297
Taking a deep breath, you plunge into the water. Urik follows directly after. Hampered by your Staff and Backpack you make slow progress and soon your lungs feel ready to burst but you cannot surface for air. You must discard your Backpack to avoid drowning. (Remember to cross this item and all its contents from your Action Chart.)
Freed of the encumbrance of your Backpack, you kick out and soon reach the edge of the lake. You break the surface, gulping at the air as you scramble away from the flame. As you cross from the water to the land, you suffer mild burns on the exposed flesh of your hands (lose 1 ENDURANCE point).
Injured and exhausted, you throw yourself into the haven of tall marsh grass. Urik staggers to your side, water cascading from his sodden clothes. You lie still for a while to regain your breath; then suddenly a chilling howl freezes your blood. Urik cocks his head to one side, and then wearily clambers to his feet. ‘They have hunting dogs,’ he says, urgently. ‘One … maybe two terrible Magdi Hounds.’ He points to a shallow waterway that disappears through the tall grass like a trail. ‘We move now—slow and silent. Keep to water. Hide scent. Come.’
You both creep away, stepping tentatively along the channel between the reeds as a knot of fear rises in your stomach.
