He sprang to his feet and hurled himself down the bank, nearly losing his footing and sprawling on the hard-packed gravel at the bottom. He kept his legs under him with tremendous effort, reached the horse as it reared up again, and snatched the lance from its leather case.

As the lance came free, a growl came from behind him, turning into a scream. The horse bolted with a neigh and a spray of gravel. The leopard soared into the air as steel-spring muscles hurled it out from the bank, arching high as though it were trying to fly. In midair it seemed to catch sight of Blade, took its attention off the horse for a split-second, and landed on the gravel instead of on the horse's back. For a few seconds it seemed confused and crouched motionless instead of lunging in pursuit of the horse. In those seconds Blade lunged forward himself, the lance stabbing downward. The needle-pointed steel head drove into the leopard's back, just behind the shoulder blades.

It reared up with a scream of rage and pain, forepaws flailing the air. It was so strong that for a moment Blade thought it was going to pull itself free of the lance and turn on him. It twisted and jerked from side to side, until Blade began to wonder if the lance shaft were going to snap. Then it reared up one final time, gave a scream that ended in a gurgle, and collapsed on the ground.

Blade pulled the lance out and hastily stepped back, waiting for any more signs of life. The leopard lay motionless. Blade picked up a stone and threw it at the leopard's head. It still did not move. With a sigh of relief he turned to look for the horse. He did not expect to find it anywhere in sight. A horse like that could be a mile away in the time it had taken him to kill the leopard.

But surprisingly the golden horse was standing barely a hundred yards away, head up, staring back at Blade and the dead leopard. As Blade watched it, the horse neighed again and began trotting toward him, head still raised. Somehow the horse seemed to know that the leopard was dead and that this tall man standing over the leopard's body was a friend.