### 25

Your blazing Arrow speeds towards the kegs, but the skeletal creature sees it approaching and it reacts swiftly to your deadly threat. It raises its clawed hand and launches an icy blast that freezes the Arrow in mid-air. Then the creature emits a loud, hellish shriek, and you feel a fiery pain welling up inside your skull as a powerful stream of destructive psychic energy batters your mind.

Rapidly the pressure builds in your head until your skull feels fit to burst. Your vision is clouded by a scarlet haze, and you are unable to stifle a cry of pain as you drop your Bow and collapse to your knees: lose 3 ENDURANCE points.7

Desperately you struggle to erect a defensive wall around the core of your mind, using your power of Psi-screen. Slowly, as your mental defences lock together, the pain eases and your vision clears. Through the receding red mist you see a group of Shom’zaa Agarashi stalking towards you with their swords drawn. You force yourself to stand, and you unsheathe your Kai Weapon just in time to meet their determined attack.

Shom’zaa Agarashi: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 30

If you win this combat in three rounds or less, turn to 65.

If you win the combat in four rounds or longer, turn to 189.

#### Footnotes

[7] As the wording here is rather ambiguous, it is up to you to decide whether to delete the Bow from your Action Chart in this instance.