The morning air was thick and heavy, warmth seeping in to what should have been a cooling breeze. Kij'hara could see the dark silhouette of the tavern against the grey of the swamp, only barely illuminated by the sickly light of the dawning sun and a single lantern by the doorway. No lights shone from the inside, and by instinct she was hesitant to leave the sparse cover of the trees. From the angle Kij was at, she could see the gaping maw of the tavern where the wall had broken away into the swamp, and where the roof rose above the water level to provide a slightly sloping platform. Perhaps, if she just got onto the platform... She considered her possibilities, felt the tug of sleep at the corner of her mind, and began to make her way reluctantly towards the tavern. 

The ground was softer without the reinforcement of the tree roots, and she felt her footsteps sink into the soil with each step. Although the Lich's magic could not reach further than the boundaries of the Old Country, the water from the swamp knew no limitations, and seeped into the ground to soften it. It disguised her footsteps, yes, but she was not happy to be leaving such clear footsteps. No matter, she told herself, for a tavern was not a place to keep secrets or to hide. Her mind wandered as she thought of the task at hand; to find this Knight, and with her, the needed information. 

It wasn't until she was well into the open that she realised her mistake. In the shadow of the tavern - there. The faint outline of a person. She halted in her steps, stopped partly by fear, partly by annoyance. How could she have been so [i]careless[/i]? And what person in their right mind would be hiding in the shadows of a tavern at this time? She glanced back behind her, gauging the distance between her and the shelter of the woods and how long it would take her to cover the distance. The odds were not in her favour, with the building only metres away. With reluctance and wariness, she turned back to the figure. "Hello, who's there?"