Shadow on the Sand Read Online Free PDF

add 4 (instead of the normal 2) to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of the combat.
    Illustration IV —The huge bulk of a Kwaraz emerges from out of the dark.
    If you win the combat, turn to 177 .

68
    You part the curtain of beads hanging in the doorway and enter the cool interior. The lifeless arm that hangs limply by your side has taken on a bluish hue. Fear returns; you must find the Oede herb to cure the disease, or you will lose the whole limb and possibly your life.
    A woman appears from the shadows of the counter. She has piercing green eyes and her red hair is raised, bound round with rings of jadin. ‘Welcome, Northlander,’ she says, in a voice both soft and clear. ‘How may I serve you?’
    You hesitate before replying, ‘Oede.’
    She narrows her eyes and casts a glance at your injured arm. ‘I cannot help you,’ she says sorrowfully. ‘Oede is now a very rare and precious herb. I would have to sell my shop and all my possessions in order to buy just one small pouch of Oede. There is only one man in Barrakeesh rich enough to possess this herb — the Zakhan.’
    Sweat breaks out upon your brow as your fear grows. ‘What little Oede there is,’ she continues, ‘is kept in the Grand Palace under lock and key.’
    You ask if there is any other herb that can cure your arm. She shakes her head from side to side. ‘Only Oede will cure Limbdeath — and you can only find that in the strongroom of the Imperial Apothecary.’ She reaches behind the counter and brings forward three glass bottles, each containing a coloured liquid. ‘They will not cure you, but they will dull the pain in the last few hours.’
    If you wish to examine the potions, turn to 27 .
    If you decide to ignore them, leave the shop and continue along the alley, turn to 160 .

69
    You wake up in great discomfort; every muscle of your body feels knotted and bruised. You force open eyelids clogged with dried sweat, and look with dread at your wretched surroundings. You are lying on the hard stone floor of a prison cell. Over by the far wall, beneath a window criss-crossed with iron bars, is a low wooden bunk covered in filthy rags. Cockroaches, some the size of field mice, scuttle along a foul-smelling gutter that disappears into a grating in the floor. (Erase from your Action Chart all Weapons, Special Items, Gold Crowns, and your Backpack and all its contents, but note them down elsewhere in case you should find them again later.)
    You discover that your hands are free and slowly pull yourself upright into a sitting position, resting your back against the cell door. A faint draught from the corridor outside provides the only relief from the stifling heat and bad air of the cell. In the distance you can hear footsteps approaching. Then there is a jangle of keys and the creak of hinges. A door closes with a dull thud. More footsteps; they are getting louder. They come to halt outside the cell door and a loud voice bellows out: ‘Sleeping on duty, Sefrou? You'll wake up on the other side of this door if the captain catches you!’
    The chair scrapes along the ground, and a startled voice, full of indignation, replies: ‘Curse you, Hadj! The Zakhan doesn't want the Northlander taken to the Grand Hall until sunset. You've cheated me of two hours sleep.’
    ‘Shut up, Sefrou,’ snarls the first voice, ‘and listen hard. I've just come from the armoury. Some interesting trinkets were found on the Northlander, worth a great deal of gold I'd say. Seems a pity to let them go to waste, eh?’
    The two guards chuckle greedily and discuss at length the good time they will be able to have in the city, once they have sold your equipment.
    ‘I'll take a peek at our friend,’ says one of the guards. ‘I wonder if he's enjoying our hospitality.’
    A spy-hole slides open above your head and you hear a gasp of shock. ‘He's gone! He's gone! By the Majhan, we'll lose our heads!’ You suddenly realize that you cannot be seen so close to the