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You race down the stairs and race out into the rear garden with your Kai Weapon poised to strike. Deng follows close on your heels, notching an arrow to his bowstring and letting fly at the first target he sees. His hurried shot misses by a yard, but your sudden appearance and the whistling arrow cause the Nagah Ghouls to disengage from the fight and regroup.
Quang pulls the two Watchers back several paces. He is breathless but unharmed, but Bai and Chao have both sustained gouges to their upper arms and they are bleeding badly.
(I use KS)
You summon your mental power and launch a Mindblast into the grouped Nagah Ghouls. They shriek with pain and drop to their knees, clutching their grey misshapen heads in their oversized hands.
‘Charge!’ shouts Lieutenant Quang, and his stirring command galvanises the Watchers into action. Anxious to seize the advantage your psychic attack has provided, all five of you attack the kneeling Nagah Ghouls before they can get back on their feet.
You attack the five undead Nagah Ghouls before they can get back on their feet. Lieutenant Quang fights fiercely by your side, and the three Watchers engage those ghouls that attempt to outflank you. Your effective use of your Kai-surge Discipline has given you the combat advantage. You may ignore any ENDURANCE point losses you sustain in the first round of this fight:
5 Nagah Ghouls: COMBAT SKILL 45 ENDURANCE 57
You may add 6 points to your COMBAT SKILL for the duration of this fight, for Quang and the Watchers are supporting you throughout this battle against these deadly creatures.
If you win this combat, Quang decapitates the heads of the fallen enemy to prevent them from being reanimated by the evil energy that has kept them in an undead state for centuries. As he chops off the head of the last Nagah Ghoul with his kirusami, you feel a chilling aura radiating from the Eye of Agarash. A sudden wave of weakness drains you of 3 ENDURANCE points.
As the nausea subsides, you turn your attention to the Watchers who have all sustained wounds during the combat. By the use of your Magnakai Curing Discipline, you are able to stop their bleeding and help them quickly to recover. You sense that you must now leave this location for there are more Nagah Ghouls in the vicinity and they are heading for the tavern garden, drawn by the foul smell of the spilt blood of their slain brethren. Hurriedly, you all remount your horses and press on with your journey to Vabou without further delay.
(I take no damage from the Eye, and from combat, their +CS and the minus 3 cs from the Wardstone really push my ratio well. I toss a 8 and end combat auto.)
Soon the village of Uzam is little more than a dot on the rain swept horizon behind you. The highway ahead is filled with refugees and the column of people and wagons has slowed almost to a halt. With Lieutenant Quang in the lead, you push your way through this jam until you can go no further. When you reach the head of the stagnant column you quickly discover why the flow of traffic has ground to a halt.
You magnify your vision and, in the middle distance, you see several dozen Chagarashi have set up a road block where the highway crosses the open plain north of Vabou. They are accompanied by other creatures you have never encountered before. You inform the lieutenant of what you can see and his face drops; his worst fears have been confirmed.
‘They are sealing off the highway to prevent reinforcements from reaching Pensei from the south,’ he says, in a grave tone. ‘Some of Zashnor’s horde must have penetrated the Szuchow hills and come around our flank. We’ll not reach Vabou by the highway now. We’ll have to make a detour around this roadblock and try to get to the town before nightfall by some other way.’ Quang scours the surrounding countryside but he cannot decide which way is best to avoid the enemy.
(West. Always go left and up. West is leftish.)
Lieutenant Quang nods in agreement and you lead him and the Watchers away from the halted refugee column and ride west towards the southern end of the Szuchow hills. The grass and mixed foliage is taller and denser here than it is on the east side of the highway and you make slow progress. As your horses push on, it is as if they are wading through a thick green sea that swirls around your knees. You are little more than a mile from the hills when Quang signals everyone to halt. He has seen something suspicious and he points to it. You magnify your vision and scour the rain drenched grassland. Immediately, you spot three Chagarashi snaking their way through the foliage towards you. They are less than fifty yards away. Quang says it would be best to avoid them and you agree. He proposes that you circle around this area and attempt to enter the hills further south.
You move away from the approaching Chagarashi and steer your horses due south through the dense grassland. Once you are safely clear of the enemy, you make a gradual turn towards the west and approach the hills once more. As you walk your horses up the gentle rise that ascends towards the brow of a wide hill, your Sixth Sense alerts you to danger ahead. Immediately, you shout a warning to Quang and he signals to the Watchers to halt.
‘What is it, my Lord?’ he says, anxiously.
‘I can sense something hostile on the far side of this hill,’ you reply. ‘I fear it could be an ambush.’
Respectful of your Kai intuition, Quang tells everyone to dismount and draw weapons. He orders Chao to remain here and hold the horses while the rest of you go to the top of the hill under cover of the tall grass in order to determine what lies beyond. Crouching low, cautiously the four of you make your way to the crest of the hill. When you see the terrible scene that lies in the shallow valley beyond, it sends a cold shiver down the length of your spine.
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