### 281

The creature vanishes and you find yourself lying on the tunnel floor. You are breathless, your heart is pounding, and your skin feels cold and damp. You begin to realize what must have happened to you. The fungi spores were making you hallucinate; the Tunnel Fiend existed only in your mind, it was nothing more than an illusion. Unfortunately, any ENDURANCE points you lost in combat with this mere illusion cannot be restored: you inflicted the wounds on yourself, striking your body against the jagged tunnel walls.

As the effects of the spores begin to fade, you are overwhelmed by fatigue and lose consciousness. Many hours pass before you awake to a painfully sore throat and aching head. You relight your torch and push on along the tunnel.

Turn to 185.