Legion of Shadow Read Online Free Page A

don’t have much time. You need to find out what happened!’
    Will you:
    Search through the backpack? — 227
    Examine the stones? — 153
    4
    Quest: Rat extermination
    You take the dusty track that leads out of Tithebury Cross and follow it up into the hills. Before too long you are passing endless fields of corn – the sun-bleached crop
drooping listlessly over the cracked, dried earth. Further along the track you spot a man, sheltering beneath a tree from the heat of the midday sun. Noticing you, he beckons you over. As you
approach, you see that the man is little more than a vagrant, his skin black with dirt and his clothes ragged and torn. Clearly he hasn’t bathed for several days – possibly weeks
– and the smell is almost overwhelming. You try and hide your revulsion as the man cracks open a smile.
    ‘Good day, me good sir. A stranger in these parts I wager. Don’t suppose I can be interesting you in a little work?’ He scratches his cheek with a dirt-blackened finger.
‘It’s bloomin’ rats,’ he says. ‘The blasted vermin have taken over me barn. They’re everywhere!’ He looks you over, his quick eyes darting back and forth
between your weapons and your bulging backpack. ‘Could do with someone like you to exterminate those critters. What do you say?’
    Will you:
    Ask why he can’t do it himself? — 12
    Comment on his lack of hygiene? — 27
    State that you want a reward? — 20
    Agree to the quest and get started? — 34
    5
    The girl claps her hands in delight. ‘Oh he is so wonderful,’ she gasps breathlessly. ‘Not like the simple village boys. No, he’s a travelling man, one
of the gypsies. I don’t think there’s anywhere he hasn’t been – the mountains to the east, the deserts of the south . . . Gosh, he has such stories to tell, of adventure and
lost treasures, and battles. It’s so exciting!’
    You nod your head, trying to look interested, but other more important things are starting to occupy your thoughts . . . like the rapidly fading sunlight. You decide it is time that the girl was
taken home to her father. Turn to 129 .
    6
    The track you are following widens, becoming a dusty road that leads into the village of Tithebury Cross. It is a small settlement – its timber-framed buildings and
cottages crowding in around a central, main square where four roads come together.
    The lanes and paths are mostly deserted. You imagine that most sensible people are staying indoors, taking refuge from the sun’s merciless heat. A couple of farmers pass you by, grumbling
about the weather. Neither of them offers you a word of greeting.
    Reaching the main square, you consider your options. Ahead of you is the local tavern, its painted sign showing a plump black bird pecking at a pie. To your left are the remnants of a small
market, set up under a series of grey awnings. With few customers to view their wares, the traders look bored and listless. To your right, a narrow path leads past a row of houses and then rises
steeply, climbing the side of a sun-scorched hill. At its summit you can see a stone well, with several villagers gathered around it, deep in conversation.
    Leave the village – return to the map.
    Will you:
    Visit ‘The Pie and Black Bird’? — 11
    Explore the market? — 46
    Visit the well (this starts a blue quest)? — 72
    7
    You put the flame of your torch to the spider’s web. The sparkling strands catch fire instantly, sizzling as the flames spread quickly across the interlaced pattern. With
a chilling shriek of anger, the giant spider turns to face you, its immense black body seemingly untouched by the flames that rage around it. Turn to 60 .
    8
    ‘Reward?’ snaps one of the villagers, waving his pitchfork at you. ‘A boy is in danger and you ask for a reward?’ You hear several other angry mutterings
from the crowd.
    ‘Easy now,’ says the elderly man, putting himself between you and the agitated villagers. ‘I didn’t see anyone else here