Mydnight's Hero by Joe Dever

through the air. The Inquisitor-major bellows with rage and orders his men to attack you. Frantically they level their lances and make a haphazard attack.
    Hunting party: COMBAT SKILL  47    ENDURANCE  40
    You may not evade this combat. You may, however, add 5 points to your COMBAT SKILL after three rounds of combat, for this is when Prince Karvas is able to join in and fight against the hunting party.
    If you win the combat, turn to 186 .

26
    The trader pockets your bribe and bids you follow him to a smaller room at the rear of the warehouse. In the quiet privacy of this adjoining room he tells you all he knows about Prince Karvas of Siyen.
    ‘This man Karvas does not live here in the city,’ he says. ‘He did for a while, when he first came to Sheasu ten years ago, but then a young woman arrived and they got married. They live on the north coast of the island somewhere. I've not seen them since the day they left Mydnight.’
    You thank the trader for his information and leave the warehouse. Outside, on the quay, you resolve to explore the tangle of alleyways that make up the city's eastern quarter in the hope of finding someone else who is willing to tell or sell what they know about the Prince. Unfortunately, your efforts garner no further information. As the sun begins to settle on the horizon, you finally abandon your search and hurry back through the darkening passageways towards the market square.
    Turn to 308 .

27
    When you and Karvas are unable to produce a ticket, the guard gets angry. You say that you must have lost your tickets during the voyage, but this excuse does not impress him. He beckons to a group of his fellow guardsmen who are standing beside a stone hut at the entrance to the docking area. ‘You'll have to see the Wharfmaster,’ he says, brusquely. ‘Tell him your tale.’
    The group of guardsmen come and escort you and Karvas to the hut where an officious man in a scarlet tunic is sitting at a desk, writing with a quill pen. ‘They've no tickets, Wharfmaster,’ states one of the guardsmen, before they turn away and close the door. The man puts down his pen and takes a crystal sphere from his pocket which he fixes into a holder at the centre of his desk. Then he tells you both to sit before him at the table and explain why you have no tickets to travel aboard the riverboat. Karvas becomes impatient with the man and he demands that you be allowed to leave.
    ‘I don't think you realize the trouble you're in,’ replies the Wharfmaster, testily. ‘Travelling by riverboat without paying the fare is a custodial offence. The punishment is one day in gaol for every day travelled.’ The man opens his desk drawer and takes out a slim rod of opaque crystal. ‘Now,’ he says, staring you straight in the eye, ‘kindly tell me why you have no ticket.’
    You repeat the excuse you gave when you disembarked, that you must have lost your ticket during the voyage. The clear crystal sphere resting on his desk becomes milky white, and then its hue changes to crimson.
    ‘You're lying,’ says the Wharfmaster, and he touches you lightly on the hand with the tip of his slim rod. Suddenly a blinding white light flashes before your eyes and you feel yourself rapidly falling into unconsciousness.
    Turn to 332 .

30
    You rush into the small bakery and your sudden appearance startles the baker's wife. She gasps when she sees your soaked and slime-smeared features, and nervously she snatches up a knife and threatens to use it if either of you come a step closer. You can understand her reaction; after your dip in the citadel moat, you and Karvas look more reptilian than human.
    ‘Calm yourself, good lady,’ you say, in as soothing a tone as you are able to muster. ‘My companion and I may appear a little wretched but we mean you no harm.’ The woman is not convinced. She raises the knife in her trembling hand and begins shouting hysterically for her husband. Moments later, a portly man in a white smock and