Section 184 In the dark you wait, gushing vapours streaming from a multitude of vents at your back. You have made it through the scalding steam but your last torch smoulders in your hand, now useless to your cause. Quickly you feel about in your pack, looking for another torch to light your way. Your blood runs cold as you realise that you have none. For a moment you think on what you should do, but the chilling reality of your predicament cannot be denied. Without a light you are a dead man. In this impenetrable dark the end comes swiftly. Out of the passage ahead you hear the sounds of something running towards you, the drum of heavy footfalls careering through the shadows. Instinctively you raise your weapon, but in the darkness you cannot see what confronts you, nor hope to defend yourself from it. With one tearing strike a razor sharp claw cuts through your chest, throwing you to the ground in a shower of blood. In this life your quest is over. In the next you will need to take more torches. THE END The Torchlight Text Edition is the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Any questions regarding this title, or any other book in the Chronicles of Arborell series can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au