From a first look, there wasn’t much of a trail to follow: snow was a double-edged sword when it came to this sort of thing. Moving around without leaving a trace was impossible, but it would only take a few more hours of snowfall for any evidence to vanish, buried beneath the white shroud.

There still were still signs of movement, but tracking it down wouldn’t be quite as easy as following some tracks to a free meal. Ephi searched the immediate area around where she had spotted the bloody thorns, eventually managing to find a few tiny droplets that had fallen onto an exposed tree root in the direction of the coast. With a vague idea of the direction her quarry had set off, she followed behind, occasionally stopping to sniff at the bitterly-cold air.

“You know, I’m honestly pretty impressed,” I remarked as she scanned further into the tree line, moving at as slow of a pace as she could tolerate, “I didn’t think you’d be able to just sniff out trails like this.”

She didn’t respond for a few moments, her attention solely devoted to her senses.

“Oh, I can’t. I’m just trying to see if I can smell any blood around here,” she replied sheepishly, “There are only little bits of it here and there, but it’s getting harder to find as we go on.”

“Mm. Well, it seems like it’s just a minor injury from those thorns. The trail’s bound to go cold eventually once the wound coagulates. Hopefully, we find whatever we’re tracking before then.”

Ephi gave a quick nod, continuing to skulk along between the pines, ears twitching occasionally at the distant sounds of the forest. The sanguine trail soon shrank to the point that it would have been impossible to follow all on its own, but we weren’t entirely reliant upon it at this point. Ephi’s senses were sharp—not quite at the levels that they’d been as a mouse, but they seemed to be a step above human at least. She was swift to notice little details about the path that I doubted I would have.

Tiny scrapes in the bark of the trees, close to the ground but not quite buried yet. Parts of the snow that seemed as though they had recently been disturbed. Marks that something had been here recently—perhaps just a short while ago.

Having kneeled down to inspect a snapped branch, her entire body seemed to stiffen. Her head snapped from one side to the other, tilting her head.

“Oh. I must be closer to home than I thought,” she muttered, standing back up as she began to relax again.

She wasn’t anywhere near home, probably a solid two hours of marching through the woods to get back again.

“You’ve still got quite a ways to go. What do you mean?”, I asked, more making idle conversation than actually pressing on the topic.

The mousegirl gave a dismissive shrug. “Oh, really? Huh. I thought so, it just smells a bit like home over here.”

My mind snapped to attention, trying to figure out exactly what this could mean. “What does it smell like, exactly?”, I pressed. No matter what she answered, I was certain that this couldn’t be good. Did dungeons smell? If so, could it just be the wind carrying my scent somewhere. Or maybe the other dungeon was in this area? That didn’t seem very likely—it was awfully close to home for us, and there didn’t seem to be any monsters around.

My mind raced, trying to determine whether this was something I needed to be worried about or not.

“Kinda like smoke? From the fire-room that warms up home for us,” she clarified, thinking it over.

“Can you look upwards for me? Do you see any smoke pillars from where you are?”, I pushed further.

She did as I asked, though she could see nothing of the sort from where she was standing, and I couldn’t either from any of my eyes far to the south.

“Nope, nothing. It’s faint. I think it’s coming from over here?”, she added, starting southwards.

Squeezing through the trees, Ephi followed the aromatic traces of smoke drifting through the air. My own concern over the issue had leaked into her as we communicated, so she exercised an uncharacteristic amount of caution as she stole through the wood.

Here, the signs of traversal were scattered nearly everywhere with no attempt made to cover them up. An uncharacteristic kind of clumsiness compared to everything else we’d seen so far, our prey either no longer worried about its tracks being followed or in too much of a rush to care.

A few more steps and Ephi found herself at the very edge of a clearing near the base of a steep hill, eyes narrowed ahead as we both examined what her nose had led her to.

A bivouac shelter that was little else but a modest firepit and a shabby-looking lean-to constructed in between some standing boulders. Someone had been here—not just some animal, but a person.

