Hui pressed a finger to his lips. Crouching, he craned his neck to stare at the stars flowing across the sky. Yes, the gods were always watching, every fool knew that. He trembled under the weight of those glittering eyes.

A grand destiny lay ahead of him, if those higher powers were willing, and tonight he would take his first step along that road to glory.

The eerie barking they had heard on the climb echoed again, closer this time, and his heart hammered.

Hui looked around the jagged teeth of the rocks on the hills where he had followed the old desert wanderers’ tracks, to the undulating waves of the desert sands to the west. Squinting towards the east, he could make out the faintest glimmer of the Great River mirroring that sweep of twinkling stars overhead.

That otherworldly yowling rang out almost at his elbow this time and he jumped to his feet.

‘What is that?’ Kyky whined. He grabbed Hui’s shoulder, his eyes widening.

Hui let out what he hoped was a comforting laugh. ‘Stay strong, my friend.’

‘You dragged us to this lonely place, far from the safety of our homes, and now you tell me not to be afraid?’ Kyky jabbered. ‘The old men on the benches by the walls say the hills are haunted. Demons walk here.’

Hui choked back his scorn as Kyky reached out a trembling finger. A silhouette was rising behind a rib of brown rock. Twin horns stabbed up from the head. Coldly glimmering eyes stared at them. That mournful barking rolled out again.

Kyky clutched his face and whimpered, ‘Oh, Hui, you have doomed us.’

Hui stiffened. He would stand his ground, even though his legs were shaking, for that is what great leaders did.

The silhouette eased up further until the moonlight burned the darkness from it and Hui sagged with relief. Those horns were long, pointed ears, the narrow face and almond eyes feline. It was a Desert Cat. He’d seen one only once before, but he’d heard they barked like dogs instead of purring or hissing.

Slapping his hands on his thighs, he convulsed with laughter, then hurled a stone to frighten the cat away. ‘We are jumping at shadows,’ he chuckled.

‘And can you blame us?’

‘This is a night for momentous things—’

‘A night where fools get their comeuppance more like.’ Kyky kicked up a whorl of sand in defiance. ‘We are more likely to get our throats slit and left as a feast for the vultures.’

Hui couldn’t argue with that. But he showed a cheerful face for his friend’s sake. ‘You’ll sing a different song when we return with a gift from the gods.’

‘If we return.’