The past comes biting

Matt lies tucked beneath wet leaves and slips into the nearby brush. Behind him, the severed rope hangs from the old branch, its fibers bright against the bark.

Three human hunters emerge between the trees: a broad, middle-aged man in a brown cloak, a lean young man in boiled leather, and an elderly woman with silver braids and a green hood.

The broad hunter kneels by the rope and studies the disturbed leaves. The young hunter circles left, while the elderly woman raises a gloved hand toward the deeper woods.

Boots press softly through the undergrowth. The hunters form a tightening crescent, branches whispering as the search draws toward Matt’s hiding place.

Matt slips through the dripping brush, circling behind the tightening crescent. The hunters’ attention remains fixed on the empty hollow where he had hidden.

Three daggers leave his left hand in swift succession. Each hunter drops soundlessly among the leaves before any can turn, and the forest settles again.

Matt crosses to the bodies and retrieves his blades. The broad hunter carries a purse, a ring of plain iron keys, and a folded order sealed in black wax.

The parchment names Matt as a living witness to be captured or slain. Beneath the command sits the unmistakable emblem of a closed black book.

A second scrap, hidden inside the young hunter’s leather, sketches the eastern road and marks a concealed woodland track around the hunters’ planned search lines.

With the order secured and the hidden route revealed, Matt has proof of the Ledger’s reach and a clear path away from the tightening pursuit.