It wasn’t entirely a shock, but there was still a grave sense of concern now that we had confirmed it. The resident was nowhere to be seen, though that wasn’t entirely unexpected. The firepit was lined with gray ash mixed with a sprinkling of fresh snow, its cinders extinguished for some time now. Whoever was here, they had already left, though whether it was temporary or not wasn’t entirely clear. There didn’t seem to be any sort of goods left around worth coming back for—just sticks, stones, and enough snow to bury a man.

“I don’t see anyone,” Ephi commented, her tone wary and hesitant, “Can I go take a look around?”

Taking a moment to consider, I gave her the go-ahead. “Just move slowly and be quiet. They might still be in the area. See what you can find.”

Slinking out past the tree she had been pressed up against, she crouched low to the ground as she tiptoed closer, her entire body tense from the suspense. She took cover against one of the larger boulders encircling the camp, peering around the side before continuing forward towards the site.

Now that we were closer, there was a bit more to see. The makeshift shelter was clearly made by someone inexperienced or exhausted, with a number of shortcuts in its construction. Though perhaps I’d just gotten a better eye for this sort of thing given how much time I spent building things each and every day. The roof had serious gaps between the twigs comprising it which did little to stop the snow from cascading inwards. There wasn’t much in the way of materials nearby that could have covered or plugged these gaps, but even mud would have been better than nothing.

Though that was in short supply too except along the riverbeds.

Maybe it really was just the best its resident could manage at the time.

We found little else worth noting, though. The firepit had been used within the past day, but that was a pretty wide timeframe. Given that we hadn’t seen any sort of smoke on the horizon, it seemed likely that the fire had only been lit overnight for warmth before its owner left.

“Huh. Dead end, I guess,” I grumbled, a bit displeased at having someone so close to our territory without our knowledge, “Doesn’t look like an adventuring camp given that there’s only one shelter. Might just be a lone wolf. Let’s do a patrol of the area to see if we find anything, alright?”

Ephi nodded, before pausing. “It seems like they’re just focused on heading south, following the coast from what we’ve seen so far. If that keeps up, they’ll probably just wander into our territory soon, right? If I just head in the same direction, one of us will have to see this person eventually.”

She took a step forward, and a loud, sharp snap rang out through the clearing.

Neither of us had much time to react, her ears going rigid at the unexpected sound in the split second she had to react to something moving in front of her. There was little thought behind her reactions aside from a primal instinct to dodge. Her body moved without waiting for her mind’s approval, falling backward and landing on the earth with a heavy thump.

Just in time too. As she tumbled back, a mangled mess of sharpened wood swung up from the snow in front of her, its hooked tip sharpened to a spear point. It pierced right through the air where Ephi’s chest had been mere instants before, wobbling back and forth a few times before standing perfectly vertical.

Sitting on the ground, Ephi stared wordlessly at the abominable device, jaw agape.

“Hey, you alright?”, I prodded at her, though she didn’t respond at first, “That was a very lucky dodge. I guess we underestimated our quarry a bit. If they’re laying traps like this, they were expecting to be followed which is… a problem, to put it mildly.”

Ephi nodded silently, eyes transfixed on the hooked point of the trap she had triggered, before glancing down at its trigger. It wasn’t anything too intricate, essentially just being a stick positioned over a foot-sized hole covered with leaves and snow. When she had stepped on the stick, it had snapped, and that had triggered a lever-like motion on the ‘front’ part of the branch. There was a bit more to it to ensure it swung correctly without rotating, but overall it was horrifying simple.

“I’m fine,” she responded in a seething tone, pushing herself back up onto her feet, “Relieved that I didn’t get speared in the gut by that thing. Whoever made that trap is going to regret it, though.”

She winced, bending down to rub at her ankle.

And then she stopped, remaining absolutely motionless. I nearly piped up to ask what she’d found when a stone flew past, narrowly missing her shoulder as she swayed to the side. The projectile smacked into one of the legs holding up the lean-to, sending it clattering to the ground. There was movement up in one of the trees, and Ephi looked up just in time to see a man drop down, the snow cushioning his fall. His hands fumbled around as he drew a long knife, but he was already too slow.

Ephi’s legs moved with a speed I’d never seen from her before as she backpedaled, narrowly avoiding a sweeping gouge aimed right at her gut. She was on the defensive, and her mangy-haired opponent pushed the advantage as best as he could, moving as if he was going to step closer only to stop dead in his tracks.

