### 169

You retrieve the Potion of Volzoc from your pack and pour it carefully over the slices of cold meat. Then you cover the meat with vegetables and carry the tray to the guards on duty outside the Rune Hall. They prop their halberds against the wall and raise the visors of their steel helmets when they see you approaching.

‘Where’s Gragov?’ asks a guard, as you set the tray of food down on a small table beside the door.

‘He’s gone sick,’ you reply.

‘I hope it wasn’t something he ate!’ jokes his comrade.

You can hear the guards eating their food as you walk back along the corridor towards the iron stairs. When you reach the bottom step, you wait here to allow the potion to take effect. After a few minutes you hear the guards’ anxious cries as their minds are filled with horrific images. You hear the ringing clang of metal striking metal, followed by screams of pain and terror. Then there is a loud crash followed by a lengthy silence. You hurry to the top of the steps and see the lifeless bodies of the guards lying heaped before the Rune Hall door. Convinced by the effects of the potion that their comrade was transforming into a monstrous enemy, they have both stabbed each other to death in a frenzy.

Turn to 120.