### 309

As you gallop over the crest of the ridge, you see the first rays of dawn sunlight brightening the eastern horizon. You continue to ride at a swift pace for you are anxious to put as much distance as possible between yourselves and your pursuers, but as the sun illuminates the way ahead, you catch sight of a dense forest stretching across the southern horizon like a long dark wall.

‘That’s the Vanchou,’ calls out Gildas. ‘I’ve heard tell it’s haunted.’

The trail continues due south towards the centre of this forbidding timberland and, as you draw steadily closer, you feel an unnatural chill radiating from its tangle of sickly-coloured pines. You are inclined to disbelieve that it is haunted, yet you do not relish the thought of riding through it. Then a sudden sense of unease makes you glance over your shoulder, and your heart skips a beat when you see that the Imperial Guards are gaining fast; they are now less than 3 miles distant.

If you wish to leave the trail and ride east across grasslands, turn to 250.

If you choose to stay on the trail and enter the Vanchou Forest, turn to 143.