The Three Chapters

The beautiful girl that was chained to the wall was wary of the old man. Anyone in these caves was likely to be part of the gang that had ambushed her train and carried her off into these caves. She said nothing as he examined the iron cuffs that held her wrists to the clammy walls of the cave.

The old man took out a short, thin, metal rod, and tapped her left- hand cuff. Then he tapped again. On the third tap, the a crack appeared, the cuff split, and the girl was able to slide her hand free. The old man did the same with the right cuff. It needed eight taps, but the cuff broke and the girl was now free.

"My lady, you need not be in a rush to leave. I have taken care of Black Paul and Johnny Longknife. If you must leave, then go that way." Belboz pointed toward the way to the entrance. "There will be a horse just outside the caves, with provisions. You have a good chance of getting back home. If you go this way," he said, pointing to the room with the book, "then you may find yourself on a quest with a greater reward and with greater peril than any other quest that mortal man has yet undertaken." "There is a book in that room that has three chapters. The first chapter concerns those who are behind the evil of our times. All I have been able to understand, even after years of trying, is its title:the House. The middle part concerns a company of four that are destined to oppose the House. I know that section by heart, and it is called the Rose. The last chapter describes the confrontation between the two. Unfortunately, all I know is the title, The Order of Battle."

"My lady, if you walk out of the cave, then I know that you are not who I am looking for, and I will not stop you. If you go into the room, then the moment that I have hoped for and feared may have arrived."

1. The girl chooses to leave the cave.
2. The girl chooses to go follow the man into the room with the book.

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