<p>You sleep well and rise shortly before dawn to help prepare the horses for the road ahead. A mount is assigned to the prisoner, and he rides with you and Captain Chan at the head of the caravan column. The highway skirts the perimeter of the Javai Forest, and within an hour of leaving the ford, you catch sight of something in the distance that makes your senses tingle. To your right you see a wooded rise that runs parallel to the highway. You question the prisoner and he confirms that this is where his brother Kronar has prepared the ambush.</p>
<p>Chan orders the caravan drivers to halt and await his further signal, and then together the three of you ride ahead. Xango<ch.apos/>s hands are tied behind his back and a noose is slipped over his head. This is attached to a trailing rope which is fastened to the horn of the captain<ch.apos/>s saddle. If Xango should attempt to escape, he will either strangle himself or break his neck when the rope is pulled taut.</p>
<p>Suddenly you see two riders appear on the crest of the rise. They dismount and then disappear among the folds of the woodland. Minutes later they reappear atop a hillock, now no more than 30 yards distant. Instantly Chan recognizes that one of them, a tall man dressed in a padded tunic of scarlet and black silk, is Captain Kronar. You watch with growing trepidation as Kronar unslings a bow from his shoulder, draws an arrow, and takes aim in your direction. Moments later his companion copies his leader<ch.apos/>s actions.</p>
<p>You sleep well and rise shortly before dawn to help prepare the horses for the road ahead. A mount is assigned to the prisoner, and he rides with you and Captain Chan at the head of the caravan column. The highway skirts the perimeter of the Javai Forest, and within an hour of leaving the ford, you catch sight of something in the distance that makes your senses tingle. To your right you see a wooded rise that runs parallel to the highway. You question the prisoner and he confirms that this is where his brother Kronar has prepared the ambush.</p>
<p>Chan orders the caravan drivers to halt and await his further signal, and then together the three of you ride ahead. Xango<ch.apos/>s hands are tied behind his back and a noose is slipped over his head. This is attached to a trailing rope which is fastened to the horn of the captain<ch.apos/>s saddle. If Xango should attempt to escape, he will either strangle himself or break his neck when the rope is pulled taut.</p>
<p>Suddenly you see two riders appear on the crest of the rise. They dismount and then disappear among the folds of the woodland. Minutes later they reappear atop a hillock, now no more than 30 yards distant. Instantly Chan recognizes that one of them, a tall man dressed in a padded tunic of scarlet and black silk, is Captain Kronar. You watch with growing trepidation as Kronar unslings a bow from his shoulder, draws an arrow, and takes aim in your direction. Moments later his companion copies his leader<ch.apos/>s actions.</p>