It was well after sunset now. The moon had climbed high into the sky, Eli reasoned he’d wasted about two and a half hours between sleeping and his panic attack. Odds are his pursuers would’ve made camp for the night, tracking at night is next to impossible. The frigid air would’ve made the experience even worse.

He quickened his pace, hoping to get everything set up before the moon dipped down below the treeline on the horizon.

“They’ll probably be there shortly after sunrise, midday at the latest.” He thought.

He still had to travel at least another forty-five minutes to reach the spot he had in mind, his preparations would take at least an hour to set up on top of that.

A pack of coyotes howled in the distance, piercing the otherwise quiet night and sending a chill down Eli’s spine. He momentarily tightened his grip around his bow. He was holding an arrow in the same hand as his bow. The shaft of it lay over top of his knuckles except for his index finger which was snuggly pressing the shaft in place. At a moment's notice he could flip the arrow into place on his bow and have it ready to fire by pushing his knuckles outward and pulling his index finger towards him. Using his thumb to help guide the arrow into place as he pulled his index finger off of the arrow. The whole process took him less time than it did to blink.

He had no way of knowing how close his enemies would be, or if they were still on the hunt for him right now and not waiting like he was anticipating. They could be waiting for him right around the corner and he wouldn’t know. Every precaution he took could save his life and every one he didn’t could end it.

He was retraversing the path through the woods along the road the three of them had taken on their way to and from town, destroying any traces they left that he could see, which wasn’t much. The tree cover blocked out most moonlight so he was essentially blind. For the most part there was nothing he could make out, but occasionally one of Silas’s or Sebastian’s blunders would stick out to Eli painfully and he would remove it. He would do the bulk of covering their tracks on his way back after dealing with those following him.

His plan was a simple one. Remove all traces of their passage and eliminate any threats to both him and the family he was currently staying with. After that he planned to rest up for a week or two and then make his leave before more trouble followed him to them. So he pressed on towards his destination.

“If I can get everything situated in a short enough time I’ll try and get a few minutes of sleep.” He thought.

It wasn’t much longer before he arrived. It was the best spot to set his trap he could think of after traveling this route twice. Two fallen trees blocked the path heading deeper into the forest. He presumed they had been knocked over in a windstorm, having fallen at an awkward angle, one lay over top the other forming an “X”.There was a deep ditch between it and the side of the road. Which meant there were two choke points he could exploit, one where each of the fallen tree tops forced the path to become considerably narrow. On top of the two choke points it also left him a “kill zone” in the center he could utilize if he chose.

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He got to work quickly. He began sharpening stakes and shoving them into the ground along the choke point closest to him, having their points angled toward the direction his pursuers would be arriving from. He blocked it off almost completely, leaving one or two small gaps a person could fit through. In these he tied a snare for each using the inner cords of paracord, tying them to small saplings that were hidden by bushes or larger vegetation.

Moving into the “kill zone” now, he pulled his foldable shovel from his rucksack and dug a dozen or so small holes, placing a smaller sharpened stake in some. These were meant to act as obstacles more than anything else.

At the second choke point Eli dug a small trench across it, no more than a couple of inches deep at the most and a shovel’s width across, acting as a border line.

He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note on it.

“Cross this and you die”

He leaned it up against the tip of the tree by his border, walked a few yards away and shot an arrow through the top of the paper, nailing it to the tree.

“That should tell them who set this.” He said, returning to the middle and packing his things.

Tightening all the straps he set off walking once more, past his set up and down the path towards his opponents.

“That’s part one.” He thought.

He was careful not to walk on the main path from here, if they saw new fresh footprints heading towards them his whole plan would be for nothing. He continued for another ten to fifteen minutes before selecting a spot with enough cover for his liking.

This is where the first and most important spot of the ambush would take place. What he had just set up was meant to act as nothing more than a distraction for the first wave of pursuers. Likely Marcel and a bodyguard or two for him so he could focus solely on tracking. But behind them there would be another person following, acting as a sweeper or rear guard. Their purpose is to stop any attack from behind or escape back to camp with a report should the main party be taken out. Once the first wave made it to his warning they’d stop to think about their next move, giving Eli time to quietly take out their rear guard and sneak up behind them. Odds are they’d just think he was their sweeper catching up to them and pay him no mind until it was too late, and that’s when the real trap would be set, and even if they realized they'd been caught in a trap it would be too late.

The Moon was almost fully set now, he’d once again wasted more time than he’d wanted. He pulled his camouflage cloak from his bag and slipped it on, leaving the bag a hundred yards or so from the path. He moved closer until he found thick cover, around twenty yards from the path, that would conceal him from anyone’s sight unless they were within arm’s reach.

He was trying to get as comfortable as possible while he still had the chance, but remaining hidden outweighed comfort in this situation so he could only do so much. Once in position he was prepared to hold it for hours without moving, he’d relieved himself prior and had little fluid in his body as a precaution to what he was doing. Dawn wouldn’t be for another thirty minutes, meaning he’d be in this position for at least an hour before anything happened, probably longer. He allowed himself to drift asleep for a short yet necessary time.

When he opened his eyes once more the sun was just beginning to poke over the horizon. Dawn was fast approaching. Eli’s heart started beating fast, just like it had when he talked with the man that night. Only this time it wasn’t out of fear, it was anticipation for what was about to come. It would begin very soon.