Read The Heart of Fire for Free Online Page B

this far.’ Gritting your teeth you trudge onwards through the high grass, into the thick veil of fog. You haven’t gone far before the wind starts to pick
up speed, beating about your body and ripping at your cloak. As you stagger back, losing ground to the onslaught, you suddenly sense the windstorm shift direction.
    The mist is now whirling and twisting on the powerful currents, turning faster and faster until it has become a huge rippling tornado. Black lightning crackles around the funnel-shaped cloud as
it spins furiously towards you. It is time to fight:
     

    Special abilities
    Celestial charge: Each time you deal damage to the raging storm, you are struck by the lightning and must lose 2
health
.
    If you defeat this strange apparition, turn to 25 .
    15
    You take a gamble and push off from the tree, attempting to grab one of the thicker boughs further around the trunk. For a second you are free-falling through a frightening
emptiness, then your hands grab a hold on the wood. Skilfully, you swing yourself up onto the branch, twisting your body around to sit astride it. From here you are able to shuffle back to the
trunk, where you can now see a previously hidden set of handholds, carved to look like clumps of leaf mould. You clamber up this last distance in no time at all, flinging open the tree house door
and pulling yourself up onto its polished floor. Turn to 425 .
    16
    You make your apologies and move away, aware that a sudden hush has fallen over the room. ‘I asked yer a question,’ calls the woman, her gravelly voice cutting
through the silence. ‘I asked yer what yer gawping at!’
    With a sigh, you turn back to the table. ‘That coat,’ you gesture with a nod of your head. ‘I knew its previous owner. I was just . . . curious.’
    ‘Curious, eh?’ With a snarl the woman kicks over the table, sending pots and mugs flying. ‘Come on boys, time to show this one what happens when yer bait the fish!’
    There are screams and shrieks from the crowd as people scatter to a safe distance. ‘No fighting!’ bellows a voice from behind the bar. Unfortunately, you don’t have a choice
– the ruffians run at you as a pack. You must fight:
     

    Special abilities
    Motley crew: The ruffians add 3 to Bilhah’s damage score for the duration of this combat. If the ruffians are
     defeated, this bonus no longer applies.
    In this combat you roll against Bilhah’s speed. If you win a combat round, you may choose to strike against Bilhah or her ruffians. If Bilhah is defeated first then the
ruffians will immediately surrender, winning you the combat.
    If you defeat this cruel band of mercenaries, turn to 194 . If you are defeated, turn to 244 .
    17
    (If you already have the word
calling
written on your hero sheet, then turn to 31 .)
    As you make your way through the crowds, you suddenly start to feel faint. Someone knocks into you, sending you into a dizzying spin. There is an angry curse as you stagger into another
pedestrian, who pushes you away, forcing you to lose your footing. You topple backwards onto . . .
     
    Thorns.
    You cry out in pain as their sharp points rip through your clothing. All around you, thick branches snake through the dark as if alive. A forest – pressing in on all sides, making you
its prisoner. You struggle to free yourself as the barbed tendrils slash and cut at your flesh, but you are powerless; trapped. Then you see a beacon of light glowing through the wall of thorns; a
pale radiance that beckons to you. With eyes fixed solely on the light, you find yourself floating towards it, the thorns parting for you like a curtain. The light is everywhere now, pushing back
the infernal forest and guiding you to safety . . .
     
    You awake to find yourself lying spread-eagled on your back. A crowd of people have gathered, muttering and gossiping to one another. One woman, with long blond hair and trinkets about her neck,
is kneeling beside you. She offers you her water skin, which you