Rasputin flinched for just a moment. “So you control the shadows too then?” He asked, still facing where he had found someone spying on him. “Your rather brutish way of breaking my observation ward implies either inexperience or rashness... Neither are good qualities for one that uses magic.” He was now looking around in the canopy above him. “Look, just show yourself at the very least. The dilligence with which you are hiding implies there is a need to hide yourself from someone just passing through.”

While he talked, he subtly searched around the area. Not with his physical eyes, but with the third eye of his mind. There were many shadows in the forest, but a more subtle approach than direct assault would likely be needed here.. And then he saw an opening. The crevices, nooks and crannies in the roots under the trees. Spaces just empty enough to allow him to work his magic. And so he began molding the deep darkness to his needs.

“To emphasize I could very well strike you down if I wanted to, I'll be uprooting that tree you're sitting... If you know what's good for you you'll stop hiding like a robber lying in ambush and explain yourself to me.”

Before he even finished the sentence, the tree already began moving. Masses of shadow granted physical form swelling underneath it and pushing it upwards. Before long, the heaving crack of a falling tree resounded through the forest.