"You go on and keep covering your tracks as you have been. I'll divert them," Corvus said matter-of-factly. "They won't be on our trail for long. Now go." He didn't wait long to hear any comments or protest should there be any before he took off between the trees, going back the way they came. There was some time between them and Izaak, but it wasn't a lot. Much of it was wasted resting, and Corvus intended to make up for it.
He ran quickly, running around where they crossed the campsite and topped here, hands working quickly to scavenge what he could from the forest floor. He had simple tools with him, a blade, some spare thread, and other objects to fashion the traps that would linger around the camp. A pit would be a much better option, however, it would take up more time than he was willing to give, not to mention the effort involved.
So instead, Corvus created several snares around the camp, and areas where a branch would snap across the diameter of the clearing if the way he suspected they were coming would loose the string he settled between two rocks. The other traps were disguised with foliage collected from around the camp, color to color, shade to shade, branch with bush.
Perhaps traps of a magical variety would do just as well, but he figured Mordecai were rather skilled in finding ways to dismantle those as well.
Once the traps were set up, he moved on, following back the way he had come, careful of the trees, always listening...
-
Izaak was getting sick of this game of cat and mouse. When were they going to realize that escape was futile? Better to give in now than to suffer the fate all rebels were to face. Whether they were actual rebels was irrelevant, they were mages and they would die like the vermin they were.
His men were dogged but careful, scouting and scanning ahead. They couldn't be more than an hour ahead of them, perhaps less if his calculations regarding the freshly snapped branch was correct. "We're getting close, men, keep looking," he hissed, scowling between the trees. The remnants of smoke briefly touched his nostrils...