260
The dark alleys and streets surrounding the gaol are illuminated by a hundred guttering brands. Magnaarn’s soldiers are everywhere, casting their suspicious eyes over every section of the nighted town laid bare by their torches. Your Kai skills keep you hidden from sight and soon you reach the gaol, but only to discover that the entrance is now heavily guarded by a platoon of Drakkarim.
You abandon your hopes of entering by the front door and instead you circle around to an alley at the rear of the building where you discover a line of windows, each one criss-crossed with iron bars. Instinct leads you to the last in the line and you peer inside to see Captain Prarg lying on a bed of filthy straw. He looks in poor shape; both his eyes are bruised, his lips are swollen, and his bushy moustache is caked with dried blood. You whisper his name and wearily he turns his head towards the cell window. Then he sees you and suddenly his whole face lights up with renewed hope.
‘Thank the gods you are still free, Lone Wolf,’ he says quietly, pressing his battered face to the bars. ‘The Drakkarim have tried to make me talk but I have kept silent. They know nothing about the mission.’
You examine the cell window and reassure Prarg that you will soon spring him from this gaol, but he insists that you do not risk your life on his account.
‘Listen, Sire. I have learned that Magnaarn isn’t here in Shugkona. When the gaolers beat me, I feigned unconsciousness and overheard them say that their leader is at a place called Antah. It’s a ruined temple some forty miles away to the north. They talked of certain victory now that their warlord has found “the stone”. Please, Lone Wolf, I beseech you to continue without me. Go to Antah and defeat Magnaarn, before it is too late.’
Then a yellowy flicker of torchlight at the end of the alley cuts short your conversation. It is a Drakkarim patrol. They turn the corner and come marching towards you with purposeful steps.
‘Don’t give up hope, captain,’ you say, as you make ready to run from the approaching patrol. ‘I’ll come back for you.’