Catching a glimpse of his face made her stumble briefly, but in truth he looked just as bewildered to see her, eyes wide in a mixture of disbelief and horror as the rat-eared woman a full head taller than him closed in. It was the man from the cart, the same one that Ephi had saved before, albeit in a far worse state. His fingers were bruised black with frostbite, barely able to even maintain his grip on his knife. Despite that, he refused to drop the weapon from his shaking hands, frost clinging to his ratty-looking beard as he regained his composure, keeping the blade between himself and Ephi.

Having successfully dodged the initial strikes from her assailant, she was now far more ready to defend herself. With her spear clutched tight in her hands, she kept the man at bay, well outside the range where he’d be able to slice at her again without putting himself at risk of being run through.

He looked as if he already had one foot through death’s door, but I still took a moment to confirm his state.

GRIZZLED HUMAN MERCENARY LVL: 7 NAME: "Tilero"

Skills:

[Enhanced Vitality II]

[Enhanced Strength II]

[Enhanced Dexterity I]

[Swordplay II]

[Savage Defense]

[Rupture Armor]

[Boreal Survival]

HP: 3 / 39 CATEGORY: Humanoid MP: 0 / 2 SPECIES: Human SP: 2 / 30 SIZE: Medium XP: ?? GENDER: ♂ STR VIT DEX INT WIS PER 12 15 10 7 7 4

A human hailing from the city of Boltha. Highly-proficient with the sword, but lacking in all other aspects. Suffering from extensive but non life-threatening injuries.

Barely standing, from what I could tell. After so much time running and surviving in these harsh wilds, it seemed as though he simply couldn’t go any farther.

Had he been running from those caravan guards all this time? We hadn’t seen any trace of them on our journey, and I doubted that they’d be able to track him easily without abandoning their carts.

Tilero seemed keenly aware of the limitations of his choice of weapon and didn’t attempt to just lunge at Ephi blindly though, her spear always managing to find its way between the two of them. Like a rabid animal, he tested her defense, swiping at her spear before backing out of her immediate range.

We wouldn’t be able to negotiate as things were now. Ephi couldn’t speak or understand the spoken word, not that it seemed like it would have changed much in the current situation.

He took another swing, clipping off the tip of Ephi’s spear and leaving it with only a jagged, splintered end for her to defend herself with. Still, doing this seemed to put his entire body off balance and he fell to the snow briefly, stabilizing himself with one hand. Sensing that a moment to strike had presented itself, she stepped forwards to try to take advantage of the lapse in defense.

His blackened fingers curled into the snow as she approached, and I wasn’t fast enough to process what was happening. The half-frozen man swung his arm in Ephi’s direction, pelting her face with a handful of snow and rushing in to try and seal the deal.

Not fast enough, though. Not by a mile.

Getting a snowball to the face had caused her to waver for a moment, stumbling and squinting as she tried to maintain her focus. Tilero ducked low, only to catch the shaft of her spear against the side of his head as she took a blind swing, a hollow-sounding thump echoing through the afternoon air. His knife clattered from his hand against the rocky soil below, and Ephi didn’t give him a moment to even inhale before she was right on top of him, following up the strike with a single punch to the cheek, then another.

“Nice job,” I remarked, still trying to process what had all just happened in the span of a few moments, “Not really sure what that was all about, but I’m glad you’re safe at least. Surprised he’s not frozen solid, too. Or dead.”

He let out a raspy, rattling laugh, barely even able to keep his eyes open. His face had swollen already from the blows, forcing one of his eyes shut.

“You’re not even with them, are you?”, he choked out, his eyes glazed over, “Made it all this way and it was all for nothing.”

Ephi stared at the man beneath her with a blank expression, taking the man’s limply-hanging head in her hands in much the same way she’d handled the rabbit earlier.

“Whoa, hang on, hang on! Don’t kill him,” I butted in, narrowly stopping her from snapping her assailant’s neck, “Let him talk.”

