### 241

The Krakalla gives vent to an ear-shattering cry as your blade pierces its evil heart. It staggers back and falls across the body of its brother who has been slain by Captain Chan and his men. Your face and tunic are spattered with its sickly orange blood, and you quickly wipe your blade clean with a handful of grass before sheathing it in your scabbard.

Chan and his troopers have each sustained several wounds, but none of them are life-threatening. You draw upon your Kai healing skills to repair their battered bodies (lose 2 ENDURANCE points) before all four of you abandon the copse and go in search of your horses. Chan has never encountered the likes of these creatures before, and when you ask him about them, he is unable to say where they may have come from.

‘O … one thing I … I am sure of, though,’ he says, still shivering from the aftershock of the combat. ‘They … they are not from this part of Chai.’

To continue, turn to 11.