### 48

You abandon the trail and make your final approach to the fortress under cover of the petrified trees. The perimeter around the base of Gazad Helkona has been cleared and levelled to provide an unobstructed field of fire for its defenders. To enter this area would have once brought a swift and certain death, but now the fortress garrison numbers but a fraction of the troops that used to patrol the battlements during the time of Darklord Chlanzor’s rule, and you are quietly confident that you can cross this killing zone and reach the breached wall without being seen.

Aided by your Kai camouflage skills, you zigzag across the open space and make your way swiftly towards the fissure. Clouds of fiery dust billow from this jagged rent in the ground, and the heat scorches your face and hands. The dust helps you to approach the base of the fortress wall unseen but, in order to enter Gazad Helkona through the breach, you must pass along the edge of the fissure where the heat is almost unbearable.

If you possess Grand Nexus, turn to 217.

If you do not possess this Discipline, turn to 188.