Wengulax pursued, of course.

I kept ahead of him—barely—using both one-step and my smoke bombs. For all my pursuer’s speed and skill with his blades, his senses were not as finely honed as mine, and he struggled with navigating through the smoke.

I didn’t make the mistake of attempting to close with him again though. In open combat, Wengulax was clearly my superior.

I will have to find a more underhanded means of defeating him.

As I made my way further east through the quarter, I kept an eye out for somewhere—or something—to turn the tables on my foe. I passed more than a few buildings, but every door I tried was locked and with Wengulax hard on my heels I had no time to attempt picking any of them.

There were plenty of people about on the street too. Most ignored me entirely but bolted at the sight of my hunter. There was something about Wengulax’s nature that inspired fear in the quarter’s residents. Finally, though, I spied three who I thought could serve my purpose. Even without identifying them, I could tell they were players.

The trio stood outside the open doorway of a burned and scorched building fifty yards ahead, quietly conversing amongst themselves. At the ruckus that spread like a wave before me and my pursuer, their gazes turned in our direction.

“Mantis!” the elf amongst them spat.

With admiral speed, his human companion unsheathed the reed-like blade at his hip. “The plague quarter never ceases to surprise,” the courtly-attired figure murmured. “Every time I think I've seen it all, something worse creeps out of the woodwork.”

The third of the trio—a half-elf—chuckled. Drawing her longbow, she knocked an arrow and held it at the ready. “I told you, Jas. Lowlifes and wretches. That's all you can expect to find here.”

Still running hard, I analyzed the players.

The target is Moonshadow, a level 165 elven aeromancer.

The target is Jasiah, a level 152 human duelist.

The target is Simone, a level 155 half-elf sharpshooter.

Perfect, I thought and made a beeline for the three. They disregarded me entirely, their gazes fixed on my green-clad pursuer. As soon as I closed to within nine yards, I shadow blinked.

You have teleported into the shadow of Jasiah.

I emerged from the aether still moving at a hard clip. Throwing my hands forward, I dropped into a roll to slow my momentum.

“What the—!”

“Who was that?”

Ignoring the consternation of the players, I rose smoothly to my feet and broke left, dashing into the darkened doorway of the building. It looked abandoned. Slipping into the shadows, I concealed myself.

A hostile entity has failed to detect you! You are hidden.

Inhaling deeply, I fought to regain my breath while I listened to the ongoing conversation outside.

“Forget him,” the human—Jasiah—barked. “Look! The mantis is heading straight towards us!”

“Quick Moon!” the half-elf ordered. “Stop him.”

I exhaled, breathing more easily. My ploy seemed to be working. I hated that I had to stoop to using the three players—innocent bystanders—to stave off pursuit, but judging by the trio’s levels they, at least, seemed capable of standing up to the threat. Peering carefully around the doorway, I observed the encounter.

Jasiah had stepped in front of the mage, his blade thrust out defensively.

“Stop!” Simone, the half-elf, barked from beside the elf.

Wengulax didn’t stop—or even slow—and charged headlong towards the three.

The mage finished incanting the spell he’d been preparing and a moment later lines of a spell snapped outward to trap the blade dancer in a glittering cage of light.

“You were warned, worm!” Moonshadow growled.

For the first time, I heard my hunter speak. “Fools!” he hissed. “You are interfering in mantis business!”

Jasiah threw back his head and laughed merrily. “You don’t scare us you green skinned devil. Bring it on!”

Simone was less eager for a fight. “We have no quarrel with your order,” she said, laying a restraining hand on her companion.

Wengulax glared at the archer. “Then release me!” His gaze slid to the darkened doorway hiding me. “Now!”

“Not until we have your reassurance that you mean us no harm,” Simone said smoothly.

I slipped away from the door. I'd heard enough. My ploy had bought me a little time, but it seemed almost certain that the trio would not take care of my problem. They didn’t want to entangle with Wengulax anymore than I did.

I will have to deal with him myself.

~~~

The building was just as desolate and wrecked on the inside as it appeared from the outside. Any furniture it once held had long since been stolen or destroyed. Now only cobwebs, mildew, and dust inhibited its depths.

I climbed up the rickety stair to the second floor, carefully placing each step. There were six rooms. I investigated each and chose the one that was most intact.

Ducking into the room, I inspected its surroundings. There were two windows, both boarded up, and a single entrance. It'll do, I thought and got to work.

Leaning down beside the door, I tapped at the single blue rune on the trapper’s wristband, activating its enchantment while willing the items I desired to appear.

You have passed a thieving skill check! You have removed 4 trap-making crystals from your trapper’s wristband. Remaining stored traps: 18 of 20.

Four crystals materialized, each small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.

I knew already that the items from the wristband were of premium quality. Unlike those from a basic trap making kit, the crystals I held were enchanted. Inside each was a spelled trigger or trap element. They weren’t purely physical in nature either but also contained a magical component that simplified their deployment. And under my current circumstances, where time was of the essence, I was doubly grateful for the crafter’s foresight.

Next, I cast trap set. In response, energy thrummed through my fingers and eyes, giving me the ability to manipulate the spelled trap components.

In my newly enhanced sight, the crystals sitting in my palm burst to life. Each was riddled by a complex weave of magic that the trap set spell gave me the ability to decipher. Identifying the one I wanted first, I set aside the other three on the floor.

With spelled fingers, I tapped a complex sequence on the crystal and released its enchantment. The item crumbled to dust, leaving behind a slim wire in its place.

You have activated a single-use enchantment to acquire a tripwire trigger.

Working furiously, I placed the trigger.

The wire was no ordinary cord, of course. Tugging on its ends, I stretched the trigger between the doorway and released its enchantment. A moment later, the cord faded from sight and stretched taut, affixing itself to the sides of the door without any physical anchor.

You have concealed a tripwire.

Picking up the second crystal, I extracted its trigger: a plain sheet of metal. Holding the two shorter sides, I tugged hard, causing the spelled object to expand.

When it was large enough to fit the doorway, I placed it beneath the tripwire. A second later, the gray sheet faded from sight, as it mimicked the appearance of the adjacent dirty timbers.

You have concealed a pressure plate.

Only the trap elements left to place now.

Unlike with the triggers, I did not need to extract the trap elements from their crystals. All that was necessary was to connect them. The traps would activate automatically once the trigger activated.

Moving carefully, I placed the first crystal on the inside of the camouflaged pressure plate and pulled the magical weave dangling from its end to the trip wire.

You have connected a trap element to a trigger.

A bear clamp trap has been successfully configured!

Your thieving has increased to level 40.

The moment it was in place, the trap element faded from sight. Hurrying into the room itself, I pressed the second crystal firmly into a blank section of wall directly opposite the doorway, and spell-linked it to the pressure plate.

You have connected a trap element to a trigger.

A lightning trap has been successfully configured!

Your thieving has increased to level 41.

My preparations were nearly complete. Crouching down in the darkest corner of the room, I unsheathed my blades and laid them down beside me. Then I pressed the stud on my belt.

You have entered stealth mode, increasing your sneaking by 2 ranks.

There was just one more thing for me to do.

Hiding myself in the shadows, I drew on my small store of magic and slipped mana into the item I held in my hands. It took longer to prepare the casting than it had to set the traps, but eventually the medallion was charged almost to capacity. I held off adding the last bit. That would come later.

I was finally ready.

Now, to see if my hunter appears.

If Wengulax chose to continue his pursuit, I would have more than a few surprises in store for him.