Legion of Shadow

by Michael J. Ward

  Eventually, the tunnel opens out into a vast cavern, the size of which is truly breathtaking. The ceiling, if indeed there is one, is lost to sight in the smoky darkness high above you. Similarly, the two nearest walls sweep away into the distance, with no sign of meeting an adjoining wall. Ahead of you, the ground is cracked and broken – revealing veins of molten lava that crisscross this vast space with heat and flame.

  And there, reclining on a mound of gold and jewels, is a huge black dragon. From its snout to the tip of its long, spiked tail, the creature is over a hundred metres long. Thick black smoke spirals out of its nostrils and flames lick along its forked tongue, dangling from the side of its mouth.

  This would be a mighty opponent to battle, but one that is likely to be far beyond your powers to defeat. If you do not wish to battle this foe yet, make a note of this entry number and return here at any time during Act 2 when you feel up to the challenge. If you wish to fight the dragon, turn to 454. Otherwise, you head back up the tunnel. Turn to 215.

  464

  The countess’s deafening screams sap at your strength and willpower. This will be a tough fight – particularly as the count looks to be an accomplished fighter. His rapier slices through the air in a dizzying whirlwind of cuts and thrusts:

  Special abilities

  Wailing bride: At the end of each combat round you must lower your speed, brawn and magic score by 1. (Your attributes are automatically restored at the end of the combat.)

  Painted veil: The countess cannot be harmed by venom and bleed.

  Vampire: You can use your stake and reflect abilities (if you have them) against the count.

  In this combat you roll against the count’s speed. If you win the round, you may choose to strike against the countess or the count. If you reduce the countess’s health to zero, then the painting is slashed to pieces and the Wailing bride ability no longer applies (your attributes are instantly restored back to their original values). If you defeat the count first, then the painting immediately falls silent and no longer attacks.

  If you defeat the count, turn to 487. If you are defeated, turn to 424.

  465

  At the centre of one of the ruined temples you discover a large, flat-topped stone. A number of intricate symbols have been carved into its surface. If you have The Compendium of Dwarven Lore then turn to 456. Otherwise, you cannot understand the complex markings. Finding little else of interest, you rejoin Shay and together you head out of the cavern, taking the tunnel north. Turn to 393.

  466

  The moment Bern puts a hand to the door, there is a deafening explosion of black light, sending him reeling through the air. The ranger slams into a rock, then crumples to the ground, his body flinching and jerking as black magic crackles about his body.

  Paralysed by shock, you watch as a dark shape begins to coalesce in the doorway. As the shape grows and solidifies, it quickly becomes a writhing mass of black tentacles, each one ending in sharp, snapping teeth.

  ‘Shad . . . shadow magic,’ croaks Bern, his voice weak with pain. ‘Someone trapped the door . . .’

  To your surprise, the tentacled horror glides past you, heading straight towards Bern – its black body growing larger by the second. As a creature of shadow, the beast has not attacked you. However, in order to save Bern, you will have to fight it. Issuing a battle cry, you charge in with your weapons blazing:

  Special abilities

  Fed from fear: The shadow terror feeds off fear, growing larger all the time. At the end of each combat round, the shadow terror’s armour is increased by 1.

  If you defeat the shadow terror, turn to 513.

  467

  You offer a healing potion to the wounded stranger, who takes it and gulps it down in one go. (Remove one healing potion from your backpack.) After wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, the man gives a noisy belch of appreciation.

  ‘Why, thank you,’ he smiles. ‘Hopefully that’ll get to work on my injury.’ With a groan, he pushes himself up into a sitting position. Turn to 538.

  468

  As you wade deeper into the marshland, the humming drone of the cicadas is joined by a woman’s wailing cry. Disorientated as you are, it takes several minutes for you to pinpoint the direction of the sad, mournful noise. It is coming from an area to your right, where the thick fog swirls around a dark line of stunted trees.

  Will you:

  Head towards the sound? — 351

  Continue onwards across the swamp? — 340

  469

  When you push against the wall panel, you hear a loud click. It is followed, moments later, by a sharp stabbing pain in your hand. As you pull away, you quickly realise that the secret door was trapped. In the palm of your hand is a single pinprick of blood.

  Your legs give way beneath you. Then your body begins to shake and convulse. The last thing you see, before your vision fades, is the count standing over you.

  What a shame,’ he sighs, sheathing his blade. ‘I hoped for so much more.’ His chilling laughter joins his wife’s tormented screams. You have been defeated. Turn to 424.

  470

  You swim through the blast hole, to find yourself in a vast hall covered in stone pillars. Each one has a series of Dwarven faces carved into the rock, one above the other. As you swim past, you notice that all the bearded faces are leering or scowling at you in some manner. It is almost as if they are expressing their silent anger at you for daring to enter this sacred hall.

  But you are not the only one to intrude here. Something large and ungainly is moving through the murky waters, heading straight in your direction. Its thick, rubbery skin is coated in barnacles, which scrape noisily past the pillars, leaving flakes of stone swirling in their wake. Within seconds, the beast’s barnacled head is in full view. It has the appearance of a giant, bloated fish with a black gaping chasm for a mouth.

