(Dutch: De Sluimerende Dood)
Art & script by Don Lawrence
Storm and Huatl, back in the hands of the Manatecs, will be forced to face someone named Kuadro in the duel. At the appointed time, they are led into an arena where ancient missiles risen--worshipped as gods by these people too.
Kuadro awaits the two prisoners on the opposite end of a narrow walkway across a pit filled with mordillos. It's time for the fight to begin, and Kuadro drops his poncho:
Storm is overmatched by a foe with four arms. He's knocked from the walkway but manages to hang on until Kuadro stabs him in the hand. Storm's other hand reaches for something to save him. He grabs a metal bar--which turns out to be a lever. The platform begins to turn. Kuadro is thrown off balance and falls into the pit.
Storm is declared the victor and the new leader. Storm demures from the office, offering Huatl in his place--after he returns. Before the Manatec people can respond, the two race into the tunnel the god-missiles emerge from. The two jump on the transports that carry the missiles along a track through the subterranean tunnel. Huatl thinks this all is the work of the gods, but Storm explains that ancient humans made this (though he wonders at what the power source must be).
The two reach an area where the air is thick. Vegetation has grown over the ventilation. The two lose consciousness. When Storm awakens, the transports have stopped in a massive assembly hall, and a horror is in front of them:
The spider grabs Huatl and begins to enrapt him in webbing. Thinking quickly, Storm wipes grease from the transport's axle so he can climb over the web without sticking. He manages to do that without drawing the attention of the spider and free Huatl.
No sooner is that done than the two have to sprint after the transport, which has began moving again.
TO BE CONTINUED
Looks like a very cool comic!
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