### 84

The taxidermist points to a vat in the corner of the room that contains a noxious blue fluid, which is obviously the source of the unpleasant smell.

‘My special preservative,’ he says proudly. ‘It has taken me many years to perfect the formula, but my experiments are now complete. All I require is a specimen worthy of the immortality it can provide.’

The man’s voice is beginning to sound faint and distant, as if he were falling away from you into a deep, dark pit. Your eyelids feel heavy, and you are having difficulty in concentrating on what he says. Suddenly, you realize that you have been drugged; the wine contained a powerful draught of gallowbrush, although you did not detect it at the time. You fight to remain awake, but it is a battle you cannot win, for the enemy is in your very blood. The taxidermist has at last found a specimen worthy of his special preservative—the last of the Kai Lords of Sommerlund.

Your quest and your life end here.