The shade continued down the path a while before pausing. He lifted his head towards the air, as though sniffing. What he could possibly have been sniffing for was anyone's guess: all that most could smell anymore even with magically heightened senses was fire. The shade turned to his follower and spoke in an amused whisper, "Perhaps something a touch more subtle?" His shaded, indefinite form gave way to the shape of a man.<br/><br/>Looking on,  the man standing before the ranger was of about average height, with bright, piercing blue eyes that seemed to gaze straight through whatever they focused on. Dark hair fell in shaggy tufts into his eyes, and the man's slight build suggested one capable of the acrobatics he'd already done that day. "That's a bit less conspicuous," he said with a smile as the sound of hoof beats approached from the west.<br/><br/>"Who passes here?" one of the men on horseback asked.<br/><br/>"Cain," he-who-had-been-the-shade replied. "These are my guides to Riven."