  However, it isn’t just the creature’s size you need to worry about. The beast has allowed a number of parasitic creatures to take residence on its body, boosting its natural defences. From the poisonous horn-like anemones on its head, to the writhing tubular spines growing between its teeth, this beast is a living battleship. You ready yourself for combat, watching in silent alarm as the leviathan reveals another of its deadly weapons – a shoal of razor-toothed snapper fish. They emerge from the beast’s mouth, streaking towards you like a volley of silver arrows:

  Special abilities

  Snappers: At the end of every combat round, the snapper fish automatically deal 2 damage, ignoring armour.

  Poison needles: The spiked anemones on the beast’s head are laced with a deadly venom. At the end of every combat round you must automatically lose 2 health.

  Thorn spines: These deadly spines release a crippling poison, reducing your speed by 1.

  If you win a combat round against the leviathan, you can choose to apply your damage to the sea beast or one of its three parasites. If you kill any of the parasites (snappers, poison needles or thorn spines), their relevant ability no longer applies. If the leviathan dies, any remaining parasites will cease fighting and you win the combat.

  If you defeat the leviathan and its army of parasites, turn to 544.

  471

  Using the guide, you are able to translate the runes. They all represent numbers, aligned along a series of pathways that meet at a raised centre. Some Dwarven script has been carved into the side of the chest. Again, referring to the guide, you are able to translate the strange markings:

  Build and raze, ruin and blaze

  Speak your answer to the Dours’ maze

  If you know the solution to the puzzle then ‘speak your answer’ by turning to the relevant entry number. If you cannot solve the puzzle, then turn to 482.

  472

  The tunnel spirals upwards, eventually widening out into a wedge-shaped cave. Long, spindly roots hang down from the ceiling, forming a dense curtain that stretches the full length of the cavern. As you push your way through the roots
, you hear a cry and the scrape of metal as a weapon is drawn. Quickly, you hurry towards the noise, pulling back the roots to reveal a woman dressed in dirt-stained robes. She has her back to the cave wall, defending herself from the snapping jaws of a giant purple worm. Clutched in her hands is a rusty-looking short sword, which she clearly doesn’t know how to use, as she proceeds to make ineffectual stabs at the beast.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, you race to the woman’s defence, your first attack drawing the beast’s attention:

  Special abilities

  Split personality: For every 10 health that the worm loses, its severed body splits into another worm, increasing its speed and brawn by 1.

  If you defeat the purple worm, turn to 508.

  473

  The door is held fast by some supernatural force. No matter how hard you pull at it, the door will not budge. With the countess’s screams still ringing in your ears, you turn to face the count. You have no choice now, but to fight the vampire in this haunted hallway. Turn to 464.

  474

  You don’t see who fired the first arrow, but within seconds the air is humming with their flight as their steel-tipped heads streak towards the warrior. Calmly, he raises his hands and utters an arcane command. Suddenly, the ground around his feet cracks open, as thorn-covered vines burst up out of the soil. They whip through the air, snapping or deflecting the arrows from their path.

  As the archers reach for fresh arrows, the warrior utters another word of command, his fingers crackling with a yellow light. There are answering flashes from around the circle as the archers’ bows burst into flames. With shrieks of surprise, the archers drop their weapons, leaving them to smoulder and blacken amongst the grass.

  ‘No!’ snarls the knife-woman, stalking towards the warrior. ‘We do not trade words with your kind – not any longer!’

  ‘Solandris, wait!’ cries the leader, raising her sword high in the air. ‘We are not savages. I command you to stop!’

  The knife-woman leaps at the warrior, hissing through her sharpened teeth. He makes no move to counter her. Instead, the writhing vines snap to attention, forming a wall between the dryad and her prey. As she attempts to cut through them, smaller shoots erupt from the vines, wrapping quickly around her wrists and binding them together. Similar shoots weave a net around her ankles, rooting her to the spot.

  It is all over in a matter of heartbeats. The warrior steps around the wall of vines. Ignoring Solandris, who is cursing and struggling against her bonds, he approaches the leader. His sword remains in its scabbard, although the golden glow still dances across his fingers. He stops in front of the leader and then, to your surprise, he goes down on one knee, his head bowed low.

  ‘Your queen summoned me, Talandra,’ he says softly. ‘I bring no malice or ill to your lands. I know of your loss and I give you my word that I will do all I can to put right this terrible wrong.’

  The leader’s face softens. ‘Bern. I am sorry. My sisters are . . . we . . . are not ourselves. This is a time of war. Our precious lands grow smaller and smaller. Evil encroaches on our borders and now, with the loss of the horn, I fear we will diminish and the grove will be no more. We cannot afford to be weak – not now, not in the face of this danger.’

  The warrior rises to his feet. ‘Then, take me to the unicorn.’

  ‘And what of this one?’ asks Talandra, pointing her sword-tip towards you. ‘Do we let it go? It has the taint of shadow about its person.’

  Bern walks over to you and places a hand on your shoulder. His clear, blue eyes fix on your own, staring intently as if gazing into your very soul. Feeling uncomfortable, you flinch and look away – a cold tingle running along your branded skin. Bern nods to himself, as if something has just been confirmed.

