Desmond and Riki were making their way back towards the Lodge. The vegetation was sparse under the thick forest canopy, making the return trip easy.

They had spent the better part of a week hunting down the necessary darkmoon elk hides. The whole thing had been rather uneventful. Riki’s detection skills made finding the beasts easy. The hardest part of the request turned out to be trying to keep the hides in good condition. The beasts were quite skittish, and would often choose to run rather than fight.

Desmond had backtracked to where Riki had killed the female guard. He found 2 rare legacy orbs but they both followed the already set out patterns, so there was nothing new. They had deposited the three dead bodies in the territory of the biscuit boars, which apparently got their name because Riki knew someone who tamed one using only biscuits and dumb luck.

Desmond always tried to stay vigilant when he was outside the Lodge. Especially after that incident where he accidentally entered the Soul Realm and ended up lying face down in the dirt for 2 days. But as he approached the Lodge his wariness slowly faded. He was back in familiar territory now, and watching Riki’s ass bounce in those tight leather pants was far too entertaining. She had definitely noticed his gaze, as at some point she had started to strut. Giving her ass a little shake with each step.

Suddenly Riki came to a stop. Looking up, Desmond could see Riki holding out her hand in a fist with her back still towards him. Desmond instantly became alert. He started scanning the surrounding forest looking for anything hostile. Seeing no immediate danger, Desmond walked up beside Riki. She had he eyes closed and was clearly focused on some type of magic scouting skill. He placed his hand on her shoulder, knowing she could still feel contact while using this particular magic.

What could Riki be sensing this close to the Lodge? There is no way someone would set up a trap here, they should already be within the Lodge detection array. Unless the Lodge themselves were setting up a trap, but that didn’t make sense either. Riki opened her eyes.

“There are 2 people hiding up in a tree a little over a kilometer that way,” Riki said pointing vaguely in the direction of the Lodge. “They look to be on watch for something.”

That would put them close to the Lodge entrance. Were they waiting for someone to leave, but then why hide? Maybe this was just a prank between hunters, but Desmond wasn’t willing to take any risks.

“Did you sense anyone else?” Desmond asked softly.

“No, just the 2,” Riki replied. “But something feels off. They are focused away from the Lodge, like they are looking for someone who is returning.”

This made even less sense. If they were associated with the Lodge then there would be no reason to hide. And if they were not associated with the Lodge then they wouldn’t hide so close to the facility. There were too many unknowns for now.

“Let’s sneak up on them,” Desmond said.

Riki gives him an unimpressed look. “You, sneak? I think an elephant would have a better chance at it.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Desmond replied with absolutely no amusement on his face. “I get it, I suck at stealth.”

“Now that’s an understatement if I have ever heard one,” Riki states with a teasing smile. “I think the biscuit boars might have you beat in the stealth department and they are like 3 and a half tonnes. Hell, a tornado probably has more stealth characteristics than you do.”

“Ok, I can see losing to the biscuit boars,” Desmond replied in fake contemplation. “They are soft-footed forest creatures. But I’m sure I can be more subtle than a tornado.”

“Well, I will believe it when I see it,” Riki said with no expectations. “For now, I’m going to go have a look at what we are dealing with. You stay here and try not to cause a disturbance.”

“Got it,” Desmond sullenly replied. “I will be here, picking grass or something if you need me.” Desmond hated being left out of the stealth sections. He always enjoyed those parts in games, but he did recognize that subtlety was not his strong suit.

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to take a look,” Riki said as she moved off in the direction of the Lodge.

Yeah right, like he would believe that. Riki was not the ‘take a look’ type. Either they would be harmless to them or they would be dead.

***

Riki was moving from tree to tree in the direction of the 2 people she had detected. She had Shadow Cloak active and would be nearly imperceptible under the forest canopy. Something had seemed off about these two from the first time she had sensed them. This close to the Lodge there was no purpose to hiding as it would do nothing against the detection array, but these 2 seemed to be taking the hiding part seriously.

Riki was blessed with a legacy magic from birth. She was able to reach out and sort of pass her senses along through nearby shadows. A skill she had harnessed to great effect. It was like having a 6th sense, where you can see, feel, and hear through shadows. It was an active magical skill, but she had used it to the point it became like second nature to her. Much like Shadow Cloak, she would always keep this 6th sense active at a very low setting even outside combat. This prevented others from being able to sneak up on her and is what let her detect the two individuals hiding in the nearby tree.

