### 96

You throw the red-hot token away, but it hits a boulder and rebounds directly into the trough. There is a dreadful moment of silence, then the whole area is lit up by a blinding flash of yellow flame. Suddenly everything seems to be happening in slow motion. You see acolytes tumbling backwards, screaming, their robes sprouting tongues of flame, and chunks of marble from the trough hurtling skywards like fiery meteors. Then the heat and the shock of the explosion rip into your face and chest, sending you cartwheeling backwards into a black, unfeeling oblivion.

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

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