Another scream rang out. There was the sound of a brief struggle, then nothing. Silence once again took over the forest. Amos briefly looked around. He squinted, as if doing so might allow him to peer beyond the suffocating darkness that obscured his sight. Of course, despite his exceptional eyesight, he was unable to make out anything tangible. The only forms he perceived were the shadowy, shifting forms which were no doubt borne from his own mind. While remaining vigilant, Amos continued to pace deeper into the forest. He was careful to crouch down and to move as quietly as possible. On top of his dark green hooded cloak and featureless wooden mask this served to further minimize his chances of being noticed. After a while, he came to another stop. 'Still no sign.', he thought. 'I'll have to be a little more creative with my methods'. He looked around, scouting the area for the tallest tree. Not far from him was a particularly tall pine, majestically looking down on its neighbours. Amos leaped 3 metres into the air from a standstill and landed on a lower branch, he then deftly navigated the tree to the top by jumping from branch to branch. Near the top of the tree, he looked for an area of relatively thick leaf coverage and waited in silence.

In order to increase the sensitivity of his hearing, he closed his eyes and entered a slowed breathing pattern. The soundscape of the forest took form in his minds eye. First, the rustle of the wind in the leaves of the tree, then, the activities of the creatures which made the forest their home- spider, birds, mice, lions, tigers and bears. As he listened, he grew more and more familiar with the forest in a way that using solely vision couldn't bring. The minutes kept going by and he waited. After roughly the time it takes to burn through a candle, a new type of sound entered the soundscape. It was out of place. Discordant. Inharmonious. He focused on it. He "saw" two people. They were walking through the forest, one slightly ahead of the other. Wherever they went, the forest was disturbed. He noted the changes as if he were observing ripples in a pond. Amos instantly opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the two strangers. He swiftly made his way to them by jumping from tree to tree, each time solidly landing on a thick branch in order to find secure footing and to minimize the tremors caused by his movement.

A few breaths later, he saw two men enter his field of view. At least, he assumed they were men from their solid builds, lacking the curvature typically found on the female form. It was too dark to make out any specific details. They also wore a dark hooded robe, similar to the one he was wearing, obfuscating their form even further. Amos instantly stopped before he entered their audible range. He reached for his sleeve where he found a sharp blade he had carried with him since his entry into the forest. Despite the situation he was currently in, he couldn't help but take some time to admire the blade. The handle was made from a dark wood, which had been treated in way that made it's surface even darker; pitch-black almost. The blade was made from obsidian, dipped in the blood of a Nemean Lion. It had cost him almost 3 drachma to obtain, depleting what little savings he had.

Holding the blade tightly, Amos moved while keeping a set distance from his marks. He considered his next steps: 'I should take one down from a distance using my blade. That would allow me to face the other one on one. I could approach from the rear, the front or from above.'. He immediately eliminated the first two options. 'Approaching from the rear could turn into a chase if the living target immediately ran away. Plus, I'd be too far away from my blade and would be left without a weapon. Lying in wait from the front is better since I wouldn't have to move while they get closer, but it gives a chance to react to my movements. Even if I got one, the other would be on high alert. From above it is. Having the high ground almost always works to one's advantage.'

He stopped his deliberations and moved to overtake them. Amos moved around to the front of them. He was careful to stay outside of their hearing range until the moment he was in the middle of their path. Looking around, he found a tree with relatively dense foliage and quickly climbed it to lie in wait. Not even 2 minutes later, the duo approached his hiding place. Preparing himself, he slowed his breathing and tensed his muscles. When they were underneath him he pounced. He went for the target which was closest to him and moved the blade to his front. He aimed for the cloaked figure's neck and plunged the blade in. There was a quiet sound, amplified in the stillness of the night, which was heard by all three individuals. A soft *shink* sound as the blade passed through the fabric of the figure's robe and into his neck. The figure gasped and a mix of emotions were conveyed: shock, pain and despair. Instantly, Amos pulled the blade out, found sure footing and moved to attack the other figure who had been caught unawares and was still making sense of the situation. Amos slashed at his chest, the only move he could make in such short timing. The figure backed away in a split second, leaving Amos to barely cut open the front of his cloak. As he cut through, he felt some resistance. There must be some armour underneath the cloak. And not anything cheap either, as inferior armour wouldn't be able to offer up any protection from his blade. The figure had already drawn his weapon; a longsword.

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There was a brief silence in the air as both Amos and the cloaked figure observed each other, both looking for an opening. At that moment, they were both aware of a few simple facts. The first was that a protracted battle was disadvantageous for both. The winner would be left weakened and would struggle to fend off any subsequent assailants. The second was that the first person to show weakness would lose the mental battle they were engaging in. Any show of weakness and the opponent would attack. This left them in a stalemate. Amos felt confident that he could defeat the man given enough time, but he had reacted quickly enough to his previous attack that he couldn't help but feel slightly wary. The stalemate continued for a minute, both barely moving, readying themselves for an opportunity. Then, a sound broke the silence. A rustle in a nearby bush. Both focused on the sound and within fractions of a second determined that it was merely a small woodland creature. However, this small moment was enough to break the stalemate. Amos returned his focus to the battle slightly quicker than his opponent, but it was enough to eke out an advantage. He immediately flashed towards the figure opposite him. He, having just regained his focus, was not prepared to react and put up a hasty defence with his sword. The sound of metal striking metal rang through the forest as Amos continued to press forward and the defender continued to mount a hurried defence. Amos could not allow him to regain his bearings. He knew that the opponent had already fallen into his rhythm. He was now the hunter closing in on his prey. As Amos continued to press on, his opponent made more and more mistakes. With each mistake, his movements became wilder and more desperate, while Amos continued to steadily attack. Eventually, Amos started to draw blood - mostly from the arms, where there was apparently no coverage from the armour. This worked in his favour as the figure's movements only became more uncoordinated.

"Aaahh!", the figure was stabbed through the hand, leading him to drop his blade. Holding his hand, he quickly retreated. Amos continued to aggressively pursue him, leading him to turn and flee in fear. A fatal mistake, as this removed any possibility of him putting up a fight. Amos, who was much faster easily caught up to him and stabbed him through the nape of the neck. He was dead before he even realised it. Amos took a moment to compose himself and listened for any disturbances in his surroundings. Confident that there was nothing lurking in his surroundings, he quickly moved to the two corpses. He quickly searched them. Like him, they were wearing masks. Taking them off revealed two male faces. One fairly pale, the other more tanned. The masks were cheap and wouldn't fetch much so he threw them back by the bodies after he was finished studying their faces. He continued to search and found a few items. He had to move quickly so he didn't have time to examine them. He then went to take back his knife from the first corpse. After some hesitation, he went for the longsword the second figure had dropped and quickly stripped him of his armour. He then stood over the two corpses. Taking a breath, he set to work on adding some wounds as well as altering the wounds he had made with his blade. Having finished this task, he quickly left the scene.