### 137

All around the barricade the enemy are retreating in disorder; bandit war-horns announce the withdrawal, exhorting their defeated warriors to flee the battlefield. A jubilant Captain D’Val emerges from the war-smoke, his eyes shining like jewels beneath the rim of his battered helmet. ‘We have triumphed, Lone Wolf. We have vanquished the foe!’

All around you, the captain’s men are rebuilding the barricade and tending to their wounded comrades. It sorrows you to see Sommlending dead, but you take heart at how few they are beside the enemy’s losses.

The captain ushers you to the watchtower where your wounds are cleaned and dressed with Laumspur. The herbs restore 6 ENDURANCE points.

‘We have beaten this foe, but I fear that it is but a temporary reprieve,’ says the captain, his face now composed and sombre. ‘The sacrifice of Baron Vanalund’s daughter must be stopped if we are to avoid catastrophe, for our strength will not avail us against a foe freshly risen from the grave.’

The words of the verse flood into your mind and a chill runs down your spine as you realize what may lie ahead. In three days’ time, when the moon is full, Barraka will sacrifice the Baron’s daughter at the buried temple of Maaken, a sacrifice that will unleash the dead of Maakengorge—the Chasm of Doom. You know you must prevent the sacrifice.

Turn to 12.