374

As you tumble earthwards, a blur of colour flashes before your eyes as the Kraan-riders, the skyship, and the distant horizon all melt into a kaleidoscope of shapes and images, which you fear will be the last things you will ever see.

You have prepared yourself for death and are calm and relaxed, when suddenly you feel your body entwined by a mass of sticky fibres. There is a terrific jolt, which leaves you breathless and stunned. The impossible is happening; you are no longer falling, but rising!

A net of clinging strands has caught you like a fly in a web. You rise up into the sky towards the flying ship as quickly as you fell. Three bearded dwarves clad in bright, padded battle-jerkins pull you aboard an outrigger that runs the length of the hull. However, there is no time to express your gratitude, for the small skyship is under attack from the Kraan-riders.

At the end of the outrigger, a dwarf is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a snarling Drakkar. He is obviously losing. As you rush to his aid, another of the evil warriors lands in the centre of the craft, on top of the fortified platform.

If you wish to help the dwarf, turn to 280.

If you wish to leap from the outrigger onto the platform, turn to 361.