Read The Eye of Winter's Fury for Free Online

fallen debris. Often you are forced to backtrack and find alternate routes, other times you have no choice but to jump a gap or dig your way clear, clambering on all fours through narrow openings.
    Eventually, after what feels like hours of trekking through the maze-like tunnels, you finally see evidence of daylight – a white brightness edging the hollows of a rock fall. Overcome with relief, you race up to the barrier, fingers clawing at the crumbling stones, pulling them away to clear an opening. Nanuk’s strength floods into you, powering your limbs, driving you onwards.
    At last, fingers raw and bleeding from the effort, you drag yourself out into the light. Turn to 169 .
    3
    With the diseased bear defeated, you set about searching its cave. Amongst a pile of half-eaten remains you find 30 gold crowns and one of the following items:
Pestilent hide
Matted mukluks
Seeping shawl
(cloak)
+1 speed +2 brawn
Ability: corrode
(cloak)
+1 speed +2 brawn
Ability: corrode
(head)
+1 brawn +1 magic
Ability: decay
    You are also able to salvage a white fox pelt and a flawless emerald . (If you wish to take either of these items, simply make a note of them on your hero sheet, they don’t take up backpack space.)
    Your search also reveals a narrow opening at the back of the cave, just wide enough for you to squeeze into. Keen to escape this fetid cave, you push yourself into the tight crevice and grope your way along the ice. After several hundred metres the rift begins to widen, leading you through into another open space. Turn to 397 .
    4
    As you drag the sack through the dirt, something scrapes and catches against a rock. Lifting up the sack, you see that there is a tear at the bottom, causing several sword hilts to poke through. Other items now lie scattered along the trail, having fallen out of the hole. You retrace your steps, stooping to retrieve the stolen equipment.
    Amongst the weapons and fragments of armour, you spot a pair of black-enamelled gauntlets, etched with magical runes. You are immediately reminded of the warrior you spoke with in the main hall, who described a similar set of gauntlets that had gone missing.
    If you wish to keep these magical gloves for yourself, then you may add the following item to your hero sheet:

    Ran’s beaters
(gloves)
+1 armour
Ability: charge

    If you would rather keep the gauntlets and return them to their rightful owner, then remove the keyword thievery from your hero sheetand replace it with the keyword gains . When you have made your decision, turn to 383 .
    5
    The next few moments pass in a series of vivid flashes. You see the wolf’s jaws snapping inches from your face, his neck stretched taut in an effort to reach you. Bloody froth dribbles over black hair, hot sour breath blasting against your cheek . . .
    Yet you are still alive.
    In his haste, the alpha has caught himself on a bone, the sharp end now rooted in the animal’s side. A bone from a ribcage – the only thing holding death at bay.
    You fumble desperately for a weapon, hands scrabbling amongst the dirt and refuse. Then, all of a sudden it hits you – an energy, more powerful than the dragon leaf. It floods into you, pushing itself under your skin, between the bones, inside your muscles. A thunderous roar, bestial and savage, is ripped free from your lips. Fingers swipe through the air, trailing green ribbons of mist, green claws . . .
    You have gained the following special ability:

    Spectral claws (co): If you take health damage from your opponent’s damage score, you can immediately strike back at them, inflicting 1 die of damage, ignoring armour . This ability can only be used once per combat.

    The claws rake through the wolf’s flank, eliciting a hellish shriek. Then there is a deafening crack as the bone splinters. The wolf rolls away, taking longer than he should to find all fours. In places the thick fur has been torn away, revealing deep gashes glistening with blood. The smell of it is intoxicating,