The explorers are caught in the middle of a war between Tribue, with gunpowder in toe, and Drakul and his barbaric raiders. One of them will be lost, possibly forever, when this battle reaches its cliffhanger.
The adventurers try to leave the plateau in their balloon but are shot down by some raiders. As they try to escape the raiders, Summerlee gets shot by an arrow, while Challenger, Roxton and Malone drop from a collapsing bridge into a river.—Mahogany Rush Steve
Challenger and Summerlee think they may have discovered a rare opportunity that will allow their group to escape from the plateau in the balloon. At the last moment, Malone decides to stay behind with Veronica and he watches as the others life off into the sky. Drakul and his army of Raiders see the balloon in the sky and shoot it down, beginning a game of cat and mouse. Meanwhile, Malone and Veronica are forced to make allies with their former enemy Tribune in an attempt to stop the evil Drakul and his Raiders from killing them all.