She scowled in annoyance at me interrupting her, though her captive seemed to take this body language as something meant for him,

“Knew I should’ve stayed hidden. Serves me right for being rash. Go on,” he scolded himself, before looking up at Ephi, “Do it. Better here than winding up a sacrifice to that thing.”

For a few moments, the two stared intently at one another, albeit for entirely different reasons. Finally, Ephi asked a question over our link. “What’s he saying, then?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but I’ve got a hunch,” I replied, giving Ephi a quick psionic translation of his words.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to process what I meant.

Tilero took that as another moment to butt in. “You know what I’m talking about, then. Hells, if your…”, he trailed off for a moment, glancing at Ephi’s garments inquisitively, “crazy village is up this far to the north, let me give you a word of advice. A prize from one rat to another. If your people trade with the Pirette-Forrel Merchant League, stop. Pack up your stuff and run as far as you can. Leave no trace. Leave anything you can’t carry in one trip behind, don’t ever go back. They’re monsters in our skin. Blood-traitors.”

He slumped slightly, having finished delivering what he believed were going to be his last words, going silent.

There was a lot at play here, though I felt like I was only getting a part of the picture. The way he spoke about this merchant league—presumably the ones that were hauling him up north to begin with—made them sound far more menacing than I’d expected. I almost felt guilty for consigning him to whatever they had in store for him.

Worse still, he had made the mistake of stoking my curiosity.

“Ephi, I don’t think you’re going to like what I’m going to ask of you. I want you to bring him back to the dungeon.”

That got a response out of her almost immediately. Her grip on his tattered shirt tightened, shaking his limp form.

“You want to keep him?”, Ephi scoffed, raising an eyebrow, “Like a pet? He tried to kill me!”. She picked up the man’s knife, holding it between her fingers as if it was contaminated beyond helping and tossing it far into the distance.

“He’s desperate. I mean, look at him: barely alive, slowly freezing to death. It’s a miracle he even made it this far. I can’t really blame him for thinking that someone following him was an enemy in his state. Just haul him back home for now—I’ll start working on a holding cell somewhere separate from the rest of the dungeon so there’s no risk of him escaping or hurting anyone. We’ll warm him up and give him something to eat to butter him up a bit, then see what information we can pull from him.”

The mouse scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t like this idea. I already saved him once and that was clearly a bad idea, looking back on it.”

“And it would be a waste to let him freeze out there without seeing what you were saving him from, right? C’mon, think of how useful he’d be. Just heft him over your shoulder and head on back towards home, I’ll guide you to where you can drop him off. Oh, blindfold him first, though.”

She let out a shaky, frustrated sigh as she got to work, trying to figure out how to blind the man. Eventually, she settled on just opening her backpack and sticking his head into the opening. He barely fought back at all, too exhausted to put up any amount of struggle.

It was a good thing that Tilero seemed to be used to shoddily-constructed homes because that was exactly what I had in store for him.

While my original plan had been to set up a holding cell somewhere separate, the more I looked at his condition the more I realized that this would be untenable. He needed proper medical care—or, failing that, a warm place to rest so that his condition wouldn’t worsen. He’d need to be somewhere close enough to our heating system that I could easily heat his new prison-home.

Eventually, I settled on a location a short distance away from home, partway down the hall leading to the outpost base. I branched off from this with a hallway that I could easily seal in case of escape. The room itself was simple, with stone on all sides and an airlock of two heavy iron doors that I could lock at will. It would be warm, and it was close enough that we’d be able to feed him easily.

For now, my plan was for Ephi to be his sole point of contact while I remained hidden. Given that he assumed that Ephi hailed from a village somewhere, it would be simple enough to pretend as if he was just locked away in their prison. He might get suspicious after some time of only ever seeing Ephi, but we’d deal with that later. I had her search him for any hidden weapons, though she found none, and then I had her bring him in.

His blindfold stayed on until he was locked up safely, though he had completely lost consciousness by this point anyways. I had Ephi bring in some food for him from our stocks, taking note that this would only serve to strain our reserves even further.

But I had plans. A human was a valuable thing for us to have on our side.

If we could convince him to work with us, he just might work as a trade liaison. If not, then perhaps simply as a source of information as payment for saving his life from the wilderness.