The shadows of leaves produced speckled patterns on their faces as they entered the forest. The trees were thin but tall; they grew larger the deeper the group went into the woods.

“The green cloaks would already provide some camouflage,” Rosalia said as she watched Dina scan the mud, broken branches, and discarded leaves for tracks. “This spell, however, will make you completely invisible. Not just sight- sound too. Even your impact on the world will be minimized. You won’t leave behind footprints unless you stomp on the ground.”

“That’ll be useful,” Dina said. “If I can shoot unseen even if I’m standing in the open…”

“There’s a catch, unfortunately,” Rosalia said. 

“When isn’t there,” Tano huffed.

“The invisibility really is complete. So we won’t even be able to hear each other. Unless we’re touching.”

“You want us all to fight holding hands?” Hazen asked, bemused. If he was invisible he could wander off alone and all the wolves would be taken care of before anyone knew any better. But… he had decided to let them do something this time. Anders had once said “Share in responsibility and you share in triumph. Share in triumph and people are less likely to deny what you did.” Anders of course, had never shared in responsibility, but pretending to help went a long way. 

“We can pair off,” Rosalia said. She pointed to Hazen. “You come with me, Tano and Dina go off together- I already cast your sight spell Dina; wolves will look like targets for you.”

Dina hopped on Tano’s shoulders and drew her bow. “Whoever kills more should get a prize.”

“I already got you those cloaks,” Rosalia sniveled.

“Then you’d better win!” Tano laughed. “I’ll finally get my money ba-”

Rosalia lifted her hands, and he disappeared mid-sentence. Dina yelped and almost lost her balance. It looked like she was floating. Rosalia lifted her hands again and Dina vanished too.

Rosalia placed a hand on Hazen’s shoulder and the two of them became invisible. Hazen looked down and saw only undisturbed soil. There were no impressions on the earth made by his boots, there was no feel of the wind as it whipped his cloak. 

“Pretty impressive isn’t it?” A disembodied voice whispered. “I won’t lie, it takes a bit out of me, so I’m relying on you to do most of the fighting. You’d better beat them- my wallet is already empty.”

“Hold on tight,” Hazen said. He knew he was speaking from the vibrations felt in his throat and chest, but he couldn’t actually hear his own words- it was like he was talking under water. Rosalia was touching him, but he couldn’t sense her presence, didn’t detect any movement. It really was true invisibility. With a power like this, Rosalia might even have been able to kill the Dark Lord himself. 

Hazen maneuvered through the trees at what he thought was a sluggish speed. Rosalia kept pace, cursing as she misjudged the distance between fallen branches and the legs she couldn’t see. Hazen felt her adjust her grip on his shoulder as she recovered from stumbling.

They came to a clearing amidst the thicket of trees and Hazen stopped abruptly; Rosalia rammed against him. 

“Oww,” she muttered. “My nose. You should have told me to slow-”

“The shadows in the corner,” Hazen said. “Other side of the clearing. They’re clustered together in a circle.”

“What-” Rosalia froze as she saw the enormous Direwolves crouching past the clearing; their fur was a dark gray that was practically invisible in shadows. Hazen imagined them melting into the twilight, like Rosalia had cast an illusion spell on them. They weren’t facing him, but he could imagine their yellow teeth and the hungry glint of their eyes. There must have been 13 of them. A large pack.

He began to take a step forward, excitement building up within him. They were natural predators, but they were his prey. Travelers in the woods would have an easier time from here on out. Because of his heroics.

“Just a moment,” Rosalia began, but he didn’t stop because of her. One of the Direwolves lifted its snout and spat something out, throwing the object behind it. It landed several feet away, in the center of the clearing, close to wear Hazen imagined his were.

The object bounced slightly as it landed. It was round like a ball and no bigger than an acorn. One half was wood, lacquered and smoothed into a semi-orb. The  other half was ivory white, specked with little red veins, and dotted with a black circle surrounded by a brown ring. Half of the ball was an eye. 

Hazen drew back, startled, and the white half became completely wooden as well.

“MahoganEye,” he whispered. 

“Tano was stupid,” Rosalia said softly. “He lost his eye in a bar fight a few years back. Broken glass bottle to the face. He heard mahogany resisted water-damage, and wanted his replacement eye made out of it rather than glass, but didn’t like how paint looked on it. So he asked me if I could help.”

“How is it here?” Hazen said. “Did he drop it?”

The wolves turned around in slow, horrific unison. Their fangs weren’t yellow like Hazen had thought. They were red and pink, dyed with blood. The largest of the pack stepped into the clearing and sniffed.

It looked right at Hazen and its snout parted. As if it was grinning.

“Oh no, no, no…” Rosalia whispered. “I blocked all the senses. But I didn’t think of smell-”

Hazen felt the pressure release from his shoulder. She’d let go and run, and Hazen couldn’t see or hear her, he had no idea where she was trying to go.

The Alpha wolf peeled its eyes away from Hazen and lept.

It knew.