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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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568
 With all the strength you have at your command you run, the vast power of the Shan'duil raging in the chasm beneath you. All about you the thundering echo of the River's flow tremors the air, sending pulsing vibrations through the stone beneath your feet, but within this melee of overwhelming noise you dare not stop. At a sprint you should cover the distance in less than thirty seconds, however as you reach the highest arc of the bridge's span you begin to feel the full relentless effects of the River.
Like tendrils reaching out of the abyss the blue radiance of the Shan'duil swirls around the bridge, twisting and surging as the River pounds below. In the grip of this raw energy you feel the strength draining from your legs, your breath labouring as you realise that the strength you have will not be enough. Like spectral hands grasping at your skin you come to a halt, unable to move as your energy is quickly dissipated into the roiling surge of the River of Life. If you cannot make the other side before your strength gives out this exposure to the River will kill you.
Exhausted, you drop to one knee then the other, your body's endurance draining away as you struggle to make the end of the bridge. Collapsing forward onto your hands, desperation takes hold as you crawl painfully onwards but it is to no avail. Still some sixty metres from the far landing you fall onto the hard stone and lay still.
In those last few moments of life there is a strange calm about you. Although the Shan'duil surges beneath you, it is your own heartbeat that you notice most. Pounding in your chest you feel its last few beats and realise that it too is now beating to the rhythm of the River. In this place you are now one with the Shan'duil. Your quest is over. It will be to a future life that you must now look for better luck.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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