‘In the name of the gods!’ splutters Nathor, spilling liqueur down the front of his tunic. ‘What was that?’
A knot of fear tightens in the pit of your stomach. ‘A Kraan,’ you reply, recognizing at once the fell cry of this unwelcome creature.
You hurry to a window and see the large, bat-like Kraan silhouetted against the moon. A man-sized rider clings precariously to the creature’s reptilian back as it swoops and soars among the hills and gullies.
‘You had best come away from the window, my lord,’ replies an anxious Nathor, ‘lest it detect your presence here.’
You take heed of the Lord Constable’s advice and retreat from the window. Furthermore, you use your Magnakai skill of Psi-screen to shield your mind in case the Kraan rider is able to employ psychic abilities to locate your presence.
‘It is not the first time it has come,’ says Rasbarin. ‘Every night for the past ten days we’ve heard it circling the hills. Sometimes there is more than one of its kind.’ He suggests that you bunk in the cellar of the monastery where you may be safer from detection, and you accept his offer gladly.