Free Mydnight's Hero by Joe Dever Page B

the crew slowly recover, but you glimpse a fresh danger ahead. The
Starstrider
is drifting towards two large active fissures running parallel to each other, and a little over 100 feet apart. Sweat streaks your face as you struggle to steer a straight course between these fissures and so avoid the crackling bolts of energy that are hurtling out of their fiery depths.
    Pick a number from the Random Number Table . If you possess Grand Huntmastery or Elementalism, add 2 to the number you have picked.
    If you total score is now 0–2, turn to 201 .
    If it is 3–7, turn to 179 .
    If it is 8 or higher, turn to 42 .

52
    You enter the sleepy hamlet of Voshno and ride along its main street, past rows of dusty shops and gabled houses. You come to a market square. The villagers here are a sullen, silent crowd. Few pay you more than the scantest attention as they go about their evening chores. To the east of the square you can see a paved avenue called Shaney Street that leads down to the river. An arch of pale pink stone stands at the entrance to the Voshno Bridge, its surface pitted and scarred with lasting reminders of desperate battles fought here during wars past.
    You recall the advice given you freely by the man called Daventi when you visited the Oridon Stone. He said that the bridge at Voshno has been seized by robber knights from Cavalia and they are demanding a heavy toll from anyone seeking to use it. You tell Karvas this and he says that you should avoid the bridge and continue north along the trail.
    Three miles out of Voshno you see a small farmstead at the river's edge. It has a water-mill and its wheel is turning slowly, grinding the farmer's corn. Beside the mill you notice a raft moored to a wooden jetty. The farmer is in an adjoining field and he waves as you ride nearer. You stop to ask if he would kindly ferry you and your horses across to the other side of the river.
    ‘I'd be glad to, my lords,’ he replies, with a broad smile. ‘If'n you'd be willing to pay me 8 Lune.’
    If you wish to pay the farmer 8 Lune (or the equivalent — 2 Gold Crowns), turn to 193 .
    If you do not have sufficient money to pay him, or if you choose not to accept his offer, turn to 32 .

54
    Karvas rises from among the tree stumps and hurries back to join you. Together you watch the departing wagons and horsemen until they are no more than dots on the horizon before you continue your trek towards the city of Bakhasa.
    Night falls within an hour of you resuming your trek, yet the distant lights of Bakhasa and its surrounding settlements enable you to stay on course and maintain an impressive pace. The city is lit by hundreds of fiery beacons which mark the outline of its ancient perimeter wall and angular watchtowers. These fires also illuminate the surface of the River Tehda which passes through the centre of Bakhasa. To the south of the city, lines of tethered barges stacked high with logs lie moored along both of its paved banks. Under cover of the night, you are able to move through the outlying settlements without being seen. When at last you hear a bell in the city tolling the midnight hour, you find yourself upon a knoll overlooking a rutted road which approaches Bakhasa's west gate. Using your night vision, you scan the high perimeter wall and note the positions of guards posted around its tiled parapet. They are greatest in number above a wide stone archway where the glimmering river flows out of the city. Prince Karvas is eager to enter the city before dawn and he asks you to choose the way. Aware that it may prove easier to find and take some horses while most of Bakhasa's inhabitants are still asleep, you scan the perimeter wall once more and consider how best you can pass beyond it.

    If you wish to attempt to enter Bakhasa by way of its west gate, turn to 311 .
    If you decide to attempt entry to the city by way of the river arch, turn to 94 .

55
    It has been dark for more than two hours and your horses are close to