75

You leap across the gap, but, as you land, you slip on the broken flooring and gash both knees: lose 2 ENDURANCE points. Cursing your luck, you hobble towards the curtain through which Magnaarn disappeared and pull it aside to find a short flight of stone steps. You climb them and discover that they emerge at a turret at the very top of the Palace Tower, the highest point in the city of Darke.

Illustration V—Magnaarn cowers with his crooked back pressed against the frost-covered wall.

Here you find Magnaarn, cowering with his crooked back pressed hard against the frost-covered wall. You sense that he has very nearly succumbed to the evil power of the Doomstone; he is treading a fine line between life and undeath. Yet, even though he is but a whisker away from eternal damnation, he musters enough spite to challenge you to a fight to the death.

‘Very well, Drakkar,’ you reply. ‘Let battle commence.’

Warlord Magnaarn (with Nyras Sceptre): COMBAT SKILL 50 ENDURANCE 36

If you win this combat, turn to 350.