all the way from Kaag, a Darkland fortress to the south, after being alerted to your presence here by Darklord Gnaag. Valiantly you fight to defend your life, but the odds are overwhelmingly against you. The Kraan drag you from your saddle and you meet your doom upon the hard, unyielding cobblestones of Argazad harbour.

Your life and your mission end here.

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