Riki looked around the thick trunk of a tree to see two people crouching on a branch about halfway up an old oak. They were both rell and around mid-tier 4. Something stuck Riki as odd about this situation. It was almost like they were too defenseless. Like they had been set out here to be found. It was a trap, and these two were the bait! She had used similar tactics with Dez in the past. He did make good bait after all.

Rell were one of the many sentient species found on the continent. They were native to the Great Desert north of the Saber Mountains or more specifically to the lakes and rivers that ran through the massive desert. Even though the Empire technically shared a border with their Theocracy, relations had mostly been peaceful. This was because crossing the Saber Mountains was a logistical nightmare, so any assault force would be at a massive disadvantage. Riki had only ever seen a few rell, and it was always in the Lodge.

Rell and humans were proportionally very similar. The main difference was that rell had white skin where as humans were more peachy and varied in skin tone. Riki herself might be very pale, but it was nothing compared to the bleach-white skin that was common among rell. They also had muted hair and eye colors that were really just shades of off-white. The other most notable fact was that they did not tan, at all. They could stand out under the desert sun for days and their skin would still be perfectly white.

Riki crouched behind a tree and closed her eyes. These rell were highly suspicious, but she still didn’t know why they were here. Were they affiliated with the Lodge? Riki didn’t recognize either of them from the lobby. She slowly cast her senses out actively looking through the shadows.

The first thing that stood out was that Dez was not where she had left him. This was not surprising as that man never could sit still. He seemed to be moving southeast away from her position quickly. Riki couldn’t see anything further in that direction as Dez was already at the edge of where she could sense. Riki moved on, she would find out what Dez was up to later.

She then turned her attention to the Lodge that was now within her detection range and was aghast at what she found. The Lodge was gone! All that remained was the burnt husk of buildings and rubble. At this distance, she could not make out details, but she didn't sense any life within the Lodge compound. This had happened several days ago at least.

Riki was momentarily frozen. Who in their right might would attack a Lodge outpost like this? It was basically suicide. The Lodge would always remain neutral, but then again, nobody has ever directly attacked the Lodge. There is no way the Lodge wouldn’t respond to this. Whatever this was, it was going to change things.

Riki looked back to the two rell couching in the oak tree with a newfound seriousness in her gaze. They were enemies, she didn’t have to try and take them alive anymore. She would deal with them, then find out where Dez ran off too. As much as she hated to admit it he was better at handling these large problems than she was. But first, she had to decipher this trap.

Now, if she was making this trap, where would she hide. It would have to be close enough to retaliate against the attackers but in a position more concealed. The only thing that really matched was higher up in the tree. Riki closed her eyes, reaching out to the shadows she slowly felt out each of the higher branches. Sure enough, after a few minutes Riki found a place where the shadows would not speak to her.

She traced out this silent area with her senses and it made a vaguely human shape. They were using some kind of active stealth magic that was difficult for even her to sense.

She did a quick double-check just to make sure there was only one hidden enemy and then started to move. She had faith in her own stealth abilities so the two idiots on the lower branch were of no concern. She started to climb the tree on the opposite side of the concealed enemy.

She would have liked to use Shadow Step to get up the tree immediately, but she didn’t know how strong her opponent was. Shadow Step made a far larger impact on the ambient mana than simply using her sixth sense, so she wouldn’t risk it.

Riki slowly made her way to the branch the concealed enemy was on. She could still feel the space they were occupying, but other than a slight shift of weight, there was no movement. She made her way over until she was standing directly beside the silhouette.

With but a thought, [Blood Letter] was in Riki’s right hand. She grasped the handle tight, as she brought the blade around. She slid her left hand behind the silhouette’s head just as the blade made contact with where the enemy’s right eye should be, so they could not try and pull away. Riki felt the resistance as the blade pierced through the enemy’s skull, protruding out between her index and middle fingers. It had been a perfect kill!

Suddenly the silhouette was a robed figure, skewered through the head by her dagger. Riki made a quick Shadow Step to behind a nearby large tree and laid the figure down on the ground. They were a rell, but other than that she couldn’t make out much with the robe. Looking back to the oak tree, the two idiots seemed none the wiser of what had just happened. Riki felt a small smile come to her lips. The last two were not going to be a problem.