### 345

On the other side of the alley is a line of burnt-out cottages. Their soot-blackened walls are mostly intact, although their roofs have long been open to the sky. The fleeing Drakkarim are beginning to outdistance your men and you fear they will get away, when suddenly they halt and turn to face you.

At that instant a mass of leather-clad Hammerlanders emerge from the cottages, rending the air with their howling battle-cries. They strike your men from every side, catching them like helpless fish in a barrel.

If you wish to stand and fight your attackers, turn to 288.

If you wish to try to escape from this ambush, turn to 16.