103

The following day, a strong wind rises from the north. Hour upon hour, it blows relentlessly into your face. The Ljuk ice shelf becomes a mass of twisted slabs of ice, jutting upwards at every angle. Progress is slow and difficult. By midday, you are shivering with cold; your lips are cracked and bleeding and the icy blasts have covered you with a thin film of snow.

You steer your sledge through a narrow passage at the edge of the ice shelf where it meets the Hrod Basin. Here you are sheltered from the wind, and for the first time today you can see ahead quite clearly.

Suddenly, shrieks from above warn you that you are not the only creatures seeking shelter here. Within seconds, three large Baknar jump from the ice wall and land with a crash on the sledges. Your fellow driver, Irian, is thrown against the ice and collapses unconscious. You are prevented from going to his aid by a hungry carnivorous Baknar. There is no hope of evading it; you must fight it to the death.

Baknar: COMBAT SKILL 19   ENDURANCE 30

If you win the combat, turn to 305.