### 183

Seeking a safe place to surface, you swim slowly towards a pair of large, smooth-faced boulders that rest half-buried in the muddy shallows of the north bank. Here you break through the waist-deep water behind the nearest rock and catch your breath. A few moments later a snarling shriek echoes around the walls of the cave and a sudden chill courses down your spine; a Vazhag has seen you.

Blinking the water from your eyes, you focus on the screaming rat-thing which is leaning across the rope hand-rail of the bridge. Excitedly it jabs its spear at the boulder, directing the unwanted attention of its loathsome comrades to your hiding place. The Cener Druid screams an order and, with a high-pitched cry, the Vazhag come racing back across the drawbridge, brandishing their rusty weapons. You glance about you for some means of escape but none appears. The only exit from the north bank is the tunnel and that can only be reached from the drawbridge.

As the first of the Vazhag leap from the bridge and land on the shore, you know that battle is imminent. You must make a swift decision if you are to survive this deadly encounter.

If you wish to dive into the lake and swim away, turn to 52.

If you choose to stand and fight this Vazhag patrol, turn to 258.