(Dutch: De Doder van Eriban) (part 5)
Art by Don Lawrence; script by Martin Lodewijk
When Renter and Ember return to the ship, they find Nomad seemingly under assault by a gang. Renter jumps in to help, but Nomad bashes him over the head from behind, knocking him out cold.
It was a ruse. Storm hadn't returned to the ship yet, so Nomad paid the dock ruffians to help him stage a distraction so he could waylay Renter. Wanting to confine the young assassin, Ember and Nomad put him the one place they are sure he can't escape: the regeneration capsule.
Leaving Ember with the ship and Renter, Nomad goes out looking for Storm. He ends up finding him:
Nomad and Storm blame to escape. The prisoner the next cage over tells them the only way out is straight to the barsaman arena.
Meawhile, the boy Tilio happens by the ship. He tells Ember about his success as a chess entrepreneur. He asks Ember to marry him, but she demures. She asks him to watch the ship while she goes looking for her friends.
In the city, she discovers that Storm and Nomad have been taken prisoners as would be assassins. She returns to the ship to find weapons or maybe money to bribe the guards. Instead, she's attacked by Renter. Curious about the contents of the sarcophagus, Trilio released him. Renter chokes her to unconsciousness.
In two weeks, the fanfare sounds, announcing the Holy Barsaman game. The spectators file into the arena past the contestants. Some of the crowd carry miniature chess sets.
In the dungeons, on the eve of their execution, Nomad and Storm waylay a guard, steal the keys and make their escape. Storm still wants to warn the king of the assassination attempt--and enlist his help against Renter. The two steal guard uniforms and with a captured guard as an unwilling guide, they head to the royal box at the arena.
Within the arena, the game has begun:
TO BE CONTINUED
2 comments:
Happy New Year, and welcome back to Storm. Here's a little side note: The scene in which Renter chokes Ember was left out of the original album, but reinstated in the "Collection"-version.
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