As soon as he set a foot on the treacherous sand-and-gravel slope, started to slide down helplessly downwards

As soon as he set a foot on the treacherous sand-and-gravel slope, started to slide down helplessly downwards in a cloud of dust. No wonder, that when he finally reached the bottom and the dust had settled, the cultist was long gone. The only hope was that the runaway had been forced to slow down at the edge of the plateau and we could catch him there.