325
As you ride along the highway that heads north from Duadon, you see in the distance a pair of grassy hillocks. The highway passes between them before rising to a cultivated plateau which is crisscrossed with irrigation channels. You are drawing closer to the hillocks when you notice two units of armoured riders are stationed here, one unit on either side of the road. These horsemen are clad in fearsome suits of black armour, embellished with skulls and scarlet dragons, and their mounts are similarly protected by plates of burnished steel that shimmer like liquid fire in the light of the setting sun.
‘Sinistrari!’ whispers Delissa. ‘Ishir protect us!’
Coolly you steer your horse along the highway at a steady pace and pass beneath the watchful gaze of Vandyan’s élite troopers. The mounting tension draws beads of cold perspiration from your brow, but these enemy riders offer you no challenge and you are able to continue unhindered. As you emerge from the hillocks, you whisper to Delissa out of the side of your mouth. ‘Just keep riding … and don’t look back!’
It is not until you reach the safety of the plateau that you dare glance back over your shoulder at Vandyan’s horsemen, now five miles distant. Beyond them, silhouetted black against the darkening sky, you see the walls of Duadon and the domed peak of Skull-Tor. Now that you are safely beyond reach, you raise your fist and give voice to a defiant cry of victory.
‘For Sommerlund and the Kai!’
