For Jaeger, this was the first time he had a chance to really test the evolved form of his abilities. On his way to the Swords' camp, he learned that Bluthund really had no limits. When he'd read the skill's description, it said that the only limit was what he could imagine, but until he'd experienced it, he'd been concerned that it would become useless; which made him remember a conversation he'd had recently.

During dinner with Lisette, Jin, and Lorcan, we had discussed skills, their uses, and the possibility of useless skills; there were none, just inadequate skill holders. Lisette and Jin had told almost unbelievable tales of people walking among clouds, shattering mountains with a single blow, and raising the dead, while Lorcan told stories from his homeland of stone manipulation and working with personifications of the elements themselves. These stories had Jaeger worried that his skills weren't up to par; what good is tracking if your target can just step into the clouds? But with this evolution of his abilities, he saw the potential; with enough information, it didn't matter if they could walk through the clouds, he would find them.

So when the skill produced incredible results, he just smiled. Using the skill and a map Lisette had provided, Jaeger had been able to locate the Swords' hideout; the skill had created a miniature golden trail on the map. It had also shown an indicator of the enemy's strength, which, combined with Melinda's knowledge, had allowed him to make a rough estimate of their numbers. His final test of his power came with a little push, focusing on the idea of his bounties not escaping or calling for reinforcements, a section of the map was circled, giving him the impression of an emergency escape route. Since the circle was on the river, he assumed it was a river portal.

He also noticed that when he used the skill on the map, his own personal trail changed. It took him away from the beaten path he'd been riding and into the deeper woods. He idly wondered if he could find a detailed map of the world, and decided to inquire when he returned to Patterson. The ride through the forest was slower than on the trail, but the foliage and being off the beaten path gave him a sense of stealth. The swords were mostly watching the paths and trails, not the dense forest. He felt a familiar presence appear beside him, and when it spoke, he answered without even looking at it.

“I hope you're not trying to hide from your responsibilities. I need to see your tracking skills, not your survival skills.”

“I’m simply following my golden path.”

“Your golden path, mmmh, what a strange tracker you are. As long as it leads you to your prey, these Swords, I do not mind.” The blade left my skin and I thought she was gone before I heard her voice and her blade whispering from the other side of me. “And you were right, I do want to see you fight; your ability to track is just a nice bonus excuse. Do not disappoint me.”

He felt the faint trace of a sharp blade brush across his face before it vanished, leaving behind a soft breeze that carried the faint scent of leather and floral spice.

“Mrrw. I told you, obsessive.”

“And incredibly stealthy. Where were you?”

“I knew she wouldn’t interact with you until she was sure I wasn’t around. She’s drawn to your unique aura, while mine is most likely stifling for her.”

Jaeger was about to respond when he felt something change in his skill, and he was certain that he had crossed a boundary. He was now within range of the hideout. He lowered his voice and clicked his tongue to warn Ventress. Her comfortable trot slowed to a quieter walk, and Mischief, sensing the mood, hopped off and disappeared into the undergrowth.

He rode low on Ventress as she stepped silently through the forest. Her footsteps muffled in the lush, damp undergrowth. The area had grown quiet until a loud crack rang out, reminding Jaeger of the final cut of a lumberjack felling a tree. His eyes widened and he leapt from Ventress, whistling. Her ears pricked up at his jump, and with his whistle, she turned and trotted away. Landing in a crouch, the hunter looked around, the sound so close to the Sword's camp could only be an treant awakening, unless one of the bandit’s was chopping wood. The later was unlikely considering the distance to their camp but both were cause for alarm. He summoned his axe, testing it in his grip as he turned on himself, searching everywhere for the tree creature.

He didn't see anything, he wondered if maybe one of the bandits had chopped down a tree and the sound had just echoed. He began to relax as he had this thought, unintentionally presenting an opening that the treant took with malicious glee. From what he thought was a normal, albeit scarred tree, a fist slammed into his side, sending him into a nearby tree. Hitting it with a crack, he fell to the muddy undergrowth and struggled to his feet. His vision was blurred for a second as he tried to collect himself, but with frightening speed the treant had uprooted itself and reached him. He hit the ground in a tight sideways roll, hopped to his feet on the opposite side of the tree being, and chopped into it with his axe; going in deeper than he expected.

