Alph and Nylessa crept along the manor's outer edge, their boots sinking into the damp earth. The plant-maze loomed beside them, a dense wall of thorns and waxy leaves that exhaled a pungent, vegetal rot. Alph closed his eyes, tapping into his druidic talent to connect with the greenery. He reached out with his mind, sensing the rhythmic pulse of sap through the stalks and the rough texture of bark.

  The maze formed a labyrinth of living wood, but his natural senses revealed hidden paths within his mind. He felt the cool dampness of shaded soil and the sharp prick of defensive briars. His limited perception prevented him from seeing the entire heart of the compound at once. He guided Nylessa in a slow, deliberate circle, moving clockwise until he had peered through the foliage from every direction. By the time they completed the loop, a complete mental map of the winding corridors resided in his head, etched in the sensory language of root and leaf.

  "I've got it," Alph said, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He opened his eyes, the maze’s pulse still echoing in his mind. The mental map was locked in, clear and precise.

  "We've got two ways in," he went on, his voice low and gravelly. "First is the front entrance, but the automatons I sensed are standing guard like statues. They’re lined up along the main path to the manor, just waiting for something to trigger them."

  The bronze sentinels left a cold, hollow weight in his gut. Their frozen stillness, like dead metal, jarred against the maze's vibrant, pulsing life.

  "The second option is a narrow, winding path," he said, glancing at Nylessa to gauge her reaction. "It’s probably a hidden escape route, but we can use it to sneak in. I sensed minimal interference there; it doesn’t have the traps like the other places."

  He met her gaze, his expression hard to read in the dim light. The escape route is risky, but the automatons are a sure thing.

  "What do you want to do?" he asked, laying out the last details of their options. "Go straight through the statues, or take the snake's path?"

  "Why even ask?" Nylessa said. "We take the easier path. Obviously."

  She looked down at Alph, expression twisted with playful condescension.

  Alph clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth; the sound sliced the silence. He clamped his jaw, killing the retort before it surfaced. Instead, he turned without a word and gestured for her to follow, a sharp flick of his wrist that brooked no argument.

  They moved toward the south-eastern section, footsteps muffled against earth. The air grew colder. Alph led; Nylessa followed with practiced grace.

  Alph stopped before a massive stone wall. Nylessa's mouth twisted downward.

  "This doesn't look like an entrance," she muttered.

  He looked at her, then moved forward and pressed his gloved palm against the cold stone. The chill seeped through the hide, dulled but present. He took a deep breath and invoked Nature's Touch.

  Soft green light bloomed from his hand, spreading downward in a thin line. The glow was gentle, barely visible from a distance; anyone watching would mistake it for fireflies. The stone responded. It groaned and shifted, revealing a narrow passage into the compound.

  Nylessa's eyes widened. "So this is a door?" she whispered. "How did you know?"

  Alph withdrew his hand. "When I mapped the area, I sensed a hollow space ending here. By itself, nothing remarkable. But combined with the plant-based mechanism," he pointed to the wooden gears and vines operating the door, "it revealed what this actually was."

  Nylessa clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Did you just use Nature's Touch to manipulate the vines into activating the mechanism?"

  Alph nodded his head.

  Nylessa’s eyes drifted from the shifting stone to Alph, her posture softening. The tension in her shoulders vanished, replaced by a slow, genuine nod of appreciation.

  "That's impressive," she said, her voice dropping to a low, respectful murmur. "I take back what I said earlier."

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  She paused, her gaze sharpening as her haughty composure returned. She tilted her chin up, a familiar glint of arrogance flickering in her brown eyes.

  "You variant professionals have some use after all."

  Just when she shows some respect, she has to throw that in.

  Alph shook his head, gesturing for Nylessa to take the lead. "After you. Ten paces ahead, the ground becomes uneven; the adjacent walls hollow out." He pointed into the passage's depths, where shadows pooled thick and suffocating. "A pressure plate trap, most likely. I want to see how you handle it."

  His voice carried an edge, a deliberate challenge woven beneath the surface calm. The words hung between them, testing.

