Read The Heart of Fire for Free Online

gives an involuntary shudder. ‘And you can handle the bats. I hate bats.’
     
Will you:
Ask him about the strange dream? — 62
Ask about Carvel’s ‘masked crusader’? — 39
State you wish to leave? — 167
    10
    Nervously, you grip your weapons and approach the child. Although you fear the worst, there is always a chance that this child might have survived the strange blight that has
affected the rest of the village. Your foot knocks into one of the wooden toys, sending it scraping and clattering across the floor.
    The child’s back straightens. For a moment, there is a heavy unsettling silence. You stand frozen, not even daring to breathe. Then the child spins around, hissing and snarling – its
face drawing a shocked gasp from you. It is no human child – it is a goblin! The creature staggers towards you, wrinkled fingers raised, displaying sharpened claws. From its blank expression
and shambling gait, it is clear that this creature is now a zombie like the others. You must fight:
     

    If you manage to defeat this gruesome creature, turn to 20 .
    11
    All of a sudden, you find yourself being tugged backwards off your feet, shoulders brushing past roots and earth. You land roughly on your back, aware that you have fallen
inside an earthen passageway. As you look back towards the snarling wolf, you see the opening that deposited you here is starting to close. The wolf races forward, snarling and growling with anger.
But its shoulders are too wide to break through the rapidly closing gap. Within moments you find yourself looking upon a wall of gnarly roots and dark soil – the opening nowhere to be
seen.
    Your first reaction is relief at having escaped the dire wolf. Then a cold dread settles over you, as you contemplate your new predicament.
    You see that you are in a shadowy passageway. The air is moist and hot, reeking of mould and decay. A few metres ahead of you a torch rests in a sconce on the wall, spluttering blue-white flames
that spark and hiss in the silence.
    With no alternative you set off down the passageway, your ragged breathing echoing back from the damp walls. After several minutes, you find yourself stepping out into a wide circular chamber.
Torches are interspersed along the rough-hewn walls, filling the space with dancing shadows.
    Then you hear a noise. It starts out as a soft rustling, quickly growing louder into a slithering hiss. You spin around, looking for the source of the noise, but all you see are the shadows
– bending, curling, winding about you.
    Then a voice whispers in your ear. The words seem guttural, barely human. ‘You do not know the Wiccan. You do not know our ways.’
    You jerk sideways, batting the air next to you. But there is nothing to hit. The voice continues: ‘I see your strength, old one. But your head is heavy. Filled with stones. I fill with
memory.’
    Suddenly the dancing shadows streak towards the centre of the room, where they billow upwards into a column of darkness. As you watch the column takes on shape, becoming a giant humanoid
creature. It has no features, but the outline is clearly recognisable – a troll with muscular shoulders and arms, a broad chest, and a bow-leggedgait. From its right hand the shadows distend
outwards, forming a spiked club.
    The voice whispers: ‘My people’s blood nourishes this soil. They have always known war; our lands forever overrun by the beasts from the dark.’
    The troll stomps towards you, its club raised. Although the creature is made purely of shadow, you know instinctively that this foe presents a very real and deadly threat. You must now
fight:
     

    Special abilities
    Regeneration: At the start of each combat round, the troll regains 2
health
. Once the troll’s
health
has been reduced to zero, it cannot heal. (Note: This ability cannot take the troll’s
health
above its starting value of 15.)
     
    If you defeat the shadow troll, turn to 67 .
    12
    You find your eyes drawn to the grisly trophies