  ‘The queen will want to see this one I think,’ he says. ‘You’re coming with us.’

  Will you:

  Demand your freedom? — 489

  Show him your mark? — 495

  475

  You find yourself back in the rift, facing a pathway of stone that winds down the side of the crevice. Following it, you soon find yourself outside another cave opening. Turn to 426.

  476

  Sahna turns to face the lake. ‘You’ve heard of the dwarves and their big war, right?’ Happened thousands of years ago according to Raolin. Well, one group of them built a big city – one of many – here by the mountains, long before this place became a rotting marsh.

  ‘The dwarves were at war with each other. Don’t know the ins and outs, but what I do know is that one faction, the Illumanti I think, used sappers to tunnel underneath the cities and then use explosives to create vast cave-ins. That’s how they sunk the city. All you see now is a big lake, but it’s under there. And all its treasures are there too.’

  Sahna kicks at the briny salt, which forms a thick white tide along the shore. ‘Raolin is looking for something. A crown that once belonged to one of the great Dour kings. He believes it is still down there.’ She looks at you, a weight of expectation in her eyes. ‘It would be dangerous – very dangerous. But you would be well rewarded.’

  Will you:

  Agree to help find the crown? — 549

  Ask Sahna another question? — 343

  477

  ‘My camera!’ Hal gasps, his eyes going wide. ‘Oh, thank the spirit of Judah, you are a hero! Here, give us a hand with this.’ Hal starts to remove his pack, wincing as he shifts his balance to his injured leg. Belinda helps him to struggle out of the straps.

  ‘Thank you,’ he wheezes. ‘Would you do the honours?’ Belinda opens the pack and pulls out a selection of odd-looking contraptions. ‘Don’t suppose any of these take your fancy. You know – as a reward?’ he asks.

  If you wish you may take one of the following items:

  Gold detector

  Shrink ray

  (backpack)

  (left hand: wand)

  Ability: beep, beep!

  +1 speed

  Ability: zapped!

  Afterwards, you escort Hal and Belinda out of the seared scar.

  ‘Thank you once again,’ says Hal, as you prepare to part company. He rubs his eyes, sniffling sadly. ‘Bah! Look at me, blubbering like a fool!’

  Belinda kisses you on the cheek. ‘Yes, I owe you my life stranger. And don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on this one.’ She pinches Hal, giggling.

  You wish both the explorers the best of luck, before heading back into Mistwood. Return to the quest map.

  478

  ‘The dwarves were the first born – the oldest race on Dormus,’ says Shay, tracing her fingers along the edge of a carved statue. It depicts a squat, bearded humanoid dressed in rune-covered robes. ‘They were scholars – experts in science and arithmetic. It allowed them to build great underground cities, sculpturing breathtaking architecture out of the minerals and stone that they mined.’

  She gives a heavy sigh. ‘But there were those amongst the dwarves who were not content with such feats of intellect and beauty. They were warriors, expansionists – who saw the stones and metals of their land as merely tools to make war with the other races. They wanted to conquer the world – to live in cities above the earth, where their strength and power would be seen and admired by all.’

  Shay walks over to the crumbling remains of a temple. Along one wall is a mural showing dwarf fighting dwarf. ‘There was a war. On one side was the Illumanti, those who were sworn to uphold the original ideals of their society – truth, justice and enlightenment. And then there were the Dours – the warlike dwarves who had given in to their bloodlust. As you can imagine, the Dours were unstoppable. After all, they were warriors; masters of their craft. Some say they had been tainted . . . warped by the demonic magics that they sought to master. The few Illumanti who survived the culling, fled to the surface, leaving their underground cities to be pillaged and destroyed by the Dours.’

  You look around at the half-buried ruins. This must have been part of one of the d
warf cities, which was destroyed long ago in this great war.

  ‘Few now remain,’ says Shay, kicking at the loose dirt and rock. ‘It is a sad end for such a great people.’

  Will you:

  Explore the ruins further? — 465

  Leave and take the tunnel north? — 393

  479

  You search the bodies and find 10 gold crowns and the following items, which you may take:

  Wreekin net

  Trident of the south seas

  (left hand: net)

  (main hand: trident)

  +1 speed +2 brawn

  +1 speed +3 magic

  Ability: webbed

  If you have Lorinwold’s Field Guide to Roots, Herbs and Leaves then you may pick 2 bramble thorn and 1 thimble sage from the swamp. (Make a note of the herbs on your hero sheet.)

  Bern sheathes his blade and turns to view the misty horizon. ‘As I suspected – the one that fled probably has the horn. Hmm, he won’t have got far. Come on, let’s go finish this.’ Turn to 501.

  480

  There are paintings hanging on the walls to either side of you. One of them depicts a white-walled castle set in sunny meadows. A plaque beneath it reads: Fairwater View. The painting opposite shows a dusty track winding up the side of a bleak, wind-scoured crag. Its plaque reads: Road to Perdition.

  You notice a thread of light running between the wall panels next to each of the paintings. You guess that the light is coming from a hidden room behind the walls, which means the panels themselves could be secret doors.