When you sense that the poison gas has dissipated and the air is no longer perilous to breathe, you enter the cell and take one last look at the prisoner’s body. The man’s face and upper body have been horribly disfigured by the effects of the gas, yet the extensive blistering has only partially destroyed a small tattoo on the side of his neck. It is a six-pointed star which you recognize to be the national symbol of Eldenora.
‘He must have died within seconds of biting into the poisoned pellet,’ says Nathor. ‘It chills me to think that whoever sent him here commanded such respect from this man that he chose to die in this way rather than face the consequences of failing his mission.’
‘Aye, and if there are others like him who are out to stop me,’ you reply, uneasily, ‘then my journey home to Sommerlund may prove more difficult than I expected.’