### 143

You hurry across the hold and run through an open bulkhead door into an adjacent cargo area which is stacked with crates of food and barrels of water. On the far side of this hold you see a wooden ladder that ascends to a hatch in the foredeck. Your Kai senses detect that there is also a concealed trapdoor in the floor of the hold, close to the base of the ladder.

Suddenly you hear the cracking of timbers and you sense that the creature has freed its claws from the wall of the cargo hold behind you. You hear the snake-like hiss of its breath and you know that you have but a few seconds before it will come rushing through the open bulkhead door.

If you wish to hide among the crates and barrels, turn to 254.

If you wish to climb the ladder to the foredeck hatch, turn to 31.

If you wish to open the concealed trapdoor in the floor, turn to 112.