### 39

You snatch the reins and wheel your horse around on its hind legs in one swift, elegant movement. The sergeant screams an order and his men lunge forward, hoping to stick you with their swords before your horse’s forelegs return to the ground. But their attack is much too slow to catch a Kai master off-guard. Your horse regains its footing and you gallop through their shrinking ring of steel, barging aside two stout mountain ponies and leaving their riders sprawling in the dust.

The partisans give chase as you gallop headlong down a long and twisting hill track. You are beginning to outdistance your pursuers when your steed suddenly pitches forward and you are thrown head-first into a tangle of foliage. The dense undergrowth cushions your fall and you emerge unscathed, but your horse has been seriously injured. A deep pot-hole ensnared its foreleg and the limb is badly broken: the poor animal cannot go on. The partisans gallop into view and you are forced to abandon your crippled mount and escape on foot. With the angry cries of your pursuers growing ever louder, you curse your ill luck and run for the cover of the surrounding forest.

Turn to 250.