Erhi broke to the surface gasping for air. She breathed and coughed and spluttered all at once. The current tugged dangerously at her body and she felt the weight of her furs dragging her back down beneath the surface. Using what little energy she had left, she kicked for the thick rim of ice studding the edge of the river and hauled herself up onto it.

Safe at last, Erhi rolled onto her back and stared listlessly up at the moon. It shone down, stark and uncaring. Her lips were blue and a series of sharp spasms convulsed her entire body. She had to get moving, now. With a great effort Ehri forced herself upright and staggered towards Sabar. Her horse turned to look at her approach, its breathing thin but steady. Perhaps they would both pull through after all, thought Erhi.

A sound came from the river. The creak of ice groaning under a sudden weight. Muunokhoi, wet but very much alive, hauled himself up onto the ice. He dug his spear into the sheet of ice and used it to lever himself up onto the bank. Long strands of wet hair were plastered across his face. From beneath his dark locks shone two piercing eyes, pulsing with a steady hatred. His whole body steamed beneath the moonlight, like a demon risen straight from the underworld.

Ehri coaxed Sabar upright and blundered through the snow. The campfires were in sight, but Erhi knew she would never make it. Her joints were seizing up with the cold and Sabar was too weak to take her weight. Her legs grew heavy and she found herself drooping closer to the ground with each forward step. The snow came up to her knees, bringing her close to standstill. Behind her she could hear the unerring shh-shh sound of Muunokhoi moving through the snow. The sing-song whirr of a blade cutting through air warned her of the impending danger and she ducked just in time. The tip of the spear swished through the empty space where her head had been a moment before. Erhi rolled away from Muunokhoi and drew the blade from her boot, brandishing it in front of her in a gesture of defiance. She would rather die fighting than beg for her life.

Muunokhoi stood over her, the spear raised above his head. There was no need for words. The hunter had cornered his prey. Death was the only end to this story. Ehri spat onto the snow and braced herself for the blow, defiant to the last. Better to die as a warrior than live as a woman. A burst of light, brighter than the noonday sun, split the night. The light was accompanied by a howl unlike anything Erhi had ever heard in her life, haunting and otherworldly. Perhaps this was what the end sounded like, thought Ehri. She shielded her eyes against the light, expecting to gaze upon Tengri, the great god of the sky.

Instead she saw a plumped face boy staring down at her with a look of dumb incredulity. His clothes were strange, thin yet precisely fitted, and his face reminded her of men from her childhood, men who had begged for their lives in front of the walls of Zhongdu. What an earth was a Chinese boy doing here? The boy shouted something at her, but it was lost amidst the approaching roar that grew louder with every second, shaking Erhi's entire body.

Instinctively she rolled away from the sound and covered her head with her hands as the terrifying thing, because Erhi had no other words to describe what it was, rumbled past her. The thing rasped and rattled for close to a minute and then it ceased. Silence blanketed the land, an absence of noise more deafening than thunder. Erhi uncovered her eyes and was surprised to see Muunokhoi kneeling in front of her. His face was a mixture of shock and disbelief. The spear was no longer in his hand. He looked at her, then gazed up at the sky.

"Go" said Muunokhoi, his voice shaking.

Disorientated, Ehri rose to her feet and stumbled away from Muunokhoi. Sabar trotted behind her. Alive, just like her mistress. Ahead of her the campfires glowed, promising warmth. But Erhi's mind was far away. All she could think of was that terrible sound and the plump faced boy. It wasn't Tengri, she was sure of that. Whoever it was, she would find out.