Page 14

There were, of course, worse things than being stuck up in a tree, in the middle of the Cairn Hills, and not knowing if your plan had killed all the giant centipedes or not.

Take, for example, Svenny. Widely reputed to be the ablest fighting man to ever come to Blackmoor, Svenny had just killed his 108th orc when the cumulative effect of so many light wounds overcame him and he swooned into unconsciousness.

An endless stream of fresh orcs were climbing over the corpses of their comrades piled high in front of them. While the balrog that had allied with them watched their backs, Mello and Debelfry tossed sacks of gold onto Svenny's chest before lifting him up and carrying him out of the great hall of the Orc King Frederick.

So, yes, there were far worse things than being stuck up in a tree and not knowing if there were any centipedes left up there with you. But, at the present, Tenser and Ehlissa lacked the perspective to appreciate it.

For larger viewing, click on the image or go here.