### 280

From out of the dark earth surrounding your hiding place there arise monstrous shapes, alien beings long dead and buried yet cruelly denied an eternal rest. Muddy tatters of flesh hang from their pitted skeletal frames, and from their skull-mouths writhe wormy tongues riddled with decay. Numb with shock, you watch as this ghoulish legion draws itself to the surface and comes shambling towards you, driven on by the hellish cries of the swooping fliers.

Instinct and training trigger you to draw your weapon in readiness to meet this sickening corpse-horde, yet before they begin their attack, you are faced by a threat from another quarter. One of the flying creatures circling above is clutching in its claws a length of chain to which is attached a smoking bundle. Suddenly this creature dives out of the clouds and comes swooping down over the horde towards you. At the last minute it pulls up to avoid crashing into the stone slabs of the roof and, as it does so, it releases the chain. The bundle hits the soft ground once and then bounces through the narrow entrance of your hiding place.

Instantly you are consumed by a cloud of acrid smoke that stings your eyes and threatens to close your throat. You sense at once that the smoke is a deadly poison, but fortunately your Magnakai Discipline of Nexus is sufficient to save you from a swift death.

If you possess Grand Nexus, turn to 337.

If you do not possess this Grand Master Discipline, turn to 229.