### 288

The flailing fist passes within inches of your skull. Its terrible heat forces you to roll away from the door and scramble for the cover of Andarin’s tomb. Suddenly the portal bursts open and slams against the wall with a tremendous crash. An icy trickle of fear runs down your back when you peek over the tomb and look upon the squat creature that is now framed in the doorway. It has a bloated, veined body and waxy skin that is as pale as a frozen corpse. From its fanged mouth there flickers a forked tongue, and its scarlet eye-slits radiate an evil light that chills the marrow in your bones. As it advances into the chamber with its arms outstretched, you swallow hard with disbelief when you stare at its white-hot fists. They are flaring and pulsating like two great balls of fiery plasma.

If you wish to attack this creature, turn to 212.

If you wish to attempt to evade it, turn to 79.