The lantern's light surrounded her in its warm glow, giving her white attire a warming hue as she walked the isolated tracks. Gripped within her other hand was a pail, filled to the brim with water. As she walked she spilt the liquid on the ground before her, scraping her shoes over the grass and dirt to conceal the faint tracks left by the mercenary. It was clear he had worked to conceal his efforts, but her hawk-like gaze detected the blemishes upon her land with ease. The further she walked, the less blood she found and the easier it was to conceal the route. With the last of the water used she discarded the bucket.
She continued to walk, concealing snapped twigs and deep tracks. River smoke had started to form from the lowered nocturnal temperature. It wrapped around the dark trees, o
