235

Waist-deep in the marsh, you keep perfectly still, counting the rapid beat of your heart but not daring even to breathe. Very gradually you feel yourself sinking. Urik has fallen on solid ground, but looks completely unharmed. You look towards him, helplessly. He places a finger to his lips and slowly reaches out for your Staff which, miraculously, you have managed to retain. After what seems an eternity, he grasps the end of your Staff and begins to pull. As the shouts of the Shadakine grow fainter, Urik manages to pull you free.

Just as you are thinking how lucky you have been, you hear a new and ominous sound, a discordant howling that makes your blood run cold. Cautiously, you raise your head and peer along the tops of the rushes. Standing in a small clearing, some two hundred yards off, you see a frightened-looking peasant—a Shadakine slave. He is barely able to control two snarling hounds, who tug at the lengths of chain attached to their harnesses. These are no ordinary hounds: they each have two heads with a single horn protruding from each, and a pair of outsized fangs showing through their slavering jowls. Urik peers over your shoulder and swears under his breath. ‘Big trouble, Wizard,’ he mutters. ‘They catch our scent pretty soon.’

Suddenly the peasant calls out. ‘Master! Master!’ he cries to a tall Shadakine, undoubtedly the officer in charge. ‘The Magdi—they smell something.’ The tall Shadakine officer screws up his eyes, a wicked smile playing across his face. You must act and quickly. There is no time to prepare any elaborate magic before the Shadakine officer releases his monstrous hounds.

A shallow waterway leads away from the bog and if you wish to enter this, turn to 25.

If you prefer to attempt a long-range attack with your Wizard’s Staff, turn to 105.