  Nylessa's eyes sparked with interest. A predatory gleam kindled in those brown eyes rimmed with red; her entire posture straightened. Without hesitation, she strode forward into the darkness, her movements fluid and controlled, every step deliberate as she approached the suspected trap.

  Nylessa stepped into the gloom of the passage. The air smelled of damp earth and rotting mulch, a scent that usually signaled danger in her line of work. Ten paces in, she halted. The ground looked undisturbed to the naked eye, but she knew better.

  She invoked Trap Sense.

  The world remained the same, but her perception shifted. A muted yellow glow pierced the darkness, illuminating the corridor’s hidden geometry. A heavy stone plate beneath a layer of dust shimmered with the sickly light. From its edges, thin, taut trigger lines snaked upward into the hollowed hedge walls. Behind the leaves, the vision revealed the payload; a cluster of wooden mechanism of arrow launchers, their tips coated in some sort of poison.

  Crude, but effective, she thought, the heavy, stale air of the passage suddenly feeling humid and close. That setup would have skewered any local guard or low-tier assassin.

  She moved quickly. Her gaze tracked the main tension line, the one holding the mechanism ready to spring. She located the point where the wire attached to the wooden frame of the launcher. If she severed it there, the counterweights would fall harmlessly into the soft earth.

  Nylessa reached into the thorny interior of the hedge wall. Her fingers found the wire. With a sharp, practiced flick of a concealed blade, she severed the line. A faint thrum echoed inside the wall as the tension vanished, the arrows remaining frozen in their slots, neutralized.

  She turned back toward Alph. Her shoulders squared, chest thrust forward to command the narrow space. A smirk carved across her face, triumph radiating from every line. This was her domain. A Druid might open a door, but a Rogue owned the shadows between them.

  Try to challenge me again, she thought. This is how a specialist works. No wasted movement. No guessing.

  Nylessa beckoned him forward with a mocking wave, already turning toward the next stretch of the tunnel. The yellow glow of her Trap Sense pulsed, revealing a trapdoor set into the floor. It was a simple mechanism, unworthy of a second glance. She signaled Alph to jump, then demonstrated the movement herself. She cleared the gap and landed silently beyond the trap.

  Turning back, she fixed him with a sharp grin. "Do you need me to mark the edge, Little Raven?"

  Alph shook his head. He leaped, clearing the trap as she had, but his boots met the earthen floor with a dull, heavy thud.

  Forceful, she noted, watching him steady himself. He has the strength, but he lacks the grace of a true specialist.

  She gestured him forward, her tone cutting sharp. "Come on, we're moving. But seriously, you need to fix how you land. Can't just brute force everything like that, Alph. You'll get caught doing jobs that actually matter." Nylessa picked up pace down the tunnel, not bothering to check if he followed.

  They navigated the winding path for another fifteen minutes, the air growing warmer and drier with each step, the damp earthen smell of the tunnel giving way to something cleaner, limestone dust and old mortar. The walls narrowed, then opened into a cramped alcove where rough-hewn hedge met smooth, pale granite.

  Nylessa pressed the activation switch concealed on the left side of the wall. The mechanism groaned with a muffled, rhythmic thud, parting the granite slabs. Stone slid against stone, revealing a narrow passage leading into the manor's interior. The sound remained contained within the thick masonry, far too quiet to alert the household. She felt a surge of professional pride; the entry was clean and decisive.

  The maze was over.

  She turned to Alph, keeping her voice low and measured. "Alright, now it's your task to create the distraction. I'd suggest fire to draw out the bodyguards. There should be a kitchen warehouse at the back of the manor, stores, oil, dry goods, things that catch easy." She paused, letting the plan settle between them, her mind already mapping the layout they'd discussed earlier.

  The bodyguards would respond predictably to flames, their training demanding they investigate any threat to the estate's stores. "We set up the ambush there, you draw their attention, while I hide in shadows for the kill."

  She tapped the granite wall with one knuckle, the sound barely a whisper against the cool stone. The texture felt smooth beneath her fingertip, polished by decades of concealed use. "That way we won't have to force the artisan into activating those automaton sentries you sensed earlier." Her jaw tightened at the thought of the mechanical guardians outside the manor.

  "Trust me, I'd rather not find out what those things can do."