Haha, this is essentially the sort of job I'd be sent on back home. 'A new path appeared in the forest and something suspicious happens to travelers who look behind them, please take care of it' would fit right in.

[And step number one to figuring out how to take care of it is to figure out what, exactly, they're up against. He nods in gratitude as the vines clear out from under him, and starts to work on a second circle in the center of the first.]

It sounds like you've accepted that you're in a different realm fairly quickly! I don't know if anyone's told you yet, but for the record, we supposedly don't die while we're here. Before you think I'm too noble for volunteering.