38

Cearmaine provides you with a fresh horse from the Canatarium’s stables, and then he escorts you personally to the city’s north gate.

‘Good luck and godspeed, Grand Master,’ he says. ‘May we meet again one day—but in happier circumstances.’

Under cover of darkness you ride due north towards the border with Eldenora, less than eight miles distant. The hilly terrain and your natural camouflage skills enable you to evade the enemy’s lookouts and pass into their territory unseen. At first the going is easy and you cover many miles despite the undulating ground, but shortly before dawn you find yourself descending from the hills towards an expanse of marsh and reed beds. You try to avoid this bog and make a wide detour to the east, but before long you are brought to a halt at the edge of a steep ravine.

Both ways ahead now look impossible on horseback, but you are loathe to abandon your mount. You decide to turn back, yet you have gone no more than half a mile when your Kai senses alert you to danger. In the distance you see a regiment of Eldenoran cavalry on the move; you count more than a hundred riders. Rather than risk running foul of them, you reluctantly abandon your horse and return again to the edge of the ravine.

If you wish to attempt to cross the ravine, turn to 186.

If you decide to try to cross the bog, turn to 217.