### 160

The Elder's probe breaks through your defence and he suddenly realizes that you are an intruder. He pulls at your robe and tears it open, revealing your leather tunic and breeches. Recognizing them at once to be Sommlending in origin, he gasps with shock as he guesses at your true identity.

'Seize him!' he bellows, and a score of acolytes spring forward to obey the command. You draw your weapon and fight them with breathtaking skill and valour, but eventually you are overcome by the sheer weight of their numbers. By the time they have disarmed you and pinned you to the rocky ground, more than thirty of them lie slain or seriously injured in a heaped circle around where you lie.

You stare back defiantly at the ring of grim torchlit faces that loom over you. Then the face of the Elder comes into view and he sneers with disdain. He places the tip of a glowing wand to your forehead and suddenly there is an explosion of white light. Sadly for you, it is the last sensation you will ever experience.

Your life and your quest end here, on the trail to the Maakengorge.

Text copyright © 1991 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1991 Brian Williams.