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His blow bit deep, much deeper than he expected, sending a spray of bark and sap flying. A howl like a tree falling resounded as he wrenched his axe free. The treant drew it’s arm back and wildly slapped around it, trying to hit him. He hopped backwards, avoiding a blow before darting in and chopping into the arm. Again the axe went deeper than he expected, fully severing the limb, sending him staggering forward with the expected lack of resistance. Again that howl sounded and again the treant struck wildly, but with only one arm it wasn’t as efficient. Unfortunately for Jaeger it was lucky. It clipped him as he got his balance back, the blow thumping his chest hard and sending him staggering away to catch his breath.

As he staggered backwards he looked up and saw the treant looming above him, it’s arm raised back to bash him. He couldn’t see a clean way out, it had gotten to close and every move he could imagine left him taking the blow. So he resolved to take it in the least damaging way he could, which meant running in close and rolling sideways. It would still catch him but at a worse angle. His mind raced through all that in less than a second and then he acted. Rushing forward as the single heavy arm came down, and as he went to roll he felt a pressure descend.

A moment later, he noticed something unusual as well. The forest had become quiet and still, no animals scurrying through the undergrowth, no birds singing overhead. Where moments before there had been a frenzy of noise and life around him, caused by his fight with the treant, there was now only silence. He stood and looked at the treant, which had stopped moving under the pressure. It stood in place, arm partially lowered in mid-attack, and Jaeger slowly moved behind it, grabbing his axe to finish it off. When he reached its back half, he realized he needn't have worried, something had already finished it. The back was a hollowed out space, chunks of wood gouged out by what appeared to be a powerful claw; a shiver ran down Jaeger's spine.

He felt something, a presence. He'd felt something similar years ago when he'd faced a Jakaden hunting Pora, one of the largest predators in his old world. It was the gaze of something large, old, and wise, and he had an inkling of what it might be, so he did what he had done then: negotiate calmly. With the Pora, he had needed all the meat he had and a fresh kill, but here he hoped something else would suffice.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached into his jacket with two fingers and came out with two pieces of paper. Then slowly and measured tone, he spoke.

“My name is Jaeger Darkblade, and I am a bounty hunter. I'm here for the Swords of Greenwood, dead. And a team of adventurers they are holding captive, alive.”

A wind, just a little too strong and a little too focused, blew the papers from his hand and sent them out of sight into the forest. He stood still and waited. He hoped that this presence was Greenwood, the spirit of the forest. Melinda had hinted that the Swords of Greenwood had been rejected when they'd tried to reach deep into a heart of the forest. He also remembered Lorcan's talk about elements having personifications, and he thought of all the magical things he'd seen in this world. To Jaeger, the heart sounded like a real heart, and anything with a heart would want to protect it. So he stood there, betting that the thing staring at him was an ancient forest spirit and not one of the treants the Swords had.

He had a confirmation of sorts when his papers flew back on a breeze that seemed to exist only for him. Grabbing the papers, he checked them and found nothing changed or different on the adventurers' rescue sheet. The Swords of Greenwood, however, had changed.

Wanted: Swords of Greenwood

Expert ranked Craven

Wanted: Dead or Alive. MUST KILL

Crimes: Treason, rebellion, zealotry, banditry, heresy, thievery, and murder. Desecration of the Forest of Greenwood and corruption within.

Miscellaneous: The Patterson Adventurers’ Guild has offered a bonus payout for if adventurers: Emilia, Troy, Sivly, and Brad are brought back alive. If they are dead, the head of their murderer(s) or the murderer(s) themselves will suffice. The payout is less if the adventurers are dead. Present their hearts or heads after their deaths and rewards you shall have.

This creature, if not Greenwood, was at least a protector of Greenwood, and it was pissed. Looking at the bounty sheet, he saw the new handwriting, which resembled nothing so much as an animal scrawl, and considered the being's request. He was already going to kill the Swords, there was no question about it, they had stopped being human the moment he'd accepted the contract and had died soon after he'd read that death was the only option. No, he was thinking about the head or heart aspect. If the adventurers he was here for were dead, he would need the heads of their killers as proof, which meant he couldn't satisfy the Presence. On the other hand, if they were alive, he could. He wasn't one to put much stock in things like faith or hope, trusting only what he could see or do, but he hoped the adventurers were still alive. So he accepted the revised bounty.

“I’ll do this for you. You’ve my word as a Bounty Hunter.”

He still couldn't place where the gaze was coming from, so he just said it out loud. The gaze around him intensified for a second, scrutinizing him, before fading away completely, leaving only a word, as if whispered into the wind.

“Go.”