he pulled a face when i informed him that i planned to shift the narrative forward in time , from the moment that altair leaped from the ramparts of the citadel , a shamed and broken man , to a period some twenty years hence and not to masyaf , but to a spot in the desert two days ' ride away ... ... to an endless plain at dusk , seemingly empty apart from a man on a horse leading another horse , the second nag laden with jugs and blankets .