He was well trained for his age. At this distance in the trees she could see he was young. He had a child-like appearance. His youth misled her and she was surprised to see him think so quickly. When he broke the dart and spilled the poison, she still felt confident he'd received enough poison to put him out long enough for her to do what she needed to. Then he dug in his belongings and began pulling out herbs. She could see him wilting, but not fast enough. He was able to down two herbs before falling asleep. She couldn't bring herself to hop down from the tree and stop him. He was conscious enough that he would remember her. She couldn't allow him to know her face if he was allied with these bandits.<br/><br/>She waited till his head slumped over, then hopped from the tree branch, landing with a quiet 'thwump' on the soft earth. Moving quickly, she picked up his pack and rifled through it. She'd done this enough that she had no trouble remembering exactly where it had all been before. He was already stirring at her presence, only slightly unconscious, so he hurried. She knew she would find something here. He had to have some list of names... something to lead her to the bandits, but she found nothing. He was too clever.<br/><br/>She'd been digging through his belongings for only a minute when she returned his pack to his side, exactly as he'd left it. Thinking fast, she pulled a dagger from her boot and sliced a shallow cut in her own palm, then used the blood that pooled in her palm to draw a rune in the dirt with her finger. She used only trace amounts of blood, not enough that he would be able to see or smell it, then placed a pebble at the direct center of the rune. When she finished drawing, she looked around, spotted a plant growing at the base of a tree, and rushed over to grab it.<br/><br/>Sniffing the herb, she nodded to herself, "Its not perfect... but it'll do..." She frowned, looking again at the mage.<br/><br/>Unable to wait long enough to find what would be better than the herb she'd found, she returned to his side and leaned over him, peering closely at his robes. She knew that people with long hair often had loose hairs clinging to their clothing. His hair was well cared for and she felt a pang of irritation toward him. This meant he lived a privileged life, no doubt paid well by the bandits he aided. She found one of his hairs clinging to his shoulder and carefully plucked it away. Picking up the pebble, she wrapped the hair around, then wrapped it in the herb she'd picked, and returned it to its place at the center of the rune. Holding her hand over the stone, she contorted her fingers into the shape of a claw and began speaking in a quiet whisper that was barely audible. Her words were dark, and echoed with power despite the fact that she whispered. It was a short spell, but taxed her greatly. She rushed through the difficult spell as quickly as she could, shoulders hunching with fatigue as she continued whispering. The rune she'd drawn in the dirt burst to life, glowing with power. Throughout her chant, her hand began to glow with a strange dark light that was more like shadow. The aura of shadow grew stronger and denser as she chanted, then began to pull away from her hand, slowly moving in dark tendrils toward the pebble. The tendrils wrapped around it, lifted it from the ground, then began to absorb into the pebble. In response to this, the pebble shook and twitched as it hovered, beginning to spin in place. The rune she'd drawn in the dirt, which had been glowing as she chanted, began to pulse with power. The herb suddenly burst into smokeless flame and burned away quickly, revealing the hair, now dense, solid, and fused to the surface of the pebble, glowing brightly.<br/><br/>Releasing a pent-up breath, she allowed her hand to fall to her side, ceasing her chant. The pebble fell to the ground.  The rune faded, then vanished entirely, leaving no trace that it had been there. With trembling hands, she picked up the pebble, then pushed herself with effort to her feet. He was moving, beginning to stir and struggle against sleep. She knew her time was up. Moving awkwardly, she picked up the pebble, glanced around to make sure she'd left no trace, then returned to her tree. Her limbs were too weak to climb back up, so she buried herself in a dense bush at the base of the tree, hoping to hide herself from sight.<br/><br/>Just then, he woke and stretched. She watched him gather his belongings and rise, holding her breath to keep quiet. The power of her spell had already vanished completely, leaving barely a trace that only a caster affiliated with the same energy would be able to detect, but she still worried he would sense it. Opening her hand, she looked down at the pebble still resting in her palm, nodding. The spell had worked. She smiled.