Hui left the flap slightly open so the glow from the fire would illuminate their search, and he crept among the plunder. Qen moved steadily from basket to basket, lifting each lid and peering inside.

Kyky lingered by the entrance to the tent, ignoring Hui’s frantic beckoning. The Little Monkey pointed to one basket. It was caught in the shaft of amber light breaking through the gap in the tent flaps, almost as if the gods had illuminated it for them. The pannier stood alone with a space around it, an odd sight in the jumble of spoils.

Hui saw what Kyky had noticed. The basket had been placed there with care and a path left to it so the contents could be easily inspected. Hui grinned at his friend. Kyky had always been the clever one.

Hui’s heart thumped as his hand hovered over the lid of the basket. It might have been his superstitious mind, but he felt a cold force radiating from the vessel. The skin on his forearms prickled into gooseflesh and for a moment he dreaded the thought of lifting the lid and staring at something that had had contact with the gods themselves.

He carefully lifted the lid.

There was no flash of light or a crack of thunder. But as he stared into the shadows, he sensed whispers licking in his head, strange voices speaking in a language he didn’t recognise but which seemed weighted with terrible meaning. This was the right place.

Whispering a prayer, he reached a trembling hand inside. His fingers brushed something hard, wrapped in what felt like the softest linen.

Suddenly he sensed movement in the corner of his eye in the depths of the basket. With a muted cry, he threw himself backwards.

A sinuous shape lashed out of the dark interior. The hooded head of a cobra swayed before him, jewelled black and silver, glinting in the firelight. A forked tongue flickered from a mouth gaping wide, those venom-filled fangs agleam.

Hui stiffened in fear, mesmerised by the serpent’s supple undulation. He’d seen a man die in slow agony from one bite of those clamping jaws.

Kyky hissed a warning, flapping his hands towards the tent’s entrance. His involuntary cry! He’d been too confident, and now he’d doomed them all.

Lunging back, he dropped low. The cobra lashed, but those savage jaws snapped thin air. Hui kicked out and the creaking basket spun away. The snake flew with it. His last vision was of its coiled tail gleaming like molten metal as it thrashed into the shadowed recesses.